0 !C15 !C151 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  CompuServe Corp.   Tuesday reported a surprisingly large $29.6 million fiscal first-quarter loss, blaming a decline in the number of subscribers to the No. 2 online service and spending on a new family-oriented service and improvements.   CompuServe predicted a second-quarter loss but said earnings would improve in the second half of the fiscal year.   "We are taking steps to revitalise CompuServe," said Chief Executive Bob Massey.   The company said it would cut 150 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, as part of a cost-cutting programme expected to save $30 million on an annualized basis.   The Columbus, Ohio-based company said that as part of the cost cuts it would sell its Spry Inc. unit, whose Web browser trails far behind similar products made by Netscape Communications Corp. and Microsoft Corp.   The loss of $29.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the company's fiscal 1997 first quarter ended July 31 compared with last year's quarterly profit of $26.8 million, or 36 cents a share.   The results included a pretax charge of $17.7 million, or 13 cents per share.   CompuServe last month said it expected to post a loss for the quarter, but the actual loss was greater than Wall Street expectations.   The company reported revenues of $208.6 million for the quarter vs. $186.5 million in the previous year's quarter.   Massey, expanding on last month's comments, said the number of people cancelling their subscriptions exceeded the 900,000 new subscribers to the company's online services, producing a "modest decline" in subscriber numbers.   As of July 31, the company's flagship CompuServe Information Service had 3.3 million members worldwide, the company said.   Total subscribers, including members of NiftyServe, a joint-venture Japanese online service, numbered 5.2 million.   CompuServe, founded in 1969, is second only to America Online Inc., with 6.2 million subscribers.   CompuServe also blamed the loss on investments in its family-oriented WOW!   service and infrastructure improvements.   It said it expected losses to continue into the second fiscal quarter, hitting 10 cents to 15 cents a share, due to the costs of rolling out the latest version of the software needed to access the service, Compuserve 3.0, and the release of a feature that makes WOW!   look different to teenagers than it does to their parents.   But the forecast for the second half of its fiscal year was rosier.   "Coupled with new product releases and aggressive marketing campaigns, we expect the third and fourth quarters to improve with subscribers topping the 7-million mark, including our Japanese licensee service, NiftyServe," Massey said in a statement.   The company said it also expected increased revenue from advertising and fees for electronic commerce.   CompuServe is a former subsidiary of tax preparer H&R Block Inc., which spun off the company and is selling its 80 percent stake in CompuServe.   CompuServe announced its financial results after markets closed.   Its stock dropped 12.5 cents to $13.50 on Nasdaq in earlier trading. 
1 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Kansas and Arizona filed lawsuits against some of the biggest tobacco firms Tuesday, joining a growing list of states seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars for the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses.   At the same time, sources said that Michigan and Oklahoma were preparing to file similar lawsuits this week, bringing to 14 the total number of states suing the industry.   Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall called tobacco "the most lethal consumer product ever sold" and said her state's lawsuit was warranted because of the "enormous financial burden" that the tobacco industry had shifted to Kansas taxpayers.   Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., one of nine tobacco companies named in the suit, said it would vigorously defend itself against the suit, which it said had no basis in law.   Meanwhile, aides to Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley said he would file a suit against tobacco companies on Wednesday while legal sources said Oklahoma would file suit Thursday.   In Indianapolis, meanwhile, another liability challenge to the tobacco industry headed toward a decision.   A jury was expected to begin deliberations Wednesday or Thursday in the case of Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis lawyer who began smoking at age 6 and died of lung cancer 46 years later.   Rogers' widow and teen-age children are seeking unspecified damages.   Also on Tuesday, New York City's public advocate urged Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to sue the tobacco industry to recover what the city paid out for health care costs of smokers.   Public Advocate Mark Green said the city should join the group of states and the city of San Francisco in their efforts to obtain Medicaid refunds from cigarette companies.   The Rogers case in Indianapolis is similar to hundreds that have been filed across the country.   Earlier this month in Jacksonville, Fla., a jury awarded $750,000 to a man who smoked for 44 years before he was stricken with lung cancer.   In that case the jury said the Lucky Strikes he smoked were a defective product and that cigarette maker Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., a unit of Britain's B.A.T. Industries Plc, was negligent by failing to inform the public about the health risks of smoking.   The company said it will appeal the jury decision.   The Kansas lawsuit only listed damages in excess of $50,000, but Stovall said the actual figure would probably run to hundreds of millions of dollars.   "During the course of discovery we'll be able to come up with a finite amount of money that we're claiming in terms of damages, but it's hundreds of millions of dollars ... for what the state has paid out in Medicaid," Stovall said.   Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said his state was seeking more than $300 million in damages related to costs Arizona incurred in Medicaid costs for smokers' illnesses.   Stovall said the Kansas lawsuit suit was the broadest to date because it sought to force tobacco firms to pay for programs aimed at educating children about the hazards of smoking.   Named as defendants in the Kansas suit were RJR Nabisco Holding Corp.'s RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co.; B.A.T. and its divisions Brown & Williamson and The American Tobacco Co.; Philip Morris Co., Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco Co.   Inc.; the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton, the Council for Tobacco Research, and the Tobacco Institute.   The Arizona suit also named Brooke Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group Inc. as a defendant. 
2 !C13 !C31 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The higher minimum wage signed into law Tuesday will be welcome relief for millions of workers, but it may also translate into higher prices for hamburgers, pizzas and other fast-food items, some restaurant chains said.   The 90-cent-an-hour increase will have little short-term impact on many fast-food chains that already pay workers rates above the federally mandated minimum.   But in the long run, industry officials fear that workers already earning above the new minimum wage, which will rise to $5.15 an hour next year, will be looking for more.   "What we're concerned about is the ripple effect it brings," said Bruce Cotton, chief spokesman for Long John Silver's Restaurants Inc. in Lexington, Ky.   "Our average crew wage is about $5.20 (an hour) so short-term there is not going to be any impact," said Denny Lynch, spokesman for Wendy's International Inc., which operates about 4,300 restaurants in the United States.   President Clinton signed into law the first increase in the minimum wage in five years, boosting it by 50 cents to $4.75 on Oct. 1 and 40 cents more to $5.15 on Sept. 1, 1997.   The White House estimates the new law will mean a raise for about 10 million American workers, many of them in restaurants and stores.   Most small businesses had opposed the increase, saying it would prompt them to hire fewer people, particularly young people looking for entry-level jobs.   But some economists argued that the negative effects of an increase in the wage, first imposed by the federal government in 1938 at 25 cents an hour, would be minimal.   To help get the bill through the Republican-controlled Congress, a package of about $22 billion in tax breaks aimed mostly at small businesses was added to the measure.   As a result of the higher minimum wage, American Restaurant Partners L.P., which operates 62 Pizza Hut restaurant franchises, expects its total wage costs will rise $500,000 over the next 12 months.   "If you raise someone who started in the last two months (to the new minimum wage level), you also have to raise everybody else," said Terry Freund, chief financial officer of American Restaurant Partners.   To compensate, the Wichita, Kan.-based restaurant operator hopes to raise prices by about 3 percent.   The risk, Freund added, is that higher prices will keep some customers away or prompt them to scale back on the pizzas or other items they normally order.   Beyond the minimum wage requirements, competition for workers -- from cooks to delivery drivers to counter staff -- has forced many fast-food chains to pay up to hire good help, particularly in metropolitan markets.   That competition is being driven by an increase in restaurant openings, particularly fast-food and casual dining establishments.   "There are neighbourhoods where we have to pay $6.00 an hour to $6.50 or $7.00 to get" good workers, Wendy's Lynch said.   "The competition is setting the wage."   Fast-food industry executives said there has been competition for workers since the late 1980s, although the increase in restaurant openings is making the search for employees more intense.   Another problem for fast-food chains is wage competition from other employers.   A fast-food worker, for example, may be able to earn $50 or $60 a night in tips at a casual dining establishment, executives said.   "For QSRs (quick service restaurants) ... it's even tougher to keep the kids," said Roger Lipton, president of Lipton Financial Services. 
3 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Ronald Sandler, chief executive of Lloyd's of London, on Tuesday underwent a second day of court interrogation about the 300-year-old insurance market's multibillion-dollar recovery plan, which he defended as critical to Lloyd's solvency.   Sandler was questioned for four hours in a federal courtroom by lawyers for American investors in Lloyd's and by U.S. District Judge Robert Payne about Lloyd's complex restructuring plan to settle large losses.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- quaintly known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the case, in which 100 U.S. investors have applied for an injunction to block the recovery plan.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, in a new company called Equitas.   The proposal also includes a 3.2 billion pound ($4.95 billion) cash offer to the Names designed to offset the cost of Equitas.   The investors must vote on the plan by Aug. 28.   The suit, which names 93 plaintiffs, seeks to block the plan until more detailed financial information is released.   It contends that Lloyd's has breached U.S. disclosure laws.   Sandler, as he did on Monday, said the plan was crucial to Lloyd's solvency.   Payne questioned Sandler for about an hour, asking about Lloyd's plans to pay its liabilities and what would happen if its investments made more money than was needed to pay off those liabilities.   "Most (Lloyd's officials) believe that some time over 30 years the liability will be extinguished," Sandler said, adding that any money left over would go to charities.   When asked by the judge who the benefactors would be, Sandler said he was not able to answer.   Payne told Sandler firmly that the company needed to have a plan for the disposition of leftover assets and that he would need to be told who the benefactors would be.   Payne also asked whether Lloyd's was able to pay the total premium if U.S. investors did not back the recovery plan.   Sandler again said he was unable to answer.   The proceedings resumed in the afternoon after a break for lunch.   Payne earlier criticised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for refusing to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the SEC's neutral position on this issue.   Payne said the SEC would have a second opportunity to respond to his request for a ruling.   Separately Tuesday morning, Lloyd's received a boost from another court case in New York, which dismissed action brought against the market by four Names.   They had claimed that Lloyd's knew long ago the extent of liabilities faced by Names.   "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under U.K. law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this," said Lloyd's U.S. executive, Peter Lane. 
4 !GCAT !GPOL  Gulf War hero Colin Powell lent his prestige and popularity to the Republican presidential ticket on Tuesday, making a surprise appearance alongside Bob Dole and Jack Kemp as they campaigned among U.S. war veterans for a strong national defence.   The Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kentucky was a natural setting for Powell, a retired general who helped lead U.S. troops to victory in Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf, and for Bob Dole, who nearly died in the Second World War.   "One of the great lessons of history is that if America is prepared to fight many wars and greater wars and any wars that come, then we will fight fewer wars and lesser wars and perhaps no wars at all," said Dole.   Dole accused the Clinton administration of spending too little on modernising U.S. forces and meeting the needs of U.S. troops.   He said nearly 17,000 junior enlisted personnel needed food stamps to make ends meet last year.   "That should not happen if you wear the American uniform," Dole said in a speech that outlined his career-long commitment to veterans.   Powell, apparently trying to keep the spotlight on the Republican candidate and not on rumours that he may be secretary of state in a Dole administration, said he and Dole "haven't had any discussion" about a cabinet post and the priority now was to "get the team elected."   With his well-received speech at the Republican convention in San Diego last week, the retired general and best-selling author helped the party project an image of tolerance and inclusion.   Republicans hope Powell, a moderate on social issues, can reel in the independents Dole needs if he is to oust President Bill Clinton from the White House on Nov. 5.   Powell had to remind well-wishers who had come out to greet Dole at the Louisville airport, "I'm not running for anything."   Introducing Dole at the VFW rally, he praised him as a champion of a strong defence who "proudly wears a purple heart" for his war wounds and "now offers himself for service as the leader of this great nation."   "His vision includes providing leadership to the world in a way that will reassure and comfort our friends and put our enemies on clear notice that we have the strength and the will to defend ourselves and to defend our interests," he added.   Before heading back to Washington, Dole, Kemp and Powell, who were not accompanied by their wives on Tuesday, paid a brief visit to the Ladies Auxiliary meeting at a nearby auditorium where the women had been unable to see or hear the main event.   "They've never come to the ladies before, this is a first, first, first," said a delighted Marion Watson, from Louisville, chuckling as the former Kansas senator told the crowd, "You'll get a tax cut whether you want one or not."   Opinion polls show that the harmonious Republican convention and the energy Kemp infused into the campaign helped Dole cut into Clinton's lead, although Clinton, who at 50 is 23 years younger than Dole, still was ahead and the latest polls showed the gap widening again, to 12 points.   Dole and his running mate Kemp have made the economy the centrepiece of their joint campaign, pledging to cut income taxes by 15 percent and balance the federal budget without harming veterans or the elderly.   But they have given scant details of how they plan to do that.   "It's simply a matter of presidential will.   If you've got it, you can do it, and I've got it and I will do it," said Dole, who in his 35 years in Congress took part in many budget struggles. 
5 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E14 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  President Bill Clinton gave millions of Americans a raise on Tuesday, signing into law a bill to increase the minimum wage for the first time in five years, by 90 cents an hour to $5.15 over two years.   "For many this bill will make the difference between their ability to keep their families together and their failure to do so," Clinton said as he signed the bill surrounded by workers who earn the minimum wage and their children.   "It's about time they got a reward and today they'll get it," the president added.   The bill boosts the wage typically paid to unskilled workers in restaurants and stores by 50 cents to $4.75 on Oct. 1 and by 40 cents to $5.15 on Sept. 1, 1997.   It sugarcoats the pill for the mostly small businesses that will pay the higher labour costs by handing them $22 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, paying for this in part by reimposing a 10 percent tax on airline tickets.   The passage of the minimum wage boost is a victory for Clinton, who called for the measure when he ran for president in 1992, and his fellow Democrats who forced the legislation through Congress over the objections of many Republicans.   "This is a truly remarkable piece of legislation.   It is pro-work, pro-business and pro-family," Clinton said in the elaborate signing ceremony on the White House south lawn.   "This is a cause for celebration for all Americans of all parties, of all walks of life, all faiths," he added.   "We have made this a real season of achievement for America."   But there were no leaders of the Republican-led Congress that passed the minimum wage legislation on hand as Clinton signed the bill into law.   In a ceremony with great fanfare including music played by the U.S. Marine band, Clinton walked to the podium through two parallel columns of American flags with the White House perfectly framed behind him.   After signing the bill with minimum wage workers and their children posed around him, he carried a small girl in a pink dress in his arms as he walked through the crowd greeting people. 
6 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Another liability challenge to the tobacco industry headed toward a decision in court Tuesday, this one from the family of a man who began smoking at age six and died of lung cancer 46 years later.   A jury in Marion County Superior Court was expected to begin deliberations in the case on Wednesday or Thursday.   The widow and three teenaged children of Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis lawyer who died at the age of 52 in 1987, are seeking unspecified damages.   The lawsuit was moving toward a close as Kansas became the 11th state and Arizona the 12th to sue the tobacco industry to recover Medicaid costs of smokers.   Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall and Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods held separate news conferences to discuss their states' litigation.   Also Tuesday, New York City's public advocate urged Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to sue the tobacco industry to recoup health care costs of smokers.   Public Advocate Mark Green, in a letter to the mayor, said the city should join the group of states and the city of San Francisco in their efforts to obtain Medicaid funds from cigarette companies.   The Rogers case, similar to hundreds that have been filed across the country, comes on the heels of a one earlier this month in Jacksonville, Florida, where a jury awarded $750,000 to a man who smoked for 44 years before he was stricken with lung cancer.   In that case the jury said the Lucky Strikes he smoked were a defective product and that cigarette maker Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. was negligent by failing to inform the public about the health risks of smoking.   Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. is a unit of Britain's B.A.T Industries Plc.   In the Indianapolis case, which was tried once before and wound up in a hung jury, the Rogers family contended that the industry peddled an addictive product that was the cause of his lung cancer.   Rogers originally filed the suit himself.   He quit smoking about a year before his death after he was diagnosed with cancer.   The suit is against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Liggett Group Inc., Philip Morris Inc. and The American Tobacco Co., now owned by Brown & Williamson.   RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.   Liggett is a subsidiary of Brooke Group Ltd.   Philip Morris Inc. is a subsidiary of Philip Morris Cos.   Inc.   Lawyers for Rogers' family said during the trial that he knew he was addicted and tried often to quit, but that the industry, by selling an addictive product, took that choice away from him.   Lawyers for the industry countered that Rogers was exposed to warning labels on cigarette packs for at least 20 years and should have been fully aware of the risks stated on them. 
7 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Kansas and Arizona filed lawsuits Tuesday against major tobacco companies to recover Medicaid costs for smoking-related illnesses, joining a growing list of states and cities taking on Big Tobacco in court.   Kansas became the 11th state and Arizona the 12th to join the anti-tobacco litigation.   Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall told a news conference her state's lawsuit was the broadest filed to date.   Stovall said that, in addition to trying to recover Medicaid costs, she would seek to require companies to stop marketing products to children, to disclose their knowledge of nicotine addiction, to publish corrective advertising and to fund a public education campaign on smoking.   Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said his state was seeking more than $300 million in damages related to Medicaid costs Arizona has incurred in providing health care to indigent residents with alleged tobacco-related illnesses.   Woods said the tobacco companies have engaged in a "massive illegal conspiracy" representing that smoking is not addictive.   Arizona's lawsuit also alleged the companies violated antitrust, consumer fraud and fair trade practices.   In addition to the monetary damages, Arizona's lawsuit also asks the court to prohibit the companies from targeting children in their advertising, promotion and sales.   Woods alleged that tobacco products kill an estimated 5,000 Arizona residents a year.   Among the defendants in the two lawsuits were RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., Lorillard Tobacco Co.   Inc., American Tobacco Co., public relations firm Hill and Knowlton Inc., the Council for Tobacco Research, and the Tobacco Institute. 
8 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT  The United States may seek an informal alliance with Japan and the European Union to win world trade rules to assure fair play by state trading enterprises, an Agriculture Department official said Tuesday.   A new round of world trade talks was scheduled to begin in 1999.   Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said earlier this summer that U.S. priorities would be elimination of unfair export subsidies and controls on so-called STEs.   Richard Schroeter, deputy administrator of international trade policy for the Agriculture Department, said there could be grounds for Japan and the EU to assist the U.S. drive.   "If we look at export subsidies, can the United States and the EU afford to eliminate or further reduce their subsidies while certain practices of other countries, which can be equivalent to export subsidies are allowed to continue?"   Schroeter said at the International Sweetener Symposium.   "I speak here, for example, of state trading enterprises, or some producer-financed operations.   My view is that there should be equivalent disciplines to avoid disadvantaging our producers."   So far, Japan, the EU and the United States have met market access commitments under world trade rules, he said.   If other nations wish to see further market-opening steps, Schroeter said, "they're going to have to take part on this issue" of state trading enterprises.   The U.S. view is that STEs, which often have monopoly control over imports or exports, can obstruct trade or engage in unfair sales practices.   U.S. officials frequently cite the Canadian Wheat Board and Australian dairy exports in their complaints about state trading enterprises.   In the previous trade round, Japan's import quotas and EU farm subsidies were major U.S. targets. 
9 !GCAT !GDIP  Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto arrived in Mexico on Tuesday on the first leg of a five-nation, 10-day tour of Latin America.   Although Hashimoto made no comments to reporters upon his arrival at the Mexico City airport just before 11:30 a.m.   EDT (1530 GMT), he was expected to announce credits to Mexico worth $940 million during his three-day trip, Mexican officials said.   Deputy Foreign Minister Juan Rebolledo Gout said on Monday that the credits -- aimed at ecological projects, small- and medium-sized firms and Mexican exporters -- would be signed by Mexican and Japanese officials on Wednesday.   The support comes as Hashimoto seeks to open a new trade front for Japanese industry in Latin America.   Tokyo has already pumped nearly $60 billion in direct investment into the region over the past 14 years and its economic aid doubled between 1990 and 1995 to $1.14 billion.   Hashimoto will hold talks with President Ernesto Zedillo on Wednesday and will meet members of the Japanese-Mexican community during his stay.   Mexico was the first stop on a trip that will also take him to Chile, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica.   A potential cloud over his trip was lifted on Monday when kidnappers released a top Japanese electronics executive in the Mexican-U.S. border city of Tijuana after a $2 million ransom was paid.   After nine days in captivity, Mamoru Konno, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co was found in the basement of an unoccupied building after a Mexican police official contacted kidnappers with the money. 
10 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London chief executive Ron Sandler on Tuesday faced a three-hour grilling in a crucial United States court case, which threatens at the last minute to upset a recovery plan for the 300-year-old insurance market.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the case in Virginia, where U.S. investors (Names) have applied for an injunction to stop the recovery plan in its tracks.   The investors, known as Names, contend that Lloyd's has contravened U.S. disclosure laws.   Sandler is fighting the action personally and underwent several hours of cross-examination on Monday, said Lloyd's.   On Tuesday, he said the recovery plan was essential to the future of Lloyd's.   Under the proposals, Lloyd's is to reinsure billions of pounds in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis claims in the U.S., into a new company Equitas.   Lloyd's has for several years faced a giant raft of litigation in the U.S., but the timing of this latest challenge so near the August 28 deadline, by which Names must accept or reject the recovery plan, has caused it a serious headache.   Judge Robert Payne in Monday's sitting criticised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for refusing to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the SEC's neutral position on this issue.   Payne said the SEC would have a second opportunity to respond to his request for a ruling.   Early on Tuesday morning, however, Lloyd's received a boost from a separate court case in New York, which dismissed action brought against the market by four Names.   They had claimed that Lloyd's knew long ago the extent of liabilities faced by Names.   "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under UK law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this," said Lloyd's U.S. boss Peter Lane.   In Britain, meanwhile, support among Names for the recovery plan has grown since Lloyd's improved its proposals, which include a 3.2 billion pounds ($4.95 billion) offer to Names designed to offset the cost of Equitas.   A last ditch attempt at securing more favourable treatment by a British-based action group foundered last week, when the High Court threw out a case for judicial review of the plan.   But a former Name heading an action group of loss-making investors, on Tuesday hit out at Lloyd's for "breaking promises" he says were made to the hardest-hit Names.   The outspoken chairman of the Lloyd's Names Associations' Working Party and the deputy leader of the Lloyd's Defence Shield, Christopher Stockwell, ended weeks of silence with the charge Lloyd's has "reneged" on income and housing pledges.   Stockwell said the scheme was entirely dependent on the availability of future funds.   This meant Lloyd's could end the scheme any time, which amounted to no formal commitment.   He also claimed fewer than 20 percent of Names have so far accepted the recovery plan.   Lloyd's rejected both statements.   The market last week published guidelines for helping those Names who were worst off after accepting its recovery plan. 
11 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Gulf War hero Colin Powell lent his prestige and popularity to the Republican presidential ticket on Tuesday, making a surprise appearance alongside Bob Dole and Jack Kemp as they campaigned for a strong national defence among U.S. war veterans.   The Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kentucky was a natural setting for Powell, a retired general who helped lead U.S. troops to victory in Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf, and Bob Dole, who nearly died in the Second World War.   "If America is prepared to fight many wars and greater wars, and any wars to come, then maybe we will fight fewer wars and lesser wars and perhaps no wars at all," Dole said, accusing the Clinton administration of inadequate spending on modernising U.S. forces while relying too much on U.N.-related missions.   "I will never commit the armed forces, not one single soldier, without the prospect of victory," said Dole, who also faulted Clinton's policy on "terrorist" states like Iran, Cuba and North Korea.   He later paid a brief visit to the Ladies Auxiliary meeting at a nearby auditorium where they were unable to see or hear the main proceedings.   Powell, apparently trying to keep the spotlight on the Republican candidate and not on rumours that he may be Secretary of State in a Dole administration, said he and Dole "haven't had any discussion" about a cabinet post and the priority now was to "get the team elected."   With his well-received speech at the Republican convention in San Diego last week, the retired general and best-selling author helped the party project an image of tolerance and inclusion.   Republicans hope Powell, a moderate on social issues, can reel in the independents Dole needs if he is to oust President Bill Clinton from the White House on Nov. 5.   Powell had to remind well-wishers who had come out to greet Dole at the Louisville airport, "I'm not running for anything."   Introducing Dole at the VFW rally, he praised him as a champion of a strong defence who "proudly wears a purple heart" for his war wounds and "now offers himself for service as the leader of this great nation."   "His vision includes providing leadership to the world in a way that will reassure and comfort our friends and put our enemies on clear notice that we have the strength and the will to defend ourselves and to defend our interests," he added.   Opinion polls show that the harmonious Republican convention and the energy Kemp infused into the campaign helped Dole cut into Clinton's lead.   But he is still trailing Clinton, who has the advantages of incumbency and at age 50 is 23 years younger.   Clinton's ratings are likely to rise again after the Democratic convention in Chicago next week.   Dole and his running mate Kemp have made the economy the centrepiece of the campaign for the past few days, pledging to cut income taxes by 15 percent and balance the federal budget without harming veterans or the elderly.   But they have given scant details of how precisely they plan to do that.   "It's simply a matter of presidential will.   If you've got it, you can do it, and I've got it and I will do it," said Dole, who in his 35 years in Congress took part in many budget struggles. 
12 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The two main unions representing German retail workers split apart on Tuesday.   The HBV union pulled out of talks in a four-month old pay dispute while the DAG opted to continue negotiations.   The unions have been jointly negotiating a wage and work hours deal for the 450,000 retail workers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, one of several regional deals being hammered out in advance of November's liberalisation of shop hours.   However the service sector union HBV pulled out of the talks on Tuesday after employers refused to accept its unexpected demand for extra compensation for night work.   Until now, unions have pressed for broad adoption of a deal struck in Rhineland-Palatinate which called for workers to get a 1.85 percent wage rise plus 20 percent extra time in lieu per hour worked after 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 2:00 p.m.   Saturdays.   The white collar DAG, which immediately distanced itself from the HBV's demands, said it was confident it could reach an agreement with shopowners on the Rhineland-Palatinate model and would continue talks.   Early Tuesday evening, employers and unions said the talks were progressing well.   The HBV, however, is insisting that shopowners pay all workers a 55 percent bonus time in lieu for time worked between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m.   The retail industry currently pays such bonuses only to truck drivers and store-room workers.   HBV negotiator Gerhard Keuchel said his union would try over the coming days to find fresh ground for new talks, but said the 55 percent bonus was essential.   Meanwhile the HDE retail industry association pleaded for a swift end to the deadlock on the talks, which has caused four months of sporadic strike action affecting shops and wholesalers throughout Germany.   "This cannot drag on until the start of November," HDE wages expert Guenther Wassmann told German radio.   So far, employers, hit by weak consumer spending, have baulked at accepting the Rhineland-Palatinate deal and took particular issue with the 20 percent allowance demand.   However in Bavaria, DAG officials said they were confident of a positive outcome from the tenth round of their wage negotiations, which begins on Wednesday.   The DAG suspended token strikes ahead of the talks and said it planned to suggest a compromise on the controversial 20 percent allowance.   However it warned that the token strikes would resume if employers declined the offer.   In Berlin, wage talks resumed on Tuesday morning for the region's 87,500 retail workers.   Union representatives said they planned to seek an overall pay rise of five percent, to be applicable in east German states as well, in addition to the shop hours deal. 
13 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Talks between German retail workers' unions and shopowners aimed at resolving a four-month old pay dispute hit a further stumbling block on Tuesday, despite union optimism that a settlement could be reached.   Ulrich Walter, chief negotiator for shopowners in North Rhine-Westphalia, said an unexpected union demand for night-time bonuses for the region's 450,000 retail workers had made agreement impossible in Tuesday's talks.   Unions and employers in several federal states are resuming talks this week to agree a wage and work hours deal to cope with the liberalisation of German shopping hours in November.   Until now, unions have pressed for broad adoption of a deal struck in Rhineland-Palatinate which called for workers to get a 1.85 percent wage rise plus 20 percent extra time in lieu per hour worked after 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 2:00 p.m.   Saturdays.   However the HBV services union on Tuesday called for a 55 percent bonus time in lieu for shifts between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m.   The retail industry currently pays such bonuses only to truck drivers and store-room workers.   The white-collar DAG union distanced itself from the demand.   Earlier HBV's chief negotiator for North Rhine-Westphalia, Gerhard Keuchel, said there were "strong chances" for agreement during Tuesday's talks, which took place in the town of Marl.   The HDE retail industry association also pleaded for a swift end to the deadlock on the talks, which has caused four months of sporadic strike action affecting shops and wholesalers throughout Germany.   "This cannot drag on until the start of November," HDE wages expert Guenther Wassmann told German radio.   So far, employers, hit by weak consumer spending, have baulked at accepting the Rhineland-Palatinate deal and took particular issue with the 20 percent allowance demand.   However in Bavaria, DAG officials said they were confident of a positive outcome from the tenth round of their wage negotiations, which begins on Wednesday.   The DAG suspended warning strikes ahead of the talks and said it planned to suggest a compromise on the controversial 20 percent allowance.   However it warned that strikes would resume indefinitiely if employers declined the offer.   In Berlin, wage talks resumed on Tuesday morning for the region's 87,500 retail workers.   Union representatives said they planned to seek an overall pay rise of five percent, to be applicable in east German states as well, in addition to the shop hours deal. 
14 !C12 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London Tuesday braced for a possible ruling in a crucial United States court case that threatens at the last minute to upset a recovery plan for the 300-year-old insurance market.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the case in Richmond, Va., where U.S. investors, known as Names, have applied for an injunction to block the recovery plan.   Under its rescue proposals, Lloyd's is to reinsure billions of pounds in liabilities, including pollution and asbestos-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   Names have only eight days left in which to accept or reject this plan, on which the future of the market hangs.   Since improving the terms of the proposals, which include a 3.2 billion pound ($4.95 billion) offer to Names designed to offset the cost of Equitas, support among British Names for the plan has grown.   A last-ditch attempt at securing more favourable treatment by a British-based action group floundered last week when the High Court threw out a case for judicial review of the plan.   But in the United States, Lloyd's has for several years faced a raft of litigation.   This latest challenge by 100 American Names contends that Lloyd's has breached U.S. disclosure laws.   The insurance market's chief executive, Ron Sandler, is fighting the action personally.   He was cross-examined Monday.   Judge Robert Payne criticised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for refusing to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the SEC's neutral position on this issue.   Payne said the SEC would have a second opportunity to respond to his request for a ruling.   Early Tuesday morning, however, Lloyd's received a boost from a separate court case in New York, which dismissed action brought against the market by four Names.   They had claimed that Lloyd's knew long ago the extent of liabilities faced by Names.   "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under UK law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this," said Lloyd's U.S. boss Peter Lane.   The market last week published guidelines for helping those Names who were worst off after accepting its recovery plan. 
15 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Failed Australian businessman Alan Bond was jailed for three years on Tuesday for fraud involving the French impressionist painting, La Promenade.   In sentencing Bond, the Australian judge said the jail term was not the maximum 14-year sentence, but it would be like a "life sentence" as it would haunt the former high-flyer forever.   Bond, lauded as Australian of the Year after winning the prestigious America's Cup yacht race in 1983, will appeal the conviction, his lawyers later said.   Bond, whose personal fortune was estimated at A$350 million (US$273 million) in the late 1980s, was found guilty last Friday on four fraud charges surrounding the sale of Eduoard Manet's La Promenade.   The jury found that Bond had improperly used his position as director of his former corporate flagship, Bond Corporation Holdings Ltd, to allow his private company to buy La Promenade for about A$10 million less than its market value in 1988.   His private company, Dallhold Investments Pty Ltd, bought the painting for A$2.46 million and sold it a year later at auction in New York for A$17 million.   Judge Antoinette Kennedy said Bond's "passion for art" and his inability to accept that Bond Corporation was no longer his "private fiefdom" led to the fraud offences.   Kennedy said some people might consider Bond's punishment lenient.   But Kennedy said the prison term would seem like a "life sentence" for an individual with Bond's high profile.   "Such people must understand that time in prison goes a lot slower than time outside...and that any prison sentence is a life sentence in a sense for someone in your position, in that you cannot sink into anonymity," Kennedy said.   Bond, 58, who appeared composed during the sentencing, smiled during a brief conversation with his wife, Diana Bliss, before being led away from the dock.   Kennedy dismissed a claim by defence lawyers that a custodial sentence would kill Bond because of his failing health but did not impose the maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.   Bond's lawyers said the former apprentice signwriter suffered from high blood pressure and heart problems but Kennedy ruled that his condition could be properly monitored in prison.   Bond, an avid art collector in his heyday, faces further charges associated with the collapse of his corporate empire in the early 1990s.   Bond was jailed for two-and-a-half years in 1992 after being found guilty of inducing a former friend to contribute to the rescue of a Western Australia bank while concealing a A$16 million fee for his own company.   He served only a few months in jail before a second jury acquitted him at a re-trial in November 1992.   (A$1 = US$0.78) 
16 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Aborigines burnt an Australian flag during an anti-budget rally in front of parliament house on Tuesday and clashed with police as Treasurer Peter Costello assured Australians his first budget at 0930 GMT would be fair.   Hundreds of other Aborigines staged rallies in Brisbane and Adelaide against already announced cuts to indigenous funding in the 1996/97 budget.   "Everyone, if you want to come and stamp on the white law, and the white flag, stamp on the ashes like they stamped on ours," said an Aborigine as the Australian flag burned.   The aboriginal protest, which attracted about 1,000 people, was rowdy, with chanting, didgeridoo playing and rhythm sticks.   At one stage Aborigines tried to enter the nearby old parliament house, but were repelled by police in riot gear.   About 150 Aborigines attacked police with bricks, bottles and stakes during a 20-minute confrontation at the old parliament house.   One policewoman was repeatedly kicked and has been taken to hospital in a serious condition, a police spokeswoman said.   On Monday, an anti-government rally of 15,000 unionists, Aborigines, students and welfare groups in front of Canberra's parliament ended in a riot, as hundreds of protesters stormed into the parliament's foyer.   Police wearing riot gear took two hours to control the riot.   "All we want is justice in our own country," aboriginal activist Charles Perkins told Tuesday's rally.   "We don't want budget cuts -- it's hard enough as it is," said Perkins, standing in front of a map of Australia painted with the aboriginal flag and the words: "Sovereignty never ceded".   "The money that Australia has comes from aboriginal land.   Give us a fair go," he said.   Aborigines, the most disadvantaged group in Australian society, have labelled "racist" A$400 million (US$312 million) in indigenous spending cuts over the next four years.   Deputy chair of the peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Ray Robinson, told Tuesday's rally that reconciliation between white and black Australia was dead.   "Forget about reconciliation that's finished," he said.   "They say we must continue on with the reconciliation.   Do you stab someone in the guts with a knife and while they are dying, say we want to be friends?   It doesn't happen that way."   The five-month-old Liberal-National government was to announce its budget to June 30, 1997 at 0930 GMT.   The budget will be its first and the first for a conservative Australian government in 14 years.   "It's going to be a fair budget, and we are looking forward to putting in place the measures that will help families and small businesses and get Australia moving," treasurer Costello told reporters on Tuesday morning.   The government has promised to cut A$4.0 billion from its maiden budget in a tough fiscal programme aimed at achieving a budget surplus within three years.   The budget deficit for 1995/96 was A$10.3 billion.   Financial markets are concerned about Australia's chronic national savings and external debt problems and are counting on Costello slashing the budget deficit, hopefully by more than the forecast A$4.0 billion.   (A$1 = US$0.78) 
17 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Aborigines burnt an Australian flag during an anti-budget rally in front of parliament house on Tuesday and clashed with police as Treasurer Peter Costello assured Australians his first budget at 0930 GMT would be fair.   Hundreds of other Aborigines staged rallies in Brisbane and Adelaide against already announced cuts to indigenous funding in the 1996/97 budget.   "Everyone, if you want to come and stamp on the white law, and the white flag, stamp on the ashes like they stamped on ours," said an Aborigine as the Australian flag burned.   The aboriginal protest, which attracted about 1,000 people, was rowdy, with chanting, didgeridoo playing and rhythm sticks.   At one stage Aborigines tried to enter the nearby old parliament house, but were repelled by police in riot gear.   About 150 Aborigines attacked police with bricks, bottles and stakes during a 20-minute confrontation at the old parliament house.   One policewoman was repeatedly kicked and has been taken to hospital in a serious condition, a police spokeswoman said.   On Monday, an anti-government rally of 15,000 unionists, Aborigines, students and welfare groups in front of Canberra's parliament ended in a riot, as hundreds of protesters stormed into the parliament's foyer.   Police wearing riot gear took two hours to control the riot.   "All we want is justice in our own country," aboriginal activist Charles Perkins told Tuesday's rally.   "We don't want budget cuts -- it's hard enough as it is," said Perkins, standing in front of a map of Australia painted with the aboriginal flag and the words: "Sovereignty never ceded".   "The money that Australia has comes from aboriginal land.   Give us a fair go," he said.   Aborigines, the most disadvantaged group in Australian society, have labelled "racist" A$400 million (US$312 million) in indigenous spending cuts over the next four years.   (Corrects U.S. dollar conversion from US$3121 million)   Deputy chair of the peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Ray Robinson, told Tuesday's rally that reconciliation between white and black Australia was dead.   "Forget about reconciliation that's finished," he said.   "They say we must continue on with the reconciliation.   Do you stab someone in the guts with a knife and while they are dying, say we want to be friends?   It doesn't happen that way."   The five-month-old Liberal-National government was to announce its budget to June 30, 1997 at 0930 GMT.   The budget will be its first and the first for a conservative Australian government in 14 years.   "It's going to be a fair budget, and we are looking forward to putting in place the measures that will help families and small businesses and get Australia moving," treasurer Costello told reporters on Tuesday morning.   The government has promised to cut A$4.0 billion from its maiden budget in a tough fiscal programme aimed at achieving a budget surplus within three years.   The budget deficit for 1995/96 was A$10.3 billion.   Financial markets are concerned about Australia's chronic national savings and external debt problems and are counting on Costello slashing the budget deficit, hopefully by more than the forecast A$4.0 billion.   (A$1 = US$0.78) 
18 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Failed Australian businessman Alan Bond was sentenced to three years in jail on Tuesday for fraud involving the French impressionist painting, La Promenade.   In sentencing Bond, Western Australia District Court Judge Antoinette Kennedy said that while the jail term was not the maximum 14 years she could impose, it would seem like a "life sentence" to Bond.   Bond, 58, who became a national hero in 1983 for backing Australia's capture of the America's Cup yachting trophy, had appealed for a non-custodial sentence.   His lawyer argued that a jail term could kill him because of his failing health.   But Kennedy said she was satisfied that Bond's "health problems could be monitored within the prison system".   Bond said he suffers from blood pressure and heart problems.   "The sentence I intend to impose on you, you will not regard as lenient, but many in the community will," Kennedy said.   "When I speak of the community I do not speak of the vicious and the hate-filled -- they are insatiable -- but reasonable members of the community.   "Such people must understand that time in prison goes a lot slower than time outside ... and that any prison sentence is a life sentence in a sense for someone in your position, in that you can not sink into anonymity, but it will follow you for ever."   Last Friday, Bond was found guilty of improperly using his position as director of his former corporate flagship, Bond Corporation Holdings, to allow his private company to buy Edouard Manet's La Promenade from Bond Corp for A$2.5 million (US$1.9 million), when its value was at least A$12 million.   Bond's Dallhold Investments Pty Ltd sold the painting a year later at auction in New York for A$17 million.   The Australian Securities Commission, the nation's corporate watchdog, brought four fraud charges against Bond for his 1988 actions.   Kennedy said Bond's passion for art and his inability to accept that Bond Corp was not longer his "fiefdom" combined to encourage him to commit the fraud offences.   Bond's lawyers said he would appeal the conviction.   (A$1 = US$0.78) 
19 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Australia's new conservative government on Wednesday began selling its tough deficit-slashing budget, which sparked violent protests by Aborigines, unions, students and welfare groups even before it was announced.   Two days of anti-budget street protests preceded spending cuts officially unveiled by Treasurer Peter Costello.   "This is a once-in-a-decade chance to get it right," Costello said in a radio interview.   "If we don't do it now, Australia is going to be in deficit and debt into the next century."   Tuesday's budget sliced A$4 billion (US$3.1 billion) from the budget for the current fiscal year, to June 1997, as a first instalment towards an underlying surplus (excluding asset sales) by 1998/99.   Costello told parliament the 1996/97 deficit would be A$5.6 billion, down from A$10.3 last year.   Earlier, about 150 protesting Aborigines had attacked police with bricks, bottles and stakes during a 20-minute confrontation near the Parliament House.   As the protesters had feared, Costello revealed a cut to the government's Aboriginal welfare commission among the hundreds of measures implemented to claw back the deficit.   Programmes for the unemployed were heavily cut, and Costello fended off criticism that the government, driven by conservative ideology, had targetted the poor.   "There'll be a lot of people quaffing their wines down at Pitt Street who won't like it," he said, referring to Sydney's central business district.   Financial markets were mildly disappointed that the budget failed to be as tough as they expected.   The Australian dollar and bonds fell immediately after the budget announcement.   The government's political opponents accused it of sleight of hand, taking from the public when it appeared to give.   The budget's fate was not immediately clear, with minor parties refusing to guarantee passage through the Senate, the upper house of parliament.   Australian Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot said it was too early to say if her party would pass all measures.   The government needs two extra votes -- from the Democrats, the two Greens or two Independents -- to get its legislation past the Labor Opposition in the Senate.   Labor, beaten in the March 2 federal election and which the government blames for Australia's economic woes after 13 years of Labor rule, said the government was hurting the weakest groups in society and was short on detail.   The head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Jennie George, told reporters the budget hurt the weakest groups in the community and did nothing to solve Australia's high unemployment rate - now 8.5 percent.   "The scenario for unemployment is very bleak indeed," George said.   The cuts, many of which had been disclosed ahead of the budget, have sparked protests around the country and triggered rioting during a protest by unionists, students, Aborigines and welfare groups at Parliament House on Monday.   Violence flared again on Tuesday as Aboriginals gathered in Canberra to protest against funding cuts.   But financial markets, which had been expecting a lower deficit were lukewarm.   "It's a relatively tough budget but not as tough as advertised.   That's the bottom line that is coming through," UBS Australia chief economist Stephen Roberts told Reuters.   (A$ -- US$0.785) 
20 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australia's new conservative government released its first budget on Tuesday, slashing spending to attack a chronic deficit, but honouring key election promises to support families and small business.   Treasurer Peter Costello, announcing a underlying deficit of A$5.6 billion (US$4.4 billion) for the year to June 30, 1997, said tough cuts were vital to avoid Australia being "dangerously exposed to shifts in the international outlook or sentiment".    Costello said the five-month-old Liberal-National government had taken the tough decisions needed to turn Australia away from "a path to deficit and debt" in its first budget.   "This is the once in the term, once in the decade opportunity to get it right," Costello told reporters before delivering the first conservative government budget in 14 years.   The budget slashed A$3.9 billion from hundreds of government programmes, but centred largely on aboriginal affairs, universities and schemes to help the jobless find work.   The spending cuts, many of which had been announced ahead of the budget, have sparked widespread protests around the country and triggered rioting at Canberra's parliament house on Monday. 
21 !GCAT !GVIO  The Philippines' top military officer said on Tuesday Manila was exchanging intelligence information with the United States and other countries on potential terrorist threats to the APEC summit later this year.   "Certainly those countries going to APEC must exchange information and talk of possible security problems," Philippine armed forces chief General Arturo Enrile said in an interview at the end of a three-day visit to Singapore.   Manila is taking elaborate security precautions for the summit of leaders of the 18 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum when it is held in the Philippines this November.   U.S. President Bill Clinton is expected to attend.   Enrile said among particular concerns were Islamic militant groups such as Hamas.   He said Hamas also has links with the radical Abu Sayyaf group responsible for a string of bomb attacks and the abduction of foreign priests and nuns in the southern Philippines.   "At the moment, we don't see them posing a threat because the security preparations have been very, very thorough," Enrile said.   The Philippines said on Monday it would deploy a force of 10,000 men picked from the army and police when the APEC leaders meet on November 25 at the former U.S. Subic naval base north of Manila.   APEC is a regional group which hopes to convert the Asia- Pacific region into a free trade zone.   The members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. 
22 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  South Korea's militant students find themselves isolated from a hostile public as they press a violent campaign for reunification with North Korea.   Heroes of the battle for democracy in the late 1980s, when the middle classes rallied behind them, the radical students have now alienated ordinary South Koreans by embracing Pyongyang's blueprint for a single Korea.   Authorities say their leaders are Communist stooges blocking their efforts to bring peace to the divided Korean peninsula.   Tuesday's assault by riot police on Yonsei University to flush out several thousand undergraduates who had occupied two buildings was the worst campus violence since President Kim Young-sam took power in 1993.   Critics partly blame Kim for the unrest, saying it is the outcome of confusion caused by what they see as his lack of a coherent policy on the North.   Yet there is little sympathy for the methods adopted by the young protesters, even though anti-government protests that pit rock-throwing students against riot police have long been a fixture of campus life.   "Things have changed.   What the students are doing now was accepted in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.   It is not fit for the 90s," said Kim Sung-joo, a professor of political science at Sungkyunkwan University.   Korean students have traditionally acted as the conscience of the nation, speaking out in times of national crisis.   College campuses were the breeding grounds for fearless student pro-democracy fighters willing to sacrifice their lives for the cause.   They helped end military-backed rule and usher in democracy.   But as democracy began to take root and communism crumbled worldwide, many students abandoned their socialist leanings.   "Students calling for reunification is fine, but their method is too violent and extreme," said Kim Ho-jin, a professor at Korea University.   "The government also is to blame as they cracked down too harshly," he added.   Another academic, with links to the main opposition National Congress for New Politics, placed the blame for Tuesday's mayhem at the feet of the government.   "South-North Korea relations are not just going through a cool or rigid period, they have totally broken down.   And who is responsible for this?   No one but the government."   "If the government had done a better job with South-North Korea relations, students would have no reason to be out there.   As the government is confused about its North Korea policy, how can we blame the students?"   he said.   South and North Korea have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict, but relations worsened after the death of the North's Great Leader Kim Il-sung two years ago.   Since then, there have been no official government contacts between the two Koreas.   South Korea and the United States have proposed four-party peace talks together with the North and China, but Pyongyang has yet to respond.   The students support Pyongyang's vision for a reunified Korea that would leave the governments of both Koreas intact.   Elderly South Koreans still remember the Korean War, and analysts say that is part of the reason why students have not been able to get support from the public.   "In the past, students fought for democracy calling for the end of the militant government, which the public supported.   But reunification is another matter as many have been through the war," said Kim at Korea University.   "The students are simply calling for reunification because we are one.   Everyone knows that, and have for a long time, but how it should be done is different."   South Korean authorities had called the protests at Yonsei a "pro-North Korean riot", but analysts said they were playing up the North Korean threat to garner public support for the crackdown on campus dissent.   "Only a handful of them are really pro-North Korea.   The government knows this, but is playing along that line to receive public support," said the opposition academic. 
23 !C12 !C15 !C152 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Five accidents over 10 days could cost Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp more than T$2 billion (US$72.7 million) in compensation and losses, the state-owned monopoly said on Tuesday.   "Fishermen in the Kaohsiung area and residents near the oil polluted No.5 naphtha cracker have demanded about T$1.7 billion in various types of compensation," Chinese Petroleum official Huang Yaw-hao said.   "Losses in production and repair costs are close to T$300 million over these incidents."   Negotiations for compensation were under way and plaintiffs have asked for a final deal by Friday, Huang said.   Angry residents have threatened public protests over five separate CPC since August 9 -- three fires, an undersea pipeline leak that fouled the ocean and another oil leak on land.   As many as 8,000 Kaohsiung fishermen are demanding about T$1.2 billion ($43.6 million) in compensation.   Representatives of more than 5,000 residents claiming to have been affected by an August 9 oil leak near the No.5 naphtha cracker met with Chinese Petroleum executives on Monday to discuss damages, Huang said.   The sides failed to reach an agreement on demands of more than T$500 million ($18.18 million), he said.   Production losses alone during the shutdown of the cracker have reached T$30 million.   A leak at a CPC natural gas well that caught fire on Sunday is expected to cost the firm T$200 million in losses.   Chinese Petroleum's insurer, Chung Kuo Insurance Co Ltd is expected to pick up some of the losses.   Officials have yet to estimate the cost of the coastal cleanup and environmental damage near Chinese Petroleum's ruptured underwater oil pipeline.   (US$1:T$27.5)   -- Taipei Newsroom (2-5080815) 
24 !GCAT !GDIP  Where in the world is Taiwanese Vice-President Lien Chan?   The question has perplexed journalists, nervous stock market investors and ordinary citizens since Lien, a dapper, U.S.-educated millionaire who doubles as premier or cabinet chief, dropped from sight in New York on Sunday.   Lien's whereabouts are laden with portent for Taiwan's strained ties with longtime rival China, which surely is as curious as anyone about his movements.   Taiwan's government knows where he is, acknowledging that Lien is making a private visit to a country where Taiwan has no diplomatic ties, apparently in Europe.   But officials have bent over backward to keep Lien's travels secret, knowing Beijing will savage any diplomatic friend that accords anything resembling an official welcome to a leader of what Beijing regards as Taiwan's illegitimate government.   A state-funded television station reported on Tuesday that Lien's journey had taken him to Ukraine, and the authoritative United Daily News said he was expected to meet the Ukrainian head of state.   Neither identified or described the source of its report and Taiwan officials refused to comment on it.   A former Soviet republic, Ukraine recognises the communist government in Beijing -- not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China government -- but has made clear its desire for better relations with Taiwan and its powerful export-driven economy.   In the official information void, Taiwan's media have been left to speculate about Lien's destination, variously suggesting he would visit Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, France, Austria or Belarus, not to mention Ukraine.   China's ire at diplomatic affronts can be dramatic and has prompted Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui in the past week to step up the rhetoric of a festering political showdown dating to the civil war that split Taiwan from China in 1949.   Worries over renewed acrimony on Monday sparked a three-percent slide in Taiwan's hypersensitive stock market, but share prices recouped some of the losses on Tuesday.   A furious Beijing downgraded its U.S. ties after Washington let Taiwan Lee make a private visit in June 1995, although the two sides recently began patching things up.   China showed its anger at Taipei with a nine-month spate of war games and unarmed missile tests in waters near Taiwan that peaked in the final days before the island's March 23 election, the first popular presidential poll in Chinese history.   France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Czech Republic are among diplomatic partners of China that have paid dearly for arming Taiwan or showing other signs of political support.   Beijing flatly refuses to recognise any state that recognises Taiwan's exiled Republic of China government.   The number of those countries fell by one on Monday to just 30 as impoverished Niger, which split with Beijing to recognise Taipei in 1992, switched back to Beijing.   China had denounced Niger's defection to Taiwan as a result of the prosperous island's "chequebook diplomacy" and has made a high priority of wooing Niger and other African states back.   Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited six African countries in June, including Niger's neighbour Mali, prompting Taipei to claim that Beijing was the true "chequebook diplomat." 
25 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Palestinian Authority faces financial collapse if an Israeli blockade on self-ruled areas is not lifted and if international donors fail to disburse economic aid, foreign diplomats said on Tuesday.   "Within weeks the Palestinian Authority may face a liquidity crisis and financial collapse," said Terje Larsen, U.N. special envoy to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.   "The budget deficit is estimated to reach $127 million dollars and around $64 million still needs financing," Larsen told reporters at a news conference on the Palestinian economy.   "Failure to address the economic and political problems will lead to political instability that will not be in the interest of the Palestinian Authority, Israel or the international community," he said.   International Monetary Fund representative in the West Bank and Gaza Salam Fayyad said only $985 million - or 40 percent - of the $2.4 billion pledged by donors in 1993 had been given.   Fayyad said donor failure to meet pledges forced the Palestinian Authority to expand the public sector beyond its absorption capacity and to borrow.   "The Authority hasn't received any financing for the current side of the budget since June 18, 1996, and in the absence of resources, the liquidity position of the Palestinian Authority will be threatened," he said.   Mohammad Shtayeh, head of the Palestinian Economic Development and Reconstruction Council said repeated Israeli closures of the West Bank and Gaza had created the worst economic conditions since Israel occupied the areas in 1967.   "Palestinians' total loss due to the closure is $600 million since January 1996," Shtayeh said.   Palestinian territories have been subjected to repeated closures since 1993.   Israel clamped a full blockade on the West Bank and Gaza after a wave of suicide bombings by Moslem militants killed 59 in the Jewish state last February and March.   Shtayeh said the inability of workers to reach jobs in Israel had led to the highest unemployment rates since 1967 -- 51 percent in Gaza and 40 percent in the West Bank in 1996.   Shtayeh said the blockade has caused sharp declines in Palestinian per capita incomes -- from $1800 to $800 in the West Bank and from $1200 to $700 in Gaza in 1996.   He said that 166,000 Palestinian workers had been prevented from reaching jobs in Israel.   Israel has recently eased the closure, allowing 45,000 workers to return to their jobs in the Jewish state, an Israeli official said.   The siege has also caused West Bank and Gazan exports, estimated at $500 million in January, to fall by 50 percent.   The negative effects of the closure, compounded by donor failure to meet their pledges, forced the Palestinian Authority to borrow $90 million from the World Bank, Shtayeh said. 
26 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The sharp rise in Turkey's January-July budget deficit maintains pressure on the government to rein in spending and reduce its interest payment burden, analysts said on Tuesday.   The deficit in the seven months to July jumped to 564 trillion lira ($6.58 billion) from 103.3 trillion lira in the same 1995 period and compared with 475.4 trillion in the first half, Finance Minister Abdulatif Sener told a news conference.   "The deficit increase is going to accelerate in the last part of the year from September when markets are volatile," said Ali Seyhun, director of research at ATA Securities.   The Islamist-led coalition will have to start producing results soon from its economic reform plans if it is to meet its budget deficit target for the year as a whole, analysts said.   Shortly after the government came to power in late June, Sener revised the 1996 budget deficit target to 1,300 trillion lira from an original target of 861 trillion and compared with a deficit of 317 trillion in 1995.   Sener said tax revenues in the first seven months "inspired hope" for the government's plans, with receipts rising 100.7 percent from a year earlier compared with a target rise of 91.0 percent.   Budget revenues, including tax receipts of 1,103 trillion lira, amounted to 1,349 trillion lira.   The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a recent report that the government's fiscal strategy is a vital part of a reform process needed to curb annual inflation of over 80 percent and a deficit of more than six percent of gross national product.   "The government should act quickly to implement a major front-loaded fiscal adjustment combined with structural reforms," the IMF said.   The government's efforts to tighten fiscal policy are being undermined by domestic and foreign debt interest payments amounting to 44 percent of the government's total 1,913 trillion spending during the seven-month period.   The spearhead of the government's efforts to reduce the interest payment burden is a scheme to raise finance through foreign currency deals as part of a revenue-raising package aimed at raising $10 billion.   State Minister Ufuk Soylemez told Reuters earlier on Tuesday that Turkey will borrow between $500 million and $1 billion from Turkish banks in September through a club loan deal.   The deal is to be supplemented by the planned issue of foreign-currency-denominated bonds, through which the government aims to lengthen domestic borrowing maturities.   Analysts however remained cautious about the reform plans and their effectiveness.   "The new funding sources are not a concrete solution to the deficit problem," Seyhun said, adding that the government's efforts to address Turkey's economic problems may yet be undermined by disagreements between the coalition's Islamist and conservative wings.   ($1 = 85,800 Turkish lira) 
27 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Tehran is banking on Malaysia's Petronas acquisition of a 30 percent stake in a project to develop two oil and gas fields in Iran to deflect intense U.S. efforts to isolate the Islamic republic.   "This shows that unilateral moves cannot isolate the Iranian oil industry.   It also indicates that the U.S. position is not shared by foreign oil companies," an Iranian oil official told Reuters by telephone from Tehran on Tuesday.   The official predicted the deal "will have a positive impact" on other foreign companies seeking business in Iran's lucrative oil and gas industries.   "The deal indicates that the U.S. cannot dictate its own will."   But the key question now is whether other companies will follow suit in the face of tough new U.S. moves to penalise non-American firms that invest in energy projects in Iran and Libya, analysts and diplomats said.   "Iran is trying everything possible to break the sanctions and the isolation," said an oil industry executive in the Gulf.   "But the Americans aren't joking and other companies like ours are likely to remain cautious.   Iran is a risky market."   French oil group Total SA on Monday said Malaysia's state-owned energy company Petronas had taken a 30 percent stake in the Sirri A and E fields through its Carigali subsidiary in a deal approved by the Iranian authorities.   The announcement, ending a search of more than a year for partners in the $600 million project, came two weeks after U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a bill which would penalise foreign firms which invest $40 million or more annually in Iran's or Libya's energy sectors.   The Iranian official said Petronas sealed the deal before the new U.S. sanctions were made law.   But the official and Gulf oil analysts predicted the news would still anger Washington.   "This is outright defiance.   It will be seen by Washington as open defiance of Clinton's bill," said one analyst.   "At the same time, companies will be taking a risk if they invest in Iran."   But a British diplomat underlined the rift between the United States and its European allies who were outraged at the U.S. sanctions.   "We will be perfectly content to trade with Iran.   We don't have a problem with that.   There are opportunites in Iran and European companies will follow their governments' leads," the Gulf-based diplomat said.   "Other companies are likely to follow Petronas's lead."   Total, which has always said its dealings with both Iran and Libya were within French and international law, said earlier this month that the U.S. sanctions would not apply to Sirri.   The Sirri deal, Iran's largest with a foreign firm since its 1979 revolution, attracted fierce opposition from Washington which accuses Tehran of backing "international terrorism".   Iran denies the charges.   DuPont Co unit Conoco Inc had to dissolve an earlier deal with Iran for the development of the two Sirri fields after pressure from the White House.   Iran said the new sanctions were doomed to fail because they lacked support from European states which have refused to adopt the U.S. hardline stand on Tehran.   Total signed a contract on July 13, 1995 with the National Iranian Oil Company covering all phases of the development of the two fields, including studies, delineation, development and production start-up. 
28 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  The Japanese electronics executive who was kidnapped in Mexico described his nine-day ordeal on Tuesday as harrowing and said he was looking forward to some rest and freedom.   Speaking for the first time since he was freed on Monday, Mamoru Konno told a news conference, "I plan now to rest and enjoy the company of my family and colleagues and savor the sweetness of freedom."   The 57-year-old president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co looked tired and fragile, and refused to say when he would return to work.   "It took a tremendous toll on me, physically, emotionally and intellectually," he told a news conference at Sanyo's San Diego facilities on Tuesday.   Konno was found in the basement of an unoccupied building in Tijuana, just south of the Mexican border, early on Monday morning.   Government officials said he was freed after kidnappers received $2 million in unmarked $100 bills.   "It was a harrowing ordeal and I sincerely hope that no one has to go through it," said Konno, who was seized Aug. 10 as he travelled home to San Diego from a company party and baseball game in Tijuana.   Jose Luis Anaya Bautista, state attorney general of Baja California, said on Monday that the ransom was paid on Saturday night with no apparent guarantee Konno would be released.   Police are still searching for six suspects.   "Last week was one of the worst weeks of my life, although I am in good health," Konno said.   Konno thanked Mexican, U.S. and Japanese authorities, as well as his family, for helping him survive the ordeal.   "I think that's what kept me going," he said.   Konno, who is a father of three, was joined by his oldest son, Kenji, 26.   "I'm happy to be reunited with my father," Kenji said. 
29 !C15 !C151 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  CompuServe Inc., the No. 2 online service, Tuesday reported a $29.6 million fiscal first-quarter loss and said it would cut 150 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, as part of a $30 million cost-cutting programme.   The Columbus, Ohio-based company also said it would sell its Spry Inc. software unit as part of the cost cuts.    The loss of $29.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the fiscal first quarter ended July 31, compared with last year's quarterly profit of $26.8 million, or 36 cents a share.   The company said it expected losses to continue into the second fiscal quarter due to the costs of new product introduction, but predicted improved earnings in the second half of fiscal 1997.   The oldest major online service, second only to America Online Inc., reported total revenues of $208.6 million for the quarter vs. $186.5 million in the previous year's quarter.   CompuServe announced its financial results after markets closed.   Its stock dropped 12.5 cents to $13.50 on Nasdaq in earlier trading. 
30 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  President Bill Clinton handed millions of Americans a raise on Tuesday, signing into law a bill to increase the minimum wage for the first time in five years, by 90 cents per hour to $5.15.   "For many this bill will make the difference between their ability to keep their families together and their failure to do so," Clinton said as he signed the bill surrounded by workers who earn the minimum wage and their children.   "It's about time they got a reward."    The bill will boost the wage, typically paid to unskilled workers in restaurants and stores, by 50 cents to $4.75 on Oct. 1 and by 40 cents to $5.15 on Sept. 1, 1997.   It will sweeten the pill for the mostly small businesses that will pay the higher labor costs by handing them some $22 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, paying for this in part by reimposing a 10 percent tax on airline tickets.   The passage of the minimum wage is a victory for Clinton, who called for the measure when he ran for president in 1992, and his fellow Democrats, who forced the legislation through Congress over the objections of many Republicans.   Clinton signed the bill with great fanfare at an elaborate outdoor ceremony with music from the Marine band.   After signing the bill, he carried a small girl in a pink dress -- the daughter of one of the workers invited -- in his arms as he greeted the crowd. 
31 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Three hundred employees of car rental giant Hertz Corp went out on strike just one week before the Democratic National Convention begins here, the company said.   Those wanting to rent Hertz cars will be able to do so, despite the strike, said a spokesman for Hertz, the world's largest car rental firm and a unit of Ford Motor Co.   More than 20,000 people are expected to descend on Chicago next week for the August 26-29 convention.    Hertz managers were staffing customer service counters, courtesy buses and vehicle service areas left abandoned Monday by members of Teamsters Local 781, said Hertz's Joe Russo.   If needed, Hertz is prepared to maintain interim staffing through the convention at the affected locations at O'Hare and Midway airports, as well as two downtown offices, he said.   "Our guess is the union saw some opportunity to put some pressure on Hertz with the Democratic National Convention in town and we fully anticipated that," said Russo by telephone from Hertz headquarters in New Jersey.   The 300 employees have been working without a contract since December 1995.   Negotiations apparently stumbled over work rules and the two sides are not far apart, Russo said.   "The strike came as a bit of a surprise yesterday because we thought this was an awfully attractive package," he said.   The union could not be reached for comment.   --Chicago Newsdesk 312-408-8787 
32 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Gulf War hero Colin Powell lent his prestige and popularity to the Republican presidential ticket on Tuesday, making a surprise appearance with Bob Dole and Jack Kemp as they campaigned for a strong national defence amongst U.S. war veterans.   The Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Kentucky was a natural setting for Powell, a retired general who helped lead U.S. troops to victory in Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf, and for Bob Dole, who nearly died in the Second World War.   "If America is prepared to fight many wars and greater wars ... then we will fight fewer wars and lesser wars and perhaps no wars at all," Dole said, accusing the Clinton administration of inadequate spending on modernising U.S forces while relying too much on U.N.-related missions.   "I will never commit the armed forces, not one single soldier, without the prospect of victory," said Dole, who also faulted the Clinton administration's policy on "terrorist" states like Iran, Cuba and North Korea.   Powell, trying to keep the spotlight on the Republican ticket rather than on rumours he may be Secretary of State in a Dole administration, said he and Dole "haven't had any discussion" about a cabinet post and their priority was to "get the team elected."   With his well-received speech at the Republican convention last week, the retired general and best-selling author helped the party project an image of tolerance and inclusion.   Republicans hope Powell, a moderate on social issues, can help reel in the independents Dole needs if he is to oust President Bill Clinton from the White House in the Nov. 5 election.   Powell had to remind well-wishers who came to greet Dole at the Louisville airport: "I'm not running for anything."   Introducing Dole at the VFW rally, he praised him as a champion of a strong defence who "proudly wears a purple heart" for his war wounds and has a vision for restoring "traditional values" while ensuring that opportunities are open to all Americans.   Opinion polls show that the harmonious Republican convention, and the energy Kemp infused into the campaign, helped Dole cut into Clinton's lead.   But Dole was still trailing Clinton, who has all the advantages of incumbency and at age 50 is 23 years younger, and Clinton's ratings were likely to rebound after the Democratic convention next week.   Dole and Kemp for the past few days have made the economy the centrepiece of the campaign, pledging to cut income taxes by 15 percent and balancing the federal budget while giving scant details of how they plan to carry that out.   Dole said it was "not difficult to do both" without cutting benefits for veterans and the elderly.   He said his response to naysayers was the same thing a Second World War general told Germans who demanded his surrender: "Nuts."   Although House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and others have mentioned Powell as a potential Secretary of State, Dole has been silent.   His press spokesman Nelson Warfield said: "You don't hear Bill Clinton talking about his retirement plans and you won't hear Bob Dole talking about his cabinet.   There is plenty of time for that after Nov. 5."   Joking with reporters briefly aboard the plane, Dole would not say where he planned to vacation next week.   Asked whether he would visit Chicago right before the Democrats convene, he made a characteristic quip.   "There's something going on there next week -- not much," he joked.   Asked whether he would watch the Democratic convention on television, he said, "I didn't watch ours -- just the good parts."   But an aide reminded reporters that Dole was kidding and said he would watch at least portions of the convention that will formally renominate Clinton as his opponent in November. 
33 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A break-in at the U.S. Justice Department's World Wide Web site last week highlighted the Internet's continued vulnerability to hackers.   Unidentified hackers gained access to the department's web page on August 16 and replaced it with a hate-filled diatribe labelled the "Department of Injustice" that included a swastika and a picture of Adolf Hitler.   Justice officials quickly pulled the plug on the vandalised page, but the security flaws that allowed hackers to gain entry likely exist in thousands of other corporate and government web sites, security experts said.   "The vast majority of sites are vulnerable," said Richard Power, senior analyst at the Computer Security Institute.   "The Justice Department shouldn't be singled out."   Justice Department officials said the compromised web site was not connected to any computers containing sensitive files.   The web site (http://www.usdoj.gov) included copies of press releases, speeches and other publicly available information.   The security breach "is just like graffiti on the outside of the building," spokesman Bert Brandenburg said.   Other organisations have been targeted in the past.   Last year, the Nation of Islam's Million Man March web site was vandalised.   And hackers make 250,000 attempts annually to break into U.S. military computers, according to a General Accounting Office report.   Windows Magazine recently found security flaws at web sites of a dozen major corporations.   "The web is spectacularly insecure," editor Mike Elgan said.   Relying on security holes that had been documented by software manufacturers months earlier, the magazine's specialists were able to gain various degrees of unauthorised access at the different sites.   Elgan said hackers who are exploiting some of the same flaws are motivated by anger over the growth and commercialization of the Internet.   "A common theme is that hackers are fed up with non-hackers on the Internet," he said.   The battle is not completely hopeless.   "You can secure a web site," Richard Power said.   "There's all kinds of measures you can take.   Most corporations and institutions don't take them simply because nothing bad has happened to them yet."   Some sites are using multiple layers of security, well beyond simple password protection, to keep hackers out.   One site mentioned by Windows Magazine was Fidelity Investments.   Fidelity's site advertises its mutual funds and disseminates information about personal finance but does not contain confidential customer information.   Fidelity officials immediately closed the loophole identified by the magazine, a spokeswoman said.   But multiple security measures previously in place would have prevented a security breach despite the hole, the spokeswoman added. 
34 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London said a U.S. federal court had granted Lloyd's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by four Lloyd's Names -- J. David Tufts III, James D. Tufts II, Albert B. Crutcher and Linda Tufts Hebbler.   In a statement late on Monday, Lloyd's said Judge John F. Keenan of the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York ruled that the plaintiff's evidence "fails to support their claim."   The court focused on the choice clauses included in the General Undertaking.   Keenan followed precedents set in three other lawsuits against Lloyd's by plaintiffs who brought evidence seeking to prove that Lloyd's, and certain parties and entities affiliated with it, knew the extent of the liabilities that Names faced by participating in some syndicates.   Peter Lane, Managing Director of Lloyd's North America, said: "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under U.K. law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this." 
35 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Poland's Consumer Federation has issued four court writs against Coca Cola's local unit seeking payment on behalf of people who say they won prizes in a promotion this year, PAP news agency said on Tuesday.   In the promotion launched by Coca-Cola Poland Services Sp.   z.o.o., customers who submitted two bottle tops printed on the inside with matching dates and venues for past Olympic games, plus the same sum of money, could win cash prizes.   Four consumers say the firm did not pay out when they submitted such matching caps and have sought the consumer group's support, the Polish news agency reported.   The demands for payment before the Warsaw provincial court total 320,000 zlotys, it added.   Coca Cola spokesman Marcin Barcz told Reuters the claims arose because on some caps the number eight had been badly printed and could be taken to look like a six, arousing some false hopes.   The firm had offered such disappointed contestants the chance to take part in an additional supplementary lottery for a compensation prize, but not all had accepted, he said.   "This happened because a machine did not print a relatively small proportion of these caps entirely precisely," Barcz said.   All the winning tops were registered with a notary before the January to May "Reach for Gold" promotion and the victors were clearly identifiable despite the printing fault, he added.   Barcz said that the company, a wholly-owned unit of the Coca Cola Co, would use similar contests in the future.   The promotion aroused wide interest, with some people advertising in local newspapers in other parts of Poland for matching caps, so as to team up and split the prizes.   Coca Cola said in June that more than 600 people won sums ranging from 100 zlotys to the two main prizes of 150,000 zlotys, with payouts totalling 800,000 zlotys.   -- Anthony Barker +48 22 653 9700 
36 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Italy's hard-left leader Fausto Bertinotti, who has said he is firmly opposed to the sale of state telecoms group Stet, is unlikely to bring down prime minister Romano Prodi over the issue, analysts said on Tuesday.   But Bertinotti, who appears determined to bring as much influence as possible to bear on Prodi, could severely weaken the thrust of the centre-left government's ambitious reform programme, they said.   The leader of the marxist-inspired Communist Refoundation party, has threatened to pull the rug from under Prodi's feet if the government presses ahead with the Stet privatisation.   The threat sent ripples through financial markets on Monday.   The government says it wants to sell the company by the end of March of next year.   "Bertinotti's strategy is to strongly influence the Prodi government," said Italian diplomat and commentator Sergio Romano.   "I don't think he wants to hold firm to the point that he would force the government's collapse."   Bertinotti has also served warning that he will make his influence felt when the government unveils its 1997 budget plans before parliament next month.   Prodi badly needs the support of Bertinotti's party, which holds the balance of power in the lower house of parliament with 35 deputies, although some opposition politicians may come to the government's rescue in favour of the Stet sell-off.   The communists warned on Tuesday that if Prodi seeks to out-manoeuvre them by enlisting opposition support for the Stet privatisation, the government's survival would be at stake.   "It appears evident that the continuous offers of support for the government from the opposition regarding the Stet privatisation contain mortal dangers for the Prodi government," said Oliviero Diliberto, parliamentary leader of the communists.   "Any change in the (government) majority could not fail to raise questions over the government itself.   And Prodi knows this," said Diliberto in a statement.   Bertinotti is likely to do all in his power to hold up the Stet sale in the knowledge that he can count on support for his cause from other quarters, including the trade union rank-and-file and parts of the post-fascist National Alliance.   "Bertinotti wants to reaffirm his power over the government," said Gianfranco Pasquino, a political scientist.   "To bring the government down would require an explicit vote of no-confidence and that would be dangerous for Bertinotti because it would isolate him," he added.   Others have suggested that a botched Stet sale might also suit the interests of some elements of Italian big business which is said to want to be in a position to influence the privatisation process.   "The truth is that he (Bertinotti) is not defending the workers," Guido Rossi, an influential company lawyer told Rome daily La Repubblica.   "He is playing to the interests of that part of private capitalism which wants to have as a partner a rickety state to do business with," said Rossi, a former chairman of Consob, the stock exchange regulatory council.   Critics of the Stet sale have said they fear that Mediobanca, a secretive Milan merchant bank which is the prime mover and shaker in the Italian corporate world, would try to wield disproportionate influence in a privatised Stet.   Bertinotti is unlikely to back down over Stet unless he is given assurances that the government will retain strong influence over a privatised group by wielding a "golden" share.   "He wants the golden share to be very golden," said Pasquino.   Bertinotti is also likely to insist that a Stet under private ownership should not be allowed to lay off workers for a number of years. 
37 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis looks set to call early elections on Friday citing as reasons the economy and relations with Turkey, government officials said on Tuesday.   "We expect the announcement on Friday after a special cabinet meeting.   All indications at the moment show that the premier will call early elections to take place in late September or early October," one official told Reuters.   Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas reiterated on Tuesday that Simitis will announce his final decision on the matter this week.   Elections are now scheduled for October next year.   Simitis, who took over as premier from late socialist party founder Andreas Papandreou in January, scores highly in public opinion polls and would be favourite to win an election against the conservative New Democracy party, which seems disoriented and plagued by internal strife.   This would give him a free hand to implement sweeping reforms in the ailing economy and to find ways to deal with rival Turkey on differences over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea and the divided island of Cyprus.   Simitis and his Finance Minister Alexandros Papadopoulos are in the final stages of putting together next year's budget, which includes cuts of $1.2 billion in state spending and the restructuring of public companies to boost growth.   Papadopoulos has warned that Greece is still a long way from meeting the criteria necessary to join European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999 and that in the next two years Greeks must make sacrifices to slash inflation and a towering public debt.   Inflation was running at a rate of 8.6 percent year-on-year in June -- the highest by far in the European Union -- and the public debt was still well over 100 per cent of the country's GDP.   The EMU target is for the debt to drop to 60 percent of GDP and inflation to be slashed to about two points above the average inflation of the three best performing EU members.   "The government must take some very tough decisions next year which can't be taken if elections take place as scheduled.   Simitis wants four years and needs four years to restructure Greece," the official said.   Greek markets welcomed the possibility of early elections with the Athens general share index rising by 2.30 on Tuesday.   "I am optimistic," said a fund manager at a private investment company.   "The bourse discounts the re-election of Simitis, much desired political stability and economic measures to help the country join EMU."   Simitis is also being pressed by the country's top brass to spend about $10 billion on the purchase of new weapons so that Greece is prepared to face any Turkish moves in the Aegean.   This could mean foreign borrowing or extra taxes before the scheduled elections next year, a move that would not go down well with voters. 
38 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Swiss leaders on Tuesday rejected calls to hold the country's frequent national referendums on the Internet, saying computer networks were vulnerable to sabotage.   The Federal Council, or cabinet, dismissed a parliamentary request for a study of ways for Swiss voters to cast their ballots electronically over the world-wide computer network.   Internet voting would be too vulnerable to manipulation by computer hackers, since the Internet is accessible from almost any computer, the cabinet said.   "This danger is much greater in a computer network, and especially in the Internet, than under current voting methods," it said, referring to the ballot papers and boxes now in use.   Internet voting would also require enormous investment in technology to make it available to all, the cabinet added.   Six members of parliament had urged the government to look into Internet balloting as a way of luring non-voting Swiss, especially younger people, back into the democratic process.   Voter turnout has fallen gradually for years at the same time as the number of referendums has mushroomed under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.   Swiss citizens are able to vote directly on many major policy issues rather than delegating them to elected representatives, as happens in most other democracies.   A given year might see five to 10 national referendums and even more local ones. 
39 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  German construction machinery maker Orenstein & Koppel AG said on Tuesday it would cut hundreds of jobs fromm its workforce of 3,576 by the end of next year.   Earlier the company said it made an operating loss in the first six months of the year.   But because of the sale of its lift division, O&K reported a pre-tax profit for the period of 85 million marks, up from two million marks the year before.   O&K is a subsidiary of Fried.   Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp .   A spokesman for O&K said the company would carry out a drastic restructuring programme as a result of the slump in the construction machinery sector.   He said it was too soon to know how many jobs would be cut.   Forecasts for the sector indicated there would be no improvement in the foreseeable future. 
40 !C13 !C18 !C181 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Tuesday it had approved the aquisition by Germany's Klockner Stahl-und-Metallhandel GmbH of 62 percent of Arus Distribution Industrielle SA.   However, the Commission said it statement that the approval under the European Union's merger regulation concerned only those products not covered by the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) Treaty.   "Essentially, these are tubes, cut and bent reinforcing bars, hollow sections, supplies to the manufacturing and construction industries, and aluminium," it said.   It said that the ECSC aspects would be dealt with in a separate decision.   It did not elaborate. 
41 !C18 !C181 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Tuesday it had cleared the planned acquisition by General Electric Capital Corporation of Germany's CompuNet Computer AG.   It said in a statement that CompuNet operated exclusively in Germany where it had a small market share.   "Since GE does not operate in the information technology market in the (European Union), and CompuNet operates only in Germany...no geographical overlap exists," the Commission said.   This made the venture acceptable under EU competition law. 
42 !C13 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Tuesday it had cleared a joint venture between Germany's Siemens AG and Sommer-Allibert Industrie AG for the development, production, installation and sales of integrated car interiors.   The Commission said in a statement that the parties were already in competition with several other large suppliers.   "The concentration is not likely to lead to the creation or strengthening of a dominant market position.   Therefore the operation does not raise serious doubts as to its compatibility with the common market," it said. 
43 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Rudolf Scharping, parliamentary leader of the opposition Social Democrats, said he considered possible a cut in the top German income tax rate to 40 percent from the current 53 percent.   In an interview with the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, Scharping said the SPD would put priority on lowering the lowest rate to 20 percent from 25.9 percent, but that it would also consider a cut in the top rate.   Scharping said his party would prepare a comprehensive proposal on cutting subsidies and taxes by autumn. 
44 !GCAT !GSPO  New Zealand's second string recorded their biggest win of the tour with a 31-0 victory over Western Transvaal (halftime 12-0) in atrocious conditions on Tuesday.   More than 80 percent of the pitch was covered in standing water when the teams ran out after torrential rain and hail lashed the ground for two hours before kickoff.   The warmup game had to be abandoned midway through the second half as the players were pelted by hail and the ground turned white.   Western Transvaal captain, Eugene Hare, who holds the record number of appearances for the province, said afterwards: "I have never seen conditions like this."   The All Blacks responded superbly to the conditions and scored five tries -- all through their backs -- to put behind them the struggles they had in overcoming Boland and Western Province in their previous midweek matches.   However, winger Jonah Lomu looks no nearer a return to the test team.   He completed his second 80 minutes of the tour but frequently limped heavily on his left knee.   The New Zealand tries came from Ofisa Tonu'u, Matthew Cooper, Eric Rush, Alama Ieremia and Carlos Spencer.    Teams (15 to 1):   Western Transvaal: Dewald Basson (D.P. Swart, 65th); Wynand Lourens, Fanie Heymans, Tony Lincoln, Carl Bensch; A.J. de Jager, Eugene Hare (captain); Kleinjan Tromp, Joe Beukes, Ronald Ferreira, Gerhard Laufs, Lukas Swart, Rocco Peddar (Hanro van der Merwe, 40), Leon Boshoff (Rodney Mitchell, 53), Andre Coetzer (Tenk Hendriks 40).   New Zealand: Matthew Cooper; Eric Rush, Tabai Matson, Alama Ieremia, Jonah Lomu; Carlos Spencer, Ofisa Tonu'u; Taine Randell (captain), Chresten Davis, Andrew Blowers (Todd Blackadder, 66), Glenn Taylor, Blair Larsen, Phil Coffin, Norman Hewitt (Anton Oliver, 64), Mark Allen. 
45 !GCAT !GSPO  New Zealand beat Western Transvaal 31-0 (halftime 12-0) on Tuesday.   Scorers -- Tries: Ofisa Tonu'u, Matthew Cooper, Eric Rush, Alama Ieremia, Carlos Spencer.   Conversions: Cooper (3). 
46 !GCAT !GSPO  Halling, the 6-4 favourite, blazed his way into the turf history books on Tuesday, winning the group one Juddmonte International for the second year in succession.   Halling became the first horse to win both the International and Sandown's prestigious Eclipse Stakes twice.   Ridden by champion jockey Frankie Dettori, Halling led all the way in the 10 furlong (2-km) test and stormed home three lengths clear from Royal Ascot and Goodwood winner First Island (3-1), the mount of Michael Hills.   Bijou d'Inde (4-1), ridden by Jason Weaver, stayed on well to finish third of the six runners a further one and a half lengths away.   Halling belongs to Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation and is trained by Saeed Bin Suroor.   Tuesday's victory was his 12th from his last 14 races.    Billed as the race of the year so far, the huge crowd were not disappointed as Dettori steered Halling home.   Twenty years ago Dettori's father Gianfranco captured the race on Wollow.   "It's great to emulate my father.   Halling has got everything -- pace and stamina," Dettori enthused.   "When I asked him to quicken he changed his legs and took off.   I took one look round but by then the others were finished."   Halling is a five-year-old and this is probably his last season, said Godolphin's racing manager Simon Crisford.   "He will probably have one more run in either the (Newmarket) Champion Stakes, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomhpe or Breeders' Cup Turf." 
47 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of the Juddmonte   International Stakes, a group one race for three-year-olds and   upwards, run over one and a quarter miles (2.0 km) on Tuesday:    1.   Halling (ridden by Frankie Dettori) 6-4 favourite    2.   First Island  (Michael Hills) 3-1    3.   Bijou d'Inde  (Jason Weaver) 4-1   Six ran.   Distances: Three lengths, one and-a-half lengths   Winner owned by Godolphin and trained by Saeed Bin Suroor.   Value to winner: 165,000 pounds ($255,000) 
48 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   $450,000 Toshiba Classic tennis tournament on Monday (prefix   number denotes seeding):   First round   7-Ai Sugiyama (Japan) beat Angelica Gavaldon (Mexico) 6-1 6-2   Naoko Sawamatsu (Japan) beat Sabine Hack (Germany) 7-6 (7-5)   6-3   Asa Carlsson (Sweden) beat Lisa Raymond (U.S.) 6-4 6-0   Shi-Ting Wang (Taiwan) beat Miriam Oremans 6-1 6-4   Linda Wild (U.S.) beat Zina Garrison-Jackson (U.S.) 6-3 7-6   (7-3) 
49 !GCAT !GSPO  Top seed Michael Chang came off a week's rest and handily beat unseeded David Prinosil of Germany 6-1 6-3 on Monday in the opening round of the Waldbaum Hamlet Cup tennis tournament.   Chang, ranked third in the world, needed only 68 minutes to eliminate Prinosil, ranked 64th.   Chang opened a 3-0 lead and closed the match by taking the last four games.   "It was a good match for me and it felt good playing on a Monday for a change," Chang said.   "My schedule was planned this way to give me a rest before the Hamlet and let me get some good matches and go right into the U.S. Open."   Chang said planned rests during the ATP hard court circuit had been successful.   He won 14 successive matches, taking titles in Washington and Los Angeles before losing a final in Cincinnati to Andre Agassi last week.   A pair of players from Morocco, Younes El Aynaoui, the sixth seed, and Hicham Arazi, unseeded, posted first-round victories.   El Aynaoui, top-ranked in his home country for the past six years, beat Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador 6-4 6-3.   Arazi, a slightly built lefthander who is playing his first year on the ATP Tour, upset eighth-seeded Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 6-3 2-6 6-4.   Arazi, who has steadily climbed from a ranking of 1,093rd in 1991 to a current 82nd, tenaciously fought off Larsson, who failed to convert 10 of 12 break points.   Larsson, who ranked 10th before suffering a fractured foot last year and was out of action five months, is now ranked 59th.   "It takes time to work back into shape.   It shakes your confidence," he said.   Arazi, who qualified for the U.S. Open last year and lost a four-set first-rounder to Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev, said he is playing with confidence.   "I beat Medvedev in Bologna this year," he said.   "It felt good.   Now I'm going to get into the U.S. Open main draw with my ranking.   I want to win my first match and then take it day by day."   In beating Larsson, Arazi overcame three doublefaults to hold service in a 14-point game and stay 2-all in the third set.   He then broke Larsson and protected service from 0-30 and 30-all down the stretch. 
50 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   Waldbaum Hamlet Cup tennis tournament on Monday (prefix number   denotes seeding):   First round   1-Michael Chang (U.S.) beat David Prinosil (Germany) 6-1 6-3   6-Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) beat Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador)   6-4 6-3   Hicham Arazi (Morocco) beat 8-Magnus Larsson (Sweden) 6-3 2-6   6-4   Karol Kucera (Slovakia) beat Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 2-6   6-3 6-4   Thomas Johansson (Sweden) beat Stefano Pescosolido (Italy)   6-3 6-4   Martin Damm (Czech Republic) beat Max Mirnyi (Bulgaria) 6-2   7-6 (7-4)   Sergi Bruguera (Spain) beat Andrei Cherkasov (Russia) 3-6 6-3   7-6 (7-5)   Nir Welgreen (Israel) beat Albert Chang (Canada) 5-7 6-3 7-5 
51 !GCAT !GSPO  Lisa Raymond, runner-up last year at the Toshiba Tennis Classic, was bounced out in the first round this year when Sweden's Asa Carlsson dismissed her 6-4 6-0 on Monday.   "I haven't won that many matches this year, so this one feels good," said Carlsson, who improved to 10-14 this year with the 63-minute sweep.   Carlsson used a steady ground attack to keep the unseeded American on the run and off-balance throughout the straight-sets victory.   "I played very relaxed, I played confident from the baseline, and she never found a rhythm," the 21-year-old Swede said.   "I'm happy."   Raymond had a career-high 17th world ranking last year but her ranking has plummeted to 49 along with her confidence.   "I wasn't playing with much confidence out there," Raymond said.   "I couldn't get into a groove the whole time."   In other opening-round matches, Naoko Sawatsu of Japan beat Sabine Hack of Germany 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 and Shi-Ting Wang of Taiwan ousted Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands 6-1 6-4.   Sixteen-year-old sensation Venus Williams of the United States hammered out a 7-5 6-3 victory over German Barbara Rittner to gain entry to the main draw.   She will face Katarina Studenikova of Slovakia on Tuesday.   Olympic silver medallist Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario and defending champion Conchita Martinez are the top seeds in the 28-player, $450,000 event, the final hardcourt tuneup for next week's U.S. Open.   The two Spaniards have first-round byes.   Martinez plays her first match Tuesday and Sanchez-Vicario opens on Wednesday.   (Corrects to reflect schedule change). 
52 !GCAT !GSPO  Collated results of UEFA Cup soccer qualifying round, second leg matches on Tuesday:   In Bucharest: National Bucharest (Romania) 1 Partizan Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 0 (halftime 1-0)   Scorer: Remus Ganea (6th minute)   Attendance: 8,000   National Bucharest won 1-0 on aggregate.   In Murska Sobota, Slovenia: Mura (Slovenia) 0 Lyngby (Denmark) 2 (0-1)   Scorer: Tody Jonsson (24th, 69th)   Attendance: 5.000   Lyngby won 2-0 on aggregate.   In Odessa, Ukraine: Chornomorets Odessa (Ukraine) 2 HJK Helsinki (Finland) 0 (0-0)   Scorers: Chornomorets - Igor Chumachenko (64th), Andrei Mizin (68th)   Attendance: 3,500   Chornomorets won 4-2 on aggregate.   In Krakow: Hutnik Krakow (Poland) 3 Sigma Olomunec (Czech Republic) 1 (2-1)   Scorers:   Hutnik - Moussa Yahaya (29th), Michal Stolarz (39th), Dariusz Romuzga (71st)   Sigma - Michal Kovar (6th)   Attendance: 5,000   Hutnik Krakow won 3-2 on aggregate   In Moscow: CSKA Moscow (Russia) 4 Akranes (Iceland) 1 (2-0)   Scorers:    CSKA - Andrei Movsesyan (35th, 40th), Ferrera Leonidas (53rd), Edgaras Yankauskas (62nd)   Akranes - Hognasson (80th)   Attendance: 2,500   CSKA Moscow won 6-1 on aggregate   In Moscow: Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 2 Hajduk Split (Croatia) 0 (1-0)   Scorers: Kamoltsev (19th) Vostrosablin (penalty, 82nd)   Attendance: 6,800   Torpedo Moscow won 2-1 on aggregate   In Moscow:   Spartak Moscow (Russia) 2 Zagreb (Croatia) 0 (1-0)   Scorers: Melyoshin (28th minute), Dmitri Alenichev (56th)   Attendance: 25,000   Aggregate score 3-3.   Spartak qualified on away goals rule.   In Trabzon, Turkey: Trabzonspor (Turkey) 4 Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 1 (2-0)   Scorers:    Hami Mandirali (1st), Shota Arveladze (11th), Orhan Cikrikci (67th), Abdullah Ercan (71st)   Bratislava - Szilard Nemeth (57th)   Attendance: 35,000   Trabzonspor qualified 5-3 on aggregate.   In Tallinn:   Lantana (Estonia) 2 Aarau (Switzerland) 0 (0-0)   Scorers - Juri Lebrecht (80th), Urmas Hepner (85th)   Attendance: 500   Aarau won 4-2 on aggregate   In Sofia:   Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria) 0 Rapid Bucharest 1 (0-0)   Scorer: George Butoiu   Attendance: 2,500   Rapid Bucharest qualified 2-0 on aggregate.   In Novi Sad:   Vojvodina (Yugoslavia) 1 GAK Graz (Austria) 5 (0-1)   Scorers:   Vojvodina - Stojak (50th)   GAK Graz - Ramusch (44th), Sabitzer (47th, 73rd), Weiger (52nd), Anicic (85th)   Attendance: 8,000   Graz qualified 7-1 on aggregate.   In Molodechno, Belarus:   Dinamo-93 Minsk (Belarus) 0 Helsingborgs (Sweden) 3 (0-2)   Scorers: Roland Nilsen (25th), Mahmus Powell (34th), Martin Pringle (77th)   Attendance: 6,000   Helsingborgs won 4-1 on aggregate   In Valkeakoski:   Haka (Finland) 1 Legia Warsaw (Poland) 1 (0-1)   ScorerS:   Haka - Vallu Popovits (60th)   Legia Warsaw - Marcin Mieciel (5th)   Attendance: 2,100   Legia Warsaw won 4-1 on aggregate   In Pori:   FC Jazz (Finland) 1 Dynamo Moscow (Russia) 3 (1-0)   Scorers:   Jazz - Tomi Levo-Jokimaki (40th)   Dynamo Moscow - Andre Kobelev (59th, penalty), Sergei Artemov (67th, 80th)   Attendance: 1,500   Dynamo won 4-2 on aggregate   In Skopje:   Vardar (Macedonia) 0 Halmstad (Sweden) 1 (0-0)   Scorer: Nilsson (50th)   Attendance: 10,000   Halmstad qualified 1-0 on aggregate   In Malmo:   Malmo (Sweden) 1 Skonto (Latvia) 1 (0-0)   Scorers:   Malmo - Niclas Kindvall (47th)   Skonto - Igor Stepanov (80th)   Attendance: 2,074   Malmo won 4-1 on aggregate   In Istanbul:   Besiktas (Turkey) 2 Dynamo Minsk (Belarus) 0 (0-0)   Scorers: Oktay Derelioglu (63rd), Ertugrul Saglan (71st)   Attendance: 30,000   Besiktas won 3-2 on aggregate   In Nicosia:   Apoel (Cyprus) 2 Iraklis Thessaloniki (Greece) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Apoel - Alexis Alexandrou (5th), Andros Sotiriou (86th)   Iraklis - Stefanos Porbokis (89th)   Attendance: 12,000   Apoel Nicosia won 3-1 on aggregate   In Neuchatel, Switzerland:   Neuchatel (Switzerland) 4 Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 0 (4-0)   Scorers:   Neuchatel - Liazid Sandjak (10th, 27th), Jean-Pierre Cyprien (17th), Alain Vernier (37th)   Attendance: 4,100   Neuchatel won 6-1 on aggregate   In Innsbruck, Austria:   FC Tirol (Austria) 4 Slavia Sofia (Bulgaria) 1 (3-0)   Scorers:   FC Tirol - Maciej Slivovski (28th), Gernot Krinner (31st), Richard Kitzbichler (44th), Sacharjev (own goal, 73rd)   Slavia Sofia - Georgi Sheitanov (48th)   Attendance: 6,000   FC Tirol won 5-2 on aggregate   In Aberdeen:   Aberdeen (Scotland) 1 Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania) 3 (0-0)   Scorers:   Aberdeen - Brian Irvine (85th)   Zalgiris - Grhzvydas Mikulenas (53rd, 86th, Puklevicius penalty 76th   Aberdeen won 5-4 on aggregate.   In Glasgow:   Celtic (Scotland) 1 FC Kosice (Slovakia) 0 (0-0)   Scorer: Jorge Cadete (88th)   Attendance: 44,400   Celtic won 1-0 on aggregate   In Odense:   Odense (Denmark) 7 Sliema Wanderers (Malta) 1 (4-1)   Attendance: 3,159.   Odense won 9-1 on aggregate.   In Barry:   Barry Town (Wales) 3 Budapest Vasutas (Hungary) 1    Scorers:   Barry - Pike (penalty, 45th), O'Gorman (46th), Evans (78th)   Budapest Vasutas - Egressy (63rd)   Aggregate score 4-4.   Barry won 4-2 on penalties after extra time. 
53 !GCAT !GSPO  Aberdeen qualified for the first round of the UEFA Cup on Tuesday, but they were given the fright of their lives by the Lithuanian minnows Zalgiris Vilnius before booking their place in Friday's draw.   Zalgiris won 3-1 but after trailing 4-1 from the first leg qualifier on their own ground they lost 5-4 on aggregate.   The visitors had only arrived in Aberdeen in the early hours of Tuesday morning following a 12-hour coach trip from London.   But it was the Scottish club who looked travel-sick as the slick visitors pulled them apart.   It was no surprise when Grhzvydas Mikulenas shot Zalgiris into a 53rd minute lead as he burst clear on the right before angling a devastating shot back across Michael Watt.   Aberdeen did look more urgent in their attacking play in the second half, but captain Brian Irvine blundered badly in the 76th minute, fouling Mikulenas in the penalty area.   Puklevicius stepped up to drill home the resulting spotkick.   That came with just 14 minutes to go and Irvine made amends by seemingly putting the tie beyond doubt with just five minutes to go, sending a soaring header into the top corner of the net from a Joe Miller corner.   But Vilnius were not finished.   Mikulenas went straight up the other end of the field to hammer in another cracking drive from the edge of the penalty area to set up a tense finale.   In Glasgow, Jorge Cadete fired Celtic into the first round with a dramatic late winner against FC Kosice.   The Portuguese star struck with only two minutes to go after the Slovakian side had been reduced to 10 men with the 86th minute sending-off of Karol Prazenica for his second bookable offence.   His absence gave Celtic the gap they were looking for and Cadete swept the ball home after Andreas Thom and Morten Wieghorst had linked up.   Celtic took the tie 1-0 on aggregate after a 0-0 scoreline in the first leg.    Barry Town were the toast of Wales as they came back from the dead to knock out Hungarians Budapest Vasutas 4-2 in a thrilling penalty shoot-out.   Barry, 3-1 down from the first leg, forced extra-time with a 3-1 result that thrilled a capacity 2,500 crowd.   Then, after holding out against a late onslaught from the Hungarian league runners-up, Barry coolly slotted home four penalties while Hungarians Jorge Bognar and Zoltan Bukszegi failed to hit the target.   Three clubs reached the first round by winning their final Intertoto Cup matches -- Karlsruhe of Germany, Guingamp of France and Silkeborg of Denmark.   Last season, Bordeaux who made it into the UEFA Cup through the Intertoto competition, reached the final but then lost to Bayern Munich.    In Glasgow, Kosice coach Jan Kozak was angry at the sending off of Prazenica against Celtic and the award of an 81st minute penalty for a push on Paolo Di Canio, although striker Pierre van Hooydonk missed the spot-kick.   Kosice said: "We are very young and very ambitious and wanted to show the world what we could do.   But we were forced to play against Celtic's players, the home crowd and a referee."   Celtic manager Tommy Burns said: "I am delighted with the result.   They were well organised and it took time to break them down." 
54 !GCAT !GSPO  Youngsters Richie Humphreys and Andy Booth showed Leeds United's old men the way to goal to give Sheffield Wednesday a 2-0 away win and their second straight English premier league victory of the new season on Tuesday.   Humphreys, 18, marked only his second start for his home town club by netting in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.   On Tuesday, at a rain-sodden Elland Road it was the teenager's sweetly-struck 14th-minute effort that gave David Pleat's side the edge in the battle for Yorkshire pride and put the Wednesday on top of the table.   Lee Bowyer, one of five Leeds men making their home debuts, gave the ball away to Regi Blinker and, although the Dutchman's shot was blocked, it fell perfectly for Humphreys to fire left-footed across and past Nigel Martyn.   Blinker created the injury-time second that allowed 23-year-old Booth to stride through and open his premier league account after his 2.65 million pounds ($4.1 million) move from Huddersfield.   But Leeds -- with Ian Rush and on-loan Mark Hateley comprising a 68-year-old strike pairing -- must have been wondering how they had come away with nothing.   Rush suffered twice on his 700th domestic appearance, and with fellow new boys Bowyer and Lee Sharpe also left holding their heads, Leeds had reason for feeling hard done by.   In division one, Danish international Per Frandsen's stunning goal for Bolton toppled title favourites Manchester City 1-0 at Burnden Park. 
55 !GCAT !GSPO  Summary of Tuesday's English premier league match: Leeds 0 Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Richie Humphries 14th minute, Andy Booth 90th).   Halftime 0-1.   Attendance unavailable.    Add attendance: 31,010. 
56 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of English soccer matches   on Tuesday:   Premier league    Leeds  0  Sheffield Wednesday 2   Division one    Bolton  1  Manchester City  0   Football League Cup first round, first leg:    Brentford  1  Plymouth 0    Cardiff  1  Northampton 0    Carlisle  1  Chester 0    Colchester  2  West Bromwich  3    Darlington  1  Rotherham 0    Doncaster  1  York 1    Exeter 0  Barnet 4    Hartlepool  2  Lincoln 2    Hereford  3  Cambridge 0    Huddersfield  3  Wrexham 0    Hull 2  Scarborough 2    Ipswich  2  Bournemouth 1    Luton 3  Bristol Rovers  0    Mansfield  0  Burnley 3    Notts County  1  Bury 1    Oldham 0  Grimsby 1    Oxford 1  Norwich 1    Port Vale  1  Crewe 0    Portsmouth  2  Leyton Orient  0    Reading  1  Wycombe 1    Rochdale  2  Barnsley 1    Scunthorpe  2  Blackpool 1    Sheffield United 3  Bradford 0    Southend  0  Fulham 2    Stockport  2  Chesterfield  1    Swansea  0  Gillingham 1    Swindon  2  Wolverhampton  0    Torquay  3  Bristol City  3    Walsall  1  Watford 0    Wigan 2  Preston 3 
57 !GCAT !GSPO  County cricket clubs on Tuesday rejected a move to give England selectors greater control over their international players.   A clause in the recent Acfield Report recommended that the selection committee chairman should be able to withdraw England players from county matches in order to rest top talent.   But on Tuesday that was the only one of the 14 Acfield clauses to be thrown out at a Test and County Cricket Board meeting at Lords, although the board hierarchy was assured requests to rest a player would receive "a sympathetic ear."   The seven-man Acfield committee put forward in-depth proposals earlier this year for streamlining the selection of English teams.   TCCB chief executive Tim Lamb said: "The Acfield working party will be disappointed, but deep down in their heart of hearts they probably knew it would not get agreement."   Tuesday's meeting also rejected a move to have overseas players banned from English cricket in 1999 and 2000 on a trial basis and decided that in future all test matches will include Sunday play, with no rest day. 
58 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of UEFA Cup soccer qualifying round, second leg matches on Tuesday:   In Bucharest:   National Bucharest (Romania) 1 Partizan Belgrade (Yugoslavia) 0   (halftime 1-0)   Scorer: Remus Ganea (6th minute)   Attendance: 8,000   National Bucharest won 1-0 on aggregate.    In Murska Sobota, Slovenia:    Mura (Slovenia) 0 Lyngby (Denmark) 2 (0-1)   Scorer: Tody Jonsson (24th, 69th)   Attendance: 5.000   Lyngby won 2-0 on aggregate.   In Odessa, Ukraine:   Chornomorets Odessa (Ukraine) 2 HJK Helsinki (Finland) 0 (0-0)   Scorers: Chornomorets - Igor Chumachenko (64th), Andrei   Mizin (68th)   Attendance: 3,500   Chornomorets won 4-2 on aggregate.   In Krakow:    Hutnik Krakow (Poland) 3 Sigma Olomunec (Czech Republic) 1   (2-1)   Scorers:   Hutnik - Moussa Yahaya (29th), Michal Stolarz (39th),   Dariusz Romuzga (71st)   Sigma - Michal Kovar (6th)   Attendance: 5,000   Hutnik Krakow won 3-2 on aggregate   In Moscow:   CSKA Moscow (Russia) 4 Akranes (Iceland) 1 (2-0)   Scorers:   CSKA - Andrei Movsesyan (35th, 40th), Ferrera Leonidas (53rd), Edgaras Yankauskas (62nd)   Akranes - Hognasson (80th)   Attendance: 2,500   CSKA Moscow won 6-1 on aggregate   In Moscow:   Torpedo Moscow (Russia) 2 Hajduk Split (Croatia) 0 (1-0)   Scorers: Kamoltsev (19th) Vostrosablin (penalty, 82nd)   Attendance: 6,800   Torpedo Moscow won 2-1 on aggregate    In Moscow:   Spartak Moscow (Russia) 2 Zagreb (Croatia) 0 (1-0)   Scorers: Melyoshin (28th minute), Dmitri Alenichev (56th)   Attendance: 25,000   Aggregate score 3-3.   Spartak qualified on away goals rule.   In Trabzon, Turkey:   Trabzonspor (Turkey) 4 Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) 1 (2-0)   Scorers:    Hami Mandirali (1st), Shota Arveladze (11th), Orhan Cikrikci (67th), Abdullah Ercan (71st)   Bratislava - Szilard Nemeth (57th)   Attendance: 35,000   Trabzonspor qualified 5-3 on aggregate.    In Tallinn:   Lantana (Estonia) 2 Aarau (Switzerland) 0 (0-0)   Scorers - Juri Lebrecht (80th), Urmas Hepner (85th)   Attendance: 500   Aarau won 4-2 on aggregate    In Sofia:   Lokomotiv Sofia (Bulgaria) 0 Rapid Bucharest 1 (0-0)   Scorer: George Butoiu   Attendance: 2,500   Rapid Bucharest qualified 2-0 on aggregate.   In Novi Sad:   Vojvodina (Yugoslavia) 1 GAK Graz (Austria) 5 (0-1)   Scorers:   Vojvodina - Stojak (50th)   GAK Graz - Ramusch (44th), Sabitzer (47th, 73rd), Weiger (52nd), Anicic (85th)   Attendance: 8,000   Graz qualified 7-1 on aggregate.    In Molodechno, Belarus:   Dinamo-93 Minsk (Belarus) 0 Helsingborgs (Sweden) 3 (0-2)   Scorers: Roland Nilsen (25th), Mahmus Powell (34th), Martin Pringle (77th)   Attendance: 6,000   Helsingborgs won 4-1 on aggregate    In Neuchatel, Switzerland:   Neuchatel (Switzerland) 4 Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus) 0 (4-0)   Scorers:   Neuchatel - Liazid Sandjak (10th, 27th), Jean-Pierre Cyprien (17th), Alain Vernier (37th)   Attendance: 4,100   Neuchatel won 6-1 on aggregate    In Innsbruck, Austria:   FC Tirol (Austria) 4 Slavia Sofia (Bulgaria) 1 (3-0)   Scorers:   FC Tirol - Maciej Slivovski (28th), Gernot Krinner (31st), Richard Kitzbichler (44th), Sacharjev (own goal, 73rd)   Slavia Sofia - Georgi Sheitanov (48th)   Attendance: 6,000   FC Tirol won 5-2 on aggregate    In Aberdeen:   Aberdeen (Scotland) 1 Zalgiris Vilnius (Lithuania) 3 (0-0)   Scorers:   Aberdeen - Brian Irvine (85th)   Zalgiris - Grhzvydas Mikulenas (53rd, 86th, Puklevicius penalty 76th   Aberdeen won 5-4 on aggregate.   In Glasgow:   Celtic (Scotland) 1 FC Kosice (Slovakia) 0 (0-0)   Scorer: Jorge Cadete (88th)   Attendance: 44,400   Celtic won 1-0 on aggregate   In Odense:   Odense (Denmark) 7 Sliema Wanderers (Malta) 1 (4-1)   Attendance: 3,159.   Odense won 9-1 on aggregate.    In Barry:   Barry Town (Wales) 3 Budapest Vasutas (Hungary) 1    Scorers:   Barry - Pike (penalty, 45th), O'Gorman (46th), Evans (78th)   Budapest Vasutas - Egressy (63rd)   Aggregate score 4-4.   Barry won 4-2 on penalties after extra time. 
59 !GCAT !GSPO  Northern Ireland recalled three players to their squad to face the Ukraine in a World Cup qualifier in Belfast on August 31.   Neil Lennon of premier league Leicester, Michael O'Neill of Coventry and French-based striker Phil Gray are back in the 18-man party after missing the 1-1 home draw against Germany in a friendly in May.   There was no place in the squad for experienced internationals Steve Morrow of Arsenal and Alan McDonald of Queens Park Rangers.   Squad:   Alan Fettis, Aidan Davison, Danny Griffin, Nigel Worthington, Keith Rowland, Colin Hill, Barry Hunter, Pat McGibbon, Steve Lomas, Neil Lennon, Jim Magilton, Gerard McMahon, Michael O'Neill, Keith Gillespie, Michael Hughes, Iain Dowie, Phil Gray, George O'Boyle 
60 !GCAT !GSPO  English cricketer Ed Giddins was suspended from the first-class game until the start of the 1998 season on Tuesday after being found guilty of taking cocaine.   The Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) said it had barred the 25-year-old Sussex fast bowler from playing any match under its jurisdiction until April 1, 1998.   The TCCB found him guilty on three charges: that he had a prohibitive substance in a urine sample, that he knowlingly used a prohibitive substance and that he behaved in a manner which may bring the game into disrepute.   "In considering the appropriate penalty to be imposed, the committee took account of the fact that the prohibitive substance was identified as cocaine, regarding in law as a class A drug," the board said in a statement.   The ban takes immediate effect.   Giddens has 14 days to appeal.   Giddens, who toured Pakistan with England A last winter, tested positive for an illegal substance after a county match against Kent in May.   A second test also proved positive.   His case went to a hearing which was adjourned on Monday after more than four hours.   On Tuesday Giddens was whisked away from the hearing after just 20 minutes, telling reporters: "I've absolutely nothing to say.   I wish I could."   The only known previous case of an English cricketer testing positive was Yorkshire bowler Richard Stemp.   The TCCB accepted Stemp's explanation that his drink had been spiked.   But the board committee rejected Giddins's claim that he had taken the drug inadvertently, although it accepted there was no evidence Giddins had taken the drug more than once.   It said the use of an illegal drug "was a grave breach of regulations which was not only likely to bring the game into disrepute but which had the potential to put at risk the safety of fellow players and officials."   "Cricket, its players and administrators, would not tolerate in its ranks those who indulge in the use of a prohibited drug.   The committee was sure the public would demand nothing less," the statement said. 
61 !GCAT !GSPO  Sussex cricketer Ed Giddins was suspended from playing any match under the jurisdiction of the Test and County Cricket Board until April 1, 1998, after a drugs hearing on Tuesday.   The paceman, who toured Pakistan with England A last winter, tested positive for an illegal substance after a county match against Kent in May. 
62 !GCAT !GSPO  Former All Blacks centre Va'aiga Tuigamala is returning to rugby union.   He has signed for English division one club Wasps.   The powerful 26-year-old, who switched codes to join English rugby league champions Wigan in January 1994, is the latest of a number of players to combine the game's two codes.   He is due to join the London club next month after the rugby league season has finished and will then re-join Wigan early next year.   "At 26, he's no old man coming to make a bit of money.   He is here to play sensible and very serious rugby union," Wasps director of rugby Nigel Melville said. 
63 !GCAT !GSPO  Australian Mark Woodforde, the 15th seed, was beaten Monday by compatriot and long-time doubles partner Todd Woodbridge in the first round of the Canadian Open.   Woodbridge, ranked 43rd in the world, defeated Woodforde, ranked 30th, 6-3 7-5.   Woodforde was one of two seeded players to lose on the opening day of the tournament.   Tenth-seeded Arnaud Boetsch of France was upset by unseeded Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy 3-6 7-5 6-2.   Alberto Berasategui of Spain, seeded 11th, needed just 50 minutes to dispatch 50th-ranked Filip Dewulf of Belgium 6-4 6-0 and another Spaniard, unseeded Alex Corretja, defeated France's Guy Forget 6-3 3-6 6-3.   Corretja, ranked 32nd, plays sixth-seeded American MaliVai Washington in the second round.   Washington and the rest of the top eight seeds were given first-round byes.   Australian Patrick Rafter survived a hotly contested opening set against Spain's Carlos Costa and won 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.   Woodbridge has beaten Woodforde in their last four meetings and holds a 5-2 career advantage.   Top-seeded in the doubles at the Canadian Open and ranked first in the world, the Australian pair are Olympic gold medallists and four-time defending champions at Wimbledon.   "We hate it when we play each other," Woodforde said of their singles matchup.   "We're both nervous because we respect each other and appreciate each other's games."   Woodbridge had a double-break point to lead 3-0 in the second set after taking the first set with a service break in the eighth game.   But Woodforde saved both break points and then won four games in a row, capitalising on three Woodbridge double faults in the sixth game to go ahead 4-2.   "When Mark got up 4-2 and started to be more aggressive, I got a little tentative," Woodbridge said.   "I was lucky to get back to 4-4 straightaway.   Mark let me back in that second set with a couple of errors."   The Corretja-Forget match, played on the hard-court surface at the National Tennis Centre in Toronto, featured many exciting and extended rallies.   "He didn't play well in the first set but then he played better in the second set and I began to doubt myself," said Corretja.   "Then I played an unbelievable game, three passing shots and a topspin lob, to break him for 5-3 in the third set."   "He hit four winners and played a perfect game to break me so I can't be too upset," said the 58th-ranked Forget, who was playing his first match in a month after a back ailment.   Corretja and Forget are two of a record 36 Europeans in the 56-player Canadian Open field.   With this year's tournament date changed from late July to a week before the U.S. Open because of the Olympics, the Europeans were more inclined to play in Toronto in order to get ready for Flushing Meadows.   However, the top four Americans -- Pete Sampras, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier, regulars at this ATP Tour Super Nine event -- have decided to skip it this year.   The tournament's top seed is second-ranked Thomas Muster of Austria. 
64 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the Canadian Open   tennis tournament on Monday (prefix number denotes seeding):   First round   Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy) beat 10-Arnaud Boetsch (France) 3-6   7-5 6-2   11-Alberto Berasategui (Spain) beat Filip Dewulf (Belgium)   6-4 6-0   12-Francisco Clavet (Spain) beat Mauricio Hadad (Colombia)   6-4 6-4   Todd Woodbridge (Australia) beat 15 - Mark Woodforde   (Australia) 6-3 7-5   Alex Corretja (Spain) beat Guy Forget (France) 6-3 3-6 6-3   Sebastien Lareau (Canada) beat Jocelyn Robichaud (Canada) 6-1   6-4   Patrick Rafter (Australia) beat Carlos Costa (Spain) 7-6   (8-6) 6-2   Chris Woodruff (U.S.) beat Sebastien LeBlanc (Canada) 6-4 6-3   Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic) beat Bernd Karbacher (Germany)   6-4 4-6 6-3   Javier Sanchez (Spain) beat Scott Draper (Australia) 7-6   (7-5) 7-6 (7-5)   Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) beat Joern Renzenbrink (Germany)   6-3 1-6 6-3   Gregory Carraz (France) beat Mark Knowles (Bahamas) 6-4 6-0 
65 !GCAT !GSPO  South Africa's rugby managers made peace with Sports Minister Steve Tshwete on Tuesday, defusing criticism that too little was being done to bring blacks into the white-dominated game.   Tshwete told a news conference after meeting South African Rugby Football Union (Sarfu) chief executive Riaan Oberholzer and development director Sas Bailey that he was "satisfied" with the union's development programme.   "There has been a great deal of turmoil in the last few days for the image of rugby in this country," the minister said.   "There is a strong perception that rugby remains the exclusive reserve of white players and supporters and that SARFU is trapped in the twilight of the past and not taking rugby development seriously."   Tshwete publically critised Sarfu in weekend newspapers for not producing a strategic plan for developing black and mixed-race players.   He also slammed white fans who had waved the old South African flag during recent matches.   But after Tuesday's talks, he said he recognised the efforts Sarfu was making and that the Department of Sport would link up with Sarfu to form a South African rugby foundation to focus on players from disadvantaged communities. 
66 !GCAT !GSPO  Pretoria City have pulled out of an African Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final in Algeria next month because of safety fears.   The South African side were due to play CR Belouizdad in a first leg match on September 6 but said on Tuesday concern over the security situation in the north African country forced them to withdraw.   They now faces a fine from the Confederation of African Football, who have declared travel to Algeria safe.   City are the first club in two years to refuse to go to Algeria, who have hosted several African club competition matches this year without incident. 
67 !GCAT !GSPO  The International Amateur Athletic Federation may strip national bodies of their powers to punish drug cheats, a senior IAAF official said on Tuesday.   IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai said the sport's world ruling body would consider amending its rules to centralise the process of sentencing athletes who return positive dope tests.   Two athletes -- Australian sprinter Dean Capobianco and Italian high jumper Antonella Bevilacqua -- were allowed to compete at the Atlanta Olympics after failing drugs tests before the Games.   "When we faced the Capobianco case in Atlanta we came to the conclusion our rules would probably have to be amended," Gyulai told a news conference in Sydney ahead of the world junior championships starting on Wednesday.   Asked if this meant the IAAF assuming the right to suspend athletes, Gyulai said: "If necessary, yes".   Both Capobianco and Bevilacqua were freed to compete in Atlanta after lodging appeals with their respective national bodies, as allowed under current IAAF rules.   Capobianco tested positive for the steroid stanozolol at a meeting in the Dutch town of Hengelo in May but an Athletics Australia tribunal dismissed the charge, citing flaws in the testing process.   Bevilacqua was caught twice with the banned stimulant ephedrine in her body in May.   An Italian athletics panel decided she had taken the drug by mistake and did not impose the usual three-month ban.   The IAAF said in Atlanta last month they decided not to ban the two athletes from the Olympics because they said they feared being taken to court and sued.   Instead, the cases were referred to the International Olympic Committee's Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).   Gyulai described the IAAF's case against Capobianco as watertight but added the federation would abide by the CAS's decision, which he said would be "final and binding".   Athletics Australia president David Prince said the CAS hearing was likely to be held in Monte Carlo next month.   Bevilacqua's case is due to go to an arbitration hearing and her Atlanta result may be cancelled if it goes against her.   She came fourth in the high jump in Atlanta.   On her return to Italy she said she would not be competing again this year. 
68 !GCAT !GSPO  President's Cup international team captain Peter Thomson on Tuesday named Australian Robert Allenby as one of his two nominated players to face the United States next month.   Thomson said fellow Australians Peter Senior and Wayne Riley were chasing the final spot in his 12-man team for the Ryder Cup-style team event in Washington from September 13-15.   But both Senior and Riley could make the team if Japan's Jumbo Ozaki decides not to take up his automatic invitation, Thomson said.   The international team will feature the top 10 available non-Europeans in the world rankings plus two players selected by Thomson.   Five-times British Open champion Thomson has yet to confirm his team after replacing fellow Australian David Graham as non-playing captain last month.   Thomson said Allenby would play as an automatic selection if Ozaki, ranked six in the world, did not play, freeing places for both Riley and Senior.   "I expect to hear from Jumbo this week," Thomson said.   World number one Greg Norman, fellow Australian Steve Elkington, Zimbabwe's Nick Price and Ernie Els of South Africa are expected to lead the international team's challenge.   The Americans won the inaugural President's Cup in 1994. 
69 !GCAT !GSPO  Ken Caminiti hit a grand slam in the first inning and added a two-run single in the second and Scott Sanders carried a no-hitter into the seventh as the San Diego Padres coasted past the Montreal Expos 7-3 Monday.   Caminiti blasted a 1-1 pitch over the right-centre field wall for his career-high 27th home run and fourth career grand slam.   It was his second grand slam this season.   Caminiti has been suffering from a case of dehydration and received treatment earlier in the day.   "I'm trying not to do too much at the plate," Caminiti said.   "I'm just trying to hit the ball and stay back on the pitches.   I'm actually thinking opposite field.   It's great to be home, it's the first night in a while I got any sleep."   The Padres, playing their first true home game since August 4, have won three of four following a three-game losing streak.   San Diego completed a three-game series against the Mets in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday.   Sanders (6-4) held Montreal hitless through the first six innings, allowing only a one-out walk to Darrin Fletcher in the second.   But with two out in the seventh, Fletcher singled sharply to right.   "Anytime I can get a lead that early it's great," Sanders said.   "I just go out there and throw strikes.   "I honestly didn't know (about the no-hitter), it's probably better that I didn't.   When everybody cheered me in the seventh after the hit by Fletcher, I was wondering what was going on.   When I got back and saw the hit on the board I knew."   Sanders gave up two runs and three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts over eight innings.   Pedro Martinez (10-8) took the loss.   The Padres took a half-game lead over the idle Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West with the victory.   Dave Silvestri hit a two-run homer for the Expos, who have dropped four of five.   In Chicago, Kevin Brown pitched seven scoreless innings and Gary Sheffield and Devon White each drove in a pair of runs as the Florida Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Cubs.   Brown (12-10) allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked none to lower his major league-leading earned run average to 1.90.   Brown posted his 100th career victory.   Robb Nen recorded the final five outs for his 25th save.   Amaury Telemaco (5-7) gave up three runs and three hits before leaving with shoulder stiffness with one out in the second.   Four Cubs relievers combined to allow one run and four hits thereafter.   Sammy Sosa blasted a two-run homer, his career-best 40th of the season.   It is the 12th time a Cub has hit that many, the last being Ryne Sandberg (40) in 1990.   In Houston, Sean Berry's bases-loaded walk from Ramon Morel (2-1) with one out in the bottom of the 13th forced home Brian Hunter, who had led off with a double, to give the Astros a 2-1 squeaker over the Pittsburgh Pirates.   Alvin Morman (2-1) pitched a scoreless 13th for the Astros, who have won seven of their last 11 games.   Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead in the sixth on a solo homer by Jeff King, his 24th.   The Astros tied the game an inning later when third baseman Charlie Hayes' throwing error allowed Hunter to score.   Houston set team records by drawing 14 walks and leaving 20 runners on base.   In San Francisco, Marvin Benard hit a game-tying homer and Tom Lampkin singled home Barry Bonds, who had singled and stolen second, for the go-ahead run in the seventh to lift the Giants to a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets.   Rod Beck came on in the ninth and gave up one-out singles to Bernard Gilkey and Todd Hundley, putting them on first and third.   But Beck notched his 27th save by inducing Carlos Baerga to hit into a game-ending double play.   Bonds hit his 35th homer, a three-run shot, in the first.   It was the third straight game in which Bonds homered in the first, the second time Bonds had a three-game home run streak and the sixth time of his career.   Tim Scott (4-5) got the win despite allowing a run and two hits over two innings of relief.   Pete Harnisch (8-9) took the loss.   Gilkey went 4-for-4, including three doubles, and drove in two runs for the Mets.   In Cincinnati, Walt Weiss hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs and Larry Walker added a solo homer and two RBI as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Reds 6-3 in the rubber game of a five-game series.   Colorado starter Mark Thompson (6-8) allowed two runs and six hits over 7 2/3 innings, striking out four without a walk.   Mark Portugal (8-9) took the loss. 
70 !GCAT !GSPO  Major League Baseball   standings after games played on Monday (tabulate under won,   lost, winning percentage and games behind):    AMERICAN LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    NEW YORK  71 52 .577 -    BALTIMORE  65 58 .528 6    BOSTON  61 64 .488 11    TORONTO  56 69 .448 16    DETROIT  42 82 .339 29 1/2    CENTRAL DIVISION    CLEVELAND  75 50 .600 -    CHICAGO  69 57 .548 6 1/2    MINNESOTA  62 62 .500 12 1/2    MILWAUKEE  59 67 .468 16 1/2    KANSAS CITY  58 68 .460 17 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    TEXAS 72 53 .576 -    SEATTLE  64 59 .520 7    OAKLAND  62 65 .488 11    CALIFORNIA  57 67 .460 14 1/2   TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 SCHEDULE   OAKLAND AT BOSTON    TEXAS AT CLEVELAND    CHICAGO AT DETROIT    SEATTLE AT BALTIMORE     CALIFORNIA AT NEW YORK     TORONTO AT KANSAS CITY     MILWAUKEE AT MINNESOTA      NATIONAL LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    ATLANTA  77 46 .626 -    MONTREAL  67 56 .545 10    FLORIDA  58 67 .464 20    NEW YORK  58 68 .460 20 1/2    PHILADELPHIA 50 75 .400 28    CENTRAL DIVISION    ST LOUIS  67 57 .540 -    HOUSTON  67 58 .536 1/2    CINCINNATI  62 60 .508 4    CHICAGO  61 62 .496 5 1/2    PITTSBURGH  52 72 .419 15    WESTERN DIVISION    SAN DIEGO  68 59 .535 -    LOS ANGELES  66 58 .532 1/2    COLORADO  63 62 .504 4    SAN FRANCISCO 53 69 .434 12 1/2   TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 SCHEDULE   FLORIDA AT CHICAGO    NEW YORK AT SAN FRANCISCO    CINCINNATI AT ATLANTA     PITTSBURGH AT HOUSTON     ST LOUIS AT COLORADO     PHILADELPHIA AT LOS ANGELES    MONTREAL AT SAN DIEGO 
71 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Major League   Baseball games played on Monday (home team in CAPS):     American League    BOSTON  10 California  9    Texas  10 CLEVELAND  3    Chicago  12 DETROIT  7    NEW YORK  10 Seattle  4    Toronto  2 KANSAS CITY  1    Milwaukee  6 MINNESOTA  1     National League    Colorado  6 CINCINNATI  3    Florida  4 CHICAGO  3    HOUSTON  2 Pittsburgh  1 (in 13)    SAN DIEGO  7 Montreal  3    SAN FRANCISCO 5 New York  4 
72 !GCAT !GSPO  Juan Gonzalez had four RBI and Roger Pavlik threw a four-hitter as the red-hot Texas Rangers pounded the Cleveland Indians 10-3 Monday in the opener of a three-game series between division leaders.   Dean Palmer added a two-run homer, his 29th, and a sacrifice fly for the American League West leaders, who have won nine of their last 10 games.   Pavlik (14-6) walked four and struck out two en route to his seventh complete game, tying him with Toronto's Pat Hentgen for the major-league lead.   "It was a matter of the guys putting up the runs tonight," said Pavlik.   "I just had to put the ball over the plate.   I stayed with all my pitches and I just hope we keep this thing rolling."   Albert Belle hit his 40th homer and drove in two runs for the Indians, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.   Belle became the first Indian to hit 40 homers in consecutive seasons since Rocky Colavito in 1958 and 1959.   Jack McDowell (10-8) was hammered for eight runs, eight hits and three walks in three-plus innings.   The Rangers set an A.L. record for consecutive errorless games with 15, surpassing the 1991 California Angels.   The major-league mark of 16 was by the 1992 St Louis Cardinals.   Texas leads the season series 5-2 and has won its last four games against the Indians, the A.L. Central leaders.   In New York, Andy Pettitte pitched a three-hitter to become the league's first 18-game winner and Derek Jeter's two-run single snapped a fifth-inning tie as the Yankees salvaged the finale of a four-game series with a 10-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.   Pettitte (18-7) improved to 11-2 this season when pitching after a New York loss.   Cecil Fielder, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams homered for the Yankees, who prevented Seattle from completing its first-ever sweep at New York.   Martinez drove in five runs and Fielder had four hits for the Yankees, who won for just the third time in nine home games and snapped a four-game losing streak to Seattle.   Rafael Cormona (6-2) was rocked for six runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings for Seattle, which has lost nine of 13.   For the Mariners, Jay Buhner cracked his 39th homer, a three-run shot.   Buhner, who has 114 RBI, is one behind Belle for the A.L. lead.   Alex Rodriguez added his 29th homer.   The four-game series drew 181,216 fans, the most at Yankee Stadium since a four-game set against Boston in September 1993 attracted 192,937.   In Boston, Troy O'Leary's two-run single capped a three-run sixth inning as the Red Sox edged the California Angels 10-9 in a game that featured 31 hits and 11 pitchers.   O'Leary had three hits and three RBI and Reggie Jefferson went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI for Boston, which gained a split of the four-game series.   Boston has won 12 of 16.   Kerry Lacy (1-0) gave up one unearned run and three hits in one inning for his first major-league victory.   Heathcliff Slocumb, the seventh Red Sox pitcher, worked a perfect ninth for his 20th save.   Tim Salmon went 4-for-4 with a solo homer and Jorge Fabregas knocked in a career-high four runs for the Angels.   In Detroit, Ozzie Guillen and Danny Tartabull hit three-run homers in a seven-run ninth inning as the Chicago White Sox rallied for a 12-7 victory over the Tigers.   The Tigers led 7-5 entering the ninth but the White Sox sent 12 batters to the plate.   Greg Norton singled twice, getting his first two major-league hits in the same inning.   Chicago has won all eight meetings with the Tigers this season, outscoring them 87-22.   Curtis Pride had a three-run homer and Andujar Cedeno added a two-run shot for the Tigers, who have lost eight in a row after winning 10 of 12.   In Kansas City, Charlie O'Brien's ninth-inning sacrifice fly scored Joe Carter, who had tripled, and Woody Williams and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, giving the Toronto Blue Jays a 2-1 victory over the Royals.   Carter had been 7-for-65 and was hitless in his first three at-bats before his triple.   At Minnesota, Jeff D'Amico (4-5) allowed four hits over a career-high seven innings to snap a personal three-game losing streak and Marc Newfield belted a three-run homer to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-1 victory over the Twins.   The Brewers have won four of their last five games after losing nine in a row.   The Twins had won 10 of their last 12. 
73 !GCAT !GSPO  Charles Barkley finally got the trade he wanted, and now has just one thing left to accomplish in his basketball career.   "I have no problem saying this: If we don't win the championship, I'll be crushed," the 10-time All Star said in a news conference on Monday confirming his trade from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets for forward Robert Horry, guard Sam Cassell and reserves Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown.   Barkley, 33, has won Olympic gold with two Dream Teams, took the Suns to the Finals four seasons ago and is a sure Hall of Fame inductee when his career ends.   But he has never won an NBA title.   The burly power forward has a good chance to win one with the Rockets, led by the incomparable centre Hakeem Olajuwon and superstar guard Clyde Drexler.   The Rockets, who won the second of their back-to-back championships one season ago, also bolstered their quest for another title by signing 7-foot (2.13 metres) free agent Kevin Willis to back up Barkley and Olajuwon.   "We want to win championships in Houston -- the coaches do, the players do, the whole team does -- and we think this furthers our effort," Rockets owner Les Alexander said.   Barkley used his news conference to take one last shot at Phoenix, where he said he would have played out his career if the club had not sought to trade him away.   "The bottom line was, I originally wanted to finish my career in Phoenix, but I told them if they were going to shop me, I would never play there again," he said.   Barkley began his NBA career with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984 and was traded to Phoenix in 1992.   He was the league's Most Valuable Player the following season, when the Suns lost in the Finals to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.   The Rockets lost two key members of their championship team by dealing away Cassell and Horry, but could not pass up a shot at acquiring Barkley, said Drexler.   "When you have a chance to get a Hall of Fame player, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Drexler said.   Barkley will make $4.7 million next season.   Cassell, Horry, Bryant and Brown will make a combined $4.585 million, so the trade fits salary cap regulations.   All four players going to the Suns become free agents after the 1996-97 season.   Acquiring potential free agents to clear cap room has become the newest way to quickly rebuild a franchise.   Since the end of the season, Barkley has been the subject of many trade rumours, the first of which had him going to Houston in a three-way deal that also involved the Denver Nuggets.   But the league rejected it, alleging tampering during a period when no such dealing was allowed.   There were other trade offers for Barkley from the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.   The 6-foot-6 (1.98 metres), 252-pound (114 kg) Barkley also stage-managed his trade out of Philadelphia.   Barkley, who is one of just nine players in NBA history -- and the shortest -- with 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds, averaged 23.2 points and 11.6 rebounds in 71 games for the Suns last season. 
74 !GCAT !GSPO  Little Guingamp, who were in the French third division two years ago, reached the UEFA Cup by knocking out Russian side Rotor Volgograd in the Intertoto Cup on Tuesday.   Guingamp, beaten 2-1 in the first leg of their third and final round tie, won the second leg match 1-0 before their home fans and qualified thanks to the away goal rule.   Stephane Carnot scored the 75th minute winner direct from a corner kick.   The match attracted a remarkable 12,000 crowd in Guingamp, a small town in Brittany with a population of only 8,000.   Guingamp, who were promoted to the first division last season, became the eighth French club to qualify for this season's European club competitions.   They will join Monaco, Metz, Lens and Montpellier in the UEFA Cup.   Auxerre contest the Champions' League while Paris St Germain and Nimes play in the Cup Winners' Cup. 
75 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of a Swiss premier division   match played on Tuesday:    Lausanne 3 Zurich  2 
76 !GCAT !GSPO  Feyenoord Rotterdam and Roda JC Kerkrade drew 1-1 in a lacklustre opening to the Dutch soccer league season in Kerkrade on Tuesday.   The game came to life in the closing stages when Feyenoord's new midfield signing Kees van Wonderen scored in the 82nd minute only for Marco Roelofsen to equalise from a penalty with just two minutes left.   Players from both sides were involved in a scuffle after the match, but the referee and linesmen were already in the dressing room.   Champions Ajax Amsterdam start their campaign on Wednesday against NAC Breda. 
77 !GCAT !GSPO  Summaries of German first division soccer matches played on Tuesday:   Arminia Bielefeld 1 (Studtrucker 86th minute) St Pauli 2 (Scharping 45th, Eigner 55th).   Halftime 0-1.   Attendance 18,000 Hamburg 5 (Baeron 4th, Friis-Hansen 12th, Spoerl 26th pen, 33rd, Ivanauskas 80th) Freiburg 1 (Decheiver 56th).   4-0.   23,061 Werder Bremen 1 (Hofschneider 70th og) Hansa Rostock 1 (Akpoborie 40th).   0-1.   24,300 Schalke 0 Borussia Moenchengladbach 0.   50,000 
78 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of German first division   soccer matches played on Tuesday:    Arminia Bielefeld 1 St Pauli 2    Schalke 0 Borussia Moenchengladbach 0    Hamburg 5 Freiburg 1    Werder Bremen  1 Hansa Rostock 1 
79 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of Dutch first division soccer match played on Tuesday:    Roda JC Kerkrade  1 Feyenoord Rotterdam  1 
80 !GCAT !GSPO  Germany's Karlsruhe grabbed a last-minute UEFA Cup place on Tuesday with a dramatic win in the final of the Intertoto Cup against Standard Liege of Belgium, who had three players sent off in the dying moments of the game.   Two substitutes scored in the last 10 minutes of the summer tournament to give Karlsruhe a 3-1 home win and cancel out Liege's 1-0 first leg victory.   Germany's European Championship winning midfielder Thomas Haessler put Karlsruhe level on aggregate with a 37th minute penalty, but Axel Lawaree put the Belgians ahead again in the 61st minute.   Needing two goals to win, Karlsruhe piled on the pressure.   Manfred Bender scored from a header in the 80th minute, four minutes after coming on.   Markus Schroth, who had come on with Bender, fired in a rebound two minutes from time.   In the chaotic minutes which followed, Swedish referee Anders Frisk sent off libero Didier Ernst, and midfielders Guy Hellers and Roberto Bisconti for complaining. 
81 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of the second leg of UEFA's Intertoto Cup final on Tuesday:   Karlsruhe (Germany) 3 Standard Liege (Belgium) 1 (halftime 1-0)   Scorers:   Karlsruhe - Thomas Haessler (penalty, 37th), Manfred Bender (80th), Markus Schroth (89th)   Standard Liege - Axel Lawaree (61st)   Karlsruhe won 3-2 on aggregate to clinch a qualifying place in the UEFA Cup.    In Paris:    Guingamp (France) 1 Rotor Volgograd (Russia)  0   Halftime 0-0   Scorer - Stephane Carnot 75th    Attendance 12,000   Aggregate 2-2.   Guingamp win due to the away-goal rule and qualify for the UEFA Cup.   Three clubs qualify for the UEFA Cup from Intertoto Cup finals.    In Silkeborg:    Silkeborg (Denmark) 0 Segesta Sisak (Croatia) 1   Halftime (0-0)   Scorer - Fuad Sasivarevic (77th)   Attendance: 3,447   Silkeborg win on aggregate and qualify for the UEFA Cup. 
82 !GCAT !GSPO  Twice winner Colin Montgomerie withdrew from this weekend's German Open on Tuesday after his father was taken ill.   The British golfer, German champion in 1994 and 1995, has gone to Scotland to be with his father, James, secretary at Royal Troon.   Ian Woosnam will replace Montgomerie at the head of the European rankings if he finishes in the first two.   The entry also includes local favourite Bernhard Langer and Ryder Cup captain Seve Ballesteros.   Montgomerie's absence means he will drop to third in the world rankings, with Ernie Els now set to become Greg Norman's closest challeger. 
83 !GCAT !GSPO  World champion Colin McRae escaped a ban on Tuesday but was fined $250,000, most of it suspended, after breaking new rules in last month's Argentine Rally and colliding with spectators.   Five fans were slightly injured.   Motor sport's world governing body FIA decided against suspending the Scot and he will only have to pay $75,000 unless he repeats the offence.   "This was a situation where normally there would be a one or two race suspension," FIA president Max Mosley said after a FIA world council meeting attended by McRae.   "But he was the first person to fall foul of the new regulations and the world council has taken a lenient view and hopes it won't happen again in the future.   "We listened to everything (McRae had to say) and he had a lot of extenuating circumstances, there were lots of spectators in the service area and he had lost a lot of time with repairs and was in a great hurry."   McRae exceeded the new 50 kph speed limit in a service area and also failed to follow the correct route to the next time control.    Mosley said McRae had apologised and admitted to driving too fast in the service area.   "We thought it excessive to take him out of one or more events," Mosley said.   He said, however, that the service area "is a place for spectators to hang around", where they are allowed to wander among the cars and competitors and FIA would continue to seek strict adherence to its safety regulations.   McRae, looking relieved at the outcome of the meeting, said: "I feel very well, very positive that the penalty was a fine and there was no suspension.   "Security is a big, big issue and we will have to work together to ensure safety is increased as much as possible.   "Now I can go to the 1,000 Lakes and get on with racing," the 28-year-old added.   The sixth round of the world championship in Finland takes place this weekend.   After the fifth round in Argentina, Finn Tommi Makkinen leads the championship standings with Spaniard Carlos Sainz in second place, Sweden's Kenneth Eriksson third and McRae fourth.    David Richards, director of McRae's Subaru team, said: "While this incident has placed considerable pressure on him, I for one share his confidence that only good can come from raising the awareness of this issue." 
84 !GCAT !GSPO  World rally champion Colin McRae of Britain has been fined $250,000 -- $175,000 of it suspended -- after running into spectators in a service area during last month's Argentine rally.   International Autosport Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley said McRae would only have to pay $75,000 provided he did not repeat the offence and was free to take part in the next rally, the 1,000 Lakes in Finland this weekend.    Mosley, speaking after a meeting of FIA's world council on Tuesday, said the offences, exceeding the new 50 kph limit covering rally service areas and failing to follow the correct route to a time control, would normally merit a suspension of one or two races.   As a result of McRae's actions, five fans were slightly injured.   In deciding against suspending the Scot, Mosley said they had taken into account difficult circumstances he faced.   McRae, 28, said: "I am obviously relieved that this unfortunate incident has now been resolved." 
85 !GCAT !GSPO  Sweeping changes to the future shape and political balance of Formula One, including the abolition of Friday practice sessions, were announced by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) on Tuesday.   The FIA said the changes were part of a package of alterations made to the new Concorde Agreement -- a formal accord between the sport's governing body and some of the teams -- to run from 1997 to 2001.   Changes include an agreement by the teams to stay in Formula One until 2001, a guarantee of 20-car grids, a 17-race season and the scrapping of Friday practice.   The FIA also said the teams would in future accept an 80 percent majority instead of unanimous agreement for any sporting or technical changes and would agree not to test anywhere in the week before a race or between the end of the season, usually October or November, and December 1.   A new system of prize money allocation had been introduced to distribute evenly the vast amounts of television income generated by the sport.   Three teams appear to be unhappy with the new deal.   McLaren and Tyrrell refused to sign the proposal and Williams withdrew from agreeing to it on August 2.   The lack of support of these world championship-winning teams suggested that they could cause political problems for the sport which might even lead to their non-participation in the future.   Even though they were not signatories they would be allowed to compete with the consent of the Formula One Commission.   It is believed that the three very experienced teams, with a total of 1,178 grands prix behind them in the last 30 years, objected to the loss of Friday's practice on safety grounds.   They argued that it was necessary to have a day in which to set cars up correctly for both qualifying and racing. 
86 !GCAT !GSPO  On the eve of the new Dutch soccer season, Ajax Amsterdam, European champions in 1995 and runners-up in 1996, are looking out of sorts.   In their last five pre-season games the Dutch champions have conceded 16 goals without themselves finding the net once.   Racked by injury and bedevilled by waning confidence, the world club champions look a pale shadow of the side that in recent years has rivalled Blackbeard the pirate in capturing silverware.   The latest setback, Sunday's 3-0 defeat by a strong, fluent PSV Eindhoven in the Johan Cruyff Shield, the traditional season curtain-raiser, exposed alarming deficiencies in an Ajax machine that is used to sweeping all before it.   Coming hard on the heels of drubbings by AC Milan, Juventus and Spain's Deportivo La Coruna, as well as defeat against Ruud Gullit's Chelsea, the extent of PSV's superiority in all departments will worry Ajax coach Louis van Gaal.   PSV, European champions in 1988 and now led by former Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, have fired a serious warning at Ajax -- it was their first win in Amsterdam for almost four years -- and they look a good bet to usurp the Dutch crown.   But it would be unwise to write off Ajax, bidding for their fourth consecutive Dutch title and 27th in total, before the season kicks off in earnest.   Van Gaal sees no reason to panic, preferring to blame a lengthy list of players injured or recovering, including internationals Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Winston Bogarde and Peter Hoekstra.   Defections, not helped by the Bosman ruling which made stars like Edgar Davids and Michael Reiziger give-away bargains for AC Milan, have also forced Van Gaal to chop, change and improvise his line-up.   "I have to protect the players from themselves.   Many of them just aren't yet fit enough for big games.   Only the Boer brothers (Frank and Ronald) and (Edwin) van der Saar are really fit."   "I can't really change anything.   Some players need time to get into a rhythm.   We usually use the pre-season to get the team to build up a head of steam, but we'll have to make the most of the next games just to limit the damage," Van Gaal said.   Dutch media have also speculated that Ajax's move to a new home, the towering multi-billion dollar Arena, has eroded the club's previous air of invincibility at the cramped de Meer stadium.   "The recent defeats hurt, they have damaged our confidence and will have given other opponents heart," Van Gaal said.   "Other teams will have been watching and will come here with more confidence.   At the Meer we built up a fearsome reputation which we don't yet have at the Arena.   We're going to have to work on that."   Van Gaal insists he has bought wisely over the summer, replacing Davids and Reiziger, as well as the Nigerian pair Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu.   But Richard Witschge, who caught the eye during the European championships, is no Davids.   His languid style, deft touch and superb passing will help when Ajax go forward.   But Davids's strength was as ball-winner when the team were under pressure.   Mariano Juan, the young Argentine who cannot yet communicate with his team mates, is no replacement for Bogarde, another who emerged from Dutch disappointment at Euro 96 with his reputation enhanced, while Kluivert's slow recuperation may force Van Gaal to shop around for a stand-in goalscorer.   Babangida, signed from Roda to replace his fellow countryman Finidi, has looked sluggish, while both Peter Hoekstra and Finn Jari Litmanen are struggling to find form and confidence.   PSV's emergence from a summer of canny buying as serious title contenders has whetted the appetite of Dutch soccer fans and may spell an end to Ajax's recent hegemony.   The champions begin the defence of their title against NAC of Breda on Wednesday. 
87 !GCAT  IZVESTIA   - A seven-men Russian air crew has come home after more than a year in captivity in the hands of Afghan Taleban rebels.   - Foros, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's summer residence where he spent the four days of the foiled 1991 pro-communist coup, has been handed over to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who is currently taking his annual holidays at the superexpensive seaside resort.   - General Konstantin Pulikovsky, in charge of Russian forces in Chechnya, is expected to issue a statement he may launch an all-out attack on separatist rebels if they fail to leave Grozny within 48 hours.   - Moscow tax police have collected 10 billion roubles ($1.9 million) for the city budget in the first seven months of 1996 from selling securities seized from companies who have not paid in full their dues to the budget.   PRAVDA   -Chechen rebels are the only ones who stand to gain from bitter in-fighting between Russian generals.   SEVODNYA   - Russian pilots who escaped from Taleban captivity proved that defending life and dignity of a Russian citizen today is more of a personal matter of the citizen himself than a affair of the state.   - Chechen rebels have issued an ultimatum to the federal forces to clear Grozny within 72 hours or face fierce hostilities all across the separatist republic.   NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA   - Russian security services says they had no role to play in the escape of seven Russian airmen from Kandagar, but it is hard to believe that this is true, says the paper.   ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA   - National security boss Alexander Lebed's clash with Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov over Chechnya threatens to turn the latest attempt to resolve the crisis in the republic into another settling of personal accounts between top officials.   MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS   - President Boris Yeltsin, five years after the unsuccessful 1991 pro-communist coup remains a simbol of democracy in Russia even though he has failed to become its reincarnation, says the paper.   --Andrei Shukshin, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941 8520 
88 !GCAT !GPOL  Polish Foreign Minister Dariusz Rosati said on Tuesday he did not plan to head the finance ministry in the ruling coalition's reshuffled cabinet.   "I am not moving to the finance ministry," PAP news agency quoted Rosati as saying.   Several newspapers earlier quoted unidentified coalition sources as saying Rosati might replace Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko, whom the Democratic Left Alliance and the Polish Peasant Party allegedly plan to oust from the cabinet.   The two parties are scheduled to meet on Wednesday to begin talks on a gradual cabinet reshuffle which will accompany a reorganisation of ministries, due to start in October.   Rosati was a candidate for finance minister in 1994, but the then President Lech Walesa blocked his appointment.   -- Warsaw Newsroom +48 22 653 9700 
89 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  A total of 45 percent of Czech voters would vote for a Senate candidate in November based on the individual's merits and regardless of which party the person represents, a poll released on Tuesday showed.   But 41 percent said they would vote for any candidate tied to the political party they like, the survey conducted in August by a state run Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM) said.   Altogether 65 percent of Czech citizens said they would vote in the Senate elections scheduled for November 15 and 16, in comparison with 73 percent who would vote in the lower house elections if they were to be held now.   Senate elections will use a first-past-the-post for candidates contesting individuals constituencies unlike the lower chamber vote, which alloted seats based proportionally on the vote the parties received nationwide.   A recent poll conducted by the IVVM showed the opposition Social Democrats (CSSD) have closed the gap to within two percent of Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's Civic Democratic Party (ODS).   The poll showed ODS with a 28 percent support level, down slightly from 30 percent in July.   Meanwhile the centre-left CSSD improved its standing among the electorate, rising to 26 percent from a July IVVM poll where it stood at 23 percent.   -- Klara Gajduskova, Prague Newsroom 42-2-2423-0003 
90 !C42 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Finnish wage earners with gross   salaries between 15,000 and 18,000 markka per month are the   biggest winners if income tax cuts proposed in the government's   1997 budget take effect, a big trade union said on Tuesday.   In the 15-18,000 markka/month gross income bracket, after   tax earnings would increase 3.5 percent in 1997 compared to   1996, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK)   said in a statement.   In a table, SAK gave the following figures for 1997:    Gross monthly salary  After tax earnings change     (FIM) (pct)     4,000 +2.9     6,000 +2.3     8,000 +2.6     10,000 +3.2     12,000 +3.2     15,000 +3.5     18,000 +3.5     20,000 +3.4   The table stopped at 20,000 markka per month.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
91 !C42 !CCAT !E12 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) said in a statement on Tuesday that unions and employers should speedily work out a joint proposal to reform working hour regulations aiming to boost employment.    "The target of the proposal would be to broaden the experimentation with working hours and to reach branch-specific employment agreements," SAK said.   It gave no details.   The board of the 1.1-million mainly blue-collar member umbrella organisation -- Finland's biggest trade union group -- also decided to bring working hour agreements onto the agenda of the following round of incomes settlement talks due in the autumn of 1997.   "SAK will then aim at a working hour agreement which in a broader sense promotes job sharing," it said.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
92 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The purchasing power of Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) families is projected to rise by nearly three percent in 1997, SAK said in a statement on Tuesday.   "The taxation and payment changes proposed by the government would raise next year the purchasing power of an SAK-family by nearly three percent, or by about 400 markka per month," the 1.1-million mainly blue-collar member union said.    Earlier agreed pay rises due to take effect this autumn and wage drift would raise purchasing power a bit more, but part of the increase would be offset by higher energy taxation, it said.   "All in all, the family's purchasing power would rise next year by about three percent if the (government's budget) decisions are implemented," SAK said.   The calculated increase was based on a model family with two children and both parents at work, one earning 11,241 markka per month before tax, the other 8,920 markka per month before tax.   Excluding the impact of the autumn pay rises and of the higher electricity bill, such a family's disposable income after tax, including state child benefits not subject to tax, would increase by some 2.8 percent, or 5,037 markka, to 187,200 markka in 1997, SAK said.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
93 !GCAT  Leading stories in the Greek financial press:   FINANCIAL KATHEMERINI   -- Greek telecommunications organisation OTE is looking for a partner to develop the DCS 1800 mobile telephony system.   The partner will have a 25 percent stake in the new company.   Interested parties can apply by September 16.   -- The tax reduction in motor fuels will be extended by October 17   KERDOS   -- It is a matter of days before the government announces its decision about calling early elections or not.   The business community wants "clear solutions"   -- Definitely, OTE enters into mobile telephony.   Pre-subscriptions start January   -- Ukraine to export petroleum to Greece from the start of 1997   IMERISIA   -- They are looking for the date.   Elections are certain and interest focuses on whether they will be in September or October.   Consecutive meetings of Prime Minister Costas Simitis   -- Positive climate in the Athens bourse.   The market reacted positively to the prospect of early elections   EXPRESS   -- "Neutral reaction" of the market to rumours about early elections.   The business community thinks that economic policy is one way street independently of any election result   -- Revenues from customs are up in the first seven months.   Total VAT revenues are also up 16.84 percent in the same period   -- The new T-bills will feature unchanged rates   NAFTEMBORIKI   -- The political-economic landscape clears up with elections.   Elections are announced on Thursday and will take place excluding any unforseen event on September 29   -- The Greek textile industry is being modernised with 18.8 billion drachmas --Dimitris Kontogiannis, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4 
94 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Aborigines burnt an Australian flag in front of parliament house on Tuesday as Treasurer Peter Costello, inside, declared his budget an historic opportunity to to set Australia on the path to economic prosperity,   Hundreds of other Aborigines staged rallies in Brisbane and Adelaide against already announced cuts to indigenous funding in the 1996/97 budget, which Costello formally unveiled on Tuesday.   Announcing a A$5.6 billion (US$4.4 billion) underlying deficit for the fiscal year to June 30, 1997, Costello defended the cuts, saying the Liberal-National government had taken the tough decisions needed to turn Australia away from "a path to deficit and debt" in its first budget.   "This is the once-in-the-term, once-in-the-decade opportunity to get it right," he told reporters.   The budget slashed A$3.9 billion from hundreds of government programmes, but centred largely on aboriginal affairs, universities and schemes to help the jobless find work.   The spending cuts, many of which had been announced ahead of the budget, have sparked widespread protests around the country and triggered rioting at parliament house here on Monday.   There were more protests on Tuesday as aboriginal groups and unionists continued to vent their anger.   Costello said the cuts, to be followed by similar reductions next year, would attack Australia's chronic underlying budget deficit and burgeoning debt.   The underlying measure excludes revenue windfalls such as asset sales.   "(Without the cuts) debt would be increasing and Australia would be dangerously exposed to shifts in the international outlook or sentiment," Costello said in his budget speech.   But he also honoured key campaign promises that helped the Liberal-National coalition oust Labor in a landslide March election win, implementing A$1 billion in tax breaks for low and middle income families, more money for the elderly and a range of programmes and tax changes to help small business.   "This budget implements the key election commitments of the coalition and it does so as part of a responsible economic strategy," Costello told parliament.   The budget, the first by a conservative government after 13 years of Labor rule, does little to address Australia's high unemployment, which is forecast to remain at 8.5 percent.   The Labor opposition and minor parties have threatened to block budget measures in parliament's upper house, the Senate, where the government does not have a majority.   But Costello warned an obstructionist Senate would jeorpardise the economic turnaround.   "The Senate could knock this budget around.   But if it does, it's knocking around our future," he told reporters.   "If we hadn't taken measures in this budget, which are designed over two years to reduce the underlying bottom line by A$7.2 billion, Australia would have been on a path to deficit and debt to the year 2000."   The projected A$5.6 billion underlying deficit is less than half the A$10.3 billion shortfall in 1995/96.   The 1996/97 headline result, which takes all figures into account, is a A$474 million surplus.   Costello said the budget measures were aimed at cementing sustainable economic growth, reducing debt, boosting national savings and creating jobs.   The budget papers gave an optimistic outlook for the Australian economy, with growth forecast at 3.5 percent in 1996/97, against 4.1 percent in 1995/96.   Inflation is seen falling to two percent from 4.2 percent and unemployment is projected to remain steady at 8.5 percent.   About 150 Aborigines attacked police with bricks, bottles and stakes during a 20-minute confrontation at the old parliament house.   One policewoman was repeatedly kicked and has been taken to hospital in a serious condition, a police spokeswoman said.   (A$1 = US$0.79) 
95 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Failed Australian businessman Alan Bond was sentenced to three years in jail Tuesday for fraud involving the French impressionist painting, La Promenade.   The Western Australia District Court sentenced Bond after a jury last Friday found him guilty of four fraud charges, brought by the corporate watchdog the Australian Securities Commission, which carried a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail. 
96 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  China on Tuesday introduced rules governing direct shipping links with Taiwan, ignoring a decades-old ban by the island it regards as a renegade province.   The regulations, which take effect from Tuesday, allow only wholly Chinese-owned or Taiwan-owned shipping companies or joint ventures involving Chinese or Taiwanese shipowners to sail between the two sides, Xinhua news agency said.   Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said the southeastern Chinese cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou would be the first ports to be opened to direct shipping links with Taiwan.   "The conditions for (establishing) direct shipping links are ripe," the newspaper said.   Taiwan's Nationalist government has banned direct air and shipping links with China since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops lost the Chinese civil war to the communists and fled to the island.   With tensions easing since the late 1980s, civilian aircraft and vessels have skirted the ban by stopping over in a third country or territory such as the British colony of Hong Kong or Portuguese-run Macau.    Taiwanese businessmen, who have poured more than $20 billion into China, are eager for direct transport links, but Taiwanese authorities have been reluctant to lift the ban.   The Nationalists, who say they are committed to reunification with China, see direct transport links as their last bargaining chip in talks with the communists.   China has threatened to invade if the island seeks independence.   Under the regulations, shipping companies must apply with the Chinese Ministry of Communications for permission to ply routes between the two sides.   The rules made no mention of any need to seek approval from Taiwan authorities.   The ministry has 45 days to decide whether to allow a shipping company to sail between the two sides, according to the regulations.   The rules empower the ministry to warn and seize the unlawful income of shipping companies breaking the rules.   China has poured cold water on a proposal by Taipei to turn Taiwan's Kaohsiung into an extraterritorial port, allowing third party ships to ply routes between the two sides.    The Taipei-based Economic Daily News said on Tuesday Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui had urged the central bank to study how to control capital outflows to China in a further bid to limit the island's economic exposure on its main rival's turf.   The central bank denied the report.   Speculation that Taipei might change its China policy has mounted since Lee cautioned last week that the island's economy needed to avoid over-dependence on the mainland.   "The Chinese are not really making much progress on other fronts... They have decided to focus on the three links and apply pressure on the Taiwanese," a Western diplomat in Beijing said.   The three links refer to trade, transport and mail.   On the diplomatic front, the rivalry has intensified, analysts say, with China trying hard to isolate the island and limit its contacts with other states.   Taiwan state-funded television said Vice-President Lien Chan was visiting the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, which formally recognises Beijing.   The Ukraine has denied the report.   China announced a diplomatic coup on Monday, persuading the West African nation of Niger to switch recognition to Beijing. 
97 !E12 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  President Bill Clinton on Tuesday signs into law the first rise in the minimum wage in five years, giving the lowest-paid Americans a 90-cent raise but sweetening the pill for small businesses with tax cuts.   The bill, boosting the wage to $5.15 per hour, was a political victory for Clinton, who called for an increase when he campaigned for president in 1992, and his fellow Democrats, who forced it through over the objections of many Republicans.   The fact that both of the Republican-controlled houses of Congress passed the legislation with strong majorities reflects election-year imperatives, as few legislators are willing to go to the polls on Nov. 5 having voted against it.   The president plans to celebrate by signing the bill in high style, arranging an elaborate outdoor ceremony on the White House south lawn.   The bill will boost the wage, typically paid to unskilled workers in restaurants and small businesses, by 50 cents to $4.75 on Oct. 1 and by 40 cents to $5.15 on Sept. 1, 1997.   Although the legislation will raise salaries of many U.S. workers, in inflation-adjusted terms it will not even restore the wage to its level in April 1991, when it was last increased.   One administration official said that in constant 1996 dollars the wage stood at $4.89 in April 1991 and will only be $4.85 in September 1997 after the full increase is in effect.   Boosting the wage was supported by roughly 80 percent of Americans but bitterly opposed by conservatives who came into office in the 1994 election that gave control of both houses of Congress to the Republican party.   "Considering how resolutely anti-Clinton and ideological this Congress was, for one of its very few accomplishments to be a Democratic bill to increase the minimum wage is quite remarkable," said William Dickens of the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based private research organization.   The legislation, formally called the "Small Business Jobs Protection Act," was made easier for Republicans to swallow by adding a sweeping package of tax breaks worth roughly $22 billion over ten years and aimed mostly at small businesses.   Conservatives argue that raising the minimum wage, which was first imposed by the federal government in 1938, would cut jobs, hurt small businesses and raise prices as companies pass on higher labor costs to consumers.   "This needlessly destroys job opportunities and it does not do what it is supposed to do, which is help the working poor," said Mark Wilson, who specilizes in labor issues at the conservative Heritage Foundation think-tank in Washington.   Wilson estimates that the law would eliminate 200,000 job opportunites -- jobs either not created or jobs terminated -- because of the higher labor costs.   But other economists argue the negative effects of the increase will be minimal.   "(We) expect only a small increase in inflation -- about 0.1 percent," Wharton Economic Forecasting Associates wrote in a recent study.   "Job losses will also be small -- the net job loss will be only about 20,000." 
98 !C13 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  Reports on Tuesday that Britain plans to play it tough in "open skies" talks with the United States come as the European Commission readies its guns for a competition probe into six transatlantic aviation alliances.   Tuesday's Financial Times quoted British government officials as planning to wring concessions from Washington before any wider opening of access to the busy runways of London's Heathrow airport.   A successful outcome to the ongoing and increasingly tetchy open skies talks is crucial to the fate of British Airways' planned alliance with American Airlines.   Washington says it will block the deal without increased Heathrow access for American carriers.   While approval for the BA/American alliance hinges principally on decisions by the U.S. Justice Department and Britain's Office of Fair Trading, the Commission has muscled in on policing a deal it sees as a threat to its competition powers within the European Union.   The planned alliance would capture 24 percent of the total Europe to U.S. market, British Airway's chief executive Robert Ayling said in July.   The sheer size of the plan made it impossible for the Commission to hold off on a move it had earlier considered but rejected for United Airlines's tie-up with Lufthansa.   The probe is to cover the competition effects of BA/American plans along with existing deals involving Lufthansa and United, Scandinavian Airlines Systems and United, and those between Delta Air Lines and SwissAir, Belgium's Sabena and Austrian Airlines.   One Brussels-based aviation expert, while convinced of the Commission's legal ground, questioned its capacity to unravel the complexities of all the different alliances, agreements for which usually run to hundreds of pages of dense legal text.   "Certainly the Commission has the legal power to act.   It used exactly these instruments in 1986 when it sent competition infringement letters to 10 Community airlines," the expert told Reuters recently.   "What I wonder at is whether the Commission has the resources to assess the competition effects of code-sharing agreements or even to calculate their market share impact," the expert said.   The scale of the Commission's task was evident from the conclusions of a recent report it commissioned into the impact of code-share deals, the practice by which collaborating airlines agree to use the same flight codes on respective services for a route in order to attract feeder traffic passengers to use an apparently seamless service.   "Potential competition problems might arise (from code-shares) as the possibilities for non code-sharing carriers to compete on a global network scale are limited," said the report, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. 
99 !G15 !GCAT  MONDAY, OCTOBER 28   LUXEMBOURG - General Affairs Council (To October 29).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation for December WTO ministerial meeting.   - Mediterranean policy:   - Status report on negotiations with Egypt and Algeria;   - Decision on signature of agreements with Jordan and Lebanon;   - Preparation for EU political profile at Cairo Summit (November 12-14).   - Middle East.   - Former Yugoslavia.   - Ukraine action plan.   - OSCE - Proposed guidelines for review and summit.   - Determination of EU's position for structured dialogue with central and eastern European countries.   - Commission presentation of green paper on post-Lome scenario.   - Relations with South Africa; state of negotiations.   - Relations with Switzerland.   - Interpretation and implementation of European Council common criteria to be applied to arms exports.   - Status of negotiations on framework agreement with Australia.   - Structured dialogue with central and eastern European countries.   - Signature of new partnership accords with Jordan and Lebanon.   - Signature of a framework accord with Korea.   - IGC ministerial session (first day).   LUXEMBOURG - Farm Council (To October 29).   BRUSSELS - Second European forum for social partners on services of general interest (To October 29).   Agenda includes: role and missions of services of general interest in achieving the goals of the EU and guaranteeing the fundamental rights of its residents and citizens; role of the actors (public authorities, operators, consumers, employees); subsidiarity, regulation, control, evaluation; globalisation and European strategy towards third countries.   Venue: Palais des Congres.   Contact: First & Top Travel - L'Universelle Travel Group (322) 647 4935.   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29   BRUSSELS - Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) holds plenary session (To October 31).   WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30   BRUSSELS - EU senior officials meet in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership on political and security questions (To October 31).   PARIS - Euroforum holds conference on "Gas and electricity '96 - deregulation: what is the impact?"   (To October 31).   Venue: Pavillon Royal, Bois de Boulogne.   Contact: Alexandra Galeza (33) 1 44 88 14 98.   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31   MARRAKESH, Morocco - Prometheus-Europe holds conference on "Articulate the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and decentralised cooperation" (To November 1).   Topics include: the objectives of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership; the functioning of the EMP - circuits of decision-making, financial control and the MEDA regulation; the functioning of Euro-Mediterranean programmes in the context of decentralised cooperation.   Contact: Euro-Med (33) 1 43 43 03 07.   NOVEMBER   - Irish presidency hosts conference on "Local employment initiatives".   Date and venue to be announced.   VENICE, Italy - Conference on fish management in the Mediterranean.   Date to be confirmed.   FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1   BRUSSELS - EU institutions closed for All Saints Day holiday.   MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4   EUROPEAN UNION - 1996 European Telework week begins (To November 11).   The aim is to raise awareness of the business and work opportunities presented by telework and to provide opportunities to understand and use telework technologies.   Contact: Horace Mitchell (44) 1 635 253 802.   VIENNA - Third European assembly on telework and new ways to work (To November 6).   Main topics discussed are: getting people to work; training for life in the information society and working towards sustainability.   Contact: Josef Hochgerner (43) 1 4950 442 42.   TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5   BRUSSELS - European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) holds conference on "Low-cost/high-return engineering measures for road accident reduction".   Contact: ETSC (322) 230 4106.   BRUSSELS - CENELEC holds conference on "Standards on trial: case studies in European standardisation" (To November 6).   Venue: Sheraton Hotel.   Contact: Annick Colman, CENELEC (322) 519 6889.   THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7   BRUSSELS - Culture Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - (possibly) Debate on European funds promoting cinema and television production.   - Directive amending the television without frontiers directive.   - Decision establishing an audiovisual guarantee fund.   - Proposal for a directive harmonising rules on media concentrations.   - Decision on Ariane programme.   - Decision on Raphael programme.   - First Commission report on consideration of cultural aspects of EU action.   - Proposal for a decision on rules concerning the European city of culture after the year 2000.   - (possibly) Green paper on new audiovisual services.   - Proposal for a directive amending directive 93/7/EEC concerning the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state.   CORK, Ireland - European Commission hosts European conference on "Rural development" (To November 9).   Discussions will focus on the future perspectives for the Union's rural development policy.   This policy seeks to address the challenges faced by rural areas in a way that considers all economic sectors and aspects of rural life and builds on their strengths.   BRUSSELS - European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) holds conference on "Social protection" (To November 8).   Contact: ETUC (322) 224 0411.   FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8   CHICAGO - TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD NEWS) holds conference (To November 9) to discuss transatlantic trade relations and develop creative solutions to remaining barriers to transatlantic trade.   Speakers are: US Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor, European Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan and European Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann.   Contact: Stephen Johnston, EU Contact Point (322) 548 0693.   MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11   BRUSSELS - ECOFIN Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation for December 13-14 Dublin European Council:   - EMU;   - Employment;   - Report on taxation;   - (possibly) Banking and financial directives;   - Taxation issues.   STRASBOURG - European Parliament plenary session (To November 15).   TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12   BRUSSELS - Health Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for an EP and Council decision adopting a programme of Community action on the prevention of drug dependence within the framework for action in the field of public health.   - Proposal for a decision adopting a programme of Community action on health monitoring in the context of the framework for action in the field of public health.   - Proposal for a Council directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the member states relating to the advertising of tobacco products.   - Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council creating a network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the European Community.   - Setting-up of an EU-U.S. task force to develop and implement a global early warning system and response network for communicable diseases.   - (possibly) Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE).   - Blood safety/self sufficiency.   - State of health in the EU.   - Health protection requirements in Community policies.   - European health card.   - Pollution-related diseases:   - Rare diseases;   - Accidents/injuries.   - Statement by presidency on Alzheimers Disease conference (November 21-22, 1996).   WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13   BRUSSELS - Committee of the Regions holds plenary session (To November 14).   BRUSSELS - EuroCommerce launches an analysis of European commerce and recommendations for future policy in recognition of the vital importance of this sector to th European economy (1030/0930 GMT).   Venue: International Press Centre (IPC).   Contact: Catherine Piana (322) 230 5 874.   BRUSSELS - Agra Europe holds third annual European grain conference (To November 14).   Contact: Agra Europe (44) 1892 511 807.   THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14   BRUSSELS - Industry Council.   Provisional agenda includes   - Steel:   a) State aids code;   b) Sixth monitoring report on state aids in steel sector;   c) (possibly) Future of ECSC Treaty.   - Competition:   a) State aids;   b) Merger regulation;   c) Agreement with Canada.   - Shipbuilding:   - (possibly) State of ratification procedure - OECD agreement.   - SMEs:   a) Proposal for a Council decision on a third multiannual programme for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the European Union (1997-2000);   b) Report on integrated programme.   - Competitiveness policy:   a) Commission's first report on the competitiveness of European industry;   b) A European policy for quality promotion;   c) Benchmarking;   d) Standards.   - Merger regulation:   - Review of regulation 4064/89 on the control of concentrations between undertakings.   - Automobile industry.   - Chemicals industry.   - Textiles:   - Communication from the Commission on the competitiveness of subcontracting in the textile and clothing industry in the European Union.   - (possibly) Recycling industry and environmental technology.   - (possibly) Space industry.   - (possbly) Cooperation with third countries.   BRUSSELS - EuroCommerce holds conference on "The business of adding value - European retailing and distribution".   Main discussions focus on commerce in the cashless society and the challenges of multimedia.   European Commission President Jacques Santer attends.   Contact: Catherine Piana (322) 230 5874.   SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17   QATAR - European Commission DG XVII and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) hold joint conference on "EU-GCC: extending the partnership to natural gas" (and 18/11).   MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18   BRUSSELS - Farm Council (To November 19).   TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19   BRUSSELS - Budget Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Draft Community budget for 1997 (second reading).   BRUSSELS - Euro-Mediterranean Committee for the Barcelona process meets (To November 20).   LONDON - Agra Europe holds ninth annual European and international dairy conference "Dairy '96" (To November 20).   Contact: Agra Europe (44) 1892 511 807.   BRUSSELS - Forum Europe, UNICE, the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), Eurochambres, the EU Committee of AmCham, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC) hold one-day conference (0930/0830 GMT) on "Europe's competitive edge".   Main topic is: assessing the state of EU competitiveness, an agenda for future action.   Main speaker is Martin Bangemann, Member of the European Commission with responsibility for Industrial Affairs, Information and Telecommunications technologies.   Venue: Concert Noble, rue d'Arlon 82, 1040 Brussels.   Contact: Clare Richardson, Forum Europe (322) 736 1430.   THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21   BRUSSELS - Education/Youth Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a decision on TEMPUS II.   - Conclusions on school effectiveness.   - European year of lifelong learning.   - Green paper on obstacles to mobility in higher education.   - Proposal for a recommendation concerning the assessment of quality in higher education.   - White paper on teaching and learning: towards the learning society.   - In-career development for teachers.   - (possibly) "SOCRATES" programme: draft decision amending the Socrates decision.   - Quality of higher education.   - General assessment of first and second level education systems.   - Commission proposal for a Council recommendation on the transferability of grants.   - Preparation of the structured dialogue with counterparts from central and eastern European countries.   FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22   BRUSSELS - Development Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - First ministerial exchange of views on ACP/EU relations post-Lome IV (Commission green paper).   - Further exchange of views on relief, rehabilitation and development.   - Resolution on the forestry sector.   - Adoption of a common position on the regulation on north/south cooperation in the fight against drugs.   - Adoption of a common position on the regulation on aid for population policies and programmes.   - Approval after EP second reading of the regulations on rehabilitation and construction in developing countries, refugees in Asia and Latin America, environmental measures in developing countries and HIV/AIDS related operations in developing countries.   - Horizon 2000 - coherence, complementarity and coordination.   BRUSSELS - Fisheries Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for Council regulations (EC) fixing:   - The guide prices for the fishery products listed in Annex I (A), (D) and (E) of Regulation (EEC) No. 3759/92 for the 1997 fishing year;   - The guide prices for the fishery products listed in Annex H to Regulation (EEC) No. 3759/92 for the 1997 fishing year;   - The Community producer price for tuna intended for the industrial manufacture of products falling within CN code 1604 for the 1997 fishing year.   - Proposal for a Council regulation (EC) temporarily suspending totally or partially the autonomous duties of the Common Customs Tariff for certain fishery products (1997).   - (Possibly) Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down (new) technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources.   - (Possibly) Proposal for a Council decision on MAGP IV.   - Commission report on third countries' activities in Community waters.   - Proposals for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the protocol establishing the fisheries rights and financial compensation provided in the agreement between the European Economic Community and the government of Senegal.   - (Possibly) Conclusion of new fisheries agreements with:   a) Certain countries of South America;   b) South Africa;   c) Namibia;   d) Mozambique.   MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25   BRUSSELS - General Affairs Council (To November 26).   In margins of the Council, EU/African Unity Organisation ministerial meeting.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation for Dublin European Council.   - Transatlantic relations.   - Preparation for December WTO ministerial meeting.   - Middle East.   - Mediterranean policy:   - Status report on contacts with Syria;   - Middle East (post-Cairo summit).   - Albania: decision to sign a new accord.   - Relations with Turkey.   - Former Yugoslavia.   - Decision to sign trade and cooperation agreement with FYROM.   - Nigeria: renewal of sanctions.   - Biological and toxin weapons convention: approval of statement on the opening of the fourth review conference.   - Ratification of chemical weapons convention: statement welcoming ratification.   - Determination of EU position for structured dialogue with Cyprus and Malta.   - Conclusion of negotiations on framework agreement with Australia.   - Relations with central and eastern European countries:   - Approval of conclusion of Europe agreements with Baltic States;   - Approval of interim protocols to Europe agreements.   - Russia: review of action plan.   - Food aid for Central Asian Republics.   - Status of negotiations with South Africa.   - Preparation for OSCE conference, Lisbon.   BRUSSELS - Consumers Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Commission proposal on access to justice (injunctions).   - Commission communication on access to justice (settlement).   - Directive amending existing consumer credit directives.   - Commission green paper on commercial communications in the internal market.   - Commission green paper on financial services meeting consumers' expectations.   - Guarantees and after sales services.   - Consumer protection within the information society.   - Protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers.   - Continuation of consumer education theme.   BRUSSELS - Brussels institute for management of the environment (IBGE), European federation of regional energy and environment agencies (FEDARENE) and Eurocities hold joint conference on "Plans and strategies for waste management on regional and local level" (0900/0800 GMT).   Venue: General de Banque auditorium.   Contact: IBGE by fax (322) 775 7679.   TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26   BRUSSELS - Internal Market Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - (possibly) 1996 study of the impact and effectiveness of single market legislation.   - Simpler legislation for the internal market (SLIM).   - Directive on legal protection of designs and industrial models.   - (possibly) 16th amendment of the directive 76/769/EEC on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations.   - Citizens First initiative.   - Directive concerning the free movement of lawyers.   - European company statute.   - (possibly) Directive concerning the free movement of doctors.   - Proposal for a directive amending directive 93/7/EEC concerning the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state.   - (possibly) Proposal for a directive on the supplementary supervision of insurance undertakings in an insurance group.   - Amendments to directive 89/398/EEC - dietary foods:   a) Vertical directives;   b) Temporary authorization;   - Amendments to directive 2/95/EEC - miscellaneous additives:   a) Prohibition of use in traditional products;   b) Classification of processed euchema seaweed.   - Amendment to sweeteners directive 94/35/EEC.   - In-vitro medical diagnostic devices.   - Amending public procurement directives following the adoption of G.P.A.   - (possibly) Green paper on public procurement.   LUXEMBOURG - European Commission DG XI hosts standing conference on "Health and safety in the nuclear age: informing the public on European radiation standards" (1030/0930 GMT) (and 27/11).   Topics include: major changes in the Euratom basic safety standards directive.   Venue: Jean Monnet building, room M6.   Contact: Mrs Eisen, DG IX (352) 4301 33 164.   BRUSSELS - Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) holds plenary session (to 28/11).   DUBLIN - European Finance Convention holds tenth anniversary meeting (to 30/11).   Contact: (44) 171 381 9291.   WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27   BRUSSELS - European Parliament mini-session (To November 28).   VENICE - Second ministerial conference on the management of fish stocks in the Mediterranean (To November 29).   THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28   BRUSSELS - Justice and Internal Affairs Council (To November 29).   BRUSSELS - Telecoms Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Telecommunications terminal and satellite earth station equipment.   - TENs: Proposal for a European Parliament and Council decision on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks.   - Data protection: modified proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sectors, in particular in the integrated services digital network (ISDN).   - (possibly) Numbering.   - (possibly) ONP voice telephony.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council decision on inter-administration telematic networks for statistics relating to the trading of goods between member states (EDICOM).   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on interconnection in telecommunications.   - Update of framework and leased lines directives on open network provision (ONP).   BRUSSELS - European Commission and the Indian government hold joint forum on trade and investment in India.   BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) hold conference on "EU-Asia cooperation inteh WTO context" (To November 29).   Main discussions focus on how and to what extent Asians and Europeans can cooperate inopening up markets within the WTO.   Speakers include: Commissioner Brittan.   Contact: EIAS, Kerstin Bergloef (322) 230 8122.   BRUGES, Belgium - European Society of Transport Institutes (ESTI) holds conference on "The citizens' network" (and 29/11).   Topics discussed include: the implications of external costs principles on urban transport; the network benefits principles; the modernising of the regulatory framework in public transport.   Venue: Castle Prinsenhof.   Contact: Laetitia Hoste, ESTI (322) 230 0514.   LEIPZIG, Germany (NEW ITEM) - Verband Saechssicher Bildungsinstitute hold conference on "Education 2000" (To November 30).   Topics include: the European education market; training in the latest skills; multimedia ability for both suppliers and users; innovation through personal development.   Contact: Verband Saechssicher Bildungsinstitute, Dieter Webner (49) 341 490 5910.   LONDON - Agra Europe holds fifth annual European sugar, sweetners and starch conference (to November 29).   Contact: Agra Europe (44) 1892 511 807.   FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29   BRUSSELS - European Parliament hosts conference on "Europe and its nations - before Maastricht II".   Participants include: European Commission President Jacques Santer and Belgian Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene.   MONDAY, DECEMBER 2   BRUSSELS - ECOFIN Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation for December 13-14 Dublin European Council:   - Commission report on the coordination of the Community's economic and structural policies.   - EIB loans to third countries.   - Taxation issues.   - SEM 2000 (sound and efficient management) final report of personal representatives group.   - (possibly) Protection of the financial interests of the Community:   - Monitoring of national measures;   - Extension of administrative controls and sanctions.   BRUSSELS - Social Affairs Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Follow-up of the Essen European Council: draft single report to the European Council of Dublin.   - Directive proposal on posting of workers in the framework of services.   - Proposal for a directive on the burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex.   - Proposal for a directive modifying directive 76/207/EEC (Kalanke European Court of Justice judgment).   - Amendment to regulation on civil servants and students (social security for migrant workers).   - Proposed regulation on modification of regulations (EEC) 1408/71 and 574/72 (social security of migrant workers: beneficiaries of pre-retirement benefits).   - Proposed regulation on various modifications of the regulations on social security of migrant workers.   - (possibly) Proposed regulation on codification of the regulations on social security of migrant workers.   - (possibly) Draft resolution on lifelong learning.   - Draft resolution on the future of social protection.   LISBON - Statistics Office of the European Community (SOEC) holds summit.   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3   BRUSSELS - Energy Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a directive concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity.   - Proposal for a directive concerning common rules for the internal market in gas.   - White paper on energy: Community strategy on renewables.   - Proposal for a decision on ALTENER II.   - White paper on energy: proposal for a decision on analysis and forecasts.   - Proposal for a decision on SAVE II programme.   - Proposal for a directive on energy efficiency requirements for households: electric refrigerators, freezers and combinations thereof.   - Proposal for a regulation on a SYNERGY programme.   - Report on the situation of oil supply, refining and markets in the European Community.   - Proposal for a directive to introduce rational planning techniques in the electricity and gas distribution sectors.   - Proposal for a decision on the conclusion of the Energy Charter Treaty.   - Euro-Mediterranean conference.   - Revision of Community law in the energy sector.   THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5   BRUSSELS - Research Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Financial supplement to the fourth framework programme/task force.   - Action plan on follow-up to the green paper on innovation.   - Fifth RTD framework programme.   - Presidency initiative on the contribution of research to drug detection and prevention of abuse.   - International cooperation in the RTD field:   - Science and technology cooperation strategy with central and eastern European countries;   - (possibly) Bilateral S/T agreements with several third countries.   - Commission communication on the EU and space.   - Commission communication on agronomic research for development.   - SMEs.   - (possibly) Fusion:   - ITER;   - Evaluation report from the Commission on the fusion programme.   - High flux reactor (HFR) programme.   CASABLANCA - Euro-Mediterranean summit of industrial federations.   FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6   BRUSSELS - General Affairs Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation of Dublin European Council.   - Discussion of 53rd U.N. Commission on human rights (including definition of EU position on China).   - Approval of policy document on peacekeeping operations.   - Submission of report on European armaments policy.   - Adoption of common position on U.N. register of conventional arms.   - Former Yugoslavia.   - Middle East.   - Mediterranean policy:   - Report on the follow-up to the Barcelona Conference;   - Algeria and Egypt: decision to sign agreements;   - Syria: Commission proposal for a negotiating mandate.   - Preparation of EEA ministerial council.   - Internal financial regulation on ACP.   - Radiation protection of persons undergoing medical examination or treatment.   - Negotiating directives for a nuclear cooperation agreement between EURATOM and Japan.   - Approval of mandate to negotiate an agreement on wine with Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.   - Agreement on steel with central and eastern European countries.   - Approval of negotiating mandate for a partnership and cooperation agreement with Turkmenistan.   - Asia:   - Decision to sign a protocol relating to the accession of Vietnam to ASEAN;   - Preparation for EU-ASEAN ministerial (February 1997);   - Follow-up to Bangkok ASEM and preparation for Singapore ministerial.   - Decision to sign framework agreement with Australia.   - Decision to sign mutual recognition agreements with Australia and New Zealand.   - Decision on signature of free trade agreement with South Africa.   MONDAY, DECEMBER 9   SINGAPORE - Inaugural World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference (To December 13).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Review of the implementation of Uruguay Round commitments.   - Endorsement of results of negotiations on services.   - Report from the committee on trade and environment.   - Any other trade-related issues.   BRUSSELS - Environment Council (To December 10).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the review of the European Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development "Towards sustainability".   - Proposal for a Council directive amending directive 90/219/EEC on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms.   - Auto oil:   a) Draft directive relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels;   b) Draft directive on measures against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicules - amendment of directives 70/229//EEC and 70/156/EEC.   - Proposal for a Council directive concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption.   - Commission communication on waste policy.   - Proposal for a Council regulation amending Council regulation (EEC) No 3254/91 prohibiting the use of leghold traps in the Community and the introduction into the Community of pelts and manufactured goods of certain wild animal species originating in countries which catch them by means of leghold traps or trapping methods which do not meet international humane trapping standards.   - Proposal for a Council regulation establishing common rules and procedures to apply to the shipments to certain non-OECD countries of certain types of waste.   - Follow-up to the conference on climate change.   - Fifth session of the Commission on sustainable development.   STRASBOURG - European Parliament plenary session (To December 13).   THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12   BRUSSELS - Transport Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - External relations:   - Relations with the United States in the field of air transport.   - Recommendation for a Council decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations on air transport agreements between the Community and Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.   - Negotiations between the European Community and Switzerland on land and air transport.   - Other measures:   - (possibly) Follow-up to green paper on the citizens' network.   - (possibly) Follow-up to green paper on internalisation of external costs.   - (possibly) Proposal for an European Parliament and Council directive on summertime arrangements.   - Surface transport:   a) Rail transport:   - (possibly) Follow-up to the white paper on the future of the railways.   b) Road transport:   - (possibly) Access to the road haulage profession.   - (possibly) Taxation of goods vehicles to replace directive 93/89/EEC.   - Proposal for a Council regulation laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a member state.   - Proposal for a Council regulation amending Council directive and regulation on recording equipment in road transport.   - Proposal for a Council regulation (EEC) No 684/92 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus.   - Air transport:   - Follow-up to white paper on air traffic management.   - (possibly) Follow-up to high level group on air safety.   - Proposal for the establishment of a single European authority for air safety.   - (possibly) Proposal on airport charges.   - Proposal for a Council regulation on air carrier liability in case of accidents.   - (possibly) Revision of regulation on slot allocation.   - (possibly) Proposals to update rules on denied boarding compensation and passenger protection.   - Maritime transport:   - (possibly) Licensing regime for roll-on roll-off ferry operations.   - (possibly) Compiling lists of passengers on roll-on roll-off ferries.   - Proposal for Council directive setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres in length and over.   - (possibly) Commission strategic document.   - (possibly) Proposal to amend Council directive 94/58/EC on the minimum level of training of seafarers.   - (possibly) Proposal to amend Council directive 93/75/EEC concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods.   - (possibly) Shipping agreements with third countries, especially China and India.   - (possibly) Report on competition in the multimodal sector.   FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13   DUBLIN - Irish presidency hosts European Council of heads of state and government (To December 14).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Council report on the development of tax systems within the Union, taking into account the need to create a tax environment that stimulates business and the creation of jobs and promotes a more efficient environmental policy.   - Commission and European Monetary Institute (EMI) report on progress in stage three of European Monetary Union (EMU).   - Commission report on subsidiarity.   - Presentation of draft revision of the treaties, addressing in particular:   * Bringing the Union closer to its citizens;   * Strengthening and enlarging the scope of the Union's common foreign and security policy;   * Assuring, in view of enlargement, the proper functioning of the institutions while respecting their balance of powers and the efficiency of the decision-making process;   * Simplification of the treaties.   - Commission report on appropriate initiatives for reinforcing regional cooperation in Europe.   - Report on the evolution of the trade policies and the preferential agreements of the Community in relation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).   - Final European Commission report on the mutually beneficial effects of greater coordination of the Union's economic and structural policies.   - Review of December 1995 Madrid summit recommendations on fighting unemployment and on application of multiannual employment programmes.   - Joint ECOFIN/Social Affairs Council annual employment monitoring report.   - Review of progress in application of Madrid December 1995 drug exp   erts group report on the fight against drugs.   - Territorial pacts for employment within the framework of the confidence pact for employment.   SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15   STRASBOURG - Council of Europe holds symposium on "Medically-assisted procreation and the protection of the human embryo" (To December 18).   MONDAY, DECEMBER 16   BRUSSELS - Farm Council (To December 17).   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17   BRUSSELS - Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) holds plenary session (To December 19).   THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19   BRUSSELS - Fisheries Council (To December 20).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a Council regulation fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1997 and certain conditions under which they may be fished.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation amending Council regulation (EC) No. 3074/95 fixing, for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks, the total allowable catches for 1996 and certain conditions under which they may be fished.   - (Possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation laying down certain rules for the access to Community waters of research vessels for scientific purposes.   - (Possibly) Commission proposal on the financing of collection of scientific data.   - (Possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation (EC) amending regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (establishment of a Community catch-reporting data-base).   - (Possibly) Proposal for a Council decision on MAGP IV.   - Proposals for Council regulations   a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Norway;   b) allocating, for 1997, certain catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in the Norwegian exclusive zone and the fishing zone around Jan Mayen.   - Proposals for Council regulations:   a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of the Faroes;   b) allocating, for 1997, certain catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Faroese waters.   - Proposal for a Council regulation allocating, for 1997, Community catch quotas in Greenland waters.   - Proposal for Council regulation allocating, for 1997, certain catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Icelandic waters.   - Proposals for Council regulations:   a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Estonia;   b) allocating, for 1997, catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Estonian waters.   - Proposals for Council regulations:   a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Latvia;   b) allocating, for 1997, catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Latvian waters.   - Proposals for Council regulations   a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Lithuania;   b) allocating, for 1997, catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Lithuanian waters.   - a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of Poland;   b) allocating, for 1997, catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Polish waters.   - a) laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of the Russian Federation;   b) allocating, for 1997, catch quotas between member states for vessels fishing in Russian waters.   - Proposal for Council regulation laying down, for 1997, certain conservation and management measures for fishery resources in the regulatory area as defined in the Convention on future multilateral cooperation in the North West Atlantic Fisheries.   - Proposal for a Council regulation laying down, for 1997, certain measures for the conservation and management of fishery resources applicable to vessels flying the flag of certain non-member countries in the 200-nautical-mile zone off the coast of the French Department of Guiana.   - (Possibly) NAFO: New STACFAC regulations.   - Proposals for Council decisions:   a) Authorising the Kingdom of Spain to extend the agreement on mutual fishery relations with the Republic of South Africa;   b) Authorizing the Portuguese Republic to extend the agreement on mutual fishery relations with the Republic of South Africa.   LUXEMBOURG - Executive committee of Schengen group on free movement of people meets at ministerial level under Luxembourg presidency.   Venue: Kirchberg conference centre.   Luxembourg is hoping to achieve admittance of Nordic countries to Schengen accord during its presidency of the group, with signature of accession protocols for Denmark, Finland and Sweden and association protocols for Iceland and Norway at the meeting.   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23   BRUSSELS - EU institutions closed for Christmas holidays until January 2.   TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31   - Irish EU presidency ends.   The Netherlands takes over to June 30, 1997.   If you have items for inclusion in the Reuter European   Community diary, please contact:   Telephone: Cynthia Simpson (322) 287 6851   Fax: (322) 230 5573   For technical queries regarding   the service, please call (322) 287 6666   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   EC Report (C)opyright Reuters Limited. 
100 !G15 !GCAT  ****   HIGHLIGHTS   ****   DUBLIN - EU leaders hold special European Council (October).   SINGAPORE - Inaugural World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference (December 9-13).   DUBLIN - Irish Presidency European Council of heads of state and government (December 13-14).   WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21   LUXEMBOURG (NEW ITEM) - Luxembourg U.N. Association holds news conference prior to the world congress of the 50th anniversary of the world federation of U.N. associations (1700/1300 GMT).   Venue: Kirchberg Centre.   THURSDAY, AUGUST 22   BRUSSELS - European Union cereals management committee meets for export tender.   FRIDAY, AUGUST 23   LUXEMBOURG (NEW ITEM) - Luxembourg U.N. Association holds World Congress of the 50th anniversary of the World Federation of U.N. Associations (To August 26).   Venue: Kirchberg Centre.   TUESDAY, AUGUST 27   LUXEMBOURG (NEW ITEM) - U.N. regional European Associations hold 15th conference.   SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1   BERLIN - International Energy Agency (IEA) holds conference on "The technologies of natural gas, power unit for market development" (To September 4).   Contact: IEA (33) 1 45 24 94 84.   TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3   BRUSSELS - European Parliament Inquiry Committee into mad cow disease holds first meeting.   Spanish Socialist leader Manuel Medina presents report.   BRUSSELS - IGC Working Party of EU foreign ministers' representatives meets to continue review of EU treaties (To September 4).   Topics include: citizenship, fundamental rights, subsidiarity, simplification and codification.   WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4   BRUSSELS - European Commission holds first regular weekly meeting after its summer break.   Provisional agenda, liable to change, includes:   - European Commissioner Neil Kinnock presents communication on an internal market in aviation.   BRUSSELS - European Parliament mini-session (To September 5).   Provisional agenda includes:   - (1500/1300 GMT) Statement by the Commission on urgent political matters of major importance followed by questions.   - (1630/1430 GMT) Statements by the Council and the Commission an public services followed by a debate.   - Robin Teverson report on the sixth annual report for 1994 on the structural funds COM(95)583.   - Joint debate:   - (possibly) Konstantinos Klironomos report on development issues relating to Objective I structural measures in Greece.   - Giles Chichester report on development issues/Objective 1 - structural measures in Portugal.   - Angela Siepra Gonzalez report on development problems/structural measures under Objectives 1-2 and 5b in Spain (1994-1999).   - Bernd Lange report on the 1995 annual report on the research and technological development activities of the European Union COM(95)443.   - (possibly) Karl von Wogau report on the rates of duty laid down in Council directive 92/79/EEC of 19 October 1992 on the approximation of taxes on cigarettes, Council directive 92/80/EEC of 19 October 1992, on the approximation of taxes on manufactured tobacco other than cigarettes, Council directive 92/84/EEC of 19 October 1992, on the approximation of the rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages and 92/82/EEC of 19 October 1992, on the approximation of the rates of excise duties on mineral oils COM(95)285.   - Werner Langen report on the common system of Value Added Tax (level of the standard rate) COM(95)731.   - Gipo Farassino report on the proposal for a Council directive amending directive 91/439/EEC on driving licences COM(96)55.   - (possibly) Per Stenmarck report on the proposal for a Council directive on safety rules and standards for passenger ships COM(96)61.   THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5   BRUSSELS - European Parliament mini-session (second of two days).   Provisonal agenda includes:   - (until 0900/0700 GMT) Political group meetings.   - (0900/0700 GMT) Edgar Schiedermeier report on a European strategy for encouraging local development and employment initiatives COM(95)273.   - Michel Rocard report on the reduction of working hours.   - (1100/0900 GMT) Votes on reports under the cooperation, codecision and assent procedures and motions for resolutions on which the debate has closed.   BRUSSELS - Executive committee of the Bosnian Peace Implementation Council, known as the Steering Board, meets ahead of September 14 Bosnian elections to discuss post-election framework peace plan.   FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6   LINZ, Austria - GLOBE holds conference on "Responding to climate change".   Contact: GLOBE (322) 230 6589.   SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7   TRALEE, Ireland - Informal General Affairs Council (To September 8).   Agenda includes review of IGC progress.   MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9   BRUSSELS - (possibly) ECOFIN Council.   BRUSSELS - Euro-Mediterranean meeting on projects concerning cultural heritage (To September 10).   BRUSSELS - European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA) holds conference on "Journalists and the world of politics, publishers and politicians" (1100/0900 GMT).   Venue: Royal Crown Hotel.   Contact: ENPA (322) 551 0190.   TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10   EDINBURGH - European Commission's DG XVI, Committee of the Regions and Scotland hold conference on land-use planning in the North Sea and Baltic regions.   LUXEMBOURG - COURT OF JUSTICE, PLENARY COURT (0930/0730 GMT)   - Judgment C-61/94 Commission v/ Germany: external relations.   - Judgment C-222/94 Commission v/ United Kingdom: free movement of persons.   - Judgment C-277/94 Z. Taflan-Met and others v/ Bestuur van de Sociale Verzekeringsbank: external relations.   - Judgment C-11/95 Commission v/ Belgium: free movement of persons.   - Oral procedure C-24/95 Land Rheinland-Pfalz v/ Alcan Deutschland GmbH: state aid.   - (1100/0900 GMT) Oral procedure C-59/95 Francisco Bastos Moriana and others v/ Bundesanstalt fuer Arbeit: free movement of persons.   - (1530/1330 GMT) Oral procedure C-169/95 Spain v/ Commission: state aid.   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds seminar on "NATO enlargement" (1315/1115 GMT).   Speaker is Andras Simonyi, Ambassador and Head of Hungarian Liaison Mission with NATO and the Western European Union.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11   BRUSSELS - European Commission holds regular weekly meeting.   Provisional agenda, liable to change, includes:   - European Commission President Jacques Santer presents communication on public services.   - European Commissioner Christos Papoutsis presents communication on nuclear industries in the EU - indicative nuclear programme under article 40 of the Euratom treaty COM(96)339.   - European Commissioner Martin Bangemann presents communication on the proposal for an EP and Council directive on the application to voice telephony of the principle of open network provision and universal service for telecoms in a competitive environment.   - European Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan presents communication on the second phase of the integration of textile and clothing products under GATT.   - European Commission President Jacques Santer and European Commissioners Yves-Thibault de Silguy and Mario Monti present communication on the legal framework for the use of the Euro.   - European Commission President Santer and European Commissioner de Silguy present communication on Commission proposal on a budgetary stability pact.   - European Commissioner de Silguy presents communication on foreign exchange in the EU.   LUXEMBOURG - COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE, SECOND CHAMBER - ENLARGED (0930/0730 GMT)   - Oral procedure T-227/95 AssiDoman Kraft Products and others v/ Commission: competition.   THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12   LUXEMBOURG - COURT OF JUSTICE, PLENARY COURT, FIRST CHAMBER (0930/0730 GMT)   - Judgment joined cases C-58/95 Gallotti, C-75/95 Censi, C-112/95 Salmaggi, C-119/95 Pasquire, C-123/95 Zappone, C-135/95 Segna, C-140/95 Cervetti, C-141/95 Gasbarri, C-154/95 Narducci, C-157/95 Smaldone: environment and consumers.   - Oral procedure C/241/95 The Queen, ex parte: Accrington Beef Co Ltd v/ Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce: commercial policy.   THIRD CHAMBER (0930/0730 GMT)   - Oral procedure C-255/95 S. Agri and others v/ Regione Veneto: agriculture.   - (1030/0830 GMT) Oral procedure C-273/95 Impresa Agricola Buratti Leonardo, Pierluigi e Livio v/ Tabacchicoltori Associati Veneti Soc.   coop.   a.r.l. (TAV): agriculture.   FIFTH CHAMBER (0930/0730 GMT)   - Judgment C-251/94 Eduardo Lafuente Nieto v/ Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Social (INSS) and Tesoreria General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS): free movement of persons.   - Judgment joined cases C-254/94, C/255/94, C-269/94 Fattoria autonoma tabacchi and others v/ Ministero dell'Agricoltura et delle Foreste and others: agriculture.   - Judgment C-278/94 Commission v/ Belgium: free movement of persons.   - Judgment C-236/95 Commission v/ Greece: company law.   - Opinion C-340/94 E.J.M. de Jaeck v/ Staatssecretaris van Financieen: free movement of persons.   - Opinion joined cases C-88/95, C-102/95 and C-103/95 Bernardina Martinez Losada and others v/ Instituto Nacional de Empleo (INEM), Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS): free movement of persons.   - Opinion C-139/95 Livia Balestra v/ Istituto nazionale per la previdenza sociale (INPS): social policy.   - (1530/1330 GMT) Phytheron International SA v/ Jean Bourdon SA: free movement of goods.   SIXTH CHAMBER (0930/0730 GMT)   - Opinion C-221/94 Commission v/ Luxembourg: approximation of legislation.   - Opinion C-142/95-P Associazione agricoltori della provincia di Rovigo and others v/ Commission, Mauro Girello and Greguoldo Daniele: environment and consumers.   - Opinion C-262/95 Commission v/ Germany: environment and consumers.   - Opinion C-314/95 Commission v/ Italy: agriculture.   - Oral procedure C-69/95 Italy v/ Commission: agriculture.   COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE, FOURTH CHAMBER (0930/0730 GMT)   - Oral procedure joined cases T-454/93, T-455/93, T-456/93 and T-457/93 Elders Trading Ltd and Paterson Elders (Produce) Ltd. and others v/ Commission: agriculture.   BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Union of Industrial and Employee's Confederation of Europe (UNICE) hold press briefing on "Taxation in the EU" (1530/1330 GMT).   Venue: UNICE, rue Joseph II.   Contact: UNICE (322) 231 1445.   BRUSSELS - Friends of the Earth Europe hold conference on "International biosafety" (To September 13).   Topics include: the EU and international biosafety actions; experiences with international legislation on the transfer of potentially hazardous substances; north-south transfer of genetically modified organisms; legal instruments to be included in an international biosafety protocol, implementation and control.   Venue: Palace Hotel.   Contact: Friends of the Earth Europe (322) 542 0180.   FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds workshop on "The strategic implications of the Euro for banks and corporates" (1000/0800 GMT).   Agenda includes: implication of the empirical findings on economies of scale and scope in European banking; mergers and acquisitions in European banking; European banking: a cross-country comparison; Euro pricing and marketing strategies in Europe; implications for corporate finance; place of business and taxation.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15   BRUSSELS - COPA holds conference on "Women farmers: more than a job, a life" (To September 17).   Venue: COPA, 23-25 rue de la Science.   Contact: COPA (322) 287 2711.   BARCELONA, Spain - Eurotextil exhibition on the textile and clothing industry takes place (To September 17).   Venue: Fira de Barcelona.   Contact: Eurotextil (34) 93 233 2000.   CRACOW, Poland - European Commission and the Polish government hold joint conference on "Industrial property in European integration" (1900/1700 GMT) (To September 17).   Speakers include: Head of the Commission delegation in Poland Rolf Timans, Commission DG XV Director General John Mogg.   Contact: Kserkop (48) 12 33 39 24.   MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16   BRUSSELS - Farm Council (To September 17).   STRASBOURG - European Parliament plenary session (To September 20).   BRUSSELS - IGC Working Party of EU foreign ministers' representatives meets to continue review of EU treaties (To September 17).   Topics include: institutional issues, budgetary issues, national parliaments.   TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17   BRUSSELS - Knibb, Gormezano and Partners hold conference on "The automotive industry and the environment" (To September 18).   Venue: Renaissance Hotel.   Contact: Automotive Matters International Ltd (44) 1628 526 060.   WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18   DUBLIN - EU trade ministers hold informal meeting (To September 19) to prepare for the first ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Singapore on December 9-13.   Participants include: Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan and WTO Director General Renato Ruggiero.   Venue: Dublin Castle.   BRUSSELS - Committee of the Regions holds plenary session (To September 19).   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds seminar on "Banning chemical weapons" (1315/1115 GMT).   Speaker is Ian R. Kenyon, Executive Secretary, Preparatory Commission for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   LONDON - AIG conferences Ltd holds "The European power forum: regulatory developments and strategic opportunities" (To September 20).   Venue: Park Lane Hotel.   Contact: AIG conferences Ltd (44) 171 2422324.   THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19   BRUSSELS - IBC Legal Studies and Services holds conference on "Telecommunications and EC competition law" (To September 20).   Venue: SAS Hotel.   Contact: Anna D'Alton, IBC Legal Studies and Services (44) 171 453 2043.   FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20   DUBLIN - Informal ECOFIN Council (To September 22).   SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22   KILLARNEY, Ireland - Informal Farm Council (To September 24).   Provisional agenda includes beef market trends and sales promotion.   MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds seminar on "World competition rules" (1315/1115 GMT).   Speaker is Karel Van Miert, member of the European Commission responsible for competition policy.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24   BRUSSELS - Social Affairs Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a decision on the establishment of an employment and labour market policy committee.   - Modification of the "carcinogens" directive.   - Amendment of directive 86/378/EEC on equal treatment in occupational social security schemes.   - Council resolutions on equal opportunities between men and women and the European structural funds.   - Information and consultation of workers.   - Future of social dialogue.   - Joint report on employment.   BRUSSELS - Economic and Social Committee (ECOSOC) holds plenary session (To September 26).   LONDON - European Commission hosts conference on "Private security industry in society: a European perspective" (To September 25).   Topics include: vocational training, regulation, standards of service and employment.   Venue: Forte Crest Hotel.   Contact: Nigel Greaves Associates, Andrew Mackay (44) 1886 833 034.   BRUSSELS - IGC Working Party of EU foreign ministers' representatives meets to continue review of EU treaties (To September 24).   Topics include: issues on which proposals become available from delegations.   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds seminar on "The inter-governmental conference" (1315/1115 GMT).   Speaker is Michael Patijn, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26   DUBLIN - Informal Justice and Internal Affairs Council (To September 27).   BERLIN - The Kangaroo Group in collaboration with the Fondation Europe et Societe host European Parliament and Commission conference on "On the way to the European home market: the single currency" (To September 28).   Agenda includes: role of the single currency in the development of the EU; priorities of the Irish Presidency regarding the single currency; preparation for the move to the single currency; impact on the French banking system; impact on financial services and policy; impact on business; single currency and social aspects; relations between the single currency and the currencies which will join the EMU later; single currency and political union.   Speakers include: MEPs Karl von Wogau, Giorgos Katiforis and Elmar Brok; Irish Finance Minister Ruairi Quinn; European Economy Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy.   Venue: Steigenberger Hotel.   Contact: Kangaroo Group conference office (322) 284 4438.   BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - Club de Bruxelles hold conference on "The future of Biotechnologies in Europe" (To September 27).   Topics include: development and role of biotechnology R&D in the EU; innovation in health care: novel pharmaceutical products; new crops from plant biotechnology; the "greening" of industry: clean products and processes; biotechnology in Europe society: public perceptions; industrial competitiveness and biotechnological innovation.   Contact: Club de Bruxelles (322) 743 1520.   WARSAW - Euromoney Seminars holds third annual conference on "The 1996 Polish investment forum" (To September 27).   Venue: Bristol Hotel.   Contact: Euromoney Seminars (44) 171 7798793.   ROME - European Association of Advertising Agencies (EAAA) holds annual conference on "The future of brand-building across borders".   Contact: Paola di Discordia, EAAA (322) 280 1603.   FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27   BRUSSELS - Telecoms Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on a common framework for general authorisations and individual licences in the field of telecommunications services.   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council decision on action at Union level in the field of satellite personal communications services in the European Union.   - (possibly) Commission communication on ITU policy forum.   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on telecoms terminal and satellite earth station equipment.   - TENs: proposal for a European Parliament and Council decision on a series of guidelines for trans-European telecommunications networks.   - (possibly) ONP voice telephony: proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive.   - (possibly) proposal for a Council decision on inter-administration telematic networks for statistics relating to the trading of goods between member states (EDICOM).   - (possibly) Draft Council decision on promotion of multilingualism in the information society.   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on common rules for the development of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council decision regarding the definition and implementation of Community policy in the field of telecommunications and postal services.   - (possibly) Health aspects of mobile phones.   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds workshop on "Completing the internal market for electricity: the meaning of the June 20th decision" (1300/1100 GMT).   Speakers include MEP Claude Desama.   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: CEPS (322) 229 3911.   MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30   BRUSSELS - IGC Working Party of EU foreign ministers' representatives meets to continue review of EU treaties.   Topics include: flexibility, follow-up of specific issues in the light of first round of discussions.   DUBLIN - People First holds conference on "Challenges of living and working in the European information society" (0830/0630 GMT) (To October 1).   Topics include: employment and economic structure in the information society; the future of work in the information society; labour market and learning in the information society; living in the information society.   Venue: Dublin Castle.   Contact: People First (353) 1 661 8904.   OCTOBER   DUBLIN - EU leaders hold special European Council.   Main topics include trade, fight against drugs, EU's future, inter-governmental conference (IGC), employment and preparations for the December ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Singapore.   MALTA - Ministerial meeting on drugs and organised crime.   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1   LUXEMBOURG - General Affairs Council (To October 2).   Provisional agenda includes:   - Preparation for December WTO ministerial meeting.   - Mediterranean policy;   - MEDA regulation: adoption of the guidelines for the indicative programmes;   - Conclusion of negotiations with Jordan and Lebanon;   - West Bank and Gaza: Commission proposal for a negotiating mandate.   - Relations with Albania: approval of mandate to negotiate a new agreement.   - Former Yugoslavia:   - Follow-up to electoral process;   - Peace process;   - Medium/long-term strategy.   - Middle East.   - Mandate for negotiation of extension of steel agreements with the former USSR.   - Relations with central and eastern European countries; decisions of association councils.   - Approval to sign supplementary protocols to Baltic FTAs.   - India - Council conclusions on Commission communication.   - ASEAN - Council conclusions on Commission communication; protocol to ASEAN agreement to take account of Vietnam's accession.   - Preparation for SADC ministerial meeting on October 14-15.   - Food aid distribution regulation.   - Mid-term review of decisions on the association of overseas countries and territories.   - Draft joint action on anti-personnel landmines (possible adoption of further joint action).   - KEDO (Korean Peninsular Energy Development Organisation).   - (possibly) Preparation of the association council with Turkey.   - IGC ministerial session.   BRUSSELS - Touchstone exhibitions and conferences hold conference on "Managing economic transition in central and eastern Europe and central Asia" (To October 3).   Venue: Palais des Congres.   Contact: Olga Arola, Touchstone exhibitions and conferences (44) 181 332 0044.   BRUSSELS - Agra Europe holds conference on "CAP reform 1996-2000 and beyond" (To October 2).   Venue: Sheraton Hotel.   Contact: Agra Europe (44) 1892 511 807.   WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2   BRUSSELS - European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) holds conference on "European works councils" (To October 4).   Contact: ETUC (322) 224 0411.   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3   LUXEMBOURG - Transport Council (To October 4).   Provisional agenda includes:   - External relations:   - Recommendation for a Council decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations on air transport agreements between the Community and Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.   - Relationship with central and eastern European countries.   - Negotiations between the EU and Switzerland on land and air transport.   - Other measures:   - Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on summertime arrangements.   - Surface transport:   a) Road transport:   - (possibly) Access to the road haulage profession.   - (possibly) Taxation of goods vehicles to replace directive 93/89/EEC.   - Proposal for a Council regulation laying down the conditions under which non-resident carriers may operate national road passenger transport services within a member state.   - Proposal for the modification of Council regulation (EEC) No 684/92 on common rules for the international carriage of passengers by coach and bus.   b) Rail transport:   - (possbly) White paper on the future of the railways.   - Air transport:   - (possibly) Follow-up to white paper on air traffic management.   - Proposal for a Council regulation on air carrier liabilities in case of accidents.   - Proposal for a Council regulation amending regulation EEC/3922/91 on the harmonisation of technical requirements and administrative procedures in the field of civil aviation.   - Maritime transport:   - (possibly) Proposal on the compilation of lists of passengers on roll-on roll-off ferries.   - Proposal for a Council directive setting up a harmonised safety regime for fishing vessels of 24 metres or more in length.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council directive amending Council directive 93/75/EEC concerning minimum requirements for vessels bound for or leaving Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council directive amending directive 94/58/EEC on the minimum level of training for seafarers.   LIEGE, Belgium - European Institute for Legal Studies "Fernand Dehousse" holds conference on "Regional trade agreements and multilateral rules after the Uruguay Round: convergence, divergence and interaction" (To October 5).   Venue: Palais des Congres.   Contact: Xavier Denoel, Liege University (32) 41 66 3156.   MONDAY, OCTOBER 7   LUXEMBOURG - Research Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Financial supplement to the fourth framework programme/task forces.   - Follow-up to the green paper on innovation.   - International cooperation in the research and technological (RTD) development field:   - Science and technology cooperation strategy with Mediterranean countries;   - (possibly) Bilateral science and technology agreements with several third countries.   - Joint Research Centre (JRC): Commission report on progress in the implementation of Council conclusions of April 21, 1994 on the role of the JRC.   - Fifth RTD framework programme.   - (possibly) Evaluation of Community RTD activities.   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8   LUXEMBOURG - Industry Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Implications of the information society for EU policies.   - Review of the action plan "Europe's way to the information society".   - Member state experiences.   - The information society and services for industry.   - Standardisation and the information society.   - Information society and the citizen.   - (possibly) Multilingual information society.   - (possibly) The information society and space.   - Green paper on the social aspects of the information society.   BRUSSELS - Euro-Mediterranean committee for the Barcelona process meets (To October 9).   GALICIA, Spain - European Commission's DG XVI, Committee of the Regions and Galicia hold seminar on land-use planning in the Atlantic Arc region.   LONDON - Agra Europe holds third annual European meat industry conference "Meat '96".   Topics include: EU policy for meat and livestock; EU policy, European meat producation and trade - perspectives from UK and Germany; market outlook for beef, sheepmeat, pigmeat and poultry; BSE and the effects on European meat consumption; rebuilding the image of meat; regaining consumer confidence.   Venue: Copthorne Tara Hotel.   Contact: Agra Europe (44) 1892 51 18 07.   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10   BRUSSELS - Cogen Europe holds third annual conference on "Europe's cogeneration markets of the future: prospects and challenges" (To October 11).   Venue: Sheraton Hotel.   Contact: Cogen Europe (322) 772 8290.   FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11   BRUSSELS (NEW ITEM) - European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) holds conference on "APEC and the EU".   Main discussions focus on what APEC is, what it actually does and what it means for EU policy makers and business.   Contact: EIAS, Kerstin Bergloef (322) 230 81 22.   SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13   AUSTRIA - Austria holds its first elections to the European Parliament, electing 21 deputies.   MONDAY, OCTOBER 14   LUXEMBOURG - ECOFIN Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - EMU third stage: preparation for Dublin European Council.   - European Investment Bank (EIB) loans to third countries:   - New guarantee system;   - Renewal of envelopes for eastern Europe, the Mediterranean and ALA.   - Protection of the Community's financial interests: regulation on on-the-spot checks and inspections (final adoption).   - Fight against fraud: transit sector.   - Taxation issues.   LUXEMBOURG - Fisheries Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a Council regulation laying down (new) technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources.   - Proposal for a Council regulation on logbooks and landing declarations.   - (possibly) Commission report on direct landing of fish.   - Commission report on fishing and responsible marketing.   - Proposal for Council regulation fixing the conditions of access to waters and resources of the Baltic Sea.   - Proposal for a Council decision on Multi-Annual Guidance Programme (MAGP) IV.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation on the fixing of management objectives and strategies for certain fisheries for the period 1994-1997.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation amending for the sixteenth time regulation (EEC) No. 3094/86 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources (drift-nets).   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation amending previous Council regulations opening and providing for the administration of autonomous Community tariff quotas for certain fishery products (1996) or for tariff suspensions (1996).   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation (EC) amending regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (establishment of a Community catch-reporting database).   - Proposal for a Council regulation (EC) laying down common marketing standards for certain fishery products.   - Proposal for a Council regulation introducing transitional measures into regulation (EC) No 1624/94 laying down certain technical measures for the conservation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean.   - (possibly) Proposal for a Council regulation (EC) amending regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the common fisheries policy (satellite monitoring).   - Commission report on the application of the basic regulation (No. 3760/92).   - (possibly) Proposal for Council regulation (EC) amending for the fourth time regulation (EEC) No 3699/93 laying down the criteria and conditions for Community structural funding in the fishing and aquaculture sector as well as the processing and marketing of their products.   - (possibly) Commission report on control operations in 1995.   - (possibly) Commission report on MAGP III.   - (possibly) Conclusion of new fisheries agreements with:   a) Estonia;   b) Latvia;   c) Lithuania.   - (possibly) Venice conference on marine management in the Mediterranean, November 1996 - final arrangements.   - (possibly) Negotiating mandate for future South Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SAFO).   - (possibly) Proposal for Council decisions on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters concerning the provisional application of the protocol setting out the fishing opportunities and financial contribution provided for in the agreements between the European Economic Community and:   a) Angola;   b) Sao Tome;   c) Gambia;   d) Mauritius.   - (possibly) Proposals for the conclusion of a new fisheries agreement with Mauritania.   - (possibly) Conclusion of fisheries agreements with Russia on behalf of:   a) Sweden;   b) Finland.   - Recommendations for a Council decision authorising the Commission to negotiate fisheries agreements with certain Mediterranean countries.   - Commission report on third countries' activities in Community waters.   LILLE, France - European Commission (DG VII-transport, XI-environment, XVII-energy) and Nord-Pas de Calais Region organise congress (To October 16) on "City and mobility; moving ideas around!"  .   Venue: Alteris, avenue de la Creativite 3, 59650 Villeneuve d'Ascq.   Contact: Marianne Ryckewaert (33) 20 67 08 21)   CYPRUS - Experts on the implementation of the multiannual rolling work programme for maritime transport in the Mediterranean hold their first meeting.   WINDHOEK, Namibia - EU/Southern Africa Development Council ministerial meeting (To October 15).   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15   LUXEMBOURG - Environment Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the review of the European Community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development "Towards sustainability".   - Proposal for a Council regulation amending Council regulation (EE   C) No 3254/91 prohibiting the use of leghold traps in the Community and the introduction into the Community of pelts and manufactured goods of certain wild animal species originating in countries which catch them by means of leghold traps or trapping methods which do not meet international humane trapping standards.   - (possibly) Follow-up of the conference on climate change and preparation of EU position for protocol negociations.   - Preparation for the conference on biodiversity.   - Preparation for the eighth meeting of the parties to the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.   - (possibly) Commission communication on waste strategy.   - Proposal for a Council directive amending directive 90/219/EEC on the continued use of genetically modified micro-organisms.   - Proposal for a Council directive concerning the quality of water intended for human consumption.   - Auto oil:   a) Draft directive relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels;   b) Draft directive on measures against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicules - amendment of directives 70/229/EEC and 70/156/EEC.   WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16   BRUSSELS - Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) holds seminar on "Water, politics and security in the Mediterranean Region" (0915/0715 GMT).   Venue: Place du Congres 1.   Contact: Shireen Hunter, CEPS (322) 229 3911.   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17   LUXEMBOURG - Executive committee of Schengen group on free movement of people meets at ministerial level under Luxembourg presidency.   Venue: Kirchberg conference centre.   Luxembourg is hoping to achieve admittance of Nordic countries to Schengen accord during its presidency of the group, with signature of accession protocols for Denmark, Finland and Sweden and association protocols for Iceland and Norway at December 19 meeting.   SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20   FINLAND - Finland holds municipal elections and the first elections to the European Parliament on the same day.   MONDAY, OCTOBER 21   STRASBOURG - European Parliament plenary session (To October 25).   TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22   STRASBOURG - Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) holds conference on "Forest management and paper: growing cooperation".   Contact: CEPI (322) 627 4911.   THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24   LUXEMBOURG - Tourism Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Commission report on the evaluation of the Community's action plan to assist tourism (1993-1995).   - Proposal for Council decision on a first multiannual programme to assist European tourism (1997-2000) "PHILOXENIA".   - (possibly) Report by the Commission on the situation regarding travel guides and ski instructors in the EU.   MADRID - European Investment Bank (EIB) holds forum on "The Mediterranean: a space for partnership" (1500/1300 GMT) (To October 25).   Agenda includes:   - The Mediterranean, a common destiny:   - The EU's Mediterranean policy: from cooperation to partnership;   - The sea, water and cities: preserving a common heritage.   - An area for joint development:   - The dynamic role of trans-national projects;   - The banking sector and north-south partnership.   Speakers include: EIB President Sir Brian Unwin; European Commissioner for Relations with the Mediterranean Manuel Marin; MEP Willy de Clercq; Egyptian Minister of State for Economic Affairs Youssef Boutros-Ghali; Greek Deputy Foreign Minister George Romeos; Jordanian Planning Minister Rima Khalaf; Barcelona Mayor and EU Committee of the Regions President Pasqual Maragall.   Contact: Yvonne Berghorst, EIB (352) 4379 3154.   FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25   LUXEMBOURG - Internal Market Council.   Provisional agenda includes:   - Operation of the internal market:   - Oral report of the Commission including progress report on the SLIM initiative;   - Administrative cooperation;   - Transposition.   - Citizens first.   - Preparation for structured dialogue with central and eastern European countries:   - White paper on approximation of the laws of central and eastern European countries in the field of the internal market.   - Three proposed directives concerning the free movement of persons:   a) elimination of controls on persons crossing internal frontiers;   b) abolition of restrictions on movement and residence within the Community;   c) (possibly) the right of third-country nationals to travel in the Community.   - Proposal for a directive on pluralism and media concentration.   - The "Robert Schuman" action.   - Transparency mechanism for national regulations concerning the information society.   SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27   - European summer time ends - Central European time changes from GMT +2 to GMT +1. 
101 !G15 !GCAT  *   (Note - contents are displayed in reverse order to that in the printed Journal)   *   Evaluation study on vineyard identification using aerial photograhy Open procedure (96/C 241/23)   Industrial gases Contract award notice (96/C 241/22)   Open invitation to tender for multiple actions and support for the Treaty Investigations of chosen technologies (Maastricht) (96/C 241/21)   Phare - electronic equipment Notice of invitation to tender issued by the Commission of the European Communities for a project financed from Phare funds (96/C 241/20)   External consultancy Open invitation to tender (96/C 241/19)   Air traffic management (ATM) Notice of invitation to tender No VII-C3/46-96 concerning a study on rule-making/standardization in air traffic management (ATM) Open procedure (96/C 241/18)   External consultancy Open invitation to tender (96/C 241/17)   Purchasing of a scanning electron microscope Restricted procedure (96/C 241/16)   Automatic press Restricted procedure (96/C 241/15)   Sintering furnace Restricted procedure (96/C 241/14)   Phare - various supplies Notice of invitation to tender issued by the European Training Foundation on behalf of the Government of Lithuania for a project financed in the framework of the Phare Programme of the European Commission (96/C 241/13)   TACIS - equipment for diagnostic system Notice of invitation to tender issued by the Commission of the European Communities financed in the framework of the TACIS programme (96/C 241/12)   EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEREST GROUPING Notices published pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/85 of 25 July 1985 (1) - Completion of the liquidation (96/C 241/11)   EUROPEAN ECONOMIC INTEREST GROUPING Notices published pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2137/85 of 25 July 1985 (1) - Formation (96/C 241/10)   Outcome of the invitation to tender (Community food aid) (96/C 241/09)   Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive concerning the placing of biocidal products on the market (1) (96/C 241/08) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(96) 312 final - COD 465   Proposal for a Council Regulation (EC) amending Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (96/C 241/07) COM(96) 266 final - 96/0159(CNS)   Prior notification of a concentration (Case No IV/M.810 - n-tv) (96/C 241/06)   Notification of exclusive licence agreements (Case No IV/36.183/F-3) (96/C 241/05)   Prior notification of a concentration (Case No IV/M.794 - Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc./Amalgamated Beverages Great Britain Limited) (96/C 241/04)   Prior notification of a concentration (Case No IV/M.781 - Schering/Gehe - Jenapharm) (96/C 241/03)   List of establishments in Paraguay approved for the purpose of importing fresh meat into the Community (96/C 241/02)   Ecu (1) 19 August 1996 (96/C 241/01) END OF DOCUMENT. 
102 !G15 !GCAT  *   (Note - contents are displayed in reverse order to that in the printed Journal)   *   COMMISSION DECISION of 18 July 1996 laying down the pedigree and zootechnical certificates for the importation of breeding animals, their semen, ova and embryos (Text with EEA relevance) (96/510/EC)   COMMISSION DECISION of 18 July 1996 laying down pedigree and zootechnical requirements for the importation of semen of certain animals (Text with EEA relevance) (96/509/EC)   COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 96/44/EC of 1 July 1996 adapting to technical progress Council Directive 70/220/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to measures to be taken against air pollution by emissions from motor vehicles (Text with EEA relevance)   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1662/96 of 19 August 1996 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1661/96 of 19 August 1996 correcting Regulations (EC) No 1497/96 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1660/96 of 19 August 1996 correcting Regulation (EC) No 1423/96 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1659/96 of 19 August 1996 correcting Regulations (EC) No 843/96 and EC No 855/96 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1658/96 of 19 August 1996 re-establishing the preferential customs duty on imports of small-flowered roses originating in Israel   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1657/96 of 19 August 1996 establishing the quantities to be allocated to importers from the 1997 Community quantitative quotas on certain products originating in the People's Republic of China   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1656/96 of 19 August 1996 on the supply of cereal-based weaning food as food aid   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1655/96 of 19 August 1996 on the supply of cereals as food aid   COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1654/96 of 19 August 1996 on the supply of vegetable oil as food aid END OF DOCUMENT. 
103 !GCAT  For the week of Aug. 19, here are some of the top stories reported in major U.S. technology trade publications.   -----------   PC WEEK - Three of the biggest storage managment vendors are preparing major rollouts this fall of new products and technologies to help information systems administrators centrally backup and manage growing stores of enterprise data, PC Week reported in the August 19 issue.   Seagate Technology will ship next week ExecView 2.01, to manage backup and storage management lines purchased by Seagate and Cheyenne Software will announce a version of its ARCserve 6 that backs up open files.   Microsoft Corp has made a long jump to rival that of Carl Lewis with its Internet Explorer 3.0, leaping ahead of Netscape's Navigator 3.0 in several areas, PC Week Labs reported, but Netscape still has a size and speed advantage over Internet Explorer.   -----------   INFOWORLD - Intel Corp has started developing a common data security architecture designed to integrate security software, operating systems and third party applications, into its microprocessor architecture sometime next year, Infoworld reported in the August 19 issue.   Microsoft and two partners will detail a strategy designed to provide high-speed access to mainframe data from a Web browser.   One partner, Polaris Communications, will sell the solution and it is expected to be available in mid-September.   -----------   INFORMATION WEEK - Object-relational databases have emerged as the key battleground of the $6 billion database market, Information Week reports in its Aug. 19 cover story.   Oracle Corp, Informix Corp and International Business Machines Corp are vying for the lead.   IBM is preparing to ship the most powerful versions yet of its System/390 servers, capable of handling 44 million instructions per second, Information Week reports.   ----------   COMPUTER RESELLER NEWS - One year after Netscape Communications Corp's initial public offering, the company is feeling the heat from Microsoft Corp as the software giant has turned its guns on the Internet powerhouse.   Netscape and Microsoft are battling over Web-based multimedia messaging, the latest skirmish in the war for Internet-dominance, Computer Reseller News reported August 19.   Major distributors are pressing major PC vendors to shift more final assembly of PCs to the distribution channel and are moving forward with plans to manufacture their own systems in an effort to ward off chronic product shortages, CRN reported.   -------   COMPUTERWORLD - Basic problems with Microsoft Corp's new World Wide Web browser, Internet Explorer 3.0, have frustrated many early users, Computerworld reported in the August 19 issue.   Internet users could face a new problem, hostile Active X Web components on the World Wide Web, as Microsoft has acknowledged that it is scrambling to tighten security for its Active X technology.   A debate over network computer devices to access the Internet increased at the Data Warehouse WOrld conference, when a database analyst said that the Internet will push the network computers into popularity and onto desktops, Computerworld reported in the August 19 issue.   ----------   ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING TIMES - New attempts to solve a conundrum of multimedia computing will headline the eighth Hot Chips conference in Palo Alto, Calif., this week.   Vendors will show an array of architectures for combined audio, video, 3D and communications processing, plus the first detailed description of Microsoft's Talisman media chip architecture, EE Times reported in the August 19 issue.   VIScorp, a set-top box maker based in Chicago, is getting the rights to Amiga, once the property of the now-defunct PC pioneer Commodore.   VISCorp is promising improved versions of the aging but still-respected platform that had one of the biggest cults in the computer industry.   ----------   ELECTRONIC BUYERS' NEWS - Intel Corp will pull the plug in early 1997 of its Pentium chip-set development as part of its effort to push its low-end Pentium Pro processor into the mainstream market, Electronic Buyers News reported in the August 19 issue.   DRAM prices continue on their downward path as suppliers scramble to cut their losses and boost profit margins in what looks like a long-term supply glut, said EBN's Barometer. 
104 !GCAT !GCRIM  Olympic bomb suspect Richard Jewell passed a lie detector test in which he denied any involvement in the deadly July 27 attack, a polygraph expert hired by one of Jewell's attorneys said Tuesday.   Former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Dick Rackleff said 15 hours of polygraph tests with Jewell on Aug. 4 and 15 were "unquestionable and conclusive from the standpoint that he was not involved in any way with the explosive device."   Jewell's attorneys paid for the polygraph exam in an effort to show the security guard had nothing to do with the pipe bombing that left two people dead and more than 100 injured at downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.   Jewell, 33, who was hailed as a hero in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, remains a suspect in the FBI's investigation.   "My conclusion was that he's totally innocent of any connection with that pipe bomb that went off in the park which he discovered," said Rackleff, who administered polygraph examinations for the FBI in Atlanta from 1979 to 1990.   Jewell did not know a suspicious backpack contained a bomb when he pointed it out to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent the night of the blast, Rackleff said.   Jack Martin, a criminal attorney for Jewell, said the results show "he didn't have anything to do with it."   "There's not one shred of physical evidence to connect him to the crime.   He's passed a lie detector test.   If there was any hard evidence he'd be arrested," Martin said.   Speaking to reporters in front of a federal courthouse, he said the FBI should apologise to Jewell for identifying him as a suspect.   "The man deserves an apology.   Three weeks ago the FBI came to his residence, gave a news conference in front of his residence and named him as a suspect," Martin said.   "We're here on their turf and we're asking for that apology."   While working as a security guard at an AT&T Olympic pavilion near the park, Jewell discovered the green knapsack that contained the pipe bomb and helped police clear crowds from the area before it detonated.   "The next time somebody sees a suspicious package like that and they want to turn it over to law enforcement and do the right thing, I hope that they don't hesitate to act for fear that 'Wait a second, I'm going to be the suspect,'" Martin said.   He said Jewell's career in law enforcement had been "ruined" because he was named in the case.   He remains in the apartment he shared with his mother, unable to leave without being chased by hordes of reporters and FBI agents. 
105 !GCAT !GDIS  Hurricane Dolly raced over Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday with 75 mph (120 kph) winds and up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said.   At 2 p.m.   EDT (1800 GMT), the center of Hurricane Dolly was located at latitude 19.3 north, longitude 87.9 west, about 60 miles (96 km) north-northeast of Chetumal, Mexico, the hurricane center said.   The storm was moving to the west-northwest at 13 mph (21 kph).   It was expected to weaken slightly as it passed over the Yucatan peninsula, but forecasters said there was a good chance of strengthening once the storm moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.   Hurricane-force winds extended about 25 miles (40 km) from the center and tropical storm-force winds extended about 175 miles (280 km) from the center.   The storm carried 5-10 inches (13-25 cm) of rain, forecasters said.   Dolly was expected to approach the Texas-Mexico border on Thursday.   A hurricane warning was in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula and parts of the Belize coast were under a tropical storm watch. 
106 !C12 !C13 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London asked a U.S. judge on Tuesday to dismiss an attempt by investors to block the 300-year-old insurance market's recovery plan and said it was willing to allow those investors to sue in the United Kingdom if fraud was found in its restructuring.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case, in which U.S. investors have applied for an injunction to stop the recovery plan.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   The investors must vote on the proposal by Aug. 28.   Arguing to have the suit dismissed, Lloyd's attorney Harvey Pitt told U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne that the case did not belong in his court.   "This case has no business in this court," Pitt told the court.   "I have never seen a case where none of the witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants live in the eastern district of Virginia."   Pitt said Lloyd's chief executive officer Ronald Sandler, who was on the witness stand for four hours Tuesday, was prepared to stipulate that if the judge dismissed the case and fraud later was found to be a part of the restructuring, the plaintiffs could sue in the United Kingdom.   The suit, which names 93 plaintiffs, seeks to block the plan until more detailed financial information is released.    Steve Clay, attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that a stipulation from Lloyd's would not address the investors' immediate need for information.   "We are here to try to make sure we get that information.   Information is such power," Clay said, adding that the investors were not seeking damages but needed information in order to make a decision on the restructuring plan.   The hearing was expected to last at least two more hours.   Judge Payne said he would not rule on the injunction request Tuesday night.   A decision was expected Wednesday. 
107 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The United Mine Workers of America said on Tuesday that it struck a deal with the Bituminious Coal Operators Association that would improve wages, health insurance and pension benefits.   The pact includes wage bonuses of $600 a year for 1997 and 1998 to union members employed by BCOA companies.   It also calls for holding early negotiating sessions next year in advance of the current contract's expiration on August 31, 1998, the union said. 
108 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  A New York City councilman on Tuesday said he was trying to get the Board of Education to approve a faster and less costly plan to switch schools to natural gas from coal to cut pollution and save money.   Saying that the Board of Education had been studying the issue for 10 years, Israel Ruiz said the City Council, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Gov. George Pataki supported the plan to have Consolidated Edison Co convert about 120 schools.   The capital budget for school construction is $256 million in the 1997 fiscal year and the the utility would need about $30 million to begin the conversions, the councilman said.    He explained that the rest of the program's costs would be met by a fee of $1 per therm that the schools would pay into a fund.   One therm is equivalent to 100,000 British Thermal Units.   Ruiz said that it would cost about $750,000 to convert each of the 120 schools, about $215,000 less than under a different plan the city now is exploring.   He added that Brooklyn Union Gas has contacted him to see if it also would be interested in converting the schools in the area it serves under similar terms.   Using Con Edison to switch just over one-third of the city's 304 coal-burning schools would ensure they are converted more swiftly than having the Board of Education do another study and ask potential suppliers for their proposals, as the agency has proposed.   "We have to make sure that they udnerstand that the mayor, city council and governor want to get this done," Ruiz added.   New York City now burns about 300 tons of coal at each of the schools that still use this heating method.   --Joan Gralla, 212-859-1654 
109 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Ryerson Tull Inc unit Joseph T. Ryerson & Son Inc said it signed a three-year agreement with the United Steelworkers of America, covering 10 of Ryerson's plants.   The agreement covers 485 employees and replaces a prior agreement, which expired on July 31.   Ryerson Tull is 87 percent owned by Inland Steel Industries Inc.   --Chicago newsdesk, 312-408-8787 
110 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Philip Morris on Tuesday criticized the Kansas attorney general's decision to join a growing list of states filing lawsuits against tobacco firms, seeking to recover Medicaid money spent on tobacco-related illnesses.   Philip Morris said Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall is seeking to use the courts to "legislate public policy on tobacco."   Philip Morris is one of nine companies named in the lawsuit.    "In her zealousness to jump on the bandwagon, the attorney general has ignored the fact that the state has no viaable legal basis upon which to sue the cigarette manufacturers," said Gregory Little, a lawyer for Philip Morris.   "The law does not follow what is perceived by some to be politically correct, and ultimately the state of Kansas will lose and in the process waste millions of taxpayer dollars in time and costs," he added. 
111 !C12 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Southern Union Co said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit to block a merger between United Cities Gas Co and Atmos Energy Corp.   Southern Union said it alleges that United Cities executives and directors failed to perform their fiduciary duties by approving the proposed deal with Atmos.    Southern Union, which holds 854,300 shares, or 6.5 percent, of United Cities, is seeking to block the deal until the United Cities board exercises its fiduciary duties.   Southern Union wants United Cities to provide confidential information so it can make an informed takeover offer.   Atmos Energy and United Cities Gas, both natural gas providers, agreed last month that Atmos would acquire United Cities in a stock swap.   Atmos Energy declined to comment since it had not seen the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.   United Cities was not immediately available for comment.   Atmos and United Cities filed a complaint with the Missouri Public Service Commission on August 6, 1996 alleging that Southern Union's purchases of United Cities shares violated state utility regulations.   Southern Union said it filed a counter complaint saying it was entitled to the usual privileges of ownership associated with United Cities stock. 
112 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday had no comment on a Financial Times story saying Britain was taking a tough stand in its talks on a new aviation accord with the United States.   The paper, reporting the British posture in the ongoing talks on new accord, added that Britain was not ready to sign an "open skies" agreement with the United States similar to the free market pact it had signed with Germany.   Asked about the story, Transportation Department spokesman William Mosley said: "We are aware of the story and decline comment on it." 
113 !C13 !C22 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Approval of Eli Lilly & Co's new anti-schizophrenia drug, Zyprexa, is expected to come soon from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, analysts said.   Marketing clearance for the drug, known generically as olanzapine, would put Lilly in the front of a parade of new anti-schizophrenia medications coming on the U.S. market.   "We expect approval yet this year ... There's been no hint of any issues" from the FDA that might cause delay, said Lilly spokesman Edward West.   Wall Street analysts said approval could come this month.    The FDA has not scheduled an advisory committee hearing for Zyprexa.   West said Lilly has no indication that a committee hearing will be set.   Analysts said the drug likely will be cleared without committee deliberations.   "The big expectation would be that Zyprexa will be approved ... That's what's on everybody's radar screen," said Smith Barney pharmaceuticals analyst Christina Heuer.   Zyprexa received a positive opinion in June from the European Union's Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products.   European marketing approval likely will follow, analysts said.   Several competing products are in the pipeline.    Close behind Lilly are Abbott Laboratories Inc with Serlect, Zeneca Group Plc with Seroquel and Pfizer Inc with Ziprasidone.   All are expected to hit the market within the next 12 months.   Already on the market are Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, Sandoz AG's Clozaril and the benchmark treatment available since 1967, haloperidol, as well as a host of less frequently prescribed drugs.   Studies have shown that one in 100 people is schizophrenic.   Estimates of the annual U.S. market for treating the disease range from $1 billion to $4.5 billion.   Looking at the huge success of Lilly's Prozac in treating clinical depression, drugmakers are hoping to score equally impressive wins with the new anti-schizophrenics.   --Chicago Newsdesk 312-408-8787 
114 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  A 90-cent increase in the U.S. minimum wage will have little short-term impact on most fast food restaurants, since the competition for workers is keeping pay rates above the federally mandated standard.   "The (real) 'minimum wage' is what the closest McDonald's pays or it could be the local Pizza Hut," George Goulson, senior vice president of A&W Restaurants Inc, said.   But longer term, the industry fears that workers, who are already making more than the new minimum wage, will be looking for a raise to maintain the pay premium.    Earlier Tuesday, President Clinton signed into law the first rise in the minimum wage in five years, boosting the wage to $5.15 an hour from $4.25.   "Our average crew wage is about $5.20 (an hour) so short-term there is not going to be any impact," said Denny Lynch, spokesman for Wendy's International Inc, which operates 4,307 restaurants in the United States.   But higher minimum wages will raise total wages by about $500,000 over the next 12 months at American Restaurant Partners L.P., which operates 62 Pizza Hut restaurant franchises.    "If you raise someone who started in the last two months (to the new minimum wage level), you also have to raise everybody else," said Terry Freund, chief financial officer of American Restaurant Partners.   Beyond the minimum wage requirements, competition for workers, from cooks to delivery drivers, has forced many fast-food chains to pay up to hire good help, particularly in metropolitan markets.   That competition is being driven by an increase in restaurant openings.   "There are neighborhoods where we have to pay $6.00 an hour to $6.50 or $7.00 to get" good workers, Lynch added.    Fast-food industry executives said there has been competition for workers since the late 1980s, although the increase in restaurant openings is making the search for employees more intense.   Another problem for quick-service restaurants is that wage competition from other employers often lures experienced workers away.   A fast-food worker, for example, may be able to bring home more pay as a waiter or waitress at a casual dining establishment where they could receive $50 or $60 a night in tips, executives said.   "For QSRs (quick service restaurants)...it's even tougher to keep the kids," Roger Lipton, president of Lipton Financial Services, said.   Reuters Chicago Newsdesk 312-408-8787 
115 !C12 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  The Sands Regent said Tuesday it filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi Port Authority and the Mississippi Department of Economic Development, because they refused to give Copa clearance to expand its casino operations in Gulfport, Mississippi.   The suit also comes in response to recent notifications by the authority and the development group that Copa must vacate its casino site when its lease expires in October 1999.   In its suit, filed in Circuit Court in Harrison County, Mississippi, Sands alleges failure to deal in good faith, breach of contract and misrepresentation.    Sands Regent said Copa had wanted to build a hotel near the site and bring in a casino barge to replace or supplement the current casino vessel.   Copa is asking for monetary damages and declaratory relief giving them the right to build the hotel and bring in a new barge.   The Port Authority has said it needs the location to expand shipping and related commercials activitie, according to Sands Regent. 
116 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  National Semiconductor Corp said Tuesday it was cutting its work force by 170.   National, which has 20,000 employees, said in June that it expected some layoffs as part of "cost containment" measures associated with the spin-off of new unit Fairchild Semiconductor.   At that time National said it expected to take a charge of $280-$320 million in the current quarter, in part to cover the cost of the work-force reductions.   Dick Wilson, vice president of human resources, said the measures were an attempt to cut costs as well as centralization and consolidation actions.   Shares of National Semiconductor were 1/4 higher at 15-7/8 in late afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 
117 !C33 !C331 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  Unique Mobility Inc said Tuesday it was awarded two more contracts from the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a high-power electric traction drive system for use by large vehicles.   The company will also conduct extensive testing of its flywheel energy-storage system, designed to sustain a vehicle's power when peak performance is needed, it said.   The system is designed to conserve energy.   Terms of the Pentagon contracts were not disclosed. 
118 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Hoechst Marion Roussel said Tuesday that Allegra, its non-sedating antihistamine, is now available by prescription in the United States.   The drug, which treats seasonal allergy symptoms, was approved for marketing on July 25 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.   Allegra is priced 15 percent less than similar treatments, according to a statement by the company.   Hoechst Marion Roussel is a unit of Hoechst AG.     -- Chicago newsdesk, 312 408-8787 
119 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Mixed economic data and a touch of political pressure might be the recipe for steady monetary policy through the U.S. presidential election on November 5 pundits and former Federal Reserve officials said.   Members of the Federal Open Market Committee are expected to be careful as they juggle upcoming key data, such as the August employment report on September 6, and the vicissitudes of the political race for the White House.   "Every member of that FOMC is going to be very careful," said Preston Martin, a former Fed vice chairman.    "That means that the odds build up about no action.   No action is safer than some action," added Martin, currently the chairman of HomeVest Financial Services Inc in San Francisco.   The Fed opted to hold short-term rates steady on Tuesday during the year's fifth meeting of its policy-setting arm.   The central bank's target for the federal funds rate remains at 5.25 percent.   The discount rate is unchanged at 5.0 percent.   Analysts said the latest string of economic indicators painted a blurry economic outlook.   Without clear signs that inflation is heating up, they said, the Federal Reserve will probably stand pat until the picture clears.    "I think they will stand still and await clarification on where the economy is going," said Lyle Gramley, a former Fed governor and currently an economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.   How long could that take?   "Well, I think the Fed will move sometime later this year... It may well be until very late this year, possibly even December, before the Fed knows for sure whether it needs to move or not," Gramley added.   But Gramley believes the U.S. economy is fundamentally strong and "some tightening will be necessary down the road."    Martin agreed that the Fed is likely to remain on hold, "not just because of the election, but because this (current economic scene) is a central banker nirvana."   Martin cited a positive inflation outlook as one of the main reasons keeping the Fed on hold over the next few months.   Recent economic indicators suggested consumer spending and the labor market are heating up in August.   Meanwhile, signs of a slowing manufacturing sector with scant evidence of incipient inflation are seen as offsetting growth signals.    "Before the Fed can either raise or cut interest rates in an election year, they better have a solid economic justification for doing that," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Norwest Corp.   "Without the justifications, they would rather wait," he added.   Pundits said current legislative efforts to alter the Fed's official mandate will also encourage FOMC members to be careful before making a decision to change monetary policy.    Earlier this month, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, has urged changing the law that gives the Fed a dual mandate to fight inflation and promote maximum employment.   Bennett and Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla are co-sponsoring a bill that would make fighting inflation the U.S. central bank's only mandate.   "There is pending legislation to change the objectives of the Fed and there has been informal discussion about changing the role that Federal Reserve Bank presidents play, since they are not confirmed by the Senate," Martin said.    "So the FOMC members will be careful about the appearance of overzealousness or on the other hand disregard of ... inflation," Martin said.   In the event of an interest rate hike, analysts said the Clinton campaign would have more to lose than Republican challenger Bob Dole.   But then again, it would be hard for the Clinton administration to criticize any possible Fed action just a few months after the president nonimated Alan Greenspan as the Fed chairman for a fresh four-year mandate.   "If Mr. Greenspan were to raise rates, I think Mr. Clinton would get hurt ... That would put the Administration in an awkward position," Sohn's said.   Thus, analysts said the relationship among the White House, the Treasury and the Fed has usually been very amicable, ranging from weekly breakfasts to tennis matches.   "The Fed would never surprise the Treasury.   There is frequent contact between Fed and White House and Treasury officials," Martin said.   "I used to play tennis with those guys.   The Fed has a tennis court, amazingly enough."   However, the mere fact a presidential race was underway has not prevent the Fed from shifting monetary policy in the past.   If needed, the Fed could hike rates as soon as September, analysts agreed.   Recent history shows the Fed raised rates during the presidential campaigns in 1980 (Aug 22) and in 1988 (Aug 9), analysts noted.   -- (212) 859-1676 
120 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Arizona joined a growing list of states and municipalities seeking damages from the tobacco industry Tuesday when it filed a lawsuit against some of the world's biggest tobacco companies.   Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods said the state is seeking more than $300 million in damages related to costs Arizona incurred by providing health-care benefits to indigent residents with alleged tobacco-related illnesses.   Woods said the tobacco companies have engaged in a "massive illegal conspiracy" representing that smoking is not addictive.    The suit also alleges the companies violated antitrust, consumer fraud and fair trade practices.   In addition to monetary damages, the suit asks the court to prohibit the companies from targeting children in their advertising, promotion and sales.   Woods alledged tobacco products kill an estimated 5,000 Arizona residents a year.   The suit names RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp's RJR Reynolds Tobacco Co., B.A.T. Industries Plc's Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and The American Tobacco Co., Phillip Morris Co, Brooke Group Ltd's Ligget Group Inc., Loews Corp's Lorillard Tobacco Co Inc., United States Tobacco Co., Hill & Knowlton Inc, the Council for Tobacco Research-U.S.A., and the Tobacco Institute Inc.   "It is time to hold the tobacco companies responsible for the misery they have caused the citizens of the state of Arizona," Woods said.   "It's time the tobacco industry pays for the state's health care losses and stops aiming their ads at our children."   Earlier, Kansas filed a lawsuit against six major tobacco companies to recover Medicaid costs for smoking-related illnesses.   Arizona became the 12th state to file suit. 
121 !E12 !E13 !E131 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged indicates the U.S. central bank does not see a strict causality between low unemployment and inflation, analysts said on Tuesday.   "(Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan has been very clear that whatever is the level of unemployment, or the operating rate in manufacturing, or the consensus for trend growth, the Fed does not need to have any particular view on these issues," said Salomon Brothers senior economist Bob DiClemente.   "What the Fed does is respond to symptoms of inflation."    In a much-expected decision, the Federal Open Market Committee left the 5.25-percent federal funds rate and the 5.0-percent discount rate unchanged at its meeting on Tuesday.   "If the unemployment rate is low and there still are none of these (inflation) symptoms, there is no pressing need to tighten," DiClemente pointed out.   "Otherwise, why would have they eased in January when the unemployment rate was low."   The Fed last cut the funds rate on January 31 amid signs the economy might have been sliding into a recession though the jobless rate remained below 6.0 percent -- a level believed by a school of economists to fuel inflationary pressures.    "I don't think they have ever been guided by any preconception about the NAIRU (non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) or any statiscal measure of where the economy is.   They are guided by circumstantial evidences that tell them the economy is either developing strains or is not," DiClemente added.   Financial markets feared a jobless rate around 5.5 percent and a Gross Domestic Product around 3.0 percent in the first half of 1996 would boost inflation risks and prompt a Fed response.   A number of economists have estimated the Fed would frown upon GDP growth above the 2.0- to 2.25-percent range.    "There has been some evidence of strains developing into the beginning of the year but this has not persisted into the summer," DiClemente also said.   "It's very difficult to hang policy decisions on one or two indicators.   We just lack the indicators of what drives inflation."   But Goldman, Sachs and Co chief U.S. economist William Dudley said the FOMC decision only shows the Fed is stacking its bets on the economy slowing down in the coming months.   "As time passes, it should become apparent the economy maintains significant forward momentum and the risks of inflation are gradually rising," Dudley said.    Dudley stressed the Fed has not abandoned the notion high resource utilization generates inflation.   The Goldman, Sachs chief economist put the odds of a tightening at "one in four in September" and said the chances of a rate hike next month would be higher if it were not for the Fed's reluctance to change policy between Labor Day and the November presidential elections.   Dudley put at "above 50 percent" the odds of a Fed tightening on the first FOMC meeting following the elections, on November 13.   "The big issue is whether the economy grows at 2.0 percent or at 3.0 percent in the second half.   If it's 3.0 percent, they'll move to tighten monetary policy," Dudley added.   "They view that the unemployment rate today is below the level consistent with stable inflation, though not far below.   If the economy does not slow to trend, they'll pull the trigger."   -- 212-859-1666 
122 !C41 !C411 !CCAT !GCAT !GENT  Seagram Co unit MCA Motion Picture Group said Tuesday executive vice-president Joseph Fischer has retired.   Fischer, 65, has worked in the entertainment business for 30 years and included working as president of MGM/United Artists and executive vice-president of Columbia Pictures.   Fischer had worked at MCA for the past nine years. 
123 !GCAT !GWEA  Tropical storm Niki crossed Luzon Philippines during the past 24 hours.   Heavy rains likely caused flooding and possibly mudslides.   Winds may have caused some damage in areas but we do not expect major damage due to winds.   Niki is now strengthening as it tracks westward across the South China Sea.   Niki should be a strong risk to shipping while it is over the South China Sea today and Wednesday.   It also should bring very heavy rains and very strong winds to Hainan China this period.   Flooding and mudslides in Hainan should lead to major damage later this period.   A coastal storm surge and strong winds should lead to additional damage in southeast areas.    Tropical storm Dolly is approaching the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.   It is still a threat to shipping off the east coast during the next 6 hours.   Heavy rains may cause some flooding across the Yucatan Peninsula later today and overnight tonight.   Dolly tracks west of the Yucatan Peninsula during Wednesday.   It should strengthen as it tracks through the southwest Gulf of Mexico during Wednesday and Thursday.   It should again become a major risk to shipping as winds increase during that time.   It may reach Hurricane strength before again making landfall in about 72 hours.   The second landfall is expected along the upper east coast of Mexico, somewhat north of Tampico.    THERE ARE NO FURTHER EMERGENCY WEATHER STATEMENTS 
124 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  The Public Advocate for the City of New York on Tuesday urged Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to sue the tobacco industry to recoup health care costs of smokers.   Public Advocate Mark Green in a letter to the mayor said the city should join with the group of states and the city of San Francisco in their efforts to obtain Medicaid funds from cigarette companies.   He said he was urging city action because New York State Attorney General Dennis Vacco has not filed such a suit. 
125 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  ImmuDyne Inc said on Tuesday that university studies have shown that the use of its products increased survival rates in shrimp challenged by the Taura virus which has been devastating the farmed shrimp industry.   The products in question are the company's existing aquaculture products and two new products in the ImmuStim family of products.  .   The company said sales from these products of $5 million are expected in the first year from distributors primarily in Latin America.   Contacts have been made with distributors in Asia, and sales to the Asian market could increase overall sales substantially, the company said.   ImmuDyne is a biotech company with technologies for immune enhancement products. 
126 !C11 !C24 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Poultry producer WLR Foods Inc said Tuesday it had implemented cost-cutting initiatives that should save the company $20 million on an annualized basis.   A company spokeswoman said the actions included reducing the WLR's workforce to about 8,500 currently from 9,200 in January through attrition and job consolidation.   WLR's cost-cutting measures also included product line consolidation and its previously-announced plan to close its Wampler-Longacre Inc plant in Charlotte, N.C.    "I am pleased that on an annualized basis we initiated $20 million in permanent cost reductions before year-end which are already beginning to impact our bottom line," Chief Executive James Keeler said in WLR's fourth-quarter earnings release.   He said prices for WLR products will continue to be under pressure until oversupplies of beef slow.   He said beef producers are reacting to high grain prices by liquidating their herds.   "This has flooded an already competitive market with lower-priced beef and is predicted to do so at least through the winter, reducing the comparative advantage enjoyed by poultry," he said.   WLR reported a fourth-quarter loss of $6.8 million, or $0.38 per share, after higher grain costs, compared to a profit of $807,000, or $0.05 per share, a year earlier.   Analysts' consensus estimate was a loss of $0.08 per share for the fourth quarter, ended June 29, according to First Call.   WLR fell 3/8 to 11-1/2 in morning trade.   -- New York Newsdesk 212-859-1610 
127 !GCAT !GWEA  Tropical Storm Niki, with 60 mph winds, is moving westward off the west coast of Luzon, Philippines, and will move over open waters into the South China Sea this period, gaining strength.   Conditions will improve over Luzon but shipping in the path of the storm will be threatened.    Tropical Storm Dolly is centered 175 miles southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, moving west northwest at 14 mph.   Top winds are 50 mph and further strengthening is likely as Dolly continues to track west northwestward.   Tropical storm warnings are up for Belize from San Pedro on Ambergris Caye northward to the border of Mexico, and for the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico from Chetumal northward and westward to Progreso.   Rainfall amounts of 5 to 10 inches are expected along the storm's path into the warned area today.    THERE ARE NO FURTHER EMERGENCY WEATHER STATEMENTS 
128 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G151 !G154 !GCAT  Foreign banks in London have told the government that the role of London's City as a financial centre is being damaged by Britain's right to opt out of European monetary union, the Financial Times reported.   The Foreign Banks and Securities Houses Association, in a letter to the UK treasury, has called for Britain to make a decision on particpating in monetary union, arguing that the uncertainty harms their members' ability to plan, the newspaper said.   The association represents 180 financial institutions in London.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717 
129 !GCAT  Following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 27 in history.   1576 - Titian, one of the greatest Venetian painters, died in Venice aged about 90.   1660 - The published books of poet John Milton were burned in London because of his attacks on King Charles II.   1770 - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher, born.   One of the best known and most influential of idealist philosophers.   1813 - Napoleon defeated an allied force of Austrians, Russians and Prussians at the Battle of Dresden.   1828 - Uruguay formally became a sovereign nation under the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro which ended war between Brazil and Argentina.   1859 - The first commercially productive oil well drilled near Titusville, Pennsylvania by Edwin Drake of Seneca Oil.   1877 - Charles Stewart Rolls, British motor manufacturer and aviator, born.   Teamed up with Henry Royce to form the famous car firm.   1878 - Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel born.   Russian general, leader of counter-revolutionary forces in Russia 1917-20.   1884 - Sam Goldwyn, U.S. film producer and pioneer in the film industry, born in Poland as Shmuel Gelbfisz (Goldfish).   1890 - Man Ray (Emmanuel Radinski) born.   A painter and photographer, he and Marcel Duchamp founded Dadaism.   1899 - C.S. Forester, English novelist noted for the Horatio Hornblower novels, born.   1908 - Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th U.S. president, born.   He became president when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November, 1963.   1910 - Mother Teresa of Calcutta born.   Dedicated to the relief of poverty, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with the poor of India.   1916 - Romania declared war on Austria-Hungary and Italy declared war on Germany.   1919 - Louis Botha, South African Boer general, statesman and first prime minister of the Union in 1910, died aged 56.   1928 - The Kellogg-Briand pact was signed in Paris.   The pact, named for U.S. Secretary of State Frank Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, sought to outlaw war as an instrument of national policy.   1936 - Egypt and Britain signed a treaty providing for withdrawal of British forces except in the Suez Canal area.   1939 - The world's first jet-propelled aeroplane, the Heinkel 178, made its first flight at Marienehe, north Germany.   1946 - France and Laos concluded an agreement establishing a kingdom under French domination.   1962 - The U.S. spacecraft Mariner II was launched towards Venus.   1967 - Brian Epstein, who discovered and later managed the Beatles, was found dead aged 32.   1975 - Haile Selassie, the deposed emperor of Ethiopia, died in exile aged 83.   1979 - Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, was killed when a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army destroyed his boat off Mullaghmore, County Sligo.   He was 79.   1990 - The United States expelled 36 out of 55 embassy staff at Iraq's Washington embassy.   1991 - Moldova declared independence from the Soviet Union.   1992 - An international conference on former Yugoslavia ended in London with Bosnian Serb agreement to give up control of their heavy weapons.   1995 - Peace between Israel and the PLO moved a step forward when the two sides signed an agreement in Cairo giving Palestinians more administrative powers in the West Bank. 
130 !G15 !G151 !G155 !GCAT  European Union leaders charting the way forward for the bloc are likely to agree to the catch-all concept of "flexibility", a leading British think-tank warned on Wednesday.   But a general enabling clause is not likely to be accepted in inter-governmental conference (IGC) negotiations.   Instead, "flexibility" is likely to be incorporated in the EU treaty on a case-by-case basis.   The main reason is that the term means different things to the EU's political leaders.   "In the initial stages of the inter-governmental conference "flexibility" has appeared as the big idea in the discussions," Frank Vibert, director of the European Policy Forum, wrote in a pamphlet.   But he said the terms masked a division between member states wanting a looser Europe and those believing flexibility would enable an inner core of countries to pioneer new ways of extending the powers of Community institutions.   Vibert noted that French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and British Prime Minister John Major all support "flexibility".   "Each means something different," he wrote.   Major has claimed credit in Britain for negotiating the country's right to opt out of two key EU policies -- the "Social Chapter' which is designed to lay down basic employment rights, and the planned single currency.   France and Germany are members of the so-called Schengen group linking 10 of the EU's member states which is designed to promote freedom of movement by abolishing border controls.   However, said Vibert, the two countries disagree over control of the EU, with Germany seeing the European Commission developing into a government of Europe but France wanting power to remain with the Council of Ministers.   "The limitation of concepts such as flexibility...is that they may lead to agreements between governments which are simply viewed as fudge," Vibert said.   He said parliaments and public opinion might not accept political fudges on matters of great importance to them.   "It is an illusion to think that great differences about the shape of European political union can be contained for much longer."   Vibert said flexibility might be used to allow certain member states to cooperate in new areas, for instance the tackling of crime.   But in each instance, hard questions must be faced about about whether EU finance should be committed and whether the bloc's institutions should become involved.   Copies of the report -- "Structured Flexibility in the European Union" -- are available from the European Policy Forum, 20 Queen Ann's Gate, London SW1A 9AA, England.   Tel: +44 171 222-0733.   The report costs 12 British pounds. 
131 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  Rules drawn up for forthcoming elections in Gambia are obviously flawed and will result in the small west African country's military leaders strengthening their grip on power, the Commonwealth said on Tuesday.   Gambia's military rulers last week lifted a two-year ban on all political activity but barred the country's three main parties and senior politicians who held office in former civilian administrations from contesting presidential elections on September 26 and parliamentary elections on December 11.   A statement issued by Zimbabwean Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, chairman of the eight-nation Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), said the curbs were of grave concern and would create an uneven political playing field.   "CMAG remains ready to continue to assist the transitional process but it clearly cannot be expected to endorse a process which is obviously flawed and which is likely to lead to the consolidation of military rule in another form," Mudenge said.   "I therefore appeal to the authorities in Banjul to rescind this blanket ban proscription in the interest of a credible and durable democracy in The Gambia," he added.   CMAG was set up by Commonwealth heads of government at their last summit in New Zealand last November to deal with serious and persistent violation of the basic principles of the group, which links Britain to its former colonies. 
132 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London chief executive Ron Sandler on Tuesday faced a three hour grilling in a crucial United States court case, which threatens at the last minute to upset a recovery plan for the 300-year-old insurance market.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the case in Virginia, where U.S. investors (Names) have applied for an injunction to stop the recovery plan in its tracks.   They contend that Lloyd's has contravened U.S. disclosure laws.    Sandler is fighting the action personally and underwent several hours of cross-examination on Monday, said Lloyd's.   On Tuesday, he said the recovery plan was essential to the future of Lloyd's.   Under the proposals, Lloyd's is to reinsure billions of pounds in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis claims in the U.S., into a new company Equitas.   Lloyd's has for several years faced a giant raft of litigation in the U.S., but the timing of this latest challenge so near the August 28 deadline, by which Names must accept or reject the plan, has caused serious problems.    Judge Robert Payne in Monday's sitting criticised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for refusing to determine if Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the SEC's neutral position on this issue.   Payne said the SEC would have a second opportunity to respond to his request for a ruling.   Early on Tuesday morning, however, Lloyd's received a boost from another court case in New York, which dismissed action brought against the market by four Names.   They claimed Lloyd's knew long ago the extent of liabilities faced by Names.    "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under UK law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this," said Lloyd's U.S. boss Peter Lane.   In Britain, support among Names for the recovery plan has grown since Lloyd's improved its proposals, which include a 3.2 billion stg offer to Names designed to offset the cost of Equitas.   A last ditch attempt at securing more favourable treatment by a British-based action group floundered last week, when the High Court threw out a case for judicial review of the plan.    But a former Name heading an action group of loss-making investors, on Tuesday hit out at Lloyd's for "breaking promises" he says were made to the hardest-hit Names.   The outspoken chairman of the Lloyd's Names Associations' Working Party and the deputy leader of the Lloyd's Defence Shield, Christopher Stockwell, ended weeks of silence with the charge Lloyd's has "reneged" on income and housing pledges.   Stockwell said the scheme was entirely dependent on the availability of future funds.   This meant Lloyd's could end the scheme at any time, which amounted to no formal commitment.   He also claimed that fewer than 20 percent of Names have so far accepted the recovery plan.   Lloyd's rejected both statements.   The market last week published guidelines for helping those Names who were worst off after accepting its recovery plan.   ($1=.6471 Pound) 
133 !C22 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  A computer-controlled system for delivering anaesthesia, which developers claim reduces post-operative nausea to almost nil, will go on sale commercially in Britain next month.   The Target Controlled Infusion system will be marketed at first by Zeneca Group Plc, a spokeswoman for the developers at Glasgow University and HCI International Medical Centre in Clydebank, Scotland, said.   The system, introduced at the World Congress of Anaesthesia in Sydney in April, uses a computer microchip to calculate tiny, exact doses of drug.   "It is the only commercially available system designed to deliver this type of intravenous anaesthesia in the world, providing for the first time ever a safe and accurate way of administering non-emetic (not causing nausea) anaesthetic drugs," the hospital said in a statement.   The system's developer, anaesthesiologist Gavin Kenny, said it bypassed having to deliver drugs through a respirator.   "It enables us to use an intravenous agent, Diprivan, not only to make the patient go to sleep but also to maintain anesthesia," Kenny said.   "The patient wakes up very clear-headed but with no nausea," he added.   "No nausea, no vomiting, no nasty taste in the mouth."   He said that of the 40,000 to 50,000 patients who had been given the drug this way, not one had died of complications arising from anaesthesia.   The device costs about the same as conventional anaesthetic equipment -- about 1,500 pounds ($2,300) -- and would be commercially available from September 3, Kenny said.   ($1=.6471 Pound) 
134 !GCAT !GODD  The doctor treating a British woman pregnant with eight foetuses said on Tuesday he had given up trying to persuade her to have a partial abortion in order to give one or two of them a better chance of survival.   Consultant gynaecologist Kypros Nicolaides said his patient Mandy Allwood would now probably miscarry.   "But I cannot abandon all hope that we will have at least some survivors," he added.   Allwood, who has sold her story to the News of the World Sunday newspaper, has said she is determined to have all the babies.   She has been backed by her boyfriend Paul Hudson.   Nicolaides had told Allwood, who is now 15 weeks pregnant, that her that her best chance of having some healthy babies would be to abort most of the foetuses by a process known as foetal reduction.   But he told Sky television: "The issue of foetal reduction is now resolved.   Mandy and Paul have decided to continue the whole pregnancy.   I respect that view."   "The most likely outcome of this pregnancy is an expiry before 24 weeks or deliveries after 24 weeks with a high chance that all the babies will die, or if they survive there is a high chance that they will all be handicapped," he said.   Nicolaides examined Allwood on Saturday and found both her and her eight foetuses "very well".   She was very confident about the pregnancy, but he said he had tried to make her realise that her chances of having healthy children were slim. 
135 !GCAT !GCRIM !GREL !GVIO  Police in Northern Ireland said on Tuesday they would prevent Protestants from marching through a Catholic area of Belfast for fear that it could spark off fresh sectarian violence in the troubled city.   Police said that Sunday's planned march by the Royal Black Preceptory order, a fiercely pro-British organisation, would not be allowed to pass through the staunchly pro-Irish nationalist lower Ormeau Road area of Belfast.   Catholics feel threatened and insulted by Protestant marchers, many commemorating historical military victories over Catholic forces.   Protestants who want the province to remain British regard marches as an essential expression of their loyalty to the crown.   Police attempts to block a Protestant parade in July provoked the worst riots seen in the province for years.   A tense weekend of demonstrations two weeks ago ended peacefully when a Protestant march was allowed to pass through a largely Catholic village after a lengthy stand-off.   Commentators from both sides of the divide said the way in which the incident was handled had revived hopes for multi-party negotiations on the future of the province which resume in September. 
136 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  A British burglar who decided to try for a quick tan after breaking into a hospital nearly roasted to death on a sunbed, a court heard on Tuesday.   Owen Crowther, 18, suffered third degree burns on 90 percent of his body after just 15 seconds on the sunbed in Salisbury District Hospital in southern England.   After being treated at another local hospital Crowther admitted the burglary.   "He's very lucky not to have killed himself with that machine," his lawyer Sarah Barnard told the court.   "He was under it for 15 seconds and 45 seconds causes death.   He was in extreme pain when he was caught and in great distress."   Salisbury magistrates, who were told the machine used to treat skin complaints was 60 times more powerful than a regular sunbed, ajourned the case after ordering Owens to undergo psychiatric tests. 
137 !GCAT !GSPO  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN   The future of St Kilda coach Stan Alves will depend on a wide-ranging review by the AFL club, even though he has the support of club president Andrew Plympton to lead the Saints for a fourth season.   Page 44.   --   The Australian Rugby Union faces a bill of A$1 million-plus following the Wallabies tour of Europe later this year.   Players will receive at least A$30,000 each for the seven-week trip, with the Rugby Union Players Association set to organise further talk on tour payments.   Page 44.   --   The Auckland Warriors board will attempt to make chief executive Ian Robson sign a new contract today which aims to contain his outspoken stance in support of Super League.   However, Brian Blake, the chief executive of the rugby league club's major sponsor DB Breweries, has thrown his support behind Robson.   Page 44.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Test veteran David Campese will switch from his favoured fullback position to the wing to make way for 20-year-old Randwick sensation Chris Latham to take up the position in Saturday's rugby union clash against Canberra.   Latham is returning from a one-game suspension.   Page 43.   --   Former Australian opening batsman Andrew Hilditch has won a position on the Australian selection panel, filling the vacancy caused by the departure of Geoff Marsh to take up the Australian cricket coaching position.   However, fellow former opening batsman Steve Smith failed in his attempt to become a New South Wales selector.   Page 44.   --   Despite being cleared by Athletics Australia on drug charges in time to compete in the Atlanta Olympics, the International Amateur Athletic Federation believes it has a watertight case against sprinter Dean Capobianco.   A date will soon be set for an arbiration hearing of the case in Monte Carlo.   Page 44.   --   THE AGE   Sri Lanka's Daily News has criticised stand-in Australian cricket captain Ian Healy for making unsportsmanlike comments in his new book.   The newspaper said on-field confrontations should not be publicised and Healy was just looking for some sensationalism in his book.   Page C14.   --   Despite being down 21-16 at half-time, the Australian women's Paralympic basketball team yesterday fought back to narrowly beat the United States 31-27.   Australia needed to win the game to stay in medal contention.   Page C14.   --   After surrendering rides at yesterday's Kyneton meetings as well as today's Sandown races because of his failure to reduce his weight below 60 kg, one of Victoria's best jockeys, Danny Nikolic, announced continuing weight problems had forced him ou of the spring racing carnival.   Page C16.   --   HERALD SUN   Melbourne chief Ian Ridley has warned the AFL that the proposed Melbourne-Hawthorn merger will fail unless key decisions are agreed to, including an extension on the salary cap in the first three years, the right to trade in the first draft and the right o choose any 44 players the new club wants.   Page 76.   --   Despite receiving an offer from Port Power, estimated at more than A$1.2 million over four years, Footscray's best player, Chris Grant, is expected to sign a new contract within the next few days.   The AFL club is believed to have offered the 23-year-old veteran of 142 games a contract worth more than A$400,000.   Page 80.   --   Brisbane Bears president Noel Gordon could face an automatic A$2,000 fine for criticising the AFL tribunal, after lashing out at the tribunal's decisions to clear Gary Ablett, Wayne Carey and Paul Couch of charges, while suspending Brisbane player Darryl Wite for two weeks for kicking.   Page 80.   --   THE DAILY TELEGRAPH   The first Australian National Basketball League player to make the transition to the U.S. NBA, Shane Heal has signed for three years with the Minnesota Timberwolves for a reported A$1.5 million, after impressing Minnesota with his loyalty to NBL club the Sydney Kings.   Page 74.   --   After losing to Newcastle last Sunday, rugby league club Sydney City will receive a boost this week with the possible return of captain Brad Fittler and the return of fullback Ivan Cleary, winger Darren Junee and second-rower Luke Ricketson.   Fittler will be closely monitored at training this week to see if he is ready for an earlier-than-expected comeback from a groin injury.   Page 72.   --   Soccer Australia president Neville Wran has been called upon to mediate in the dispute between Soccer Australia and Ericcson Cup clubs Marconi, Sydney United and Melbourne Knights over their refusal to remove European nationalist symbols from club logos.   Page 72.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
138 !GCAT !GSPO  Peter Fatialofa, who after despairing of winning an All Black jersey won acclaim as captain of Western Samoa, has retired from rugby at all levels.   The burly prop confirmed on Monday that his brief appearance as a replacement for Counties in Sunday's national championship match against Canterbury was his last in any game.   Fatialofa said that at 37 he now no longer had the motivation to put in the hard training needed to stay at a top level.    "My body's starting to talk to me now big time," he said.   "I can now start to hear the bells ringing.   But I've got absolutely no regrets and I'm happy to be bowing out, not sad, because it's the right time to go."   After missing the All Black tour of Australia in 1988, Fatialofa took up an offer to join Western Samoa who were then trying to win a place in the 1991 World Cup.   He has now played more than 100 games for Western Samoa, including an estimated 37 tests.   By 1990, he was Western Samoa's captain and he reached his peak when the side was one of the sensations of the 1991 World Cup with wins over Wales and Argentina to become a quarterfinalist.   "Playing in that World Cup when Manu Samoa became an international force was the highlight for me," Fatialofa said.   "Actually not becoming an All Black may have been a blessing in disguise: if I had been an All Black I may have only been a midweek player and I wouldn't have got the same feeling as I got playing for Manu Samoa."   Fatialofa said he now hopes to spend more time in Western Samoa concentrating on coaching and promotional work.   Fatialofa has played for Counties in recent seasons, but between 1984 and 1992 he played 72 games for Auckland.    Several of Fatialofa's Auckland and All Black team mates will play in his farewell match in Apia in November.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
139 !C32 !CCAT !GCAT !GSPO  World chess champion Garry Kasparov will play IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue next year in a $1.1 million re-match of last February's historic contest, IBM said on Tuesday.   An IBM spokeswoman said the six-game match would be played at the Millennium hotel in New York on May 3-10, with $700,000 going to the winner and $400,000 to the loser.   In Philadelphia last February, the powerful machine -- capable of looking at 200 million possible moves per second -- created chess history when it became the first computer program to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess format, in which games can last several hours.   Kasparov recovered from the first game defeat and eventually won the contest and $400,000 with three wins and two draws in the remaining games.   The IBM team of scientists and programmers were awarded $100,000.   The Philadelphia match, part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Association of Computing and Machinery, drew hundreds of spectators and an estimated one million "hits" on a website retrieved by fans all over the world.   "The first match was to test the Deep Blue technology," said C.J. Tan, manager of the IBM team.   "Scientifically, our experiment was extremely successful.   We learned a lot from dueling Kasparov.   We have now refined our technology and are in the process of strengthening our game."   IBM's purpose in the first match was to test parallel computing systems intended for use in such diverse areas as the manufacture of new drugs for the pharmaceutical industry and air traffic control.   Kasparov, who characterized the match as a battle between human intuition and the brute force of a huge calculating machine, said he welcomed the prospect of a re-match.   "I look forward to taking on IBM's new and more powerful machine and hope to prove that human knowledge, intuition, creativity and imagination can overcome the incredible capacity of the new machine," Kasparov said in a statement.   IBM spokeswoman Marcy Holle said spectators in New York could watch the games on screens in the Hudson Theater adjoining the hotel.   Kasparov, 33, has previously played in the theater.   In 1990, the first half of his world championship match against fellow Russian grandmaster and arch-rival Anatoly Karpov took place there.   But Kasparov broke ties with the International Chess Federation, known by its French acronym FIDE, in 1993 to form the Professional Chess Association (PCA).   He successfully defended his PCA title in New York in October 1995 against Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand.   The chess world was split between Kasparov as champion of the PCA and Karpov, who retained his FIDE crown in June when he defeated Russian-born U.S. grandmaster Gata Kamsky in a match held in the former Soviet republic of Kalmykia. 
140 !GCAT !GSPO  Summary of Dutch first division soccer match played on Tuesday:   Roda JC Kerkrade 1 (Roelofsen 88th minute penalty) Feyenoord Rotterdam 1 (Van Wonderen 82nd).   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance 10,000. 
141 !GCAT !GPOL  TOGO GOVERNMENT LIST (960820)    **********************************************************    * 19 Aug 96 - Edem Kodjo presented his government's  *    * resignation after three by-election results*    * changed the balance of power in parliament.  *    * Kwassi Klutse was named as the new prime *    * minister on the 20th.   *    **********************************************************    - - - - - - -   President (re-elected 25 Aug 93)...General Gnassingbe EYADEMA    - - - - - - -    Prime Minister (Apptd 20 Aug 96)................  Kwassi KLUTSE    - - - - - - -   OUTGOING GOVERNMENT (Formed 26 May 94, reshuffled 29 Nov 95)    Prime Minister (Sworn-in 25 Apr 94)..............Edem KODJO**    (**See note above)    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:    Communication & Culture.........................Solitoki ESSO    Defence..................................Bitokotipou YAGNINIM    Economy & Finance..........................  .  Elom Kwami DADZIE    Education, Scientific Research..............Francois BENISSAN    Employment, Labour, Civil Service...........  .  Liwoibe SAMBIANI    Environment & Tourism............................Ayitou SINGO    Foreign Affairs & Cooperation.............Barry Moussa BARQUE    Health...............................  .  Etse Jean-Pierre AMEDON    Human Rights & Rehabilitation...........  .  Ephrem Seth DORKENOO    Industry, State Enterprises................  Payadowa BOUKPESSI    Interior & Security.......................Colonel Seyi MEMENE    Justice..........................  .  Elliott Latevi Atcho LAWSON    Planning & Regional Development................  .  Kwassi KLUTSE    Relations with Parliament.....................  Atsutse AGBOBLI    Rural Development & Village Water Supplies......  .  Yao Do FELLI   Technical Education & Profesional    Training....................Bamouni Somolou Stanislas BABA    Trade, Prices & Transport...........  Kodjo Messan Joffre APPOH    Women & Social Affairs..................Kissem TCHANGAI-WALLA    Works, Mines & Energy..........................  Tchamdja ANDJO    Youth & Sports.........................Kouami AGBOGBOLI IHOUL    - - - - - - -   Central Bank Governor (Central Bank of    West African States)...................Charles Konan BANNY    (Ivory Coast)    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
142 !GCAT !GDIS  A cougar mauled a Canadian woman to death after she intervened to save her 6-year-old son who was being attacked, police said on Tuesday.   Cindy Parolin, 36, was horseback-riding with her three children in the southern British Columbia interior on Monday night when a cougar sprang from the bush at her young son.   The boy was thrown from his horse and the cougar began mauling the child.   Parolin tried to beat the beast with a stick and the cougar then turned on her, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.   Parolin shouted to her 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son to carry the injured boy to safety.   They made it back to the family car about a mile (two km) away and the older son returned with several people who were camping nearby to help his mother.   One man located Parolin by following her cries for help.   "The cougar was still on top of the mother nearly an hour after the attack.   The man managed to scare the cougar off after shooting it," the police said.   Parolin was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital in Princeton, British Columbia, about 120 miles (200 km) east of Vancouver.   The injured 6-year-old, whose name was not released, was in stable condition with severe lacerations to his head and puncture wounds on his back.   The cougar, wounded by gunshots, was later tracked and killed by wildlife officials.   Parolin and her three children had been heading to a camp about a mile (two km) away where her husband and fourth child were waiting. 
143 !GCAT !GPOL  Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema on Tuesday named a technocrat prime minister from among his supporters after his party won three more parliament seats in by-elections earlier this month.   A presidential decree announced the appointment of Kwassi Klutse, minister of planning and regional development in the outgoing government.   Edem Kodjo, leader of the Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD), resigned from the prime minister's post on Monday, saying he had to take account of the change in the balance of power.   His party had governed in an increasingly uneasy alliance with Eyadema's Togolese People's Rally (RPT) since parliamentary elections in 1994.   An economist by training, Klutse, 51, was director-general of the planning ministry from 1988 until his appointment as minister in November 1995.   According to the constitution, the prime minister must come from within the parliamentary majority.   The RPT, in coalition with allied parties, now has an absolute majority after winning three seats in the 81-seat parliament in by-elections this month.   Eyadema's party won two seats outright on August 4 and one in a runoff on Sunday.   The main opposition Action Committee for Renewal (CAR) boycotted all three by-elections.   Before the by-elections Eyadema's RPT had 35 seats of its own, plus two from its allies in the Union for Justice and Democracy.   It also had the support of former premier Joseph Kokou Koffigoh and two independents who had quit the UTD and CAR.   If confirmed by the supreme court, Sunday's result will leave the RPT with 38 seats of its own, plus its five allies, giving Eyadema a comfortable majority.   Eyadema, an army general, seized power in 1967 and was elected in 1993 in polls boycotted by the UTD and CAR.   The two parties formed an opposition alliance to contest the 1994 parliamentary elections and had won a majority until the Supreme Court annulled three seats citing irregularities.   That alliance collapsed after Kodjo accepted the post of prime minister.   Relations between Eyadema and Kodjo had been strained in recent months.   Kodjo spoke publicly of differences and Eyadema's supporters openly criticised the prime minister.   Kodjo told reporters on Tuesday the CAR's refusal to cooperate with parliament had made it difficult to govern.   The party boycotted parliament for several months in 1994 and 1995. 
144 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GJOB !GPOL !GWELF  The Zimbabwean government said a civil servants strike that began on Tuesday was illegal and ordered workers back to their jobs.   Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro said her government would only negotiate with the Public Service Association (PSA) once it ended the strike that hurt the southern Africa state's social services.   "As far as we are concerned, this strike is illegal and we are ordering all those workers who did not go to work today to report for duty tomorrow," she told a news conference.   "If they do not take heed to this call the heads of ministries are required to take the necessary disciplinary action according to the public service regulations," she added.   Earlier, PSA executive secretary John Makoni told reporters "a lot" of the country's 180,000 civil servants had heeded his PSA union's call "to go to work and walk out".   The chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Mariyawanda Nzuwah, described the strike as irresponsible and unacceptable, saying negotiation channels had not been exhausted.   But Makoni said the government had left the union with no option because it was not prepared to look at workers's demands for increases of around 25-30 percent.   "We will not go back to work until the PSC and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare reviews the situation," he said.   Only senior officials were in Zimbabwean government offices on Tuesday while many other civil servants milled around or marched their work locations demonstrating.   Nurses at state hospitals around the country also joined the strike, but the government filled some of the gaps with personnel from the army and the local Red Cross medical division.   ---Cris Chinaka, Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 27/8/9.  --- 
145 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Hundreds of Rwandan Hutu refugees fled Burundi on Tuesday for their equally troubled homeland despite assurances from Burundi's new Tutsi strongman Major Pierre Buyoya that he was opposed to any expulsions.   U.N. refugee agency officials said a total of 3,313 Rwandans had crossed the border into Rwanda by Tuesday afternoon and had reached Musange transit camp outside Butare.   A convoy of trucks with 1,480 refugees would cross the border within the next 30 minutes, they said.   They said heavy rains had prevented further movements and the exercise was being suspended until Wednesday.   "The rains have prevented further movements from Magara camp in Burundi.   These refugees will be the last movements for the day," an official with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told Reuters in Butare.   Magara is the biggest Rwandan refugee camp in north Burundi and once held over 45,000 people.   After earlier expulsions, and the flight of some 7,000 refugees on Monday -- 24 hours after soldiers killed three refugees -- about 24,000 remain.   "The largest concentration of refugees will arrive this afternoon and evening," said Stephano Severe, head of UNHCR in Butare.   The refugees accuse the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army of harassment and say they fear for their lives.   To help them return to Rwanda, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has organised 91 trucks and buses.   Butare governor Atanase Samuhungu told Reuters he expected some refugees, accused of taking part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, to face problems once they reached their original villages.   "The problems will be in the countryside when they try to reintegrate," Samuhungu said without elaborating.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus fled their homeland to Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi in 1994 after Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu army and ousted the government, blamed for the genocide of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.   Burundi's new leader Buyoya pledged on Tuesday to protect the refugees after they complained of harassment and beatings from his army.   Buyoya's spokesman said a team of investigators had been sent to northern Burundi.   The spokesman also said Buyoya had sacked the country's three most powerful military officers.   Buyoya's spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters by telephone that the new president of Burundi remained committed to international conventions on the protection of refugees.   Shortly after the July 25 coup that brought him to power, Buyoya ordered an end to expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees.   Ndizeye said the latest exodus from the north was caused by panic after troops entered Magara on Sunday to search for arms.   He said Burundian army positions near Magara had come under fire on Saturday and Sunday forcing soldiers to move into the camp to search for weapons and ammunition.   He said anyone found guilty of inciting refugees to leave against their will would be punished.   "The president is not going back on his word to protect refugees," he said.   The exodus of Rwandan refugees picked up after troops killed three refugees at Magara camp.   Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Minani confirmed on Tuesday that soldiers killed them but said they fired only after one refugee shot at them.   Besides the 24,000 refugees remaining at Magara, another 13,000 are at Rukuramigabo Camp in neighbouring Kirundo province, Paul Stromberg, UNHCR regional spokesman told Reuters.   Burundian authorities accuse the refugees of supporting Hutu rebels in a war against the Burundian army in which 150,000 people have died since 1993. 
146 !GCAT !GDEF !GVIO  Burundi's new Tutsi military strongman Major Pierre Buyoya on Tuesday sacked the three most powerful military officers in his ethnically-divided country, his spokesman said.   Buyoya sacked the powerful army chief-of-staff and previous de facto head of state, Colonel Jean Bikomagu, and also fired the head of the gendarmerie, Colonel Pascal Simbanduko, and Colonel Gedeon Fyiroko, head of the military at the presidential palace.   All three officers were Tutsis and were replaced by Tutsis.   The army, dominated by the minority Tutsi tribe, is locked in a guerrilla war with Hutu rebels, in which aid workers say around 1,000 people are dying each month.   Presidential spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye said Buyoya, who seized power in a bloodless coup on July 25, appointed equally senior but little-known officers to the three powerful posts.   Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Niyungeko was named as new chief-of-staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Georges Muhorako as chief-of-staff of the gendarmerie and Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Ngurunziza as head of military at the presidential palace.   "With the new changes the president has the right to choose who he works with.   It's not a question of competence or incompetence.   It's just to show that President Buyoya has a free hand," Ndizeye added.   Analysts said the dismissals of the hardline officers may also have been designed to placate regional anger over the coup that ousted civilian Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.   Burundi's neighbours have imposed an embargo on the country.   Ntibantunganya remains holed in the U.S. ambassador's residence in Bujumbura and his wife said last week that Buyoya had prevented him from leaving the country.   Regional countries, led by Tanzania, and including Rwanda, Kenya and Zaire, have cut air, land and water links with Burundi to try to force Buyoya to restore "constitutional order and legality" in the tea and coffee-growing nation.   They also want Buyoya, who first ruled Burundi between 1987 and 1983, to open talks with Hutu rebels led by former minister Leonard Nyangoma's National Council for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD).   Nyangoma, whose guerrillas are waging an increasingly successful war, has in recent weeks poured scorn on talks with Buyoya.   Buyoya has also said he would only talk to rebels who first laid down their arms.   Bikomagu and other unnamed senior military commanders were implicated in a U.N. report on an attempted coup in Burundi in October 1993 in which Burundi's first freely-elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, was murdered by Tutsi soldiers.   Western diplomats said Bikomagu played a central role not only in the 1993 failed coup attempt but also in the coup that brought Buyoya to power. 
147 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Hundreds of Rwandan Hutu refugees fled Burundi on Tuesday for their equally troubled homeland despite assurances from Burundi's new Tutsi strongman Major Pierre Buyoya that he was opposed to any expulsions.   U.N. refugee agency officials said 500 Rwandans had arrived by 1200 GMT on Tuesday at Musange transit camp outside Butare.   A convoy of trucks packed with a total of 1,200 more refugees was also heading from Magara camp on its way to Butare.   Magara is the biggest Rwandan refugee camp in north Burundi and once held over 45,000 people.   After earlier expulsions, and the flight of some 7,000 refugees on Monday -- 24 hours after soldiers killed three refugees -- about 24,000 remain.   "The largest concentration of refugees will arrive this afternoon and evening," said Stephano Severe, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Butare.   "We are expecting some 4,500 refugees today," he added.   The refugees accuse the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army of harassment and say they fear for their lives.   To help them return to Rwanda, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has organised 91 trucks and buses.   Butare governor Atanase Samuhungu told Reuters he expected some refugees, accused of taking part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, to face problems once they reached their original villages.   "The problems will be in the countryside when they try to reintegrate," Samuhungu said without elaborating.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus fled their homeland to Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi in 1994 after Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu army and ousted the government, blamed for the genocide of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.   Burundi's new leader Buyoya pledged on Tuesday to protect the refugees after they complained of harassment and beatings from his army.   Buyoya's spokesman said a team of investigators had been sent to northern Burundi.   The spokesman also said Buyoya had also sacked the country's three most powerful military officers.   Buyoya's spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters by telephone that the new president of Burundi remained committed to international conventions on the protection of refugees.   "The president expects refugees to stay where they are.   He does not expect any movements at all today," Ndizeye said.   Shortly after the July 25 coup that brought him to power, Buyoya ordered an end to expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees.   Ndizeye said the latest exodus from the north was caused by panic after troops entered Magara on Sunday to search for arms.   He said Burundian army positions near Magara had come under fire on Saturday and Sunday forcing soldiers to move into the camp to search for weapons and ammunition.   He said any one found guilty of inciting refugees to leave against their will would be punished.   "The president is not going back on his word to protect refugees," he said.   The exodus of Rwandan refugees picked up after troops killed three refugees at Magara camp.   Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Minani confirmed on Tuesday that soldiers killed them but said they fired only after one refugee shot at them.   Besides the 24,000 refugees remaining at Magara, another 13,000 are at Rukuramigabo Camp in neighbouring Kirundo province, Paul Stromberg, UNHCR regional spokesman told Reuters.   Burundian authorities accuse the refugees of supporting Hutu rebels in a war against the Burundian army in which 150,000 people have died since 1993. 
148 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  South Africa's radical black Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) acknowledged on Tuesday that its guerrillas had targeted white civilians but said it made no apologies.   PAC leader Clarence Makwetu told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, that the PAC regretted the August 1993 killing of American student Amy Biehl in Gugulethu black township outside Cape Town by youths allied to the organisation.   Biehl was stabbed and stoned to death by a mob that attacked her car when she was dropping off friends in the township at the time of a teachers' strike.   "This act occurred in the context of a strike for recognition by the South African Democratic Teachers' Union," Makwetu said.   "To support the strike, an operation was launched to stop deliveries from towns into the townships.   Although the PAC was not involved, the Pan Africanist Student Organisation (PASO) acted in solidarity with their teachers.   They wrongly targeted and killed Amy Biehl," he said.   "We expressed our regret and condolences to Amy Biehl's family in a letter to the U.S. ambassador (at the time).   "We restate this position yet again through the truth commission.   But misguided as the deed was, we support the amnesty applications of all those convicted and sentenced for the offence."   Four PAC supporters have been jailed for 18 years each for killing Biehl, 26, from Newport Beach, California.   Discussing the activities of the PAC's armed wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), Makwetu said "a new pattern arose in the 1990s where civilians within the white community were attacked".   "The actual targets were decided by local commanders... Internally based operatives often made errors that APLA had earlier avoided."   Makwetu described the killing of civilians as "departures which we as political leaders who declared war must and do take responsibility for".   But he added: "We make no apologies.   We have nothing to hide."   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission this week is hearing submissions from political parties aimed at giving a broad perspective of their activities durig the apartheid years.   The PAC broke away from the African National Congress in 1959 but never achieved the mass appeal of President Nelson Mandela's party.   Less than two percent of South Africans voted for the PAC in the country's first all-race elections in April 1994.   Police blamed APLA for a series of gun and grenade attacks in the years leading up to the election, including one on a Cape Town church service and others on white social gatherings.   Makwetu said the PAC objected to the format of the truth commission because "our people who were forced to fight a war of liberation are being made to appear on the same platform as their aggressors".   "Perpetrators of the apartheid crime against humanity as well as their victims are being equated," he said.   The right-wing Freedom Front made its presentation to the commission on Monday and the National Party, led by former white president F.W. de Klerk, is due to present its submission on Wednesday. 
149 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Burundi's new Tutsi strongman Pierre Buyoya is opposed to any expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees from northern Burundi and has sent a team to investigate the reasons behind their movement, his spokesman said on Tuesday.   But in Rwanda, aid agencies prepared to receive thousands more Rwandan Hutus, who say they are fleeing Magara camp in northern Burundi because of intimidation and beatings by Buyoya's Tutsi-dominated army.   In Brussels, the European Union called on the ethnically divided Central African country to seek peace.   The EU statement issued by Ireland -- which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation bloc -- said that the EU was deeply concerned about the situation in Burundi.   Buyoya's spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters by telephone that the new president of Burundi remained committed to international conventions on the protection of refugees.   "The president expects refugees to stay where they are.   He does not expect any movements at all today," Ndizeye said.   In Butare, aid agencies prepared to receive some 4,500 refugees on Tuesday.   "We are expecting some 4,500 refugees today (Tuesday)," Stephano Severe, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Butare, told Reuters.   Shortly after the July 25 coup that brought him to power, Buyoya ordered an end to expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees.   Ndizeye said the latest movements by thousands of refugees from the north were not part of official policy but were caused by panic on the part of the refugees after the army entered Magara on Sunday to search for arms.   He said Burundian army position near Magara had come under fire on Saturday and Sunday forcing soldiers to move into the camp to search for weapons and ammunition.   "It is not the position of our government to send them (refugees) back.   They have decided to leave on their own, many panicked when the army searched the camp.   They are welcome to stay for as long as they want," Ndizeye said.   He said any one found guilty of inciting refugees to leave against their will would be punished.   "The president is not going back on his word to protect refugees," he said.   The exodus of Rwandan refugees back to Rwanda picked up after troops killed three refugees at Magara camp.   Refugees accused the army of killing them as part of a campaign of intimidation.   Army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Minani confirmed on Tuesday that soldiers killed the three but said they fired only after one refugee pulled out a revolver and shot at them.   UNHCR's Severe said he expected Magara, the biggest of Rwandan refugee camps in Burundi with an initial population of more than 45,000 people, to be emptied within two to three days.   "We have got 65 trucks at the ready today (Tuesday) and if the returns continue like this, it will only be a matter of two to three days before we finish the repatriations from Magara," he said.   Some 7,000 refugees returned to Rwanda on Monday leaving around 24,000 at Magara and 13,000 at Rukuramigabo Camp in neighbouring Kirundo province, Paul Stromberg, regional spokesman for the UNHCR, told Reuters.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus fled their homeland to Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi in 1994 after Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu army and ousted the government, blamed for the genocide of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.   Burundian authorities accuse the refugees of supporting Hutu rebels waging a guerrilla war against the Burundian army in which 150,000 people have died since 1993. 
150 !GCAT !GVIO  Nigerian authorities on Tuesday described as "crazy" reports that 16 activists from the Ogoni region had been arrested in the run-up to an anticipated Commonwealth visit.   "It is crazy to say Ogonis have been arrested for being MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People) members, any time an Ogoni is arrested for anything they have to say it is political.   I am not aware of these arrests at all," Fidelis Agbiki, press secretary to the local military administrator told Reuters by telephone from Port Harcourt.   MOSOP on Monday said a total of 16 Ogoni activists had been arrested in the past month.   "Less than three weeks before the scheduled visit of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to Nigeria, a new wave of arrests of MOSOP activists has begun," the group said in a statement issued in London.   Africa's most populous nation became an international pariah after MOSOP leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were executed for murder last November, provoking international protests and Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth.   MOSOP said that the first of the new wave of arrests was Akina Deesor, producer of a radio station in Ogoni.   Deesor was detained on July 31 for broadcasting an Ogoni song.   Fifteen more people were arrested on August 13 and accused of planning to seek meetings with the Commonwealth mission, it added.   "Victims of the latest arrests are detained at unknown destinations and MOSOP believes they must have been tortured and kept in terrible conditions," the statement said.   Earlier this year, Nigeria refused to allow a Commonwealth fact-finding mission into the country, allowing instead a team from the United Nations.   But this month Nigeria offered to host talks on its suspension from the club of Britain and its former colonies in the capital Abuja on August 29-30.   The eight-nation Commonwealth Ministerial Action Committee on Nigeria has yet to respond to the invitation.   The two sides met in London in June and Commonwealth ministers decided not to impose agreed sanctions on Nigeria pending further talks.   "We are not guilty of 'Ogoniphobia'," said Agbiki.   "As we don't even know if the Commonwealth will visit here how can we arrest people for trying to meet them?"   The U.N. team called for reform of some laws, including those under which Saro-Wiwa and the other activists were hanged, but backed military ruler General Sani Abacha's plan for restoring democracy by 1988, which the Commonwealth group had called "inadequate".   Hundreds of people demonstrating against alleged repression met the U.N. group on its visit to Ogoniland.   "The visit of the UN fact-finding team to Nigeria last April occasioned similar repression in Ogoni and the reprisal actions that followed that visit cost the Ogonis two lives and several detentions," MOSOP said.   The 500,000 Ogonis live on oil-rich land, which MOSOP says has been ruined by the activities of producing companies.   Shell, which pumps nearly half on Nigeria's two million barrels a day of crude oil, halted production in Ogoniland in 1993 after acts of sabotage by activists. 
151 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Aid agencies on Tuesday prepared to receive thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees fleeing Burundi because they fear for their lives after pressure from the Tutsi-dominated army.   "We are expecting some 4,500 refugees today (Tuesday)," Stephano Severe, head of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Butare, told Reuters in this Rwandan border town.   Severe said he expected Magara, the biggest of Rwandan refugee camps in Burundi with an initial population of more than 45,000 people, to be emptied within two to three days.   "We have got 65 trucks at the ready today (Tuesday) and if the returns continue like this, it will only be a matter of two to three days before we finish the repatriations from Magara," he added.   Refugees at Magara Camp in northern Ngozi province said they feared for their lives if they stayed in Burundi and expected more intimidation from the army.   "We are leaving because they have burned our camp.   We are returning to Rwanda because we are forced to go back and there is no security here," Joseph Murindahamwe told Reuters.   His story was backed up by other refugees who said soldiers came every night since Wednesday with local Burundians burning huts, shooting into the air and telling the refugees they had to leave.   In the Burundi capital Bujumbura, an army spokesman said the army would carry out investigations into the expulsions but he said the refugees had in most cases provoked troops.   "I will myself investigate to find out what is going on," Lieutenant-Colonel Isaie Nibizi told Reuters.   "But in certain camps, it is the refugees who provoke the army and Magara is a camp like that."   Between 6,000 and 7,000 refugees returned to Rwanda on Monday leaving around 24,000 at Magara and 13,000 at Rukuramigabo Camp in neighbouring Kirundo province, Paul Stromberg, regional spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters in a telephone interview.   The repatriation effort was hampered on Monday because the road used by 25 UNHCR trucks to ferry refugees became impassable south of Butare in Rwanda, he said.   Hundreds of refugees were forced to walk part of the way towards Butare and would have to spend the night at Butare stadium.   Burundian soldiers triggered the stepped-up repatriation, killing three Magara refugees including a mother and child at the weekend, aid officials said.   The latest expulsions came nearly four weeks after Burundi's new military strongman Pierre Buyoya promised to halt forced repatriation in an apparent effort to defuse international condemnation of his coup d'etat.   Army intimidation at the camp could be the direct result of government policy, but it could also indicate Buyoya's difficulty controlling local military commanders, analysts said.   "We are caught between a military who are going to become more vociferous and violent and certain elements in the camp who do not want to co-operate and do not want to go home," Stromberg said.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus fled their homeland to Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi in 1994 after Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu army and ousted the government, blamed for the genocide of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus.   Burundian authorities accuse the refugees of supporting Hutu rebels waging a guerrilla war against the Burundian army in which 150,000 people have died since 1993. 
152 !GCAT !GPOL  Former white president F.W. de Klerk appears before South Africa's "truth commission" on Wednesday as political parties strive to extract what propaganda value they can from the country's history of race war.   De Klerk, who will speak for the National Party that introduced apartheid in 1948, has said party leaders will accept overall responsibility for "the many things that went wrong" with the policy.   But he is likely to shift most of the blame onto his predecessors and cite the fact that barely a year after he took office he began in 1990 to dismantle apartheid -- freeing African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela as one of his first steps.   He plans to start his presentation in 1652, the year the first white settlers arrived in the Cape, giving him an opportunity to comment that British colonialists were among the first to enforce racial discrimination in South Africa.   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is devoting all week to hearing from political parties how they saw the context of their actions during the apartheid era.   The commission, chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, is charged with establishing as full a picture as possible of South Africa's decades of racial hostility during which millions of blacks were forced to move to "homelands", hundreds of people were killed by police or guerrillas and countless more were tortured or jailed for their beliefs.   Political parties which have made submissions so far include the right-wing Freedom Front and the radical black Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), both of which tried to score political points.   The PAC, which won less than two percent of the vote in South Africa's first all-race election in 1994, sought to portray itself on Tuesday as a more important player in the liberation struggle than the ANC.   Freedom Front leader General Constand Viljoen, a former defence force chief, acknowledged on Monday that Afrikaners had "invited" violent revolution by their actions but said their brutality in trying to crush it was provoked in part by their opposition to communism.   ANC sources said Mandela's party, due to make its submission on Thursday, would object to any attempt to equate the morality of enforcing apartheid with that of resisting it. 
153 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  Burundi's new Tutsi strongman Pierre Buyoya has shocked the Tutsi-dominated army by sacking its powerful chief-of-staff in an apparent first step to tighten control over the unruly military.   Analysts said top officers were still stunned on Wednesday over this and two other dismissals seen as ending army impunity in the violent, ethnically-divided nation.   The army, dominated by the minority Tutsi tribe, is locked in a guerrilla war with Hutu rebels, in which aid workers say around 1,000 people are dying each month.   The decision to replace army chief-of-staff Col Jean Bikomagu with little-known Lt-Col Vincent Niyungeko reinforced Buyoya's credentials as a moderate determined to bring the army under control.   Bikomagu was heavily implicated in a recent U.N. report on an attempted army coup in October 1993, in which the country's first Hutu president was assassinated.   The coup attempt sparked an ethnic civil war in Burundi in which around 150,000 people have died.   "No sooner had the president been murdered than the officers regained control of their troops and Bikomagu retook supreme control of the army," said the U.N. report, a copy of which was seen by Reuters though it is yet to be published.   As part of the changes Lt-Col Georges Muhorako takes over from Col Pascal Simbanduko as chief of staff of the gendarmerie, while Lt-Col Alfred Ngurunziza replaces Gedeon Fyiroko as head of the military at State House (presidential palace).   "People were saying that Buyoya was a prisoner of certain individuals but these changes show that he is free to choose whom he wants," presidential spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters in a telephone interview.   Army spokesmen declined to comment on the shakeup.   East African states including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda imposed sanctions on Burundi following a coup d'etat on July 25 that brought Buyoya to power and deposed Hutu president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.   Ntibantunganya remained holed-up at the American embassy residence in the capital on Tuesday, where he has been for almost a month.   Burundi's prime minister Pascal Firmin Ndimira on Tuesday said sanctions could lead to famine in Burundi and urged the states to lift the embargo, according to state radio.   "Ndimira warned that sanctions imposed on his country may cause famine," the radio said, adding that internally displaced Burundians would be particularly hard hit.   Meanwhile, almost 5,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees returned to Rwanda from a camp in Ngozi province in north Burundi on Tuesday under pressure from the Burundian army, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).   Refugees at Magara camp charged the army maintained a campaign of intimidation on Monday night, burning huts and warning the refugees they had to go home.   "They came at night, burned huts and yelled at us that we had to go home," one refugee, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.   Up to a dozen huts on the outskirts of the camp were still burning on Tuesday.   UNHCR officials instructed army guards at the camp to deny access to Reuters photographer Corinne Dufka, arguing that journalists had reported lies about events at Magara.   Aid workers are divided over whether army tactics at Magara add up to the forced expulsion of refugees, illegal under international law.   "The rain prevented further movements of refugees from Magara Camp in Burundi," a UNHCR official told Reuters in Butare.   Butare governor Anatase Samuhungu told Reuters some of the refugees, accused of participation in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, could expect to find problems in their home villages.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus fled their homes for Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi after Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu army and ousted the government, blamed for a genocide against up to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. 
154 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Former Zimbabwean president Caanan Banana is mediating between Sierra Leone's government and rebels in an effort to push forward the nation's stalled peace process, government sources said on Tuesday.   "The Reverend Caanan Banana was requested by the OAU secretary general to mediate between the government of Sierra Leone and the RUF (rebels) to move the peace process forward and reach a comprehensive peace treaty," one source told Reuters.   The source said that Banana, Organisation of African Unity (OAU) special envoy to Sierra Leone's war-ravaged neighbour Liberia, had had talks with Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel leader Foday Sankoh in Ivory Coast.   Banana, Zimbabwe's president from 1980 to 1987, was expected in Sierra Leone on Wednesday for talks with the government.   Sierra Leone's newly elected president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who took over after the army restored civilian rule in March, had talks in Ivory Coast with Sankoh in April.   The two sides agreed to extend a ceasefire, which has been generally holding, but remain deadlocked on the issues of disarmament and withdrawal of foreign troops helping the government.   The rebels took up arms in 1991. 
155 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  French Defence Minister Charles Millon said on Tuesday that Paris had no plans to cut back its military presence in Africa.   Millon, speaking in Senegal on the first leg of a trip that will also take him to Ivory Coast, said that this was the message he had come to deliver to African officials.   "There will be no substantial change in France's military presence in Africa," he told reporters.   Millon, who arrived in Senegal on Monday, told Radio France International that there was no question of modifying France's pre-positioned military presence in the world.   "There is no question of going back on the forces currently based in Senegal or Ivory Coast and that is what I have come to tell African, and particularly Senegalese, officials," he said.   Millon said prevention of conflict was an essential role for the French army.   "There will be adjustments here and there in the light of redefined support or redefined missions but there will be no massive reduction in numbers," he added.   France has about 1,300 troops stationed in Senegal, a former French colony.   It has about 500 soldiers in Ivory Coast and contingents in Chad, Djibouti, Gabon and the Central African Republic, where it intervened in May under a defence pact to prevent an army revolt toppling elected president Ange-Felix Patasse. 
156 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  South African Justice Minister Dullah Omar on Tuesday supported the aims of a Moslem vigilante movement that publicly killed an alleged drug baron, but warned that opposition to crime was not a licence to kill.   "I want to make it very, very clear that those who fight drug trafficking, those who fight gangsterism, are our allies," he told parliament during an often-heated special debate on the Moslem movement People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (Pagad).   But Omar, himself a Moslem, warned he would not tolerate actions such as the murder of alleged drug baron Rashaad Staggie, co-leader with his twin brother Rashied of the Hard Livings gang.   "Fundamentally, the thousands of people who support Pagad and who have taken part in their campaign and who want to rid our country of drug trafficking are our allies.   "We need to ensure that we fight together with our allies to rid our country of drug-trafficking and gangsterism.   This does not mean that we condone people taking the law into their own hands," he said.   Staggie, 40, was shot and burned in front of police and television crews earlier this month.   Pagad leader Nadthmie Edries has been charged with sedition related to the killing.   Omar said he would meet Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi and other security chiefs later on Tuesday to draft an anti-crime strategy to go before the cabinet on Wednesday.   He declined to say what measures were being considered, but Mufamadi told parliament he planned separately to invoke special measures including a ban on guns at demonstrations.   Mufamadi said he had ordered an investigation of reports that known gangsters, many with criminal records, owned licensed firearms.   In addition, he said he planned to bring in a specialist unit that successfully reduced the rate of car hijackings around Johannesburg to Cape Town to investigate the government's long-term failure to prosecute gangsters.   The Staggie killing focused the nation's attention on crime by gangs and Pagad has since spawned similar movements in most major cities.   A week after Staggie was killed, police and armed Pagad supporters clashed in Cape Town's mixed-race Athlone district when riot units travelling in armoured trucks halted a march on the homes of alleged drug dealers.   A Moslem taxi driver was killed in what Pagad members believe was a revenge attack by gangs and a Moslem-owned shop was torched.   On Saturday, vigilantes cornered a drug dealer and doused him with petrol.   A witness told Reuters the dealer was not set alight only because his Pagad attacker spilled petrol on himself and did not dare to light a match. 
157 !GCAT !GDIP  Dozens of Mauritanians expelled from Angola returned home on Tuesday, with some saying they had been badly treated and prevented from saying their Moslem prayers.   The 82 Mauritanians, mostly businessmen, said after a plane from Angola's national airline flew them home that they had not been illegal immigrants and had left valuable possessions behind.   Angola said on Friday it had deported 415 immigrants operating unlawful businesses and would expel hundreds more by early this week.   Returning Mauritanians said Angola had severe economic problems and that Angolans were jealous of foreigners' success.   Some said they had been given inadequate food and water while in detention before their expulsion.   Guinean officials said on Monday that 159 Guineans expelled at the weekend had been unfairly treated by Angolan security forces.   A sudden clampdown on foreigners began on August 12 when the Angolan government expelled 349 citizens of Senegal, Lebanon and Mali. 
158 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Hundreds of Liberian refugees evicted from the U.S. embassy housing compound have been taken to new shelters outside Monrovia, aid workers said on Tuesday.   They were among up to 20,000 people who took refuge at the Graystone compound, close to the embassy in the city's Mamba Point district, at the height of fighting between rival factions in the city in April and May.   Embassy security guards tore down their makeshift shelters on Monday after the expiry of a deadline for them to leave.   The refugees gathered outside the gate with their belongings, demanding help with resettlement.   "Ten family heads were relocated yesterday but the rest of them slept right here in these garages and abandoned offices last night.   Now they are going to regular camps," said a spokesman for British charity Tear Fund.   The U.S. embassy says Monrovia is now returning to normal and it wants to give its staff their houses back.   The compound was protected from the fighting by a high wall and by security guards.   An impromptu market for looted goods sprang up inside and Liberian aid workers set up a clinic treating bullet wounds, diarrhoea and other ailments.   West African leaders and Liberian warlords agreed a new peace plan in the Nigerian capital on Saturday, detailing a timetable for disarming militias and setting a target date of May 30 for elections. 
159 !GCAT !GHEA  A group of 110 Cuban doctors arrived in South Africa on Tuesday, joining their 96 compatriots who have been working in impoverished areas since February.   The latest group, which includes surgeons, paediatricians and gynaecologists, will stay for three years to help in rural and township hospitals which are under severe pressure with the departure of many young South African doctors not prepared to put up with long hours, poor pay and spiralling crime.   Under a health cooperation accord, a third group of 250 Cuban specialists is due in South Africa in November, followed by a fourth group, which will take the eventual number to 600.   South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told a news conference on a visit to Cuba recently the South African press had initially been sceptical about the Cuban doctors.   "But they have done so well in their professional work and in their relations with our people that they have become excellent ambassadors," Pahad said.   Surveys show up to half of South Africa's English-speaking medical graduates emigrate soon after qualifying.   Only 22,000 doctors serve the population of about 43 million. 
160 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  Ethiopian authorities have prepared shelters for 150,000 people threatened by expected flooding of the Awash River, officials said on Tuesday.   The shelters were stocked with food, blankets and medicine, officials in the capital Addis Ababa said.   The Awash River, fed by rains from the highlands, was threatening to overflow and destroy thousands of hectares of sugar estates at Shoa, Wonji and Metharar along its banks some 100 km (65 miles) east of Addis Ababa, officials said.   Waters of the Koka dam, in the same area, have reached danger level -- only 60 cm below the top of the 110-metre-deep dam.   The government has warned people nearby to leave before the dam is opened to release excess water, officials said. 
161 !GCAT !GVIO  A Liberian faction at the centre of bloody street battles in Liberia's capital Monrovia in April and May has returned heavy weapons seized from peacekeepers in earlier fighting, a U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.   The return of the weapons by the ethnic-Krahn ULIMO-J faction coincided with the deadline for a halt to all fighting under the latest deal to end a civil war that has killed more than 150,000 people.   The West African peacekeepers and a special U.N. representative expressed optimism that a truce would take hold but there was no independent confirmation of what was happening outside the capital.   "We are hopeful that people will keep to their words in keeping with the Abuja accord and we have reasons to believe that they will comply with what they agreed," U.N. envoy Anthony Nyakyi of Tanzania told Reuters.   Nyakyi said that ULIMO-J, which rallied to sacked government minister Roosevelt Johnson with other Krahn factions in April when rivals tried to arrest him for murder, had returned two pieces of artillery to the Nigerian-led peacekeeping force.   The faction seized the weapons during fighting around the western town of Tubmanburg in December and January, when dozens of peacekeepers were killed or taken prisoner.   "This is a significant sign that the ceasefire will hold in western Liberia," Nyakyi said, adding that the United Nations did not have enough military observers to monitor the truce effectively but would do the best it could.   The peace deal, agreed by West African leaders in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Saturday, envisages disarmament of an estimated 60,000 fighters and elections in the middle of next year.   It includes the threat of individual sanctions, including war crime trials, against any faction leader impeding progress.   Over a dozen peace deals have failed to end the war launched by faction leader Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia in late 1989.   Taylor is one of two vice-chairmen of an interim ruling State Council.   The Liberia Peace Council, another Krahn faction, accused Taylor's forces on Saturday of attacking its positions in the southeast in Grand Gedeh County.   Taylor has not responded and there has been no independent confirmation of the allegation.   A spokesman for the peacekeepers, who deployed in central Monrovia in May to end the fighting and looting that killed hundreds of people, expressed hope that a truce would take hold thoughout the country.   The spokesman was optimistic that the threatened sanctions would force compliance.   "These threats will go a long way in helping to implement the peace agreement.   Another reason is that everybody seems to be serious about going to elections and to hold elections they must disarm."   Freed American slaves founded Liberia in 1847.   West African leaders, meeting in Abuja on Saturday, named former Liberian senator Ruth Perry to chair the council.   Under the deal, peacekeepers will start disarming the fighters in September.   The operation is due to be finished by November.   Elections, which should have taken place this month under the previous deal, are currently scheduled for May. 
162 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  South Africa is budgeting according to its means, with tighter control on rollovers and policy-making increasingly restricted by affordability, Deputy Minister of Finance Gill Marcus said on Tuesday.   Marcus, former chairwoman of parliament's influential finance committee, outlined several mechanisms introduced since the transition to democracy in 1994 to control expenditure and to ensure efficient use of state funds.   "The Budget Council as well as the national Budget Committee, which has just completed two weeks of presentations, have agreed to and are preparing budgets in accordance with the four percent deficit target," she said.   Earlier on Tuesday, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told a news conference the government was on track to meet both its 5.1 percent deficit target for fiscal 1996/97 and its four percent target for fiscal 1997/98.   Marcus said the government was trying to extend its budget horizon from one year at present to at least three years, adding: "This approach will also enable departments and provinces to plan ahead with confidence."   She cautioned planning ministries to ensure that their long-term strategies were mapped in accordance with revenue projections in the government's macro-economic framework published in June.   "The constitution has created various bodies, commissions and obligations, all of which require additional expenditure.   We urgently recommend that this be costed and an approach taken that fits with what we can afford," she said.   She urged that policy white papers should be "accompanied by actuarial evaluation of the expenditure required".   "Spending allocations should be outlined for a three to five-year horizon, enabling multi-year planning to achieve objectives.   This needs to be done so as to reflect objectives, time frames, costs and what is actually going to be delivered in return for the resources allocated," she said.   Marcus confirmed a report earlier this week that the projected rollover of budgeted funds from fiscal 1995/96 to the current financial year could total 10.5 billion rand.   "This requires urgent attention.   It clearly indicates that the question is not simply one of allocating more resources, but paying attention to capacity, reprioritisation, efficiency and the effectiveness of spending within all departments and provincs.   "Ongoing discussions are taking place with the departments reflecting large rollovers, as to both the cause and the solutions," Marcus said.   -- Brendan Boyle, Parliamentary newsroom, +27 21 403-2502 
163 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Zairean state copper and cobalt miner Gecamines said a one-day strike at a treatment plant last week did not spread and the company was working normally.   "A work stoppage was observed last Monday August 12 in the Shituru treatment plant," Gecamines spokesman Tsongo Muhingirwa said.   He said staff at the Shituru plant in the town of Likasi in southeastern Shaba province had downed tools because they did not receive their maize flour ration on time.   They went back to work when the supply arrived at the canteen.   "The situation has returned to normal since that day," Tsongo said.   --Abidjan newsroom +225 21 90 90 
164 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  Burundi's new Tutsi military strongman on Tuesday sacked the ethnically-divided country's three most powerful military officers, his spokesman announced.   Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters that Pierre Buyoya, who seized power in a bloodless coup on July 25, had dismissed powerful chief-of-staff Colonel Jean Bikomagu, head of the gendarmerie Colonel Pascal Simbanduko and Colonel Gedeon Fyiroko, head of the military at the presidential palace.    Ndizeye said Buyoya had appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Vincent Niyungeko as new chief-of-staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Georges Muhorako as chief-of-staff of the gendarmerie and Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred Ngurunziza as head of military at the presidential palace.   All are Tutsi officers.   "With the new changes the president has the right to choose who he works with.   It's not a question of competence or incompetence.   It's just to show that President Buyoya has a free hand," Ndizeye added.   Analysts said the dismissals of the hardline and powerful officers may be a move by Buyoya to placate regional anger over the coup that ousted civilian Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.   Neighbours have imposed an embargo on Burundi.   Bikomagu and other unnamed senior military commanders were implicated in a U.N. report on an attempted coup in Burundi in October 1993 in which Burundi's first freely-elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, a Hutu, was murdered by Tutsi soldiers. 
165 !GCAT !GDIP  Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi expressed concern on Tuesday at a flood of illegal immigrants into South Africa, saying they placed an unacceptable burden on already stretched services like health and housing.   "The position is very serious.   They pose a serious threat to South Africans as far as services are concerned," Buthelezi told a briefing for parliamentary correspondents.   He said his department estimated there were between two million and five million illegal immigrants, compared with South Africa's total population of about 40 million.   About 70 percent of the illegal immigrants are from neighbouring Mozambique, the rest mostly being split among South Africa's other neighbours like Zimbabwe.   According to figures from his department, 150,000 illegal immigrants were deported last year at a cost of 12 million rand ($2.6 million).   Buthelezi said the issue would be discussed at the annual meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Lesotho this week but he ruled out any steps towards allowing free movement within SADC on the European Union model.   He said police were unable to give full attention to illegal immigration because of South Africa's crime wave.   ($1=4.6 rand) 
166 !GCAT !GPOL  Togo's President Gnassingbe Eyadema named one of his supporters prime minister on Tuesday, after accepting the resignation of opposition politician Edem Kodjo who had held the post since 1994.   Officials said Eyadema, West Africa's longest serving leader, named Kwassi Klutse as prime minister in a decree.   Klutse was minister of planning and regional development in the outgoing government.   Kodjo, a former Organisation of African Unity secretary general who accepted the post after elections in 1994, resigned on Monday, ending months of friction with Eyadema.   He said that three by-election wins by Eyadema's Togolese People's Rally (RPT), the latest on Sunday, had changed the balance of power in the 81-seat parliament.   Under the constitution, approved by referendum early in Togo's democratic transition in 1992, the prime minister must come from within the parliamentary majority.   Eyadema, an army general, was elected president in 1993 during Togo's turbulent transition to democracy in polls boycotted by the main opposition.   Kodjo and his Togolese Union for Democracy (UTD) were part of an opposition alliance that won a majority in the 1994 parliamentary elections until the Supreme Court annulled three of its seats citing irregularities.   Kodjo broke ranks with his allies in the main opposition party, the Action Committee for Renewal (CAR), and accepted the post of prime minister, citing the interests of national unity.   But relations between Kodjo and Eyadema had been strained in recent months.   Kodjo spoke publicly of differences and Eyadema's supporters openly criticised the prime minister.   Eyadema's party won the three vacant seats -- two outright on August 4 and one in a runoff on Sunday.   If confirmed by the supreme court Sunday's result will leave Eyadema's party with 40 of parliament's 81 seats, but the support of a minor party and two independents following earlier defections gives him a comfortable majority.   The CAR boycotted all three by-elections.   Some commentators had speculated the new prime minister would come from its ranks.   Sunday's by-election formally brought the first phase of Togo's democratic transition to an end.   A string of Francophone countries in West and Central Africa embraced democracy in the early 1990s after the collapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe.   Ivory Coast and Benin have already held their second wave of multi-party elections.   Presidential and parliamentary elections in Togo are not due until 1998 and 1999 respectively. 
167 !GCAT !GDIP  Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will meet South African President Nelson Mandela at his official residence in Cape Town on Thursday, a presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.   The Dalai Lama is on a private visit to South Africa, hosted by the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and is scheduled to give lectures on peace in several centres around the country.   Mandela's spokesman Parks Mankahlana said the two Nobel Peace laureates would meet for about half an hour to discuss various issues.   He did not elaborate.   The Dalai Lama told a news conference in Durban that Mandela's government could help to put pressure on China, which annexed Tibet in 1950, to negotiate the future of the country.   "South Africa is now part of the world community.   So when I appeal to the world community to please not forget us and to please try to bring people from China around the negotiation table...of course South Africa can be one of those important members," the Dalai Lama said.   He said there was no conflict of interest between his struggle for his people's freedom from China and his religious belief.   "I consider my involvement in the freedom struggle for Tibet to be part of my own spiritual practice because Tibetan freedom is very much linked with spirituality under the present circumstances," the Dalai Lama said.   Mandela, whose government is under pressure from China to cut its ties with Taiwan, could court further controversy with Beijing by meeting the Buddhist leader.   The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after an abortive uprising against China's annexation and heads a Tibetan government-in-exile in the Himalayan Indian town of Dharamsala.   Mandela inherited ties with Taiwan from the former apartheid regime in 1994.   Both states were outcasts, largely shunned by the international community.   But Beijing was no natural ally for his African National Congress during the fight against white rule.   Moscow backed the ANC, so its arch-foe Beijing supported the rival Pan Africanist Congress which has now largely faded away.   Taiwan however gave the ANC considerable support during the late stages of the struggle for majority rule. 
168 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  South African President Nelson Mandela's ANC and their Inkatha rivals reaffirmed their quest for peace on Tuesday after five people were wounded in a shoot-out between their supporters.   Monday's shooting, after a row between Inkatha and African National Congress supporters at a court hearing over the killing of four policemen in an Inkatha stronghold last year, raised fears of a new flare-up of violence in KwaZulu-Natal province.   But a joint statement by the province's premier and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) national chairman, Frank Mdlalose, and provincial ANC chief Jacob Zuma condemned the clash and said it should not be allowed to derail the fragile peace.   "The leadership of both the ANC and IFP appreciate the achievement of peace that has taken root in this province," the statement said.   "We remain committed to peace and all efforts towards bringing about peace in our province.   We encourage everyone who has gone out of his way to make (peace) happen, to continue to do so."   Political violence in the province, dominated by its nine million Zulus, subsided dramatically after peaceful local elections in June which gave Inkatha clear control of rural areas while the ANC swept the cities.   A joint peace drive between the two parties whose supporters had fought a low-level civil war for a decade before has stemmed the fighting in which more than 14,000 people had died.   But the truce, brokered just days before the vote, has been under constant fire.   Local warlords from both sides still refuse to accede that the time to end the bloodshed has come, violence monitors say.   "Senior politicians talk peace in public, but on the other hand they are turning a blind eye to what their supporters are doing on the ground.   People need firm police action and stricter gun control here," said one such monitor, Mary de Haas.   The IFP had said in a separate statement that unless incidents like Monday's shoot-out were prevented, the peace pact could turn out to be just a "cruel hoax".   Three adults and two children were shot and burnt to death last weekend in a suspected political attack, police said. 
169 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Two miners were killed on Monday night in a rockfall at Free State Consolidated Mines' Ltd (Freegold)'s Western Holdings No 9 shaft, mine managers Anglo American Corp said.   Anglo said in a statement that the rockfall took place on 45 level, about 1,400 metres below surface.   -- Johannesburg newsroom, +27-11 482 1003 
170 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT  South Africa was on course to attracting the kind of investment needed to reach the target of six percent growth, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said.   "The fundamentals in the economy with regard to investment potential, trade potential are...looking sound and we are quite happy with the levels of investment that are occurring," he told a media briefing at parliament.   Key projects included the recently launched Maputo corridor, linking the industrial heartland around Johannesburg with the Mozambican port.   The same corridor concept was being extended to the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the area around Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape, and in the Free State.   "The number of investment projects that are emerging...is truly quite exciting and over the next few months these will be unfolding on a regular basis," Erwin said.   "I think that what we can foresee is that the level of investment that is needed to get us to the six percent growth rate is definitely within our grasp.   "We are not talking about nothing here.   We are talking about some very exciting investment initiatives."   One drawback remained the fact that many existing industries were uncompetitive by world standards, but this was being addressed by a series of cluster studies on key sectors.   These were aimed at identifying strengths and weaknesses and ways in which productivity and competitiveness could be improved.   Erwin added that negotiations with the European Union on a proposed free trade agreement were due to resume in September but it was clear that the current offer by the EU posed many difficulties for South Africa.   "The proposal by the EU is inherently a complicated proposal...so we have to consider our response very carefully," he said.   "As it stands right at the moment...it would look as if we are in for a fairly protracted negotiation."   -- Parliamentary office +27 21 403-2502 
171 !C24 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  At least four miners were killed in violence at the Leeudoorn division of Kloof Gold Mining Co Ltd on Monday, police said on Tuesday.   Police said in a statement that clashes broke out between rival groups at the mine after a National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) wage talks report-back meeting.   "The bodies of four unknown men were found on the scene, all with numerous cut and stab wounds," police said in a statement.   The situation at the mine was "currently tense but under control", the statement added.   The NUM said on Tuesday it condemned the latest outbreak of violence at Leeudoorn.   "We are saying to workers that should it be found that any NUM member is behind the violence, they will be regarded as having dismissed themselves from the union.   "We will not tolerate violence from our members towards other workers," NUM president James Motlatsi said in a statement.   Last week seven miners were killed in violence sparked by ethnic differences over housing at Driefontein Consolidated Ltd's east gold mine.   -- Johannesburg newsroom, +27-11 482 1003 
172 !GCAT !GVIO  South Africa's radical black Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) on Tuesday acknowledged that its guerrillas targeted white civilians but said it made no apologies.   PAC leader Clarence Makwetu told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission commission, headed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, that the PAC regretted the 1993 killing of American student Amy Biehl in a black township outside Cape Town by youths allied to the organisation.   Discussing the activities of the PAC's armed wing, the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), Makwetu said "a new pattern arose in the 1990s where civilians within the white community were attacked".   "The actual targets were decided by local commanders... operatives often made errors that APLA had earlier avoided."   Makwetu described the killing of civilians as "departures which we as political leaders who declared war must and do take responsibility for".   But he added: "We make no apologies.   We have nothing to hide."   The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is hearing submissions this week from political parties aimed at giving a broad perspective of their activities during apartheid.   The PAC broke away from the African National Congress in 1959 but never achieved the mass appeal of President Nelson Mandela's party.   Less than two percent of South Africans voted for the PAC in the country's first all-race elections in April 1994.   Police blamed APLA for a series of bloody attacks in the years leading up to the election, including one on a Cape Town church service and others on white social gatherings.   Makwetu said the PAC objected to the format of the truth commission because "our people who were forced to fight a war of liberation are being made to appear on the same platform as their aggressors".   "Perpetrators of the apartheid crime against humanity as well as their victims are being equated," he said.   The right-wing Freedom Front made its presentation to the commission on Monday and the National Party, led by former white president F.W. de Klerk, is due to present its submission on Wednesday. 
173 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA !GJOB  Doctors in three Zambian cities have gone on strike or started go-slows to push for increased pay, paralysing operations in key hospitals, officials said on Tuesday.   Witnesses said dozens of patients at Lusaka's University Teaching Hospital and the central hospitals in the mining towns of Kitwe and Ndola were left unattended to as the doctors' strike started on Monday.   They said only a handful of senior doctors were working, and attending to serious cases only.   The doctors' association said the actions were in response to the government's failure to increase their wages as promised three years ago.   "With effect from 19 August, 1996, Zambian resident doctors have been forced to go on an indefinite go-slow in a bid to press for reasonable conditions of service for their profession," the association said in a statement on Tuesday.   Ministry of health officials said they were not sure what the doctors' grievances were.   "They have not stated their position to us.   They have had closed-door meetings and we know nothing about their discussions," a ministry official said.   Doctors have been negotiating with the government since 1993 after a government commission recommended that conditions of their service be improved. 
174 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Nigerian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY TIMES   - Central bank is likely to carry out a phased release of stabilisation securities to merchant banks.   - Vacant slots in the Provisional Ruling Council, Nigeria's highest policy making body, may soon be filled.   THE GUARDIAN   - Eight firms from neighbouring Benin have been licensed to import fuel from Nigeria in a move to complement the anti-smuggling battle, Benin embassy officials said.   - Nigeria Airways and private Bellview Airlines sign agreement allowing Bellview to operate some of the state-run carrier's unutilised routes, to Bombay via Nairobi and also to Brazil.   - New port guidelines for the transfer of containers are stifling operations, Guardian investigations reveal.   - Nigerian Universal Reinsurance has been forced to look for business in Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe because of economic gloom at home.   - Nigeria's only sheet glass manuafacturer, Oluwa Glass Company, says it can source 85 percent of its needs locally after acquiring a deposit for regular supplies of dolomite from Abuja.   The company already has a silica sand deposit which can serve 60 percent of its needs.   THISDAY   - Central bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation given until October 2 to move headquarters to Abuja.   - Poor maize harvest due to lack of fertilisers may lead to higher prices.   VANGUARD   - Afribank avoids banking strike by reinstating six union leaders sacked two weeks ago.   --Lagos newsroom +234 1 2630317 
175 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Ivorian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   FRATERNITE MATIN   - Ivorian army on maneouvres with U.S. Special Forces.   - Ivorian musician Gnaore Djimi dies in hospital.   LA VOIE   - Djeny Kobina, leader of the opposition Rally of the Republicans, calls for calming of relations between the government and opposition in a speech in Gagnoa, scene of political and ethnic violence before and during last October's presidential election.   - Police break up news conference by banned FESCI students' union to complain about reductions in grants.   LE JOUR   - Government reopens one block in the privatisation of palm oil producer Palmindustrie to new bids, judging original offers inadequate.   -- Abidjan newsroom +225 21 90 90 
176 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Burundi's new Tutsi military strongman is opposed to any expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees from northern Burundi and has sent a team to investigate the reasons behind their movement, his spokesman said on Tuesday.   Boyoya's spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye told Reuters by telephone that the new president of Burundi remained committed to international conventions on the protection of refugees.   "The president expects refugees to stay where they are.   He does not expect any movements at all today," Ndizeye said.   U.N. officials expect thousands of refugees on Tuesday to leave northern Burundi and return to Rwanda.   They say they fear for their security following an army coup in Burundi on July 25.   Shortly after the coup by the Tutsi-dominated army, Buyoya ordered an end to forced expulsions of Rwandan Hutu refugees.   Ndizeye said movements by thousands of refugees from the north since Sunday were not part of official policy and any one found guilty of inciting them would be punished.   "The president is not going back on his word to protect refugees," he said.   The exodus of Rwandan refugees back to Rwanda picked up after troops killed three refugees at Magara camp.   Refugees accused the army of killing them as part of a campaign of intimidation.   Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Minani, a Burundian army spokesman, confirmed on Tuesday troops killed the three but said they fired only after one refugee pulled out a revolver and shot at them. 
177 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The finance ministry had 14 bills either before parliament or awaiting certification by state law advisers, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday.   He told a media briefing at parliament that the department was also working on a white paper on financial management and expenditure budget reform.   The bills before parliament included the Special Pensions Bill to provide so-called "struggle pensions" to those who fought against apartheid and were not able to provide for their own pensions.   The Customs and Excise Amendment Bill provided for some technical customs and excise duty adjustments while the Borrowing Powers of Provincial Governments Bill aimed at allowing provinces to raise loans for capital expenditure.   The Banks Amendment Bill aimed to amend the 1990 Banks Act to regulate investments by banks in joint ventures with or outside South Africa and further regulate the amalgamation of two or more banks.   The state expenditure department had the Supplementary Estimates and Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill before parliament.   Bills awaiting certification included the Development Bank of Southern Africa Bill aimed to accommodate the bank's new role in the financing of domestic infrastructure.   The Unit Trusts Control Amendment Bill would allow for the establishment of money market unit portfolios by unit trust schemes.   "This will provide the public with an alternative savings mechanism in the short-term money market and will make it more difficult for 'grey market operators' such as money brokers, pyramid schemes, to take savings from unsophisticated small savers," said a memorandum handed out at the briefing.   The Stock Exchanges Control Amendment Bill would correct minor errors in existing legislation.   The Financial Markets Control Amendment Bill would correct minor errors in the Financial Markets Control Act and introduce "interdealer brokers".   The Insurance Amendment Bill would provide for the underwriting of registered medical scheme business, prescribe the valuation of assets, further allow foreign investments by insurers, prohibit the publication of misleading material and further restrict the use of certain names by unregistered insurers.   The Safe Deposit of Securities Amendment Bill would clarify certain interpretations and the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill would legislate recently announced tax incentives for investors.   The South African Reserve Bank Second Amendment Bill would synchronise the election of board members and make several other technical changes.   -- Lynda Loxton, Cape Town newsroom, +27 21 252-238 
178 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !GCAT !GTOUR  Hotel bednights sold to foreign tourists slumped by 29.3 percent in June 1996 compared to the year ago period, new figures from South Africa's Central Statistical Service show.   The decline reflects, in part, a high comparative month since a large number of visitors came to South Africa a year ago for the World Cup Rugby tournament.   But a fall in foreign bednights sold, to 137,141 in June 1996 from 193,881 in June 1995, underscores the sharp slowdown in South Africa's tourist industry.   According to the South African Tourist Board, visitor arrivals in the first five months of the year grew just 0.2 percent, down from 30 percent a year ago.   Much of the stagnation is blamed on violent crime which officials say is scaring off foreign visitors.   "The decline can be put down to perceptions about personal safety and the negative publicity which South Africa has received as a result of its crime problem," Satour research head James Seymour told Reuters last week.   While most holidaymakers have no trouble, police figures show South Africa is one of the world's most crime-ridden societies.   A total of 1.98 million serious crimes were reported last year, with only half solved, including 36,888 rapes, 18,983 murders and 66,838 armed robberies.   Satour believes South Africa has the potential to increase tourism over 10 percent a year into the next century, after the market was kick-started by the country's first all-race elections in 1994.   But this target is out of reach for 1996.   Last year nearly 1.1 million foreign tourists visited South Africa.   That was 50 percent up on 1994, but still a pinprick compared with the 40 million who flock to Spain each year.   -- Johannesburg newsroom, +27-11 482 1003 
179 !GCAT !GVIO  Nigerian authorities on Tuesday described as "crazy" reports that 16 activists from the Ogoni region had been arrested.   "It is crazy to say Ogonis have been arrested for being MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People) members, any time an Ogoni is arrested for anything they have to say it is political.   I am not aware of these arrests at all," Fidelis Agbiki, press secretary to the local military administrator told Reuters by telephone from Port Harcourt.   MOSOP on Monday said a total of sixteen Ogoni activists had been arrested in the past month.   "Less than three weeks before the scheduled visit of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to Nigeria, a new wave of arrests of MOSOP activists has begun," the group said in a statement issued in London.   Nigeria became an international pariah after MOSOP leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists were executed for murder last November, provoking international protests and Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth.   MOSOP said that the first of the new wave of arrests was Akina Deesor, producer of a radio station in Ogoni.   Deesor was detained on July 31 for broadcasting an Ogoni song.   Fifteen more people were arrested on August 13 and accused of planning to seek meetings with the Commonwealth mission, it added.   "Victims of the latest arrests are detained at unknown destinations and MOSOP believes they must have been tortured and kept in terrible conditions," the statement said.   Earlier this year, Nigeria refused to allow a Commonwealth fact-finding mission into the country, allowing instead a team from the United Nations.   However, Nigeria has now agreed to allow a Commonwealth visit, which is expected next month, although no date has yet been officially announced.   "We are not guilty of 'Ogoniphobia'," said Agbiki.   "As we don't even know if the Commonwealth will visit here how can we arrest people for trying to meet them?"   The U.N. team called for reform of some laws but backed a plan for restoring democracy by 1988, which the Commonwealth group had called "inadequate".   "The visit of the UN fact-finding team to Nigeria last April occasioned similar repression in Ogoni and the reprisal actions that followed that visit cost the Ogonis two lives and several detentions," MOSOP said.   The 500,000 Ogonis live on oil-rich land, which MOSOP says has been ruined by the activities of producing companies.   Shell, the largest multinational oil company in Nigeria halted production there in 1993 after acts of sabotage by Ogonis. 
180 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Zimbabwean civil servants went on strike on Tuesday to press demands for higher pay, rejecting as inadequate recent salary increases of up to eight percent.   Public Service Association (PSA) executive secretary John Makoni told reporters "a lot" of the southern African state's 180,000 civil servants had heeded the PSA union's call "to go to work and walk out".   The chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC), Mariyawanda Nzuwah, told Zimbabwe state radio the strike was irresponsible and unacceptable to the government and negotiation channels had not been exhausted.   But Makoni said the government had left the union with no option because it was not prepared to look at workers' demands for pay increases of around 25-30 percent.   "We will not go back to work until the PSC and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare review the situation," he said.   Hundreds of workers were milling around government offices in the capital Harare on Tuesday morning, leaving only senior officials at their desks.   Nurses from Harare's two major hospitals also walked off their jobs late on Monday, demanding higher salaries.   --- Cris Chinaka, Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 27/8/9 
181 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Kenyan press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY NATION   - Opposition FORD-Kenya (Forum for the Restoration of Democracy) will institute private criminal prosecutions against 30 individuals and firms named in the Public Investment Committee report in connection with irregular financial deals.   - A report by USAID's Regional Economic Development Service says Wajir, Mandera and Isiolo districts in the North Eastern Province of Kenya face a serious food shortage because of the failure of long rains between march and July.   EAST AFRICAN STANDARD   - The new Kenneth Matiba and Raila Odinga alliance comes under heavy criticim from FORD-Kenya chairman Kijana Wamalwa's group, which terms it as just another plot to ruin the National Opposition Alliance.   - The chairman of the Kenya Dairy Board Andrew Kiptoon says the proposed Kenya Dairy Development Policy is not meant to dismember the giant Kenya Cooperative Creameries.   - Kikuyu opposition member of parliament Paul Muite has challenged ruling Kenya African National Union leaders to tell the public why they are opposed to consitutional reforms. 
182 !GCAT !GPOL  Former president F.W. de Klerk addresses South Africa's "truth commission" on Wednesday in a bid to explain why his National Party plunged the country into 46 years of apartheid misery.   De Klerk, who acknowledged in 1990 that South Africa's race policies were untenable and began reforms that led to majority rule four years later, will present his party's overview of apartheid to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commssion.   He said this week the presentation would take the long view, starting with the 1652 arrival of the Dutch ancestors of today's Afrikaners in Cape Town, site of the truth commission hearing.   "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to...put what happened from our vantage point in the proper context," de Klerk said.   "Part of that will also be to accept overall responsibility for many things which went wrong."   Since it began work in April, Tutu's commission has heard a lengthy litany of what went wrong, ranging from torture to police hit-squad killings and burning tyre "necklace" murders.   Harrowing testimony has been given by black survivors of the white minority government's campaign against the African National Congress -- which under President Nelson Mandela now rules the country -- and other liberation movements.   But on Monday the commission heard bitter criticism of the National Party, which implemented apartheid in 1948, from de Klerk's fellow-Afrikaner, General Constand Viljoen.   Viljoen, a former defence force chief who heads a right-wing party pressing for Afrikaner self-determination, began the series of party submissions to the commission by saying apartheid's foot soldiers should not get all the blame.   "It is unfair that the operators be exposed as the chief perpetrators of atrocities when the politicians and strategy managers hide behind their status and positions," he said.   "The masterminds behind this crucible of past iniquities more than anybody else should account for their schemes even if that brings political embarrassment to their parties today."   De Klerk, who jointly won the Nobel peace prize with Mandela in 1993, is now trying to position his party as a credible opposition to the ANC, repeatedly disowning its past as the whites-only architect of apartheid.   Most of the leaders of the party today are relative moderates while such apartheid stalwarts as Hendrik Verwoerd, John Vorster and P.W. Botha are dead or deep in retirement.   Mandela's government set up the truth commission in the belief that it could heal the wounds of apartheid by exposing as full a picture as possible of the crimes and atrocities committed by all sides. 
183 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Tuesday he was confident the government remained on track to meet its budget deficit target of 5.1 percent of GDP this financial year (April-March) and four percent next.    Manuel, addressing reporters, added that growth this year was set to reach three percent, little changed from 1995's 3.3 percent.    "We are confident of attaining a 5.1 percent deficit despite the currency problems and we're on target to move to the next level, namely the four percent target next year," he said.   Latest figures showed expenditure levels were in line with predictions and revenue was better than expected, he said.    Economic fundamentals were looking sound, he added:   "Indications are that we remain on target for three percent growth.   Even though there is a slowdown in manufacturing we have a very buoyant agricultural sector and non-gold mining (sector)."   Inflation remained fairly well under control, despite the weakness of the rand, he said.   The one area of difficulty was the current account of the balance of payments.   "That is a structural problem that will take a long time to correct," Manuel said.   South Africa was still experiencing positive inflows, but this was not sufficient to cover the current account which is running at around one billion rand a month. 
184 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Two years on from the first democratic elections, Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) is attempting an economic policy U-turn, bringing it into conflict with old allies on the Left.   Gone is the language of the liberation struggle, with its talk of redistribution and nationalisation.   Instead, the ANC is singing the benefits of budget cuts and privatisation.   Critics talk of a Thatcherite sell-out.   But ANC pragmatists argue South Africa has no choice if it wants to boost economic growth and cut crippling unemployment afflicting one third of the workforce.   Finance Minister Trevor Manuel laid down the new economic gospel in June -- and insists he will not be blown off course.   "We've got to concentrate on ensuring that we can implement a programme that will evolve a different kind of economy in this country, one that absorbs labour, creates employment, deals with these issues differently," he said earlier this month.   His macroeconomic strategy sets clear targets for the next five years.   The aim is to double economic growth to six percent and create 400,000 new jobs a year by the year 2000, while cutting the budget deficit from more than five percent of GDP this year to four percent next and three percent in 1999.   But trade union leaders have condemned the policy, which runs counter to their own demands for greater state involvement.   "There is no way the government will succeed in simply pushing its framework down our throats," said Zwelinzima Vavi, assistant general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).   "It is the entire framework which we wish to discuss.   We are not simply seeking the amendment of minor details here and there, but a complete reassessment of their view of the role of the state in stimulating reconstruction and development."   Cosatu is a key partner, together with the South African Communist Party, in the triple alliance which swept Mandela to office -- and its tough words have triggered fears of a damaging clash.   The big showdown with the unions could well come over privatisation.   After months of dithering, during which privatisation was euphemistically labelled "restructuring state assets", Mandela has finally laid down the law, declaring:   "Privatisation is the fundamental policy of the ANC and it is going to be implemented."   The prize for the government is great.   Economists estimate it could, in theory, raise as much as 100 billion rand ($22 billion) from selling state concerns -- enough to cut government debt by a third.   It is already looking for a foreign partner to take a 25-30 percent chunk of telecommunications group Telkom, and recently appointed Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank to advise on other privatisation options.   Other candidates include South African Airways, the state airports company, government oil companies, a forestry business -- and possibly electricity generator Eskom.   The plans to sell the family silver have set alarm bells ringing among union members, who fear job cuts, triggering protest marches and strikes.   Together with a rash of industrial action in the mines in recent months, analysts say this has only underscored South Africa's reputation for labour unrest.   Cosatu denies it has a blanket opposition to privatisation, but insists government must keep control of essential services.   "We must look at what are the proposals on the table.   Are those proposals saying the government must move out of the provision of the basic services and out of the productive sector?   If that is the proposal, we will reject it," said general secretary Sam Shilowa.   Big business, meanwhile, formerly at odds with the ANC, suddenly finds itself on the same side.   Trevor Manuel and his macroeconomic strategy are the toast of Johannesburg board rooms.   Instead of worrying about government policy, business leaders' concern nowadays is rather whether government has the political clout to implement it.   "If (the ANC's) political allies are seen to be delaying or in any way undermining what the government has committed itself to in terms of its economic programme, then quite clearly there will be consequences," said South African Chamber of Business director general Raymond Parsons.   "Foreign markets and foreign investors, as well as South African investors, are watching the implementation of the macroeconomic strategy with great intensity."   Foreign investment is crucial to the new economic strategy.   Without it, South Africa will not build the new industry needed to drive growth, create jobs and give the unemployed a viable alternative to a life of crime.   So far, foreign firms have been slow to put their money into South African bricks and mortar.   And the recent pummelling of the rand on the foreign exchange markets suggests overseas investors still need to be persuaded that government will deliver on its economic promises.   ($1 = 4.56 rand) 
185 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian troops cut a major escape route from Grozny on Tuesday, trapping thousands of civilians frantically trying to flee a threatened allout military bombardment from Thursday.   The troops apparently aimed to close the route to Chechen fighters holed up in the city.   But they stranded civilians in a perilous area between rebel and Russian lines which has been shelled heavily in the last few days.   About 30 well-armed Interior Ministry soldiers with armoured personnel carriers (APCs) swept through the dusty village of Alkhan-Yurt on the southwest fringe of the Chechen capital.   They took up positions near a ramshackle bridge that was one of the few points of passage for thousands of refugees on Tuesday.   "They started shooting up the bridge with grenades when they got down there and everyone turned back," said one woman who managed to cross from the Grozny side just before the Russians moved in.   Sporadic explosions could be heard from the vicinity.   Western journalists who visited the bridge in the early evening saw the bodies of two civilians on the Grozny side.   A Chechen rebel spokesman had accused troops of blowing up the crossing at 3.30 p.m. (1130 GMT), killing many civilians.   But at the bridge, a precarious structure of metal plates balanced on rusting steel tubes, there was no evidence of this later in the afternoon.   Russian officials denied the charge.   The troops' arrival, however, halted the flow of refugees, many of them old folk who had hobbled for several kilometres (miles) from Grozny, which was seized by the rebels on August 6.   The soldiers, who were extremely agitated, searched refugees and forced men to lie on the ground.   A number complained they were robbed of some of the few possesions they had been able to take along as they fled their homes.   "They shoved me onto the ground and ripped my gold ring off.   Then they took my wallet with $300 in it," one man said.   One of the APCs trained its cannon on us.   "Out of the car!"   screamed one of the blue-camouflaged soldiers, sticking his Kalashnikov assault rifle in my face.   "You damn journalists!   Don't you have enough blacks in your own country?   You've come here to defend these black arses we're trying to wipe out.   I could kill you now if I wanted to," he told me, prodding my stomach with the barrel of the gun.   Russian troops use such racist terms for the dark-skinned peoples of the Caucasus, including Chechens.   Just a couple of metres (yards) from where we were standing, some of his comrades opened fire on an open field nearby.   I could not possibly guess what they were aiming at.   The soldier, who reeked of alcohol, calmed down when offered a soft drink.   "Now get the hell out of here," he grunted.   Unlike the first days of the exodus from Grozny, when most were young or middle-aged who found cars, buses, even donkey carts to cram into, a great number are now frail elderly people on foot who had waited until the last moment to get out.   Many in the chaotic crowd were driving cattle or bent over in exhaustion by the roadside under a blazing sun.   Black smoke from fires burning in Grozny rose in the sky over their heads.   "I didn't want to leave home but everyone says they are going to bomb everything in the city," said a toothless old man with one leg whom we gave a lift to.   A plump old woman, tears streaming down her cheeks, confronted the soldiers.   "Why do you want to kill us?"   she said.   The sea of agonised faces was broken by a single crazed smile -- a mentally handicapped man being pushed through the dust in a wheelchair. 
186 !GCAT !GPOL  Boris Yeltsin's new security chief cast doubts on the authenticity of presidential orders on the Chechen crisis on Tuesday, fuelling speculation on who was running Russia as the Kremlin denied the president was sick.   Yeltsin, 65, has not been seen in public since he put in a somewhat wooden appearance during his inauguration for his second term on August 9.   His absence has led to media reports in Russia and in the West that he had been taken seriously ill.   His spokesman on Tuesday denied a new report he was being treated for a serious heart condition and said he had left for a short holiday in the Valdai lakeland northwest of Moscow.   "Boris Nikolayevich has gone to Valdai for two days," spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told NTV commercial television.   "It takes two hours and 20 minutes by helicopter and the very fact that the president has spent that much time in a helicopter is the best evidence to rebut rumours that have been circulating about his health recently."   But the Security Council, whose tough-talking secretary Alexander Lebed was appointed by Yeltsin two months ago, issued a statement saying his latest order on Chechnya bore a facsimile signature and seemed to have been prepared without him.   "The contents of the documents give solid grounds to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," the Security Council statement said.   It said an order instructing Lebed to restore Russian control of Grozny was the cue for the army to threaten a massive bombardment of the Chechen capital from Thursday morning and would wreck Lebed's peacemaking efforts.   Yeltsin's press office was later quoted by Itar-Tass news agency as insisting the order was fully in line with Yeltsin's wishes and saying he wanted the council to drop the matter.   Russian political analysts played down the bickering in the Kremlin, however, saying Yeltsin still appeared to be in overall command and simply to be letting his subordinates find the best way to limit the political damage from the Chechen debacle.   Yeltsin has admitted that sending troops to Chechnya to crush its independence bid was "maybe one of our mistakes".   Hopes of peace rose when Yeltsin named Lebed his representative in the region last week.   Lebed has visited the region twice and helped broker a shaky truce.   Tass said he would go there again on Wednesday.   Russian commander General Konstantin Pulikovsky, who had signed a ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in.   "I see force as the only way out of the situation in Grozny," he told Interfax news agency.   Hundreds of people have been killed in Chechnya in the last two weeks, since rebel fighters swept into the capital Grozny, capturing key buildings and surrounding Russian soldiers at their checkpoints and in the central government compound.   Terrified civilians flooded out of Grozny on Tuesday, many of them with little more than the clothes they wore.   Pulikovsky gave them 48 hours until Thursday to get out, although finding a way through ruins and sporadic fighting was not easy.   Refugees said Russian planes had started bombing the town, much of it already in ruins after attacks at the start of Russia's campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   "The whole city is on its way out," said Nina Madayeva, who said 12 planes had bombed Grozny's southwestern Chernorechye district overnight.   "We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more."   Kremlin spokesman Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin would consider a longer holiday in Valdai but dismissed as "complete rubbish" a report by Ekho Moskvy radio that the president had been in a specialist cardiological centre since August 15.   Journalists at Ekho Moskvy told Reuters they stuck by their story, which said Yeltsin, who suffered two heart attacks last year, had been diagnosed with moderately serious heart trouble.   He said on Tuesday that the president and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who would deputise for Yeltsin if he were incapable of working, were continuing to work on formation of the new government, most of which was announced last week.   Rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Lebed to rein in the army.   He should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness", Interfax quoted Maskhadov as saying. 
187 !GCAT !GVIO  NATO blew up 24 tonnes of contraband Bosnian Serb ammunition on Tuesday in a fourth day of Operation Volcano that sent a towering column of dirt and smoke 4,000 feet (1,220 metres) into the air.   About 2,000 NATO-led peace implementation troops were despatched to the area from Saturday to ensure the blasts in special pits proceeded safely.   Even as the operation went ahead, NATO officers sought to allay Bosnian Serb concern about any environmental effect of the explosions on the local water table and fielded complaints about broken windows.   "Serb worries about the local water table have halted work in one set of pits for the moment but the operation continues in a second set of pits," NATO's Lieutenant-Colonel Max Marriner told Reuters.   "Operation Volcano is proceeding even as we respond to local environmental concerns.   Theoretically we could destroy all the material in the second set of pits or find a third site.   The material will be destroyed one way or the other."   A routine NATO patrol discovered an estimated 400 tonnes of small arms ammunition, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in a schoolhouse in Margetici, near Sokolac, on August 5.   Because the Margetici site had not been declared to NATO as required under the terms of the Dayton peace agreement, troops confiscated the material and prepared to destroy it in an operation codenamed "Volcano".   NATO engineers dug two sets of blast-pits in a remote area near Margetici to contain the exploding munitions in lots of a few tonnes each.   Altogether 24 tonnes of munitions were destroyed on Monday and another 24 tonnes on Tuesday.   On Monday the Serbs complained that blasts from one set of pits might contaminate water resources in the area.   Blasting continued in the other set while NATO engineers considered the Serb complaint.   The Mayor of Sokolac saw NATO officers in Margetici on Tuesday to renew complaints about the water table, and about broken windows in his town.   He said the damage included windows in the Orthodox church, although windows much closer to the blast site were not damaged on Monday or Tuesday.   But the commander of NATO land forces in Bosnia, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Walker, was willing to hear more about the water table impact.   "We are taking the issue seriously indeed," Walker told reporters in Margetici.   "We've done quite alot of what I might call superficial geological examination and it seems to us the claim that it could do damage to the water table is probably not correct."   Walker said if there were any chance of environmental damage NATO would not use the suspect set of pits.   Operation Volcano is expected to continue for the rest of the week. 
188 !GCAT !GVIO  Terrified civilians flooded out of Grozny on Tuesday after a top Russian military official threatened to use aircraft and heavy artillery to drive separatist forces from the Chechen capital.   The refugees, many with little more than the clothes they wore, said Russian planes had started bombing the city, much of it already in ruins from attacks at the start of Russia's campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid in late 1994.   "The whole city is on its way out," said Nina Madayeva, who said 12 planes had bombed Grozny's southwestern Chernorechye district overnight.   "We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more."   Konstantin Pulikovsky, Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, said his forces had begun artillery attacks on the rebels who took over most of Grozny on August 6, and would bomb the city if needed to drive them out.   But he denied that bombing had already started.   Pulikovsky's superior, Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, returned from holiday to Grozny and said he was determined to get the rebels out of the city, Interfax news agency said.   "For that we are ready to use all means, political and military," it quoted him as saying.   "I have so far not cancelled Konstantin Pulikovsky's ultimatum.   I am currently getting back into my job, but I can say one thing: serious measures will be taken against the separatists unless they leave Grozny."   With the region on the brink of all-out war and President Boris Yeltsin reported to have gone on holiday, arguments broke out in Moscow over who was running policy on Chechnya.   Russia's influential Security Council, whose secretary, Alexander Lebed was put in charge of resolving the conflict last week by Yeltsin, cast doubt over the authenticity of the president's latest orders on the region.   A Security Council statement said Yeltsin did not appear to have been involved in drawing up the order to retake Grozny from the rebels, which carried a facsimile of his signature.   It said carrying the order out would ruin peace efforts undertaken by Lebed and wreck a ceasefire deal he agreed with the separatist leaders.   "This would mean in fact the beginning of a large-scale military operation involving aviation and artillery, which would naturally lead to heavy losses among federal troops, massive deaths among the civilian population...and a justified burst of resentment in the country," the statement said.   The presidential press office said Yeltsin had left for Valdai, some 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow.   But an official in the Novgorod region where Valdai is located said they knew nothing about the visit.   Lebed and rebel leaders agreed last week to arrange a truce to allow peace negotiations to resume in a region racked by conflict which has cost tens of thousands of lives in 20 months.   Pulikovsky, who signed the ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in in the regional capital, much of which they seized two weeks ago.   "I see force as the only way out of the situation in Grozny," he told Interfax news agency.   Rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed, who has held talks with the rebels and opposed the use of aircraft, to rein in the troops.   Yeltsin's special envoy to Chechnya should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness", Interfax quoted Maskhadov as saying.   Itar-Tass news agency said Lebed would travel to Chechnya on Wednesday -- his third visit to the region in just over a week.   Tass said Lebed remained committed to a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict. 
189 !GCAT !GPOL  The presidential press service, denying new rumours that President Boris Yeltsin was ill, said on Tuesday that the Kremlin leader had started a two-day break in the picturesque lakeland of northwestern Russia.   A spokesman said Yeltsin would size up prospects for a longer vacation in Valdai, which is some 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow.   Yeltsin, 65, has made only one brief public appearance since late June, at his inauguration ceremony on August 9, where he read the oath from an autocue in a flat, emotionless voice.   Rumours have circulated in Russia and in the West that he is ill, but the presidential press office has denied them all, saying Yeltsin has been working every day.   Yeltsin's press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on Tuesday that the president had flown by helicopter to a residence in Valdai, a lakeland region northwest of Moscow.   The flight took two hours and 20 minutes, testifying to Yeltsin's solid health, Yastrzhembsky said on NTV commercial television.   He said there was no special medical equipment in the building where Yeltsin was staying.   Itar-Tass news agency earlier quoted him as saying that a statement on Yeltsin's trip had been prompted by "usual guesses and suppositions about the president's whereabouts".   He dismissed as "complete rubbish" a report by Ekho Moskvy radio that Yeltsin, who suffered two heart attacks last year, had been in a specialist cardiological centre since August 15.   Ekho Moskvy quoted informed sources as saying that doctors at the centre, named after heart specialist Yevgeny Chazov, had diagnosed the president's condition as of average seriousness.   "In the coming hours the question of carrying out a surgical operation may be decided," the radio said.   But it also quoted the acting head doctor at the centre as saying Yeltsin was not there.   "You can come and see for yourself," the doctor said.   Yastrzhembsky on Monday denied a report by the U.S. magazine Time which said Yeltsin had suffered new heart problems in the second half of June.   Time said that, according to an official Kremlin medical advisory it had obtained, the president needed round-the-clock monitoring and the Kremlin was considering transferring him to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   "This information is part of a series of rumours and conjectures concerning the state of the president's health," Yastrzhembsky told a news briefing.   In a move likely to trigger more speculation about Yeltsin's health, Russia's Security Council, which groups top officials and is managed by newly appointed Alexander Lebed, issued a statement doubting the authenticity of recent presidential orders on rebel Chechnya.   "The contents of the documents give solid grounds to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," said the statement.   Yeltsin on Sunday ordered Lebed, whom he had put in charge of handling the 20-month conflict in Chechnya, to restore Russian control over the capital Grozny from separatists who seized large parts of it on August 6.   But the statement said Yeltsin's orders were issued with a facsimile of the president's signature rather than signed by the president in person.   It has also said Lebed was unaware of the preparation of the orders -- which violated normal procedure. 
190 !GCAT !GVIO  Chechen rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov said on Tuesday Russian troops blew up a bridge by which refugees were trying to flee the capital Grozny, killing about 100 civilians, but Russian officials denied the allegation.   Interfax news agency quoted the federal forces' prosecutor's office in Chechnya as saying it knew nothing of the alleged attack.   "If this happened, we would definitely have been told," it quoted a spokesman as saying.   Udugov accused troops of blowing up the bridge and then shooting at civilians.   "Today around 3.30 p.m. (1130 GMT) several hundred refugees were crossing a bridge near the Kirova settlement towards the village of Alkhan-Yurt," he told Reuters by telephone.   "When they were crossing the bridge Russian servicemen blew it up.   Around 100 refugees, mainly women and children, died.   "Some of the refugees who managed to cross the bridge were seized by the Russian servicemen and shot dead on the spot.   Some 6,000 refugees were forced to flee back to Grozny," he added.   There was no way to check the report independently, and Interfax said the military administration in Chechnya did not confirm it.   Alkhan-Yurt is a few km (miles) southwest of Grozny.   Udugov said the Chechen leadership had issued a statement blaming the acting head of troops in Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky.   "It said General Pulikovsky will carry personal responsibility for this before the whole Chechen people no matter how long it takes," he said.   "It also appealed to the so-called international community which propagates human rights to find some way to react to this bloody crime and reject this policy of double standards." 
191 !GCAT !GVIO  Terrified civilians flooded out of the Chechen capital on Tuesday after a top Russian military official threatened to use planes and heavy artillery to drive separatist forces from the city.   The refugees, many of them with little more than the clothes in which they stood, said Russian planes had started bombing the town, much of it already in ruins after attacks at the start of Russia's campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   "The whole city is on its way out," said Nina Madayeva, who said 12 planes had bombed Grozny's southwestern Chernorechye district overnight.   "We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more."   Konstantin Pulikovsky, Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, said his forces had begun artillery attacks on rebels in Grozny and would bomb the city if needed to drive them out.   But he denied that bombing had already started.   With the region on the brink of all-out war and President Boris Yeltsin reported to have gone on holiday, arguments broke out in Moscow over who was running policy on Chechnya.   Russia's influential Security Council, whose secretary, Alexander Lebed was put in charge of resolving the conflict last week by Yeltsin, cast doubt over the authenticity of the president's latest orders on the region.   A Security Council statement said Yeltsin did not appear to have been involved in drawing up the order to retake Grozny from the rebels, which carried a facsimile of his signature.   It said carrying the order out would ruin peace efforts undertaken by Lebed and wreck a ceasefire deal he agreed with the separatist leaders.   "This would mean in fact the beginning of a large-scale military operation involving aviation and artillery, which would naturally lead to heavy losses among federal troops, massive deaths among the civilian population...and a justified burst of resentment in the country," the statement said.   The presidential press office said Yeltsin had left for Valdai, some 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow.   But an official in the Novgorod region where Valdai is located said they knew nothing about the visit.   Lebed and rebel leaders agreed last week to arrange a truce to allow peace negotiations to resume in a region racked by conflict which has cost tens of thousands of lives in 20 months.   Pulikovsky, who signed the ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in in the regional capital, much of which they seized two weeks ago.   "I see force as the only way out of the situation in Grozny," he told Interfax news agency.   Rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed, who has held talks with the rebels and opposed the use of aircraft, to rein in Pulikovsky.   Yeltsin's special envoy to Chechnya should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness", Interfax quoted Maskhadov as saying.   Itar-Tass news agency said Lebed would travel to Chechnya on Wednesday -- his third visit to the region in just over a week.   Tass said Lebed remained committed to a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict.   The rebels swept into Grozny on August 6, seizing key buildings and trapping Russian soldiers in their checkpoints and in the central government complex.   Pulikovsky, who on Monday gave civilians 48 hours to leave before he unleashes an all-out bombardment, said on Tuesday he was determined to drive the rebels out.   He said he was sure of the backing of Russia's leaders and was acting "in the interests of the state". 
192 !GCAT !GPOL  The presidential press service, denying new rumours that President Boris Yeltsin was ill, said on Tuesday that the Kremlin leader had started a two-day break in the picturesque lakeland of northwestern Russia.   A spokesman said Yeltsin would size up prospects for a longer vacation in Valdai, which is some 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow.   But an official in the Novgorod region where Valdai is located said they knew nothing about the visit.   "We have no information about a visit from the president," the local official said.   Yeltsin, 65, has not been seen in public since he was inaugurated for a second term in office on August 9.   Rumours have circulated in Russia and in the West that he is ill, but the presidential press office has denied them all, saying Yeltsin has been working every day on decrees.   But the Russian Security Council, which groups top officials and is managed by newly appointed Alexander Lebed, issued a statement doubting the authenticity of Yeltsin's recent orders on Chechnya, where fighters want independence from Russia.   "The contents of the documents give solid grounds to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," said the statement.   Yeltsin on Sunday ordered Lebed, whom he had put in charge of handling the 20-month conflict in Chechnya, to restore Russian control over the capital Grozny from separatists who seized large parts of it on August 6.   But the statement said Yeltsin's orders were issued with a facsimile of the president's signature rather than signed by the president in person.   It has also said Lebed was unaware of the preparation of the orders -- which violated normal procedure.   Itar-Tass news agency quoted presidential press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky as saying the statement on Yeltsin's trip to Valdai had been issued "in connection with the usual guesses and suppositions about the president's whereabouts".   He dismissed as "complete rubbish" a report by Ekho Moskvy radio that Yeltsin had been in a specialist cardiological centre since August 15.   Ekho Moskvy quoted informed sources as saying that doctors at the centre, named after heart specialist Yevgeny Chazov, had diagnosed the president's condition as of average seriousness.   "In the coming hours the question of carrying out a surgical operation may be decided," the radio said.   However, it also quoted the acting head doctor at the centre as saying Yeltsin was not there.   "You can come and see for yourself," the doctor said.   Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin were continuing to work on the formation of the new Russian government, most of which was announced last week.   Yeltsin suffered two heart attacks last year and his disappearance from the public eye in late June triggered fresh rumours about his health.   Yastrzhembsky on Monday denied a report by the U.S. magazine Time which said Yeltsin had suffered from heart problems again in the second half of June.   Time said that, according to an official Kremlin medical advisory it had obtained, the president needed round-the-clock monitoring and the Kremlin was considering transferring him to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   "This information is part of a series of rumours and conjectures concerning the state of the president's health," Yastrzhembsky told a news briefing. 
193 !GCAT !GPOL  The Russian Security Council said on Tuesday that it doubted the authenticity of President Boris Yeltsin's latest orders on Chechnya.   "The contents of the documents give solid grounds to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," said a statement by the policy-making Security Council.   Yeltsin has ordered Alexander Lebed, the secretary of the Security Council and his personal representative in Chechnya, to restore Russian control over the regional capital Grozny, much of which was seized by separatist rebels on August 6.   Yeltsin's press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on Monday that the Kremlin leader had issued the order on Sunday.   But the Security Council's statement argued that Lebed was not aware of the preparation of the orders -- which violated normal procedures.   The statement also said Yeltsin's orders were issued with a facsimile of the president's signature rather than signed by the president in person.   "The secretary of the Security Council assumes that no one is allowed to manipulate on behalf of the President and insists on explanations from the appropriate officials," it said.   It said an attempt to carry out the order on Chechnya would ruin peace efforts undertaken by Lebed and wreck a ceasefire deal he agreed with the separatist leaders.   "This would mean in fact the beginning of a large-scale military operation involving aviation and artillery, which would naturally lead to heavy losses among federal troops, massive deaths among the civilian population...and a justified burst of resentment in the country," the statement said.   Lebed and rebel leaders agreed last week to arrange a truce to allow peace negotiations to resume in a region wracked by conflict which has cost tens of thousands of lives in 20 months.   The truce had been generally observed by both sides despite the lack of a clear deal between the sides and mutual recriminations over ceasefire violations.   On Monday Russia's top commander in Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky, gave the rebels 48 hours to leave Grozny or face bombing.   Yeltsin, 65, has disappeared from the public eye since late June, except for a brief appearance at his inauguration on August 9, but his aides say his health is all right despite exhaustion caused by his vigorous re-election campaign.   Yastrzhembsky said on Tuesday that Yeltsin had begun a two-day break in northwestern Russia, denying rumours that the Kremlin leader was ill.   He said Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin were continuing to work on the formation of the new Russian government, most of which was announced last week. 
194 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin started a two-day break in the picturesque lakeland of Valdai in northwestern Russia on Tuesday, the presidential press service said, denying rumours that the Kremlin leader was ill.   A spokesman said Yeltsin would size up prospects for a longer vacation in Valdai.   "It is expected that Boris Yeltsin will return to Moscow this week where he will hold a series of meetings with members of the government," he said.   Valdai, in the Novgorod region about 350 km (220 miles) northwest of Moscow, has been mentioned by Kremlin aides as a possible holiday destination for the 65-year-old leader.   Itar-Tass news agency quoted presidential press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky as saying the statement on Yeltsin's departure had been issued "in connection with the usual guesses and suppositions about the president's whereabouts".   He dismissed as "complete rubbish" a report by Ekho Moskvy radio that Yeltsin had been in a specialist cardiological centre since August 15.   Ekho Moskvy quoted informed sources as saying that doctors at the centre, named after heart specialist Yevgeny Chazov, had diagnosed the president's condition as of average seriousness.   "In the coming hours the question of carrying out a surgical operation may be decided," the radio said.   However, it also quoted the acting head doctor at the centre as saying Yeltsin was not there.   "You can come and see for yourself," the doctor said.   Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin were continuing to work on the formation of the new Russian government, most of which was announced last week.   Yeltsin suffered two heart attacks last year and his disappearance from the public eye in late June triggered rumours about his health.   Yeltsin has made only one public appearance since June 26, briefly turning up at his inauguration ceremony on August 9.   Aides say he suffered "colossal weariness" after his reelection campaign, but they deny he has suffered new heart trouble.   Yastrzhembsky on Monday denied a report by the U.S. magazine Time which said Yeltsin had suffered from heart problems again in the second half of June.   Time said that, according to an official Kremlin medical advisory it had obtained, the president needed round-the-clock monitoring and the Kremlin was considering transferring him to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   "This information is part of a series of rumours and conjectures concerning the state of the president's health," Yastrzhembsky told a news briefing.   He said the president, whom he had met recently, had been doing paperwork every day at a residence near Moscow.   Yeltsin, who frequently spends vacations at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, had been expected to start a holiday outside Moscow after his inauguration.   The Valdai area, a mixture of thick woods and hundreds of lakes where Russia's River Volga originates, is a long-time resort area popular for its mild climate and beautiful nature. 
195 !GCAT !GVIO  Terrified civilians flooded out of the Chechen capital on Tuesday after a top Russian military official threatened to use planes and heavy artillery to drive separatist forces from the city.   The refugees, many of them with little more than the clothes in which they stood, said Russian planes had started bombing the town, much of it already in ruins after attacks at the start of Russia's campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   "The whole city is on its way out," said Nina Madayeva, who said 12 planes had bombed Grozny's southwestern Chernorechye district overnight.   "We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more."   Konstantin Pulikovsky, Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, said his forces had begun artillery attacks on rebels in Grozny and would bomb the city if needed to drive them out.   But he denied that bombing had already started.   Pulikovsky, who signed a ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in in the regional capital, much of which they seized two weeks ago.   "I see force as the only way out of the situation in Grozny," he told Interfax news agency.   Rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed, who has held talks with the rebels and opposed the use of aircraft, to rein in Pulikovsky's troops.   President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy in Chechnya should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness", Interfax quoted Maskhadov as saying.   Itar-Tass news agency said Lebed would travel to Chechnya on Wednesday -- his third visit to the region in just over a week.   Tass said Lebed remained committed to a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict.   The rebels, who seek independence for their territory, swept into Grozny on August 6, seizing key buildings and trapping Russian soldiers in their checkpoints and in the central government complex.   Pulikovsky, who on Monday gave civilians 48 hours to leave before he unleashes an all-out bombardment, said on Tuesday he was determined to drive the rebels out.   Doku Zavgayev, who heads the Moscow-backed administration in Chechnya, told a news conference that 50,000 people had fled Grozny in the last two weeks, but he believed 300,000 were still living in the city.   "As long as there are so many civilians in the town the use of force, let alone a full-scale operation, is totally unacceptable," he said.   Zavgayev and his administration colleagues, viewed as stooges by the separatists, have spoken out frequently against Russian military action in recent months, although its own security depends on the troops which moved into Chechnya in December 1994.   Pulikovsky's views are in sharp contrast with those of Lebed, who won guarded approval from rebel leaders in two visits to Chechnya last week.   His spokesman told Tass on Monday, before the army threat, that Lebed opposed bombing.   "Aerial bombardment as a military method of settling the problem, even with the evacuation of civilians, will lead only to widening the conflict zone," the spokesman, Alexander Barkhatov, quoted Lebed as saying.   Pulikovsky, who met Maskhadov twice last week to arrange the latest truce, said he was sure of the backing of Russia's leaders.   He said he was acting "in the interests of the state".   The Kremlin and the army have sounded different notes on Chechnya in the past.   Yeltsin, trying to end the war before the presidential election in July, ordered a halt to an offensive in March, but the generals continued bombarding Chechen villages.   Yeltsin won a lull with a ceasefire in May, but shortly after his re-election the army went on the offensive again and the rebels say that this provoked their raid on Grozny. 
196 !GCAT !GPOL !GPRO  President Boris Yeltsin headed for the picturesque lakeland of Valdai in northwestern Russia on Tuesday for a two-day break outside Moscow, the presidential press service said.   It said that the 65-year-old Kremlin leader, whose virtual disappearance from public view in late June triggered rumours about his health, would consider whether it was a good enough place to spend the rest of his planned vacation.   "It is expected that Boris Yeltsin will return to Moscow this week where he will hold a series of meetings with members of the government," a spokesman said.   Yeltsin, who suffered two heart attacks last year, has made only one public appearence since June 26, briefly turning up at his inauguration ceremony on August 9.   Aides say he suffered "colossal weariness" after his re-election campaign, but they deny he has suffered new heart trouble.   Yeltsin's press secretary, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, on Monday denied a report by the U.S. magazine Time which said that Yeltsin had suffered from heart problems again in the second half of June.   Time said that, according to an official Kremlin medical advisory it had obtained, the president needed round-the-clock monitoring and the Kremlin was considering transferring him to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   "This information is part of a series of rumours and conjectures concerning the state of the president's health," Yastrzhembsky told a news briefing.   He said that the president, whom he had met recently, has been doing paperwork every day at a residence near Moscow.   Yeltsin, who usually spends vacations at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, had been expected to start a holiday outside Moscow after his inauguration.   Valdai, about 350 km (220 miles) northwest of the capital, had been mentioned by aides as a possible destination.   The area, a mixture of thick woods and hundreds of lakes where Russia's River Volga originates, is a long-time resort area popular for mild climate and beautiful nature. 
197 !GCAT  Here are highlights from Polish newspapers this morning.   RZECZPOSPOLITA   - According to a poll by the PBS institute, only 48 percent of Poles said they had any savings.   Of the rest, only just more than one half said they would invest in financial instruments including bank accounts or in real estate if they came into money.   - Poland's unemployment rate fell in July by 1.7 percent (42,400) to 14.1 percent in July, Labour Minister Andrzej Baczkowski said.   - The government has prepared a proposal for a 300,000 tonne tax-free fuel import quota which will be discussed soon, cabinet spokeswoman Aleksandra Jakubowska said.   - The Dutch Makro Cash and Carry network heads the list of Poland's 50 biggest wholesalers, with 1995 turnover of 450 million zlotys.   By the end of next year Makro will operate 17 stores around the country.   - A Poland-China Economic Chamber has been registered in Warsaw to promote trade, financial and technological cooperation between the two countries and to support small and medium sized businesses.   In the first half of 1996, trade turnover between China and Poland totalled $283.5 million.   - Tarnobrzeg province's governor will produce a draft this month for a Special Economic Zone to be set up there.   The zone is to embrace the Tarnobrzeg, Stalowa Wola and Nowa Deba municipalities, the governor's aide Kazimierz Blasiak said.   - Industrial output in July this year grew by 13.1 percent compared with the same period last year, mostly due to a 16.5 percent growth in processing industries, according to Central Statistical Office (GUS) data.   NOWA EUROPA   - Three out of the four banks which will form the new Pekao SA banking group have agreed on the founding concepts, staffing policies and the group's consolidation goals.   "We've agreed on the legal framework of our contract", Pekao SA deputy president Andrzej Dorosz said.   - Reve, Germany's major food sector corporation, has bought a controlling stake in Austria's Billa company and gained major influence on operations of the Billa-Polen supermarket chain.   - Food prices in the first 10 days of August were 0.2 percent up compared with the last 10 days in July, according to the GUS office data.   - Around 80 producers of healthy foods and ecological articles will participate in an international fair in Tarnow, southern Poland, on September 5-7 this year.   GAZETA WYBORCZA   - The Czech Tatra tram maker will supply five fast trams to the city of Poznan.   Another five will be provided by the local Zaklady Cegielskiego plant.   - A new government programme envisages creating huge bonded warehouses to serve agricultural commodity exchanges.   Germany firms Bosch and Siemens are likely investors in the "Zachod" warehouse planned in western Poland, Zielona Gora agricultural commodity exchange head Wladyslaw Pawelczyk said.   ZYCIE WARSZAWY   - The opposition centrist Union for Freedom (UW) will support proposals extending consumers' rights in the government's consumer protection bill, UW deputy Anna Skowronska-Luczynska said.   - Poland's oldest airport, Lawica in Poznan, will be privatised by the end of this year and the new airport company will operate from the start of 1997.   Foreign investors have been invited to participate in the privatisation but the treasury will keep a controlling 51 percent stake.   PARKIET   - The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) board has suspended trading in shares of Lodz-based printing firm LDA as its report was submitted late and equal information access to all traders could not be guaranteed, WSE president Wieslaw Rozlucki said.   - Poland's Warta insurance company wants the tax office to pay it 27.6 million zlotys in interest accrued on excess income tax payments in 1990, 1991 and 1992, Warta officials said.   -- Warsaw Newsroom +48 22 653 9700 
198 !GCAT  DELO   - The number of domestic tourists in Slovenia fell by 17 percent in July, while the number of foreign visitors went up by 12 percent, the Slovenian Statistical Office said.   - A coal mine in Zagorje started closure procedures on Monday.   The mine, which has been operating for 240 years, is considered unprofitable and is due to close in 1999.   - Employees of troubled machine producer Litostroj continued their strike for the 18th day on Monday.   The strike was called over unpaid salaries.   REPUBLIKA   - State secretary for privatisation Edo Pirkmajer said the government was considering prolonging the validity of privatisation vouchers until the end of the year due to the slow privatisation process.   The current validity expires at the end of September.   - The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in June from 13.7 percent in May, the Statistical Office said. 
199 !GCAT !GDIP  The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denied on Tuesday a report by Taiwanese television that Vice-President Lien Chan's secretive journey was taking him to the former Soviet republic.   "We have no information at all on this visit.   There is no visit," Valentyn Adomaitis, head of the ministry's Asia-Pacific department, told Reuters.   "Our policy towards Taiwan is clear -- it's part of China.   We have no official ties with Taipei and we have always strongly followed this line."   Taiwan Television had reported that after ending a visit to the United States Lien Chan made a brief stopover in Vienna and then flew to the Ukrainian capital.   The broadcast, which gave no source for the information, followed a flurry of rumours that Lien had arrived in various European nations.   China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province ineligible for foreign ties and has sought to isolate it diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   Adomaitis said Ukraine maintains only economic relations with Taiwan with no political or diplomatic ties.   Ukrainian and Chinese leaders signed a joint declaration two years ago stressing that Kiev recognises "a single China" policy.   "I cannot exclude that Taiwan's leader might make a brief transit stopover in Ukraine but we also have no information on that," Adomaitis said by telephone.   "We do not follow the leaders of states with whom we have no relations."   Ukraine views China as one of its most important trading partners, with annual bilateral trade volume of almost $1 billion.   Several Ukrainian politicians have visited Taiwan since Kiev gained independence from Moscow five years ago but Ukraine has only recently started considering allowing the presence of a Taiwanese trade mission, a move tolerated by China. 
200 !GCAT  These are some of the main stories in Sofia newspapers today.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   PARI   -- An International Monetary Fund mission is expected to arrive in Bulgaria this week to review the progress of its reform programme within a funding agreement approved in July, the IMF Sofia representative Franek Rozwadowski said.   -- Fuel prices are expected to rise by some 15-20 percent from September 1 due to a fall of the national currency, the lev, on the local forex market, the National Price Commission said.   24 CHASA   -- The State Fund for Reconstruction and Development will cover credits to the cash-strapped National Electricity Company to secure sorely needed funding, finance minister Dimitar Kostov said after a closed-door cabinet meeting.   -- Some 40 percent of Bulgarian hotels are expected to be privatised by the end of this year, Tourism Commitee chairman Vassil Velev said.   -- The State Savings Bank (SSB), the second largest credit institution in the country, which holds most of citizens' lev deposits, posted a 4.733 billion levs profit for the first half of the year, SSB chairman Bistra Dimitrova said.   STANDART   -- Germany's tourist operator Neckerman is expected to invest in Bulgaria some five million marks by the end of next year for reconstruction of hotels along the Black Sea coast, a visiting company official said.   -- The government postponed the planned closure of the Pleven-based Plama oil refinery for four months in the hope of finding a buyer for the indebted facility.   The liquidation procedure is to be reopened if no buyer appears, the cabinet decided at an extraordinary meeting.   KONTINENT   -- Sofia airport ground engineers threatened a strike if the airport management raises only the salaries of air traffic controllers, trade unions said.   The air controllers' demand for a $1,000 monthly wage is to be discussed today, Transport Ministry said.   -- Sofia Newsroom, (++359-2) 981 8569 
201 !GCAT  NARODNA OBRODA - The government holds its regular session today.   The preliminary agenda includes the long-term programme of Slovakia's foreign trade policy and transformation of four state-owned energy utilities to 100-percent state joint-stock companies.   - The British-Slovak telecom equipment producer, Telspec Slovakia, plans to expand its commercial activities to markets in Ukraine, Russia and countries of the former Yugoslavia.   The joint-venture posted turnover 205 million crowns in the first seven months of this year.   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - Slovakia's production of beef significantly exceeds country's consumption and the agriculture ministry said it would seek the ways for exports of the commodity.   - Chinesse ambassador to Slovakia Tao Miaofa and Jan Gabriel, President of Slovakia's largest commercial bank VUB, on Monday discussed ways of possible cooperation in the field of banking.   - Polnobanka, the fourth largest Slovak commerial bank, said it would manage funds of the state fund for support of agriculture and food industry, effective this September.   SME - The opposition Democratic Union (DU) has accused the NPF of violating the law according to which the fund is obliged to inform parliament about the privatisation process.   - Slovakia and its Visegrad Four partners intend to ask NATO to "review" Slovakia's position in the process of integration into the alliance.   -- Bratislava Newsroom, 42-7-210-3687 
202 !GCAT  HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - The Czech National Bank's baance sheet totalled 612.5 billion crowns as of August 10.   Compared to the most recent figures from the end of July, this is an increase of 9 billion crowns.   - The Ministry of Agriculture wants to considerably change the current regulation of the grain market.   The new system should bring price stabilisation not only for farmers, but also for customers.   Ministers are to discuss the new system in parliament today.   - A group led by Motoinvest has been gathering shares of Ceska Sporitelna for several months with the intention of taking a substantial stake in the institution which manages the majority of personal deposits in the Czech Republic.   According to well-informed sources, the group may already control 15 percent of the shares representing 18 percent of the voting rights.   - Sales of the Skoda Felicia automobile have increased by 116 percent in Austria in the first half of 1996, making it the second-most successful make of automobile after the Opel Vectra.   Some 6,258 Felicias were sold by the end of July in Austria.   - Rail fares will increase by a maximum of 40 percent from March or April next year, the Minister of Transportation, Martin Riman, confirmed yesterday, adding that this marks the first fare increase in two years.   - Dental a.s., which controls 70 percent of the Czech and Slovak market for dental materials, decided at its shareholders meeting not to pay any dividends on last year's net profit of 2.5 million crowns.   MLADA FRONTA DNES - Czech senatorial candidates can recieve pre-election donations from anyone and do not have to publicize these sources to the public.   Even the parties they are representing do not have access to their sources of income.   -- Prague Newsroom, 42-2-2423-0003 
203 !GCAT !GVIO  Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, General Konstantin Pulikovsky, vowed on Tuesday to drive Chechen rebels from the capital Grozny and said he would use aircraft and heavy artillery to do it.   But rebel chief-of-staff, Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Kremlin security supremo Alexander Lebed to prevent Pulikovsky's troops from using force to sweep his separatist fighters from the battered city.   Interfax news agency quoted Maskhadov as saying President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy in Chechnya should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness".   Pulikovsky told Interfax news agency: "Grozny will without fail be cleared of rebel fighters."   "We do not intend to put up with the brazen and barbaric actions of illegal groups who are continuing to shoot down our helicopters, carry out bold acts of sabotage and surround Russian servicemen."   The rebels, who seek independence for their mountainous Caucasus territory, swept into Grozny on August 6, seizing key buildings and trapping Russian soldiers in their checkpoints and in the central government complex.   Pulikovsky on Monday gave civilians 48 hours to leave before he unleashes an all-out bombardment and he added on Tuesday that the situation could only be resolved by force.   Itar-Tass news agency quoted Pulikovsky as saying artillery had already opened up in Grozny with "pinpoint strikes" against the rebels, although aviation was not being used.   Pulikovsky's views are in sharp contrast with those of Lebed, who has been talking to rebel leaders and opposes the use of aircraft.   Lebed won guarded approval from rebel leaders in two visits to Chechnya last week.   His spokesman told Tass on Monday, before the army threat, that Lebed opposed bombing.   "Aerial bombardment as a military method of settling the problem, even with the evacuation of civilians, will lead only to widening the conflict zone," the spokesman, Alexander Barkhatov, quoted Lebed as saying.   Russian helicopters, used in recent days for rocket attacks om Grozny, dropped leaflets over the city on Tuesday containing Pulikovsky's warning.   In the leaflets the general accused the guerrillas of using a ceasefire to dig in and maintain an offensive to try to win the 20-month-old war by force.   "On expiry of this deadline, I maintain my right to use all the forces and means available, including bombers and ground-attack aircraft, and also multiple rocket launchers and artillery to strike at the guerrillas' positions," he said.   Pulikovsky, who met Maskhadov twice last week to arrange the latest shaky truce, said he was sure of the backing of Russia's leaders.   He said he was acting "in the interests of the state".   The Kremlin and the army have sounded different notes on Chechnya in the past.   Yeltsin, trying to end the war before the presidential election in July, ordered a halt to an offensive in March, but the generals continued bombarding Chechen villages.   Yeltsin won a lull with a ceasefire in May, but shortly after his re-election the army went on the offensive again and the rebels say that provoked their raid on Grozny.   Rebel leaders have frequently complained that there is a "party of war" in the Kremlin which is overruling peace efforts.   Lebed's appointment in June was followed by the ejection of leading Kremlin hawks.   But a deeply tired Yeltsin, who has been out of sight for weeks, has so far refused Lebed's latest demand, that he sack Interior Minister General Anatoly Kulikov. 
204 !GCAT !GVIO  Terror has gripped Grozny in the face of a threatened Russian bombardment to drive out rebels who humiliated Moscow by seizing the Chechen capital.   Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed, instructed to restore order in the city overrun by rebels after a raid on August 6, planned to visit the region on Wednesday in an apparent a last-ditch attempt to avert further bloodshed.   With President Boris Yeltsin holidaying hundreds of km (miles) northwest of Moscow in the Valdai lakeland, Lebed's policy-making Security Council fuelled speculation on who was running Russia by expressing doubt that the president was directly involved in finalising his last order on Chechnya.   But Yeltsin's office, already busy denying a new rash of rumours about Yeltsin's health focused on his heart problems, also insisted that the order was fully in line with the president's wishes.   Tens of thousands of people have fled Grozny to beat the August 22 deadline, when Russian commander Konstantin Pulikovsky says he will use warplanes and heavy artillery to clear rebels from the capital of the mostly-Moslem southern region.   Russian forces have been trying to stop the separatists' independence bid since December 1994 in fighting which has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly civilians.   Liberals have called on Yeltsin to avert the threatened attack, which Yelena Bonner, widow of former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, said would be a "crime against humanity".   "It seems Boris Yeltsin is unable to and does not want to stop the monstrous crime which is being prepared," Bonner told Ekho Moskvy news agency on Tuesday.   About half Grozny's population of 400,000 is estimated to have either fled or died since Yeltsin sent his forces in.   Much of the city was destroyed at the start of 1995 as federal forces bombed the rebels out of Grozny, killing thousands of civilians in the process.   Though many have fled in recent days, tens of thousands remain, and their chances of escape decreased on Tuesday when Russian soldiers blocked one of the few points of passage.   The troops apparently aimed to close the route to Chechen fighters.   But they stranded civilians in an area between rebel and Russian lines which has been shelled heavily in recent days.   About 30 soldiers with armoured personnel carriers (APCs) swept through the dusty village of Alkhan-Yurt on the southwest fringe of Grozny and took up positions near a ramshackle bridge.   "They started shooting up the bridge with grenades when they got down there and everyone turned back," said one woman who managed to cross from the Grozny side just before the Russians moved in.   Sporadic explosions could be heard from the vicinity.   Western journalists who visited the bridge in the early evening saw the bodies of two civilians on the Grozny side.   The troops' arrival halted the flow of refugees, many of them old folk who had hobbled for several kilometres.   The soldiers searched refugees and forced men to lie on the ground.   A number said they were robbed of some of the few possesions they managed to take along as they fled their homes.   One of the APCs trained its cannon on us.   "Out of the car!"   screamed one of the blue-camouflaged soldiers, sticking his Kalashnikov assault rifle in my face.   "You damn journalists!   Don't you have enough blacks in your own country?   You've come here to defend these black arses we're trying to wipe out.   I could kill you now if I wanted to," he told me, prodding my stomach with the barrel of the gun.   Russian troops use such racist terms for the dark-skinned peoples of the Caucasus, including Chechens.   Unlike the first days of the exodus from Grozny, when most were young or middle-aged who found cars, buses, even donkey carts to cram into, a great number are now frail elderly people on foot who had waited until the last moment to get out.   Many in the chaotic crowd were driving cattle or bent over in exhaustion by the roadside under a blazing sun.   Black smoke from fires burning in Grozny rose in the sky over their heads.   "I didn't want to leave home but everyone says they are going to bomb everything in the city," said a toothless old man with one leg whom we gave a lift to.   A plump old woman, tears streaming down her cheeks, confronted the soldiers.   "Why do you want to kill us?"   she said.   The sea of agonised faces was broken by a single crazed smile -- a mentally handicapped man being pushed through the dust in a wheelchair. 
205 !G15 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The Bosnian Serb nationalist SDS party in Zvornik has heeded a warning to remove campaign posters featuring Radovan Karadzic or risk disqualification from upcoming elections, international mediator Carl Bildt said on Tuesday.   "European Community monitors surveyed the town and reported back to me that they found only one Karadzic poster in a public place on a garage wall near the local hospital," Bildt told Reuters on Tuesday.   Bildt met the mayor and local SDS party chief in Zvornik on Saturday and threatened election penalties if posters he saw along the main street were not removed by Monday.   "It looks as if the warning has had an effect, which is good.   Let's hope that it lasts," Bildt said.   "I have also written to the SDS leadership indicating that I have yet to see an SDS poster anywhere without Karadzic's face on it."   Radovan Karadzic, twice indicted for war crimes, served as president of both Bosnia's Serb Republic and the SDS until international political pressure forced him from both offices last month.   The Dayton peace accord which ended Bosnia's 43-month conflict prohibits people indicted for war crimes from holding public office or playing any role in the elections scheduled for September 14.   But in the run-up to the poll, posters with Karadzic's name and face have been appearing in public, much to the consternation of the international community, for whom Bildt is High Representative in Bosnia.   Zvornik, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Sarajevo, once had a majority Moslem population but is inhabited by Serbs. 
206 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin said a new coup d'etat was still possible in Russia but insisted it had no more chance of success than the botched hardline putsch five years ago that helped propel him to power.   In an interview to be published on Wednesday in Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, quoted by Itar-Tass news agency on Tuesday, Yeltsin also bemoaned the combativeness of Russian society and its imperfect freedom.   "I don't rule out that under a certain coincidence of circumstances such (coup) attempts are possible, albeit very unlikely," Yeltsin said.   "In any case, the results of such actions would be the same, if not sorrier, than in August 1991.   "In the last five years, society and Russian statehood itself have changed," he said.   "The recent presidential elections clearly demonstrated that."   The interview marked the fifth anniversary of the hardline communist coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, which was launched on August 19, 1991 and ended three days later.   Yeltsin, then newly elected president of Russia, rallied resistance in Moscow.   The defeat of the plot helped him undermine Gorbachev and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.   The anniversary has been little celebrated and was marred by a bloody flare-up in the 20-month war in Chechnya.   The president, whose aides on Tuesday had again to deny reports that he was ill, said the biggest danger for Russia was its failure to cast off the sharp divisiveness ingrained by decades of communist rule.   "In Russia, there is still a notable tendency to search for enemies and irreconcilable conflicts.   So-called class hatred and the division between "us' and "them' are raising their heads," he said.   "All this is a consequence of long years of living in a totalitarian state.   And it will not vanish overnight."   "We have still not graduated from that school where we will become familiar with the hard science of freedom," he added.   "But I am convinced Russia will definitely master it and become a truly free Russia.   And that will be the main result of the August victory." 
207 !GCAT !GVIO  As Russian troops and Chechen rebels square off in the tense, battle-shattered city of Grozny, both sides are peacefully cooperating in a neighbouring town.   All they want, they say, is for politicians to leave them alone in this war-zone "oasis".   Argun, 15 km (10 miles) east of Grozny, appeared quiet on Tuesday compared with the regional capital, most of which was seized by separatist fighters on August 6 and turned into a battleground.   "We, the fighters, are keeping in constant contact with Russian military staff here and escort the OMON (crack police force) when they go to pick up food," local rebel commander Abu Khamzatov said.   As he spoke, a Russian armoured vehicle passed by, packed with a dozen confused Russian policemen and Chechen guerrillas shouting their battle cry -- "Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest).   Russian OMON servicemen at a post nearby seemed unimpressed by the drivepast.   "The Chechens explained the need to convoy us by a desire to rule out any provocations," said an OMON officer who refused to give his name.   "That sounded reasonable enough."   When separatist fighters seized parts of Grozny and rolled into other Chechen towns, Russian forces positioned there had to make up their minds.   "We soon realised that hopes for reinforcements and arms from Khankala (a key Russian base near Grozny) would never come.   We had to make a deal with the rebels," the OMON officer said.   He said all sorts of options had been discussed.   "The rebels suggested that we disarm and promised money and an escort to see us off," he said.   "But Khankala would not take us and we have nowhere to go."   "Our only desire is to get home safely with our arms after our duty tour ends on August 23," he added.   The officer said that the deal embraced all Russian troops in Argun-- except one commando battalion just 500 metres (yards) away from the OMON post.   "Their commander had been killed and now they are fighting every night," he said.   But Argun has become a stop-over point for tens of thousands refugees hurrying to flee Grozny after Russia's acting military commander in Chechnya General Konstantin Pulikovsky threatened to shell the city.   "There are too many refugees in Argun," said the OMON officer.   "We and the rebels have a common aim of preventing senseless bloodshed and destruction here".   The OMON troops stationed in Argun had been sent in from the ethnic republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, also situated in the volatile North Caucasus.   The force is made up of both ethnic Russians and representatives of the republic's Moslem ethnic groups.   However beneficial the deal with rebels, the sight of separatists convoying troops can hardly add to morale among the OMON servicemen.   "When I see this convoy I have a split feeling," a policemen from the town of Cherkessk said.   "On the one hand I am ashamed of our impotence, but on the other hand I admire these Chechen guys who are fighting for their freedom."   An ultimatum announced by the Russian military commander in Chechnya General Konstantin Pulikovsky to rebels in Grozny to withdraw or or face bombardment has caused fresh problems to the Russian commanders in Argun.   "The rebels have so far guaranteed our safety," the OMON officer said.   "But they also said if bloodshed starts in Grozny the same will happen in Argun."   Rebel commanders were cool.   "We have an accord and it will hold if the politicians do not make us fight," a local rebel commander Turpal said. 
208 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Russian flight controllers and ground workers plan to strike over a pay dispute from August 27, an air traffic controllers' union official said on Tuesday.   Gennady Borisov, aide to the president of the Federation of Air Traffic Controller Unions, said regional unions and some Moscow controllers were ready to strike.   Aviation unions called two strikes this year, but regional leaders declined to join, and the strikes were cancelled.   Officials from state-owned Aeroflot and private airlines Transaero and Orient-Avia said their workers would not strike.   Borisov said air traffic controllers at Moscow's Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Bykovo airports were ready to strike this time, but those at Sheremetyevo international airport had not decided.   The workers want pay rises to take account of inflation, guarantees of job security and special payments for working in "dangerous conditions".   Existing contracts expired on January 1 and negotiations broke down on July 31.   Federal Aviation Service head Gennady Zaitsev said last week that the unions' demands were "unrealistic", since federal civial aviation services had no cash to spare.   Interfax news agency this month quoted chief government negotiator Robert Suleimanov as saying the strike would fail because aviation workers would refuse to back the unions.   Aeroflot deputy chief executive Valery Okulov said his airline's staff would not participate in the action.   "All flights on August 27 and the following days will be made according to Aeroflot's schedule," Okulov said.   --Viktor Anoshkin, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941 8520 
209 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Kremlin infighting over a plan to bomb Grozny spilled into the open on Tuesday, close on the heels of new media speculation that President Boris Yeltsin was ill.   It raised doubts about the 65-year-old president's grip on power as his army threatened to launch a massive air and artillery bombardment of the Chechen capital on Thursday.   Russian analysts said, however, that Yeltsin was still in command and they saw the show of discord as a new twist to familiar Moscow manoeuvring over managing the fallout from the Chechen debacle.   Yeltsin's absence -- aides said he left for a short holiday and denied reports he had had a recurrence of heart trouble -- was by no means the first time he has dropped out of sight when trouble has boiled over in Chechnya.   Analysts said it could be a simple tactic to avoid blame for unpopular policies.   "Everyone is dodging responsibility, including Yeltsin," said Pavel Felgenhauer, a commentator at Sevodnya newspaper.   "I think his absence is political."   Alexander Lebed, Yeltsin's outspoken new Security Council secretary and his personal envoy to Chechnya, appeared to allege the president had been sidelined by officials intent on sabotaging Lebed's peace talks with the separatists.   The Security Council issued a statement questioning the authenticity of an order published by Yeltsin's spokesman on Monday that instructed Lebed to restore order in Grozny, seized by the rebels in a bloody battle that began on August 6.   The order bore only a facsimile signature and sanctioned the army's bombing plan, which would mean heavy casualites, it said.   Lebed himself, a tough-talking general who in two months has earned a reputation as something of a loose cannon in the Kremlin, did not sign the statement.   Felgenhauer said he might even disown it later if it backfired.   That leaves the question of why it was issued.   Viktor Kremenyuk, a political analyst at Moscow's USA and Canada Institute, said he had no doubt Yeltsin did approve Monday's order and, despite health problems, was in control of major policy decisions, including those on Chechnya.   He saw the Security Council statement as an attempt by Lebed to regain the initiative from his Kremlin opponents in settling the Chechen crisis.   "Lebed is trying to recover ground," Kremenyuk said.   Lebed, who won praise from the separatists after two visits to the region last week, has staked his brief political career on making peace -- although the two sides seem as far apart as ever on the Chechens' basic demand to secede.   Some commentators say Lebed is opposed by a "party of war" in the Kremlin which has blocked talks in order to prolong the war and the profits which powerful Russians have made from it.   Felgenhauer, however, warned against making too much of faction-fighting in the Kremlin.   He said Yeltsin was seeking a way to limit the political damage from the war without granting Chechen independence, and to save face after the army was humiliated in Grozny this month.   Felgenhauer said Yeltsin had given his subordinates a free hand to achieve that and the threat of force was as much a part of that process as negotiations.   "It's a high-stakes poker game and Lebed knows that," he said, comparing the army's plan to bomb Grozny and Lebed's talks to the tactic of interrogators adopting "Mr Nice and Mr Nasty" tactics to break a prisoner's resistance.   Lebed, with a gravel voice and a permanent scowl, may seem miscast as Mr Nice.   But he has thrown himself into the role.   Tuesday's statement may simply be his way to avoid being upstaged by a fellow general, Konstantin Pulikovsky, currently commanding the army in Chechnya and playing Russia's Mr Nasty. 
210 !GCAT !GDIP  Foreign ministers from the Nordic countries said on Tuesday they supported efforts by the Baltic states to get into NATO.   Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia quit the former Soviet Union in 1991 and have all applied for membership of the alliance as they remain fearful of huge neighbour Russia.   Ruled by Moscow for most of the last 200 years, they want strong security guarantees against any resurgence of Russian expansionism.   "There is no doubt about our support for the Baltic states' membership of NATO," Norwegian Foreign Minister Bjoern Tore Godal, whose country is a member of the military alliance, told a news conference.   He was speaking after talks between foreign ministers from Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Denmark and their Baltic counterparts.   Denmark and Iceland are also NATO members.   Russia has been angered by Baltic efforts to join NATO as it remains sensitive to any expansion of its former Cold War foe.   The Baltic states also had huge strategic importance in the Soviet defence system and were packed with military bases.   But Western diplomats say the Balts have little chance of joining NATO in a first round of enlargement.   "No matter what happens it is the job of all of us to keep the Baltic security issue on the international agenda," Danish Foreign Minister Nils Helveg Petersen said.   Swedish Foreign Minister Lena Hjelm-Wallen, whose country maintains a policy of neutrality, said she respected the wish of the Baltic states to join NATO. 
211 !GCAT !GPOL  Romania's ruling leftist party on Tuesday attacked a leading presidential hopeful's support for the return of the country's exiled king, giving a taste of the bitter campaigning ahead for national elections in November.   Adrian Nastase, executive president of the Party of Social Democracy (PDSR), said remarks made by Emil Constantinescu in the United States showed that if elected he would be prepared to breach the constitution by handing power to King Michael.   "Constantinescu declares that during his mandate he wants to hand over power to the "real' leader of Romania, former King Michael," Nastase told a news conference.   "Constantinescu recognises his incompetence for the function he wishes to occupy, realising he will never produce a programme for Romania and looking from the very beginning for a replacement," Nastase added.   Romanians go to the polls on November 3 to elect a 341-seat Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and 143-seat Senate (upper house) and a president for a new four-year term.   The monarchy was abolished in Romania in 1947 and young King Michael was exiled to Switzerland.   He made one triumphant return in the post-communist era, in 1992, but worried authorities have barred him from coming back ever since.   Constantinescu is presidential candidate of the Democratic Convention (CDR), an alliance of centrist parties and civic groups, and leading rival to incumbent Ion Iliescu.   Iliescu's PDSR, its reputation tarnished by corruption allegations and charges of economic mismanagement, has been looking for an opportunity to tackle the CDR and retake the initiative before formal campaigning begins on September 4.   It seized on the comments to a small U.S. magazine, reprinted in a Romanian daily newspaper, and pushed the CDR and Constantinescu, an academic who lost the 1992 presidential battle, on to the defensive.   "My position has been consistent since 1992," said Constantinescu, who complained the PDSR had misrepresented his acknowledged support for Michael's return and for a referendum on the future role of the monarch.   "To start again with diversions like attacking the opposition with issues like the monarchy and capitalism...is to turn away from Romania's essential problems - the economy, poverty and corruption," Constantinescu said in a statement.   CDR officials insisted Constantinescu was battling to win a whole term in office and he himself said less than 10 percent of Romanians would currently support a return of the monarchy.   Opinion polls suggest Iliescu will win the presidential election with Constantinescu and former premier Petre Roman, another centrist politician, battling for second place. 
212 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Bosnia could still create the minimal conditions necessary for free and fair elections on September 14 if its formerly warring factions guarantee freedom of movement, OSCE Chairman Flavio Cotti said on Tuesday.   "I believe if this freedom of movement for citizens would be guaranteed, the main condition for minimal, correct elections would be given," Cotti said in Sarajevo after meeting Bosnia's Moslem-Croat federation president, Kresimir Zubak.   "We hope this will be the case elsewhere, specifically in the (Bosnian) Serb republic, because -- as I repeat -- this is certainly the most important condition for elections."   The OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) is supervising the Bosnian elections with a mandate provided under the Dayton peace agreement.   Zubak said federation officials would guarantee freedom of movement on their 51 per cent of Bosnia.   Similar commitments in the past have not been realised even among Moslems and Croats.   Bosnian Serbs control the other 49 per cent of Bosnia, and what is supposed to be an administrative boundary between their republic and the federation has become something closer to a formal border.   Thus the more than 1.5 million Bosnian refugees and displaced persons have been effectively denied the opportunity to cross de facto ethnic boundary lines to return to their homes.   The OSCE's head of mission in Bosnia, Robert Frowick, has acknowledged that the September 14 election is unlikely to be free or fair when measured by Western democratic standards.   Both he and Cotti insist, however, that the balloting must go forward despite what independent observers say are crippling limitations.   In addition to restrictions on freedom of movement there is virtually no freedom of the press in Serb or Croat-held territory in Bosnia.   The OSCE's own election-monitoring unit reported recently that the voter registration process among Serb refugees and displaced persons had been manipulated for territorial advantage to a degree that constituted fraud.   Ruling Bosnian Moslem and Serb nationalist parties have been harassing and intimidating opposition candidates in some of the areas they control.   Asked on Tuesday if conditions for elections existed at present, Cotti said only that there had been some progress since his June decision to go ahead with the elections.   But in a small sign that progress was still possible, the Bosnian Serb nationalist SDS party in Zvornik heeded a warning to remove campaign posters featuring former president Radovan Karadzic or risk disqualification from upcoming elections.   "European Community monitors surveyed the town and reported back to me that they found only one Karadzic poster in a public place on a garage wall near the local hospital," international mediator Carl Bildt told Reuters on Tuesday.   "It looks as if the warning has had an effect, which is good.   Let's hope that it lasts.   I have also written to the SDS leadership indicating that I have yet to see an SDS poster anywhere without Karadzic's face on it."   Intense Western pressure forced Karadzic to quit the Bosnian Serb presidency last month, under Dayton clauses which prohibit people indicted for war crimes -- such as Karadzic -- from holding public office or playing any part in September's poll.   "Our deep wish is that these elections will really be able to present, as provided in the Dayton agreement, the first step on the long road to reconstruction -- not only reconstruction of democracy but also of economic welfare," Cotti said. 
213 !GCAT !GVIO  Chechen rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov said on Tuesday that Russian troops blew up a bridge over which refugees were trying to flee the capital, killing about 100 civilians.   "Today around 3.30 p.m. (1130 GMT) several hundred refugees were crossing a bridge near the Kirova settlement towards the village of Alkhan-Yurt," Udugov told Reuters by telephone.   "When they were crossing the bridge Russian servicemen blew it up.   Around 100 refugees, mainly women and children, died.   "Some of the refugees who managed to cross the bridge were seized by the Russian servicemen and shot dead on the spot.   Some 6,000 refugees were forced to flee back to Grozny," he added.   Alkhan-Yurt is a few km (miles) southwest of Grozny.   Udugov, whose report could not immediately be confirmed independently, said the Chechen leadership had issued a statement blaming the acting head of troops in Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky.   "It said General Pulikovsky will carry personal responsibility for this before the whole Chechen people no matter how long it takes," he said.   "It also appealed to the so-called international community which propagates human rights to find some way to react to this bloody crime and reject this policy of double standards." 
214 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Boris Yeltsin's new security chief plunged Moscow politics into chaos on Tuesday, challenging the authenticity of presidential decrees on the Chechnya crisis and raising speculation on whether Yeltsin was still running Russia.   Aides to the 65-year-old president, seen only once in public since he was re-elected seven weeks ago, insisted he was not ill but he remained out of sight.   His spokesman denied a new report he was being treated for a serious heart condition and said he had left Moscow for a short holiday.   Tough-talking ex-general Alexander Lebed, just two months in his job as Security Council secretary and already at loggerheads with some Kremlin insiders, issued a statement saying Yeltsin's latest decrees on Chechnya bore only a facsimile signature and seemed to have been prepared without his participation.   A decree ordering Lebed to restore Russian control of Grozny, which was seized by separatist rebels on August 6, was the cue for the army to prepare a massive bombardment of the Chechen capital and would wreck Lebed's peacemaking efforts, the Security Council statement said.   Lebed, whom Yeltsin named his personal representative to Chechnya last week, would make his third trip in 10 days to the region on Wednesday, Itar-Tass news agency said.   Yeltsin started a two-day break in the picturesque lakeland of Valdai in northwestern Russia on Tuesday, the presidential press service said.   Spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin would consider a longer holiday in Valdai but dismissed as "complete rubbish" a report by Ekho Moskvy radio that the president had been in a specialist cardiological centre since August 15.   Journalists at Ekho Moskvy told Reuters they stuck by their story.   which said Yeltsin, who had two heart attacks last year, had been diagnosed as having moderately serious heart trouble.   "In the coming hours the question of carrying out a surgical operation may be decided," the radio said.   Yastrzhembsky on Monday had denied a Time magazine report that the Kremlin was considering transferring Yeltsin to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   He said the president and Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who would deputise for Yeltsin if he were incapable of working, were continuing to work on formation of the new government, most of which was announced last week.   There was no immediate response to Lebed's charges.   "The contents of the documents give solid grounds to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," the Security Council statement said.   The decree, it added, had given the army commander in the region his cue to announce he would launch an all-out air and artillery bombardment of the city from Thursday morning, having given tens of thousands of citizens 48 hours to flee.   Terrified civilians flooded out of Grozny on Tuesday.   The refugees, many of them with little more than the clothes they stood up in, said Russian planes had started bombing the town, much of it already in ruins after attacks at the start of Russia's campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   "The whole city is on its way out," said Nina Madayeva, who said 12 planes had bombed Grozny's southwestern Chernorechye district overnight.   "We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more."   Russian commander, General Konstantin Pulikovsky, who had signed a ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in.   "I see force as the only way out of the situation in Grozny," he told Interfax news agency.   Rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed to Lebed, who has held talks with the rebels, to rein in Pulikovsky's troops.   He should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness", Interfax quoted Maskhadov as saying. 
215 !GCAT !GPOL  Poland's ruling left-wing coalition will begin talks this week on a cabinet reshuffle to accompany an approaching reorganisation of ministries, Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said on Tuesday.   "The leadership of the coalition will meet on Wednesday to discuss...the line-up in the newly-created ministries," Cimoszewicz told reporters before a cabinet session.   The cabinet reform, scrapping seven ministries and creating four new ones, has again divided the uneasy coalition of the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the smaller Polish Peasant Party (PSL), in power since 1993.   The Peasants, who analysts believe want to strengthen their role in government, say the reform should be linked to the dismissal of the current cabinet and appointment of a new one.   The SLD's Cimoszewicz aims to replace ministers gradually as of October, when the months long process of liquidating current ministries and creating new ones is due to begin.   Cimoszewicz said on Tuesday that decisions on cabinet appointments could not be expected soon.   The hottest argument is widely expected to concern the two new, powerful ministries of the economy and of the treasury as well as the finance ministry, which will remain important despite a diminished role.   Newspapers have quoted coalition sources as saying that Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko, the author of the government's economic programme, is likely to be dismissed.   Last week Cimoszewicz, asked about Kolodko's prospects, said no minister could be sure of keeping a cabinet job.   Kolodko, a non-party technocrat linked to the more reform-oriented SLD, has won praise from international institutions for maintaining financial discipline that helped Poland sustain economic growth over the past three years.   Peasant leaders, cautious about privatisation and trade liberalisation, have also suggested they will try to oust the SLD's liberal Privatisation Minister Wieslaw Kaczmarek.   The Peasant party's parliamentary speaker Jozef Zych has said rifts over the cabinet reshuffle could cause a break-up of the coalition and bring about early general elections, otherwise not scheduled until late next year. 
216 !GCAT !GDIP  The Prague office of Interpol said on Tuesday said it had no evidence that two young women kidnapped in Belgium a year ago were in the Czech Republic.   Speculation in Belgian media has focused on the possibly that they were sold into prostitution in the Czech Republic after being abducted by Marc Dutroux, the chief accused in a child abuse case which has horrified Belgians.   But there were also reports saying leads were under investigation in Germany, the Netherlands, and France.   "We have no evidence that the two girls would be on Czech territory," Vratislav Gregr, vice-director of Czech Interpol told Reuters.   He said Czech national police were handling investigation of the claims, but nothing concrete had been found.   An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks went missing in August last year at the Belgian port of Ostend.   According to an on-line Interpol file, Marchal would now be 19 and Lambrecks 20.   Dutroux, a convicted child abuser, was charged last week with the abduction and illegal imprisonment of two other girls aged 14 and 12.   Dutroux on Saturday led police to the bodies of two other eight-year-old girls who died of starvation earlier this year after their abduction in June, 1995.   Gregr said if Marchal and Lambrecks were found in the country of their own will, the police might not be allowed to contact the girls' families, as both are adults.   "They are of age which means even if they are found, it is up to them whether they would let their families know or those who asked for the investigation of their location.   They do not have to do so," Gregr said. 
217 !GCAT !GVIO  A threat by the Russian commander in Chechnya to force rebels who have seized much of the capital Grozny out of the city has cast a shadow over hopes for a peaceful end to the 20-month-old conflict.   Here are key events during the conflict, in which tens of thousands of people have already been killed:   Oct 1991 - Former Soviet air force general Dzhokhar Dudayev wins regional presidential poll, declares Chechnya independent.   Nov 1991 - Russian President Boris Yeltsin declares a state of emergency in the southern territory and sends troops to the Chechen capital Grozny.   They pull out after three days.   Spring/Summer 1994 - Russia, accusing Dudayev of allowing Chechnya to become a haven for terrorists, urges Chechens to topple him.   Nov 1994 - Moscow-backed Chechens attack Grozny.   Russia sends troops to Chechen borders.   Dec 11, 1994 - Russia sends troops to Chechnya, starting military campaign to crush Dudayev's independence movement.   Jan 1995 - Russian troops and armour move into central Grozny after intense artillery, rocket and tank bombardments reduce the Chechen capital to ruins.   Feb 1995 - Separatists abandon ruins of Grozny.   March 1995 - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe sets up Chechnya mission.   Dudayev threatens attacks inside Russia.   June 14, 1995 - About 100 armed rebels storm Russian town of Budennovsk, 70 km (45 miles) from Chechnya.   They kill scores of people and escape to a hospital with hundreds of hostages.   June 18, 1995 - Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin negotiates with the rebels by telephone.   Russia orders a halt to military operations in Chechnya and some hostages are freed.   June 19, 1995 - Gunmen leave Budennovsk in a convoy of buses with some of the hostages and the gunmen return to Chechnya in triumph.   Sept-Oct 1995 - Several attacks are staged on motorcades of politicians and military officials in and near Grozny.   Dec 14, 1995 - Rebels take back Gudermes, Chechnya's second city, but are forced out about a week later by Russian troops, with hundreds reported killed.   Fighting is worst in months.   Dec 17, 1995 - Russian-backed Chechen leader Doku Zavgayev wins election to head Chechnya's administration, but there are many reports of widespread electoral fraud.   Jan 9, 1996 - Chechen fighters seize hostages in neighbouring Dagestan, then move to Pervomaiskoye where there is a four-day stand-off with Russian troops.   Russian forces flatten the village with Grad missiles, but most of the rebels escape.   Feb 15, 1996 - Yeltsin, announcing his candidacy for a second term in office, says Chechnya foray was "maybe one of our mistakes".   He says he is studying options for peace but rules out withdrawal of Russian forces or massive use of force.   March 6, 1996 - Rebels attack Grozny, holding some areas for several days.   The army appears to respond, beginning several weeks of air and artillery assaults on suspected rebel villages.   March 31, 1996 - Yeltsin announces a halt to wide-scale military action, a partial withdrawal of troops and an offer of indirect talks with the rebels.   But fighting continues.   April 21, 1996 - Dudayev is killed in rocket attack.   Separatists announce his death on April 23 and say he has been buried.   Rebel vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev takes over.   April 25, 1996 - Yandarbiyev pledges at news conference to avenge Dudayev and vows to press on with independence drive.   May 22, 1996 - Interfax news agency says up to 40 Russian troops have been killed in battle for rebel stronghold of Bamut.   May 24, 1996 - Top Russian military official announces Russian troops have seized Bamut after a year's fighting.   May 27, 1996 - Yeltsin and Yandarbiyev hold talks in Moscow and agree a truce, which held for about six weeks.   May 28, 1996 - Yeltsin visits Russian troops in Grozny.   July 3, 1996 - Yeltsin reelected for a second term as Russian president.   Aug 6, 1996 - Chechen rebels enter Grozny, triggering heaviest fighting for more than a year.   Aug 10, 1996 - Yeltsin appoints Alexander Lebed his representative in Chechnya   Aug 12, 1996 - Lebed flies to Chechnya and agrees with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov to arrange cease-fire.   Russian military commanders in the region fail to work out a clear deal but a truce holds out.   Aug 14, 1996 - Yeltsin dissolves the State Commission on Chechnya, headed by Chernomyrdin, and gives Lebed sweeping powers to resolve the conflict.   Aug 15, 1996 - Lebed meets Yandarbiyev in Chechnya.   The two say they were encouraged by talks and would seek an end to military confrontation.   Aug 19, 1996 - Russian military commander in Chechnya General Konstantin Pulikovsky gives civilians 48 hours to leave Grozny and threatens all-out bombardment to drive out rebels.   Yeltsin orders Lebed to restore Russian control over Grozny before the end of the month.   Aug 20 - Security Council says it doubts the authenticity of Yeltsin's orders in Chechnya.   Aides say the president is taking a short break in northwestern Russia. 
218 !GCAT !GVIO  Most of them were on the move; struggling along the road on foot, carrying small bags or nothing at all.   But some just stood by the side of the road, their eyes glazed over in shock.   Word of the threat by the commander of Russian troops to use all means at his disposal to flush Chechen fighters out of Grozny had spread like wildfire among local people who had clung to their battered homes through two weeks of fighting.   "To us it sounds like the Russians are going to flatten the city and leave nothing standing," said Alik Magishvili, his infant nephew on his back.   The stream of refugees fleeing the fighting in the capital turned on Tuesday into a human flood.   "The whole city is on its way out.   We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more," said red-haired Nina Madayeva, carrying just a small handbag.   The refugees looked drawn and pale, exhausted by daily bombardments and a lack of food and water.   Many of them said the air raids threatened by General Konstantin Pulikovsky, who on Monday gave them 48 hours to escape, had already begun.   Madayeva said 12 warplanes had bombed her southwestern district one after another at around 1 a.m. (2100 GMT Monday).   "This is the destruction of the Chechen nation," she said.   The fighters, on the other hand, seemed to be thriving on the Russian threat to bomb them to bits.   "Leave?   We'll never leave," said Ruslan, whose group of about 30 fighters had just scattered when an artillery round hit close by.   "The Russians will pay for what they have done."   The rebels appeared to have more weapons than at the beginning of the conflict in December 1994.   Then it took Europe's biggest army more than two months and hundreds of casualties to conquer the city.   Thousands of civilians also died in the process.   "The fighters are coming into the city, not leaving it," said Rezvan Elbyev, driving a jeep full of fighters.   "We have seen everything the Russians can drop on us.   We have enough power for the defence of Grozny.   We have to defend our freedom and to do that there are 10 times more of us than in 1994," he said, brimming with confidence.   "We are all mortal.   If we die, we die as heroes.   We are death troops," he said, his voice like a machinegun, his green eyes darting back and forth.   "The enemy will be smashed one way or another if he dares show his face in the city."   In another part of Grozny, fighters in a jeep were putting green Islamic headbands on two unusual new recruits -- young women already touting Kalashnikov assault rifles.   The threat of a new showdown sent more than 1,000 people heading for Chernorechye in the southwest, even though Pulikovsky said only the official corridor to the east was safe.   Certainly, there were risks to leaving by the southwest.   A group of Russian soldiers, clearly drunk, brandished their guns at civilians trying to escape.   Some refugees complained they had been roughly handled and even robbed by troops.   Many elderly people, some on crutches, were caught up in the crush to cross a ruined railway bridge which looked as if it might give way at any moment.   A mentally handicapped man being pushed in a wheelchair gazed wildly about him.   The people fleeing on Tuesday were those left after the younger, fitter and wealthier had fled in cars and buses.   Yet there were still some who seemed unable, or unwilling, to leave.   Most of those who remained in the city centre ran between buildings, dodging snipers and the regular crash of explosions which sounded from the east.   Several old people just stood on the pavement near the deserted central market, staring vacantly into space.   Amina Khadayeva, 27, said she would stay with her mother in their one-storey brick house in the city centre.   "Of course we're afraid.   But my mother doesn't want to leave," she said.   "Our house was looted last time we left.   If we leave now there'll be nothing left when we come back." 
219 !GCAT !GPOL  The Russian Security Council said on Tuesday that it doubted the authenticity of President Bolris Yeltsin's latest orders on Chechnya.   "The contents of the documents gives solid ground to doubt that the president of Russia took a direct part in finalising the text of the order," said a statement by the policy-making Security Council, of which new security chief Alexander Lebed is the secretary.   Yeltsin on Sunday ordered Lebed, whom he had put in charge of handling the 20-monthold conflict in Chechnya, to regain Russian control over the capital Grozny from rebels who seized large parts of it on August 6.   The Security Council statement said an attempt to carry out this order would ruin peace efforts undertaken by Lebed and wreck a ceasefire deal he agreed with the separatist leaders.   The statement said Yeltsin's orders were issued with a facsimile of the president's signature rather than signed by the president in person.   It has also said Lebed was not aware of the preparation of the orders -- which violated normal rules.   The Russian military commander in the Chechen capital Grozny on Monday gave the rebels 48 hours to leave the city or face an all-out bombardment. 
220 !GCAT !GWEA  No closures of airports in the Commonwealth of Independent States are expected on August 21 and August 22, the Russian Weather Service said on Tuesday.   --Moscow Newsroom +7095 941 8520 
221 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed plans to travel to the Chechen capital Grozny on Wednesday, Itar-Tass news agency reported.   It quoted informed sources in the Kremlin's powerful Security Council as saying Lebed, the council's secretary, planned "to adopt urgent measures on defusing the extreme tension that has appeared in recent days".   The agency gave no further details, but said Lebed remained committed to a peaceful solution to the Chechen conflict. 
222 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Tuesday morning's Albanian newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   KOHA JONE   - A major reshuffle at several Albanian ministries, including the foreign ministry, is expected in September, a source at the prime ministry said.   - Eight political parties convened to discuss upcoming local elections.   But opposition parties did not participate in the meeting which was initiated by the ruling Democrats.   - The number of foreign tourists increased in Albania in the first half of 1996 despite shortcomings in the national infrastructure.   - Albania's first airline, Albanian Airlines, went bankrupt with a deficit of $15 million after three years in operation.   GAZETA SHQIPTARE   - The opposition Socialist Party of jailed leader Fatos Nano plans to reduce the membership of its leadership at the second stage of its convention on August 24 and 25. 
223 !GCAT !GVIO  An explosion on Tuesday killed the finance minister of the southern Russian region of Dagestan, bordering Chechnya, Itar-Tass news agency said.   The minister, Hamid Hamidov, was at the entrance to the finance ministry building in Dagestan's capital Makhachkala when a parked car exploded, Tass quoted witnesses as saying.   Russia's Mayak radio, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, quoted initial reports as saying four people had been killed and eight injured.   "According to first reports, which are now being verified, the Dagestani minister of finance is among the dead," the radio said.   Russian troops have been fighting separatist rebels in Chechnya for more than 20 months. 
224 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Skopje press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DNEVNIK   - Leading opposition parties negotiating possible coalition for the forthcoming elections, warning there are too many unknown elements due to government's slowness in reforming the electoral system.   - Government interference has made a mockery of the Macedonian Stock Exchange.   NOVA MAKEDONIJA   - Inter-ethnic tensions growing in Tetovo with the approach of the local elections.   Opposition Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PPDA) plans to take over the local government and create a crisis to destabilise the country and force the government to legalise the Albanian language and other ethnic Albanian institutions.   - The Macedonian government opts for proportional election system for councillors and majority model for the election of mayors.   The long overdue local elections will be held at least 45 days after parliament adopts the new election law.   VECER   - Drug abuse in Macedonia is alarmingly high, even ten-year old children are recruited as future addicts.   - Skopje overrun by rats due to lack of city regulations for pest extermination.   -- Skopje newsroom +389 91 201196 
225 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  NATO troops in eastern Bosnia transported tonnes of contraband Bosnian Serb ammunition and mines to pits for destruction on Tuesday, pressing on with their "Operation Volcano" mission despite local environmental concerns.   "Serb worries about the local water table have halted work in one set of pits for the moment but the operation continues in a second set of pits," NATO's Lieutenant-Colonel Max Marriner told Reuters.   "Operation Volcano is proceeding even as we respond to local environmental concerns.   Theoretically we could destroy all the material in the second set of pits or find a third site.   The material will be destroyed one way or the other."   A total of 24 tonnes of munitions were destroyed on Monday in two sets of explosions which sent columns of dirt and dust 300 metres (1,000 feet) into the air.   A routine NATO patrol discovered about 300 tonnes of small arms ammunition, anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in a schoolhouse in Margetici, near Sokolac, on August 5.   Because the Margetici site had not been declared to NATO as required by the Dayton peace agreement, NATO troops confiscated the material and prepared to destroy it.   About 2,000 NATO-led peace implementation troops were despatched to the area from Saturday to ensure Operation Volcano went ahead without risk to local citizens or the environment.   Military engineers dug two sets of blasts pits in a remote area near Margetici to contain the exploding munitions which they detonated in lots of a few tonnes each.   On Monday the Serbs complained that blasts from one set of pits might contaminate local water tables.   Blasting began in the other set of pits while NATO engineers considered the Serb complaint.   Operation Volcano is expected to continue for the rest of the week. 
226 !GCAT  Lithuanian newspapers carried the following reports in their Tuesday editions.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - The construction of the Butinge oil terminal is strangled by politics and competition.   The Lithuanian foreign ministry wants an official explanation from Latvia on Indulis Emsis, the minister for environment protection and regional development, who said that to start construction on the oil terminal in the Baltic Sea the agreement of Latvia might be necessary.   - Defence Minister Linas Linkevicius submitted his application to the central election commission to be an independent candidate in October's elections.   Linkevicius earlier this year defected from the ruling Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDLP).   - The jeep which belongs to one of the suspected leaders of Vilnius Brigade criminal group Viaceslav Zaboronok, nicknamed Kozlik, was blown up in Vilnius Monday morning.   Zaboronok was shot two weeks ago and police experts forecast a mob war in the capital.   - The LDLP abandoned its plans to initiate a referendum and gain more powers for the president.   - The Christian Democratic Party announced its election programme, suggesting a differentiated tax system under which those who earn more than 3,000 litas would pay 45 percent tax.   - The Savings Bank has closed 43 branches and 47 agencies this year.   RESPUBLIKA   - The stock exchange recorded the highest share price yet for leading commercial bank Vilniaus Bankas, whose shares reached 850 litas at the last session on Thursday.   - Russian gas firm Gazprom has threatened to raise the price of natural gas if Lithuania does not pay off its debts.   - The ruling Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party thinks it is necessary to arrange a referendum to set a permanent date for parliament elections, cut the number of members of parliament and to allow agricultural cooperatives to own land.   - A delegation from influential securities house J.P. Morgan arrived for a two-day visit to Lithuania.   - The central bank registered the statues of the new Bank of Industry and giant fertiliser plant Achema was allowed to acquire control over it.   The share capital of the bank is planned at 20 million litas.   LIETUVOS AIDAS   - The most important thing in creating the new national oil company Lietuvos Nafta is to ensure the decisive influence of the state in the firm, Energy Minister Saulius Kutas told a news conference.   He confirmed Russia's Lukoil was amongst the firms interested in buying into the company but no investor will be allowed to buy more than 33 percent of it.   VERSLO ZINIOS   - Share portfolios of 0.09 to 18.76 percent of state-owned companies will be put up for auction at the stock exchange on August 26 and 28.   - The government should make its final decision on whether to declare the troubled Vakaru Bank bankrupt or not tomorrow.   - Mazheikiu Nafta oil refinery expects the government to allow it to take a further $9.5 million loan from Merrill Lynch.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
227 !GCAT !GVIO  Thousands of civilians struggled out of the Chechen capital any way they could on Tuesday and many said Russian forces had already started carrying out a threat to bomb the city to drive out rebels.   "The whole city is on its way out.   We've been in a basement for 14 or 15 days and couldn't stand it any more," said Nina Madayeva, who added that 12 planes had bombed a district to the south west overnight.   The acting commander of Russian forces in Chechnya has given civilians until Thursday to leave.    Civilians have been trying to flee Grozny for the past two weeks, since the rebels sparked a flare-up in fighting by attacking the city.   But on Tuesday there appeared to be more than on any of the previous days.   Most of them were on foot rather than in cars and buses.   Konstantin Pulikovksy, acting commander of Russian forces in Chechnya, on Monday gave civilians 48 hours to leave before he unleashes an all-out bombardment.   He said on Tuesday that the situation could only be resolved by force.   Itar-Tass news agency quoted Pulikovsky as saying artillery had already opened up in Grozny with "pinpoint strikes" against the rebels, who control most of the city, but that aircraft were not being used. 
228 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Sarajevo press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   OSLOBODJENJE   - In undertaking Operation "Volcano" to destroy contraband Bosnian Serb ammunition, new NATO commander Admiral Joseph Lopez seems more decisive than did his predecesor Admiral Leighton Smith, says front-page commentary.   DNEVNI AVAZ   - Bosnia's federation Vice-President Ejup Ganic holds talks with Slovenia's Milan Kucan in Ljubljana on Slovenian government's recent decision to requre Bosnian citizens to obtain visas.   Ganic demands the visa requirement be lifted, arguing it damages economic ties between the two countries.   VECERNJE NOVINE   - Bosnian dinar shortage temporarily solved with additional bank notes recently printed.   Cash withrawals no longer take two weeks, says director of Bosnia's Bureau of Accounts, Husref Gazibegovic.   --Sarajevo newsroom, +387-71-663-864. 
229 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin headed for the western Russian city of Valdai on Tuesday for a two-day break outside Moscow, the presidential press service said.    "It is expected that Boris Yeltsin will return to Moscow this week where he will hold a series of meetings with members of the government," a spokesman said.   He gave no further details.   Yeltsin, 65, has not made any public appearances since his inauguration ceremony on August 9.   Aides say he suffered "colossal weariness" after his re-election campaign, but they deny he has suffered new heart trouble.   The president had been expected to start a holiday outside Moscow and Valdai, about 350 km (220 miles) northwest of the capital, had been mentioned by aides as a possible destination.   Interfax news agency quoted presidential press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky as saying Yeltsin would fly to Valdai "to see whether it is possible to spend a routine holiday there". 
230 !GCAT !GVIO  Suleiman Khadzhimuradov, a middle-aged Chechen fighter, didn't have the thousands of dollars he needed for an anti-aircraft weapon.   So with some enterprise and creativity, he made his own.   The long silver rocket he lugs around over his shoulder, several inches (cm) taller than he is, was actually salvaged from a downed Russian "crocodile" attack helicopter.   The choppers normally carry several of the deadly charges, which have menaced the guerrillas and killed countless civilians in the 20-month war between Russian troops and the separatists, battling to carve out an independent homeland.   Suleiman, typical of rebel resourcefulness and cunning in the face of the massive firepower of the Russian army, has now aimed the gun the other way.   "When a helicopter is coming in at low altitude it's not so difficult to bring it down with one of these," he says, wearing a white Moslem cap.   "Each time we can shoot one we get a chance to salvage more of them.   They can easily take out a tank too," he says.   Suleiman has added a handmade wooden handle to the bottom of the rocket to hold it in position while firing.   Not made to be fired by hand, the flame from the blast can incinerate its user.   "You have to wear this or you can be burned up instantly," he says, showing a thick rubber mask with flameproof material on the outside.   The rebels claim to have shot down at least nine Russian helicopters since they launched a massive assault on the capital Grozny two weeks ago.   They still control almost all of the city.   Suleiman says that several helicopters have been brought down with the help of rockets like his.   The gutsy tactics help explain the ineffectiveness of the Russian army throughout the conflict, despite having unlimited air power, thousands of pieces of armour, and a manpower advantage of perhaps 10 to one against the rebels.   The Chechens have no air force, perhaps a couple of dozen tanks and other heavy armour and a few artillery pieces.   Most rely on simple Kalashnikov rifles or grenade launchers, while some are lucky enough to carry ageing sub-machine guns.   The rockets are just part of an array of makeshift weapons and improvised strategies which have strengthened their arsenal.   Some rebels say they unscrew the nosecones of the shells on their grenade launchers and pour in powdered red pepper.   "If the shrapnel doesn't get them then the pepper stings their eyes and blinds them temporarily," said Abrel, another fighter.   Others stuff the back of the launchers with tightly wound cotton material.   The effect of the trapped gases works like a turbocharger, making the shell fly further, but the launcher can also blow up in the hands of the user.   Another story is how late rebel leader Dzhokhar Dudayev repeatedly pulled dummy surface-to-air missiles through parades in Grozny, thus tricking the Russians into overestimating his firepower. 
231 !GCAT  The following are the reports carried by Estonia's newspapers on Aug 20.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - STATOIL raised its motor fuel price; other fuel companies do not rule out price rises in the near future.   - The first Estonian produced mortar-bomb launcher was demonstrated to Defence Minister Andrus Oovel last Friday; the production of shells is also planned.   SONUMILEHT   - The security police deny leading a campaign against Russian activist Pyotr Rozhok or controlling a Russian-language daily in Estonia.   - Former defence forces officer Juri Kadak accuses political lobbies of having engineered the removal of General Aleksander Einseln from his post as defence forces chief and covering up an arms smuggling scandal.   - Estonia and China plan to conclude an agreement on avoiding double taxation, it was announced during Premier Tiit Vaehi's meeting with Chinese minister of state Li Tieying.   EESTI PAEVALEHT   - Police are investigating the actions of a sentry who shot and killed a conscript who was under arrest.   - President Lennart Meri is ready to meet the Development Party, which demanded that a meeting is needed to learn about his position concerning the presidential elections.   - Police chief Ain Seppik promised to dismiss two police officers, who fired their pistol in a public place in Saaremaa and endangered passers-by.   POSTIMEES   - The daily published a interview with Centre party leader Edgar Savisaar, who claims that he was the victim of a plot by powerful business and political circles when he was dismissed last year.   - The rotation of Estonian ambassadors may begin soon after written agreements have been received.   - Vaehi left for a three-day visit to Finland on Tuesday; he is to meet his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen.   ARIPAEV   - The quarrel concerning the transition of government communications to the privately-owned Eesti Telefon has lasted several months but no solution is expected.   - Deputy state prosecutor Alar Kirs claims that the article on corruption in the penal code is so inefficient as to make the pressing of charges virtually impossible.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
232 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Belgrade press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   POLITIKA   - Yugoslavia's Supreme Defence council positively assesses results achieved so far in implementation of Dayton agreement.   - The vessel Herceg Novi belonging to Jugooceanija from Kotor sinks off the coast of Singapore.   - Russian Ilyshin 76 crashes near Belgrade; breakdown of the plane's electric installations possible cause of accident according to federal transport ministry.   - Yugoslav and Croatian expert groups for humanitarian issues and missing persons to meet in Zagreb on Tuesday.   - The Government submits a bill to parliament to lower social security contributions to 21.2 percent from 25.3 and income tax to 15 from 16 percent as of October 1.   - The dinar's eight-month stability is due mainly to restrictive monetary policy, increase of foreign remittances and foreign currency inflow of Central bank and gradual revival of production.   - July average wage is 656 dinars, which is nominally up 2.3 percent on the previous month, according to the Federal Statistical Office.   - First shipment of 480 dismantled Zastava cars to leave the Port of Bar for Egypt on Wednesday: shipment worth $634,000, says Director of Zastava Automobili dd.   - Agreeement on representation of parties in the media for the federal elections signed without representatives of main opposition parties.   - Upper House of the Yugoslav Parliament sets a second session on August 29 to discuss the federal government's report on the normalisation of relations with the IMF.   - The Yugoslav trade union federation asks federal government to examine economic consequences of the recent changes in imports of oil derivatives .   BORBA   - Greece, Italy, Japan and Croatia interested in financing $300 million constructin of three hydroelectric power plants in eastern Hercegovina, says Jovo Maric director of Hydroelectric power plants on the river Trebisnjica.   NASA BORBA   - Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic says signing of mutual recognition agreement between Croatia and Yugoslavia not expected before adequate formulas for outstanding issues found.   - Serbian government submits bill on suppression of gray economy.   VECERNJE NOVOSTI   - The tobacco industry Duvanska Industrija Vranje resumes cigarette production.   U.S. firm Reynolds to provide some tax- stamp machines for stamps requred by law, in exchange for 100 tonnes of tobacco.   - There will be enough sugar for domestic needs this year and next, say experts; 270,000 tonnes of sugar expected from 72,000 hectares sown with sugar beet.   -- Belgrade newsroom, +381 11 222 4305 
233 !GCAT  Here are highlights of stories in Romania's press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   Business:   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Over August 12-19 leu's reference rate depreciated 0.28 percent against dollar and 0.42 percent against mark.   Depreciation was higher on interbank market.   - IMF June report on Romania, made available to newspaper, says unflexible exchange rate threatens macroecomic stability achieved in 1994.   ADEVARUL   - Monthly inflation jumped to 7.5 percent in July and price stability till autumn seems utopia.   - Foreign investment is low in Romania and existing red tape cannot encourage foreign investors to come to this country and stay.   - Oil refinery RAFO SA in Onesti has not been supplied crude for two weeks and management was compelled to halt processing equipment.   TINERETUL LIBER   - Chemical pollution affects some 400,000 hectares in Romania and amount of waste is now 300 million tonnes, growing by annual 75 million tonnes.   LIBERTATEA   - Milk price is expected to go up after recent energy and fuel price hikes.   CURIERUL NATIONAL   - First reactor of Romania's first nuclear power plant at Cernavoda, which will start operating at end-1996, will supply 8.0 percent of Romania's energy output.   General:   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Former premier Theodor Stolojan, present World Bank executive to arrive in Bucharest on August 23 to attend official campaign launch of President Ion Iliescu for a new presidential mandate ahead of the Nvember 3 polls.   - Beggar in western town of Arad, at border with Hungary says he earns minimum 200 marks a day when the Germans come to Romania for holidays, otherwise some 100,000 lei a day ($32).   EVENIMENTUL ZILEI   - None of the 50,000 people detained in Romania's jails is HIV infected, said the jails department.   - Gheorghe Funar, head of National Unity Party (PUNR) invites President Iliescu to a televised debate on the Romanian-Hungarian treaty which is likely to be signed in September.   CRONICA ROMANA   - National Liberal Alliance (ANL) is only centre right group, opposition Democratic Convention (CDR) and ruling Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) are centre left, says Nicolae Manolescu, ANL candidate for the November 3 presidential polls.   - Number of street children is on rise in Bucharest, said sources in the organisation "Save the Children".   Some 800 are estimated to be now in the capital, while across Romania there number is estimated at 5,000.   CURIERUL NATIONAL   - National Broadcasting Council (CNA) to set broadcast time for parties and candidates in the November 3 parliamentary and presidential elections on Thursday.   ZIUA   - State television remains major promotion agent for ruling PDSR and President Iliescu, says report by independent centre for social studies on Romania's main televisions broadcasting from the capital city of Bucharest.   ($=3,156 lei) -- Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264 
234 !GCAT  These are the main stories in Latvian newspapers on Tuesday.   Prepared for Reuters by the Co-operation Fund.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - A representative of the Latvian foreign ministry met the Lithuanian charge d'affaires Arunas Vinciunas to explain Latvia's position on the construction of the oil terminal in Butinge.   Latvia wants a joint study of the environmental affects of the project on the Baltic Sea region.   - 29 cars crashed on the road between Riga and the seaside region of Jurmala due to fog.   The accident is believed to be the second largest in Latvia's recent history.   - A majority of deputies in parliament voted against replacing deputy speaker Andris Ameriks (Democratic Party 'Saeimnieks') by Aivars Jirgens (Fatherland & Freedom).   Deputies also rejected the dismissal of Defence Minister Andrej Krastinsh and did not take a no-confidence vote against the head of the central bank Einar Repshe.   - Prime Minister Andris Shkele took part in a meeting of Latvian teachers, which focussed on plans to reform the system of paying salaries to teachers by transferring it to local governments.   Shkele wants the reform to be enforced from September 1.   DIENA   - Nine parliamentary deputies from the Chechnya support group called on parliament to recognise the independence of the break-away republic de jure and de facto.   NEATKARIGA RITA AVIZE   - After paying off a part of its debt, Latvia has recovered the right to vote in the U.N.   BIZNESS & BALTIYA   - Foreign Minister Valdis Birkavs speaks about priorities of the Latvian foreign policy, which includes more work on getting the support of Western countries for Latvia's EU and NATO entry.   - Shkele will pay an official visit to Russia at the beggining of September.   On return from Moscow, he has scheduled a visit to Iceland.   - Igor Tsonde, representative of the Singapore company Interlorg BTE in Latvia, was shot on August 18 while training in a sports hall in Jurmala.   The company he represented is one of the founders of the huge Europe Center supermarket, recently built in Riga.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
235 !GCAT  Following are the main stories in Croatian newspapers on Tuesday.   VJESNIK   - Judging by the current state of affairs we (Croatia and Yugoslavia) will be signing an agreement on mutual recognition on Friday, claims foreign minister Mate Granic.   - Bosnian diplomat Mirsad Catic apprehended by Croatian authorities, based on an arrest warrant issued by the Zadar and Knin police authorities in 1991.   VECERNJI LIST   - The price of bread has to go down, said at a regular government press conference, agriculture minister Matej Jankovic.   - The Croat-Yugoslav agreement has not been initialed, said the deputy foreign minister, Ivan Simonovic during a break in Croat-Yugoslav talks held on Monday in Belgrade.   - First post-war Croatia airlines flight to Sarajevo cancelled on Monday due to inclement weather.   - The cost of living of a Zagreb family for August down by nealy 100 kuna compared to July due to lower prices of food stuffs.   SLOBODNA DALMACIJA   - The production of oil at the Djeletovci oilfield in Eastern Slavonia to restart on Thursday, announced the INA oil company.   - The Bosnia elections can only be stopped by a fresh eruption of war, says the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) head of mission in Bosnia, Robert Frowick.   -- Zagreb Newsroom, 385-1-4557075 
236 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Federal Statistical Office reported the following economic indicator details.    YUGOSLAV UNEMPLOYMENT MAY  APRIL  MAY 1995    number seeking work 824,138  814,898  765,312    vacancies 27,337  29,044  28,645    total employed  2.08 million 2.08 million 2.11 million   NOTES -- Data do not include private sector.   Data cover rump Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising Serbia and Montenegro.   -- Gordana Kukic, Belgrade Newsroom, 38-111-222-4254 
237 !GCAT !GVIO  Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov appealed on Tuesday to Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed to prevent federal troops from using force to clear separatist fighters from the capital Grozny.   Interfax news agency quoted Maskhadov as saying that Lebed, President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy in Chechnya, should "use all of his influence to stop the approaching madness".    Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, General Konstantin Pulikovsky, vowed on Tuesday to use aircraft and heavy artillery to retake Grozny, much of which was seized by rebels on August 6.   But Lebed, who is locked in a power struggle with the interior ministry over the handling of the 20-month-old conflict, has advocated talks with the separatists and opposed aerial bombardment, which he believes could spread the fighting.   Maskhadov said the Chechen side reacted "very calmly" to Pulikovsky's warning to Grozny residents that they should abandon the city by Thursday or risk being caught up in an all-out Russian counter-offensive.   "Implementation of the threat by commander Pulikovsky will not bring glory to Russian weapons, but will only make the situation even worse, driving it into a dead end," Interfax quoted him as saying. 
238 !GCAT !GVIO  Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, General Konstantin Pulikovsky, vowed on Tuesday to oust Chechen rebels from the capital Grozny.   "Grozny will without fail be cleared of rebel fighters," Pulikovsky told Interfax news agency.    The commander was speaking after warning the people of Grozny they should leave by Thursday or risk being caught up in an all-out Russian air and ground assault against rebel positions in the city.   His remarks contrasted with the position of Kremlin security supremo Alexander Lebed, who has promoted talks with separatist representatives and opposed the use of aircraft.   Rebel fighters occupied much of Grozny on August 6.   "We do not intend to put up with the brazen and barbaric actions of illegal groups who are continuing to shoot down our helicopters, carry out bold acts of sabotage and surround Russian servicemen," Pulikovsky said.   "I see only methods of force as a way out of the situation in Grozny," he said, adding that both aircraft and heavy artillery would be used.   He believed it could take at least a month to overcome the rebels in the city. 
239 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  Hurricane Dolly slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, dumping heavy rains and whipping up rough seas although causing no reported loss of life, authorities said.   Dolly touched land 12.5 miles (20 km) south of the port of Felipe Carrillo Puerto on the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo state, the National Meterological Service said.   National radio network Radio Red reported that around 800 people had been evacuated from Punta Allen and Solidaridad, two sparsely populated communities close to where Dolly came ashore.   Dolly, the fourth weather system of this Atlantic season, packed sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kmh) and gusts of 94 mph (150 kmh) and kicked up waves of up to 13 feet (4 metres) as it rolled into flat, mainly agricultural farmland close to the border with Belize.   Officials from the Quintana Roo Civil Protection Agency said the hurricane dumped heavy rains across the region, but they had received no reports of deaths.   Quintana Roo Gov. Mario Villanueva told reporters that state emergency brigades had been sent to where Dolly touched land to ascertain damage to crops, mostly corn and beans, that are crucial to the livelihood of local residents.   Tourists at the resort here and in nearby Cozumel and Isla Mujeres appeared little troubled by the hurricane, although some complained of the overcast skies and rain.   But 29 ports in four states were closed across southern Mexico to small shipping because of the rough seas created by Dolly, the Communications and Transport Ministry said.   In Miami, the National Hurricane Centre said the storm had been downgraded again to a tropical storm by 5 p.m.   EDT (2100 GMT), and gave its location as latitude 19.5 north, longitude 88.6 west, about 120 miles (192 km) southeast of Merida, Mexico.   The storm was moving to the west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph), the centre said.   Maximum sustained winds had dropped to 60 mph (96 kph) as the storm moved over land and some further weakening was expected during the next 12 hours, forecasters said.   It was expected to move over Gulf waters early on Wednesday and to approach the Texas-Mexico border on Thursday.   Forecasters said Dolly was likely to strengthen again once it reached the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 
240 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  Argentine trade unionist rivals meeting to vote on a general strike call got into a shoot-out on Tuesday in which seven men were injured.   Television showed men in union caps taking potshots with handguns and home-made flares at a union sports center outside Buenos Aires where the unions' Central Confederal Committee was meeting for a ballot on action against the Peronist government's austerity measures.   The gunfight started after hundreds of truckers belonging to the hard-line MTA labor group tried to force their way into the debate and were blocked by officials from their much bigger long-time rival, the CGT union federation.   Hospital officials said two of the seven hurt had serious injuries, one in the chest and another in the leg.   The CGT, which led a 24-hour strike on Aug. 8 and wants a 36-hour strike next month, blamed the shooting on "outside groups who want to damage the image of the unions."   Some CGT officials openly blamed the truckers and the MTA, a dissident labor group dominated by transport workers which criticizes the CGT for being too close to President Carlos Menem and wants next month's strike to stretch to 48 hours.   CGT boss Gerardo Martinez refrained from blaming anyone, but apologized to "all the workers of our country" for the incidents and promised at a news conference the CGT leadership would resign if investigations showed they were to blame.   "I don't want to bear the responsibility for a single drop of my brother's blood," the burly construction union leader said.   MTA leader Juan Palacios alleged the CGT "orchestrated everything from inside ... to get the strike called off as ordered by President Carlos Menem."   "We are not delinquents; we are workers," said Palacios, who was at the meeting with 26 other dissident union leaders who make up just a 10th of the total of delegates.   The CGT rescheduled the strike ballot for Friday, but the success of any industrial action depends on the support of the transport unions, whose backing in the Aug. 8 strike helped bring much of Argentina to a standstill.   Unions say that stoppage was observed by 90 percent of workers, while the government termed it a 50 percent success.   The union violence plays into the hands of Menem.   Stung by their storming out of talks with employers on unemployment, Menem says they are incapable of coming up with alternatives to austerity measures aimed at narrowing a budget deficit. 
241 !GCAT !GPRO  Reigning Miss Universe, Venezuela's Alicia Machado, will keep the title even if she remains a few pounds overweight, Venezuelan beauty pageant officials said on Tuesday.   "She obviously has a weight problem which affects her swimsuit contracts but this does not mean she will be stripped of her crown," a top Miss Venezuela Organisation official told Reuters.   Machado was in the resort town of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Tuesday to attend the 1996 Miss Teen USA Pageant in her official capacity as Miss Universe, teen pageant officials said.   They said the 19-year-old Machado was there as the pageant's guest of honour, not to shed pounds.   Officials of the Los Angeles-based Miss Universe organisation declined comment on Machado's weight problem.   Machado was scheduled to make a public appearance during the teen pageant, which was to be held on Wednesday night at New Mexico State University and broadcast nationwide by CBS television, pageant officials said.   Miss Teen USA officials said Machado would not talk to reporters before the pageant and it was unclear if she would have anything to say publicly when the event was over.   Miss Venezuela officials had said on Monday that Machado had been given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to lose 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk losing the title.   She was 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall and weighed 112 pounds (51 kilos) when she became the fourth Venezuelan to win the crown in Las Vegas in May.   While the Miss Universe title "does not include any weight clauses," Machado should learn to control her appetite for the sake of her image, the pageant official said.   After she was awarded the title, Machado told reporters in Las Vegas she planned to do "something I haven't been able to do in three weeks: eat, eat, eat and sleep."   Those close to the beauty queen said she has difficulty sticking to diets and a weakness for pastas and cakes. 
242 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A "tired but apparently unharmed" Japanese electronics executive was freed by kidnappers on Monday after they received $2 million in unmarked $100 bills, government officials said.   After nine days in captivity, Mamoru Konno, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co., was found in the basement of an unoccupied building in this northern Mexican city just before 4 a.m. local time.   Jose Luis Anaya Bautista, State Attorney General of Baja California, told a news conference the end of the abduction was a two-day ordeal in which the ransom was handed over with no apparent guarantee Konno would be released.   He said on Saturday night an officer of Mexico's State Judicial Police drove a Sanyo company vehicle to the La Jolla section of Tijuana where he met two of the alleged kidnappers and handed over an envelope containing $2 million in unmarked $100 bills.   At 10 p.m. on Monday night authorities received a call from the kidnappers directing them to an area in the La Mesa district of Tijuana where they found Konno "tired but apparently unharmed" in the basement of a disused building, he said.   Anaya said police were looking for six suspects, all believed to be Mexican nationals.   "I was pleased to be able to talk to Mr. Konno and to tell him how happy we are to have him back with us safe and sound," Anaya said.   "He was very grateful to us for having helped him."   Konno was seized on Aug. 10 as he was traveling home to San Diego from a company party and baseball game in Tijuana.   He was the first high-ranking foreign executive kidnapped in Mexico in recent years and his abduction fueled fears that criminals may target some of the thousands of foreign executives who work in factories along the Mexican-U.S. border.   Sanyo North America President Moto Haru Iue said: "I express my sincere appreciation for all who helped bring about (Konno's) safe return.   Mr. Konno is in good health and relieved it's over."   But underscoring some of the doubts that have emerged since the kidnapping about the safety of working in Mexico, he said he did not know if Konno would return to work at the Tijuana plant.   "We will have to consider security first," he said.   Kidnappings are on the rise in Mexico, fueled partly by the December 1994 peso crisis and the subsequent deep recession, which threw more than a million people out of work.   Experts say amateur and professional criminal gangs, former and current policemen and leftist rebels of the self-styled Popular Revolutionary Army are among the main suspects.   Konno's release will remove a cloud over the visit to Mexico, set to begin on Tuesday, by Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.   Hashimoto will visit three other countries during a 10-day tour of Latin America.   During the ordeal, Mexican police in Baja California had said they were not involved in any efforts to free Konno, saying they had been officially notified by Sanyo of his abduction. 
243 !C24 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  State oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said Tuesday that all its key crude export ports were open.   Asked whether Pajaritos, Dos Bocas or Cayo Arcas had closed because of Caribbean tropical storm Dolly, which is approaching Mexico, a spokeswoman told Reuters: "They are all open for crude exports".   Dolly, the fourth big weather front of the Atlantic season, is picking up steam off Mexico's Caribbean coast, the National Meterological Service said earlier Tuesday.   Centered 160 km (100 miles) east of El Ubero in the southern state of Quintana Roo, Dolly currently is moving west-northwest at 22 km/h (14 mph).   --Martin Langfield, Mexico City newsroom 525 7289558 
244 !GCAT !GCRIM  Four people, including an 11-year-old girl, were shot to death execution-style in their home in a working class Sao Paulo suburb, police said on Tuesday.   The attack early on Tuesday in Guarulhos was the latest in a spate of violent crimes that has shattered middle-class tranquility in South America's largest city.   A police detective said Raimundo Oliveira da Silva, 44, his wife Sandra, 25, daughter Solange and friend Jonas Carvalho Setti, 33, were slain when five or six men broke into their home and opened fire.   Three others were injured in the hail of bullets, the detective said.   Two small children escaped injury.   News reports said Da Silva's 21-year-old son was a key suspect, but police would not confirm the reports.   The slayings were the city's 33rd multiple homocide this year, representing more than 600 deaths, radio and television reports said. 
245 !C21 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIS !GJOB !GWEA  State oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said Tuesday it had taken preventive measures against tropical storm Dolly ahead of the system's entrance into the Mexican Gulf.   "This afternoon the transfer to dry land began of workers carrying out support work on sea installations, leaving behind just operational personnel," the company said in a statement.   The actions were aimed at safeguarding the lives of workers and protecting offshore installations, Pemex said.    "Pemex authorities will be watching the trajectory and intensity of this weather system in order to apply other emergency actions, as happened in October last year because of the presence of the hurricanes Opal and Roxanne in the area," the company said.   --Martin Langfield, Mexico City newsroom 525 7289558 
246 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The constitutional committee of Peru's congress approved Tuesday a proposal that opens the way for President Alberto Fujimori to stand for a third consecutive term in office in the country's presidential elections in 2000.   "With this project we are making it possible for the best candidate, whether that is Fujimori or not, to have the option of entering a future electoral process," said Jorge Trelles, who sits on the constitutional committe and forms part of the government's alliance in congress.    Under Peruvian law, a president, who has been elected for two consecutive terms in office, cannot run in the following election.   But the congressional committee, where the government has a majority, voted Tuesday 9-6 in favor of a interpretation that means Fujimori's first term in office will not be taken into account should he wish to stand for re-election.   Fujimori was elected president in 1990 and again in 1995.   But after he dissolved parliament in 1992, a new constitution was written the following year by a reformulated congress.    The congressional committee upheld Tuesday that only elections under the new constitution had validity when an incumbent president wished to put himself forward as a candidate for the next term.   The government proposal will now be put on Thursday to a vote of congress' full chamber, where the government's comfortable majority is expected to approve the constitutional committee's interpretation.   -- Saul Hudson, Lima newsroom, 511 221-2134 REUTER SH 
247 !C13 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT  Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso has signed a decree reducing to 35 percent the import tariffs on 50,000 cars to be imported from Japan, South Korea and the European Union over the next 12 months.   Under the terms of the decree, Japan will be entitled to 47.5 percent of the 50,000 quota, while South Korea and the EU will be allowed 33.1 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively.    Japan, South Korea and the EU, as well as the United States and Canada have begun formal consultations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) arguing that a Brazilian regime for the auto industry is against WTO rules.   Under the terms its regime, Brazil levies a 70 percent tariff on imports of vehicles from manufacturers without a production base in the country.   Companies based in Brazil may import at 35 percent.    The decree "represents a pragmatic and acceptable solution to reduce differences of opinion over the basic points of the regime, under the ambit of the WTO," according to a copy of its text distributed to reporters late on Tuesday.   Last week, an official at Brasilia's Japanese Embassy said Japan was unsatisfied with terms now included in the decree.   Frederico Alves, executive secretary of the Brazilian government's Foreign Trade Chamber said the decree was a unilateral offer that could be revovked.   "We hope to resolve in the short term the questions raised against Brazil's automotive regime," he told reporters.    The decree concluded that the concession would be withdrawn if any member of the WTO decided to take their objections to the regime to a dispute-resolution stage.   -- William Schomberg, Brasilia newsroom 5561 2230358 
248 !GCAT !GVIO  An opposition politician and another man were killed by unknown assailants on Tuesday at the politician's house in a Port-Au-Prince suburb, acccording to local radio stations.   A United Nations spokesman in Haiti, Eric Falt, confirmed that two men had been shot but could not confirm that the politician, Pasteur Antoine Leroy, was dead.    Pasteur is considered the number two man in the opposition Mobilization for the National Development (MDN).   Radio Metropole and Radio Kiskeya named Paster but not the other victim.   "Ten armed man in two vehicles shot and killed two civilians," Falt said.   "One of the victims was handcuffed before he was killed."   Haitian national police and international police trainers rushed to the scene of the attack, according to Falt.   UN officials characterized the MDN party as closely associated with former members of the Haitian military.   The assassination followed an attack at the Port-Au-Prince police station (on) Monday which was believed to have been carried out by ex-military personnel.   One civilian was killed in that attack. 
249 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Haitian President Rene Preval on Tuesday visited the Port-au-Prince police station, the scene of a Monday morning attack by unidentified men wearing military uniforms.   "There was shooting near the residence of (former President Jean-Bertrand) Aristide as well," Preval said.   Police officers at the station said things were returning to normal after an attack by some 20 men in military fatigues.   The men threw grenades and fired automatic weapons, killing a shoeshine worker who was caught in the crossfire.   "Everyone has calmed down, although now we are increasing security," said one officer who works at the station.   "We are increasing all our patrols and investigating to determine who was responsible," police spokesman Felder Jean-Baptiste told a news conference on Monday night.   He said the attackers dressed like the former military and wielded heavy weapons but he could not say who they were as they had all escaped.   The Haitian military was disbanded by Aristide in January, 1995, shortly after he was restored to power by U.S. troops.   He was ousted in 1991 in a bloody military coup.   The Haitian National Police replaced the military as the nation's security force.   Former soldiers have been marching in the capital, angry that they no longer receive a paycheck.   Police initially said Monday's attack on the police station lasted about an hour but have since trimmed that estimate.   Jean-Baptiste said the attack lasted half an hour, U.N. spokesman Eric Falt said it lasted fifteen minutes, and local newspapers have reported that it raged for five minutes. 
250 !GCAT !GDIS  At least 22 people were killed and another 20 hurt in Ecuador on Tuesday when a cement truck crashed into roadside food stalls installed for a religious procession.   A judge from the district of Loja, 400 miles (645 km) south of the capital Quito, confirmed that 22 were dead, but some of the 20 wounded died later in a hospital, local radio reported.   The truck smashed into more than 20 food stalls, which had been placed along the road in preparation for an early morning procession to honour the Virgin Mary, killing those inside.   The driver fled the scene of the accident. 
251 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  Hurricane Dolly forced the closure of 29 Mexican ports, largely just to small vessels, the Communications and Transport Ministry said Tuesday.   The ministry said the ports closed included five in Tabasco states, seven in Campeche, 10 in Yucatan and seven in Quintana Roo.   It did not name the ports.   Earlier Tuesday, Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos said none of its crude ports in the south of the country had been affected by Dolly, the fourth big weather front of the Atantic season,   --Chris Aspin, Mexico City newsroom (525) 7289530. 
252 !GCAT !GCRIM  Daredevil Frenchman Alain "Spiderman" Robert, famous for scaling tall buildings around the world, was arrested on Tuesday as he attempted to climb a 35-floor building in Rio de Janeiro, police said.   Robert had reached the fifth floor of the building in Rio's Barra da Tijuca beachfront neighbourhood when security guards stopped him, a police spokesman said.   O Globo television showed Robert slipping away from the guards when they led him out of the building, which is still under construction.   He then made another bid to scale the towering structure.   Police finally arrived and arrested him.   The Frenchman was charged with disturbing the peace and was to appear in court on Sept. 3.   He could be jailed for two months if found guilty.   It was his second attempt at climbing a landmark building in Rio in the last three days.   He successfully scaled a 38-floor building on Sunday in the city centre.   Robert, a father of three, began mountain climbing in the Alps 20 years ago and in 1994 decided to tackle man-made structures without any equipment, safety belts or ropes.   His exploits to date include New York's Brooklyn Bridge, San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, London's Canary Wharf and the Tour de Montparnasse in Paris. 
253 !GCAT !GDIP  Argentine President Carlos Menem was scheduled to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday morning to start official visits to Malaysia and Indonesia, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.   Menem was to be accompanied by Foreign Minister Guido Di Tella and a business delegation.   Menem's agenda in Malaysia included meetings with the Petronas oil company and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.   He was to leave on Monday for Indonesia and for a meeting with President Suharto. 
254 !GCAT !GVIO  Coca growers in Colombia's Putumayo province agreed on Tuesday to stop protesting the government's drug crop eradication programme after officials promised increased aid for crop substitution and other benefits.   Tens of thousands of peasants have staged mass protests in three southern provinces since mid-July, blocking roads and clashing with security forces to protest the eradication of what they say is their only viable source of income.   At least six people have been killed in outbreaks of violence stemming from the protests so far and the situation in Putumayo was aggravated by a wave of crippling attacks by leftist guerrillas against government oil installations there.   Eduardo Diaz Uribe, head of a government commission sent to Putumayo to negotiate a peace accord, said Tuesday's agreement included a pledge of stepped-up aid for crop substitution in the area.   The government also promised to increase spending on public works projects in the impoverished province and to guarantee the protection of human rights there, Diaz told reporters.   Details of the agreement were not immediately available but the emphasis on human rights was seen as signalling that no action would be taken against leaders of the protest.   Government and military officials say the demonstrations in Putumayo and neighbouring Caqueta and Guaviare provinces have been orchestrated by leftist rebels who make millions of dollars a year protecting drug farms and laboratories in the jungle-covered south.   As proof of the alleged guerrilla role in the protests, officials said one of the lead negotiators for coca leaf growers in Putumayo was a local commander of the country's top rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.   Military officials said rebels also instigated a clash on Monday in Caqueta in which one person was killed and more than 30 injured in a pitched battle between protesters and security forces outside the provincial capital of Florencia.   Protesters in Caqueta demanded the presence on Tuesday of Interior Minister Horacio Serpa to help negotiate peace there but there was no immediate response from the government.   The government, under heavy pressure from the United States to wipe out tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of illegal coca and opium poppy crops this year, has vowed that it will continue spraying illicit drug fields from the air with the herbicide glyphosate. 
255 !E11 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  The ruling Communist Party said on Tuesday that Cuba's economic crisis had generated uncertainty, contradictions and increased crime in society and weakened popular support for one-party socialist rule.   It was a rare public admission of diminished support by the party, which previously insisted it enjoyed near-unanimous backing among the island's 11 million inhabitants.   The party's Central Committee said in a political analysis that economic reforms introduced to counter the recession caused by the collapse of trade and aid ties with the former Soviet bloc had created social inequalities.   This, in turn, has led to "contradictions" such as "a weakening of support for the Revolution in some social groups and persons, above all in those who attribute the cause of the crisis to our mistakes," the party said.   Other effects listed in the analysis, published in the official newspaper Granma, included an increase in crimes against state and personal property and the appearance of "entities not committed to state or government action," an apparent reference to emerging private-sector groups.   The party said it had noted some Cubans searching "in other societies for the solution to aspirations of wellbeing and consumption" -- that is, wanting to leave the country.   In addition, the economic crisis has created "feelings of insecurity, fear, suspicion, confusion, disillusionment, searching for paths of personal salvation, exacerbation of individualism and selfishness," the document said.   "The majority of the population and Cuban workers do not see a return to capitalism as the solution to our problems."   But many Cubans do not fully understand that economic reforms being introduced to beat the crisis need to be gradual, orderly and managed, it said.   It said a significant number of Cubans had doubts about the efficiency of socialism in providing goods and services.   Others saw the reforms as a "supposed surrender to capitalism and its economic formulas," it said, adding, "This view is not only mistaken but unfair."   Cuba's leaders have made clear that only "elements of capitalism" are being introduced, such as management, financing and market techniques, the document said. 
256 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  Argentina's main CGT trade union federation said Tuesday it had rescheduled for August 23 a vote on whether to stage a general strike after postponing the ballot because of a gunfight among members of rival unions.   CGT chief Gerardo Martinez, speaking at a news conference, declined to say who he believed was responsible for the violence in which five people were injured.   But he promised to resign if the instigators were not found and brought to justice.    Martnez had called the meeting of the Central Confederal Committee of unions Tuesday for a vote on a proposed 36-hour general strike next month to protest the Peronist government's austerity moves, following up a 24-hour strike on Aug. 8.   The dissident MTA union, which accused Martnez of being too close to the Peronist government, wants a 48-hour strike.   The gunfire erupted when MTA members, including truck drivers, were blocked from entering a union leisure center outside Buenos Aires where the vote was due to take place.   MTA officials were among those inside, making up 27 of the 270 union officials scheduled to vote.    Television footage showed men in white MTA caps shooting with handguns and firing flares from a sports field near the building where unions leaders were set to debate.   CGT and MTA officials swapped accusations of blame for the shoot-out.   CGT official Ral Amn said truckers' leader Hugo Moyano provoked the violence by taking hundreds of followers to the meeting, while MTA leader Juan Palacios told reporters the CGT "orchestrated everything from inside...to get the strike called off as ordered by President Carlos Menem."   "We are not delinquents; we are workers," said Palacios.   "It was the CGT that called the Confederal Committee, so it should guarantee the safety of everyone there."   The CGT's Martnez started the news conference by "asking publicly for the forgiveness of all the workers of our country for these incidents."   He blamed the violence on "tiny sectors trying to spoil the image we all want for Argentine unions."   But he promised he and the CGT leadership would step down if it were proved that the CGT had any role in the violence: "If the courts cannot clear up the facts, I don't want to bear the responsibility for single drop of my brothers' blood."   -- Stephen Brown, Buenos Aires Newsroom, +541 318-0695 
257 !GCAT !GCRIM  A boy aged about eight was involved in a bank robbery in Sao Paulo, Brazilian police said on Tuesday.   A Sao Paulo police spokesman said the boy and two gunmen raided a bank in the city's upmarket Itaim-Bibi neighbourhood on Monday and got away with 83,000 reais ($83,000).   The two men overwhelmed guards, while the boy took money from the cash tills and stuffed it in a bag.   The robbers took the bank manager and a female employee hostage to get out of the bank and let them go before escaping by car, the spokesman said.   "The violence does not cease to surprise us," O Globo newspaper quoted police officer Alexandre Viana as saying.   "First it was middle class teenagers and now we have a child involved in an assault." 
258 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  A Roman Catholic church newspaper alleged on Tuesday that the "highest circles of power" in Mexico were behind the 1994 murder of ruling party presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio.   The bimonthly newspaper Nuevo Criterio, an official publication of the Archdiocese of Mexico, said in an unusually outspoken editorial that the Colosio slaying was clearly a plot and not the work of a lone gunman.   "The resources used to carry out the crime, but especially the way it was handled afterwards, make it clear that ... the mastermind was in the highest circles of power," it said.   It added, without directly accusing Mexico's former president: "There is much evidence of the violent and vengeful way in which ex-president (Carlos) Salinas de Gortari resolved his difficulties with other people."   Salinas denied any involvement in the killing.   Authorities last year said he was not being investigated in relation to the crime but might be called to testify.   Salinas left Mexico in disgrace last year following the arrest of his brother on murder charges and lives in Ireland.   The newspaper alleged the March 23, 1994 slaying of Colosio -- Salinas' hand-picked successor, who had been widely expected to win August 1994 presidential elections -- was the work of "someone who had more than enough reasons to get rid of an uncomfortable and independent candidate."   The Roman Catholic church in Mexico is not generally known for such pronouncements on public affairs.   Many Mexicans sazid they believe Salinas was involved in the Colosio slaying, the most serious political assassination in Mexico in half a century, because Colosio was not obeying instructions from the man who gave him the candidacy.   But sceptics pointed out that the killing undermined Salinas' presidency, caused massive capital outflows and damaged his international image, making his involvement unlikely.   The newspaper praised Attorney General Antonio Lozano of the opposition National Action Party, sectors of which have ties to the church, for his efforts to solve the crime.   An alleged second gunman in the case was acquitted last week for lack of evidence, leaving just one man -- Mario Aburto Martinez -- in prison for the killing.   In a telephone conversation from prison with his father, broadcast on Tuesday by radio station Radio Red, Aburto said he feared for his life and accused authorities of torture to make him confess to shooting Colosio.   "They want to make people think I am mad and that I killed myself," Aburto told his father, who lives in Los Angeles.   There was no immediate official comment on his charges. 
259 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Cuba demanded on Tuesday that the United States hand back four Cubans who hijacked planes to flee the island, saying failure to do so could jeopardise existing immigration accords between the two countries.   The Cuban Foreign Ministry criticised what it described as Washington's "traditionally concealing and weak attitude" towards such acts and its failure to return the four Cubans involved in two separate hijacking incidents, one in July and another last Friday.   "Only a firm and energetic attitude of rejection of these acts of piracy and the return of the pirates to Cuba can discourage the repetition of acts of this nature," the ministry said in a statement.   It was the second Cuban statement in two days criticising the U.S. government for its handling of incidents involving Cubans who fled the communist-ruled island illegally to seek asylum in the United States.   Havana wants Washington to abide by accords signed in 1994 and 1995 under which illegal Cuban emigrants picked up at sea or who cross to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in eastern Cuba should be returned to the island.   The latest statement signalled growing Cuban irritation against the United States, but it did not mention Havana's decision last week to expel a U.S. diplomat, Robin Meyer, and Washington's retaliatory expulsion of a Cuban diplomat Monday.   The expulsions added further tension to a relationship strained by Cuba's shooting down of two U.S. planes last February 24 and the introduction in March of U.S. legislation aimed at curbing foreign investment in Cuba.   Cuba was angry that the United States had not handed back a former Interior Ministry officer, Jose Fernandez Pupo, who hijacked a Cuban commercial plane at gunpoint July 7 and sought asylum in the Guantanamo Bay base.   In Friday's hijacking three Cubans forced the pilot of a small plane used for tourist trips to fly towards the west coast of Florida, where the aircraft ditched in the Gulf of Mexico.   After being rescued, the hijackers asked for asylum, while the pilot said he wanted to return home.   The Cuban Foreign Ministry described Pupo as a "traitor" and the three latest hijackers as "terrorists" and "delinquents."   It said the three had used a gun and knives.   "Cuba demands the immediate return of all the hijackers," the ministry said, adding they should be tried in Cuban courts.   It said that if the U.S. authorities chose to adopt a "weak attitude" to such incidents, they would be responsible for "the consequences this could have for the security of persons and air and naval traffic in the region".   If Washington failed to honour the immigration accords, "this would undoubtedly constitute an important encouragement of air piracy and other criminal acts aimed at illegal emigration" from Cuba, the ministry statement said. 
260 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GVIO  Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo was quoted on Tuesday as saying more than two-thirds of government spending in Colombia was absorbed by the country's military and judicial system.   "To give you an idea of how things stand, let it suffice to say that 70 percent of the (government"s) operating costs go to defence and justice," Ocampo said in an interview with Bogota's El Espectador newspaper.   He did not detail the costs, but said much of the military spending was associated with maintaining what he described as a "very expensive" pension system for the armed forces.   President Ernesto Samper proposed a "war tax" to Congress to help shore up the military in its fight against leftist guerrillas, drug lords and organised crime.   The tax, which Samper referred to as a "public security contribution" in a speech earlier this month, would involve a one-time levy of 0.5 percent against the liquid assets of anyone worth more than $88,000.   The government hoped to raise $500 million through the tax for military expenditures, including the purchase of helicopter gunships.   Ocampo did not refer to the tax in his interview with El Espectador.   But he hinted the government was eyeing other possible formulas to increase private sector support of the armed forces.   "This matter shouldn't be handled exclusively by the government," he said.   "We need to hold a public debate on the amount of money that is assigned to the armed forces."   Despite the high level of government spending, Ocampo said the military was poorly equipped to deal with guerrillas.   Armed Forces commander Adm. Holdan Delgado and Army chief Gen. Harold Bedoya said in interviews published over the weekend that Colombia's guerrilla war could be won militarily, despite what Western military experts described as mounting evidence to the contrary.   But Delgado said the military had 35 helicopters for operational troop lifts -- the same number the U.S. military uses to support a single brigade.   And Bedoya complained the country "ought to have at least 360,000 soldiers, and it has less than a third of that."   Western military experts said the Colombia army, which is primarily foot-driven, has about 120,000 troops in its five divisions across the country.   No more than 100,000 are in a forward combat capacity. 
261 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  A final vote to select Surinam's next president will take place on Sept. 5, National Assembly Registrar Edmund Bleau said on Tuesday.   The ballot of the 869-member United Peoples Assembly (VVV) will bring to an end more than three months of uncertainty about the former Dutch colony's next government, Bleau said.   A simple majority of the VVV, which includes regional and municipal councilors, is sufficient to name a president.   Neither the ruling New Front coalition of President Ronald Venetiaan nor the National Democratic Party of former military strongman Desi Bouterse secured enough votes in May 23 national general elections to form a government.   Despite several weeks of political bargaining, Venetiaan and Jules Wijdenbosch, Bouterse's right-hand man during the military regime of the 1980s, failed to muster the necessary two-thirds majority of the National Assembly necessary to become president in two votes earlier this month.   Venetiaan was elected president at a VVV meeting in 1991.   The South American country's 400,000 inhabitants have endured two military coups, seven years of dictatorship and widespread guerrilla activity in the last two decades 
262 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  Several Argentine trade unionists were injured in a gunfight on Tuesday outside a meeting due to vote on whether to hold a general strike next month, local media reported.   The state-run news agency Telam said seven were injured in two outbursts of gunfire at a union leisure center outside Buenos Aires.   Truck drivers' union leader Hugo Moyano said at least four of his colleagues were injured and were taken to a hospital.   Television reporters at the scene said security guards refused entry to the meeting to about 300 members of the truck drivers' union, then opened fire on them.   They said unionists appeared to have fired back.   The Central Confederal Committee of unions was scheduled to vote at the meeting near Ezeiza international airport on proposals for a second general strike against the Peronist government's austerity measures.   It would follow a 24-hour stoppage that took place on Aug. 8.   The main CGT labor federation, which is normally close to President Carlos Menem's government but led the first strike, wants a 36-hour strike in September while other, more hardline unions want a 48-hour stoppage.   CGT chief Gerardo Martinez, speaking to local radio, blamed the gunfight on "outside groups who want to damage the image of the unions." 
263 !GCAT !GCRIM  A rash of senseless killings and other violent criminal acts has shaken Sao Paulo's middle classes, which are increasingly being struck by drug-related crimes spilling out of city slums.   "CRIME - No one is safe," screamed this week's cover of Brazil's leading news magazine Veja.   The warning was printed over a photo of 23-year-old college student Adriana Ciola, killed last week when assailants stopped outside a bar they had just robbed and fired randomly through a window.   Police in South America's largest city blame much of the violence on roaming bands of "crack" addicts who find students and the elderly an easier target than armed rivals inside Sao Paulo's sprawling shantytowns.   Poverty and the city's 16 percent unemployment rate also contribute to the problem.   But authorities are at a loss to explain the degree of cruelty in much of the recent violence.   A 73-year-old attorney was critically injured this month when two men set him on fire for refusing to disclose the location of a safe.   The assailants also played Russian roulette with his wife and burned her arms with a hot poker.   Two weeks ago, four men broke into a 61-year-old woman's house, locked her in the bathroom, searched for valuables and then set the house ablaze.   The woman managed to escape serious injury.   Long accustomed to distancing themselves from rival city Rio de Janeiro's violent reputation, Sao Paulo residents are mobilising against a crime wave whose vicious nature is uncommon even by Rio standards.   "Violence is hitting the middle class and we want to mobilise residents and the authorities (to stop it)," said Carlos Eduardo Lima, an organiser of "Sao Paulo Reacts," a community drive begun on Monday to curb crime.   Taking its name from an anti-crime drive in Rio last year, the Sao Paulo effort seeks to unite businesses, workers, schools and community groups to make streets safer.   Brazilians are not strangers to crime.   Murder is the leading cause of death among men aged 20-29 and it accounts for about 38 percent of deaths among teens aged 14-19.   The Justice Ministry says 31 of every 100,000 Brazilians is murdered, compared to 20 per 100,000 in Mexico and 10 per 100,000 in the United States.   Most of the violence takes place in slums at a safe distance from middle-income communities, but because it is striking more vocal groups crime is becoming a leading issue in the city's upcoming municipal elections.   The gruesome news accounts of torture and cold-blooded killings have renewed calls for stiffer sentencing of minors, who up to the age of 21 cannot be tried for murder.   Some residents have even called for implementing the death penalty, a punishment frowned upon in most Latin American nations. 
264 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  Argentine unions called off Tuesday's meeting due to vote on whether to hold a general strike next month after a gunfight in which at least four members of a truck drivers' union were injured.   Francisco Gutierrez of the main CGT labor federation told reporters the meeting at a union leisure center outside Buenos Aires had been suspended.   The CGT said there would be a news conference later in the day.   Truckers' leader Hugo Moyano, whose union members were shot at while trying to enter the meeting, said four of his colleagues had been injured, one in the chest.    The meeting of the Central Confederal Committee of unions had been called to vote on proposals to hold a second general strike against the Peronist government's austerity measures, to follow a 24-hour stoppage that took place August 8.   The CGT, which has usually been close to the government but led the last general strike, wants a 36-hour stoppage next month, while more hardline union federations such as the MTA, to which the truckers belong, want it to last 48 hours.   Television footage showed men in civilian dress among the MTA unionists shooting with handguns and flares at the union sports complex near Ezeiza international airport.   But Moyano, who was inside the building where the debate was due to take place, said afterwards that CGT officials had refused entry to his union colleagues who had "just come to listen," and blamed the CGT for the shootings.   "First we are going to see our wounded colleagues, then we will see what we do," the truckers' leader told reporters.   CGT chief Gerardo Martinez ruled out the idea that any CGT member was armed and blamed the gunfire on "outside groups who want to damage the image of the unions and make us look like gangsters."   President Carlos Menem's Chief of Staff Alberto Kohan said the government was "very worried" about the incident.   "People who take part in gunfights do not represent the workers, they are delinquents," Kohan told reporters.   August 8's general strike, which unions say was observed by 90 percent of Argentine workers but the government argues was only a 50 percent success, was marred by violence on a lesser scale when police clashed with unions after preventing them from setting up makeshift soup kitchens in city squares.   -- Stephen Brown, Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0695 
265 !E21 !E211 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Panama's Congress voted to abolish a 15 percent tax on foreign sales in the free-trade zone introduced last July while retaining the tax on local sales, a Trade Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.   The single-house, 72-member Congress voted unanimously Monday to rescind the tax which merchants claimed hurt their businesses, the spokesman said.   The tax generated some $30 million in revenues, he added.   The free-trade zone's 1,500 merchants staged four work stoppages over the past year protesting the tax which required they make advance payments based on estimated earnings.   The repeal is expected to be effective Jan. 1 after it is signed by President Ernesto Perez Balladares.   -- Laurens Grant, Panama City newsroom, 507 2237739 
266 !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly, the fourth big weather front of the Atlantic season, is picking up steam off Mexico's Caribbean coast, National Meterological Service said Tuesday.   Centered 160 km (100 miles) east of El Ubero in the southern state of Quintana Roo, Dolly currently is moving west-northwest at 22 km/h (14 mph).   "It is expected that Tropical Storm Dolly becomes steadily stronger in the next six hours and that it will hit land between Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Punta Allen in the state of Quintana Roo in the next six to 10 hours," the service said.    Estimations are that Dolly will touch land with maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h (63 mph) and gusts of 120 km/h (75 mph) and waves up to four meters along the coasts of Quintana Roo and Yucatan states.   Heavy rains of more than seven cm (two inches) are expected to be dumped in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Campeche with landslides in Tabasco and Chiapas, the service said in an update.   States of alert were declared to shipping and inhabitants along the coast between Chetumal in Quintana Roo to Puerto Progreso in Yucatan state.   Weather forecasters also said alerts were posted along the northern coast of Belize.   Weathermen from the Mexican TV network Televisa said Dolly was likely to cleave through the Yucatan peninsula and emerge in the Gulf of Mexico.   From there, Dolly could pave its way westward toward Mexico's Veracruz and Tamaulipas coasts or veer more northerly toward southern Texas, they predicted.   --Chris Aspin, Mexico City newsroom (525) 7289530 
267 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Private firms located in Sao Paulo state laid off 5,131 employees between August 5 and August 10, a spokesman for the Sao Paulo State Industries Federation (Fiesp) said.   In the previous week, Sao Paulo's industries fired 6,297 workers.   Eight out of the 46 sectors included in the survey hired new workers and 13 dismissed personnel in the period.   Twenty-five maintained their staff unchanged, he said   So far this year, Sao Paulo industries have laid off 121,017 workers or 5.61 percent of the Sao Paulo's industrial workforce, the spokesman said.   In the last 12 months, Sao Paulo firms have fired 275,213 workers, or 11.91 percent of Sao Paulo's industrial workforce, he added.   -- Romina Nicaretta, Sao Paulo newsroom, 55-11-2324411. 
268 !GCAT !GCRIM  Under Nicaragua's archaic penal code, a woman who cheats on her spouse can be jailed for two years, the same sentence that a jealous husband could face if he killed his wife.   Nicaraguan lawmakers recently took the first steps to overhaul the country's outdated penal code, although legal experts said there is still a long way to go in placing women's rights alongside a man's honour.   "The penal code is totally sexist.   In its defence of the father's honour it sacrifices the rights of women and children," said Angela Rosa Acevedo of the private Centre for Constitutional Rights.   Legislators last week voted to modernise family violence laws and scrap adultery as a crime for women.   The bill still must be signed by President Violeta Chamorro before it becomes law, but lawyers praised the move as a good first step.   "(That) was the first step in the separation of law and morality in our society," said Sergio Cuaresma, a penal expert.   Currently, a woman can be sentenced to two years in prison for adultery, while a man can have as many lovers as he wants, punishable only when "he keeps a mistress within the marital home or in a public fashion that causes a scandal," the law says.   If a man murders his wife and/or her lover in the heat of passion after catching them "in the act," he can face two to five years in prison.   He faces a similar term if he kills a man he catches in bed with his daughter, if she is under 21 years old.   Dueling among men is still legal.   "The penal code needs to be changed because it collides head on with constitutional principles and has no relevance to the problems now facing Nicaraguan society," Cuaresma said.   The code even requires a man's approval if a woman is to have an abortion to protect her health, the only kind of abortion legal in Nicaragua, according to Acevedo.   While more outdated parts of the law are not adhered to, some cases are successfully brought to court based on the code, legal experts said.   Nicaragua's Supreme Court is currently demanding an "urgent" reform of this "legal museum piece" to bring the country into the modern era, Acevedo said. 
269 !E21 !E212 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Japan will extend credits worth $940 million to Mexico during this week's visit by Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hasimoto, a Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.   Juan Rebolledo Gout, an undersecretary in the Foreign Ministry, said the credits -- aimed at ecological projects, small- and medium-sized firms and Mexican exporters -- would be signed by Mexican and Japanese officials on Wednesday.   He gave no details of the breakdown for each loan, or the terms.   The support comes as Hashimoto seeks to open up a new trade front for Japanese industry in Latin America.   Tokyo has already pumped nearly $60 billion in direct investment into the region over the past 14 years and its economic aid doubled between 1990 and 1995 to $1.14 billion.   Mexico marks the first stop on a five-nation, 10-day tour that will also take him to Chile, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica.   A potential cloud was lifted on Monday from Hashimoto's visit to Mexico when kidnappers released a top Japanese electronics executive in the Mexican-U.S. border city of Tijuana after a $2 million ransom was paid.   After nine days in captivity, Mamoru Konno, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co was found in the basement of an unoccupied building after a Mexican police official contacted kidnappers with the money.   It was the first kidnapping of a high-ranking foreign businessman in Mexico in recent years, and has sparked fears that foreigners will re-think investment plans for the bustling trade zones along the U.S. border.   The foreign ministry official was quoted by the state news agency Notimex as saying President Ernesto Zedillo would discuss the kidnapping with Hashimoto, and assure him Konno's life was his government's top priority.   The Japanese premier is also expected to seek assurances from Zedillo about safety for Japanese firms that move to Mexico to take advantage of access to the U.S. and Canadian markets via the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
270 !GCAT !GENV  Ernesto Saqui warns visitors to the world's first jaguar reserve: "You may not see them but they will be watching you.   They are everywhere."   For these legendary hunters, revered by the Mayan Indians for their prowess and power, are notoriously elusive prowlers in the lush forests where they roam free.   "They are potentially capable of killing humans but they have never done so," says the director of the Cockscomb Basin wildlife sanctuary in the heart of the lush Central American land of Belize wedged between Mexico and Guatemala.   Saqui also warns the 7,000 eager visitors who trek into the sanctuary every year to experience the jaguar's jungle habitat that sightings of the magnificent beast are very rare indeed.   "Jaguars are very shy as they are solitary and elusive.   They prefer to be away from people," said Saqui, sitting outside his simple thatched cottage where he lives at the edge of the sanctuary.   But he has seen the raw power of the jaguar up close.   "It took my dog in the middle of the night.   I saw the jaguar under the lights but couldn't get out in time to save the dog," he said.   He has no qualms about bringing up his two tiny children in this Garden of Eden that is an environmentalist's paradise.   "They are 100 times safer here than they would be on the streets of New York.   The natural world offers such peace," said the Mayan Indian who was once a schoolteacher but now runs the 100,000 acre (40,500 hectare) sanctuary.   He is also forgiving: "Most jaguars that prey on domestic animals are sick.   They may have a broken canine (tooth) or a paralysed eye so they turn to easier prey."   He is in awe of the creature that means so much to his Mayan people.   "In the last year, I have seen three jaguars.   Whenever you see one, there is a great sense of satisfaction.   It is something sacred and very personal.   "For the Mayans, the jaguar symbolises power.   We never used to kill jaguar except for the village induction of a leader.   The blood was smeared on the head of the chief to give him strength," he said.   The Belize government banned jaguar hunting in 1974 but ranchers and hunters kept poaching them.   Then in 1982, pioneering young wildlife researcher Alan Rabinowitz came from New York to track where the jaguar might be thriving most.   In two years of research, he managed to radio-collar six jaguars.   He almost lost his life when the plane he was flying in to track them crashed into the jungle.   He was lucky to escape with just a broken nose.   Armed with his scientific data, Belize opened the world's first jaguar reserve in 1986.   "At the time there were just 20 left in the region.   Now there are 60 to 80," said Saqui with a justifiable note of pride in his voice.   But he warned: "In future the jaguar could become extinct in some areas, particularly in Guatemala and El Salvador.   Development leads to destruction of its habitat."   The jaguar, the largest spotted cat in the world, once roamed the Americas from Arizona to Argentina.   Saqui said that today environmentalists can give no accurate figures on how many are left.   With its dish-like eyes and sight six times more acute than a human's, the jaguar is a fearsome killing machine.   With its lithe body, sharp pointed teeth and powerful shoulders, its name derived from the Mayan Indian word "yaguar" which means "He who kills with one leap."   Walking through its rainforest habitat, it is easy to imagine you are being watched as dappled sunlight filters through the thick canopy of trees.   "The jaguars are everywhere.   They follow you and are curious.   They see you more than you see them," Saqui said.   After a day spent walking the trails and bathing under forest waterfalls, visitors can spend the night in simple and cheap cabins.   The first noise to greet you at dawn is the distinctive roar of the black howler monkeys which have been successfully re-introduced into the sanctuary after being virtually wiped out by yellow fever, poachers and a devastating hurricane.   Saqui wants to convince the world that what he sees as a corner of heaven on earth is worth saving.   "If we are not careful, there will be nothing left.   I would not want to live anywhere else.   It is very, very peaceful.   To live at the edge of a forest is wonderful." 
271 !GCAT !GODD  Forget the Zapatistas and other gun-toting Mexican guerrillas.   The real revolution is taking place in the tortilla.   Luxury tortilla stores might not sound like the breeding grounds of revolution, but for many they mark a first step to dismantling a food subsidy system that has helped quell hunger and unrest.   For decades, Mexico has paid subsidies now totalling at least $1 billion per year to keep the price of the cherished corn pancake within the means of even the dirt-poor.   But now upscale stores in swanky suburbs of Mexico City are allowed to sell machine-made-to-measure tortillas fit for bourgeois bellies -- at uncontrolled prices.   "They are tortillas par excellence," says Deputy Trade Minister Eugenio Carrion Rodriguez, explaining why price controls have been lifted for the gourmet pancakes.   He said stores wanting to sell them without price controls have to pass 30 quality control tests including the use of purified water, stainless steel machinery, special packaging and staff uniforms.   Traditional tortillas, ground from corn often in ways unchanged from pre-Colombian times, are pegged rigidly at 1.40 peso (18 cents) per kilo.   The new premium tortillas cost up to 3 pesos (40 cents), well over double the controlled price.   "They have a cleaner, more uniform taste," said Claudia Fernandez, a housewife who calls herself middle-class and who has started to buy luxury tortilla.   Mexican families devour hundreds of millions of tortillas a day.   The industry is said to be worth $3 billion a year.   Since the 1910-1917 civil war, the government has sought to make tortillas available to all Mexicans.   Food shortages linked to land battles were at the heart of fighting in which more than a million people lost their lives.   But the inequity of a general subsidy system, under which billionaires and unemployed peasants pay pennies for the same product, is forcing a reappraisal of Mexico's tortilla system.   "The government is analysing ways to rationalise those subsidies so they are not generalized and so they reach those people who really need them," Social Development Minister Carlos Rojas told reporters recently.   Aside from luxury tortillas, one idea is to give free tortillas to the poor via coupons, nicknamed tortibonos.   State governments already provide free tortillas to the poorest citizens and officials are looking at lifting the threshold to include more low-income families.   At the same time, they want to force more wealthy Mexicans to pay free market prices.   Despite fears of possible corruption and a shifting official definition of poverty, the government is slowly working up to a fundamental tortilla policy change.   Officials reiterate they will not lift the current price, but Mexicans have an adage: "The more the government says something will not happen, the quicker and more certain it is that it will."   Francisco Sanchez Armas, head of a credit bank serving the tortilla industry, said the luxury tortilla stores pave the way for price controls to disappear as early as next year.   Mexican media have pounced on the luxury tortilla story, which rivals news of Zapatista rebels in the southern state of Chiapas and a guerrilla group called the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) that appeared six weeks ago in Guerrero state.   "Tortillas are an important factor in the socio-political history, both past and present," Mexican anthropologist Breen Murray said.   Refering to one of Mexico's most advanced pre-Aztec indigenous peoples, the Toltecs, Murray added: "Mexicans are Toltecs made from tortillas." 
272 !E21 !E212 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  A top official in Mexico's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the country would receive credits from the Japanese government for $940 million during a visit starting Tuesday by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.    Juan Rebolledo Gout, an undersecretary in the Foreign Ministry, told reporters the credits would be signed by Mexican and Japanese officials on Wednesday, and would support ecological projects, small and medium-sized businesses and exporters in Mexico.   He did not detail how much would be offered for each sector or explain the terms of the loans.   A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said the export credits would be signed on the Mexican side by Enrique Vilatela, head of the state trade development bank Bancomext.   The credit to small- and medium-sized businesses would be channeled via state development bank Nafin.   Hashimoto two-day visit to Mexic will kick off a five-nation, 10-day tour of Latin America that he hopes will open a new trade front for Japanese industry in the region.   Tokyo has pumped nearly $60 billion (Corrects from $60 million) into the region in the past 14 years.   -- Henry Tricks, Mexico City newsroom +525 728-9560 
273 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Mexican telecommunications firm Grupo Domos, which has been hit by U.S. penalties for business ties with Cuba, said on Monday that it had not yet been officially notified of the State Department's ruling.   "We are awaiting the letters so that we can emit an opinion," Domos spokesman Hector Cuellar said in a telephone interview from Monterrey, northern Mexico.   "If they were sent today, they should arrive soon."   On Monday, the U.S. government said it would send letters to some six top Domos executives notifying them that they would be banned from the United States under the controversial Helms-Burton law if within 45 days the firm did not "divest" its business in Cuba.   The law, which has been angrily protested by Mexico, Canada and several European countries, was aimed at tightening 35-year-old U.S. sanctions against Cuba.   It threatened penalties against foreign investors deemed to be "trafficking" in properties confiscated by the Cuban government that were formerly owned by U.S. nationals or Cubans who later became U.S. citizens.   Domos, based in Monterrey, owns some 37 percent of Cuba's national telephone company, which was confiscated from a unit of the U.S. company ITT after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.   Cuellar said that prior to the ruling, Domos CEO Javier Garza Calderon had said the company planned to continue its business in Cuba, arguing that Domos "does not own any properties (in Cuba) that were once confiscated."   He said Domos paid $700 million for its stake in the phone company in 1994, and later sold 25 percent of its share to Italian telecommunications firm STET SpA for $291 million.   STET has been warned by the United States it could also face penalties under the Helms-Burton law.   Cuellar said the telephone business had boomed in Cuba in recent years.   Calls have skyrocketed from some 400 a day in 1994 before the Clinton administration opened up phone traffic between Cuba and the United States, to about 60,000 a day.   The price per call has dropped from around $7.80 per minute to $1.20 a minute over the same period, and Domos nets around $120 million a year from its Cuban investment, he said. 
274 !GCAT !GDIP  Cuba's expulsion of a U.S. diplomat who had close links with Cuban anti-government dissidents seemed intended as a warning against foreign interference in its internal politics, Havana-based diplomats said on Monday.   The diplomats, who asked not to be named, said they were not really surprised by the news on Monday of Havana's decision to revoke the visa last week of Robin Meyer, an officer at the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba who closely monitored the activities of Cuban dissidents and human rights activists.   "Many people thought that she had it coming," one diplomat said.   Meyer, who was in the third year of her posting, was known to have been particularly active in her contacts and support for opponents of Cuba's one-party communist system.   She had been singled out in the past by Cuban officials who publicly criticised what they said was help given by the U.S. Interests Section in Havana for Cuban dissident groups.   Her activities meant that she had been closely watched by members of the Cuban state security services, diplomats said.   The U.S. State Department said Cuba accused Meyer of "activities incompatible with her diplomatic status."   This was usually a diplomatic term for spying, but Havana-based diplomats believed that in this case it was almost certainly her support for the dissidents that led to her being expelled.   The U.S. government protested Meyer's expulsion and announced it was expelling a Cuban diplomat, Jose Luis Ponce, whose responsibilities at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington included handling press affairs.   Cuba and the United States do not have formal diplomatic relations.   Cuban officials had this year publicly slammed Meyer and other U.S. diplomats for transporting Cuban political dissidents in embassy cars, hosting meetings at their homes for members of internal opposition groups and providing them with both moral and material support.   "What they seem to be saying is that they will not tolerate anything that smacks of interference," one foreign diplomat said, referring to the expulsion.   Diplomats noted the Cuban move coincided with the naming by President Bill Clinton on Friday of a special envoy, Stuart Eizenstat, whose task was to persuade U.S. allies to join a U.S.-led campaign to promote democracy on the communist-ruled island.   It also came soon after the arrival in Havana of a new head of the U.S. mission in Havana, Michael Kozak, replacing Joseph Sullivan, who finished his tour of duty this summer.   Other Western embassies, such as those representing Canada and the nations of the European Union, also closely monitored the activities of Cuban dissidents, but usually stopped short of providing material aid and assistance, as U.S. diplomats have been accused of doing.   Last Wednesday, Cuba's main state media carried tough editorials saying the Cuban government would do everything necessary to counter U.S. attempts to subvert its political system through support for dissident groups.   The expulsions came at a time when Cuba-U.S. ties were already strained by Cuba's shooting down on Feb. 24 of two small U.S. planes and a U.S. law introduced in March aimed at curbing foreign investment on the island.   On Sunday, Havana also called on the United States to honour existing bilateral immigration accords by returning Cubans who had recently fled the island. 
275 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Nicaragua's National Assembly on Monday rejected a proposed election reform that would have postponed the Oct. 20 presidential elections by two weeks.   In a letter sent to legislators, Vice-Secretary of the National Assembly Jaime Bonilla said under the constitution the reform could not be passed by the current parliament, and needed to wait until the next legislature is formed.   The rejected bill contained six election reforms, including the postponement of the election till Nov. 3, 1996.   A group of presidential candidates for small parties, led by Alfredo Cesar of the UNO '96 Alliance, had proposed postponing the elections after the government failed to give the parties their campaign funding by the legal deadline.   The parties received the first instalment of their campaign money two weeks after the start of the election campaign.   The smaller parties argued the delay put them at a disadvantage, and had been engineered by the Liberal Alliance, the right-wing party headed by Arnoldo Aleman that is ahead in the polls.   "This was a political game.   Here are the interests of the Liberal Alliance who don't want anyone else to be able to lift their head to threaten them," one of the bill's sponsors, conservative presidential candidate Miriam Arguello, told reporters.   But the reforms were opposed by powerful groups in Nicaragua, including President Violeta Chamorro, the two leading political parties, the Catholic Church and most international observer groups, who argued postponing the election date would hurt the vote's credibility. 
276 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  A U.N. mission in Guatemala said on Monday insufficient progress had been made on human rights, as death threats and kidnappings remained unchecked by the country's judiciary and police.   In a report made available to the media on Monday, the U.N. human rights mission also hailed the government's efforts in moving ahead on peace negotiations with leftist rebels.   "The mission highly values the political will of the Guatemalan government and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit to leave arms behind and finish with war," David Stephen, the director of the United Nations Mission for Verification of Human Rights in Guatemala, told reporters.   Stephen presented the report -- the mission's fifth in more than two years -- to President Alvaro Arzu and commanders of leftist rebels last week.   The mission, in Guatemala since late 1993, investigates allegations of human rights abuses, promotes human rights education and monitors implementation of peace accords to end Guatemala's 36-year civil war.   Stephen told a news conference that Guatemala still had an alarming number of death threats and kidnappings and that the population lacked confidence in the justice system.   Other problems were ineffective courts and security forces and the army's refusal to cooperate with criminal investigations into members of its forces, he added.   The report said that a high percentage of the prison population is composed of persons accused of petty crimes.   "In other, serious cases, however, in which there is evidence pointing to the liabiity of the defendant, release has been granted, generating a lack of confidence in the justice system among the population," it added. 
277 !C18 !C181 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  More than 200 jobs will go when the Wellington region's two power companies merge, chief executive designate of the merged group Mike Underhill said in an interview on Wednesday with the Evening Post newspaper.   Underhill, who will head the new merged company TransAlta New Zealand Ltd, confirmed he has told staff to expect 40 percent redundancies if, as expected, EnergyDirect shareholders agree to the merger with Capital Power.   The shareholders are due to meet on September 12 to consider the merger, which would be effective from October 1 if approved.   Underhill said cuts would affect all departments.    "There aren't any obvious areas where it would be double that or half that," he said.   EnergyDirect and Capital Power have 530 staff between them.   A 40 percent cut would reduce that by about 212.   Most staff would know within three months how many jobs would remain in their departments.   Underhill said the emphasis was on ending uncertainty as soon as possible.   Staff would be offered voluntary redundancy, but that would not apply to everybody.    EnergyDirect is 41 percent owned by Canadian company TransAlta and 20 percent owned by community trusts which have said that they support the merger.   Capital Power is owned by TransAlta.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
278 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   Disgraced Australian tycoon Alan Bond was sentenced to three years' jail on fraud charges by Judge Antoinette Kennedy in the Perth District Court yesterday.   However, he will be eligible for parole in 12 months.   After hearing the sentence, Bond, 58, instructed his solicitor to appeal.   Page 1.   --   Some colleagues of Senator Malcolm Colston, who altered the balance of power in the Senate yesterday by resigning from the Australian Labor Party, said yesterday they believed he had quit because the party did not select him as its candidate for Senate Deputy President.   Page 2.   --   The federal government's chances of securing passage of its Workplace Relations Bill through Parliament reached another hurdle yesterday when Tasmanian independent Brian Harradine told ABC Radio National he opposed the proposed legislation because it undermined trade union unity and would leave people in the work force in a defenceless position.   Page 3.   --   The chair of the Senate committee inquiring into the Howard Government's proposed A$8 billion sale of one third of the national telecommunications carrier, Telstra, Senator Meg Lees, has revealed the committee is requesting a three-week extension because it has received insufficient information to complete its final report.   Page 3.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   The Federal Government last night embarked on a high-risk strategy with a budget that pays for the delivery of its election commitments to "mainstream Australia", which it defines as families, children and small business, by hitting the aged, the sick, students and the unemployed.   Page 1.   --   Canberra experienced its second day of violent political rioting yesterday when 150 Aboriginal protesters tried to storm Old Parliament House.   Two protesters and four police officers were injured when more than 100 police in full riot gear were attacked wth bricks, bottles and stakes.   Page 1.   --   The Howard Government yesterday outlined a budget strategy which promised fundamental medium-term improvements to the economy's performance.   However, this will come at a significant short-term cost with economic growth seeing a sharply reduced pace during 1996/97 and the Treasury predicting a jobless rate of 8.25 percent in mid-1997.   Page 1.   --   Only hours after Queensland Labor Senator Mal Colston resigned from the Australian Labor Party after it failed to endorse him for the position of Senate deputy president, Colston was elected to the position, with most of the votes in the secret ballot appearing to come from the Liberals and Nationals who nominated him for the position over endorsed Labor candidate Senator Sue West.   Page 3.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Treasurer Peter Costello's first Budget slashes outlays by A$19 billion in net terms, reducing government spending to its second lowest level since the early 1970s.   The Coalition has halved the underlying deficit to A$5.6 billion, relying on spending cut, tax rises and user-pays charges to help finance election pledges.   Page 1.   --   Although Australian Federal Police have vowed to track down those involved in criminal behaviour at Monday's Canberra riot, the ACT Trades and Labor Council blamed the police for a last minute change to a rally plan agreed to by the TLC which allowed protesters to enter the Parliament House forecourt.   Page 2.   --   Although New South Wales Liberal leader Peter Collins suggested yesterday that the party might withdraw its Port Macquarie by-election candidate in an attempt to make peace with the Nationals, the National Party is almost certain to quit the 13-year Coaliion today over the Liberals' decision to pit their candidate against a National nominee.   Page 3.   --   Westmead Hospital is considering a plan to privatise up to one quarter of the hospital, amalgamating closed wards and other hospital infrastructure and leasing them to a private hospital operator.   Under the plan, the private operator would have to build perating theatres and the outpatients department would be relocated.   Page 3.   --   THE AGE   Federal Treasurer Peter Costello said last night his first budget would deliver a "historic turnaround in Commonwealth finances".   It appears the unemployed will bear the brunt of the Howard Government's cost-cutting budget, designed to deliver its coreelection commitments to mainstream Australia.   Page A1.   --   Canberra saw its second successive day of violent protests yesterday, with Aboriginal demonstrators at Old Parliament House protesting against the A$400 million cuts to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission funding, sparking a 20-minute outbrea in which bricks, bottles and pieces of timber were thrown.   Page A1.   --   Although U.S. Forces Japan has denied the incident posed any danger to the Qantas jumbo, Japanese Defence Minister Hideo Usui has announced an investigation into a Qantas pilot's complaint over an affair which saw two F-18 Hornets fly within 1,200 feet of the plane, forcing the pilot to pull into a steep climb to avoid a collision.   Page A3.   --   Disgraced businessman Alan Bond will appeal against the severity of a three-year jail term for corporate fraud and deception, which was handed down yesterday by Western Australian District Court Judge Toni Kennedy despite strong pleas by Bond's defence counsel that the experience could be fatal for the sick businessman.   Page A3.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
279 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   In a move which will deal another blow to pay-TV arch rivals Rupert Murdoch and Telstra, Kerry Packer and Optus Vision have pulled struggling pay-TV operator Australis Media from the brink of collapse with a US$250 million refinancing scheme which was accepted by the Australis board yesterday.   Page 1.   --   After losing A$18 million in the August 1990 transaction, Coles Myer and parties involved in the controversial Yannon transaction are finalising a financial settlement, amid suggestions the company may accept as little as A$10 million to resolve the matter.   Page 1.   --   Qantas Airways Ltd managing director James Strong is expected to meet union negotiators tomorrow after the airline and unions reached a make-or-break stage in their long-running negotiations for a new enterprise agreement, with unions pushing the company to guarantee that all employees be entitled to a total of A$1,500 of shares over the next two years.   Page 3.   --   The Australian Refineries Operatives Committee, a national committee of oil refinery union delegates, issued a statement yesterday threatening to escalate an industrial dispute that has halted production at Shell Australia's large Geelong oil refinery.   The statement offered "unqualified support" to the striking unionists at the plant.   Page 5.   --   After profit for the six months to June lifted by 12 percent to A$11.56 million, the chief executive of sprawling regional media group Australian Provincial Newspapers Ltd, Cameron O'Reilly, says he is optimistic the group will continue its unbroken record of yealy profit growth intact.   Page 15.   --   In a bid to cut its high-gearing and cement footings for its next stage of growth, contract miner Macmahon Holdings Ltd is expected to release details of a A$30-plus million equity raising next week.   Details of a convertible preference share placement and a rights issue are expected next Monday when the company releases its audited 1995/96 results.   Page 15.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   Business will lose A$2.8 billion in taxpayer assistance over the next four years after the Howard government reduced the top rate for research and development tax concessions from 150 percent to 125 percent for R&D expenditure incurred after 7.30 p.m. yesterday, axed 38 industry and export schemes and abolished manufacturers' bounty payments in the budget.   Page 45.   --   Business representatives endorsed the 1996/97 federal budget yesterday, saying it had laid the groundwork for an improvement in confidence.   However, professional investors voiced their disappointment that the budget was not as fiscally stringent as had been expected - staging a selloff of bond and share futures and the dollar last night.   Page 45.   --   Satellite pay-TV operator Australis Media defied the liquidators yesterday when it entered a A$367 million recapitalisation plan led by Kerry Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd.   The deal sees Packer emerging as the driving force behind an "infrastrucure sharing" alliance between Australis and Optus Vision.   Page 45.   --   Federal Treasurer Peter Costello told Parliament yesterday the fiscal rigour of the budget would see business investment grow - forecasts say by as much as A$7 billion, or 14 percent - and improve the interest rate environment.   He also predicted the long awaited rebound in housing would begin this year.   Page 45.   --   Amid widespread pessimism in the business community about its future prospects as the main profit reporting season gets underway, Treasurer Peter Costello is counting on a A$7 billion business investment surge this financial year to help alleviate his A$8 billion deficit black hole.   Page 47.   --   The decision to introduce retirement savings accounts without trustee banking as part of yesterday's budget superannuation measures will mean fund managers and trustee companies face stiff competition from banks, credit unions and life ofices in the battle for superannuation savings.   Page 47.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   While the announced decision to cut the budget deficit by A$4 billion in the 1996/97 financial year was welcomed by many in the financial sector, concerns still exist about the deficit, stronger than expected growth in the first half of the year and the predicted jump in wages by five percent.   The Australian dollar, bonds and the sharemarket futures fell last night after the budget postponed a second interest cut in 1996.   Page 25.   --   Simsmetal managing director John Crabb and others like David Buckingham, executive director of the Minerals Council of Australia, have voiced their concerns on the budget, stating that it lacked strategic direction and was still spending and taxing beyond Australia's ability.   Page 25.   --   Satellite pay TV group Australis Media yesterday struck a last minute survival deal with a consortium of investors that included Optus Vision and Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting.   The proposal now has to go before Australis' U.S. junk bond holder to secure its recovery.   Page 25.   --   Australian Provincial Newspapers lifted its net profit from A$10.3 million to A$11.6 million in the June half year.   APN still found the going tough in the bush, provincial Queensland and in specialist publishing, but was boasting sales with it radio network and Buspak advertising schemes.   Page 27.   --   A fatal accident at Northparkes mine has called into question the mine's ongoing financial viability and its uphill battle to get the mine to a sustainable level of operations.   Stephen Shorrock, 43, who was killed in a rock slide was an experienced contract miner.   Page 27.   --   ANZ Bank will be Australia's first dual user of the international automated teller machines operated by Visa and MasterCard International.   An announcement will come next week confirming ANZ's adoption of the Visa Plus system.   Page 27.   --   THE AGE   Views were mixed today in the financial world on how the markets would react to the new budget, with ANZ Securities' chief economist Phil Graham, stating the outlook for the sharemarket was "pretty neutral".   Page C1.   --   The business community is standing firm behind the budget saying it will provide stimulus to consumer spending and will provide a good environment for increased business investment with hope for relaxed interest rates in months ahead.   Page C1.   --   Concerns were voiced by small business over cuts to business assistance programmes in last night's budget.   However, the overall view from small business was that the budget outcomes were generally positive, especially in relation to the two specific reforms to capital gains tax law.   Page C1.   --   In the early hours of yesterday Australis Media accepted a rescue package from a consortium of investors that included rival pay TV operator Optus Vision.   With the A$134 million of fresh equity injected into the debt-laden Australis it is hoped a strong resurgence will follow.   Page C3.   --   Woolworths intends to put added emphasis on its specialty stores, such as Dick Smith Electronics, in an attempt to further strengthen its non-food operational base.   Page C3.   --   Visa International will have confirmation next week of securing ANZ as Australia's first bank to be a dual user of the international teller machine brands operated by Visa and MasterCard International.   Page C3.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
280 !GCAT  NEW ZEALAND HERALD   Front Page - Forest sale raises job fears at mill    - Dougherty vows to clear name    - Australia slashes spending   Editorial  - Forest sold for value    - Public handout for party election broadcasts   Business  - Fletchers may sell other forests to fund buy    - Coca-Cola keeps fizz    - ASB profit continues to grow    - CHH puts brave face on 64pc profit drop    Sport  - Factions in Bok camp fingered for Small demise    - Netballers arrange private game to keep focused    - Bryce Taylor helps out young contenders   THE DOMINION    Front page - $2 billion for Forest Corp, FCL and partners    promise 700 jobs    - Tui shareholders reject merger    Editorial - Dickensian party games (election advertising    funds)    Business - Carter profit slump knocks share price    - ASB lifts earnings, market share    - Broken' Bond gets three years    Sport  - Mehrtens may be back for Pretoria    - Test players lighten South Africans' gloom    - Three changes in Wellington side on King    Country   THE PRESS    Front page - Probe into murder trial coverage    - Swedish kin rush to dying girl's bedside    - Forestry Corp sold for $2.5b    Editorial - Retirement options    Business - Forest deal detail expected today    - Asia Pacific trade expands    - Apple Fields face defamation case    Sport  - Small punished for lack of discipline    - Fatialofa out of all rugby    - Hart spoiled for choice, says Lochore 
281 !C13 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA  Australian Finance Minister John Fahey said on a Wednesday that the government would monitor the private health system to ensure it provided services commensurate with costs following the budget's introduction of incentives for private health insurance.   Asked whether the government would monitor private health insurance costs Fahey said: "Michael Woolridge has had many discussions with me on that as minister for health, to ensure that effectively there is efficient delivery of services in return for the benefits to the private health insurers."    Answering questions following an address to a New South Wales Chamber of Commerce function in Sydney, Fahey said the incentives were not a gift to the private health industry.   "I think it is a huge boost for our hospital system - there is very much a need for those that can afford to get into the private system," he said.   The government announced tax incentives worth about A$500 million a year to encourage people to take out private health insurance and to wean rich people off the public Medicare health system.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
282 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Wednesday he was in no hurry for a fresh election.   "I'm in no hurry to have an election," Howard told radio 2GB.   Some political analysts believe Howard, elected in March for a three-year term, may be forced to call an early election because of parliamentary obstruction of key reforms.    Australia's constitution allows a government to call an election if parliament blocks legislation twice within three months.   Howard's Liberal-National government does not have a majority in the 76-seat upper house, the Senate, and needs the support of at least two non-government senators to pass legislation.   But the Labor opposition and minor parties have pledged to block key reforms, including the partial sale of government telecoms giant Telstra Corp.    An election called because of blocked legislation allows a joint sitting of both houses after the polls.   Political analysts believe Howard would win an early election with a lower-house majority big enough to guarantee passage of his reforms through a joint sitting.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
283 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday the defection of a Labor politician boosted the chances of getting the government's 1996/97 budget through parliament.   "I think that this has improved our chances," Costello told radio 5DN.   A Labor member of the upper house Senate, Mal Colston, quit the party on Monday, saying he would serve out his term as an independent. 
284 !C18 !C181 !C183 !CCAT !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday the government did not favour breaking up state-owned telecommunications carrier Telstra Corp in order to privatise it.    Costello said in a radio interview that the previous Labor government probably wanted to break up Telstra and privatise its assets separately, but the new conservative government felt it was better to keep Telstra intact.   "We think that's better because we keep a major Australian company together as an Australian company and we can introduce private shareholding to make sure that it stays an Australian company in Australian hands as one whole ...," Costello said. 
285 !C13 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GWELF  The Australian government's changes to superannuation in Tuesday's budget made the system fairer and more equitable, the Life Investment and Superannuation Association of Australia (LISA) said.   "Changes to make the superannuation system fairer and more equitable including ironing our some current anomalies are understandable given budgetary circumstances," LISA Executive Director John Maroney said in a statement.   On Tuesday the government announced a reduction in the tax concession for superannuation payments by the wealthy and granted banks and others the right to offer Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), which compete on the same tax terms as conventional superannuation funds.   Maroney said he welcomed the introduction of RSAs.   "They are a potentially useful extension as new instruments of choice and competition in the financial system," he said.   However Macquarie Bank said that while welcoming the introduction of RSAs, it was concerned that investors who kept contributing to RSAs would be short-changed when they retired.   "We're concerned that sums of around A$10,000 -- which is the point at which a long term investment strategy really begins working -- will be left to lanquish in RSAs earning low rates of interest," Macquarie Investment Services Director Brian Thomas said in a statement.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
286 !GCAT !GCRIM  Australian police in the state of Queensland said on Tuesday initial concerns for the safety of three Irish backpackers missing in the state's tropical north had eased slightly.   Sandra Mahon, Stuart Gamble and Neil Hewson, all aged 25, were last seen in Cairns on the state's far north coast on Saturday, police said.   Police said they were initially concerned for the tourists' safety as Mahon was in a "distressed and upset state" when she contacted her father in Ireland last Saturday.    "Initially, the young girl rang her father on Saturday calmly, but later telephoned back and said she had been attacked and then the telephone went dead," a police spokeswoman in Cairns told Reuters.   However police late on Tuesday said they had since received some telephone calls that the three may have been inquiring about work north of Cairns.   "We have not come up with anything positive yet, but our initial fears have eased," said a police officer in Cairns.   "We will have more information on Wednesday." 
287 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Tuesday that he hoped the desertion of an opposition senator improved the chances of the budget passing through the upper house of parliament.   "I hope it improves it," Costello said when asked what implications the split had for the budget's chances in the Senate.   Earlier, Senator Mal Colston quit the opposition Labor Party, issuing a statement that recognised the government's mandate to implement some new policies.    With Liberal-National government support, he was later voted deputy president of the Senate.   The Liberal-Nationals are two votes short of a majority in the Senate.   If Colston backs the government, which announced a deficit-slashing budget on Tuesday, then it might gain passage of contentious bills with just the support of the other Independent or, less probably, one of the two Greens senators.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
288 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GSCI  Australia plans to start a space research programme to develop and launch satellites, Science andd Technology minister, Peter McGauran, said on Tuesday.   "Despite the stringent budget conditions faced by the Howard government, we have been able to establish a space research programme that is practical and will meet Australia's specific needs," McGauran said in a statement with the 1996/97 budget.   The first small satellite would be orbited during Australia's centenary of of Federation in 2001, he said.   He did not state a specific allocation for the programme.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
289 !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the government's 1996/97 (July/June) budget on Tuesday was an unfair attack on the nation's poor and said it feared deep spending cuts could push the jobless rate higher.   ACTU president Jennie George said deep budget cuts to labour-market assistance programmes and the tightening of eligibility criteria for unemployment benefits could see the jobless rate rise over the next two years.   "The scenario for unemployment is very bleak indeed," George told a news conference after the budget was presented to parliament on Tuesday night.    George also criticised the government's family assistance programme, describing the tax breaks as poorly targeted.   "The greatest benefit will go to those most well off," she said.   She welcomed in principle the budget announcement of a tax surcharge on the retirement savings of high-income earners, but said wealthy people could avoid this by putting their savings into the superannuation funds of their non-working spouse.   "I think the hardest hit are the people with the greatest need in our community," she said.   Australia's unemployment rate stood at 8.5 percent in July, according to the latest official figures.    -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
290 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) said on Tuesday it was unlikely to accept arbitration as an option to resolve a strike over work practices at Shell Australia Ltd's refinery in Geelong, Victoria.   "We're going through the process of consulting with our members now ... but the way things are heading it's highly unlikely that our members will accept arbitration," AWU Victoria state organiser Cesar Melhem told Reuters.    The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) on Tuesday requested the parties consent to arbitration over the strike, which has reduced production at the 115,000 barrels-per-day refinery and stopped distribution at its ocean tanker and Lara LPG distribution facilities.   Shell said in a statement it would consider the request.   The parties must to respond to the AIRC by 5.00 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Wednesday.   "We will give it due consideration and report back to the Commission tomorrow (Wednesday)," Shell industrial relations manager Warren Stooke said. 
291 !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Greens senators Bob Brown and Dee Margetts said on Tuesday they wanted to emulate in 1996 the results achieved by the minor parties in the Senate after the 1993 budget.    "Because the Greens stood up to (Labor Prime Minister) Paul Keating (in 1993) there was something like A$100 million extra came out for those most vulnerable people at the bottom end of the income scale in Australia," Brown told reporters after the delivery of the 1996/97 federal budget.   "I would dearly love to be able to start my career in the senate for the Australian Greens in emulating that fantastic result that the two Greens delivered in Australia in terms of social justice back in 1993," Brown said.    "It's not a matter of delaying the budget, it's a matter of allowing a full and proper public debate," Brown said.   In 1993 the Australian dollar and bond markets were sold down sharply when Green and other independent senators held up passage of some budget bills for over a month.   Brown, Margetts, the left-leaning Democrats and independent Brian Harradine can block legislation put forward by the governing Liberal/National coalition when voting with the opposition Labor party.    The Greens, the Democrats and Labor have said they would not block the appropriations bills, which effectively gives the government the money needed to spend on day-to-day affairs.   The government would have to shut down eventually without these bills.   "Those areas where we are required to make a decision, personally I take that very seriously and make sure that by the time I am required to make a decision I have the best information upon which to do that," Margetts said.   New revenue measures often require separate legislation which would have to pass the Senate.    Treasurer Peter Costello said earlier on Tuesday that there were some measures in the budget which could be knocked back by the Senate.   Costello delivered a budget projecting an underlying deficit of A$5.65 billion in the year to June 30, 1997, including A$3.9 billion of deficit cuts.   Labor Treasury spokesman Gareth Evans earlier said Labor would vote against a hike in fees for university students.   The increased Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) charges were projected to save A$1.77 billion over the next four years.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
292 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian Labor Party, which is the largest opposition party in the Senate, would vote against an increase in university fees announced in the budget for 1996/97, Labor Treasury spokesman Gareth Evans said.   The increased Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) charges were projected to save A$1.77 billion over the next four years.   "HECS will do for a start," Evans told Australian Broadcasting Corp television, when asked what his party would block in the Senate.   Labor would need support from minor parties to block legislation.    Evans would not specify which other budget measures Labor would vote against.   But he repeated his pledge not to block spending bills, known as supply bills.   "We're pledged not to block supply," he said.   New revenue measures often require separate legislation which would have to pass the Senate, which is controlled by the Labor Party and the left-leaning Green and Australian Democrat parties when they vote together.   Treasurer Peter Costello said earlier on Tuesday that there were some measures in the budget which could be knocked back by the Senate.    Earlier on Tuesday, Labor senator Mal Colston resigned from the Labor party and was elected deputy president of the Senate with the support of the Liberal/National coalition government.   "It adds further complication to an already complicated management situation in the Senate," Evans said.   Treasurer Costello delivered a budget forecasting an underlying deficit of A$5.65 billion in the year to June 30, 1997, including A$3.9 billion of budget deficit cuts.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
293 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Treasurer Peter Costello, who brought down Australia's 1996/97 budget on Tuesday, said he would like an interest rate cut by the end of calendar 1996.   "I'd like that to be an outcome and I am going to do the best to make sure we are going to get it," Costello told Australian Broadcasting Corporation television.   Costello said that if the government's budget to June 30, 1997 was passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, such passage would set up an interest rate cut.    "If we can get our budget, intact, through the Senate, if we can get that low inflation locked in, then I think we can set up the chances for an easing in monetary policy," Costello said.   "A good budget passed through the Senate, fiscal consolidation, we can set the conditions (for another rate cut)," Costello said.   The Reserve Bank of Australia cut official cash rates to 7.00 percent from 7.50 percent on July 31.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
294 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Treasurer Peter Costello said that if the government's 1996/97 budget was passed by the Senate, the upper house of parliament, such passage would set up an interest rate cut.   "If we can get our budget, intact, through the Senate, if we can get that low inflation locked in, then I think we can set up the chances for an easing in monetary policy," Costello said.   Asked whether there would be another interest rate cut before the end of calendar 1996, he said: "I'd like that to be an outcome and I am going to do the best to make sure we are going to get it".   "A good budget passed through the Senate, fiscal consolidation, we can set the conditions (for another rate cut)," Costello said.    The Reserve Bank of Australia cut official cash rates to 7.00 percent from 7.50 percent on July 31.   -- Sydney newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
295 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Democrats Leader Cheryl Kernot said on Tuesday it was too early to say if her party could pass all the measures included in the conservative government's 1996/97 budget released earlier on Tuesday.   Asked if it was a budget the Democrats could pass, Kernot told Radio 2UE: "I don't think I can answer that tonight".   The Liberal-National coalition government needs the support of the Democrats, independents or other minor parties in the upper house, the Senate, to pass its legislation.   "It's a tough budget.   At first glance, I don't think it's particularly fair", Kernot said.    In a separate statement, Kernot said the Democrats would not block supply bills.   "We do reserve the right where appropriate, to move amendments requesting that funding be restored, and send them to the House of Representatives for a vote," she said.   "However, we will not insist on those requests or amendments if the legislation is returned to the Senate because to prevent the passage of appropriate (supply) bills is a recipe for economic chaos."    Kernot said about half the cuts planned by the government could be beyond the Democrats' power to review because of the supply commitment.   Treasurer Peter Costello earlier on Tuesday released a budget for the fiscal year to June 30, 1997, cutting spending by A$3.9 billion, for an underlying deficit of A$5.65 billion.   The underlying deficit excludes asset sales and state government debt repayments.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
296 !E11 !E13 !E131 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australia's economic outlook is for another year of strong growth and subdued inflation, the Australian Treasury said in the 1996/97 Budget papers.   Business investment, particularly construction, was again set to lead the growth charge, reinforced by robust private and public consumption and a turnaround in the housing market.   That was expected to deliver growth of 3.5 percent in the average measure of gross domestic product (GDP-A) in 1996/97, off slightly from the 4.1 pace reached in 1995/96.   The expansion, now in its fifth year, would be long-lived with growth of 3.25-3.5 percent pencilled in to the year 2000.    This measure is targetted by the Reserve Bank which aims to set monetary policy to keep it within a 2-3 percent range over the course of a business cycle.   Headline inflation would fall further, averaging 2.0 percent for the year from 4.2 percent in 1995/96, thanks to recent cuts in mortgage rates, Treasury said.   Business investment would be the engine of growth, with the Treasury forecasting a 14 percent rise in 1996/97 following a 9.7 percent gain the year before.   Capacity utilisation remained high, business confidence was positive and corporate profits were see expanding as productivity outstripped wages growth.    A near-boom was seen in non-dwelling construction courtesy of major engineering projects for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, mining infrastrucutre and general road building.   Over the year, Treasury expected construction to rise by 15 percent, while spending on plant and equipment would only be a shade behind at 14 percent.   Since capital equipment was an import-intensive sector, robust business investment would also result in higher imports, with Treasury forecasting 1996/97 growth of 11 percent, almost twice the rate of 1995/96.    Export growth was seen slowing somewhat to an annual 8.0 percent from 10.3 percent in 1996/97 as transitory effects, such as the breaking of the drought, fade away.   Overall, net exports were expected to detract about 0.75 point from GDP-A in the year ahead.   The current account deficit, however, was seen remaining relatively steady at A$20 billion, or 4.0 percent of GDP, thanks to an improvement in Australia's terms of trade.   Treasury expected employment growth to accelerate through 1996/97, although a sluggish first half looked like restraining the average rise to 1.5 percent after 2.6 percent in 1995/96.    That would not be fast enough to make inroads into the unemployment rate which was seen steady at 8.5 percent.   A slow recovery in the housing market was expected to begin during the course of 1996/97, spurred by falling mortgage rates and rising household income.   However, the stock of excess housing was so great the Treasury expected dwelling investment would still fall 3.0 percent over the year.   Public final demand was set to strengthen despite the contractionary impact of the budget, largely reflecting the large investment programme of state telecommunications carrier Telstra.   -- Canberra newsroom 61-6 273 2730 
297 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government announced on Tuesday a 15 percent tax surcharge on the retirement savings of wealthy people to raise about A$500 million annually as part of an overhaul of the superannuation (pension) system.   The measure, outlined in the 1996/97 (July/June) budget announced on Tuesday, accounts for the bulk of net savings to be achieved under the overhaul, which also changes the tax treatment of employer contributions to retirement funds.    The budget papers list the effect from all the changes would be an increase in revenue of A$523 million in 1997/98 -- the first full year of the new arrangements -- rising to A$582 million in 1999/2000.   The surcharge, to be phased in for annual incomes between A$70,000 and A$85,000 and to apply in full for people earning above that, will raise A$480 million in 1997/98, rising to A$530 in 1999/2000.   The government estimates it will affect 355,000 tax-payers and will apply to the superannuation contributions made by, or on behalf of, high-income earners.    "The measures I am announcing tonight are designed to make superannuation (retirement savings) fairer," Treasurer Peter Costello said in his budget speech.   He also confirmed in his budget speech the government would honour the previous administration's pledge to make public contributions to workers' retirement savings.   These contributions, originally meant to have been delivered by way of tax cuts by the former Labor government, were costed in the 1995/96 budget at A$1.1 billion in 1998/99.    Costello also said the government would raise the age limit for retirement contributions to 70 from 65 years and allow people on low incomes to take a wage rise in lieu of employers paying mandatory contributions into their retirement funds.   The government will also allow a tax rebate for contributions made on behalf of a low-income spouse.   The standard contribution limit, which enables employers to claim tax relief on their contributions to a worker's retirement savings, has been dropped, Costello said.   This change in the tax treatment of employer contributions will raise about A$40 million annually, the budget papers show.    He also confirmed that financial institutions would be able to create retirement savings accounts as a simple, low-cost superannuation product.   -- Canberra bureau 616-273-2730 
298 !C13 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA !GWELF  The Australian government on Tuesday announced tax incentives worth about A$500 million a year to encourage people to take out private health insurance and to wean rich people off the public Medicare health system.   Treasurer Peter Costello, handing down the 1996/97 (July/June) budget here, also announced a one percent rise in the Medicare income levy for people who earn over A$50,000 a year and who do not take out private health insurance.   The budget papers show the Medicare surcharge is forecast to raise A$60 million in 1998/99 and A$75 million in 1999/2000.    But this will be offset by the cost of rebates for people who are privately insured -- forecast at an extra A$489 million in outlays in 1998/99, the incentive scheme's first full year.   "Medicare will remain, bulk billing is unchanged.   But people will be given greater choice to take out private health insurance," Costello told parliament in his budget speech.   "This will stem the declining rate of health insurance and secure the funding of our health system."   The government also announced a costs review aimed at saving A$586 million over four years from subsidised pathology services, including diagnostic imaging.    "The government will work with the pathology industry to slow the unsustainable growth in pathology outlays under the Medical Benefits Scheme," Costello said.   The government will also stop funding the national dental programme, saving over A$100 million a year from 1997/98, and adjust childcare subsidies to save about A$35 million in 1997/98.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
299 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australia's new conservative government has dramatically boosted spending for families and the elderly in its 1996/97 budget, released on Tuesday.   Treasurer Peter Costello delivered a promised tax rebate to low and middle income families.   The family tax initiative, to apply from January, would cost the government A$395.0 million in fiscal 1996/97 (July-June), rising to A$1.081 billion a year by 1999/00, budget papers show.   It was part of a 9.2 percent increase in government assistance to families with children to A$13.685 billion in 1996/97 from A$12.510 billion in the previous financial year.    The family tax initiative increased the tax-free threshhold -- below which no tax is paid -- by A$1,000 for the first child for double-income families earning less than A$70,000 a year.   The eligible income rises A$3,000 for each extra child.   The benefit lifts the tax-free threshhold A$2,500 a year for single-income families with a taxable income less than A$65,000 a year.   The benefit would be paid in cash to low income families.   Spending on the elderly was budgeted to increase 6.8 percent to A$14.243 billion from A$13.333 billion in 1995/96.    The increase follows the government's pledge in the March 2 election campaign to increase spending on hostels, home and community care packages and widen eligibility for payments to partners of pensioners, and index pension payments twice yearly to peg them at 25 percent of average weekly male earnings.   Costello's budget also increased the age limit for contributions to pension savings schemes, known as superannuation, and allowed capital gains tax exemptions for small businesses sold to fund retirement.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
300 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello handed down the new conservative government's 1996/97 budget on Tuesday and announced an underlying deficit for the fiscal year of A$5.65 billion and a headline surplus of A$474 million.   Following are a selection of economists' immediate reactions to the budget and GDP data, also released on Tuesday.   DAVID BASSANES, SENIOR ECONOMIST, BT AUSTRALIA:   "I was disappointed with the underlying deficit.   We were expecting five or a little bit under that.   They have managed getting about four billion off it but that was from a higher starting point.   Initial disappointment ... but we will wear it."    RIC SIMES, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ROTHSCHILD AUSTRALIA:   "It looks largely as expected, although the spending cuts were a little less than the A$8.0 billion the market was counting on.   That said, it does represent a substantial tightening of fiscal policy and will address Australia's savings problem in the medium term.   Some of the growth/economic forecasts looked too strong for my taste, particularly business investment.   These spending cuts, coming on top of recent soft economic indicators, suggest another rate cut is more likely than not."    STEPHEN ROBERTS, CHIEF ECONOMIST, UBS AUSTRALIA:   "It's a relatively tough budget but not as tough as advertised.   That's the bottom line that is coming through.   I think most people were looking for them to at least save A$4.0 billion and maybe a bit above.   Although they had a higher starting point than had been estimated, I think most of us were expecting a bit better than A$5.6 billion underlying deficit."    DENNIS MAHONEY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PRU-BACHE SECURITIES:   "It's broadly in line with what they said they would do, except that they look like they have put more of the savings in the second year than in the first year to still come up with A$8.00 billion.   I think the growth number is a bit too strong, but I will have to re-work my GDP forecast in light of the national accounts.   It looks more like 3.0 or 3.25.   They are not ludricous but they are a bit optimistic.   I think overall, given that we are looking at a two year attempt to get the budget back into balance anyway, that it is pretty reasonable on the economic assumptions."    STEPHEN KOUKOULAS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, CITIBANK AUSTRALIA:   "I think they are delivering on their commitment on the budget and they are on track in repairing the budget balance.   On the economy it is very rosy with domestic demand being quite strong, and on the back of that the Treausry have an upward bias on their wages forecast.   And underlying inflation at 2-3/4 percent is pushing the friendship with the Reserve Bank."    AKIS HARALABOPOULOS, CHIEF ECONOMIST, GIO AUSTRALIA:   "As far as the growth numbers are concerned it all looks consistent.   That's the important thing in terms of the government marketing this (budget) to financial markets.   Because the growth numbers look credible and inflation forecasts are also reasonable there is almost a sense of built in credibility."    ROB HENDERSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST, DRESDNER AUSTRALIA:   "My initial reaction is to give credit where credit is due.   They have detailed A$7.2 billion of savings in the face of considerable opposition from interest groups.   But I'm disappointed in the underlying budget balance.   By 1998/99 it is less than a billion dollar surplus.   We have to wait three years for a paltry surplus and taking so long to get back into surplus is the main reason the market sold off.   It's also disappointing, given the backdrop of considerably strong GDP growth, that we don't get to balance sooner."    TIM PFITZNER, TREASURY ECONOMIST, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK:   "They delivered the near to A$8.0 bln cuts they promised over two years.   (Savings measures contain) a very big contribution from PDI (public debt interest) savings and if that's from privatisations, for example, it doesn't make the actual outlay cuts look quite as large."   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
301 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  This is a summary of spending measures announced by Australian Treasurer Peter Costello in his Tuesday budget for the year to June 30, 1997.   The impact of each measure on the coming four fiscal years is also shown, in A$ millions and with a minus sign indicating additional spending.   The measures are ordered roughly by size.    1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00   NET SPENDING MEASURES  2,929 5,197 4,847 6,065   ----------------------------------------------------------   SPENDING CUTS    TOTAL CUTS 4,449 7,223 7,036 8,012   MISCELLANEOUS.   The budget includes a huge number of programme cuts too small to itemise.   Together, these miscellaneous items account for more than half of all cuts:    2,464 3,829 4,354 5,260   LABOUR MARKET PROGRAMMES.   Less funds allocated and the system will be condensed into fewer programmes.    575  956  130  175   STATES' CONTRIBUTIONS.   The temporary cut in states' grants announced at the Premiers' Conference and Loans Council.    619  640  300  -   PATHOLOGY.   Spending capped with entitlements to be varied as necessary.     62  127  174  223   CHILDCARE.   Tighter targetting, for example reduced assistance for more than 50 hours a week.     17  147  170  170   HIGHWAY SPENDING.   Cut.    113  138  157  214   AUSTUDY.   Tighter eligibility for student support.     56  123  136  143   STUDENT CHARGES.   Higher payments under the Higher Education Contributions Scheme for certain courses.    133  373  569  694   TWO-PERCENT RUNNING COSTS REDUCTION.   This includes the reduced public service staffing levels.    187  188  190  194   EXTENDED WAITING PERIOD FOR MIGRANT SOCIAL SECURITY.     28  140  188  194   AGED AND COMMUNITY CARE.   Various reforms, including an income test for some benefits.     6  141  190  231   DEVELOPMENT IMPORT FINANCE FACILITY.   A form of overseas business aid, now abolished.     94  126  130  134   UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS CRACKDOWN.   Further efforts to ensure claimants are looking for work.     39  105  110  115   EXPORT MARKET DEVELOPMENT GRANT.   Expenditure capped.     -  77  122  145   ----------------------------------------------------------   EXTRA SPENDING   TOTAL EXTRA SPENDING   SPORTS FUNDING    -36  -36  -37  -37   UNIVERSITY RESEARCH     -9  -31  -59  -37   OFFICE OF EMPLOYMENT ADVOCATE.   An institution under the new industrial relations system.    -12  -12  -12  -13   NATIONAL FIREARMS PROGRAMME.   To buy back self-loading guns.    -500  -  -  -   NEW RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME    -40  -100  -100  -100    -1,520 -2,026 -2,189 -1,947   PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INCENTIVES     -6  -489  -494  -500   FAMILY TAX INITIATIVE.   About half of the initiative appears here as spending.   The remainder is on the revenue side of the budget.    -248  -483  -484  -486   SCIENCE FUNDING.   Extra for the government's CSIRO.     -9  -32  -35  -39   ROAD SAFETY    -36  -37  -38  -38   DROUGHT MEASURES    -90  -1  -  -   MISCELLANEOUS    -548  -818  -941  -711   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
302 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian Treasury published these economic forecasts as the basis for its budget for the year to June 1997.   All figures are percent changes unless otherwise stated.    ----OUTCOMES--(b) ----FORECASTS----    Year-av Year-av Year-av 4 qtrs    1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 to Jun97   INTERNATIONAL ASSUMPTIONS   Major trading partners (c)    Real GDP (d) 4.6  4.5  4.25    Inflation 4.0  3.0  3.25   Crude oil (US$/barrel)  17.3  17.9 17.25   TWI index 52.8  54.8 58.0   DEMAND AND OUTPUT (e)   Private Consumption  4.7  4.3  3.0  2.75   Private Investment -    Dwellings 4.0 -15.0 -3.0  4.0    Total business 17.1  9.7 14.0 13.0    non-dwelling const  6.1  20.8 15.0 24.0    plant, equipment  21.5  5.8 14.0  9.0   Private final demand  6.0  3.4  4.5  4.5   Public final demand  5.6  2.2  3.25 3.75   Total final demand  5.9  3.1  4.25 4.25   Increase in Stocks - (f)    Private non-farm  0.5  -0.1  0.0  0.0    Farm and public authority -0.1  0.3  0.0 -0.25   Gross National Expenditure 6.3  3.3  4.25 4.25   Exports 3.2  10.3  8.0  9.0   Imports 17.7  5.6 11.0 11.0    Net exports (f)  -2.7  1.0 -0.75 -0.25   Gross Domestic Product (a) 4.1  4.1  3.5 3.75    Non-farm product  5.1  3.5  3.5 3.75    Farm product -21.0  25.0  6.0 4.0   OTHER SELECTED ECONOMIC MEASURES (d)   Prices and Wages    Consumer price index 3.2  4.2  2.0 2.0    Underlying 2.1  3.2  2.75 2.75    Gross product deflator 1.4  2.7  2.75 2.75    Average earnings (g) 1.5  4.4  5.0 4.75   Labour Market    Employment 4.0  2.6  1.5 2.0    Unemployment (pct) (h) 9.0  8.5  8.5 8.25    Participation (pct) (h) 63.3 63.7 63.5 63.75   Household income and saving   Real household disposable income    3.1  4.5  2.75 1.25    Household saving ratio 2.4  2.5  2.5   (percent)   External accounts    Terms of trade  4.3  4.3  3.5 1.75   Current account balance     A$ billion  -27.6 -20.5 -20.0     pct of GDP  -6.1 -4.2 -4.0   NOTES: (a) Percentage change on preceding year unless otehrwise indicated   (b) Calculated using annual original data.   (c) 1995/96 outcomes are Treasury estimates.   (d) Read GDP or gross national product   (e) Average 1989/90 prices   (f) Percentage point contribution to growh in GDP (a).   (g) Average earnings (national accounts basis).   Excluding the expected impact of Commonwealth voluntary redundancies, forecast earnings growth in 1996/97 is 4.5 percent.    (h) Estimate in the final column represents the forecast level in the June quarter 1997.   -- Canberra 61-6 273-2730 
303 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  This is a summary of revenue measures announced by Australian Treasurer Peter Costello in his Tuesday budget for the year to June 30, 1997.   The impact of each measure on the coming four fiscal years is also shown, in A$ millions, and the measures are ordered approximately by size.    1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00   NET REVENUE MEASURES  979 1,955 1,524 1,877   ----------------------------------------------------------   REVENUE GAINS   TOTAL.     1,341 2,541 2,597 2,950   RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.   Research and development   expenditure will now be tax deductible at a maximum rate of 125 percent.     59  718  630  840   TARIFF CONCESSIONS.   Election campaign announcement.    313  344  369  397   SUPERANNUATION.   Mainly a tax surcharge for high-income earners' superannuation savings plus a few lesser changes, including an election promise to allow a rebate for contributions made on behalf of spouses.    WITHHOLDING TAX AVOIDANCE.   General provisions of the tax law's anti-avoidance provisions extended to withholding tax.     85  100  100  100   CAPITAL GAINS TAX.   Certain anomalies removed.     25  110  75  75   MISCELLANEOUS TAX ANOMALIES.     53  89  99  105   TAX CRACKDOWN ON THE WEALTHY.   Although the former government estimated A$800 million a year when it revealed this measure in the February election campaign, the forward estimates count just A$100 million from this measure in 1997/98.   Future amounts are unknown at this stage, Treasury said in the budget papers.     -  100  ?    ?     -  523  521  582   MEDICARE LEVY RISE FOR GUN BUY-BACK.   Temporarily raised national health insurance charge to pay for forcible buy-back of self-loading weapons.   Announced after the April Port Arthur massacre.    515  -15  -  -   EXTENSION OF REPORTABLE PAYMENTS SYSTEM.   Election campaign announcement.     10  100  100  100   MISCELLANEOUS REVENUE GAINS ANNOUNCED IN CAMPAIGN.     65  87  236  243   PERSONAL COMPUTERS.   Crackdown on sales tax avoidance.     55  80  80  80   CHARITABLE TRUSTS.   Election campaign announcement.     25  30  30  30   LUXURY CAR LEASES.   Leases to be treated as loans for tax   purposes.     2  30  45  60   OTHER TAX EXPENDITURES.    36  38  39   MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE FOR HIGH-INCOME EARNERS.   The levy rises by one percentage for people on incomes over A$50,000 a year (or couples on more than A$100,000 a year).     -  -  60  75   COST RECOVERY AND DIVIDENDS.    132  162  167  179   OTHERS.     2  47  47  45   ----------------------------------------------------------   REVENUE LOSSES   FAMILY TAX INITIATIVE.   Includes higher tax thresholds for families with children, as promised in the election campaign.   About half of the cost appears here.   The remainder appears as social security on the spending side of the budget.    -147  -441  -591  -595   CAPITAL GAINS TAX FOR SMALL BUSINESS.   Tax not payable if a small business is sold and the funds are reinvested in a similar business.     -  -  -150  -160   PROVISIONAL TAX UPLIFT FACTOR.   Tax will be assessed on an assumed six percent rise in profits, instead of eight percent.     -180  -  -  -   SUPERANNUATION AND RETIREMENT MEASURES.     -  -47  -139  -122   PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE INCENTIVES.   Benefits for low-income earners who take out private cover.     -  -  -113  -114   MISCELLANEOUS ELECTION COMMITMENTS.    -10  -45  -31  -33   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
304 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Following are the main features of the Australian government's 1996/97 (July/June) budget announced by Treasurer Peter Costello on Tuesday:   * A forecast underlying budget deficit of A$5.65 billion and a headline budget surplus of A$474 million for 1996/97, compared with deficits of A$10.3 billion and A$5 billion respectively for 1995/96.   * GDP-A, the average measure of economic growth, is forecast to average 3.5 percent growth over 1996/97.    * CPI is forecast to average two percent over 1996/97.   The Treasury's underlying measure of inflation is projected to average 2.75 percent over the same period.   * Australia's current account deficit is predicted to total A$20 billion, or four percent of GDP, in 1996/97.   * Treasurer Peter Costello said the fiscal tightening was needed to enhance Australia's domestic savings performance and pull the nation back from a dangerous level of exposure to shifts in international sentiment.    * Budget measures to boost the bottom line by A$3.9 billion in 1996/97, rising to A$7.2 billion in the following fiscal year.   * Of the 1996/97 savings, A$1.0 billion comes from net revenue gains and the remaining A$2.9 billion from net spending cuts.   The biggest savings are to be made from labour market programmes, higher university student fees and cuts to the bureaucracy.    * Outlays, excluding asset sales and debt repayments by the states, are projected to steady at A$135.8 billion in 1996/97, against A$132 billion the year before.   The proposed sale of a third of state-owned telecommunications carrier Telstra has been included in the 1997/98 and 1998/99 budget forecasts, but no estimate of the expected proceeds were given.   * Election commitments are predicted to cost a total of A$1.5 billion in 1996/97 and A$2 billion in 1997/98.   They include incentives for private health insurance and tax breaks for families on low incomes.    * Revenue is projected to rise by four percent to A$130 billion in 1996/97.   * New revenue-raising measures include a crackdown on tax avoidance and tax minimisation, as well as a tax surcharge on the superannuation savings of high-income earners.   -- Canberra bureau 616-273-2730 
305 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Australian labour productivity rose 4.7 percent in trend terms in the year to June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.   Trend labour productivity growth, as measured in the non-farm market sector, moderated to 0.8 percent in the June quarter, compared to 1.4 percent in the March quarter and 1.7 percent in the December 1995 quarter.   The ABS measure of wages growth, average non-farm wages, salaries and supplements per wage and salary earner, rose 5.6 percent in the year to June.    The June quarter growth of 1.2 percent was stronger than the 1.0 percent recorded in the March quarter, but below the 1.4 percent and 1.9 percent growth rates of the September and December 1995 quarters respectively.   -- Canberra newsroom 61-6 273 2730 
306 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian Treasury said it had included proceeds from the sale of one-third of Telstra Corp in its revenue estimates for 1997/98 and 1998/99, contingent on the passage of the appropriate legislation.   The government had decided a scoping study should be conducted to assist it in determining the best method of selling a third of the state telecommunications carrier, Treasury said in its 1996/97 budget papers.   Total asset sales were expected to amount to A$8.01 billion in 1997/98 and A$3.38 billion in 1998/99, although the specific contribution expected from the Telstra sale was not given.    Some airports are also supposed to be privatised in that year.   Asset sales in 1996/97 were expected to total A$5.10 billion, with A$3.39 billion of that coming from the sale last July of the government's remaining 50.4 percent shareholding in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.   A further A$1.77 billion of proceeds from the sale were due by November 1997.   Treasury said it anticipated that bids for the lease of Federal Airports in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and possibly Adelaide, would be sought in 1996/97, with the first sales finalised by the end of that year.    The remaining airports, with the possible exception of Sydney and Sydney-West, would be leased by the end of 1997/98.   The leasing of Sydney and Sydney-West was to be deferred pending resolution of noise issues at Sydney and an enviromental impact study being conducted on a second Sydney airport.   A scoping study on the sale of Commonwealth Funds Management Ltd was currently being carried out and proceeds from any sale were expected in 1996/97, Treasury said.   The government had also decided to sell a number of common service businesses in the Department of Administrative Services.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273 2730 
307 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government's 1996/97 budget slashes labour market programmes, effectively cancelling the previous government's Working Nation initiative.   The budget cuts A$575 million from the labour market budget in 1996/97, leaving spending at A$1.46 billion.   In the following year, the cuts rise to A$956 million, leaving programmes at A$1.22 billion.   But the A$1-billion-a-year Working Nation programme, announced in 1994, was due to expire after 1997/98, so little money is saved in 1998/99.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
308 !C13 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government announced on Tuesday it would grant banks, building societies, credit unions and life insurance companies the right to offer customers Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs), which give the same tax benefits as normal superannuation funds.   "RSAs will be a simple, low cost, low risk products especially suited to those with small amounts of superannuation, such as itinerant and casual workers, those wishing to amalgamate several small superannuation accounts and those nearing retirement," Treasurer Peter Costello said in a statement.    "Their introduction will complement existing arrangements by increasing competition and choice in the superannuation industry, thereby putting downward pressure on fees and charges," he said.   Those offering RSAs must advise their customers of 'balanced portfolio' products offering better returns when their balances reached A$10,000.   RSAs would be eligible to receive contributions under the compulsory Superannuation Guarantee Scheme from employers and employees.    "The accounts...will be fully portable, owned and controlled by the member, and subject to the retirement income standards of superannuation products, including preservation," Costello said.   Money in the accounts would therefore not be able to be withdrawn for consumption spending and should be held in a superannuation fund until retirement.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
309 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government announced on Tuesday a range of measures aimed at what is said was tax avoidance by companies and wealthy individuals.   Changes were also announced to industry assistance schemes and import duty schemes and costs that would affect companies.   The government also announced changes to capital gains and other taxes that it said would help small businesses and poor pensioners.   TAX AVOIDANCE MEASURES    * Amendments to the tax rules over lease arrangements on luxury cars so they are treated as loan transactions, with the lessee now treated as the owner instead of the lessor.   * Moves to stop wholesale sales tax fraud in the computer industry, including a review of the exemption for on-sellers.   * Australian Taxation Office to spend extra A$19.2 million over next two years to investigate the tax minimisation practices of some high wealth individuals.   The government sees the crackdown raising an extra A$100 million in 1997/98.    * Changes to the non-resident witholding tax arrangements, including the application of the Income Tax Assessment Act to non-resident interest, dividend and royalty taxes.   * Measures to ensure companies that are dual residents will be treated as non-residents for tax purposes.   * the removal of the income tax exemption granted to "bona fide" minerals prospectors.   * amendments to the capital gains tax rules over transfer of capital losses and the liquidation of groups.   INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE SCHEME CHANGES    * The premium rate for tax deduction on Research and Development spending will be cut to a maximum of 125 percent from the current 150 percent.   * Confirmation of announced changes to the R&D tax regime including the abolition of concessions for R&D partnerships and syndicates.   * The creation of a new assistance programme for R&D called Start to replace the syndication scheme.   It includes A$520 million of funding over the next four years to provide targetted grants and loans.    * Changes to the Export Market Development Grants Scheme (EMDG) which caps spending at A$150 million a year from 1996/97 onwards and makes it more accesible for small business.   The eligibility threshold will be lowered to A$20,000 from A$30,000 and firms with a turnover of more than A$50 million will be excluded.   Joint venture applications from the tourism industry will now be considered.   * Confirmation of changes to the tariff concession system which raise expected tariff revenues by A$1.026 billion over the next four years.    * New user charges for Customs' service activities associated with imports, which are expected to raise A$161 million over the next four years.   SMALL BUSINESS TAX AND OTHER CHANGES   * The reduction of the provisional tax uplift factor to six percent from eight percent, which would deliver, the government said, A$180 million back to provisional taxpayers in 1996/97.    * Relief from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) for small businesses selling one business and buying a new one.   The rollover relief applies to businesses with assets of less than A$5 million and the new business must be bought within 12 months and be similar to the one sold previously.   * CGT exemption of up to A$550,000 for those selling a business and using the proceeds in their retirement.   * The extension of the qualifying period for capital gains tax exemption to 24 months from 12 months for the sale of an inherited house.    * Tax law amendments to bring equity investments in small to medium sized enterprises by lending institutions into the Capital Gains Tax regime.   The government said this would give an incentive to institutions to invest long term in small business.   * Fringe Benefits Tax exemption for housing provided by farmers for workers in remote areas.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
310 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said the government plans to introduce legislation requiring semi-annual updates of the economic and fiscal outlook.   As part of the government's 1996/97 (July-June) budget, the government said the 'Charter of Budget Honesty' will also require an updated economic and fiscal outlook to be released when an election is called, and an intergenerational report every five years.    The proposed legislation would introduce principles for the sound management of fiscal policy and a formal requirement that each government clearly outlined its fiscal strategy.   "The principles will require governments to give consideration to the impact of policy on: government debt and managing fiscal risks; national saving; the stability and integrity of the tax base; and equity between generations," the Treasurer said in a statement.   Part of the proposed principles included a requirement that the government outlined the process to reverse discretionary stimulatory measures introduced when the economy is in downturn.    As part of the proposed Charter, a new detailed system of reporting would be introduced, and these are tabled below.    Report Required Frequency Responsibility   Fiscal Strategy Statement  Annual Government   Budget Economic and Fiscal  Annual Government   Outlook    Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Annual Government   Outlook   Pre-election Economic and Election run-up Treasury/Finance   Fiscal Outlook   Intergenerational report  Five yearly  Government   Final Budget Outcome Annual Government   The Fiscal Strategy statement was intended to increase public awareness of fiscal policy objectives and establish a benchmark for evaluating the conduct of fiscal policy.   Costello said the statement should outline the longer term objectives for fiscal policy within which shorter term policies would be framed, and explain the broad strategic priorities on which the budget was based.   The Budget and mid-year outlooks would provide fiscal projections for the three years after the budget year, together with the economic and other assumptions on which they were based.    It was proposed that the Budget report would be presented each year with the annual appropriations, while the mid-year report was to be published by the end of December.   The pre-election report was to be released within 10 days of an election's announcement to ensure the availability of updated information prior to the election.   Each five years an intergenerational report, assessing the long-term sustainability of current polices, would be issued to help ensure fiscal policy addresses both short and long-term policy issues, Costello said.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
311 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will pay a dividend of A$2.129 billion to the government in 1996/97 (July-June), budget papers show.   Dividends paid by Financial Enterprise (Banks) will fall 2.2 percent in 1996/97 from the A$2.176 billion paid in 1995/96, the government said.   "The slightly lower dividend estimate in 1996/97 reflects the fact that no further dividends will be received from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, largely offset by an increase in RBA dividends because of an increase in RBA profits for the 1995/96 year," the budget papers said.    The government no longer receives a dividend from the CBA following the sale of its remaining interest earlier this year.   The RBA is required to pay its net earnings to the government after contingencies and appropriations to reserves under Reserve Bank Act 1959.   Dividend payments for government business enterprises are expected to rise to A$1.389 billion in 1996/97, 2.7 percent up on the A$1.352 billion received in 1995/96, as a result of improved profit performances by both Telstra and Australia Post, the government said in the budget papers.    Petroleum royalties are expected to rise to A$289 million, a 45.8 percent increase on the A$198 million received in 1995/96.   This is due to higher production levels on the North West Shelfand increases in forecast petroleum prices, partly offset by slightly lower production in some oil fields off Western Australia, the budget papers said.   All up, Total Dividends and Other received by the government are expected to total A$4.009 billion in 1996/97, an increase of2.8 percent on the A$3.899 billion received in 1995/96.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
312 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Tuesday that the 1996/97 budget would set the conditions for another interest rate cut as long as it successfully passed through the senate.   He said the budget could be knocked around in the senate, which is currently controlled by left-leaning Green and Democrat senators who have expressed opposition to many budget measures.   "The (Reserve) Bank has made it clear that medium term fiscal consolidation will aid that process," Costello told a news conference when asked if his 1996/97 budget increased the chance of a rate cut.    "If we can get a good budget through the senate which addresses Australia's savings problems, we can set up the conditions for that," he said, referring to a possible rate cut.   Australian officials cut official interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 7.0 percent on July 31.   Costello said it was possible the budget could remove some measures from the budget, which introduced measures to cut the underlying budget deficit by A$3.9 billion to a forecast A$5.65 billion in 1996/97.   "The senate could knock this budget around, but if it does it's knocking around our future," he said.    "This is the once in a term, once in a decade opportunity to get it right," he said.   "There are a number of measures, I haven't actually quantified them, which require legislative change that the senate could defeat," he said.   "I hope it doesn't."   The Australian dollar dropped sharply and other financial markets sold off in 1993 when the Labor government struggled to get some of its budget cutting measures through a hostile senate.   -- Canberra bureau 61-2 273-2730 
313 !E21 !E211 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government's total borrowing programme for 1996/97 is expected to be around A$7.0 billion in the year to end-June 1997, the Australian Treasury said in 1996/97 Budget papers.   This was A$1.0 billion above the mimimum needed to meet the financing task, which was estimated at A$6.0 billion in the year to end-June 1997 down from A$13.8 billion in 1995/96.   Treasury said a borrowing programme of that size offered flexibility to repurchase Treasury Bonds scheduled for maturity in out-years if this is judged desirable.    The financing task comprised an estimated headline budget surplus of A$500 million in 1996/97 offsetting scheduled bond maturities of around A$4.6 billion, foreign currency debt repayments of A$700 million and A$1.2 billion in payments associated with Commonwealth public trading enterprises.   Aggregate Treasury bond issuance was expected to be around A$6.0 to A$7.0 billion in 1995/96, down from A$7.8 billion in 1995/96, providing scope to introduce a new benchmark line.   At this stage, the intention is that the new Treasury Bond will be a long-end stock, possibly a 2009 maturity, Treasury said.    However, market feedback will be an important determinant in the final decision, it added.   A Treasury indexed bond issuance programme of around A$500 million to A$1.0 billion is envisaged for 1996/97, with the final amopunt subject to market conditions.   Subject to market demand, consideration will be given to the introduction of a new benchmark capital-indexed bond, probably with a maturity beyond those of existing lines, perhaps a 2020 line, Treasury said.    Issuance of Treasury adjustable rate bonds is expected to be around A$1.0 billion.   Again, the focus will be on a programme that will best support and contribute to the long-term development of this market, Treasury said.   The possible extension of the Commonwealth floating-rate curve beyond the present October 2000 line will be considered, it added.   Treasury said it expected a large within-year funding requirement in 1996/97 which will require regular Treasury Note issuance.    However, current intentions are for a reduction in the volume of Treasury notes outstanding at end-June 1997 to below A$15 billion, compared to end-June 1996 levels of A$15.3 billion.   As in previous years, it was the intention to maintain a small, core holding of U.S. dollar exposure in the government's debt portfolio, Treasury said.   This will involve the acquisition of new foreign currency exposure of around A$3.0 billion in the year ahead, including allowance for scheduled maturities.    Treasury said the most effective way of obtaining US$ exposure had been to issue domestically and swap the A$ proceeds into US$.   Although not currently planned, a return to direct issuance offshore by the Commonwealth remains an option should it become advantageous, Treasury said.   Should that happen, there would be a corresponding reduction in the domestic borrowing programme.   The current practice of holding Treasury Bond tenders every four to six weeks would continue, as would the practice of weighting Bond issue towards the first half of the financial year, Treasury said.   -- Canberra newsroom 61-6 273 2730 
314 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  These are the main economic forecasts that Australian Treasurer Peter Costello issued in his budget on Tuesday:    ACTUAL ESTIMATE ----FORECAST-----    1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 4 qtrs    year-av year-av year-av to Jun97    Gross domestic product  4.1  4.1  3.5  3.75    Consumer price index  3.2  4.2  2.0  2.0    Underlying inflation  2.1  3.2  2.75 2.75    Unemployment rate  9.0  8.5  8.5  8.25    Employment 4.0  2.6  1.5  2.0    Current account deficit -27.6 -20.5 -20.0   NOTE: Figures are percent change on previous year except unemployment, which is the percent rate, and the current account deficit, which is A$ billions.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
315 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Australian government said in its budget on Tuesday it expected an underlying deficit in the year ended June 30, 1997 of A$5.65 billion, down from a A$10.32 billion deficit posted in 1995/96.   The median economist forecast was for an underlying deficit number for 1996/97 of A$4.9 billion.   The government said it expected the headline balance, which include asset sale proceeds and early debt repayments, to be in surplus by A$474 million in 1996/97, down from the A$5.05 billion deficit posted in 1995/96.    Economists had forecast a A$1.0 billion headline surplus for 1996/97.   The government said the starting point underlying deficit for 1996/97 was A$9.56 billion, and that it would take spending and revenue measures which would produce a net reduction in the 1996/97 underlying deficit of A$3.90 billion.   The starting point deficit is the Treasury's estimate of what the budget outcome would be without any policy change.   This estimate is given to the government before the budget is constructed and includes the budget effects of Treasury's latest economic forecasts.    These deficit reduction measures included planned revenue increases worth A$979 million over the 1996/97 year and planned spending cuts worth A$2.929 billion over the year.   This latest A$9.56 billion starting point compares with the A$7.64 billion starting point for 1996/97 announced on March 12 just after the new government's election.   On July 16 the government announced a A$1.3 billion deterioration in the budget deficit for 1995/96 and Costello said the starting point for 1996/97 would worsen by about that amount.    The change in the starting point once that A$1.3 billion is taken into account implies economic forecast effects on the budget position of about minus A$660 million.   Economists had a median forecast a A$8.9 billion starting point deficit for 1996/97.   The government said it expected the underlying deficit to fall to A$1.55 billion in 1997/98 and then turn into a surplus of A$957 million in 1998/99.   It said its budget measures announced on Tuesday would reduce the underlying deficit by A$7.15 billion by the end of 1997/98.    The government said immediately after its election in March that it wanted to make A$8 billion worth of budget cuts over the 1996/97 and 1997/98 years, aiming for balance in 1997/98.     1995/96 1996/97 1997/98   1998/99   A$ billion   Underlying budget balance -10.317 -5.649 -1.548 +0.957   Headline budget balance -5.045 +0.474 +6.638 n/a   Starting point balance  -9.970 -9.558 -8.702 -5.414   Economists forecast (underlying) -4.9   Economists forecast (headline)  +1.0   Economists (starting point)  -8.9   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
316 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Miners at RTZ Corp Plc-CRA Ltd's Blair Athol coal mine in central Queensland have voted to end their five-and-a-half week strike and return to work at 2100 GMT Tuesday (7 a.m.   Wednesday), a Blair Athol Coal spokesman said.   "A meeting of miners this afternoon accepted a union recommendation for a return to work and will be back at seven in the morning," Blair Athol's general manager, operations, Rod Bates told Reuters.    Bates said the matter of training on a new drill which caused the miners to strike last month would be put to arbitration.   Union officials were not available for comment.   The strike at Blair Athol, Australia's biggest thermal coal mine, has cost nearly A$60 million in lost production, Bates said.   Blair Athol produces 10 million tonnes of coal annually with the bulk of output shipped to Japanese customers.   -- Sydney newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
317 !GCAT  -- TOP STORY - Hong Kong's unemployment rate fell below three percent for the first time in 14 months.   -- MING PAO DAILY NEWS -- Half of the sushi and sashimi samples tested by the Health Department in the past six months carried higher-than-standard bacteria levels.   -- TA KUNG PAO -- The Preparatory Committee has handed out more than 10,000 nomination forms to the 400-strong Selection Committee responsible for choosing Hong Kong's post-handover leaders.   -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - China and Taiwan both fired shots in their diplomatic battle yesterday, with Beijing resuming relations with Niger and Taiwan sending its Vice-President to an unspecified European country with which it had no diplomatic ties.   -- ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS -- An 80-year-old Hong Kong-based former Kuomingtang soldier wrongfully jailed for 10 years in China was jailed again recnntly for allegedly carrying out espionage activities when visiting relatives in Henan province.   -- MING PAO DAILY NEWS -- Yaohan International Holdings plans to privatise its 42-percent held Yaohan Hong Kong Corp following two years of losses   -- HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL -- Antony Leung, head of Citibank's Asia Pacific private banking operations, had resigned to join rival Chase Manhattan Bank.   -- HONGKONG STANDARD --Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings announced its first set of interim results, reporting an 43.89 per cent growth to $347.2 million in profit attributable to shareholders for the six months to 30 June.   -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- China's rural credit co-operatives would be merged into 2,000 co-operative banks under a People's Bank of China scheme to standardise lending activity to the agricultural sector.   -- HONG KONG NEWSROOM (852) 2843-6441 
318 !GCAT  NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN   Mitsubishi Motors Corp, a Malaysian government-affiliated investment company and two munition makers owned by the Chinese government are to set up a joint company to manufacture car engines in China.   They are expected to receive permission to set up the venture from the Chinese government by the end of this month.   They hope to start making 150,000 engines annually by 1998.   The joint company will be capitalised at about 40 billion yen.   ----    Osaka prosecutors plan to raid pharmaceuticals maker Green Cross Corp today in connection with the company's sale of blood products which may have been contaminated with HIV.   ----   Matsushita-Kotobuki Electronics Industries Ltd expects its parent current profit in the half-year to September to increase by 3.1 times from the same period a year earlier to 9.8 billion yen, compared with its former forecast of 6.2 billion yen.   ----    Mycal Corp expects its parent current profit in the six months ending August 31 to increase by 44 percent from the same period a year earlier to six billion yen, against its previous forecast of five billion yen.   ----   Major computer modem maker U.S. Robotics Inc plans to set up a Japanese unit in Tokyo within a few months to manufacture computer modems.   The new unit will be employ about 50 people.   ----    Japan's Showa Shell Sekiyu KK and a Chinese subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell group are considering selling gasoline and lubricating oil in Asia, mainly in China.   ----   Hitachi Metals Ltd plans to set up a new company in the United States to make steel components for use in power steering pumps.   It will invest $5.3 million in the new plant and start operations from February 1997.   ----    Kirin Beverage Corp plans to boost output of yeast extracts, which are in increasing demand as food seasonings.   It also plans to start producing extracts from the beginning of 1997 at its own brewery in Shiga prefecture, central Japan, as it had contracted out production to another company in Tokyo.   ----   Fuji Zerox Co Ltd plans to market colour laser printers in Japan from the second half of the business year starting April 1997.   ---- 
319 !GCAT !GDIP  Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto arrived in Mexico on Tuesday on the first leg of a five-nation, 10-day tour of Latin America.   Although Hashimoto made no comments to reporters upon his arrival at the Mexico City airport just before 11:30 a.m.   EDT (1530 GMT), he was expected to announce credits to Mexico worth $940 million during his three-day trip, Mexican officials said.   Deputy Foreign Minister Juan Rebolledo Gout said on Monday that the credits -- aimed at ecological projects, small- and medium-sized firms and Mexican exporters -- would be signed by Mexican and Japanese officials on Wednesday.   The support comes as Hashimoto seeks to open a new trade front for Japanese industry in Latin America.   Tokyo has already pumped nearly $60 billion in direct investment into the region over the past 14 years and its economic aid doubled between 1990 and 1995 to $1.14 billion.   Hashimoto will hold talks with President Ernesto Zedillo on Wednesday and will meet members of the Japanese-Mexican community during his stay.   Mexico was the first stop on a trip that will also take him to Chile, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica.   A potential cloud over his trip was lifted on Monday when kidnappers released a top Japanese electronics executive in the Mexican-U.S. border city of Tijuana after a $2 million ransom was paid.   After nine days in captivity, Mamoru Konno, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co was found in the basement of an unoccupied building after a Mexican police official contacted kidnappers with the money. 
320 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan Vice President Lien Chan emerged in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission, raising the prospect of diplomatic sparks between Ukraine and communist China.   Taiwan Television showed Lien with his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing at the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree.   State-funded television said Lien's secretive visit had been arranged by the university, indicating it was unofficial, but said Lien had met Ukraine officials and was awaiting a meeting with President Leonid Kuchma.   A former Soviet republic, Ukraine recognises the communist government in Beijing -- not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China -- but has made clear its desire for improved relations with Taiwan and its powerful "Asian dragon" export economy.   Ukraine nonetheless views China as a key trading partner, with annual two-way trade of almost $1 billion.   China regards nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province ineligible for foreign ties and has sought to isolate it diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   Lien's presence in Ukraine virtually guarantees an angry response from Beijing, which spurns states that recognise Taipei and fumes even at diplomatic partners that entertain Taiwan's leaders.   A spokeswoman for Ukraine's foreign ministry, interviewed by Taiwan Television, said a Lien-Kuchma meeting was possible.   "So far there is no such meeting in the plan, but it may take place absolutely unexpectedly," the spokeswoman said.   Ukraine Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko said Kiev considered Taiwan an "integral part of continental China" and had no information on Lien's visit.   Officials of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula said Lien's "unofficial stopover" included a trip to the picturesque Black Sea resort of Yalta, contradicting earlier assertions from Kiev officials that Lien was not in the country.   Kuchma was due back in Kiev on Tuesday after a holiday in Crimea, but officials said he did not meet Lien, a millionaire who doubles as Taiwan's premier or cabinet chief.   Crimean spokesman Oleg Khomenok told reporters in Simferopol that Lien had met the deputy prime minister, the vice-speaker of the local parliament and a parliamentary faction leader in the pro-Russian peninsula.   The nature of Lien's talks was not disclosed.   In mid-1995, a furious China downgraded its U.S. ties after Washington let Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui make a private visit and assailed Austria and the Czech Republic for allowing a similar visit by Lien.   Taiwan Foreign Minister John Chang maintained Taipei's pall of official silence, saying to disclose Lien's travels could compromise further activities still being planned but vowing to press ahead with Taiwan's drive to win diplomatic allies.   "We can only confirm vice-president Lien is currently in Europe for a private visit...," Chang told reporters.   "We have to realise our difficult situation in the international community.   We will not give up any effort to expand our international living space," Chang said.   The number of states recognising Taiwan fell by one on Monday to 30 as impoverished Niger, which split with Beijing to recognise Taipei in 1992, switched back to Beijing.   In the past week, President Lee has warned that Taiwan was becoming too dependent on China's economy and assailed what he called Beijing's irrational drive to isolate the island. 
321 !GCAT !GCRIM !GREL !GVIO  An Indonesian Catholic priest was charged on Tuesday with publicly showing hatred against President Suharto following last month's riots in Jakarta, his lawyer said.   Authorities have taken more than 200 people into custody since the July 27 violence in which at least four people were killed and scores of buildings and vehicles set on fire.   Lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan from the Legal Aid Institute told reporters Father Ignatius Sandyawan was questioned and charged but not arrested.   "Father Ignatius Sandyawan was questioned and he will appear before the police again tomorrow.   Police have said he would not be arrested," Pangaribuan said.   The lawyer said Sandyawan was not arrested because church officials had guaranteed his presence at his trial.   He said Sandyawan was questioned for more than three hours and also faced three further charges -- showing enmity against the authorities, publicly insulting the authorities in writing and harbouring criminals.   Sandyawan was not available for comment.   Officials have accused Sandyawan of sheltering three members of the leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD), including its leader Budiman Sudjatmiko.   The PRD has been blamed for instigating the riots.   Showing hatred against the president carries a maximum penalty of six years' imprisonment.   Sandyawan is the secretary of a team of volunteers set up to assist victims of the riots, the worst unrest in the city for more than two decades.   The riots erupted after police stormed the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the late founding president Sukarno.   Pangaribuan, who was with the priest during the questioning, said Sudjatmiko, using a false name, had called on Sandyawan after the riots and sought shelter.   "Sandyawan told the that police he, as a religious man, had a moral obligation to help people who felt scared," he said.   The priest later put up the PRD members at the home of his brother, Benny Sumardi.   Sumardi, also accused of harbouring criminals, was arrested along with the activists last week.   A spokesman for the Legal Aid Institute, Munir, told Reuters on Tuesday authorities had charged 13 activists, including PRD members, with subversion in connection with the riots.   Indonesia's subversion laws allow for detention for up to one year without trial and are punishable by death. 
322 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  South Korean riot police backed by helicopters and assault troops stormed a Seoul campus on Tuesday to end a seven-day occupation by students demanding reunification with North Korea.   They smashed through a bonfire of wooden desks and chairs engulfing the main entrance of a teaching block and flushed out about 1,000 mostly female students after a pitched battle.   Hours later, a further 1,000 or so terrified students holed up in a nearby science block fled into alleys and hills surrounding the Yonsei University campus where they were hunted down.   They had earlier threatened to explode gas canisters and dangerous chemicals seized from laboratories.   In all 3,225 students were arrested, bringing the total held in a week of pro-Pyongyang agitation at Yonsei to around 5,500.   Dozens of students were injured in the assault by denim-clad riot police trained in martial arts and many had blood streaming from head wounds as they were dragged away.   A South Korean news photographer was in critical condition in hospital after being struck on the head by a rock.   The raid started just before dawn when police helicopters skimmed low over the classroom complex and dropped liquid teargas on students packed on the roof.   Thousands of riot police rushed the building, occupied by undergraduates calling for unity with North Korea on Pyongyang's terms that would leave the governments of both North and South intact.   The students also demanded the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the South, which is still technically at war with the North since the 1950-53 Korean War.   Police held aloft metal shields as students rained down rocks, desks, chairs and petrol bombs.   After leaping across flames at the entrance and clambering through smashed windows, they were briefly beaten back by a raging fire in the lobby.   Firefighters successfully brought the blaze under control.   By then, some students on the roof were waving white flags to signal surrender.   On the rooftop of an adjacent building, assault troops dropped by helicopter and wearing black balaclavas trained automatic weapons on student occupiers.   One male student clung by his fingertips from the roof and threatened to let go in a suicide bid before changing his mind.   Police grabbed and pummelled him with their fists.   Large parts of the classroom building were gutted by fire and equipment was smashed beyond repair.   "This place is beyond recognition," said university administrator Yoo Young-choon, surveying the scene.   Authorities have branded the student leaders as Communist stooges and more than 100 have been formally charged, some under national security laws.   Outside the main campus gate, about 50 mothers and other relatives of the students wailed and pleaded for mercy for the youths.   "My son is not a communist," one mother screamed.   Students fleeing from the science block scrambled over alleyway rooftops in their desperation to avoid club-wielding police.   Some resisted arrest by hurling rocks and brandishing iron bars.   Minutes before their escape, a student leader denounced the raid at a news conference as a "murderous crackdown".   On Saturday police cut off food and medicine to the students.   Dozens were rushed to hospital on Monday suffering from hunger and exhaustion.   Militant students find themselves isolated from a hostile public as they press their violent campaign for reunification.   Heroes of the battle for democracy in the late 1980s, when the middle classes rallied behind them, the radical students have now alienated ordinary South Koreans by embracing Pyongyang's blueprint for a single Korea.   Tuesday's assault was the worst campus violence since President Kim Young-sam took power in 1993. 
323 !GCAT !GCRIM  Chinese police have confiscated 9,000 fake or stolen army licence plates during inspections of about 200,000 vehicles in a two-year crackdown, state radio said on Tuesday.   Police had smashed 20 illegal plate-making rings and seized dozens of sets of equipment used to make false military plates and driver's licences, the report said.   Cars with military licence plates hold a special status on China's roads, as many policemen ignore traffic violations committed by their drivers. 
324 !GCAT !GENV  China's capital, Beijing, is sinking by 10 mm to 20 mm (0.39 in to 0.79 in) a year because of excessive groundwater use, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.   Over the past 40 years, the ground has sunk by more than 700 mm (27.6 in) in the city's eastern suburbs and by 600 mm (23.6 in) in the northeastern suburbs, damaging buildings and underground pipelines, Xinhua said.   The rate at which it is sinking has increased since 1987, the agency said.   "The subsidence is mainly caused by excessive groundwater use," Xinhua quoted Hong Libo, chief engineer of the Beijing Institute of Surveying and Map Design Research, as saying.   Hong attributed the increased groundwater use to rising industrial extraction and water consumption caused by the city's growing population, the agency said.   The city's southern and northwestern suburbs were also sinking, but not as fast as the eastern and northeastern areas, it said.   Experts warned that continued sinking might threaten the city's future.   The only way to halt it was to restructure industries, limit groundwater consumption and control the expansion of the city, Xinhua said. 
325 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENT !GENV  A group of 56 Chinese writers, former officials and academics has petitioned Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin to save cultural relics from the gigantic Three Gorges dam which would flood huge tracts of land.   Ancient tombs and temples were threatened by a dearth of government funds and official under-reporting of those relics that warranted saving, according to the letter, a copy of which was made available to Reuters on Tuesday.   "The hearts of relic protection departments are like burning fire with 10,000 worries and misgivings," it said of the lack of funds.   About 130 historical sites, some of them dating to the Stone Age, could be flooded as soon as next year.   The sites include Qing dynasty (1644-1911) temples, an entire street from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and stone carvings from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).   Relocation of many relics had been delayed due to lack of funds, the letter said, adding that the damage would worsen unless government funds for relocation were provided.   The letter dated August 8 was signed by prominent female writer Bing Xin, former ambassador to the United States Chai Zemin and former minister of culture Wang Meng.   Others include Su Bingqi, president of the Archaeological Society, and Yu Weichao, curator of the Museum of Chinese History who is in charge of relocating relics.   Archaeologists had designated 829 buried relics near a reservoir under construction as needing protection.   The sites covered a total area of more than 20 million square metres (215 million square ft), but the government has agreed to protect one tenth of the area due to a lack of funds, it said.   Some ancient tombs and relics have already disappeared under the onslaught of bulldozers, the letter said.   Construction of the controversial dam was expected to submerge 632 square km (244 square miles) of land in central China's Hubei province and the southwestern province of Sichuan.   It would force the relocation of 840,000 people from up to 200 villages and towns, according to 1991-92 estimates.   Environmentalists have described the project as a potential ecological disaster, leading to the destruction of a scenic mountain region and the extinction of endangered species.   The Three Gorges dam -- the world's biggest water control project -- was expected to ease seasonal flooding by creating a massive reservoir in Hubei to store waters from rains.   The 6,000-km (3,500-mile) Yangtze river -- China's longest -- and its tributaries have triggered floods throughout much of China's history.   The project, expected to cost $30 billion by its completion in 2009, would also help ease China's crippling shortage of electric power. 
326 !GCAT !GDIP  South Korea on Tuesday began knocking down Seoul's blue-domed capitol building in a bid to erase memories of Japanese rule of the Korean peninsula.   The capitol was built by the Japanese in 1926 in the grounds of the Kyongbok Palace, the principal royal palace of Korea's Yi dynasty which was deposed in 1910 when the Japanese began 35 years of colonial rule.   "Now the black shadow which has overcast the Kyongbok Palace, the symbol of (Korea's) Yi dynasty, will finally disappear and be buried in history," Chung Yang-mo, director of the national museum housed in the capitol building, told reporters.   South Korea began the demolition process last year by plucking the tip of the dome off the building, the seat of the Japanese colonial government, as it marked the 50th anniversary of the end of World War Two.   "We have finally moved everything, including sculptures, paintings and other historical objects," said an official at Ministry of Culture and Sports.   He said the demolition would take until the end of the year.   As part of a campaign to "correct distorted history", South Korea is restoring the original palace and grounds before Seoul and Tokyo co-host the 2002 World Cup soccer finals.   South Korea and Japan established diplomatic ties in 1965 and the two have burgeoning trade, investment and tourism ties.   But surveys consistently show the people of each nation list the other as the country they most love to hate. 
327 !GCAT !GDEF  Indonesia's armed forces plan to launch a big military exercise on and around the oil-rich Natuna islands next month, the official Antara news agency said on Tuesday.   "All types of operations and new weapons owned by the armed forces will be tested in the exercise on the Natuna islands," Lieutenant-General Wiranto, exercise director and chief of the army's strategic command (Kostrad), was quoted as saying.   The exercise would run from September 8-19, Wiranto said, adding: "It is aimed at increasing the armed forces capabilities as a defence force."   Wiranto said that the armed forces had previously launched joint military exercises on the same scale in 1988 and 1992.   "This exercise will become the biggest and most complicated," he said, adding that missiles, tanks, submarines and fighter aircraft would be used.   At least 19,525 personnel, including elite special forces (Kopassus), marines, and air force paratroops would take part in the exercise, Wiranto added.   Antara said the Natuna islands in South China Sea were chosen because of their sparse population and inaccessibility.   In 1994, Indonesia signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Exxon Corp of the United States to exploit the Natuna gas fields, which contain an estimated 210 trillion cubic feet of gas.   Indonesia recently questioned a Chinese maritime map that showed the Natunas as part of China's territory but accepted an explanation from Beijing which said they belonged to Jakarta. 
328 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Cambodian legislators on Tuesday passed a nationality law that is crucial for the holding of elections and could affect the status of minority groups.   Senior parliamentarian Son Soubert said passage of the law, which decides who can hold Cambodian citizenship, was vital.   "Otherwise we cannot discuss the electoral law...(and) the immigration law cannot be applied totally," he told Reuters.   The government has said all laws will be in place by the end of the year for the holding of local elections due in 1997 and general elections in 1998.   Son Soubert tried to dismiss fears that the government would use the immigration and nationality laws to expel tens of thousands of ethnic Vietnamese and other minority groups.   He said King Norodom Sihanouk had guaranteed that all those who could prove residence in Cambodia before a 1970 coup that ousted him from power should be allowed to stay.   Cambodia is home to around 100,000 ethnic Vietnamese, many of whom have been here for generations but fled persecution in the 1970s, often losing their documentation.   Some legislators, including Son Chhay of the Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (BLDP), were concerned about an article allowing foreigners to buy citizenship for $400,000.   Businessmen from places such as Hong Kong, which reverts to China in 1997, will not have to meet residential qualifications necessary for others but must pass a language test.   "I'm worried that criminal people, people involved with the mafia and drug trafficking, will be willing to pay this money to use Cambodia as a scapegoat (for their crimes)," Son Chhay told Reuters.   Both Son Chhay and Son Soubert also said some foreign businessmen had improperly bought Cambodian identification under the previous government that let them buy property, but their status would be clarified under the new legislation.   If the law was fully implemented, "there's going to be quite a large number of these people jailed," Son Chhay said.   Son Soubert said most of Tuesday's session was spent discussing penalties for those using forged Cambodian passports or identification cards.   Legislators agreed to amend these articles to punish only foreigners using fake identification and hiked the proposed jail term to between five and 10 years from one to five years.   The assembly had on Monday dropped one controversial article which said naturalised Cambodians could lose their citizenship if they violated the constitution or other laws.   The law was tabled in June but parliamentarians had failed to complete debate when the National Assembly's three-month session ended in July.   An extraordinary session was convened last week to finish the work. 
329 !GCAT !GDIP  Turkey's new Islamist prime minister on Tuesday ended a controversial foreign tour that has raised his nation's profile in Asia but put it on a potential collision course with the United States.   Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was leaving for home from Indonesia, his fifth stop after visits to Iran, Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia in his first foreign tour since taking office in June.   All but Singapore are Moslem-majority nations, and the tour represented Turkey's new drive to increase its standing in the Islamic world, aides of the prime minister said.   Turkish MP Hasan Huseyin Ceylan, a member of Erbakan's Welfare Party who was part of his delegation, said Turkey's relations with fellow Islamic nations had deteriorated in recent years as Ankara sought a greater role in Europe, and Erbakan's tour was aimed at shoring up the ties.   "Turkey attaches great importance to promoting its economic, commercial, social and cultural relations with Islamic countries," Erbakan said in an address to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.   "Turkey is capable of acting as a bridge between Europe and the Islamic world," he said.   But the West has been wary of ally Turkey's tilt to the East since Erbekan took over as the country's first overtly Islamic leader in over 70 years.   A $23 billion gas supply deal with Iran signed by Erbakan on the first leg of his tour has drawn the ire of the United States and led to calls for sanctions against Turkey.   U.S. State Department spokesman Glynn Davies said "signing this deal is not the kind of signal that we in the West should be sending to what is, in effect, a rogue government".   The deal was struck one week after U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a law to penalise companies investing in energy projects in Iran or Libya.   Turkish officials have said the law does not apply to the project and the United States has said it will study the agreement and the law before it decided on sanctions.   Members of Erbakan's delagation said the deal was necessary to provide Turkey with much needed fuel for electricity and noted that the deal was completed by the pro-West government of previous prime minister Tansu Ciller, who is foreign minister in the new coalition government.   "The demand for gas in just Istanbul is greater than the amount than we get from Russia," said Ceylan.   "Turkey needs to buy gas and Iran offered a good price."   Energy Minister Recai Kutan dismissed the possibility that the United States would impose sanctions because of the deal.   "Turkey and the United States have had good relations for over 50 years and this is only one event," he told Reuters.   "It just happens to be one time when our benefits do not coincide."   Erbakan's tour also came amid a new outbreak of tension between fellow NATO members Turkey and Greece over the divided island of Cyprus.   At least two Greek Cypriots were killed last week during protests in the United Nations-controlled buffer zone against Turkey's 22-year occupation of the island's northern areas.   Greece has warned Turkey that any military advance would lead to war and Erbakan was quick to react.   "If the United States is to impose any sanctions on any country, that has to be imposed on Greece, because it is the Greek Cypriots who have engaged in this provocative action," he said in Malaysia on Sunday. 
330 !GCAT !GDIP  A Taiwan television station on Tuesday showed film of Vice-President Lien Chan at a university in Ukraine, ending a two-day mystery over his whereabouts.   The videotape showed Lien, his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing outside of the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree.    State-funded Taiwan Television said Lien's visit was arranged by the university, indicating it was unofficial, but said Lien had met Ukrainian officials and was awaiting a meeting with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.   None of the officials who Lien met was identified by name.   A former Soviet republic, Ukraine recognises the Chinese communist government in Beijing, not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China, but has made clear its desire for better ties with Taiwan and its powerful export-driven economy.   China, which regards Taiwan as a rebel province not entitled to foreign relations, has sternly criticised countries that have entertained visits by Lien and other Taiwan leaders. 
331 !GCAT !GHEA  Mongolian officials said on Tuesday they had controlled the spread of cholera, which has infected 106 people since an outbreak of the disease this month in the north of the country.   An additional 23 people were suspected of having the disease, pending laboratory test results, and a total of 1,955 people were in quarantine across the country, health officials said.   Mongolian Minister of Defence D. Dorligjav said officials had controlled the spread of cholera by imposing strict restrictions on travel.   "We have been able to restrict the spread of the disease," Dorligjav said in an interview.   Health officials said they believed the outbreak was not going to become an epidemic in densely populated areas like Ulan Bator, Darkhan and Erdenet.   Dorligjav commands civil defence troops that have sealed off the northern cities of Erdenet and Darkhan, Selenge province and parts of Central province since the disease broke out on August 8.   Officials were trying to evacuate foreigners trapped in quarantined areas, he said.   About 30 foreigners have been evacuated from Erdenet by helicopter and more than 20 were to be evacuated from Darkhan.   Health officials have traced the virus back to a military unit in Khoetol, about 350 km (210 miles) from Ulan Bator.   They believe it was spread through contaminated food.   "The bacteria has been found in the area where leftovers had been dumped... From there, the bacteria spread to a nearby lake," Dorligjav said.   He said the bacteria had probably been spread by foreign food since Mongolia had never had a cholera epidemic before.   Health Ministry officials said nine people in Ulan Bator were infected and 10 more suspected of having the disease, but the capital's hospital for infectious diseases said there were even more cases.   "We have 24 people taken into the wards suspected of having cholera.   Of them, 12 have already been confirmed to have the disease," a hospital doctor said.   Police and soldiers guarded the capital's military hospital and the hospital for infectious diseases to enforce the quarantine.   Health officials on Tuesday imposed a quarantine on two more counties in Central province, which surrounds the capital. 
332 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Hong Kong legislative councillor Christine Loh on Tuesday joined others in the pro-democracy camp in the colony who say they won't participate in a China-backed committee to choose a provisional legislature and chief executive.   Referring to both the 1997 "Selection Committee" and the provisional legislature, Loh said: "I don't want to sit on either body."   Loh, a prominent pro-democracy politician, was speaking to the Singapore Foreign Correspondents Association.   Loh was elected in Hong Kong as an independent rather than as a member of the Democratic Party, which has also said it will not participate in the selection committee.   China says that after it takes over Hong Kong at midnight on June 30, 1997 it will abolish the legislative council elected under British rule, replacing it with a provisional legislature ahead of an election expected later.   A Beijing-appointed Preparatory Committee will pick the 400 selection committee members.   Critics question the committee's independence and object to the idea of a provisional legislature.   The selection committee is also supposed to choose a chief executive to replace Hong Kong's British governor.   But Loh said: "It seems to me that they have already decided, that is, China has already decided who this person will be."   China has said the selection process for the chief executive could be advanced from December to November, which suggested a candidate had been identified, Loh said.   She said the Chinese have said recently the person should be acceptable to Britain, which she doubted they would say if they had not already picked someone falling into that category.   Shipping magnate C.H. Tung is considered China's most likely choice, Loh said.   Loh, who plans to run when China holds elections for a new Hong Kong legislature, said she will proceed with plans to start a political party of her own.   "Political parties in Hong Kong right now are more like glorified pressure groups" than parties serious about taking power with a well-thought-out programme, Loh said.   She said her party would not simply advocate democracy, but take stands on such issues as the environment, women's rights and social justice. 
333 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Two East Timor youths entered the Japanese embassy compound in Jakarta on Tuesday seeking political asylum but then fled, a Japanese diplomat said.   "They jumped over the front fence.   They said they wanted to see a doctor and go overseas, but as we were asking for more information they ran away, outside the compound," diplomat Akira Nagai said.   "They looked young but we did not have time to ask them their age," he said.   "They ran themselves.   We did not expel them."   Nagai said embassy guards had seen the two men outside the compound earlier with two companions.   In November, 21 East Timorese broke into the Japanese embassy compound and left a day later for asylum in Portugal.   Following the incident, the embassy added an extra layer of barbed wire to the metal fence.   Since September last year 84 East Timorese have left for Portugal after seeking asylum in foreign embassies in Jakarta.   Portugal is the former colonial ruler of East Timor, a small enclave north of Australia invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and unilaterally annexed the following year.   The United Nations does not recognise Indonesia's rule in East Timor and regards Lisbon as the administering power. 
334 !GCAT !GCRIM  Saudi Arabia on Tuesday beheaded a convicted Saudi murderer, bringing the total number of executions so far this year in the kingdom to around 25.   An Interior Ministry statement said that the man was found guilty of stabbing to death a fellow Saudi citizen.   The public beheading by the sword had been postponed for several years until the sons of the victim reached legal age, the statement, read on Saudi television, said.   Under Islamic Sharia law enforced in conservative Saudi Arabia, relatives of a victim can pardon a convicted murderer and accept blood money instead.   On Sunday a Saudi woman was executed for killing her husband by shooting him three times in his sleep.   Saudi Arabia beheads convicted drug smugglers, rapists, murderers and other criminals. 
335 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  Israel said on Tuesday it would not redeploy its troops in the West Bank city of Hebron until the Palestinian Authority closed its offices in Arab East Jerusalem.   Under a peace accord with the PLO, Israel at the end of March was due to have redeployed its troops in Hebron, the last major Arab West Bank city still under Israeli control.   "We are demanding that Jerusalem offices be closed," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by an official as telling a closed-door session of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.   "(Palestinian President Yasser) Arafat himself promised to close two other offices but did not close them.   Until they are closed there will be no progress, including on the issue of Hebron," the official quoted Netanyahu as saying.   Arafat adviser Ahmed Tibi told Israel Television on Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority was not operating offices out of Jerusalem.   Israel delayed its redeployment from Hebron after a spate of Moslem suicide bombings killed 59 people in Israel in February and March.   Netanyahu, elected in May, has said he was examining the issue.   Palestinians view an Israeli troop withdrawal from Hebron as a litmus test for the peace process.   Israeli troops are to remain in part of the city to guard some 400 Jewish living among the more than 100,000 Palestinians.   Israel occupied Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it, declaring both halves of the city its eternal capital.   Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.   The city's fate is up for negotiation in final peace talks which have yet to resume under Netanyahu. 
336 !GCAT !GDIS  A British tourist drowned off the coast of Cyprus on Tuesday while swimming with his wife and daughter, police in the resort town of Paphos said.   Robert Michail Mcguire, 47, from London, was staying with his family at Venus Hotel in the west coast town of Paphos.   A police officer said the sea was rough when the family went for an evening swim.   "When people see large waves they don't think of their safety they're just concerned with enjoying themselves," the police officer said. 
337 !GCAT !GDIP  Iran has protested to Olympics officials over what it said was the refusal of an American athlete to take part in an Atlanta Paralympics medals ceremony where the Iranian anthem was played, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.   The daily Resalat said Vice-President Mostafa Hashemi-Taba wrote to International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch saying it was against the Olympic charter for the medal-winning U.S. shot putter not to stand on the podium during the ceremony in which an Iranian athlete received a gold medal.   "If the Olympics were a place for political demonstrations, it would be the certain right of the Iranian nation to demonstrate against the American government's numerous military, economic and political aggressive acts," Hashemi-Taba said.   "But this is not done due to respect for the Olympic charter and the spirit of the games," added Hashemi-Taba who also heads Iran's National Olympic Committee.   Hashemi-Taba said the incident took place during the medals ceremony for a shot put event won by Iran's Qader Modabber.   He did not give the date or name the U.S. athlete.   The Paralympics Games for disabled athletes started in Atlanta on Friday.   There was no independent confirmation of the incident. 
338 !GCAT !GPOL  Architects of the Israel-PLO peace accord said on Tuesday they would establish an "Oslo Club" to monitor implementation of deal.   "We have decided to set up the Oslo Club which will bring together Palestinians, representatives of the former Israeli government and Norwegian officials to monitor implementation of the deal," said Ahmed Korei, a Palestinian peacemaker.   The Israel-PLO Oslo peace accord, negotiated secretly in Norway three years ago, established the framework for interim Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused members of the opposition of undermining the government's peace efforts by trying to make contacts with Arab leaders.   Netanyahu, who opposes the principle of trading occupied Arab land for peace, ousted his Labour party predecessor Shimon Peres in May elections.   "In the state of Israel there is only one government and only it is authorised to conduct negotiations or contacts with foreign officials," Netanyahu told reporters after a closed-door session of a parliamentary committee.   Architects of the Oslo accord held a celebration on Sunday near the southern tip Israel's sea of Galilee to mark the third anniversary of the secret initialling of the historic peace deal.   Government officials boycotted the gathering. 
339 !GCAT !GDIP  Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in Tunis on Tuesday to discuss the stalled Middle East peace process with President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, PLO and Tunisian officials said.   They said Arafat is expected to ask Tunisia to help overcome obstacles put by the new hardline Israeli government in the way of implementing the PLO-Israel 1993 interim peace deal and the resumption of talks on the final status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 
340 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Israel sought to reassure its citizens on Tuesday following reports that Syria had recently tested a long-range Scud missile capable of hitting targets across the Jewish state.   Israel test fired its Arrow 2 anti-missile missile on Tuesday as its media reported that Syria was holding military exercises.   Israel's Channel Two television reported on Monday that Syria had tested several weeks ago a Scud C missile, capable of hitting Israeli cities.   The reports signalled rising tensions fuelled by a deadlock in Middle East peace talks since Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu won Israeli elections in May.   "Syria had been arming itself with Scud missiles for quite some time.   What it's doing now is moving from purchase to manufacture.   They're trying to manufacture these Scuds," Netanyahu told reporters.   "But they're the same Scuds with the same capabilities.   So there is no new strategic factor in the equation between Syria and Israel," he said.   Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, commenting on reports of Syrian military exercises, told Israel Radio: "I propose we do not connect that to any sort of tension.   It's possible that they're worried on the other side..."   "I would suggest that you not create tensions and false pressures," Mordechai said.   Tension between Syria and Israel escalated after Netanyahu said Israel would retain the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.   Peace talks between Israel and Syria have made little headway for over four years.   Zeev Maoz, head of the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies, Israel's best known think-tank, said on Sunday the probability of war with Syria had increased with Netanyahu's election.   Maoz said Netanyahu's position could push Damascus to try to break a diplomatic stalemate by starting a war.   Lebanon and Syria have both publicly rejected Netanyahu's "Lebanon First" proposal -- by which Israel would withdraw from south Lebanon for the right security guarantees -- as a ploy to avoid handing the strategic Golan Heights back to Damascus.   Syria accused Israel on Tuesday of beating war drums in the Middle East and said that the Jewish state would lose in any conflict with the Arab world.   On Monday Netanyahu warned, during his first visit to Israeli-occupied south Lebanon since his election, that pro-Iranian Hizbollah guerrilla raids on Israeli forces would only worsen the situation.   "It is not good for Syria, Lebanon or Hizbollah or Israel.   Therefore our choice is to try to reach a calming of the situation and guaranteeing security for all," Netanyahu said.   Israel says Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon where it has 35,000 troops, could curb Hizbollah guerrillas fighting to oust Israel from south Lebanon.   A senior source in Netanyahu's government said Israel was not trying to heat up the situation with Syria.   "There is no intention to heat up the border with Syria," a government source who spoke on condition he not be named told Reuters.   Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said that missile tests were not the way to signal a desire for peace.   "If Syria wants peace, the tone and style is not with missiles or weapons like that," Levy told reporters. 
341 !GCAT !GDEF  Israel successfully test fired a U.S.-financed Arrow 2 anti-missile missile over the Mediterranean on Tuesday, officials said.   They said the Arrow 2, launched from the coastline in central Israel, apparently hit its target which was fired four minutes earlier at about 3 p.m. (12 GMT) from a ship.   "Initial data indicates that the missile performed as planned," a Defence Ministry statement said.   "The results indicate that the Arrow's sensors locked in on the target, its warhead was activated and the target was hit."   It was "a big success" said Moshe Keret, director-general of Israel Aircraft Industries in charge of the project.   Keret said official confirmation as to whether the target was actually destroyed would take a few hours.   Tuesday's flight was the third of the Arrow 2 but the first intercepting a missile.   Keret said additional test launches would be carried out.   Asked if the launch would allay Israeli fears after reports that Syria had recently test fired an advanced Scud-C missile capable of hitting Israeli cities, Keret told Israel army radio:   "Maybe not in the immediate future but when the system will be operational, maybe in about two years, that will certainly be an important and central layer in the defence system of the state of Israel."   Tension has been rising between Israel and Syria over stalled Middle East peace talks since the May election of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.   Development of the Arrow was launched in the late 1980s and U.S. funding was approved as part of the Strategic Defence Intitiative, known as Star Wars.   Most components of that initiative have since been scrapped but the 1991 Gulf War, in which Iraq fired dozens of Scud missiles at Israel, gave the Arrow new impetus with the United States ploughing nearly $500 million for initial development.   The project cost is estimated at $1.2 billion.   Israel spent several years developing and testing the Arrow 1 which it hoped would do a better job at hitting incoming missiles than the U.S. Patriot missiles, with a range of 10 km (six miles), deployed in Israel during the Gulf War.   The target missile used in Tuesday's test-launch was a modified Arrow 1 missile with a radar cross section and payload to match that of a Scud missile, said the U.S. Army Program Executive Office Air and Missile Defence in a statement.   "The Arrow program is a joint U.S./Israel effort to develop an interceptor missile for the Arrow Weapons System.   The information gained from the program has potential application for several U.S. missile defence programs," the statement said. 
342 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Angry Jordanians in the southern city of Karak, kept in check by troops and a curfew after two days of riots against higher bread prices last week, warned on Tuesday of further violence if King Hussein rejects dialogue.   Residents spoke of rising frustration with the king's declared "iron-fist" response to youths who targeted banks and state institutions in what they said was a spontaneous expression of rage over hardship in the poor south.   "The reaction of the government is not to calm things down.   People are waiting for the moment to react," Ahmad Mahadeen, elected mayor of the city, told Reuters.   Riots began in Karak and quickly spread to nearby centres.   By Saturday night there were clashes in Amman.   Peace has been ensured in Karak since Sunday by a curfew and the army.   It was the worst unrest in Jordan since 1989, when riots followed a government decision to raise fuel prices.   Then the king dumped his prime minister and began reforms.   Many warned of fresh trouble on Friday -- a week after a protest following prayers turned into clashes with police, who used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.   "The government entered in force and continues to employ force to impose its control...it might be calm now but there is a gradual build-up in tension," one resident said.   The explosion of anger against King Hussein's government comes against a backdrop of widespread poverty in Jordan, few jobs for the rapidly expanding population and a growing gap between rich and poor.   Residents say heavy-handed security methods -- widespread arrests, late-night raids on houses and allegations of torture of detainees -- are feeding resentment of the government.   Residents feel betrayed by King Hussein's response and the government's attitude to what they say are years of accumulated grievances stemming from neglect of the poverty of the south.   "The lack of concern by officials over the plight of the south has led to a feeling there is a gap between us and the government," said Abdullah Sarayrah.   Residents say the feeling is more painful as it comes from those who considered themselves the bedrock of the government's support.   Most of King Hussein's tribally based army comes from the south.   "For the first time the people have united against the government of (Prime Minister) Kabariti and signs are emerging of a common attitude against the regime, which people feel has let them down," said Yousef Rawashdeh, another city resident.   Residents draw comparisons between the 1989 troubles and this week's unrest, saying the deep-seated rage that emerged showed the alienation among King Hussein's traditional loyalists.   The few casualties have so far kept a lid on wider tribal unrest, say residents.   But said one youth: "A new explosion will be much stronger than the first and only God knows the consequences." 
343 !GCAT !GCRIM  Saudi Arabia on Tuesday beheaded a convicted Saudi murderer, bringing the total number of executions so far this year in the kingdom to around 25.   An Interior Ministry statement, quoted by the Kuwait News Agency, said that the man was found guilty of stabbing to death a fellow Saudi citizen.   On Sunday a Saudi woman was executed for killing her husband by shooting him three times in his sleep.   Saudi Arabia publicly beheads by the sword convicted drug smugglers, rapists, murderers and other criminals under its enforcement of Sharia Islamic law. 
344 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Hizbollah said on Tuesday it would run against the government in Lebanon's parliamentary elections after being let down by a prominent government ally in the first round of voting on Sunday.   Hizbollah's solitary candidate in the opening round in Mount Lebanon, parliamentary deputy Ali Ammar, failed to win re-election on Sunday after Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, broke his alliance with the pro-Iranian group on the eve of polling.   Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hizbollah (Party of God), was quoted on Tuesday as saying in a statement that the fundamentalist Shi'ite Moslem group "will not run on official lists (of candidates) in either the Bekaa valley, the south or Beirut".   The official lists are those of pro-government candidates.   The remaining four rounds of voting in north Lebanon, Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley will take place over the next four Sundays.   Under the electoral law, the deadline for candidates to register is 10 days before voting is due in their region.   Ammar was humiliated in Baabda district which includes Beirut's Shi'ite Moslem southern suburbs, a Hizbollah stronghold.   He ran on an anti-government list headed by Maronite Christian Pierre Daccache and expected to receive Christian votes as well as support from Druze voters traditionally allied with Hizbollah.   But Jumblatt, a close ally of Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri who dislikes Hizbollah, switched his support on the eve of the vote to moderate Shi'ite politician Nabih Berri, Hizbollah's main rival in the Shi'ite community.   Jumblatt also launched a blistering attack on Hizbollah's guerrilla war against Israel in south Lebanon, saying the country could not be held hostage and risk a massive Israeli attack because of the group's activities.   Jumblatt, Berri and Hariri are pillars of the pro-Syrian political establishment which currently holds almost complete power in Lebanon.   Hizbollah has failed to reach an election pact with Berri's Amal movement in south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley, where Shi'ites are strongest.   The two Shi'ite groups ran jointly in the last election in 1992 in which Hizbollah won eight parliamentary seats and its allies won four more.   Newspapers have expressed concern that violence could erupt, particularly in south Lebanon, if Hizbollah and Amal fight it out at the polls in the present election. 
345 !GCAT !GHEA  Doctors are too quick to prescribe growth hormones for short children, American researchers said on Tuesday.   A team at Case Western University in Ohio analysed surveys sent to 434 pediatric endocrinologists and estimated that four out of 10 children undergoing the controversial and expensive therapy did not have the conditions that warrant it.   The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the therapy, which costs between $13,000 and $16,000 per year, only for the estimated 14,000 children in the country with growth hormone deficiency and chronic renal failure.   But there are no generally accepted guidelines for the therapy and it may be applied for non-medical reasons such as pressure brought by family or the physician's beliefs, Leona Cuttler, a pediatrician at the university and colleagues wrote in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.   Hormone therapy increases the rate of growth for as many as 90 percent of children treated but its effect on adult height and its adverse effects are uncertain, they said.   In an accompanying editorial in the journal, Barry Bercu of the University of South Florida blamed overuse partly on what he termed the "cultural 'heightism' that permeates American society," adding that short people generally adapt.   "The potential psychological damage to the child with unrealistic expectations of what final height will be achieved should also be considered," he wrote.   Children undergoing treatment may also come to believe they are sick.   "One must ask whether a three to five cm (one to two inch) improvement in height is an acceptable outcome of intervention; it would appear to be less expensive to provide further education, job training or professional psychological counselling," he said. 
346 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Drug use among teenagers more than doubled from 1992 to 1995, a federal study said on Tuesday, prompting Republican charges that the Clinton administration was to blame.   Much of the increase was due to big jumps in the percentage of 12- to 17-year-olds who said they had used marijuana in the past month.   Drug experts call marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug, a "gateway" to harder drugs such as cocaine.   In 1995, the rate of past month use of drugs by such teenagers rose to 10.9 percent, more than twice the 5.3 percent low point reached in 1992, the Health and Human Services Department's 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse showed.   The survey put the total number of 12- to 17-year-olds at 22.2 million.   In presenting the findings, Health Secretary Donna Shalala took pains to emphasise that youth attitudes toward marijuana began changing as early as 1990 during the administration of Republican President George Bush.   "What we are seeing is ... a multi-year trend that began before we came to Washington, before this administration came to Washington, this trend began, but it continues today," she said at a joint outdoor news conference at a local Boys and Girls Club meant to dramatise the dangers of drugs to youth.   Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, campaigning in Louisville, Kentucky, called the report's findings "nothing short of a national tragedy" and said he would make the war on drugs the "priority No. 1 once again."   "The statistics confirm an upward spiral of drug abuse across the nation since President Clinton took office," Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a letter to the White House.   White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Clinton has focused much attention on the drug problem and would continue to do so.   "This is something the president talks about regularly and has identified as an area that he wants to work on personally," he told reporters.   McCurry rejected Republican charges that Clinton's initial cuts in the office of drug policy had exacerbated the problem.   Although drug abuse began rising sharply in the early 1990s, it remains way down from the 16.3 percent peak reached in 1979 among adolescents.   That year, which was the peak for illicit drug use, rates were 38 percent for those aged 18-25, 20.8 percent for ages 26-34 and 2.8 percent for 35 and over.   In contrast, in 1995, the percentage of adults reporting past month drug use were 14.2 percent for those 18-25; 8.3 percent for those 26-34; and 2.8 percent, the same as in 1979, for those age 35 and older, the survey showed.   McCurry said he believed the administration's plan to fight drugs was on the right track.   "We think it's the right strategy to control use, to control imports," he said.   "Above all, this has to be a bipartisan effort that all join into."   Jim Copple, president of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, said blame should be shared by Republicans and Democrats for cutting funds for drug control programmes and losing interest in the issue. 
347 !GCAT !GODD !GPRO  Organisers of the Miss Universe pageant on Tuesday denied they had ordered their reigning beauty queen, Venezuela's Alicia Machado, to shed pounds or else give up her title.   "We are distressed about the recent reports that the Miss Universe organisation has put Alicia Machado on notice that she must lose weight in order to retain her title as Miss Universe," said Martin Brooks, president of Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc.   Brooks, in a statement released in the resort town of Las Cruces where Machado is attending the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant, said Miss Universe officials were "extremely happy with Alicia and feel she fulfils her obligations ... exceptionally well."   In an unusual development, officials of the Miss Venezuela Organisation said on Monday in Caracas that Machado had been given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to lose 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk losing the title.   She was 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall and weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) when she became the fourth Venezuelan to win the crown in Las Vegas in May.   But on Tuesday Venezuelan pageant officials backed away from their earlier comments, with one official telling Reuters: "She obviously has a weight problem which affects her swimsuit contracts but this does not mean she will be stripped of her crown."   Brooks emphasised on Tuesday that "a weight requirement is not part of our titleholder employment contract."   Machado was attending the 1996 Miss Teen USA Pageant in her official capacity as Miss Universe.   Teen pageant officials said the 19-year-old Machado was there as the pageant's special guest, not to shed pounds.   Machado was scheduled to make a public appearance during the teen pageant, which was to be held on Wednesday night at New Mexico State University and broadcast nationwide by CBS television.   Asked if Machado was overweight, Wendy Schwartz, a Miss Universe publicist accompanying the beauty queen, said, "I suggest people tune in to the show tomorrow night and they can decide for themselves."   Miss Teen USA officials said Machado would not talk to reporters before the pageant and it was unclear if she would have anything to say publicly when the event was over.   After she was awarded the title in May, Machado told reporters in Las Vegas she planned to do "something I haven't been able to do in three weeks: eat, eat, eat and sleep."   Those close to the beauty queen said she has difficulty sticking to diets and a weakness for pastas and cakes. 
348 !GCAT !GOBIT !GPRO  Model and actress Margaux Hemingway, who was found dead last month, committed suicide by taking an overdose of the sedative phenobarbital, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office announced on Tuesday.   Coroner's spokesman Scott Carrier told a news conference the 41-year-old granddaughter of literary great Ernest Hemingway died of "acute phenobarbital intoxication" and that the levels of the drug in her body were so high she must have taken it intentionally.   Carrier said Hemingway apparently did not have a doctor's prescription for phenobarbital and investigators were trying to determine where she obtained it in such large amounts.   The announcement followed six weeks of toxicological tests after the initial autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death.   Hemingway's body was found by friends sprawled on her bed in her Santa Monica apartment on July 1, just one day short of the 35th anniversary of her famous grandfather's suicide.   It was not clear exactly when she died as the friends went to the home after she had not been seen for two days.   Hemingway, who gained fame first as a supermodel for perfume, later worked as an actress in such films as "Lipstick" and "Killer Fish."   She had a well-publicised bout with alcoholism after a near-fatal skiing accident and also battled bulimia.   In addition, she had a history of epilepsy.   Her agent, Graham Kaye, told KNBC television in Los Angeles, "Whatever demons she was fighting is over now and it's just time to let her rest."   Hemingway's body was cremated and services were held in July in her hometown of Ketchum, Idaho. 
349 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Olympic bomb suspect Richard Jewell passed a lie detector test in which he denied any involvement in the deadly July 27 attack, a polygraph expert hired by one of Jewell's attorneys said on Tuesday.   Former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Dick Rackleff said 15 hours of polygraph tests with Jewell on Aug. 4 and 15 were "unquestionable and conclusive from the standpoint that he was not involved in any way with the explosive device."   Jewell's attorneys paid for the polygraph exam in an effort to show the security guard had nothing to do with the pipe bombing that left two people dead and more than 100 injured at downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.   Jewell, 33, who was hailed as a hero in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, remains a suspect in the FBI's investigation.   "My conclusion was that he's totally innocent of any connection with that pipe bomb that went off in the park which he discovered," said Rackleff, who administered polygraph examinations for the FBI in Atlanta from 1979 to 1990.   Jewell did not know a suspicious backpack contained a bomb when he pointed it out to a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent the night of the blast, Rackleff said.   Jack Martin, a criminal attorney for Jewell, said the results show "he didn't have anything to do with it."   "There's not one shred of physical evidence to connect him to the crime.   He's passed a lie detector test.   If there was any hard evidence he'd be arrested," Martin said.   Speaking to reporters in front of a federal courthouse, he said the FBI should apologise to Jewell for identifying him as a suspect.   "The man deserves an apology.   Three weeks ago the FBI came to his residence, gave a news conference in front of his residence and named him as a suspect," Martin said.   "We're here on their turf and we're asking for that apology."   While working as a security guard at an AT&T Olympic pavilion near the park, Jewell discovered the green knapsack that contained the pipe bomb and helped police clear crowds from the area before it detonated.   "The next time somebody sees a suspicious package like that and they want to turn it over to law enforcement and do the right thing, I hope that they don't hesitate to act for fear that 'Wait a second, I'm going to be the suspect,'" Martin said.   He said Jewell's career in law enforcement had been "ruined" because he was named in the case.   He remains in the apartment he shared with his mother, unable to leave without being chased by hordes of reporters and FBI agents. 
350 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  By Gail Appleson, U.S. Law Correspondent   The government on Tuesday ended almost three months of testimony against three militant Moslems accused of plotting to bomb 12 U.S. passenger jets to punish America for its support of Israel.   The three have been on trial in Manhattan federal court since May for their alleged plan to destroy the planes within a 48-hour period last year and kill about 4,000 passengers as they returned to the United States from the Far East.   The alleged ringleader of the airline bombing scheme is Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who will be tried again this year on charges that he masterminded the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000.   Other defendants in the airline scheme are Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah.   The end of the government's case, which presented about 47 witnesses and more than 1,000 pieces of evidence, signalled it could go to the jury by Labour Day on Sept. 2.   Yousef, who is representing himself with the assistance of a court-appointed lawyer, began presenting his witnesses on Tuesday afternoon and will continue on Wednesday.   The trial had moved into a crucial stage of testimony last month near the time of the explosion that destroyed TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, killing all 230 people aboard.   Speculation that a bomb caused the explosion and reports that possible sabotage might be linked to Yousef or his associates caused U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy to question jurors about whether they could remain fair.   None of the jurors said their judgment of the defendants would be affected by the TWA explosion.   Less than a week after the plane crash, a Microsoft expert walked jurors through key files taken from a laptop computer recovered from an apartment shared by Yousef and Murad.   Jurors were shown schedules for Delta, Northwest and United flights bound for the United States from the Far East.   After each departure time was the word "timer" followed by what appeared to be a detonation time.   At the top of the file was the word "Bojinka," which prosecutors say was the name the defendants gave to the airline bombing plot.   Yousef is also charged with placing a bomb on a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Tokyo on Dec. 11, 1994, as a trial run for the later massive explosions.   The bomb exploded under the seat of a Japanese passenger, killing him and injuring 10 other people.   The flight originated in Manila and Yousef allegedly left the plane during a stopover.   Prosecutors alleged that he mixed the bomb in a restroom during the first leg of the flight and placed it under his seat with the timer set to detonate the bomb after the plane left for Toyko.   The schedules in the laptop computer were for flights with stopovers before they reached the United States.   Last week a Secret Service agent testified that Yousef boasted during his extradition flight from Pakistan, where he was arrested, to New York that he would have blown up several jets within a few weeks if his plan had not been discovered.   The plot to bomb the airliners was uncovered on Jan. 6, 1995, when a fire broke out in a Manila apartment where Yousef and Murad were mixing chemicals.   Philippine police found the laptop computer during their search of the apartment. 
351 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  The U.S. Defence Department said it would begin destroying chemical weapons on Thursday at its Toole facility in Utah as its first domestic step toward destroying the entire U.S. chemical arsenal by the year 2004.   It said last week the first weapons to be destroyed at Toole would be M-55 rockets filled with nerve gas.   "This will start the large-scale destruction of chemical weapons," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Mike Doubleday said at a regular defence briefing.   He said an installation on the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific has been destroying the weapons since 1993 but at a low rate.   Toole was to be the first of eight locations in the United States that would destroy them.   The United States pledged not to use chemical weapons and must by law destroy its entire arsenal of 3.6 million chemical weapons by 2004.   Toole was holding more than 44 percent of the U.S. stockpile of 30,000 tons of chemical weaponry.   "We are eliminating an entire class of weapons and we are doing it in a very safe and secure way," Doubleday said.   Another defence official said the United States no longer needed chemical weapons to deter potential enemies from using them because it has other weapons to overpower a chemical enemy.   He said many of the U.S. chemical weapons were obsolete -- for example, the M-55 rockets to be destroyed first no longer have launchers.   The U.S. Defence Department said U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell denied in Salt Lake City on Wednesday a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by private groups led by the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.   It said the judge ruled the groups did not show that the incineration of the weapons would put people around the Toole Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at risk.   It said she wrote that "for individuals living closest to TOCDF, the risks resulting from continued storage are 100 times greater than the risks resulting from disposal operations." 
352 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Two railroad workers were presumed dead after two freight trains carrying hazardous chemicals collided head-on Tuesday in Smithfield, West Virginia, emergency officials said.   Carla Morris of the Wetzel County Office of Emergency Services said the workers were presumed killed but could not identify them.   Hazardous materials crews were at the scene cleaning a spill of polyvinyl chloride pellets, said Karen Simsen, a state police spokeswoman.   The trains were part of a fleet owned by CSX Transportation Inc of Jacksonville, Florida, a subsidiary of CSX Corp of Richmond, Virginia. 
353 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  By Alan Elsner, U.S. Political Correspondent   Bob Dole's presidential campaign received a substantial boost from last weeks's Republican convention.   But was it enough?   President Bill Clinton still holds a lead of four to 12 percentage points over the Republican presidential nominee with 12 weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, according to opinion polls released on Monday and Tuesday.   The polls were taken at a point when Dole was enjoying maximum benefit from a week in which he and his party were able to project their message to a national audience virtually uncontested by Democrats.   That period has already ended, and Clinton, a tireless campaigner and persuasive speaker, is moving to recapture the intitiative ahead of next week's Democratic convention.   Most worrying for Dole, evidence is growing that whatever bounce he received from the convention is already dissipating.   An ABC tracking poll that had Clinton only four points ahead of Dole on Monday showed his lead lengthening to 12 points by Tuesday in a three-way race that also included Texan billionaire Ross Perot.   Monday's poll had Clinton leading Dole by 44 percent to 40 percent.   One day later, Clinton jumped to 49 percent and Dole slumped to 37 percent.   Perot fell to 10 percent from 11 percent.   The figures were consistent with a New York Times/CBS poll released on Monday, which also showed Clinton leading by 12 points, 49 percent to 37 percent.   Perot trailed with seven percent.   The phenomenon of the "convention bounce" is well documented in U.S. politics, and bounces seem to be growing larger as the electorate grows more volatile and less attached to the two major parties.   "It just about always happens.   It's real.   What's important is how big it is and how long it lasts," Gary Langer, senior polling analyst for ABC television, said.   "Dole remains well behind, given the fact that we haven't had the Democratic convention and Clinton's bump in the polls which will inevitably occur," said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at the American University in Washington.   With Clinton due to sign three popular pieces of legislation this week on health insurance, the minimum wage and welfare reform, the bloom may be off the Dole revival before the Democratic convention opens in Chicago next Monday.   University of Cinncinati pollster Al Tuchfarber said the polls to watch would be those conducted in early September.   "If Dole is within eight to 12 points of Clinton, this will be a very close and exciting race," he said.   He cited three factors that could help Dole:   -- Polls of registered voters, as opposed to likely voters, tend to underestimate Republican support.   Most polls being conducted now are of registered voters.   -- Undecided voters tend to break for the challenger rather than the incumbent at the last minute.   -- If support for Perot stays in single digits, his support may crumble in the final days of the campaign, with most of it going to Dole.   "I suspect when the dust settles after the Democratic convention next week, Clinton will emerge with an eight- to 10-point lead," said John Geer, an expert on public opinion trends with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. 
354 !GCAT !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly reached hurricane strength just before reaching land on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday, forecasters at the National Hurricane Centre said.   At noon EDT (1600 GMT), the centre of Hurricane Dolly was located at latitude 19.3 north, longitude 87.6 west, on the Yucatan coast near Punta Herrero, the hurricane centre said.   The storm, packing minimal hurricane winds of 75 mph (120 kph), was moving to the west-northwest at 13 mph (21 kph).   It was expected to weaken slightly as it passed over the Yucatan peninsula, but forecasters said there was a good chance of strengthening once the storm moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.   Dolly was expected to approach the Texas-Mexico border on Thursday.   A hurricane warning was in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula and parts of the Belize coast were under a tropical storm watch. 
355 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Susan McDougal, a former business partner of President Bill Clinton, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for her fraud convictions in the Whitewater trial.   U.S. District Judge George Howard handed down three concurrent 24-month prison terms and an additional three years probation for her role in a fraudulent loan scheme tied to the failed Whitewater land deal.   "The court is persuaded it will take Mrs. McDougal out of circulation for a reasonable period of time and afford her the opportunity to do some reflective thnking," Howard said.   McDougal, 41, was convicted in May on four charges relating to a fraudulent $300,000 business loan she was given in 1986.   Prosecutors alleged Clinton pressured an Arkansas banker to give McDougal that loan, but the president denied under oath any involvement in the deal.   Defence attorneys portrayed McDougal as a naive young woman at the time of the offences and said she unthinkingly followed the instructions of her ex-husband James McDougal, an Arkansas businessman.   "He was always my teacher and my mentor ... everything Jim had done always seemed right to me," Susan McDougal said in pleading for leniency.   "I am truly sorry."   Susan and James McDougal were business partners with the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the failed Whitewater real estate venture which lies at the heart of an independent investigation into Clinton's personal and political finances.   Apart from the prison sentence, Susan McDougal also was ordered to pay restitution of $300,000 plus interest to the U.S. Small Business Adminstration, which had insured the illegal loan.   James McDougal, 56, was to have been sentenced on Monday but won a temporary reprieve because he was cooperating with the team of independent counsel Kenneth Starr.   He faced up to 84 years in prison for his conviction on 18 charges of fraud and conspiracy.   Former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who was not a partner in the Whitewater deal but was convicted along with the McDougals on fraud and conspiracy charges in May, was sentenced to four years probation and fines of more than $300,000 on Monday.   Tucker, who resigned his office in July, avoided jail time because of a life-threatening liver problem that physicians said had a 50 percent chance of killing him within two years if he did not get a liver transplant. 
356 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Drug use among teenagers jumped 78 percent from 1992 to 1995, a federal study said Tuesday, prompting Republican charges that the Clinton administration was losing the war on teenage drug use.   Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, campaigning in Louisville, Kentucky, called the report's findings "nothing short of a national tragedy" and said he would make the war on drugs "priority No. 1 once again."   "The statistics confirm an upward spiral of drug abuse across the nation since President Clinton took office," Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a letter to the White House.   Hatch released a summary of the Health and Human Services Department's 1995 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.   It showed that while overall drug use figures were fairly stable, youth drug use rose 78 percent between 1992 and 1995 -- 24 percent from 1994 to 1995 alone.   White House spokesman Mike McCurry said the report was cause for concern but administration efforts to curb drug imports were on the right track.   The HHS report said 10.4 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 used drugs on a monthly basis.   Marijuana use was up 105 percent in 1995 from 1992 and up 37 percent between 1994 and 1995.   Use of LSD and other hallucinogens jumped 183 percent since 1992 and 54 percent from 1994 to 1995, while monthly use of cocaine soared 166 percent just in 1994-95.   In a letter to Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who heads White House drug control efforts, Hatch said: "I find this data ... very disturbing.   The data clearly reflects a continuing trend of increased drug abuse throughout the United States."   HHS officials declined to comment or confirm Hatch's figures before the report's scheduled release time on Tuesday.   But McCurry said, "The figures related to drug use among young people are obviously of great concern, and that's why we have a strategy to deal with that."   He said he believed the administration's strategy to fight drugs was on the right track.   "We think it's the right strategy to control use, to control imports," he said.   "Above all, this has to be a bipartisan effort that all join into," he added.   "One thing we can't do is to turn drug use among young people into a political football because it sends the wrong message to kids -- then they'll just think it's just an issue for the politicians and not something that they have to take responsibility for."   The summary of another HHS study released by Hatch showed the number of hospital emergency room admissions stemming from marijuana use rose 96 percent between 1992 and 1995 and rose 17 percent between 1994 and 1995.   Emergency room admissions related to heroine use rose 58 percent from 1992 to 1995 and 19 percent in 1994-95.   That study -- the Drug Abuse Warning Network -- monitors numbers and patterns of drug-related emergencies and deaths in 21 metropolitan areas across the country.   Jim Copple, president of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, said blame should be shared by Republicans and Democrats for cutting funds for drug control programmes and losing interest in the issue.   "I think over the last four or five years, the drug issue itself has fallen off the national radar screen," he said.   He criticised the entertainment industry for "starting to glamorize drug use once again" and had a harsh word for parents as well.   "Fifty-seven percent of baby-boomer parents who are now raising adolescents used drugs themselves, even though 75 percent of them clearly don't want their kids using drugs," Copple said. 
357 !C31 !C33 !C331 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  World arms sales dropped in 1995 to their lowest level since the Cold War but Russia's rose sharply in its effort to get cash, according to a Congressional Research Service study released on Tuesday.   It said arms sales worldwide dropped to $28.8 billion last year from $40 billion after the 1991 Gulf War.   But it said Russia's weapons sales rose from $3.8 billion in 1994 to $9.1 billion last year because "now Russia actively seeks to sell weapons as a means of obtaining hard currency."   It said Russia's most important customer was China, which has bought Russian S7-27 fighter planes and Kilo class attack submarines since 1994.   Iran, which was a major buyer of Russian fighter planes, T-72 tanks and Kilo submarines earlier, had not been a major customer recently because of its own economic problems, the report said.   It said the United States was the second-biggest arms seller in 1995 at $8.2 billion, down from $12.8 billion the year before.   But it said the United States was the biggest arms seller for the longer periods of 1992-1995 at $69 billion and 1988-1991 at $65.9 billion.   The report said France was the third-biggest arms seller last year with $2.7 billion in sales, down from $8.9 billion the year before.   It said Britain sold $500 million worth of weapons to developing countries last year compared to $714 million in 1994; Italy $800 million last year, up from $200 million, and Germany $300 million last year from almost none the year before.   The Congressional Research Service is in the Library of Congress and does research reports for congressional committees as well as members of Congress. 
358 !GCAT !GSCI  The space shuttle Atlantis, fitted with new rockets, was shifted to its seaside launch pad on Tuesday, bringing astronaut Shannon Lucid one step closer to home.   Atlantis is being primed for a Sept. 12 launch to pick up Lucid from the Russian Mir space station, where she has been working since March.   The 53-year-old mother of three was due home earlier this month, but NASA delayed Atlantis' flight by six weeks to replace two suspect rocket boosters.   The shuttle made the slow, 3.4 mile (5.5 km) journey from its assembly building to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre, riding atop a giant caterpillar-tracked transporter.   Shuttle managers ordered new solid rocket boosters for Atlantis after dangerously hot gas singed crucial seals in the boosters used to launch sistership Columbia in June.   Rocket engineers blamed the problem on a change in the adhesive and cleaning fluid used to assemble the slender 149-foot-long (45-metre) boosters.   Atlantis' new set of rocket motors was built using old, tried and tested materials.   NASA is now seeking permission to continue using the old adhesive and cleaning agent, which was supposed to be phased out for environmental reasons.   Atlantis, which will also carry Lucid's replacement to Mir, John Blaha, is now scheduled for launch on Sept. 12, but may still face a further delay because the Air Force has a prior claim to the launch slot that day.   A Delta 2 rocket is scheduled to launch a military navigation satellite from Cape Canaveral on Sept. 12 and will use the same tracking and safety equipment needed by the shuttle.   The Delta launch team is trying to speed up their launch preparations but if they cannot the shuttle will have to wait until Sept. 14.   "We hope the Delta can launch earlier, clearing the way for Atlantis on the 12th," said NASA spokesman Bill Johnson. 
359 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT  California's Secretary of State said on Tuesday an initiative that would limit spending by school districts on administration qualified for the June 1998 ballot.   The initiative would prohibit schools from spending more than five percent of funds from all sources for costs of administration.   The initiative would require the state Board of Education to fine districts that fail to comply.   The initiative, called "School.   Spending Limits on Administration," is the first initiative to qualify for the June 1998 ballot, Secretary of State Bill Jones said. 
360 !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  The husband of a Massachusetts woman who committed suicide in the presence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian disputed on Tuesday a Michigan medical examiner's autopsy, calling him "insensitive" and accusing the examiner of pursuing "his own agenda."   Psychiatrist Franklin Curren, the husband of Judith Curren, said at an impromptu news conference on his front lawn that the coroner was "insensitive and does a disservice.   He's got his own agenda.   Some people are, highly illogically, trying to deal with the issue by saying my wife wasn't sick."   Oakland County, Michigan, medical examiner Dr. Ljubisa Dragovic, a longtime Kevorkian critic, said on Monday an autopsy on Judith Curren showed she was overweight and depressed, but showed no signs of chronic fatigue syndrome or other significant disease process.   The medical examiner's conclusions and police reports showing that Franklin Curren allegedly assaulted his wife raised troubling questions about Kevorkian and renewed debate over assisted suicide.   Curren said Dragovic's suggestion his wife's judgment was jarred by painkillers and she took her life because she was overweight belittled people who suffer from the mysterious disease.   "How can he diagnose depression on a cadaver?"   he asked reporters.   "The premise behind that is that anyone who takes medication is irrational or drug-addicted.   She was not incompetent because she took medication," he said.   Curren said his wife suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue for 20 years and in recent years was unable to read, watch television, or even spend more than 20 minutes a day with their daughters, aged 10 and seven.   The two daughters peeked out a window of the family's two-story clapboard house in this leafy Boston suburb while their father talked.   Last week the Currens flew from Pembroke to Detroit, where Judith Curren committed suicide in the presence of the noted pathologist.   Curren, a 42-year-old registered nurse, became the 35th person to die in Kevorkian's presence.   She weighed 260 pounds and was 5 feet 1 inch tall.   Curren said his wife first told him she planned to commit suicide four years ago, and his refusal to help her led to a series of arguments, which flared up during particularly emotional phases of her illness, Curren said.   She filed domestic assault charges against him in late July and reports said sought a restraining order against him three years ago, according to police reports.   News reports also said police responded to at least eight 911 calls from Judith Curren asking for help or from neighbours who complained of fighting at their earlier residence in Winchester, Massachusetts, from 1989 to 1994.   Curren was facing a court hearing on Oct. 5 on the assault charges, according to Boston media reports.   "The stress of the family situation was that I wasn't going along with the decision to take her life.   That was the stress.   It wasn't family stress leading her to not want to be here," he said.   "Every time she made these accusations she retracted them and never went to court."   Curren said he finally agreed to honour her decision to die in March when she said she would divorce him, if necessary, to keep him from interfering.   "As time went on, she would say to me, 'Frank, why are you making me suffer?'   And I would say, 'I'm not, I'm your husband, I'm trying to help you.'   She said, 'Don't you realise that by keeping me alive, you're making me suffer.   There's no help available.   And I can't stand my life of lying in bed."   Curren said on rare occassions, once every six to 12 months, when his wife ran out of painkillers, he would prescribe the drugs for her, in accordance with medical treatments surpervised by "one of the world's pre-eminent psychopharmacologists" in New York.   He declined to name the New York doctor.   He said he met Tuesday for about two hours with two members of the state medical board, who questioned him about doctors' allegations he improperly prescribed narcotics with other patients. 
361 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Tuesday the FBI would owe Richard Jewell an apology if investigators failed to link him to the deadly July 27 bomb attack on the Olympic Games.   The Georgia Republican also criticized the news media for effectively indicting the security guard in the public eye and suggested stronger privacy rights to protect citizens from the press in future.   "If it turns out he did not do it, I think they (the FBI) owe him an apology.   And, frankly, I think they need to rethink how they handle some of these cases," Gingrich told reporters after holding a news conference on federal welfare reform.   FBI officials were not available to comment on the speaker's remarks.   Jewell, 33, spent three weeks as the only named suspect in the bombing, which left two people dead and more than 100 injured in downtown Atlanta at the end of the first week of the games.   He was not charged and steadfastly maintained his innocence.   But his suburban Atlanta home, where he spent nearly all of his time, was under continuous watch by members of the news media and by federal investigators.   Hordes of television cameras, photographers and reporters waited outside Jewell's apartment for days after news broke of his role as a suspect until they were asked to leave by apartment managers.   "The level of attention the news media put this guy under, if it turns out he's innocent, should lead everybody to rethink what the rules of the game ought to be.   And maybe we ought to have a little better sense of restraint in these kinds of situations," the speaker said.   He suggested the incident could point to a need for stronger protective rights for citizens.   "You could, for example, much more strongly protect privacy rights and you could more strongly protect trespass rights," Gingrich said.   "Maybe the ground rules ought to be that when you're dealing with someone who has not been charged, maybe there ought to be a different standard than when you're dealing with someone who has been charged," he said.   "You go and ask him.   Does he have a hard time right now going out to dinner?"   he said. 
362 !GCAT !GDIS  Air Force investigators Tuesday sifted through a charred crash site for clues to determine why a presidential cargo plane slammed into a mountain at the weekend, an Air Force spokesman said.   The probe into Saturday night's crash, which killed all nine people aboard, was expected to last at least several weeks, spokesman Bill Orndorff said.   A memorial service was scheduled for Wednesday at Dyess Air Force base in Abilene, Texas, the home base of eight of those who died.   The ninth person killed was a Secret Service agent.   A local service was also being planned by the Jackson community.   The plane that crashed minutes after takeoff was headed for New York, where President Clinton celebrated his 50th birthday at a gala party and fundraiser.   It was transporting presidential vehicles.   Clinton, who had been vacationing in Wyoming had left the area about five hours before the crash.   "It's a painstaking process," Orndorff said of the investigation.   The bodies have been recovered and will be sent to Dover, Delaware for official identification, he said.   Orndorff said no evidence of sabotage or mechanical problems have been found "at this time."   In Washington, Capt. Mike Doubleday, a Pentagon spokesman, said the C-130 plane did not have a ground proximity warning device, but that he did not know if it would have averted the crash if it had been so equipped.   He said he believed the ground proximity warning device did not warn pilots of mountains or objects in front of them, but rather of ground under them.   The charred area on the mountain side is about 1,650 feet (500 metres) long and 500 feet (150 metres) wide, Orndorff said.   Debris from the crash was scattered over an area 1,000 feet (300 metres) wide, he said.   Some 25 investigators and support staff working at the site are ferried by helicopter because the wilderness area does not have any access roads.   The plane crashed at about 10,600 feet (3,215 metres) up Sleeping Indian Mountain in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, a part of the Gros Ventre Wilderness.   The summit is at about 11,300 feet (3,390 metres).   The flight data recorder and the voice recorder, commonly called the "'black boxes" that were housed in the tail section, one of the few pieces of the plane that were intact, were found on Monday. 
363 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  California stands to lose nearly $7 billion in funds over six years under federal welfare reform, according to a state report released Tuesday.   The sweeping welfare reform legislation, which President Clinton has indicated he would soon sign, repeals and amends several major public assistance programs and replaces certain of these programs with block grants.   The California state Legislative Analyst's office estimated in a report Tuesday that the legislation would likely result in a net reduction of $6.8 billion in federal funds to the state over the first six years of implementation.    The bulk of this loss in federal funds would result from the elimination of federal aid to certain non-citizens legally residing in California, the Legislative Analyst said.   In fiscal year 1996-1997, the net fiscal effect would be be a loss of $51 million in federal funds, the Legislative Analyst said.   In early August, the California State Association of Counties estimated that the state could lose at least $10.7 billion over the next seven year in federal aid under the welfare legislation. 
364 !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  House Speaker Newt Gingrich used a community learning centre as a backdrop to voice support for welfare reform on Tuesday but found himself fielding complaints about the program's finances.   The Georgia Republican signed a letter urging President Clinton to approve sweeping welfare reform legislation that would end the 61-year-old federal guarantee of aid to the poor and delegate broad powers to states.   President Clinton announced earlier this month he intended to sign the legislation into law this week.   The learning centre, called Coach's Corner Project Light, was based in an old school building converted into a multipurpose community centre for a 56-year-old federal housing project in this largely affluent Atlanta suburb.   Programme founder Bobby Lankford, a former NFL coach, said the centre used computer-based teaching to tutor about 40 neighbourhood children in reading and basic language skills.   A $35,000 U.S. housing grant purchased the center's computers, tutorial software and computer training for a largely volunteer staff.   But Lankford said its $60,000 annual operating budget consisted entirely of private donations from churches, civic groups, foundations and other sources.   Gingrich extolled the virtues of community-based learning as an alternative to federal assistance, but a staff member, administrative assistant Verona Martin, interrupted him to complain the center's director had not been paid and it had no budget.   "We're talking about teaching the kids, that's what we're here for.   We're talking about doing it for the community.   I think we should first pay the director.   She has not had a penny," said Verona Martin, who described herself as an administrative assistant at the centre.   "We don't have a budget.   We don't have stuff in here that the kids need," she said.   "I don't run the programme.   I'm just here because I think it's a good concept," Gingrich responded.   Lankford denied the woman's allegations, saying the centre did not owe anyone anything.   A Gingrich spokesman later described Martin as a friend of a former centre director who resigned in June. 
365 !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  U.S. Agriculture Department chief meteorologist Al Peterlin said given current crop conditions, a very small percentage of the U.S. crop would be vulnerable to damage from a normal frost.   "I don't see it being the overpowering consideration at this particular moment," Peterlin told USDA radio.   "If you look in Iowa, based on current conditions if we had a normal frost there's really just about five percent of the crop that would be subject to some kind of damage," he said.    Peterlin said up to 10 percent of the crop in Indiana would be vulnerable to some kind of damage with a normal frost date and estimated up to 10 to 15 percent of the crop in Ohio would be at risk.   As for concerns about an early frost, Peterlin said a cold season is not a good predictor of an early frost and said in fact it may be the opposite.   "We could have a cool season because we have extensive cloud cover which ends up moderating that extreme dip in temperatures.   What I would look at is the severity of the cool air outbreaks as they start coming out of Canada," he said.   "This is still August, we have, even with cool temperatures, an awful lot of 80 plus degree days ahead of us, a chance to get this crop growing," the USDA meteorologist said.   "There is no question it's a problem.   We have some vulnerability and we want to continue to watch it and be cognizent of what's going on but until I can actually forecast a frost date I'm just not yet ready to panic," Peterlin said. 
366 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GPRO  U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun on Tuesday defended her recent trip to Nigeria against criticism from human rights groups, and denied that the affair had caused her chief of staff to resign.   The Illinois Democrat, the only black in the U.S. Senate, said her visit was "a private trip and certainly no secret."   She told a news conference that U.S. policy toward Nigeria's army ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha, has not been fair or even-handed and it was her duty as a senator to maintain a dialogue with him.   She also said she had a personal friendship with Abacha's wife and had known her son, Ibrahim, who was blown up in an airplane six months ago.   The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Friday that Moseley-Braun's chief of staff, Edie Wilson -- the third person to hold that post since she was elected to the Senate nearly four years ago -- had resigned because she had not been told of the Nigeria trip.   "My private staff was aware of my whereabouts," Moseley-Braun said, adding that the trip was a private vacation.   She said Wilson had agreed to depart before the trip, and released a letter from her saying "we mutually concluded that it would be best to go our separate ways."   Amnesty International issued a statement last week calling the trip inappropriate and branding Nigeria "a major human rights violator."   Randall Robinson, head of the African lobbying group TransAfrica, called her visit deeply troubling.   Nigeria's military rulers have been under international scrutiny for rights abuses since last November when nine minority rights activists were hanged for murder.   The West African state has been in turmoil since 1993 when it annulled a presidential vote to restore democracy.   Since then, many people have been detained including the presumed winner of that plebiscite, Moshood Abiola, as well as pro-democracy activists and journalists. 
367 !C41 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Seventy-five leaders of the U.S. high tech industry Tuesday endorsed President Clinton for re-election, saying Clinton's economic policies merited a second term.   "I've lived in (California's) Silicon Valley since I was five years old, and the past four years have been the best Silicon Valley has ever had in terms of growth in revenue, jobs, international market share and just sheer momentum," said Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer.   Jobs spoke during a telephone conference call with Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in which the endorsement was announced.   The call was broadcast on loudspeakers in the White House press room.   Clinton responded to the pat on the back from the high tech leaders with a new warning against the $548 billion across-the-board tax cut proposed by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.   "People need to understand that if you have to borrow money to get a tax cut today, that just means higher interest rates immediately, and that means fewer jobs, fewer new companies and higher home mortgage payments and car payments and credit card payments," Clinton said.   Meantime, the Clinton campaign took aim at Dole's promise in a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention Tuesday to spare veterans health benefits from spending cuts.   "Today Bob Dole added more ornaments on his Christmas in August campaign -- listing more programmes that he will not cut to fund his massive, election year $550 billion tax cut scheme," Clinton campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart said in a statement.   Lockhart said Dole was campaigning on an economic plan "that would inevitably lead to cuts in education, environmental enforcement and law enforcement even more drastic" than those called for by the highly unpopular 1995 Republican congressional budget, which Clinton vetoed. 
368 !C13 !C21 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The president of the Air Line Pilots Association said Tuesday he thought the Federal Aviation Administration would drop some of its planned new rules aimed at alleviating pilot fatigue.   ALPA had said previously the proposed rules were "an unsatisfactory degradation of current regulations."   The FAA proposed the rules following recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board after it determined fatigue had been a factor in two aircraft accidents.   But the FAA proposals drew strong opposition from the airline industry as well as the pilots.   They would set "duty time" limits for the first time for pilots -- time on standby added to time flying -- but increase the length of time pilots would be allowed to fly before being required to take time off.   ALPA president Randolph Babbitt said that while the union backed the setting of overall time limits, it could not accept the proposed increase in flight time to 10 hours from eight.   Babbitt also said in a briefing during a union safety forum that the new rules failed to take into account for the fatigue stemming from circadian disruptions.   Pilots are hit by these, he said, when their schedules extend around the "back side of the clock -- the hours between midnight and 6 a.m. -- and through several time zones.   The U.S. Air Transport Association, the trade group of the major airlines, objected to the regulations, saying the FAA had no research showing they would improve safety and that the rules would cost the airlines hundreds of millions of dollars.   FAA spokesman Curtis Austin would not comment. 
369 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  The United States indicated on Tuesday it intended to prosecute three Cubans who hijacked a plane last Friday to flee their homeland and whose return was demanded by the Havana authorities.   State Department spokesman Glyn Davies also said he knew of no plans to repatriate a fourth Cuban who hijacked another plane in a separate incident last month.   In Friday's incident the hijackers forced the pilot of a small plane used for tourist trips to fly towards the west coast of Florida, where the aircraft ditched in the Gulf of Mexico.   After being rescued, the hijackers asked for asylum, while the pilot said he wanted to return home.   Davies said the pilot was in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service assisting an investigation into the incident.   But he said the United States was "working to facilitate his return to Cuba, and that may occur in the not too distant future".   "We want very much to develop a case against the hijackers," Davies said.   "One of the reasons that we brought the pilot to the United States (was) to see if he can't help us develop a case against these three, so that we can prosecute them."   Cuba said on Tuesday U.S. failure to hand back the three, as well as the man involved in last month's hijacking, could jeopardise existing immigration accords between the two countries.   In the earlier case, a former interior ministry officer, Jose Fernandez Pupo, hijacked a Cuban commercial plane at gunpoint July 7 and sought asylum in the U.S. Guantanamo Bay military base.   Davies said U.S. authorities were still questioning Fernandez Pupo.   "I don't know of any plans to repatriate him to Cuba," he said.   "If we can develop a case, then we can prosecute the individual ... sometimes these cases take a while to develop," he added. 
370 !GCAT !GCRIM  Identity fraud is on the rise in the United States, with criminals using stolen social security numbers and driver's licenses to take over their victims' jobs and mortgages, a government agency said Tuesday.   "The case histories that we see are frankly frightening," said Janet Steiger, a member of the Federal Trade Commission.   "In a flash, the victim's credit record ... is destroyed," and it may take years to undo the damage, she said.   "The bureau ... has become more and more aware of the problem of identity fraud because we are receiving an increasing number of consumer complaints," Steiger said.   She was addressing a meeting hosted by the FTC to start a working group of industry, government and consumer respresentatives on how to tackle the problem.   Victims of such fraud have lost jobs, credit accounts, had cars repossessed, and some have lost mortgages and been denied college tuition loans, Steiger said.   "In some cases they have been arrested for crimes committed by the criminal who stole their very identity," she added.   John Smith, a general contractor from Bakersfield, Calif., said it took him a year to sort out the mess after someone grabbed his identity.   The impostor applied for credit at dozens of businesses and put Smith's address as his previous address and a phony address as the current address, so nothing was ever mailed to Smith from any of the fraudulent transactions, Smith said.   "(He) received at least $50,000 in merchandise and services on my identity alone, and I was not the only one he was working," Smith said.   The criminal obtained forged driver's licenses using addresses of recently vacated houses, Smith said.   The man then went into a used car lot asking to test drive a truck and was asked for a driver's license, but claimed he forgot his social security number.   The dealer ran a credit check and several names came up on the screen and the impostor pointed to Smith's name, saying that his address had changed as he had recently moved.   The man was able to get enough information, including the social security number, "to set the chain of events in motion," Smith said.   He noted that access to credit information should only be allowed if the person can supply a social security number.   Solutions mooted at the forum included tightening access to credit reports, stricter and standardized requirements for obtaining driver's licenses and shredding old licenses rather than just throwing them away. 
371 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The United States on Tuesday condemned a threat by a Russian general to use aircraft and heavy artillery to drive separatist forces from the Chechen capital Grozny, and said force could not solve the problem.   "We are concerned by General (Konstantin) Pulikovsky's threat ... to use massive force in Grozny," State Department spokesman Glyn Davies told reporters.   "It should be clear to the parties involved that after 20 months of conflict the dispute there cannot be resolved by use of force.   There has to be an element of negotiation."   Civilians were reported flooding out of Grozny on Tuesday following what Davies called the "frightening threats" by Pulikovsky, Russia's acting commander in Chechnya.   Davies said Washington was "sending the same message privately that we're sending publicly" to the Russians.   "The bottom line is that we urge both of the parties to avoid any actions that will lead to a resumption of full-scale fighting and endanger the fragile dialogue that was begun last week," he said.   Russian national security chief Alexander Lebed and rebel leaders agreed last week to arrange a truce to allow peace negotiations to resume.   But Pulikovsky, who signed the ceasefire order on Saturday, accused the guerrillas of using the truce to dig in in the regional capital, much of which they seized two weeks ago. 
372 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  U.S. Marines are not being sent to Haiti because of new troubles there but opponents of Haiti's new government should take the American troop presence as a sign they are being watched, a U.S. official said Tuesday.   "I think that they should realise that not only the United States, but also the United Nations and other nations in the hemisphere are watching very closely what's going on," said Capt. Mike Doubleday, a Defence Department spokesman.   The department announced Monday that 50 U.S. Marines would go to Haiti this week for seven to 10 days of training for contingencies such as protecting the U.S. Embassy or other U.S. troops in Haiti.   The Marines were scheduled to leave Tuesday but their departure has now been delayed until Wednesday, Doubleday said.   Soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division went to Haiti for similar training in July.   The defence spokesman said the Marines were not being sent to Haiti in response to troubles such an attack Monday by uniformed men on a Port-au-Prince police station that killed one man and injured several others.   "We certainly don't go down there in any kind of a provocative way," Doubleday said.   "But on the other hand, I don't think that there's any reason for the Marines or the 82nd Airborne or anybody else to be shy about the fact that they have a capability, they have a (training) mission, and they are down there to fulfil that mission," he said. 
373 !GCAT !GCRIM  A dozen alleged members of the Genovese organised crime family were accused Tuesday of racketeering and other crimes, including infiltrating health maintenance organisations and bilking patients with inflated fees, New Jersey officials said.   Among those charged were Steven Mazzola, chief executive officer of Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey-based Tri-Con Associates, a broker that supervised the operation of HMOs and more than one million customers in five states, New Jersey Attorney General Peter Verniero said at a news conference.   Mazzola was identifed as an alleged associate of the Genovese crime family who allegedly helped them infiltrate the health care industry, Verniero said.   The Tri-Con-run HMOs would inflate their fees, and money would be paid in kickbacks to Mazzola and to other members of the crime family, Verniero said.   Control of the HMOs reached as high in the crime family as its reputed boss, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, authorities said.   "This scheme bilked the public of untold dollars through inflated billing," Verniero said, who said it was the first time to his knowledge that organised crime infiltrated an HMO.   "We will not tolerate members of organised crime in New Jersey, now or in the future," he said.   "We will arrest them, we will prosecute them, we will punish them."   The suspects also were accused of controlling a Teamsters' union local in Union City, N.J., and a Hotel, Restaurant and Bartenders Employees local in Secaucus, N.J., authorities said.   The investigation showed that the crime family exerted control of the unions through Michael Sciarra, a former president of the Teamsters' local, they said.   During the two-year investigation, undercover agents compiled hundreds of hours of tape recordings of the alleged crime family members that will be used in the prosecution, authorities said.   They also stand accused of gambling, loansharking and other crimes, Verniero said.   The HMOs themselves were not accused of any crimes, officials said. 
374 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  Hundreds of U.S. Army troops arrived in northern California on Tuesday to reinforce fire lines as fierce blazes continued to blacken huge areas of bone-dry trees and brush across the western United States.   Weary firefighters were battling 34 large blazes across nine states.   Five new wildfires were reported in Arizona, Montana, Nevada and Utah.   But cooler temperatures and more favourable winds helped firefighters in California and Oregon.   In Colorado, a fire raging in the Mesa Verde National Park exploded in size overnight to 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares).   Mesa Verde, with its Anasazi cliff dwellings, is a major archaeological preserve.   The National Interagency Fire Centre reported that 34 large fires in the West were scorching 501,458 acres (202,900 hectares) with the most intense blazes in California and Oregon.   Tuesday's fire count was down sharply from Sunday, when the fire centre reported a total of 46 large fires on 502,970 acres (203,500 hectares).   "At the moment, we seem to be getting a handle on things," said Renee Snyder, a spokeswoman for the fire centre in Boise, Idaho.   "But by the end of the week, we're expecting more fire starts as the lightning increases again in the West."   On Tuesday, more than 19,300 personnel were assigned to the fires, supported by 153 helicopters and 30 airtankers.   Faced with a shortage of crews, authorities called for help from the Army, prison inmates and firefighters from the East.   In northern California, reinforcements arrived from Colorado to help battle the Fork fire, 100 miles (160 km) north of San Francisco.   The 600-person task force was made up of U.S. Army soldiers based in Fort Carson, Colorado.   The group received a crash course in fire fighting on Monday.   The Fork fire expanded by 7,000 acres (2,833 hectares) overnight to 77,000 acres (31,160 hectares) on Tuesday, fuelled by 70-year-old hardwood, pine and brush, said Theresa Klepl, a fire information officer.   The blaze, estimated thus far to have cost $8.1 million to fight, forced authorities on Sunday to order the evacuation of 400 homes in Spring, High and Long valleys.   But authorities on Tuesday reported significant progress battling the blaze.   The fire was now 25 percent contained.   In San Luis Obispo County, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a wildfire has consumed 69,500 acres (28,130 hectares), up from 69,000 acres (27,920 hectares) on Monday.   But fire officials said they expected to contain the blaze by Tuesday evening.   In the southwest corner of Colorado, the Mesa Verde National Park fire blew up to 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) overnight from 600 (240 hectares) on Monday, officials said.   "This (fire) is the top priority in the Rocky Mountain region," said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bob Irvine.   The wind-whipped fire has engulfed pinion pines and juniper trees, but officials said none of the park's major structures have been lost to the blaze.   About 350 firefighters from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Arizona, including a crew from the Hopi Indian tribe, were sent to the scene.   Officials hoped another 100 personnel would also be sent in, Irvine said.   Oregon authorities said they expected later on Tuesday to fully contain the largest of the active fires in the central part of the state.   "Things are looking much better," said Terry Virgin, information officer with the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Centre.   "It's been a long siege." 
375 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Orange County, Calif.,'s former Treasurer Robert Citron testified on Tuesday that he never discussed with the former budget director an alleged scheme to divert funds from cities and schools.   Former Orange County Budget Director Ronald Rubino, 44, was indicted by a county grand jury in December for allegedly aiding Citron in diverting funds from other government agencies for the county's benefit.   Pressed by Rubino's attorney, Citron told the jury he did not tell Rubino about the alleged transfer of funds, or the alleged manipulation of interest rates.    Orange County filed for protection under Chapter 9 of the federal Bankruptcy Code on December 6, 1994 after sustaining investment losses of more than $1.6 billion.   The county emerged from bankruptcy in June.   Rubino, who has denied any wrongdoing, faces up to nine years in prison if convicted on the felony counts.   Rubino is one of six former and current county officials formally accused with wrongdoing in connection with the bankruptcy.   Citron, who was on the stand for most of Tuesday morning's court session, did not shy away from any questions.   It was his first time on the stand during the Rubino trial.    Citron testified that Merrill Lynch & Co bond salesman Michael Stamenson was aware of the alleged scheme.   "I told Mr. Michael Stamenson of Merrill Lynch that we were doing this," Citron testified.   Citron said he informed Stamenson monthly about the true pool earnings versus the interest rate reported to investors in the county portfolio.   In response, Merrill Lynch said Stamenson never received any reports showing different investment pool earnings.   "As we have previously stated, Mr. Stamenson was not involved in the internal record keeping of the Orange County Treasurer's Office," Merrill Lynch spokesman Andrew Sieg said.    During his testimony, Citron alleged that assistant county Treasurer Matthew Raabe came up with the idea of diverting the interest from cities and schools to the county's benefit.   "Mr. Raabe came to me and said we were currently earning tremendous amounts of interest and that, if we kept reporting these very high interest returns, the pool investors would see something wrong in that and pull the money out," Citron said.   "(Raabe) suggested we send the money over to the county general fund.   As Mr. Raabe explained to me, the pool participants would think there was something wrong or risky about their obtaining such high interest rates."    Citron said Raabe kept tabs on what the county investment pool was earning and what he "was going to report" to investors or participants in the county-run portfolio.   In May 1995, Raabe was indicted on several counts, including misappropriating public funds.   Raabe has denied wrongdoing and faces trial in September.   Raabe's attorney was not immediately available to comment.   Citron pleaded guilty in April 1995 to six felonies related to the county's financial crisis, including counts of making untrue material statements in the sale of securities and misappropriating public funds.    During his testimony, Citron also described his relationship with Rubino.   "He would sometimes talk about county problems, lack of funds for this or that," Citron said.   "Rubino was well thought of in the county." 
376 !GCAT !GODD !GPOL !GPRO  White House press secretary Mike McCurry poked some fun at his boss on Tuesday saying he was not so sure about President Bill Clinton's claim to have dropped 15 to 20 pounds (7-9 kilograms).   "He may have lost 15 to 20.   I thought that sounded like an inflation factor to me," McCurry said.   When reporters noticed Clinton looked slimmer on his Wyoming vacation last week, the president boasted that he had "dropped 15 to 20 pounds, I guess."   But McCurry said it was unclear what baseline Clinton was using.   His last physical at few months ago put him at 215 pounds (97 kilos).   "You'd have to know what the baseline was you're measuring against on that.   But he cares about his health and eating habits and his exercise regime, and he follows the advice of his doctors on those and other specific health concerns.   And as the president's doctor reported, he's in excellent health," McCurry said.   As for whether Clinton will sample some of Chicago's famous pizza during the Democratic nominating convention next week, McCurry said: "There will probably be many temptations in Chicago of a culinary sort that he will find irresistible." 
377 !GCAT !GPOL  The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday named David Janssen as the county's new chief administrative officer, a county spokeswoman said.   Janssen, a former chief administrative officer of San Diego County, will assume the post on Monday.   His appointment was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on a vote of 5-to-0, spokeswoman Judy Hammond said.    Janssen fills a post vacated by Sally Reed, who resigned in May to become head of California's Department of Motor Vehicles.   County supervisors had named Sandra Davis, Reed's chief deputy, as interim chief administrative officer until a replacement was found.   Janssen served as San Diego County's chief administrative officer from 1992 to 1996.   Before that, he served as the county's assistant administrative officer. 
378 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  By Alan Elsner, U.S. Political Correspondent   President Bill Clinton on Tuesday signed a popular bill to raise the minimum wage as polls showed him recapturing the initiative in the White House race from Republican Bob Dole.   While Dole campaigned with Gulf War hero Colin Powell in Kentucky, polls suggested that the momentum he received from last week's Republican convention was melting fast.   Election Day is Nov. 5, exactly 12 weeks away.   The latest instalment of an ABC tracking poll showed Clinton's lead over Dole back at 12 percentage points in a three-way race including Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who is running for his new Reform Party.   Only 24 hours earlier, the same poll had Clinton leading Dole by 44 percent to 40 percent.   But the latest survey of 1,027 voters, taken on Sunday and Monday, showed that Clinton's support had jumped to 49 percent and Dole's had slumped to 37 percent.   Perot lost a point, falling to 10 percent from from 11 percent.   The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.   "Dole's bounce has failed to push him even marginally ahead of Clinton at any point, and with today's weakening its lasting power is put into question," poll analyst Jeff Alderman said.   The figures were consistent with a New York Times/CBS poll released on Monday that also showed Clinton leading by 12 points, 49 to 37 percent.   Perot trailed with seven percent.   White House spokesman Mike McCurry said Clinton was in control with a lead in the low double digits.   "I think that the rubber band stretched and snapped back over the weekend and we're back to being about where we ... thought it was," he told reporters.   Democrats hope Clinton will get a further boost from the Democratic convention, which begins in Chicago next Monday.   He has moved strongly to seize the spotlight in the past two days and on Tuesday he signed a minimum wage bill, pushed through Congress mainly with Democratic votes, that will raise the hourly pay of more than 10 million Americans by 90 cents.   "This is a truly remarkable piece of legislation.   It is pro-work, pro-business and pro-family," Clinton said before signing the bill at a White House ceremomy.   Dole addressed a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Louisville, Kentucky.   He was introduced by Powell as a champion of a strong defence who "proudly wears a Purple Heart" for his war wounds and who "now offers himself for service as the leader of this great nation."   Powell's well-received speech at the Republican convention in San Diego last week helped the party project an image of tolerance and inclusion.   The Dole campaign, which received a $62 million infusion of federal funds last week, began airing the first television advertisement it had been able to afford since the spring.   The commercial attacked Clinton for imposing the highest taxes in U.S. history.   "Bob Dole.   Cut taxes.   Balance the budget.   Raise take-home pay.   Tell the truth," the announcer declares as pictures of Dole at last week's Republican convention flash on the screen. 
379 !GCAT !GPOL  Texas State Senator and long-time Finance Committee Chairman John Montford Tuesday became the first chancellor of Texas Tech University, his chief of staff said.   Montford, of Lubbock, accepted the post Tuesday morning and is expected to resign from the Senate on Wednesday, staff chief Jerry Hall said.   "This is a brand new position that Tech is filling for the first time," Hall said.   Montford, 53, a senate member for about 13 years and chairman of the finance committee since 1990, wrote the senate versions of the last four Texas budgets, Hall said.   Montford accepted the chancellorship because it offers "other opportunities,...wider horizons, (and) a real new challenge," his chief of staff said.   To replace Montford, "it will take a special election to be called by the governor, and it's a wide open race," Hall said.   --Kathie O'Donnell, 212-859-1655 
380 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Susan McDougal, a former business partner and close friend of President Bill Clinton, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for her fraud convictions in a Whitewater trial.   U.S. District Judge George Howard gave McDougal three concurrent two-year prison terms and an additional three years probation.   She was convicted in May on four charges relating to a fraudulent $300,000 business loan awarded to her in 1986.   Prosecutors alleged Clinton twice pressured an Arkansas banker to give McDougal the loan and that part of the funds went to benefit the failed Whitewater real estate venture in which Clinton and his wife invested, and lost, money.   But the president, who was Arkansas governor at the time of the deal, was not charged with any crime and he flatly denied under oath any involvement in the affair.   Defence attorney Bobby McDaniel angrily alleged on Tuesday that McDougal, 41, was the victim of a partisan investigation aimed at humiliating Clinton in an election year.   "She is a pawn of a political agenda.   If Bill Clinton had not been nominated, none of this would ever have occurred," he said.   McDaniel told reporters the team of independent counsel Kenneth Starr had offered McDougal leniency in exchange for information implicating the president or first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in any illegal deals.   Starr, who is leading the Whitewater probe into the Clintons' finances, refused to comment on whether he would try to cut a deal with McDougal but he did say his team wanted to get to the bottom of the case.   "Our investiation is to get at the facts, get at the truth and we would obviously welcome any person willing to assist us in that endeavour," he said.   Susan McDougal, her former husband James McDougal and the Clintons were partners in the Whitewater venture and were close friends throughout the 1980s.   James McDougal, 56, was convicted on 18 fraud and conspiracy charges and faced up to 84 years in prison but his sentencing has been postponed until November because he is cooperating with Starr's team.   A colourful Arkansas businessman and political insider, he backed Clinton's rise through the political ranks and knows the president better than anyone else so far targeted in the Whitewater probe.   It was not clear what information he may be able to give Starr on Clinton, but prosecutors were expected to focus on Clinton's alleged involvement in winning the $300,000 loan that was taken out in Susan McDougal's name.   Starr has said his politically sensitive investigation will be put on ice before the Nov. 5 election but refused to put a date on it.   He said on Monday the probe was still "moving forward very rapidly" on several fronts.   Susan McDougal's lawyers on Tuesday portrayed her as a naive young woman at the time of the offences, saying she unthinkingly followed the instructions of her husband, who is 15 years her senior.   "He was always my teacher and my mentor ... everything Jim had done always seemed right to me," Susan McDougal said in pleading for leniency.   "I am truly sorry."   But Judge Howard was not swayed.   "The court is persuaded it will take Mrs. McDougal out of circulation for a reasonable period of time and afford her the opportunity to do some reflective thinking," he said.   Apart from the prison sentence, Susan McDougal was told to pay restitution of $300,000 plus interest to the U.S. Small Business Adminstration, which had insured the illegal loan.   Howard also ordered her to pay a $5,000 fine and do more than 300 hours of community service.   Former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker, who was not a partner in the Whitewater deal but was convicted with the McDougals on fraud and conspiracy charges, was sentenced on Monday to four years probation and fines of more than $300,000.   Tucker, who resigned his office in July, avoided jail time because of a life-threatening liver problem that physicians said had a 50 percent chance of killing him within two years if he did not get a liver transplant. 
381 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  An exchange of diplomatic expulsions between Havana and Washington is worsening the tussle between the two sworn foes over U.S. attempts to strangle the Cuban economy with new sanctions.   The State Department disclosed on Monday that Cuba last week cancelled the visa of an official at the U.S. interests section in Havana, Robin Meyer.   In response, the department ordered out a Cuban diplomat in Washington, Jose Luis Ponce.   Meyer, known to have been particularly active in her contacts with opponents of Cuba's one-party communist system, was an obvious target for the wrath of the Havana authorities.   U.S. officials played down a direct link with the sanctions issue and there were suggestions that the Cuban authorities had delayed expelling Meyer until her visa came up for its annual renewal.   One official called it "another example of the Cubans' intolerance of anything or anyone that questions their government's viewpoint on things."   The official expected no more tit-for-tat expulsions by either side.   But Ponce, the expelled Cuban, singled out this year's anti-Cuban U.S. legislation, known as the Helms-Burton Act after its sponsors in Congress, as the key factor in the latest bout of tension between the two countries.   "I think the approval of the Helms-Burton Act has been the most important element in the deterioration of the relations between Cuba and the United States," he said in an interview with Reuters Television.   Passed in March, the act attempts to isolate Cuba -- portrayed in Washington as the last authoritarian regime in the Western hemisphere -- by threatening sanctions against some foreign companies that do business there.   The U.S. effort, which resulted in executives of a leading Mexican firm being told this week that they would be banned from the United States, has exacerbated the long-running war of words between Washington and Havana.   Cuba, for instance, issued a testy note last Sunday complaining that the United States had so far repatriated only 16 of 27 illegal Cuban emigrants who were intercepted off Florida last week.   It called this a "flagrant violation" of migration agreements between the two countries.   The declared aim of the United States is to bring democracy and a free market to Cuba, but a debate -- heavily influenced by domestic U.S. politics -- has long raged within the administration over the best way to achieve that goal.   Should the government of President Fidel Castro be crushed into the ground by tightening still further the 35-year-old sanctions against the island, as many Cuban-American activists and their supporters argue?   Or would it be more effectively undermined by encouraging more interchange between Cuba and the capitalist outside world, an approach some say worked with formerly communist Eastern Europe but that critics say has failed with Cuba?   In an attempt to get the best of both worlds, the Clinton administration has pursued a twin-track policy of tightening sanctions but promoting individual contacts by easing telephone traffic with Cuba.   Clinton actually opposed Helms-Burton until Havana forced him to change his stand by shooting down two light aircraft flown by Cuban exiles off the coast of Cuba last February, creating an outcry in the United States.   The administration is clearly anxious to minimise the impact of the law on U.S. allies in Europe, Canada and Mexico, who have protested bitterly that its overseas reach amounts to an attempt to push them around.   So far just two companies -- Canada's Sherritt International Corp. and Mexico's Grupo Domos -- have been sanctioned for investing in property confiscated by the Cuban government.   Their executives have been banned from U.S. soil.   U.S. officials say between six and 10 other companies have quietly told Washington they are pulling out of confiscated property.   But Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage this week laughed off the act's effectiveness, saying "it will either have to be withdrawn or halted or people will get around it".   Clinton has, in fact, suspended for six months a key provision of the act allowing original owners of the property to sue foreign companies.   And last week he appointed Under Secretary of Commerce Stuart Eizenstat, a former ambassador to the European Union, to placate angry allies and persuade them to agree on a joint strategy to promote democracy in Cuba.   The pay-off, U.S. officials say, would be a further suspension of the controversial provision on lawsuits, which may never come into effect. 
382 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  The increase in the minimum wage signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Tuesday is the 18th since the minimum standard was introduced more than half a century ago at just 25 cents an hour.   President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act on Oct. 24, 1938, establishing a minimum wage of a quarter per hour and a maximum work week of 44 hours, and banning child labor.   Adjusted for inflation, the equivalent hourly wage today would come to approximately $2.75.   At the time, 25 cents could buy three 12 oz.   boxes of cornflakes.   A 10-pound sack of flour cost almost 40 cents.   The first minimum wage law excluded large sections of the labor force including farm workers and domestic help.   Later changes broadened the scope of the wage requirement to include retail and service industries.   The minimum wage was last raised in 1991 to $4.25 after a 10-year deadlock on the issue between Congress and the Reagan and Bush administrations.   According to Labor Department statistics, 10 million people earn an hourly wage of between $4.25, the current minimum wage, and $5.15, to which it will rise in September next year, when the two-stage increase signed by Clinton is completed.   Most of them work as harvesters, janitors and child care providers and in the retail and food service industries.   Four in 10 minimum wage earners are the sole bread winners of their families, the department said. 
383 !C42 !CCAT !E21 !E212 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  President Clinton signed a minimum wage bill that includes provisions of interest to the municipal bond market.   The U.S. tax code includes a little-known provision that permits issuance of small industrial development bonds for first-time farmers.   The Small Business Job Protection Act signed by Clinton today expands eligibility for such bonds by doubling the amount of farmland an individual can own and still be viewed as a first-time farmer.   Also, bond proceeds can be used to finance farm purchases by individuals in the same family.    Another current tax code provision lets investor-owned utilities issue tax-exempt bonds as long as the facilities operate in an area no larger than two continguous counties.   Previously, if a utility wanted to expand beyond two counties, all its outstanding tax-exempt bonds would become taxable.   The new law lets investor-owned utilities that currently qualify for the two-county issuing statute to expand beyond two counties.   All outstanding bonds remain tax exempt until the first call date.   But utilities cannot issue tax exempt bonds in the future, according to the new legislation.    "We're pleased with what's in the bill, but we're also pleased with what's not in it," John Vogt, senior vice president for the Public Securities Association (PSA) said in a telephone interview.   He was referring to the fact that today's bill does not include Clinton's controversial proposal to repeal the two percent "de minimis" rule on corporate holdings of tax exempts.   PSA and other bond groups have warned that the de minimis provision would hamper municipalities' access to the tax-exempt bond market and drive up borrowing costs.    But Vogt said the municipal bond industry's battle over de-minimis is far from over.   "All indications from the Administration have been that they will repropose those tax increases in their next budget," Vogt said.   --Vicky Stamas, 202-898-8314 
384 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  New York State on Tuesday said its unemployment rate rose to 6.6 percent in July, up 0.5 percentage point from June, but the increase, as well as a drop in jobs, were attributed to the usual seasonal decline.   "Each year, the job count declines in July because of huge summer staff reductions at public and private schools," said Thomas Rodick, director of the Division of Research and Statistics at the state Labor Department.   He added that the unemployment rate in turn was pushed higher by students seeking jobs.   The year-ago unemployment rate for the state was slightly lower at 6.4 percent.   New York State continues to lag the nation, which had a lower overall unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in July.   In July 1996, the state's total number of nonfarm jobs fell 95,000 to 7,929 million.   This was in line with similar decreases seen during this period for the past 10 years.   In the private sector, the jobs total dropped 39,600.   Unemployment in New York City shot up 0.6 percentage point to 9.1 percent in July, exceeding the year-ago level of 8.4 percent.   And the eight counties in the New York area also underpeformed the rest of the state in July, as the unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage point to 8.4 percent, while shedding 35,100 jobs.   Rochester had the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.3 percent, a 0.3 percentage point increase from June, while jobs fell by 10,500.    The Labor Department offered the following breakdown of the industries that achieved gains in jobs and those with losses.   GAINS   --Services, up 71,300   --Retail trade, up 17,300   --Construction, up 7,400   --Wholesale trade, up 5,000   --Transportation and public utilities, up 1,700   LOSSES   --Mining, down 500   --Durable goods manufacturing, down 600   --Finance, insurance and real estate, down 1,300   --Nondurable goods manufacturing, down 10,000   --Government, down 26,000   Joan Gralla, 212-859-1654 
385 !GCAT !GDEF  The U.S. Defence Department said it would begin destroying chemical weapons on Thursday at its Toole facility in Utah as its first domestic step toward destroying the entire U.S. chemical arsenal by 2004.   It said last week the first weapons to be destroyed at Toole would be M-55 rockets filled with nerve gas.   U.S. chemical weapons were already being destroyed at an installation on the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific.   Toole was to be the first of eight locations in the United States that would destroy them.   The United States pledged not to use chemical weapons and must by law destroy its entire arsenal of 3.6 million chemical weapons by 2004.   Toole was holding more than 44 percent of the U.S. stockpile of 30,000 tons of chemical weaponry.   The Defence Department announced last week the Toole destruction would begin this week after a U.S. district judge rejected an effort to block it.   It said U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell denied in Salt Lake City on Wednesday a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by private groups led by the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.   It said the judge ruled the groups did not show that the incineration of the weapons would put people around the Toole Chemical Agent Disposal Facility at risk.   It said she wrote that "for individuals living closest to TOCDF, the risks resulting from continued storage are 100 times greater than the risks resulting from disposal operations." 
386 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Former State Department official Steven Berry was awarded $216,377 by a federal court on Tuesday for legal fees he incurred during an investigation into President Bill Clinton's passport records.   The case stemmed from a State Department review of Clinton's passport file during the 1992 presidential election campaign in response to rumours Clinton might have written a letter renouncing his U.S. citizenship to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War.   No such letter was found and an independent counsel was appointed after the election to investigate whether Clinton's records had been improperly searched for political reasons.   Berry, then assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, was told by Independent Counsel Joseph diGenova he was one of those being investigated.   In 1995, diGenova issued a report that said there was no evidence to warrant the prosecution of anyone for their conduct in connection with the passport files search.   As Berry was a subject of the investigation but was not charged, he was entitled by law to be reimbursed by the federal government for reasonable legal fees and expenses.   Berry, now a member of a Washington law firm, asked for $256,145 in attorney's fees but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia deducted $45,837 it said was not allowable.   The court also approved $6,069 in expenses. 
387 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  The U.S. government on Tuesday ended almost three months of testimony against three militant Moslems accused of plotting to bomb 12 U.S. passenger jets to punish America for its support of Israel.   The three have been on trial in Manhattan federal court since May for their alleged plan to destroy the planes within a 48-hour period last year and kill some 4,000 passengers as they returned to the United States from the Far East.   The alleged ringleader of the airline bombing scheme was Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who will be tried again later this year on charges that he masterminded the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing that killed six people and injured more than 1,000.   Other defendants in the airline scheme were Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah.   The trial moved into a crucial stage of testimony last month close to the time of the explosion that destroyed TWA Flight 800 that took off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 230 people aboard.   Speculation that a bomb caused the explosion and reports that possible sabotage might be linked to Yousef or his associates caused U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy to question jurors about whether they could remain fair.   None of the jurors said their judgment of the defendants would be affected by the TWA explosion.   Less than a week after the plane crash, a Microsoft expert walked jurors through key files taken from a laptop computer recovered from an apartment shared by Yousef and Murad.   Jurors were shown schedules for Delta, Northwest and United flights bound for the United States from the Far East.   After each departure time was the word "timer" followed by what appeared to be the detonation time.   At the top of the file was the word "Bojinka," which prosecutors say was the name the defendants gave to the airline bombing plot.   Yousef was also charged with placing a bomb on a Philippine Airlines flight from Manila to Tokyo on Dec. 11, 1994, as a trial run for the later massive explosions.   The bomb exploded under the seat of a Japanese passenger, killing him and injuring 10 other people.   The flight originated in Manila and Yousef allegedly left the plane during a stopover.   Prosecutors alleged that he mixed the bomb in a restroom during the first leg of the flight and placed it under his seat with the timer set to detonate the bomb after the plane left for Toyko.   The schedules in the laptop computer were for flights with stopovers before they reached the United States.   Last week a Secret Service agent testified that Yousef boasted during his extradition flight from Pakistan, where he was arrested, to New York that he would have blown up several jets within a few weeks if his plan had not been discovered.   The plot to bomb the airliners was uncovered on Jan. 6, 1995, when a fire broke out in a Manila apartment where Yousef and Murad were mixing chemicals.   Philippine police found the laptop computer during their search of the apartment. 
388 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  A key panel of California state lawmakers has backed a proposal to change local property tax allocations to benefit the state's cash-strapped local governments, officials said on Tuesday.   Legislation, authored by state Senator William Craven, a Republican from Oceanside, would allow California counties, cities and special districts to retain certain funds that would otherwise be shifted to schools and community colleges.   Lawmakers on a legislative conference committee agreed to back the legislation and have now sent it to the Senate and Assembly for approval, Scott Johnson, counsel to Craven, said.    The legislation was supported by the California State Association of Counties and several California cities.   To implement the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 state budgets, the state Legislature shifted $3.6 billion in property tax revenues from local governments to schools by creating an Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) in each county.   Counties, cities, special districts and redevelopment agencies shift funds to ERAF to reduce the state's funding obligations to school districts and community colleges.   County auditors allocate ERAF balances, including the growth in property tax revenues, to the schools and colleges.    Local officials have long objected to their annual property tax shifts, arguing it deprives them of discretionary revenues that could fund development and local programs.   Under Craven's proposal, the growth attributable to ERAF shifts would be retained by counties, cities and special districts.   Local governments in the state would retain about $150 million in 1997-1998 under the legislation.   "It's time to assist the counties," Johnson said.   He added that California schools and community colleges would not be hurt under the proposed legislation because the state would offset the lost revenues.    The California State Association of Counties strongly supported the measure, Dan Wall, a lobbyist for the group, said.   "I think it's a responsible first step," Wall said.   Of the $3.6 billion shifted from local governments to the state in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994, counties lost an estimated $2.6 billion, Wall said.   "Ultimately, we wish to get that money back, but we have to recognize the fiscal realities for the state," Wall said. 
389 !GCAT !GSPO  World chess champion Garry Kasparov will play IBM's supercomputer Deep Blue next year in a $1.1 million re-match of last February's historic contest, IBM said on Tuesday.   An IBM spokeswoman said the six-game match would be played at the Millennium hotel in New York on May 3-10, with $700,000 going to the winner and $400,000 to the loser.   In Philadelphia last February, the powerful machine -- capable of looking at 200 million possible moves per second -- created chess history when it became the first computer program to defeat a grandmaster in classical chess format, in which games can last several hours.   Kasparov recovered from the first game defeat and eventually won the contest and $400,000 with three wins and two draws in the remaining games.   The IBM team of scientists and programmers were awarded $100,000.   The Philadelphia match, part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Association of Computing and Machinery, drew hundreds of spectators and an estimated one million "hits" on a website retrieved by fans all over the world.   "The first match was to test the Deep Blue technology," said C.J. Tan, manager of the IBM team.   "Scientifically, our experiment was extremely successful.   We learned a lot from dueling Kasparov.   We have now refined our technology and are in the process of strengthening our game."   IBM's purpose in the first match was to test parallel computing systems intended for use in such diverse areas as the manufacture of new drugs for the pharmaceutical industry and air traffic control.   Kasparov, who characterized the match as a battle between human intuition and the brute force of a huge calculating machine, said he welcomed the prospect of a re-match.   "I look forward to taking on IBM's new and more powerful machine and hope to prove that human knowledge, intuition, creativity and imagination can overcome the incredible capacity of the new machine," Kasparov said in a statement.   IBM spokeswoman Marcy Holle said spectators in New York could watch the games on screens in the Hudson Theater adjoining the hotel.   Kasparov, 33, has previously played in the theater.   In 1990, the first half of his world championship match against fellow Russian grandmaster and arch-rival Anatoly Karpov took place there.   But Kasparov broke ties with the International Chess Federation, known by its French acronym FIDE, in 1993 to form the Professional Chess Association (PCA).   He successfully defended his PCA title in New York in October 1995 against Indian challenger Viswanathan Anand.   The chess world was split between Kasparov as champion of the PCA and Karpov, who retained his FIDE crown in June when he defeated Russian-born U.S. grandmaster Gata Kamsky in a match held in the former Soviet republic of Kalmykia. 
390 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Susan McDougal, a former business partner of President Bill Clinton, was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for her fraud convictions in the Whitewater trial.   U.S. District Judge George Howard handed down three 24-month prison terms which will run concurrently and an additional three years probation on another charge.    McDougal was convicted in May on four charges relating to a fraudulent $300,000 business loan she was given in 1986.   Prosecutors alleged that Clinton pressured an Arkansas banker to give McDougal that loan, but the president denied under oath any involvement in the deal.   Susan McDougal is the former wife of Arkansas businessman James McDougal.   They were business partners with the president and first lady Hilary Rodham Clinton in the failed Whitewater real estate venture which lies at the heart of an independent investigation into Clinton's personal and political finances.   Apart from the prison sentence, Susan McDougal was also ordered to pay restitution of $300,000 plus interest to the U.S. Small Business Adminstration, which had insured the illegal loan.   James McDougal was to have been sentenced on Monday but won a temporary reprieve because he is cooperating with the team of independent counsel Kenneth Starr. 
391 !GCAT !GENT !GOBIT !GPRO  An autopsy on model and actress Margaux Hemingway found that the granddaughter of novelist Ernest Hemingway committed suicide by taking an overdose of a sedative, it was reported on Tuesday.   KNBC television, Los Angeles flagship of the NBC network, said the coroner's office had determined that Hemingway, 41, whose body was found on July 1 in her Santa Monica apartment, had died of acute phenobarbital intoxication.   She had a history of epilepsy but according to KNBC she did not have a prescription for the drug and investigators are trying to find out where she got enough of it to kill herself.   A coroner's investigator declined to comment on the report.   The actress, whose films included "Lipstick," "Killer Fish," "They Call Me Bruce?"   "Over the Brooklyn Bridge," and "Inner Sanctum," had a well-publicised bout with alcoholism after a near-fatal skiing accident and also battled bulimia.   Her agent, Graham Kaye, told KNBC, "Whatever demons she was fighting is over now and ... it's just time to let her rest."   Hemingway's body was cremated and services were held in July in her hometown of Ketchum, Idaho. 
392 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Checking out of Chicago's Conrad Hilton Hotel in 1968, a journalist in town to cover that year's riot-scarred Democratic National Convention said, "I wonder if they'll ever get that smell out of the lobby?"   The stench of a stink bomb set off in the elevator lobby was a final wound to the sprawling hotel that for days had stood in the path of violence as anti-Vietnam War protesters outside clashed repeatedly with police and soldiers.   The stink is long gone.   The hotel, now renamed the Chicago Hilton Hotel and Towers, has undergone a $185 million renovation.   It is not the headquarters hotel for next week's Democratic National Convention, as it was 28 years ago.   It will, however, house the Mississippi and California delegations.   California's includes Tom Hayden, who in 1968 was in the street leading protests.   He wants a nonsmoking room.   One guest from 1968 who says he will not be back this year is fomer Sen. Eugene McCarthy.   He and the army of young people who supported his anti-war campaign were a boisterous presence inside and outside the hotel 28 years ago.   Warren Christopher, now the secretry of state and then President Lyndon Johnson's point man on urban violence, spent a night at the Hilton during the height of the melee.   He later called it "the worst night I've ever spent."   The hotel, built in 1927 by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens' father and grandfather and originally carrying the Stevens family name, absorbed the blows.   Elevators were slow and crowded.   Protesters let inside by guests or friendly staff roosted here and there in stairwells and halls.   Crowds three deep vied for seats at a lobby coffee shop, some reluctant to go outside except to take a shuttle bus to the convention several miles (kilometres) away.   Violence erupted in Grant Park along the Lake Michigan waterfront across from the Hilton because of the hotel's headquarters status and the city's decision not let protesters sleep in the parks.   Officials also feared the crowds would descend on the convention site at the International Amphitheater if they were allowed past the Hilton.   At one point, police shoved a protester through a plate glass window in the hotel's sidewalk-level Haymarket Lounge.   "It was totally amazing.   You'd look out the door at 11 o'clock at night and see people from one end of the block to the next," recalls Nick Costanzo, then a bellman, now director of guest services at the hotel.   Police wanted the hotel to lock its front doors, apparently for the first time since 1927, but no key could be found.   Costanzo remembers turning away folksinging trio Peter, Paul and Mary, who had sung for the crowd outside and sought respite inside.   They were about to be followed into the hotel by several hundred people.   They left politely, he said.   A young couple with a baby who had joined the protest were allowed to camp out for several days in a stairwell, he said.   "It was so cute.   Every morning about 6 o'clock, I'd watch the policemen go across the street with a baby bottle and bring it back for the baby."   A far different police image from 1968 persists.   A panel appointed by the White House to investigate the violence called much of it a "police riot" in which demonstrators, journalists and others who got in the way were clubbed and roughed up. 
393 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE !GWELF  Next week's Democratic convention will unfold in a $175 million sports arena in the middle of one of the nation's most downtrodden neighbourhoods.   Nearby vacant lots, dilapidated high-rise projects and empty storefronts are the devastating legacy of urban rioting that erupted in the area a few months before the Democrats last met in Chicago for their 1968 convention.   The neighbourhood's population shrank in the years after the riots triggered by the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that year and the area remains predominantly poor and black.   But a new library, a boy's club named after the late father of basketball star Michael Jordan and dozens of new homes and apartments dot the urban landscape, which lies within sight of Chicago's soaring downtown skyscrapers.   Mayor Richard Daley, in a bid to put the best face on the nation's third-largest city, has ordered wrought-iron fences built around vacant lots and trees and flowers planted in the median strips of avenues leading to the United Centre arena.   "It's coming back," said Earnest Gates, a 44-year-old entrepreneur and community activist who has spearheaded the rebuilding of the neighbourhood he called West Haven.   "For 25 years the area had been neglected.   When we talk about disinvestment, this was a prime example.   So any amounts of money that are spent, we're still playing catch-up.   It's time for the area to get it's fair share of resources."   A few decades ago, the Near West Side was a thriving community housing Jews and Italians.   But when a few black families moved in during the 1950s, it fell prey to real estate hucksters who frightened the whites into fleeing.   Then, like other American inner cities hit by violence after the assassination of black civil rights leader King, the area's business district was mostly burned down and banks and insurance companies subsequently refused to do business there.   "Between the block-busting that the real estate companies were doing and the redlining, that pretty much spelled the demise of the neighbourhood," Gates said.   "We probably lost well over half the population."   Many working-class blacks migrated to the suburbs or to better-preserved black neighbourhoods on the city's South Side, forming the city's healthy black middle class.   But for ravaged neighbourhoods like West Haven, recovery has been slow.   The modest construction projects and a few contracts tied to the convention have provided jobs for area residents.   But in a city still seen as one of the nation's most segregated, joblessness, illegal drugs and despair remain rife.   The economic reasons behind the city's fragile mix are obvious.   An outflow of manufacturers caused the city to lose 180,000 jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, at a time when the downtown district created less than 20,000 jobs.   Chicago's suburbs, which grew as the city shrank and now contain more than half the metropolitan area's more than seven million people, siphoned off growth and added 250,000 jobs.   Underscoring the importance of projecting a safe wholesome image during the convention, the city's economy relies more on the tourist trade, shoppers, and seekers of culture.   "In terms of world-class cities, Chicago is prominent because it's an industrial city that has remade itself," Loyola University sociologist Philip Nyden said.   A new art museum, a theatre on a renovated pier that forms part of a thriving lakefront, and rapid growth in the near North Side shopping district have attracted visitors and jobs.   "One of the key issues folks in Chicago are looking at is to make sure the urban agenda is not forgotten by the Democratic party.   Unlike the 1960s, a lot of the people who protested then are in positions of influence now," Nyden said. 
394 !C12 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GENV  A U.S. appeals court Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a suit against the Treasury Department for authorizing a federal tax credit for use of ethyl tertiary butyl ether, a fuel additive derived from ethanol.   The Friends of the Earth, the Florida Audubon Society and the Florida Wildlife Federation sued, saying the tax credit would damage the environment by increasing production of corn, sugar cane and sugar beets.   But a district court dismissed the suit, saying the plaintiffs had not shown that they would suffer any injury.   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the lower court ruling. 
395 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A U.S. appeals court Tuesday denied United Parcel Service, Inc.'s appeal that it be subject to the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board rather than the National Labor Relations Board.   UPS challenged the NLRB's authority in 1993, but the board denied the company's bid to shift jurisdiction to the NMB, which rules on railway and airline labor matters.   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the NLRB had properly determined that UPS was primarily a trucking company subject to its jurisdiction. 
396 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  One of 10 Africans taking part in a a 47-day hunger strike against French expulsion orders was taken to hospital on Tuesday as the marathon fast opened political rifts in France's ruling coalition.   Moussa Keita, a Malian man among the hunger strikers who are backed by 300 protesters occupying a Paris church, was driven away in an ambulance on Tuesday night, severely drained by his fast and complaining of pains in his stomach.   Keita, 29, was carried out of the church on a stretcher, wrapped in a metallic survival blanket.   Two of the other nine hunger strikers were also in serious condition.   Earlier, Prime Minister Alain Juppe cut short a holiday in southern France and returned to the capital as the stand-off took an increasingly political turn, with senior politicians urging an apparently inflexible government to compromise.   Juppe met Gilles de Robien of the centre-right UDF, junior coalition partner, who broke with the official line by meeting representatives of the protesters and suggesting negotiations with the government and deputies of all parties.   "These people want a dialogue which has been interrupted.   They want a moratorium (on the expulsion orders) while talks take place," de Robien, UDF floor leader at the National Assembly, told a news conference.   "I'm going to pass on messages to the government.   It's up to the government to listen or not," he added, insisting that his initiative was a personal one and not a mediation attempt.   He later said in a statement he had relayed his remarks to Juppe.   The protesters, who include 110 children, are in Saint-Bernard church surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers committed to preventing police from seizing them.   The hunger strikers have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins.   Abubakar Diop, the immigrants' spokesman, said he hoped a solution would soon be found.   "Each side wants to come out of this with dignity.   We have to start talking again," he said.   The government, with an eye on voters of the far-right and anti-immigrant National Front, stood firm.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre, who has repeatedly rejected a compromise, advised "cry-babies" to read French laws.   De Robien's party was itself divided, with Urban Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Gaudin warning against any compromise.   Left-wing party leaders, trade unions and human rights groups kept up the pressure with a petition urging President Jacques Chirac, who is on holiday on the Riviera, to intervene and launch talks to avert "the risk of a human tragedy".   The 22 signatories included Socialist Lionel Jospin, Communist Robert Hue, Louis Viannet, head of the pro-Communist CGT union, and Fode Sylla of the SOS Racism association.   At the Saint-Bernard church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or neighbourhood, hundreds of supporters formed a human barricade around the clock to prevent a possible police raid.   The protest by mostly Malian immigrants has made newspaper headlines but does not appear to have rallied widespread support.   A new march was planned in Paris on Wednesday.   Lawyers say the immigrants' status is a legal tangle ranging from some who are entitled to stay, to others who can be expelled outright, and yet others whose situation has become unclear following controversial 1993 laws to curb immigration. 
397 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF !GDIP  Germany's BND intelligence service, under pressure from recent foul-ups, faced the prospect of fresh embarrassment after conceding it had been in contact with a man wanted for smuggling chemical weapons-making equipment to Libya.   The BND on Tuesday dismissed allegations by Stern magazine that the suspect, Lebanese-born Berge Balanian, had been a BND informer for four years.   But, in a statement, it said it had interviewed Balanian at length in connection with Libya's weapons programme in 1992, at a time when the smuggling operation was in full swing.   On Monday, German authorities announced they had arrested two German businessmen on suspicion of passing the high-tech equipment to Tripoli between 1990 and 1993.   They believe Balanian, a German citizen, arranged the deal and used firms he owned in Belgium to export the goods.   They now are hunting him under an international arrest warrant.   The BND said in a statement that it had known since 1990 about Libya's intention to build a chemical weapons plant, and about the activities of a firm in Belgium, SIM, which Balanian joined no later than 1992.   BND agents questioned Balanian on nine occasions, beginning in September 1992.   But the agency, which is still fighting accusations that it lured smugglers into bringing highly radioactive plutonium to Germany from Moscow on a passenger airliner in 1994, failed to stop Libya getting its equipment.   "(Balanian) merely reported in general terms about the situation in Libya; he gave no information about his own business in or with Libya," the BND said.   In an advance release from Thursday's edition, Stern had quoted Balanian as saying he had agreed his actions with the BND for four years, and that the BND must therefore have known about the smuggling operation.   "For years I have been sticking my neck out, now they want to dump on me," it quoted him saying in an interview several weeks ago.   Stern said Balanian was now probably in Libya.   The latest question-mark over the BND's effectiveness comes shortly after a scandal in which BND staff were investigated for embezzling over one million marks ($700,000) intended to buy the services of Russian officers leaving former East Germany.   The men were also believed to have sold information on the Russian military to a British secret agent, and the affair led eventually to the resignation of BND head Konrad Porzner.   News of the illegal exports is also worrying for the Bonn, government, which clamped down on the arms trade after German firms in the 1980s equipped a plant at Rabta in Libya suspected of making chemical weapons.   Prosecutors believe Balanian also tried to supply equipment for Rabta.   The factory burned down in a mysterious fire in 1990.   But earlier this year U.S. officials accused Libya of trying to build a new chemical weapons plant, this time underground, at Tarhuna, 65 km (40 miles) southeast of Tripoli. 
398 !GCAT !GCRIM  Police investigating Belgium's child-sex scandal are concentrating on finding two teenage girls abducted a year ago by convicted rapist Marc Dutroux, Public Prosecutor Michel Bourlet said on Tuesday.   He said judicial authorities remain hopeful they will be found alive, as a hunt for the two became international, involving police across Europe.   "There are elements that allow us to believe that the two girls are still alive," Bourlet told a news conference in this southern town.   Belgian media speculated the two had been found in the Czech Republic.   However, Bourlet firmly squashed that rumour.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have so far been rescued--from a dungeon-style compartment in a house owned by Dutroux.   Both girls had been sexually abused.   Dutroux led police on Saturday to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo -- kidnapped in June 1995 and starved to death in late February or early March.   Thousands of mourners paid their last respects to the youngsters on Tuesday as a horrified nation sought to come to terms with the deadly scandal.   "We are focusing on trying to find An (Marchal) and Eefje (Lambrecks).   We are still hopeful but unfortunately we have no news to report," Bourlet told a news conference.   Dutroux has admitted kidnapping Marchal and Lambrecks in the port of Ostend last August.   But their fate is a mystery.   "We are at the moment establishing contact with police in other countries via the services of Interpol," Major Jean-Marie Boudin, spokesman for the Belgian Gendarmerie's special missing children squad, told Reuters.   "This process began today."   He declined to specify which countries had been contacted.   The media spotlight has been on the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.   Boudin said the search also included Nathalie Geijsbregts who was 10 years old when she disappeared from the town of Berthem in February 1991.   Dutroux was formally charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children after police raided a house he owned in Charleroi and rescued 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez and 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne from a makeshift concrete dungeon.   Michel Lelievre was charged with same offence.   Michelle Martin, Dutroux' second wife, has been charged as an accomplice, and Jean-Michel Nihoul was charged on Tuesday with criminal association.   Dutroux denied responsibility for the deaths on the grounds that at the time he was serving four months in jail for theft.   But he did admit having paid Lelievre and another accomplice, Bernard Weinstein, 40,000 francs ($1,300) for the girls.   He also admitted killing Weinstein for letting the girls die.   His body was found with the girls.   The two girls will be buried in a private ceremony on Thursday followed by a televised public memorial service in Liege at which police expect up to 100,000 people.   As the two friends lay side by side in white coffins on Tuesday, each bearing a brass plaque inscribed simply "Julie" and "Melissa", weeping people filed past at the rate of 500 an hour from early till late as Belgium poured out its grief.   Against stern warnings from the prosecutor involved and his own mother, Dutroux was released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for multiple rape and child abuse.   Police searching a house in a Charleroi suburb occupied by Lelievre found cells dug in the basement floor with evidence of occupation by children.   Belgian television showed pictures of deep, narrow trenches.   It said police believed Dutroux had kept kidnapped children in the trenches before passing them on for sex.   Child rights lawyer Michele Hirsch told Reuters the Belgian case was symptomatic of a global sickness.   "Whether you talk about paedophilia, prostitution, pornography or the traffic in human organs, people are increasingly being treated as a primary resource," she said.   "It is a a global problem." 
399 !GCAT !GCRIM  Belgian judicial authorities said on Tuesday that they were still hopeful that two teenage girls missing in the country's largest child sex scandal would be found alive.   "There are elements that allow us to believe that the two girls are still alive," public prosecutor, magistrate Michel Bourlet told a news conference in this southern town.   He said police were still searching for teenagers An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks kidnapped by convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux in the port of Ostend last August.   Bourlet called the meeting to quash a groundswell of rumours surrounding the abduction case after 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez and 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne were rescued from a makeshift dungeon in a house owned by Dutroux.   Events turned tragic when, after Friday's discovery of the teenagers, Dutroux led police on Saturday to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo buried in another house owned by Dutroux near Charleroi.   Prosecutor Bourlet declined to give any details on the grounds for his optimism.   "I will not give any details of the dossier," he said, adding that if there was something to report he would first tell the parents of the two missing girls.   "We are focusing on trying to find An and Eefje.   We are still hopeful," Bourlet told a packed conference room.   Dutroux, serving four months in jail for theft at the time, denied responsibility for the deaths of Julie and Melissa, kidnapped in June 1995, of starvation.   But he admitted paying two accomplices 40,000 francs ($1,300) for the girls.   The whereabouts of An and Eefje are unknown.   Belgian media speculated the two had been found in the Czech Republic.   However, Bourlet firmly squashed that rumour.   Interpol in the Czech Republic -- one of a number of countries contacted on Tuesday -- said there was no trace of the girls on Czech soil.   Asked whether Belgium had been in touch with authorities in Great Britain, The Netherlands and Slovakia as well as in the Czech Republic, he said, "We have contacts galore...we have contacts with Interpol, but also with others."   Bourlet said Belgian Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck, who visited the prosecutor's office earlier in Tuesday, had agreed to rent special equipment used in Britain for property searches.   He was referring to devices used in the investigation into Britain's "House of Horrors" serial killings in which a dozen young women were murdered.   Earlier on Tuesday the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police asked John Bennett, the officer who dealt with the West investigation, for advice in their search for further possible victims of an organised paedophile ring. 
400 !GCAT !GDIP  Germany's BND foreign intelligence service said on Tuesday it had been in touch since 1992 with a businessman wanted on suspicion of helping to smuggle hi-tech chemical-weapons manufacturing equipment to Libya.   German prosecutors suspect that Lebanese-born Berge Balanian arranged a deal between Libya and two German businessmen arrested this month for supplying the equipment to Tripoli between 1990 and 1993.   They are alleged to have used firms in Belgium which Balanian owned and Germany is now hunting Balanian, a German citizen, under an international arrest warrant.   The BND, already under pressure after a number of high-profile blunders, denied a report from the weekly magazine Stern that Balanian had acted as a BND informer for four years.   But it said in a statement that it had known since 1990 about Libya's intention to build a chemical weapons plant, and about the activities of a firm in Belgium, SIM, which Balanian joined no later than 1992.   BND agents questioned Balanian on nine occasions beginning in September 1992, but nonetheless failed to prevent the last of the deliveries to Libya, which prosecutors say ended in 1993.   "He merely reported in general terms about the situation in Libya; he gave no information about his own business in or with Libya," the BND said.   In an advance release from Thursday's edition, Stern had quoted Balanian as saying he had agreed his actions with the BND for four years, and that the BND must therefore have known about the smuggling operation.   "For years I have been sticking my neck out, now they want to dump on me," it quoted him saying in an interview several weeks ago.   Stern said Balanian was now probably in Libya.   German prosecutors announced on Monday that they had arrested two men on suspicion of providing Libya with hi-tech mixing equipment programmed to manufacture the deadly gases sarin, soman and lost.   The news was embarrassing for Bonn, which clamped down on arms exports after German firms in the 1980s equipped a plant at Rabta in Libya suspected of making chemical weapons.   Prosecutors believe Balanian also tried to supply equipment for Rabta.   The factory burned down in a mysterious fire in 1990.   But earlier this year U.S. officials accused Libya of trying to build a new chemical weapons plant, this time underground, at Tarhuna, 65 km (40 miles) southeast of Tripoli.   The BND is itself trying to re-establish its reputation after becoming involved in a number of botched operations.   In the most high-profile case, it has had to fight allegations that it lured smugglers into bringing 363 grams (12.8 ounces) of highly radioactive weapons-grade plutonium to Germany from Moscow on a passenger airliner in 1994. 
401 !GCAT !GVIO  Algerian forces killed 21 Moslem rebels on Sunday in and near the capital Algiers and one person was wounded when a bomb exploded on Monday in a coffee shop in the country's northeast, Algerian newspapers said.   The evening Algerian newspaper Le Soir d'Algerie said on Tuesday security forces shot dead 16 Moslem guerrillas on Sunday in Ain Naadja suburb and Rais Hamidou area of the capital.   The newspaper Liberte said on Tuesday five other rebels were killed at Sidi el Kebir, near the capital, and security forces seized weapons.   Le Matin said the coffee shop bomb was the second attack on a coffee shop in central Tizi-Ouzou, 90 km (55 miles) east of Algiers.   A rash of bomb attacks against restaurants and coffee shops in Algiers and other towns in July killed more than 20 people, according to Algerian reports.   The government-appointed watchdog body, Human Rights National Observatory (ONDH), was quoted on Monday by el Watan newspaper as saying about 1,400 civilians have been killed in the past two years in bomb attacks, including booby-trapped cars, blamed on Moslem guerrillas.   An estimated 50,000 people, mostly Moslem militants and security forces members, have been killed in Algeria's violence since early 1992 when authorities cancelled a general election in which radical Islamists had taken a commanding lead. 
402 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  A hunger strike by African immigrants fighting expulsion orders divided France's ruling coalition on Tuesday, with senior politicians calling on an apparently inflexible government to compromise.   As the stand-off at a Paris church by 300 protesters, 10 of whom have been fasting for 47 days, took an increasingly political turn, Prime Minister Alain Juppe cut short his holiday and returned to the capital.   Gilles de Robien of the centre-right UDF, junior coalition partner, met representatives of the protesters and suggested negotiations with the government and deputies of all parties.   "These people want a dialogue which has been interrupted.   They want a moratorium (on the expulsion orders) while talks take place," de Robien, UDF floor leader at the National Assembly, told a news conference.   "I'm going to pass on messages to the government.   It's up to the government to listen or not," he added, insisting that his initiative was a personal one and not a mediation attempt.   The protesters, who include more than 100 children, are holed up in the Saint-Bernard church surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers bent on preventing police from seizing them.   Abubakar Diop, the immigrants' spokesman, said he hoped a solution would soon be found but gave no indication when the fast might end.   "Each side wants to come out of this with dignity.   We have to start talking again," he said.   The government, with an eye on voters of the far-right and anti-immigrant National Front, stood firm.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre, who has repeatedly rejected any compromise, advised "cry-babies" to read French laws.   De Robien's party was itself divided, with Urban Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Gaudin warning against any compromise.   Left-wing party leaders, trade unions and human rights groups kept up the pressure with a petition urging President Jacques Chirac, who is on holiday on the Riviera, to intervene and launch talks to avert "the risk of a human tragedy".   The 22 signatories included Socialist Lionel Jospin, Communist Robert Hue, Louis Viannet, head of the pro-Communist CGT union, and Fode Sylla of the SOS Racism association.   At the Saint-Bernard church in the heavily-immigrant Goutte d'Or neighbourhood, hundreds of supporters formed a human barricade around the clock to prevent a possible police raid.   "The government is in a terrible bind.   The protesters have too much support for the police to intervene," said Dominique Noguere, lawyer for the Human Rights League and some immigrants.   The protest by mostly Malian immigrants, including 110 children, has made newspaper headlines but does not appear to have rallied widespread support.   A new march was planned in Paris on Wednesday.   Diop said the fasters were extremely weak.   "At one point we asked them to stop their hunger strike because a little piece of paper is not worth dying for.   But they have refused," he said.   "Their condition is serious but not desperate," said a doctor at the church.   "Nobody needs intensive care now, but things may start to happen," he said.   Lawyers say the immigrants' status is a legal tangle ranging from some people who are entitled to stay, to others who can be expelled outright, and others whose situation has become unclear following controversial 1993 laws to curb immigration. 
403 !GCAT !GCRIM  Genetic tests on five British schoolboys showed none of them raped classmate Caroline Dickinson, who was sexually assaulted and killed on a trip to France last month, French investigators said on Tuesday.   A group of French police investigators, struggling for leads after freeing a Frenchman they said recanted a confession to Dickinson's murder, would continue questioning in Britain even though all DNA tests on teachers and classmates were negative.   The five boys were the only males staying at the youth hostel where 13-year-old Dickinson was raped and killed on July 18 who had not been given DNA tests in France because their parents' consent was needed.   The five final tests, carried out in Britain, were sent to France for analysis.   The tests leave police with the theory that an intruder broke into the youth hostel during the night.   Dickinson was found dead in her bed by female classmates who shared a room with her the night she died in the village of Pleine-Fougeres in Brittany, north-west France.   None of them noticed the killer.   Five French police arrived in Britain last week to quiz Dickinson's teachers and schoolmates who were in a 40-strong group from Launceston Community College in Cornwall visiting France.   Homeless Frenchman Patrice Pade, arrested soon after the crime, was released after DNA genetic tests showed he could not have committed the rape.   French police said he recanted a confession to the murder. 
404 !GCAT !GCRIM  Police drafted in more investigators on Wednesday as an international hunt widened for two teenage girls abducted a year ago by convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux in Belgium's deadly child-sex scandal.   Public Prosecutor Michel Bourlet said up to 30 extra investigators would join a team seeking An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, seized by captors in Ostend last August.   Dutroux has admitted kidnapping Marchal and Lambrecks.   Their subsequent fate is a mystery.   "There are elements that allow us to believe that the two girls are still alive," Bourlet told a news conference late on Tuesday.   The investigations went international on Tuesday as Belgium grappled with shock revelations of deaths, abductions and imprisonment of children by paedophile kidnappers.   Police opened communications with a number of countries in their efforts to find the two missing girls.   The media spotlight has been on the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.   Dutch police reopened a number of dormant dossiers on missing children on Tuesday.   "We are at the moment establishing contact with police in other countries via the services of Interpol," Major Jean-Marie Boudin, spokesman for the Belgian Gendarmerie's special missing children squad, told Reuters.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have so far been rescued.   The nation was stunned at the weekend as Dutroux led police to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo.   He admitted paying two accomplices 40,000 francs ($1,300) when they were abducted in June 1995.   The two were starved to death early this year.   Dutroux was formally charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children after police raided a house he owned in Charleroi and rescued 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez and 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne from a makeshift concrete dungeon.   Both girls had been sexually abused.   Michel Lelievre was charged with the same offence.   Michelle Martin, Dutroux' second wife, has been charged as an accomplice, and Jean-Michel Nihoul with criminal association.   Dutroux denied responsibility for the deaths on the grounds that at the time he was serving four months in jail for theft.   But he did admit killing accomplice Bernard Weinstein for letting the girls die.   The two girls will be buried in a private ceremony on Thursday followed by a televised public memorial service in Liege at which police expect up to 100,000 people.   As the two friends lay side by side in white coffins on Tuesday, each bearing a brass plaque inscribed simply "Julie" and "Melissa", weeping people filed past at the rate of 500 an hour from early till late as Belgium poured out its grief.   Against stern warnings from the prosecutor involved and his own mother, Dutroux was released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for multiple rape and child abuse.   Police searching a house in a Charleroi suburb occupied by Lelievre found narrow, trench-like cells dug in the cellar floor with evidence of occupation by children.   Child rights lawyer Michele Hirsch told Reuters the Belgian case was symptomatic of a global sickness.   "Whether you talk about paedophilia, prostitution, pornography or the traffic in human organs, people are increasingly being treated as a primary resource," she said.   "It is a a global problem." 
405 !GCAT !GCRIM  Belgian police are still searching for two teenage girls missing in the country's child sex scandal and remain hopeful but have not yet found them, Public Prosecutor Michel Bourlet said on Tuesday.   "We are focusing on trying to find An (Marchal) and Eefje (Lambrecks).   We are still hopeful but unfortunately we have no news to report," Bourlet told a news conference.    Convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux has admitted kidnapping Marchal and Lambrecks in the port of Ostend last August.   But their fate is a mystery.   Belgian investigators opened communications via Interpol with a number of countries on Tuesday as Belgian media speculated that the two girls had been found in the Czech Republic.   But Bourlet firmly squashed that rumour on Tuesday, and Interpol in Prague said there was no trace of the missing girls on Czech soil.   The investigation is part of Belgium's child sex scandal.   Dutroux led police on Saturday to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo after 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez and 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne were rescued from a makeshift dungeon in a house he owns in Charleroi. 
406 !GCAT !GCRIM  Thousands of Belgian mourners paid last respects on Tuesday to Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, the eight-year-old Belgian girls starved to death by paedophile kidnappers in a crime that horrified the nation.   As the two friends lay side by side in white coffins, each bearing a brass plaque inscribed simply "Julie" and "Melissa", weeping people filed past at the rate of 500 an hour from early till late as Belgium poured out its grief.   Marc Dutroux, a convicted child sex offender who has been formally charged with the abduction and illegal imprisonment of two other girls rescued last Thursday, led police on Saturday to the bodies buried in the garden of a house he owns.   Julie and Melissa were kidnapped in June 1995.   They starved to death in February or March this year.   The two girls will be buried in a private ceremony on Thursday morning, followed by a public memorial service at the St. Martin Basilica in Liege.   Belgian television has arranged to broadcast live from the memorial service at which police expect a congregation of 50,000 to 100,000 people. 
407 !GCAT !GCRIM  Police investigating Belgium's child sex scandal have discovered more cells in the basement of another house connected with Marc Dutroux who has been charged with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children.   During a search of the house in the Charleroi suburb of Marchienne-au-Pont, police found the cells with evidence that they had been occupied by children.   The house had been occupied by Michel Lelievre, an associate of Dutroux who faces the same charges.   Belgian television showed pictures on Tuesday of deep, narrow trenches cut into the cellar floor.   The television said police believed Dutroux had kept kidnapped children in the trenches before passing them on for sex.   Dutroux was charged on Friday after police rescued 14-year-old Laetitia Delhez and 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne from a makeshift dungeon in another of his houses in Charleroi.   The convicted child rapist then led police to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo in the garden of another of Dutroux' houses at Sars-La-Buissiere near Charleroi.   The two girls were kidnapped in June 1995.   They starved to death in February or March this year.   Dutroux has also admitted abducting teenagers An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks in August last year.   Their whereabouts are unknown, but Belgian police contacted a number of other countries on Tuesday through Interpol in search of clues. 
408 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Italian magistrates have asked parliament to decide if they can pursue judicial action against Umberto Bossi, firebrand leader of the separatist Northern League, political sources said on Tuesday.   Magistrates in the cities of Bergamo and Tolmezzo have sought a green light from parliament before they continue probes that could lead to a trial on charges of making threatening comments against political adversaries.   The magistrates want a parliamentary commission to decide if comments Bossi made at rallies were punishable or whether he has special protection as a member of parliament under an article of Italy's constitution.   The magistrates have investigated Bossi in connection with accusations of inciting people to commit crimes and making defamatory and threatening remarks during political rallies last year.   In both cases he threatened that League members would seek out and punish those who voted for the far-right National Alliance.   A parliamentary committee is due to rule by the end of next month if Bossi's remarks constitute a crime for which he could be tried or whether he enjoys special immunity as an MP, the sources said.   Bossi's supporters attacked the moves.   "These initiatives smack of pure fascism because they try to limit freedom of expression and thought," said Roberto Maroni, a former interior minister and leading member of the League.   They suggested there was a political agenda against the hot-tempered Bossi, whose League has set up a self-styled "parliament of the north" and wants independence from the rest of Italy.   Earlier this month, Bossi accused the secret services of plotting to discredit his movement and called for supporters to destroy television relay stations owned by national broadcaster RAI as a step towards forming an independent northern state.   The League, standing on a federalist ticket, showed strongly in last April's general election and won more than 30 percent of the vote in parts of the country as Bossi took advantage of widespread discontent over high taxation.   But since the vote, he has turned his back on federalism and now is pressing for full-blown secession for the wealthy north from the poorer south. 
409 !GCAT !GPOL  French Prime Minister Alain Juppe cut short his summer holiday on Tuesday to return to Paris where his government faces problems including a widening political wrangle over a hunger strike by African immigrants.   Juppe, who is due to visit President Jacques Chirac at his holiday retreat in Bregancon on the French Riviera at the weekend to outline strategy, returned from the Landes district of southwestern France, officials said.   The conservative premier had been expected to return to Paris later this week but had left his official schedule vague, they said.   Juppe has already intervened twice during his holidays -- once on August 14 to help prop up the franc and again on August 17 to try to head off threats of labour unrest in the autumn.   His most pressing concerns include a 47-day hunger strike by 10 of about 300 African protesters at a Paris church.   The protest has divided the centre-right coalition, with some senior politicians on Tuesday urging the government to lift expulsion orders hanging over some of them. 
410 !C11 !C34 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G157 !G158 !GCAT  Reports on Tuesday that Britain plans to play it tough in "open skies" talks with the United States come as the European Commission readies its guns for a competition probe into six transatlantic aviation alliances.   Tuesday's Financial Times quoted British government officials as planning to wring concessions from Washington before any wider opening of access to the busy runways of London's Heathrow airport.   A successful outcome to the ongoing and increasingly tetchy open skies talks is crucial to the fate of British Airways' planned alliance with American Airlines.   Washington says it will block the deal without increased Heathrow access for American carriers.   While approval for the BA/American alliance hinges principally on decisions by the U.S. Justice Department and Britain's Office of Fair Trading, the Commission has muscled in on policing a deal it sees as a threat to its competition powers within the European Union.   The planned alliance would capture 24 percent of the total Europe to U.S. market, British Airway's chief executive Robert Ayling said in July.   The sheer size of the plan made it impossible for the Commission to hold off on a move it had earlier considered but rejected for United Airlines's tie-up with Lufthansa.   The probe is to cover the competition effects of BA/American plans along with existing deals involving Lufthansa and United, Scandinavian Airlines Systems and United, and those between Delta Air Linesand SwissAir, Belgium's Sabena and Austrian Airlines.   One Brussels-based aviation expert, while convinced of the Commission's legal ground, questioned its capacity to unravel the complexities of all the different alliances, agreements for which usually run to hundreds of pages of dense legal text.   "Certainly the Commission has the legal power to act.   It used exactly these instruments in 1986 when it sent competition infringement letters to 10 Community airlines," the expert told Reuters recently.   "What I wonder at is whether the Commission has the resources to assess the competition effects of code-sharing agreements or even to calculate their market share impact," the expert said.   The scale of the Commission's task was evident from the conclusions of a recent report it commissioned into the impact of code-share deals, the practice by which collaborating airlines agree to use the same flight codes on respective services for a route in order to attract feeder traffic passengers to use an apparently seamless service.   "Potential competition problems might arise (from code-shares) as the possibilities for non code-sharing carriers to compete on a global network scale are limited," said the report, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.   "Insufficient information can currently be collected in order to assess the impact of code-sharing on fare levels on individual airport pairs (or) to determine the effect of joining frequent flyer programmes as part of the code-sharing agreement," the report said. 
411 !GCAT !GDIS  A helicopter carrying three people crashed into the IJsselmeer lake in the northern Netherlands at 1350 GMT, Dutch police said.   The helicopter was carrying two civil servants from the Dutch waterways authority and crashed on Tuesday between the villages of Ketelhaven and Schokkerhaven, on the eastern side of the IJsselmeer, a police spokesman said.   "At 15:50 (local time) a helicopter crashed into the IJsselmeer.   The pilot was seriously injured and the other two people on board less so," he said.   "The passengers were on a working visit for the waterways authority," the spokesman added. 
412 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Few extra items are scheduled at what is expected to be a short meeting of the European Union's cereals management committee on Thursday, EU member state officials said.   The main focus will be on the grain export tenders which will resume after no meeting was held last week due to a public holiday in Belgium.   The officials said that durum wheat and oats import duties were again on the agenda but discussion could once more be postponed.   A new draft regulation on processed animal products may also be discussed. 
413 !GCAT !GCRIM  Genetic tests on five British schoolboys showed none of them raped classmate Caroline Dickinson, French investigators said on Tuesday.   Dickinson was raped and murdered on a schooltrip to France last month.    The DNA tests were carried out in Britain and the samples sent over to France for analysis.   Dickinson was killed while sleeping with girl roommates at a youth hostel in the town of Pleine-Fougeres, Brittany.   The five boys were the only males staying at the hostel at the time of the murder who had not been given DNA tests in France because parental consent was needed.   French police have taken their inquiry to Britain after releasing the main suspect, a homeless Frenchman, arrested soon after the murder.   DNA tests showed he could not have been Dickinson's rapist and killer. 
414 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Indian political parties threw their support behind the government on Tuesday in firmly repudiating a draft nuclear test ban treaty.   The parties put up a united front to denounce the pact after India prevented the accord from being adopted by disarmament negotiators in Geneva.   Jaipal Reddy, spokesman for Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's 13-party governing coalition, told Reuters Television: "India cannot be privy to this highly discriminating treaty."   In Geneva, Indian ambassador Arundhati Ghose told the Conference on Disarmament that the draft treaty would not halt efforts by nuclear weapons powers to perfect their arsenals using non-explosive techniques like computer simulation.   Ghose said the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) did not promote the realisation of "universal disarmament goals".   K.L. Sharma, spokesman from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said: "All parties in the country are united on this issue, that our country should not sign the CTBT."   During the 2-1/2 years of negotiations, India has demanded that the CTBT commit the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to a disarmament timetable.   The nuclear powers have resisted.   Reddy said the treaty represented the views of the five nuclear powers.   "They never care to address themselves with the security concerns of India because India is not a nuclear weapon state," he said.   New Delhi was further angered when the draft text demanded that India be among those that signed up to the treaty before it could enter into force.   India, along with Pakistan and Israel, is one of three "nuclear threshold states" that have the capability to swiftly build nuclear weapons.   New Delhi exploded a nuclear device in 1974, but has not undertaken any nuclear tests since then.   Ghose said the government's views were "shared across the Indian political spectrum".   In Geneva, U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar said the real reason India had blocked the CTBT was because "New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option".   Shortly after taking power in June, Deve Gowda's United Front coalition reiterated it would retain the option to build nuclear weapons until universal disarmament was realised.   "The government has clearly said it will not foreclose the nuclear option.   It is linked to our security," an official in New Delhi said when asked to comment on Ledogar's views.   But the official, who asked not to be identified, said the main reason India blocked the CTBT "was nuclear disarmament has to be total and comprehensive, and has to be in a timeframe".   Like the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which was indefinitely extended last year, the CTBT is widely viewed in India as a discriminatory agreement that would divide the world into nuclear "haves" and "have nots".   Ghose said arguments put forward by the nuclear weapons states before the International Court of Justice represented their understanding that the NPT legitimised both their possession of nuclear weapons and their right to use them.   "The world was burdened indefinitely with a differential notion of sovereignty -- one entitled to nuclear weapons and another not," she said.   Asked what India would do if the five nuclear powers tried to forward the CTBT to the United Nations General Assembly, Reddy said: "We will cross that bridge when we come to that." 
415 !GCAT  ---   VEERAKESARI   Opposition leader Ranil Wickremasinghe says government should fulfill promises given to the people.   ---   THINAKARAN   UNP to hold talks with Tamil and Moslem parties on devolution proposals on Wednesday.   ---   THE ISLAND   Nurses to strike to back demand for higher wages.   ---   DAILY NEWS   President Chandrika Kumaratunga says government has clear cut plan to win war.   ---   LANKADEEPA   Government prepares refugee camps in Vavuniya for people fleeing fighting in Kilinochchi.   ---   DINAMINA   Douglas Peiris, police officer wanted in alleged torture probe, fled abroad at behest of opposition politician and senior police officers.   ---   DIVAINA   Students who rag freshers to be expelled from school.   --Colombo newsroom tel 941-434319 
416 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  SUMMARY- Scattered showers and thunderstorms in India, mostly dry in Pakistan.   Highs 85-95F (29-35C) India, 88-102F (31-39C) Pakistan.   CROP IMPACT- Generally fair conditions across the major cotton areas of India and Pakistan at this time.   FORECAST-   TODAY...Sunny to partly cloudy in the north.   Variable clouds in the south with scattered showers and thunderstorms of 0.25-0.75 inch (6-18mm), 30 percent coverage.   Highs 83-94F (28-34C) India, 85-100F (29-38C) Pakistan.   TONIGHT...Partly cloudy India with a few showers lingering.   Mostly clear in Pakistan.   Lows 68-76F (20-24C).   TOMORROW...Partly sunny skies with scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms in India.   Highs 84-95F (29-35C) India, 86-100F (30-38C) Pakistan.   OUTLOOK...Dry and warm Pakistan.   Monsoonal showers and thunderstorms continue through areas of India.   Temperatures average near normal.   Source: Weather Services Corporation 
417 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in Tuesday's Pakistani newspapers.   DAWN   - Pakistani government has decided to set up an inquiry commission to identify big loan defaulters.   - Police arrested three people, believed to have been involved in an attack on a Shi'ite meeting on Sunday in which 18 people were reported killed.   - The U.S. sanctions against Iran will not put the time-tested Pakistan-Iran ties in jeopardy, said the Iranian Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Reza Aghazadeh now in Pakistan on a three-day visit.   - Out of the total of 50 billion rupees raised from sale of state-owned companies, the government has utilised about one-third of the amount for debt-retirement, federal minister for privatisation Naveed Qamar said.   - Pakistan will sign a $26 million loan agreement with the International Development Association aimed at improving financial reporting and auditing in Pakistan, sources said.   BUSINESS RECORDER   - The Setdco Group of Indonesia and Dutch PTT Telecom have arrived in Karachi triggering a flurry of intensive negotiations to form an Indonesian-Dutch-Pakistan consortium that could bid for the 26 percent strategic stake in the state-run Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited.   - The government is considering to merge the state-run Cotton Export Corporation and the Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan with the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.   - The Privatisation Commission will hold bidding for Malam Jabba ski-cum-summer resort.   - The recently privatised Kot Addu Power Co signed a 2.75 billion rupees loan agreement syndicated by nine banks to finance working capital needs of the company.   - Tuntex of Taipei has cancelled plans for a $400 million purified terephthalic acid (PTA) venture in Pakistan, says a report in New York based Chemical Week.   THE NEWS   - The Pakistan-United States Defence Consultative Group will begin its three-day meeting on October 20 and take up a broad-based agenda for increased cooperation.   - The United Nations warcrime tribunal in the Hague announced that Saad Saood Jan would replace fellow Pakistani judge Rsutan Sidhwa.   -- Islamabad newsroom 9251-274757 
418 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indian business and political stories in leading newspapers on Tuesday prepared for Reuters by Business News and Information Services Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.   Telephone: 11-3324842, 11-3761233; Fax: 91-11-3351006   Internet : biznis.  news@forums.  sprintrpg.  sprint.  com    -------oo0oo-------    TOP STORIES   Indian Express   TELECOMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT TO BE REVAMPED   The Communications Ministry has begun efforts to revamp the evaluation committee and activate internal vigilance in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).   The Communications Minister has passed orders to this effect.   This is to check corruption and ensure transparency in the telecommunication tendering process involving millions of rupees.   Meanwhile, several DoT officials were placed under suspension including Runu Ghosh, deputy director (finance), four sub-divisional officers and a general manager of the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.   ----   The Times Of India   FORMER COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER'S WHEREABOUTS NOT KNOWN   The Indian High Commission in London has failed to ascertain the whereabouts of former Union Communications Minister Sukh Ram.   Reports said the former Minister was not in London as was earlier suggested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).   Sukh Ram was there last week before his houses were raided in Delhi and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) which led to the recovery of 36.6 million rupees in cash.   Various political parties wondered why the CBI had not contacted the former minister even days after its raid on his houses.   ----   The Hindustan Times   BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY GOVERNMENT IN GUJARAT MAY FALL   The Suresh Mehta Gujarat government was rattled by the decision of breakaway factions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to launch a new party.   Expelled BJP rebel leader Shakarsinh Vaghela was holding a rally in the state's capital city to launch his new party.   The BJP, smarting under pressure, ruled out any threat whatsoever to the Suresh Mehta Ministry.   The party said it was ready to sacrifice its government in the interest of party discipline.   Meanwhile the state's Industry Minister Dilip Parikh was dropped and expelled from the party.   ----   Financial Express   RECAST BOMBAY BOURSE INDEX MAKES CRASHING DEBUT   The recast Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share sensitive index (sensex) crashed on its debut.   Selling pressure saw the recast sensex dip 86.33 points from the opening level of 3367.82 points.   Panic selling by foreign investors and domestic traders was responsible for the crash, said brokers.   On the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too, the prices of pivotals suffered a setback.   The NSE-50 scrip index lost 26 points over the previous close of 1002.   ----   NEW BIDDING GUIDELINES FOR GLOBALLY-AIDED PROJECTS SOON   The Finance Ministry has decided to overhaul the competitive bidding norms for multilaterally aided project.   The Ministry is preparing a standard National Competitive Bidding Document for domestic component of such projects.   This document would be the first of its kind to cover the indigenous developmental aspect of an internationally aided project.   The foreign segments of these projects would be covered under a revamped International Competitive Bidding Document.   Sources said the revised documents would provide for better transparency and simplified norms.   ----   BAT IN FRESH PARLEYS WITH FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS   UK-based promoter-cum-principal shareholder of ITC Ltd, B.A.T, wants the Indian company's board to be restructured.   B.A.T has begun talks with the Industrial Development Bank of India and other major institutional share-holders in ITC.   The British company is also seeking to raise its stake in ITC to 40 percent with the help of financial institutions (FIs).   Currently, B.A.T's stake in ITC stands at 32 percent.   The FIs are yet to respond to B.A.T's move.   ----   TATAS TO HUNT FOR NEW PARTNER AFTER UNISYS   Tata Sons may shell out over 900 million rupees for buying out the 40 percent equity stake of US-based Unisys Corp in Tata Unisys Ltd joint venture.   Tata Sons is learnt to be looking for a new foreign partner to offload this equity at a later stage.   Tata Sons was vying for US software giant Microsoft Corp for the purpose, said sources.   ----    The Economic Times   GOVERNMENT SPIKES FOREIGN EQUITY IN AVIATION   The Civil Aviation Ministry has spiked plans for foreign equity participation in the aviation sector.   The move has not just grounded the controversial Tata-Singapore Airlines proposal but also ruled out fresh joint ventures in the aviation sector.   While the firming up of the government stand on the issue would provide some protection to domestic carriers, the ministry has proposed to make Air-India cost-competitive and more efficient.   ----   STATE BANK TO RECOVER TWO BLN RUPEE AS PROFIT   State Bank of India (SBI) will recover as profit more than two billion rupees which had been written off as depreciation in its investment in government securities during fiscal 1995/96 (April-March).   The SBI will benefit from the decision of the Reserve Bank of India to allow public sector banks to write back as profits, in the current year, the excess depreciation on government securities provided in fiscal 1995/96.   Several banks which have had heavy securities portfolio planned to raise their profits this year through such a reverse entry, sources said.   ----   PRIME MINISTER REJECTS STRATEGY BLUEPRINT FOR NINTH PLAN   Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda criticised the states for not implementing the ongoing economic reforms wholeheartedly.   Addressing the first meeting of the reconstituted Planning Commission, Deve Gowda also rejected the blueprint of the Ninth Plan strategy paper based on the reports of the working groups and committees.   The Prime Minister said states should fully shoulder their constitutional responsibilities in important sectors such as industrial infrastructure, power development, agriculture and allied services, irrigation, roads, and social sectors.   ----   Business Standard   PHILIPS EYES INDIA AS HUB FOR AUDIO, VIDEO BUSINESS   Philips, Europe's largest electronics major, is looking at India as one of the locations where it could shift a chunk of its audio and video business from Europe.   The move is likely to be a part of Philips' worldwide restructuring exercise after it incurred heavy losses in the first quarter of the current year.   Sources said in the next four years, the company would invest $400 million to expand capacities and modernise its Indian facilities.   ----   NOMINAL VALUE OF GOLD RESERVES DOWN 7.3 BLN RUPEES   The nominal value of gold reserves dropped 7.3 billion rupees between March 29, 1996 and August 19, 1996 due to steady fall of gold prices in the London market.   India's gold reserves fell from 164.63 billion rupees ($4,659 million) on March 29 to 157,33 billion rupees ($4,410 million) on August 9.   Sources said this might have an adverse impact on the exchange fluctuation reserve and, consequently, the fiscal deficit.   ----   The Observer   CONTROL OVER STATE-OWNED FIRMS IN EIGHT SECTORS RETAINED   The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) has identified eight core sectors in which public sector units (PSUs) would remain under government control.   They are telecommunication, power, petroleum, fertilisers, coal, ports, steel and shipping.   DPE has also favoured the continuation of public sector monopoly in strategically important areas such as nuclear energy, defence, space and oceanography.   The categorisation of the PSUs into core, non-core, essential, non-essential sectors is part of the government's move to revitalise the PSUs.   ----   INDUSTRIAL GROWTH 5.1 PCT TILL JUNE   The overall industrial growth was estimated at 5.1 percent during the period of April-June this year.   On the other hand, the production performance of 24 industries, including core industries, for June this year indicates an overall growth rate of 4.5 percent, the Industry Ministry sources said.   While six infrastructure industries such as coal, crude oil, cement, saleable steel, electricity, petroleum refinery products together registered a 4.7 percent growth in April-June 1996, it was only 0.5 percent in June, sources said.   ----   GOVERNMENT LINES UP 20 BLN RUPEE 10-YEAR BONDS   The Union government would raise 20 billion rupees through the sale of 10-year, 13.85 percent government stock on August 26.   The Reserve Bank of India said interest on the stock would be paid half-yearly on February 26 and August 26 and the stock would be repaid at par on august 26, 2006.   The stock would be eligible for ready forward facility, sources said.   ---- 
419 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Pakistani and Iranian officials on Tuesday discussed a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal that could be affected by U.S. sanctions against Tehran, an official Pakistani statement said.   The talks between the two sides, led by Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh and Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Anwar Saifullah, were held a day after the Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad.   "The meeting discussed in detail various options available to implement this mega-project in the shortest possible time...," the Pakistani statement said.   It said the meeting also "underscored the need of finalising the details of the project expeditiously so that physical work ...could start without any further loss of time".   The pipeline, estimated to cost between $3.5 billion and $4 billion, is designed to bring Iranian natural gas to Pakistan and then take it to India.   U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a new law early this month to penalise non-U.S. firms that invest $40 million or more a year in the oil and gas sectors of either Iran or Libya.   The Pakistani statement quoted Saifullah as telling Tuesday's meeting that a joint working committee had done "excellent work" with regard to an alternative proposal, but it was not immediately clear if it was designed to beat the U.S. sanctions.   Saifullah said the proposal envisaged the delivery of the Iranian gas at Iran-Pakistan border "under the exclusive arrangements of the Iranian government".   The Pakistani government will be responsible for buying gas "from the point of delivery and make arrangements for its upcountry transmission and sale under its exclusive arrangements", he said.   Aghazadeh said on Monday the U.S. sanctions would not put "the time-tested Pakistan-Iran ties in jeopardy".   He added he also planned to discuss a planned project to set up a joint oil refinery in Pakistan.   Pakistan and Iran had earlier decided to invite bids in July for the pipeline project, but have not done so.   Tehran's negotiations to sell gas to Pakistan and India follow a $23 billion deal with its western neighbour Turkey for supplies of Iranian gas up to the year 2020.   The Iran-Pakistan project is expected to construct a 1,600-km (1,000-mile) pipeline to carry 1.6 billion cubic feet a day of Iranian gas to Pakistan's southern province of Sindh and then on to India.   U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato, an architect of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act signed by Clinton on August 5, has warned foreign firms from getting involved in the Iran-Pakistan-India project.   Australia's Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd (BHP) has confirmed that it and several other Western companies had held talks with Tehran on the proposed gas export project but that BHP had not made any commitments. 
420 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Pakistan on Tuesday's condemned India's veto against a nuclear test ban treaty and said its neighbour and arch-foe had exposed its "nefarious designs" to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile plans.   A foreign ministry spokesman, quoted by the official APP news agency, accused India of sabotaging the proposed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the U.N.-sponsored Disarmament Conference in Geneva and said New Delhi "has proved that it will brook no impediment to the pursuit of its nuclear and ballistic programmes".   Pakistan, regarded as a nuclear threshold state like India, has said it will not sign the CTBT unless New Delhi does likewise.   The Pakistani spokesman said Islamabad had repeatedly warned the international community about "India's nuclear and hegemonistic ambitions."   "This Indian 'veto' exposes yet again these nefarious designs which cannot be veiled any longer by moralistic arguments," he said.   "India has again shown that it is against all meaningful steps to promote nuclear non-proliferation whether at the global or the regional or bilateral levels.   "The international community will undoubtedly take serious cognizance of this grim reality which Pakistan of course cannot ignore." 
421 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Afghanistan's embattled government said on Tuesday it would open the main northern Salang highway next week to traffic as a result of peace talks with an opposition alliance controlling the area.   A government statement broadcast by the official Kabul Radio, monitored in Islamabad, said the Kabul - Salang highway would be open from August 26 or 27.   The decision was taken "as a result of talks with the (opposition) Supreme Coordination Council (alliance)" led by the Jumbish-i-Milli movement of powerful opposition warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, it said.   There was no immediate confirmation of the report.   The Salang highway, Afghanistan's main route to Central Asia, has been controlled by Dostum since he began fighting President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government in Kabul in January 1994 in alliance with Hezb-i-Islami party leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, then prime minister but rival to the president.   Hekmatyar rejoined the government as prime minister last June under a peace pact with Rabbani and sent an envoy to the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif earlier this month to persuade Dostum to do the same.   On January 13, a Jumbish spokesman in Pakistan denied a Kabul Radio report that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in the north but said there was no fighting in the area these days.   Opening the Salang highway was one of the main objectives of Hekmatyar's envoy. 
422 !GCAT !GPOL  Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's cabinet has decided to remove communists with a criminal record from important government posts, a spokesman for the prime minister said on Tuesday.   The spokesman, Qaribur Rehman Saeed, told reporters the decision, taken by a cabinet meeting on Monday, would be implemented after approval by President Burhanuddin Rabbani.   The first Islamic government set up by mujahideen guerrillas in April 1992 after the collapse of a communist government had announced a general amnesty for all civil and military employees of the previous regime.   Some important officials of the former government say they had links with the mujahideen groups and helped them in the fall of the communist government of then president Najibullah, who was backed by the former Soviet Union.   "There is anti-government propaganda going on in the offices by the communists who disobey the orders," Saeed said.   "The general amnesty by the first mujahideen government is enough for them (communists).   There is security for them in Kabul, that is enough."   He did not specify the officers to be dismissed.   At present, some of the military detachments in Kabul as well as several intellegence networks are run by military officers who held high positions in the communist government, against which the mujahideen groups fought for 14 years.   "If we want to have a sound government the decisions should be implemented without any exception in order to prevent, to some extent, the current difficulties," Saeed said.   "Otherwise it will be pitiable."   Hekmatyar, a former rival to Rabbani, took office as prime minister for the second time in late June after a peace pact between the two men. 
423 !GCAT !GVIO  The Sri Lankan army said on Tuesday it planned to step up food supplies to the country's war-torn north, while separatist Tamil rebels accused the military of resuming its shelling of a rebel town.   A statement faxed from London by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said the army had begun shelling Kilinochchi, 285 km (175 miles) north of Colombo, after a week-long pause.   An army spokesman denied the charge.   "No, that is not true," he told Reuters.   "We are only retaliating if and when they fire mortars at us."   The army's statement did not mention any bombardment, focusing instead on relief work for the refugees.   On Tuesday, aid workers voiced concern over the plight of some 600,000 civilians facing hunger in the country's north.   An army statement said it hoped to resume a normal supply of 50 truckloads per day soon.   Nearly 300 trucks of food had been sent to the northern Wanni mainland since the army lifted a three-week blockade on August 12, it said.   "The resumption of food convoys should alleviate a potentially dangerous situation," an official for the International Committee of the Red Cross told Reuters.   "Arrangements have been made to send 50 truckloads of food daily into the uncleared areas north of Vavuniya, as was done before the LTTE detained several convoys," it said.   "Regularly, convoys of lorries carrying rice, flour and other essential foodstuff have been leaving Vavuniya since the resumption," the statement added.   Aid workers confirmed the government had sent nearly 300 truckloads of food to the Wanni mainland.   The army launched an offensive on the northern rebel-held town of Kilinochchi on July 26.   The military then banned food convoys to the rebel-held areas after accusing the rebels of taking the food and letting civilians go hungry.   The rebels, fighting a 13-year war for independence in the Indian Ocean island's north and east, denied government charges that it had hijacked food sent to civilians.   The Tamil rebels accused the government of blocking food supplies to force refugees into army-held areas.   The Wanni refugee population had swelled since the beginning of the army assault on Kilinochchi.   The army has said its troops were digging in one km (half a mile) north of Kilinochchi, where the LTTE set up bases after being ousted from their northern Jaffna peninsula stronghold in April.   The Tigers say they have stalled the army's advance on Kilinochchi.   "The army, which is stuck in the Paranthan area north of Kilinochchi is taking its revenge on civilians by firing artillery shells towards far away places," the statement said.   Kilinochchi's 200,000 residents abandoned the town, with most of them fleeing to the surrounding jungles while others sought sanctuary with friends and relatives, aid workers said.   They said on Monday diseases like malaria, jaundice and septicaemia, or blood poisoning, were spreading widely among the refugees.   Two children have already died of septicaemia.   The government says more than 50,000 people have died in the ethnic war. 
424 !GCAT !GPOL !GREL  Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto vowed on Tuesday to end sectarian politics in her country, which has suffered a spate of violence between rival Moslem sects.   "We are all Moslems and cannot allow anyone to take precious lives," the official APP news agency quoted her as telling reporters in the nearby town of Rawalpindi.   "That is why we have vowed to put an end to sectarian politics," she said two days after 18 people were killed in an attack on a Shi'ite sect religious meeting at a village in the central province of Punjab.   Bhutto said she was deeply concerned about the sectarian violence in Punjab and the southern province of Sindh and a number of arrests had been made there.   Police said they had arrested three men in Chak-205 village southeast of the main southern Punjab city of Multan on suspicion of aiding gunmen who attacked the Shi'ite meeting there on Sunday.   Shi'ite places of worship were being guarded, they added.   The attacks in Karachi and Chak-205, which followed several individual assassinations, raised fears that militants from the majority Sunni and the minority Shi'ite sects could plunge Pakistan into a new cycle of reprisals.   Shi'ites form about 15 percent of Pakistan's Sunni-dominated population of 130 million.   "We are against sectarian politics and the groups involved need to be combatted and a culture developed to counter such trends," Bhutto said.   "With stringent measures against sectarianism, such type of politics will be eliminated from the country."   On Monday, the leader of the Shi'ite Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan movement, Allama Sajid Naqvi, said the country could face civil war if the government failed to check sectarian violence.   He spoke after leading funeral prayers for the dead Shi'ites at Chak-205.   On Monday, a previously-unknown Sunni militant group calling itself Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for Sunday's killings, indicating it had retaliated for the killing of 12 Sunnis in an attack on a procession in Karachi last Wednesday.   The Karachi attack was on an Independence Day march of the militant Sunni Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) group. 
425 !GCAT !GVIO  Afghanistan's opposition Taleban Islamic militia has arrested six men while investigating the escape of seven Russian airmen held hostage for more than a year, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service said on Tuesday.   The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said the Taleban leadership had arrested three guards and three airport officials to investigate how the Russians were able to trick their captors.   The Russians escaped to the United Arab Emirates on Friday in their own plane along with three guards.   The airmen, held in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, had been allowed by Taleban leaders to visit their Ilyushin 76 cargo plane for maintenance.   UAE authorities were expected to hand over the three guards to the International Red Crescent on Tuesday.   AIP said the chief of Taleban, Mullah Mohammad Umar, spent Saturday at the airport to examine the possibility that the Russians' escape was a conspiracy.   A Taleban spokesman had said Taleban fighters had tried to block the runway with a jeep and then sent up a MiG fighter and helicopter in vain pursuit of the lumbering cargo plane.   The Russian's returned home to a hero's welcome in Tatarstan on Monday after travelling through Moscow from the UAE.   The airmen, working for the Tatarstan-based Aerostan company, were taken prisoner after a Taleban MiG-19 fighter forced their plane to land in August 1995.   The Taleban, which controls about half of Afghanistan, said the plane's cargo of ammunition from Albania was evidence of Russian military support for President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government.   Moscow said the crew's nationality was coincidental. 
426 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Nepal's textile mills, closed for three weeks in protest against an increase in sales tax, re-opened on Tuesday after the government agreed to review a tax proposal, a senior industry official said.   "We will open the factories as the government has agreed to consider some of our policy-related demands," Mahesh Lal Pradhan, president of Nepal Textile Industries' Association (NTIA), told Reuters.   More than 200 textile plants closed last month, throwing 20,000 people out of work, after the government raised the sales tax to 15 percent from five percent.   The industry wants the government to restore the old rate.   Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is also Finance Minister, had assured the entrepreneurs that he would take care of the interest of factory owners, Pradhan said.   Factory owners said the sales tax hike had made Nepali products costlier than textiles imported from India or Tibet.   Cheaper textiles were also smuggled in from India, they said.   Pradhan said the government had also agreed to make the valuation of imports realistic and take strong measures against smuggling. 
427 !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The Finnish markka faced a revaluation in the European Union's (EU) agrimonetary system as it stepped into a process of assessment for up to 50 days, the UK's Home-Grown Cereal Authority (HGCA) said.   It said the green markka had an average real agrimonetary gap (RMG) of 5.205 percent with the exchange rate at the end of the 10-day reference period on Tuesday and would enter the first of possibly five confirmation periods.   For a revaluation, an RMG of above five percent must be confirmed for five periods if the currency has not been devalued in the last three years.   Green rates are used in calculating EU farm subsidies in terms of national currencies and have no direct impact on exchange rates.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 8072 
428 !C15 !C152 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Roger Boyes, group finance director of Halifax Building Society, said on Tuesday the society expected to achieve its goal of a 40 percent cost/income ratio by the end of 1998.   In its interim results released earlier on Tuesday the society said its cost/income ratio had fallen from 43.0 percent to 41.4 percent.   The society has said it expects to cut 200 jobs in its head office by the end of 1997 as a result of its merger with rival society Leeds Permanent and chief executive Mike Blackburn said, without being specfic, that further jobs would be lost.   Blackburn told reporters at its interim results briefing that a further 120 branches would be closed.   Blackburn said he expected the merger with insurance group Clerical Medical, due to be completed at year-end, would be earnings enhancing next year.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 5113 
429 !GCAT !GCRIM  British charities on Tuesday condemned the growth of child prostitution worldwide and called for tougher measures against sex offenders who abuse young people.   Reports by the charities Barnardo's and Save the Children were published as concern over the sexual abuse of children was heightened by a major police investigation in Belgium into a sex scandal in which two young girls have been killed.   Barnardo's, which offers shelter and care to children in Britain, found a girl of 12 working as a prostitute in Bradford, northern England, and heard about others who had started to offer sex when they were nine or 10 years of age.   It acknowledged that it would be hard to end such systematic abuse, but said: "As a first step, Barnardo's believe that existing legislation should be tightened up."   A man found guilty in Britain of having sex with a minor under 13 faces life imprisonment, but the maximum sentence for having sex with a girl aged between 13 and 16 is just two years.   "Attitudes must change to recognise that young women and girls on the streets are victims of abuse, and not prostitutes.   Until this is achieved, no progress will be made," it said.   Separately, Save the Children published an international report on child prostitution, entitled "Kids for Hire".   "Throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America and the countries of the North, there has been a growth in the number of under-age girls and boys involved in commercial sex work," Save the Children said in a report entitled "Kids for Hire".   Both reports will be discussed at the first World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children which takes place in Stockholm from August 27 to 31.   A spokeswoman for Save the Children said it was impossible to say accurately how many children were engaged in prostitution because of the illegal and hidden nature of the trade, but evidence from field workers showed it was getting worse.   The report said it was "a major international scandal" that every year thousands of children were sold, abducted or tricked into forced prostitution in countries other than their own.   For example, it was estimated that at least 100,000 Nepalese girls were working as prostitutes in India at any one time.   The main cause of child prostitution was poverty with children selling themselves to support their families, it added.   Sex tourism by people from rich countries was adding to the problem, it said, and men were looking for younger girls because they thought children were less likely to be tainted by AIDS.   The charity called on governments to implement laws allowing sex tourists to be prosecuted when they return home.   Barnardo's cited a UN convention calling on member states to "protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse", but said it was a complex issue.   Barnardo's official Sara Swann noted that most of the young Bradford girls had been put out to work by "boyfriends" whom they adored, despite being beaten and humiliated by them.   "You can't force protection on a 14-year-old girl who says she's in love," she said. 
430 !GCAT !GCRIM  Police investigating Belgium's worst child sex scandal on Tuesday contacted the officer who led the investigation into Britain's "House of Horrors" serial killings in which a dozen young women were murdered.   The sight of Belgian police digging for bodies at the weekend evoked memories of scenes at the house of British serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, where British detectives excavated the remains of the couple's dismembered victims.   Belgian police had asked John Bennett, the officer who dealt with the West investigation, for advice in their search for further possible victims of an organised paedophile ring.   "The Central Bureau of Investigation of the Belgian Police have today contacted Superintendent John Bennett and discussed aspects of their investigation because of the experience gained through the Cromwell Street enquiries," said police in Gloucestershire, where Bennett is based.   Apart from speaking to British colleagues, Belgian police have turned to countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France in their search for two teenage girls who were abducted a year ago by a convicted child sex offender, according to Belgian media.   Fred and Rosemary West sexually abused and killed young girls and women who were then chopped up and buried beneath the cellar, bathroom and garden of a house labelled Britain's "House of Horrors".   Police became suspicious when they could not trace their daughter Heather West and rumours led them to dig up the garden in Cromwell Street, in the western English city of Gloucester, in 1994.   In similar scenes, Belgian police at the weekend discovered the corpses of two eight-year-old girls thought to have been victims of an organised paedophilia ring who had been buried in a garden.   Convicted paedophile Marc Dutroux and associate Michel Lelievre led police to the corpses on Saturday.   The two men were charged on Friday after police rescued two abducted young girls from a house owned by Dutroux.   The murdered eight-year-olds had been sexually abused, starved to death and buried in a garden after being kidnapped in June 1995.   Dutroux denied responsibility for the girls' deaths, telling police they died of starvation in late February or March while he was serving a four-month prison sentence for theft.   Dutroux's wife Michelle Martin was charged on Monday with being an accomplice in the abduction and illegal imprisonment of children.   In the West case, Rosemary West continues to protest her innocence.   She was found guilty in November 1995 of murdering 10 women.   Frederick confessed to killing 12 women and girls but hanged himself in prison before he could face trial.   Their victims were mainly isolated young women whose disappearance went unnoticed.   But they also killed their 16-year-old daughter Heather, Fred's eight-year-old stepdaughter Charmaine and a lodger who was pregnant with Fred's child.   The pair picked up girls and sexually tormented them before killing and burying them at their house. 
431 !GCAT !GPRO  Prince Charles, whose divorce from Princess Diana becomes final in a week, emerged on Tuesday as the main advocate of radical reforms of Britain's troubled monarchy to ensure it survives into the next century.   Buckingham Palace confirmed on Monday that the prince and other members of the Royal Family are part of a strategic policy committee considering changes.   But heir-to-the-throne Charles is said to be spearheading the reforms which, if enacted, could amount to the most sweeping changes to the 1,000-year-old monarchy since the 18th century.   Among the options being considered are ending the 8.7 million pound ($13.4 million) yearly salary the queen receives from the state, allowing the monarch to marry a Roman Catholic and changing the laws of succession to allow the oldest child, even if a daughter, to take the throne.   "Charles is at the heart of a move for reforms...which amounts to a personal manifesto for how he wants to reign," The Daily Mail, a popular tabloid, said.   "The heir-to-the-throne heads a secret "cabinet' redesigning the monarchy," claimed The Daily Express.   The palace in characteristic fashion refused to divulge any details of the proposed moves or who is leading what is being dubbed a royal revolution.   "This is a strategic committee which has the head of state, the queen, the Duke of Edinburgh (the queen's consort) and the Prince of Wales involved.   It is a process of discussion and decision-making, but details of what is being discussed is something I am not prepared to go into," the prince's spokeswoman said.   "Neither are we prepared to go into the roles the individual members of the royal family play."   Britain's press, which follows every move of the royal family, correctly reported the breakdown of the marriages of Prince Charles and his brother Prince Andrew and other foibles long before the palace formally admitted them.   Newspapers said the comittee, which meets twice yearly, was formed after 1992, the year in which the royal marriages collapsed and the queen agreed to end her tax-free status.   Buckingham Palace said the committee has already been instrumental in the queen's decisions to pay tax and open up Buckingham palace to tourists to help pay for repairs at Windsor Castle, which was badly damaged in a fire four years ago.   Other moves the committee is reportedly considering are reducing the royal family to only include the monarch, the consort, their children and grandchildren and ending the the ruler's traditional role as head of the Church of England.   Many of the changes, including the 295-year-old ban on the British monarch marrying a Catholic and changing 11th-century rules giving boys priority over girls in succeeding to the throne, would involve changes in English law.   None of the reforms are likely to be made quickly.   Consitutional expert David Starkey told the Daily Mail that if the moves were passed it would amount to "the biggest privatisation of them all." 
432 !C11 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The British and French governments told the European Commission on Tuesday that they did not believe the proposed missile joint venture between British Aerospace and Lagardere Groupe should come under EC scrutiny.   A statement from the UK Department of Trade and Industry said that the deal "effects the essential security interests of the UK and France" and that it would be inappropriate for the Commission to examine it under EC Merger Regulation.    BAe and the French defence and communications company Lagardere Group said on Friday that they had signed a deal to merge their guided missile activities into a joint venture operation.   The deal will create the biggest guided weapons business in Europe, with annual turnover of one billion stg and a 2.6 billion order book.   The move was seen as a step towards consolidating the European defence market to make it more effective against U.S. competitors in a tough world market for exports.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717 
433 !GCAT !GVIO  At least 10 people have died in several days of fighting between rival Kurdish groups in northern Iraq, Iraqi Kurds said on Tuesday.   A Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) spokesman in Ankara told Reuters the group's forces killed eight fighters of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Sunday night near the town of Shaqlawa.   He gave no figures for KDP casualties.   The PUK said in a statement that two civilians were killed in a KDP attack against the settlement of Pirzin, northeast of the main Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil.   Clashes between the two groups broke out at the weekend, shattering a U.S.-brokered ceasefire sealed last year.   Iraq's Kurds, protected from possible Iraqi attack by Western air power based in Turkey, broke away from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War.   Fighting between them began in 1994 and about 3,000 people died in clashes until the ceasefire.   The PUK said it had repulsed offensives by the KDP southeast of Arbil and in the remote mountains near the strategic northeastern town of Rawanduz, close to the Iranian border.   The two militias, rivals for decades, have accused each other of cooperating with Baghdad or Tehran in the recent fighting and blamed each other for the renewed clashes. 
434 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  King Hussein went to the north of Jordan on Tuesday to receive pledges of loyalty from officials and tribal leaders in the wake of rioting in the south that has led to widespread arrests.   King Hussein, repeatedly cheered by a crowd assembled on a plain outside Ramtha town near the Syrian border, said Jordanians had shown it was "one great country always resolutely standing together in the face of all threats."   The king, who has vowed to crush the riots that followed a government decision to double bread prices, said the country had stood for "dialogue and democracy and respect for human rights under the order of law in the face of all commotion."   Tribal elders and local officials gave speeches of praise and loyalty, part of an effort to show the king's continued popularity.   State media carried scores of "loyalty and support" cables to the king from municipality chiefs, dignitaries and leading tribesmen -- his traditional bedrock support.   Armoured vehicles continued to patrol the southern city of Karak, the centre of two days of unrest that shook the kingdom last weekend, but security forces eased a curfew.   "As of today people will be allowed to move for 10 hours a day at different intervals, from two hours at present.   This will be increased depending on the situation before it is totally lifted when authorities deem that possible," an official said.   Security forces had detained up to 150 people since Friday, including 100 in Karak, an official said.   Many were released while others will face trial, he said.   Karak residents said 300 people had been detained but many were already free.   At least 14 leaders of a pro-Iraqi party blamed by King Hussein for inciting the riots had been arrested, officials said.   The Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party has rejected the king's accusations.   Government critics and demonstrators said the unrest stemmed from rising economic hardship.   An Iraqi radio report, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, denied Iraq was involved and accused the Jordanian government of bringing trouble on itself by unpopular policies.   Iraq's "Mother of Battles Radio", a service for the Arab world, said on Monday night the rioting had been an explosion of popular anger with no outside intervention.   Once close relations between Jordan and Iraq collapsed a year ago after King Hussein gave refuge to defectors from Baghdad, including two sons-in-law of President Saddam Hussein, and called for change in Iraq.   King Hussein last week suspended the summer session of parliament, vowed an "iron fist" response to the country's worst unrest since 1989 and threw his weight behind the government of Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti who is trying to implement reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund. 
435 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Israel's housing ministry is drafting a plan to approve construction of 5,000 new homes in the Palestinian occupied West Bank, a spokesman said on Tuesday.   "We are speaking about a plan of 20,000 apartments in central Israel, about 5,000 of which would fall east of the Green Line," housing spokesman Amir Dobkin told Reuters.   The Green Line was the Jewish state's eastern border before Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.   Dobkin said that Deputy Housing Minister Meir Porush described the old border as "theoretical" and wanted it erased.   He said the homes would be built by the private sector but that government funds could be used for infrastructure if necessary.   The spokesman said the plan was under preparation and would be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for approval later in the year.   "We are pretty sure the plan will be accepted," he said.   Netanyahu's office declined comment on the plan and said it would clarify its stance upon receiving the proposal.   In a move that angered Palestinians, Israeli Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai this month approved placing 298 mobile homes in Jewish settlements on occupied lands.   The move was the government's first action on settlements since Netanyahu in August lifted a freeze on settlement building in the West Bank imposed by the previous government which made peace deals with the Palestine Liberation Organisation.   Palestinians, who hope to eventually establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, regard the 130,000 Jews living amidst nearly two million Palestinians in those areas as an obstacle to peace. 
436 !GCAT !GDEF  Israel test launched its Arrow 2-anti-missile missile on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Israel Aircraft Industries said.   "There was a test of the missile at 15:16 (12:16 GMT).   The initial data show that the implementation was as planned...and the target was hit," the spokeswoman said.   The test, which local media had anticipated for some days, was expected to consist of launching an Arrow against another missile, according to local media reports.   The launch came a day after Israel's Channel Two television reported that Syria had recently test launched an advanced Scud-C missile capable of hitting Israeli cities.   The Arrow 2 is a U.S.-funded Israeli missile designed to intercept and destroy incoming missiles. 
437 !GCAT !GVIO  An Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded on Tuesday inside Israel's south Lebanon occupation zone when a group of Israeli soldiers fired on another group by mistake, security sources said.   They said a group of soldiers mistook another group for Moslem guerrillas in Wadi Zibqeen, on the edge of the western sector of the buffer zone and opened fire at five a.m. (0200 GMT).   One soldier was killed and another was wounded.   The body and the wounded soldier were immediately flown to Israel by helicopter.   The sources did not give further details.   In a statement issued in Jerusalem the Israeli army identified the dead man as Staff Sergeant Valery Ganzman, 22, and confirmed that another soldier was severely wounded.   It said they were hit "by misdirected fire during operations in the western sector of the security zone" but gave no further details.   Later, Israeli gunmen and their local militia allies shelled the village of Zibqeen outside the zone heavily damaging three houses.   No casualties were reported in the bombardment, Lebanese security sources said.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited the zone on Monday and warned the pro-Iranian Hizbollah that its raids on Israeli forces would only worsen the conflict.   Hours after he spoke a militiaman of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA) was killed by a guerrilla bomb while on patrol, SLA sources said.   Israeli troops, assisted by 3,000 SLA militiamen, hold a 15-km (nine-mile) wide zone in south Lebanon since 1985.   Hizbollah (Party of God) guerrillas often attack the occupation troops in a bid to oust them from Lebanon. 
438 !GCAT !GVIO  Turkish security forces have killed 16 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in separate clashes on the rugged border with northern Iraq, security officials said on Tuesday.   The emergency rule governor's office in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir said the guerrillas were killed on Monday and Tuesday in the border province of Hakkari.   One member of the security forces also died, the office said in a statement.   Suspected PKK fighters killed three civilians in an attack in central Turkey on Monday night, police said on Tuesday.   Assailants opened fire on two cars on a lonely road in the central province of Sivas, killing two women and a two-year-old child, a police official said.   "According to the information we have it was most probably the PKK," he told Reuters by telephone from Sivas.   The guerrillas killed a policeman and another person in an attack on an intercity bus in the same area last week.   Sivas has only a small Kurdish population and is not one of the ten southeastern provinces under emergency rule where the rebels are most active.   But rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan warned last week that his forces would stage attacks on the periphery of the mainly Kurdish southeast to stretch security forces.   More than 20,000 people have been killed in 12 years of conflict between soldiers and rebels fighting for autonomy or independence.   The guerrillas damaged two government buildings in the town of Baskale, near the Iranian border, in a rocket attack on Monday night, Anatolian news agency said.   No-one was injured. 
439 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  Israel snatched four Lebanese residents from southern Lebanon earlier this year and held them in Israel, a ruling by Israel's High Court showed on Tuesday.   Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said the four apparently had earlier abducted another Lebanese man who had worked for Israel's Mossad secret service and "handed him to the enemy."   The news of the arrest was disclosed after the High Court, in a July ruling, rejected the unnamed individuals' appeal against their detention in Israel.   "The four appellants are residents of Lebanon.   They were arrested on February 22, 1996, by Israeli security forces in Lebanon's territory, the security zone, and were brought on March 17, 1996, to the territory of the State of Israel," said the ruling obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.   Israel carved out a 15-km (nine mile) wide occupation zone in south Lebanon in 1985 when it withdrew the bulk of its 1982 Lebanon invasion force.   The zone is policed by Israel's surrogate South Lebanon Army militia (SLA).   The court made only a glancing reference to why the four were detained by Israel, saying: "From information brought before the minister (then prime minister Shimon Peres) and to the court it arose that the four appellants took part, each in his own way, in kidnapping a Lebanese citizen."   It gave no further details.   The court upheld the detention of the four by administrative order for six months.   The order, issued by Peres, who at the time was also defence minister, is valid until September 16.   Yedioth said four days after Israel captured the four, the pro-Syrian Lebanese newspaper as-Safir said that intelligence personnel of the Lebanese army kidnapped a Mossad agent named Ahmed Halek from south Lebanon and took him to Beirut.   Yedioth quoted as-Safir saying Halek had detonated a car bomb at a pro-Iranian Hizbollah group stronghold in Beirut in December that killed four people.   It said he was sentenced to death by a Lebanese court martial. 
440 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Russian ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky vowed on Tuesday to mount pressure on the Russian government to help end U.N. trade sanctions on Iraq and blamed Moscow for delaying the establishment of good ties with Baghdad.   "We are the (Russian) liberal democratic party...We will press the Russian government to lift the embargo," Zhirinovsky said on the second day of his visit to Iraq.   "Our stand is firm namely we are calling on (the Russian government) to end the economic embargo on Iraq and resume trade ties between Russia and Iraq," he said.   Iraq is under crippling United Nations trade sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.   The curbs include a ban on Iraq's oil exports and imports of goods apart from humanitarian needs for which Iraq has little cash to pay.   Baghdad signed on May 20 an agreement with the U.N. allowing it partial oil sales worth $2 billion every six months to buy food and medicine for the Iraqi people.   "It (the deal) is a postive apportunity for Iraq to buy food and medicine...but the main goal is ending the embargo completely," he said.   He also attacked the Russian government, blaming it for delaying enhanced ties with Baghdad.   "Iraq is ready to improve bilateral relations but Russia is delaying that," he said.   He said his party encouraged the establishment of a joint Iraqi-Russian company called Babylon in order to export foodstuffs, medicines and construction materials to Baghdad.   Zhirinovsky visited Iraq twice in 1995.   Last October he was one of the figures invited to attend the referendum held on Iraq's presidency, which extended Saddam's term of office for seven more years.   Zhirinovsky polled only six percent of the vote in the first round of Russia's presidential elections.   Russia, supported by France and China, all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, want a gradual easing of the sanctions on Iraq. 
441 !GCAT !GPOL  Bahrain will appoint new members to its consultative Shura council in September who may include people selected from boards of national societies, a government official said on Tuesday.   "The political leaders take into consideration popular representation in choosing members of the Shura council.   Those members might have been elected members in societies and institutions," the official said.   "It was expected that the names of new members would be announced in September ahead of the new session of the Shura council," he told Reuters.   The official declined to say how many members of the 30-member council would be replaced or give further details.   The official was commenting on a report in Akhbar al-Khaleej newspaper on Tuesday which said half the members of the council were expected to be selected from boards of national societies.   Bahrain's Emir Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa promised in June to develop the Shura council and give it more say in the Gulf state's affairs.   He said Bahrain would increase the membership of the council to widen popular representation and increase its power to "study requirements of the citizens and the services provided to them".   Restoration of an elected assembly dissolved in 1975 was a key demands by dissidents in anti-government protests which began in Bahrain, the Gulf's mainly financial centre, in December 1994.   The Shura council was appointed in 1992 to help the government run the island's political and economic affairs.   It gives views on draft laws submitted by Bahrain's cabinet before they are sent to the Emir for final approval. 
442 !GCAT !GVIO  Yemen said on Tuesday that France had assured it that Eritrea would pull out troops from a disputed Red Sea island by Friday at the latest.   "French envoy Francis Gutman told me that Eritrea will withdraw from the (Lesser Hanish) island next Friday as a maximum date," Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told a group of judges.   France said on Monday that Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its forces from the island, cooling a dispute with Yemen that had threatened to derail an arbitration accord between the two Red Sea states signed in Paris in May.   "Eritrea is going to withdraw from this island.   In this way the arbitration procedure intended to peacefully resolve the two nations' differences can now proceed normally," a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.   There has been no confirmation from Eritrea of the decision.   Yemen earlier threatened to take military action against Eritrea if mediation failed to defuse the crisis triggered by its sending troops to the island earlier this month.   Both states claim islands, which lie near tanker routes at the Red Sea's southern entrance, and fought briefly over them last December. 
443 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The first shipment of goods for Jordan via Israel has reached the northern port of Haifa, Israel's customs authority said on Tuesday.   The shipment follows a peace treaty signed between the two countries in 1994 and a series of agreements governing trade and transport.   An Israeli customs spokeswoman said the shipment of lumber will be loaded onto a Jordanian truck which crossed the border into Israel earlier on Tuesday.   Israeli customs officials accompanied the truck from the border to the port and will accompany it back to the crossing.   The spokeswoman said many more such shipments were expected and the stringent customs and security measures were likely to be relaxed with time.   - Tel Aviv newsroom, 972-3-537-2211 
444 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  A senior Israeli minister who once likened Arabs to cockroaches in a bottle said on Tuesday it might be better for the Jewish state if the peace process "exploded."   Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan, who led Israeli troops as army chief of staff during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, told Israel's Haaretz newspaper in an interview that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would drag his feet on peace.   "The government will go at the slowest possible pace.   It will scrutinize every apostrophe in the agreement before moving forward.   The prime minister sees these things correctly when he's not hurrying," Haaretz quoted Eitan as saying.   Asked if he would be pleased if the peace process "exploded", Eitan said:   "If it is good for the national interest that everything explodes, let it explode."   "In my opinion there is no peace process at all," Eitan said.   "The Arabs don't wan't peace.   What the previous government did was to dash for peace without understanding that the question in our region is to be annihilated or to take a stand."   The 67-year-old former general sits on Netanyahu's "security council" of senior ministers and staunchly opposes Israeli-PLO peace accords signed by the dovish government Netanyahu ousted in May elections.   "These agreements are a severe blow to the national interest.   I don't know how we'll get out of this," he said.   Netanyahu, who took power in June, has yet to fulfil an agreement signed between the former government and the Palestine Liberation Organisation that committed Israel to redeploy its troops in the West Bank town of Hebron.   In 1983, an Israeli state commission criticised Eitan for failing to prevent a massacre of Palestinian civilians by Christian Lebanese militiamen at two refugee camps outside Beirut.   Israeli troops were stationed not far from the scene of the massacre.   Before retiring from the army in 1983, Eitan told a parliament committee: "When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle." 
445 !GCAT !GVIO  Suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels have killed three civilians in an attack in central Turkey, police said on Tuesday.   Assailants opened fire on two cars on a lonely road in the central province of Sivas on Monday night, killing two women and a two-year-old child, a police official said.   "According to the information we have it was most probably the PKK," he told Reuters by telephone from Sivas.   A local journalist confirmed the attack.   The guerrillas killed a policeman and another person in an attack on an intercity bus in the same area last week.   Sivas has only a small Kurdish population and is not one of the ten southeastern provinces under emergency rule where the rebels are most active.   But rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan warned last week that his forces would stage attacks on the periphery of the mainly Kurdish southeast to stretch security forces.   More than 3,000 people have been killed in 12 years of conflict between soldiers the rebels, fighting for autonomy or independence.   The rebels damaged two government buildings in the town of Baskale, near the Iranian border, in a rocket attack on Monday night, Anatolian news agency said.   No-one was injured. 
446 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Chilean servicemen with five helicopters on Tuesday began arms inspections in Iraq for the the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq, a spokesman for the commission said.   The Chilean helicopters arrived in Baghdad last Thursday together with 41 Chilean servicemen.   They are to support UNSCOM's and the International Atomic Energy Agancy's work, "transporting inspectors and equipment as well as providing a platform for aerial inspection work," the said.   They took over from a German helicopter team which started its work in Iraq in 1991.   A clean bill of health from UNSCOM is key to lifting a ban on Iraqi oil exports, part of sanctions imposed on Iraq by the U.N. for invading Kuwait in 1990 and occupying it for seven months. 
447 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Jordanian security forces eased a curfew in the southern town of Karak on Tuesday and have seized at least 14 leaders of a pro-Iraqi party blamed by King Hussein for inciting bread riots there, government officials said.   Armoured vehicles patrolled Karak where two days of riots began last Friday in protest against the government's doubling of bread prices under reforms backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).   "Things are quiet in Karak," one government official told Reuters.   Another official said the curfew in Karak would be gradually eased.   "As of today, Tuesday, people will be allowed to move for 10 hours a day at different intervals, from two hours at present.   This will be increased depending on the situation before it is totally lifted when authorities deem that possible," he said.   The first official said security forces since Friday had detained up to 150 people, including 100 in Karak.   Many were released while others will be sent to court for trial, he said.   Those arrested included at least 14 leaders of the Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party, a pro-Iraqi organisation that King Hussein had blamed for the riots, the official said.   Three of the leaders were named as Omar Abu El-Ragheb, Ali Hyasat and Yasin Umoush.   Party officials were not available for comment.   The party earlier denied any involvement in the unrest which government critics blamed on rising economic hardship and poverty.   Residents in Karak said 300 people there had been detained since Friday but many were already released.   An Iraqi radio station, in a report monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, denied that Iraq was behind the unrest and accused the Jordanian government of bringing trouble on itself through its pursuit of policies opposed by the people.   Iraq's "Mother of Battles Radio", an external service for the Arab world, said on Monday night that the rioting had been an explosion of popular anger, with no outside intervention.   "Every citizen in sisterly Jordan understands this, and knows that the government's attempts to accuse certain parties are a distortion of facts and an avoidance of reality," the radio said.   Once close relations between Jordan and Iraq deteriorated sharply a year ago when King Hussein gave refuge to two defectors from Baghdad, both sons-in-law of President Saddam Hussein, and called for change in Iraq.   Unrest broke out in Karak after noon prayers on Friday, three days after the government enforced the new bread prices.   Riots quickly spread to nearby villages, prompting the king to send in the army to calm unrest.   Violence also broke out in a working-class district of central Amman.   King Hussein suspended the summer session of parliament, vowed to stop the unrest with an "iron fist" and has thrown his full weight behind the government of Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti who has borne the brunt of widespread criticism.   State-run media carried scores of "loyalty and support" cables sent to the king from municipality chiefs, dignitaries and leading tribesmen -- his traditional bedrock support.   The monarch had lunch with a leading tribe in northern Jordan on Tuesday.   While the government has proclaimed the crisis over, Karak residents say the government's use of force did not address their grievances and could precipitate more trouble once the army leaves.   The violence was the most serious in Jordan since 1989 when government price rises also sparked off riots.   The king responded then by changing his prime minister and starting democratic reforms. 
448 !GCAT !GVIO  One Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded on Tuesday inside Israel's south Lebanon occupation zone when a group of Israeli soldiers fired on another group by mistake, security sources said.   They said one group of soldiers, mistaking another group for Moslem guerrillas in Wadi Zibqeen, on the edge of the western sector of the buffer zone, opened fire at 5.00 a.m. (0200 GMT).   One soldier was killed and another was wounded.   The body and the wounded soldier were immediately flown to Israel by helicopter.   The sources did not give further details.   Pro-Israeli militia sources inside the zone said they had no information on the incident.   Israel has a policy of not announcing such incidents before notifying the families of the dead.   Later, Israeli gunmen and their local militia allies shelled the village of Zibqeen outside the zone heavily damaging three houses.   No casualties were reported in the bombardment, Lebanese security sources said.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had visited the zone on Monday and warned the pro-Iranian Hizbollah that its raids on Israeli forces would only worsen the conflict.   Hours after he spoke a militiaman of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army (SLA) was killed by a guerrilla bomb while on patrol, SLA sources said.   Israeli troops, assisted by 3,000 SLA militiamen, hold a 15-km (nine-mile) wide zone in south Lebanon since 1985.   Hizbollah (Party of God) guerrillas often attack the occupation troops in a bid to oust them from Lebanon. 
449 !GCAT !GVIO  At least seven people have died in several days of fighting between rival Kurdish groups in northern Iraq, Turkey's Anatolian news agency said on Tuesday.   The agency, quoting the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) radio station, said the KDP had killed seven fighters of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on Sunday night near the town of Shaqlawa.   It gave no figures for any KDP casualties.   Clashes between the two groups broke out at the weekend, shattering a U.S.-brokered ceasefire sealed last year.   Iraq's Kurds, protected from possible Iraqi attack by Western air power, broke away from Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War.   Fighting between them began in 1994 and cost around 3,000 lives until the ceasefire.   The two militias, rivals for decades, have accused each other of cooperating with Baghdad or Tehran in the recent fighting. 
450 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel said on Tuesday it did not want a confrontation with arch foe Syria a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned problems in Lebanon would be bad for Damascus.   "There is no intention to heat up the border with Syria," an Israeli government source who spoke on condition he not be named told Reuters.   The remarks also followed an Israeli Channel Two television report on Monday that Syria had tested a long-range Scud missile able to hit Israeli cities.   Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said that missile tests were no way to signal a desire for peace.   "If Syria wants peace, the tone and style is not with missiles or weapons like that," Levy told reporters.   "Israel wants and its strategy is to reach peace.   It has passed messages in that direction.   We expect that Syria will prove its intention for peace by answering the Israeli message and we will be able to sit and talk peace."   Syria meanwhile accused Israel through its official media of beating the drums of war by reneging on peace commitments, "escalating tension and waving flagrant threats against Lebanon and Syria."   Zeev Maoz, the head of Israel's Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies -- the country's best known think-tank -- said on Sunday the probability of war with Syria had increased with Netanyahu's election.   Maoz said Netanyahu's position could push Damascus to try to break a diplomatic stalemate by starting a war.   Israeli Channel Two television, which gave no source for the Syria missile test report, said the Scud-C was tested several weeks ago.   An Israeli army spokeswoman said she had no knowledge about any Syrian missile tests.   A former commander of Israel's air force, Avihu Bin Nun, told Israel's army radio such missile tests were routine.   He said Israel was doing part of Syria's work for it by "making a big deal" over missiles it knew Damascus possessed.   He added Israel still had the deterrent advantage.   "They (Syrians) know we can bother them 100 times for every such launch," Bin Nun said.   On Monday, during his first visit to Israeli-occupied south Lebanon since his May election victory, Netanyahu warned that pro-Iranian Hizbollah guerrilla group raids on Israeli forces there would only worsen the conflict.   "It is not good for Syria, Lebanon or Hizbollah or Israel.   Therefore our choice is to try to reach a calming of the situation and guaranteeing security for all," Netanyahu said.   Israel says Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon where it has 35,000 troops, could curb Hizbollah guerrillas fighting to oust Israel from a 15 km (nine mile) deep south Lebanon buffer strip the Jewish state has held since 1982.   Lebanon and Syria have both publicly rejected Netanyahu's "Lebanon First" proposal -- by which Israel would withdraw from south Lebanon for the right security guarantees -- as a ploy to avoid handing the strategic Golan Heights back to Damascus.   Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war.   Netanyahu says he will not relinquish the plateau.   Israel's previous government said it was ready to make concessions on the Golan for full peace with Syria. 
451 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of beating the drums of war in the Middle East and warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would be defeated in any military confrontation with Arabs.   "Israel is no longer interested in making peace.   It has retracted from all its peace process commitments and guarantees and returned to its traditional course of escalating tension, beating the drums of war and waving flagrant threats against Syria and Lebanon," the ruling party newspaper al-Baath said.   "There is no doubt that Israel, after killing the peace process, will try to set off new wars in the region and exert pressures on Arabs who have rejected its plans," it said.   Tension between Syria and Israel escalated after the Likud leader said he would not return the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the Middle East war in 1967, adding further deadlock to the peace talks which have been staggering for over four years.   "Israel should count to 100 and even 1,000 before it gets involved in such a foolish action because the world of today is not the one of yesterday and what was allowed then cannot go with the current international order," al-Baath said.   "Defeat is the most likely possibility in any aggression Netanyahu's government might be thinking of," it added. 
452 !GCAT !GDIS  All four people in a group residence for the disabled died in an overnight fire in the Philadelphia suburb of Exton, police said Tuesday.   The dead included a female counsellor in her 20s and three elderly male residents, two of whom needed wheelchairs.   They were found in the one-story house after firemen extinguished the fierce flames.   A neighbour alerted by his barking dog sounded the alarm at 2:20 a.m.   "The fire was so heavy when we arrived we couldn't make entry," Fire Chief William Miller said.   West Whiteland Township police withheld the identity of the dead while relatives were being notified. 
453 !GCAT !GDIP  The United States said on Monday it was kicking out a Cuban diplomat in retaliation for the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat from Cuba who had specialised in promoting human rights.   The State Department disclosed that Cuba revoked the visa last week of Robin Meyer, accusing her of activities "incompatible with her diplomatic status" -- diplomatic parlance for spying.   "We categorically reject that assertion and protest in the strongest terms the Cuban government's action in requiring her to leave," the department said in a statement.  .   It said Meyer, an officer in the U.S. Interests Section "with primary responsibility for human rights issues," was given until Wednesday to depart Cuba.   In what it called a reciprocal response, the department said it revoked the visa on Monday of Jose Luis Ponce Caraballo, a spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section of the Swiss embassy in Washington.   Ponce Caraballo will be required to leave the United States within a week, the department said without accusing him of any wrongdoing.   The Cuban Interests Section had no immediate comment.   The State Department said Meyer carried out her diplomatic functions under the direction of the chief of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana in full accordance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.   During two years in Cuba, Meyer openly met with representatives of human rights and independent professional groups throughout the island, "providing moral support and distributing published information," the department said.   Among the material she handed out were copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and standard college-level textbooks on government, democracy, international relations and journalism, it said.   "U.S. diplomats throughout the world engage in similar activities," the State Department said.   It said the U.S. government remained firmly committed to advancing the cause of human rights in Cuba and would continue to work "vigorously" to promote a peaceful transition to democracy there.   The United States and communist-ruled Cuba, at odds since President Fidel Castro seized power in 1959, maintain a low-level dialogue through interest sections in the Swiss embassies in each other's capitals.   Relations between the two neighbours took yet another turn for the worse in March when President Bill Clinton signed a bill that strengthened the 35-year U.S. embargo against Cuba by penalising foreigners who invest there.   That legislation, prompted by Cuba's downing of two unarmed civilian planes piloted by Cuban-Americans in late February, lets claimants in the United States sue foreign investors who "traffic" in confiscated property in Cuba. 
454 !GCAT !GCRIM  Mafia boss John Gotti, serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering, was beaten up in jail last month by a fellow prisoner, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.   The newspaper quoted unidentified federal law enforcement officials as saying the fistfight at the high-security prison in Marion, Illinois, was a racial dispute with a black prisoner.   Gotti reportedly told doctors he "fell down," the newspaper said.   "It was a racial thing -- John mouthed off to a big black guy," the Daily News quoted one official as saying.   "The next day, the black clocked him.   He beat him up pretty bad, his face was all bloody.   He needed some kind of medical help."   The extent of Gotti's injuries was not known but the Mafia boss was taken to the prison infirmary for treatment after the incident in the facility's indoor recreation area.   Gotti's lawyer Bruce Cutler denied that his client, once known as the "Dapper Don" for his flamboyant sartorial style, had been beaten in jail, and a spokesman at the Marion prison declined to comment, the newspaper said.   Authorities believe Gotti still holds the rank of Gambino family boss but his son John Jr. runs day-to-day operations.   He has lived alone in his cell since his June 1992 sentencing in New York. 
455 !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly headed toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday, dumping up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain in its path, forecasters said.   They said Dolly was expected to spin over the Yucatan and into the Gulf of Mexico where it could increase to hurricane strength.   If Dolly continued its current course and speed, it could threaten the Texas-Mexico border area near the Gulf Coast later this week.   At 7 a.m.   EDT (1100 GMT), Dolly was 100 miles (160 km) west of the tourist resort of Cozumel, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kmh).   Its exact position was latitude 19.1 north and 86.6 west and it was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (25 kmh).   A tropical storm warning was in effect from Belize north to Progreso, Mexico.   "We think Dolly will come ashore in the Yucatan around noon," said National Hurricane Centre forecaster Mike Hopkins.   "There should be some storm surge flooding along the coast, a lot of rain and pretty strong winds."   Forecasters said they were keeping a close eye on the storm in case it strengthened into a hurricane, with winds of at least 74 mph (125 kmh).   "It's definitely within a realm of possibilities once it moves back into the Gulf of Mexico, where the water is warm.   Anybody in the southern part of Texas should be paying attention to this storm," Hopkins said. 
456 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich said on Tuesday the United States should be ready to carry out military strikes against nations suspected of plotting attacks against American targets.   Calling for what he termed a "doctrine of pre-emption," Gingrich said in a speech to business leaders that potential "terrorists" should be given 24 hours to prove they were innocent or face retaliation.   He said attacks on terrorist cells could be carried out covertly by the Central Intelligence Agency or overtly by military means in the style of Israel's 1981 attack on an Iraqi nuclear power plant.   On June 7, 1981, Israel bombed a French-built nuclear plant in Iraq with American jets.   The government said it conducted the attack to prevent Iraq from making atomic bombs for use against Israel.   A French technician died in the raid.   Gingrich also said the U.S. government should take steps to protect cities with a missile defence system and beef up intelligence activities aimed at exposing terrorist groups.   "We don't wait around until after they take out the World Trade towers, with nuclear weapons next time.   We go ahead and say: We have a reason to believe you're not behaving correctly.   You should convince us in the next 24 hours that we're wrong or we will take you out," he said.   "If we would be very aggressive in saying to Libya, Syria, Iran and Sudan that we will not tolerate your supporting terrorists, we could have a big effect on the resources available to terrorists around the world."   The former history teacher added that the U.S. government should be ready to apply "whatever levels of pressure we have to" to stop nations from funding terrorist activities.   President Bill Clinton has stressed his determination to stamp out terrorism following a string of attacks against Americans in recent months.   On Aug. 5, he signed a bill to punish firms that invest in energy projects in Iran or Libya and predicted European nations would eventually support the move despite initial opposition.   A Republican-drafted anti-terrorism bill sailed through the House this month but stalled in the Senate.   The bill lacked most of the provisions sought by Clinton following the crash of TWA Flight 800 off New York last month and the pipe-bomb blast at the Atlanta Olympics. 
457 !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  White House spokesman Mike McCurry hinted on Tuesday that President Clinton will sign sweeping welfare reform legislation into law on Thursday.   Asked when the president would sign the bill, McCurry told reporters, "I expect by the end of the week but not Friday and not Wednesday."   Clinton was scheduled to sign two other major pieces of legislation this week: a bill to raise the minimum wage on Tuesday and health insurance reform on Wednesday.   He announced July 31 that he would sign the welfare bill, which would end the 61-year-old federal guarantee of aid to the poor and delegate broad power to states to design their own welfare programmes.   He said he would sign it despite its "serious flaws" because it "gives us a chance we haven't had before to break the cycle of dependency" that plagues millions of Americans.   He also promised to seek new legislation to remedy what he sees as its principal defects.   Some of his longtime supporters sharply criticised his decision, arguing that the bill would hurt children and throw hundreds of thousands into poverty.   Many analysts viewed his decision to sign it as the latest in a series of moves toward the political centre before the Nov. 5 presidential election. 
458 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Vermont on Tuesday said that its unemployment rate in July edged up one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.2 percent, the third month in a row that the gauge has risen, but the state dismissed the latest rise.   "The increase is modest, however, and fundamental labor market conditions remained unchanged," said Susan Auld, the commissioner of Vermont's Department of Employment and Training, in prepared remarks.   Out of a total labor force of 323,100 people, approximately 309,500 people were working in July.   In June, when the unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent, about 13,100 people were employed out of a total workforce of 321,900.   In July 1995, when the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, there were about 305,300 people working out of a total labor force of 319,000, the state department said.   Unemployment rates for Vermont's 13 labor markets ranged from as low as 1.7 percent in Hartford-Lebanon to as high as 6.7 percent in Newport.   These data, unlike the preceeding numbers, were not seasonally adjusted.   --Joan Gralla, 212-859-1654 
459 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Rapidly changing weather patterns now suggest warm weather will remain in the U.S. Midwest through next week, rather than be displaced by a cold system as indicated Monday, meteorologists said.   "The extended forecast changed from cold weather to continued mild," said Joel Burgio, Weather Services Corp meteorologist.   "These long-range charts have a way of flip-flopping."   However, meteorologists advised more quick map changes are likely, which could restore the cold next week in the Midwest.    Currently, scattered showers are forecast for this week, but most amounts will be 0.50 inch or less.   A few areas may receive an inch or more along the Mississippi Valley.   Tropical Storm Dolly in the Gulf of Mexico should evolve into a hurricane and push rain into the southern Midwest late Friday, said Fred Gesser, Weather Express Inc meteorologist.   For next week, Weather Services Burgio said the latest maps suggest normal to above normal temperatures for the Midwest. 
460 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Florida's unemployment rate edged up to 5.1 percent in July from 5 percent in June, the state Department of Labor and Employment Security said Tuesday.   The figures represent 359,000 jobless Floridians out of a civilian labor force of 6.99 million.   The state added 176,500 jobs over the year, a gain of 3 percent, putting the nonfarm employment total at 6.08 million.   Services saw the biggest gains over the year, 86,800 jobs for a 4.2 percent growth rate.   That growth rate has been declining since October, when it reached 7.3 percent.   Trade added 46,000 jobs over the year, with wholesale trade continuing to grow faster than retail trade.   Construction was unchanged, while manufacturing lost 3,400 jobs since last July.   All of the manufacturing losses were in nondurable goods.   The transportation, communications and public utilities sector gained 9,100 jobs or 3 percent over the year.   Finance, insurance and real estate added 8,500 jobs for a 2.2 percent yearly gain.   Government added 21,500 jobs or 2.5 percent over the year.   All of Florida's metropolitan areas had over-the-year employment increases.   The Tampa-St. Petersburg area gained the most jobs, 30,900, while Fort Lauderdale had the fastest job growth rate, 3.9 percent.   More than two-thirds of Florida's 67 counties had unemployment rates below both the state and national average in July.   Lafayette County had the lowest unemployment rate, 2.2 percent, while Hendry had the highest, 24 percent.   Nationally, the employment rate was 5.4 percent for July, up from 5.3 perent in June.   Florida's jobless rate has stayed below the national average for 15 of the last 17 months.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
461 !GCAT !GCRIM  Teenage drug abuse rose 78 percent from 1992 to 1995, according to a report to be released later Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services.   The report, cited in Tuesday's editions of USA Today, said drug use levels among adults during that time did not change.   But among teens 12 to 17 years old, drug use jumped 33 percent between 1994 and 1995 alone, the report said.   It said use of LSD and other hallucinogens among teens rose 54 percent between 1994 and 1995, while use of cocaine rose 166 percent.   In 1995, however, only 0.8 percent of teens used cocaine.   Marijuana use rose 37 percent from 1994 to 1995, the report said.   Another Department of Health and Human Services report cited in Tuesday's USA Today showed hospital emergency room visits since 1992 rose 96 percent for marijuana, 58 percent for heroine and 19 percent for cocaine. 
462 !C12 !C17 !CCAT !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Former Tampa, Fla., mayor William Poe filed suit to block a September referendum on a tax financing plan for a new Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium.   The case was filed Monday in Hillsborough County Court against county Elections Supervisor Pam Iorio.   Circuit Judge James Whittmore scheduled a hearing on Friday.   Hillsborough voters go to the polls Sept 3 to decide whether to adopt a half-cent sales tax increase that would raise $2.7 billion over 30 years for schools, roads and public safety as well as a new $168 million stadium for the Bucs.   The lawsuit seeks to have the measure thrown off the ballot on grounds that it would be unconstitutional to give tax dollars to a private company.   It said the stadium the Bucs currently use is adequate and the only reason for building a new one "is to allow the owner of the private, for-profit business already using the stadium to make a higher profit."   The suit also said the ballot language is unclear and that local governments did not followed their own regulations in rushing to put the proposal on the ballot.   Poe was Tampa's mayor from 1974 to 1979.   The stadium would be financed with revenue bonds issued by the Tampa Sports Authority, under an agreement with the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
463 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Olympic bomb suspect Richard Jewell passed a lie detector test in which he denied any involvement in the deadly July 27 attack, the Atlanta Journal- Constitution reported on Tuesday.   A polygrapher hired by the security guard's lawyers told the newspaper that the test results showed Jewell had nothing to do with the pipe bombing that left two people dead and more than 100 injured at downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.   "He didn't do it," Dick Rackleff, a former FBI agent now in private practice, said.   "There's not any doubt in my mind.   He had no knowledge about the bomb.   The tests show he absolutely was not involved."   Jewell, 33, who was hailed as a hero in the immediate aftermath of the bombing, still remains a suspect in the FBI's investigation.   He has steadfastly maintained his innocence.   While working as a security guard at an AT&T Olympic pavilion near the park, he discovered the green knapsack that contained the pipe bomb and helped police clear crowds from the area before it detonated.   In recent weeks, members of his legal team increasingly have gone public to support their client.   His criminal lawyer, Jack Martin, held a news conference near the bomb site to announce to reporters that the timing of the explosion and the bomb threat call to police ruled out any involvement by Jewell.   On Monday two civil attorneys newly hired by the security guard said they were looking into the possibility of suing the FBI, the news media and others over the way Jewell had been treated since the attack.   The polygrapher told the Journal-Constitution he spent 15 hours with Jewell on Aug. 4 and 15 while conducting the lie detector test and a pre-test interview.   Rackleff said he would stake his reputation on the findings.   "It's not a matter of choosing sides.   It's a matter of establishing facts," he said. 
464 !GCAT !GDIS  - Four people died in an overnight fire at a group residence for the disabled in Philadelphia's Chester County suburb of Exton, police said Tuesday.   The dead included a female counsellor and three elderly male residents, two of whom needed wheelchairs.   They were found inside the one-story house after firemen extinguished the fierce flames.   A neighbour alerted by his barking dog sounded the alarm at 2:20 a.m.   EDT (0620 GMT).   West Whiteland Township police withheld the identity of the dead while relatives were being notified. 
465 !GCAT  Sprint Corp is expected to enter the race to make the Internet as widespread for customers as the telephone, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.   The telecommunications giant, which has 15 million customers and nearly $13 billion in annual revenue, plans to announce on Tuesday a new Internet-access service aimed at consumers, a Sprint executive said.   Although Sprint has been operating a major portion of the Internet since 1992 to serve businesses, the Kansas City, Mo., company has yet to target residential customers, a move that many industry watchers have been waiting for.   The newspaper also reported:   * Commonwealth Aluminum Corp will buy CasTech Aluminum Group Inc for $272.7 million.   * Chrysler Corp and Detroit Diesel Corp will announce plans on Tuesday to open an assembly plant in Brazil.   * U.S. economists are warming up to the idea of an economic slowdown in the second half of 1996.   * AT&T Corp president Alex Mandl resigns to head tiny start-up company, Associated Communications Corp.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.99 points to 5,699.44.   The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.74 points to 1,130.91.   * Department of Agriculture says farm cooperatives earned a record $2.4 billion in 1995.   * PepsiCo Inc launched a legal challenge in Venezuela to void the joint venture by Coca-Cola Co and the Cisneros Group, Pepsi's long-time bottler in Venezuela.   * Russian President Boris Yeltsin signs measures aimed at boosting revenues and slashing some of his most lavish campaign spending promises.   * A Sanyo Electric Co executive kidnapped in Mexico has been released.   There was no word about whether a ransom was paid.   * Germany's Mercedes-Benz AG and Porsche AG are in talks to make a sport-utility vehicle.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
466 !GCAT !GENV !GPOL !GVOTE  Consumer rights crusader Ralph Nader was nominated on Monday as the Green Party's presidential candidate.   The nomination highlighted a Green Party conference, titled "Building Critical Mass -- Green Gather '96," held at the University of California at Los Angeles.   Nader is a potent consumer advocate who came to prominence 30 years ago for attacking automobile safety standards.   He runs the Washington D.C.-based Centre for the Study of Responsive Law.   Around 400 audience members cheered "Go Ralph Go" and waved "Nader '96" placards at a campus auditorium, where Nader gave his acceptance speech.   It came after an afternoon meeting in which Green Party representatives from 30 states formally nominated him.   "He's currently on 12 (state) ballots and we expect to have him on 30," said Michael Feinstein, a Green Party spokesman.   He expects another 15 states to make Nader a write-in candidate for the Nov. 5 election.   "All but four states have a write-in process," he said.   Nader's previous bid for the presidency came in 1992, when he ran as an Independent in the New Hampshire primary.   "The pressure to exploit the consumers and workers continues," Nader said.   He urged greater consumer control of utilities, health insurance and television programming.   "We're the landlords of the public airwaves," he said, denouncing television as an "electronic molester."   He repeatedly criticised large corporations for weakening democracy and degrading the national culture.   "In the last twenty we have had an extraordinary concentration of power and wealth in fewer and fewer global corporations," Nader said.   In the political arena, he called for 12-year term limits and publicly funded elections.   Responding to criticism that he was stealing the Democratic Party's votes, he said "We're sick of being told we have to chose between the bad and the worse." 
467 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole got a boost from his party's convention and has sliced into President Bill Clinton's still-solid lead, a New York Times/CBS News poll reported on Tuesday.   But the survey showed that many voters still are sceptical about Dole's tax-cut proposal and are split in their opinion about the former Kansas senator himself.   The poll showed 50 percent of registered voters surveyed would support Clinton, a Democrat, and Vice President Al Gore if the election were held today, while 39 percent backed Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp.   The 11-point gap represents a gain of 5 percentage points for Dole and a loss of 6 for Clinton compared with a Times/CBS News poll taken shortly before last week's Republican Party convention.   A separate CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll put Dole's lead at 7 points, with Clinton ahead 48 percent to Dole's 41 percent.   The poll said Dole picked up 11 points since the Republican convention, largely due to the selection of Jack Kemp as his running mate.   In a three-way race, 49 percent of voters in the Times/CBS poll said they would back Clinton, 37 percent would support Dole and 8 percent said they would vote for Ross Perot, the billionaire candidate of the Reform Party.   On Dole's proposal for a 15 percent tax cut along with a balanced budget, 32 percent of those surveyed said they thought taxes would go up if he were elected in November.   Twenty-four percent said taxes would decrease and 40 percent said they would stay the same.   Sixty-three percent of respondents said Dole had not explained his economic plan enough versus 27 percent who said he had.   Twenty-nine percent of voters had a favourable opinion of Dole and 32 percent did not.   Fifty-four percent said he had made it clear what he wanted to do as president, and 40 percent said he had not.   The poll of 1,138 adults was conducted Friday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.   The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll was based on interviews with 1,006 registered voters from Friday through Sunday and also had a margin of error of 3 percentage points . 
468 !GCAT !GPOL  CIA Director John Deutch said in a letter published on Tuesday that he had no plans to step down as top U.S. spymaster, contrary to published speculation.   In a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Deutch took the paper to task for a front-page report last week that quoted him as having told friends he planned to leave at year's end.   "First, I am not leaving," Deutch, who took over as intelligence chief in May 1995, wrote.   "I have no plans to leave.   I repeated the same message to the White House the day the article appeared."   "I will confess that I am now on vacation, but I shall return," he said.   He added that he wanted to do all he could to make sure that the U.S. spy bureaucray remains "the best in the world."   The Post had quoted one person identified as a Deutch friend as saying Deutch, a former deputy defence secretary, hoped to succeed William Perry as defence secretary if President Bill Clinton were re-elected to a second term.   Deutch replaced James Woolsey, Clinton's first intelligence chief.   Woolsey quit in December 1994 after running into problems with Congress over his handling of the Aldrich Ames spy case, the worst known security breach in CIA history. 
469 !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  California's state Senate passed a resolution Monday urging President Clinton and the Congress to reimburse the state for expenses it incurred during the Civil War.   Republican Assemblyman Mickey Conroy's resolution moved with little fanfare through the state Legislature.   It was approved late Monday by the Senate by a vote of 32-to-1.   It was backed earlier this year in the state Assembly.   The resolution "memorializes" Clinton and Congress to enact legislation that would finally repay the long-forgotten Civil War debt, now estimated to be worth $82 million.   Conroy maintains the Civil War debt represents the first unfunded mandate imposed on California by Washington.   In the early 1860s, the Congress and the administration of President Abraham Lincoln solicited financial support from the states -- California in particular -- with promises of repayment.   In 1863, California sold $668,570.86 in bonds to raise and maintain troops who joined the Union cause in the Civil War.   By 1865, California had raised a state militia of more than 13,000 men and enlisted nearly 16,000 who were mustered into Union service as California volunteers.   In the years after the war, the federal government reimbursed 25 states for their expenses.   But California's debt remained unrecognized due to bureaucratic rules in Washington.   For decades following the Civil War, California officials demanded the money from Washington.   But when the last court case involving the bonds closed in 1954, the issue faded.   The debate was revived in 1963, when then-state Attorney General Stanley Mosk called on the Senate to make good on the debt.   Five years later, California Gov. Ronald Reagan took up the war bond banner in his skirmishes with Washington.   But even Reagan would fail to secure repayment.   After Reagan, the issue was largely forgotten until 1995, when Rick Stevenson, a former president of the Sacramento, California, Historical Society and a Civil War expert, convinced Assemblyman Conroy to take up the cause.   According to Conroy's resolution, the state today could claim more than $81.7 million from the federal government, a figure that includes compounded interest over the years.   "Historical evidence strongly suggests the federal government should have fully reimbursed the state for these bonds more than 100 years ago," a 1995 report by the state Assembly Office of Research concluded.   If the federal government repays the obligation, state officials said the money would be used to establish a military museum dedicated to California's veterans, including those of the Civil War.   Stevenson hailed the Senate vote on the resolution.   "But the battle is not over," he said.   "The battle's not over until we get the money." 
470 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following business stories on Tuesday:   * AT&T Corp president Alex Mandl resigns to head tiny start-up company, Associated Communications Corp.   * Mexican economy grew 7.2 percent last quarter in a sign of revival.   * The new Nasdaq stock market, recovering from a price-fixing scandal, is likely to be very different from what it had been.   * Levi Strauss & Co and other apparel makers are moving to meet men's changing tastes.   * Sun International Hotels Ltd agrees to buy television celebrity Merv Griffin's Griffin Gaming & Entertainment Inc for $210 million in stock.   * Manufactured Home Communities Inc offers to buy rival Chateau Properties Inc for $387.3 million in cash.   The offer is an attempt to derail Chateau's plans to buy ROC Communities Inc.   * SmithKline Beecham Plc will pay $1.0 million a year to the American Cancer Society and put the society's name on SmithKline's Nicoderm smoking cessation patches.   * Japanese companies are now producing machines the size of a grain of rice.   * If elected president, Bob Dole would face a tough task in balancing the budget while cutting taxes.   * New York state officials have approved the merger of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co and the New England Mutual Life Insurance Co.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 9.99 points to 5,699.44.   The Nasdaq composite index fell 2.74 points to 1,130.91.   * Harrah's Entertainment Inc shares tumble up to 14 percent after an analyst cuts his rating.   * Toys R Us Inc. second-quarter earnings fall.   * A money manager is challenging Wallace Computer Services Inc's takeover defense.   * People are fighting over the use of blues singer B.B. King's name for nightclubs.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
471 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following business stories on August 20:   ---   WASHINGTON - Alex Mandl, viewed as next in line to become chairman of AT&T, is leaving to head a start-up firm.   ---   WASHINGTON - The ads are everywhere, but the back-to-school season isn't what it used to be for the nation's retailers.   ---   WASHINGTON - A retiree's suit against his D.C. law firm reflects a generational pension tension among attorneys.   ---   WASHINGTON - IDT Corp, a New Jersey Internet services provider, bought Genie, the atrophied on-line service created by General Electric Co.   ---   WASHINGTON - Maryland is about to get a missing link in its biotechnology business - a factory built by Medimmune Inc. 
472 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following stories on its front page on August 20:   ---   WASHINGTON - FBI plans to nearly double its presence overseas during the next four years, opening offices in 23 foreign cities.   ---   WASHINGTON - "Dole Inc.": select donors have long bankrolled longtime Senate power Bob Dole, now the Republican presidential nominee.   ---   LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker received a four-year suspended sentence on Whitewater-related charges.   ---   WASHINGTON - Billionaire Ross Perot, changing his tune on using federal funds to finance his third party presidential campaign, is eligible for nearly $30 million in public funds.   ---   WASHINGTON - Prince George County, Maryland, prisoner found toed to pole in neighboring Montgomery County. 
473 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  The fourth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season formed in the northwest Caribbean on Monday and seemed likely to continue strengthening as it headed toward the Yucatan peninsula, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre said.   At 11 p.m.   EDT (0300 GMT), the centre of Tropical Storm Dolly was near latitude 18.7 north, longitude 85.0 west, about 175 miles (280 km) southeast of Cozumel, Mexico, and was moving west-northwest near 14 mph (23 kmh).   Maximum sustained winds were near 50 mph (80 kmh) and further strengthening was likely, forecasters said.   A tropical storm warning, alerting residents to imminent storm conditions, was posted for parts of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the northern coast of Belize.   A tropical storm watch was in effect for far-western Cuba, including the Isle of Youth.   Forecasters said Dolly's expected track would take it onshore in the warning area on Tuesday.   The storm was likely to move toward Mexico's border with Texas later this week, forecasters said.   Rainfall totals of five to 10 inches (12.5-25 cm) were expected along the depression's path.   Tropical storms become hurricanes when winds reach 74 mph (119 kmh). 
474 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following stories on its front page on Tuesday:   * Poll shows Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole slicing into President Bill Clinton's lead.   * Interest groups are heavily involved in congressional races.   * New, tougher criminal sentencing policies raise issues of fairness to women.   * AT&T Corp's stock plummets after president resigns.   * Balkan economies stagnate in grip of political leaders.   * China's ambitious President Jiang Zemin wants Mao's title - chairman of the Communist Party.   * Delay in sentencing James McDougal, a former partner of President Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton in the Whitewater real estate deal, could signal a thaw in the case.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
475 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Two politically moderate millionaires from Massachusetts battling for a U.S. Senate seat Monday night debated a range of issues that always seemed to come back to children.   Massachusetts Republican Gov. William Weld, who is challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. John Kerry, has named welfare, taxes and crime as his big three issues, and took some heat for not naming education, which is the second largest industry in the state.   Weld defended himself saying, "We are spending $1.2 billion a year more on K(indergarten) through 12(th grade) education than we did in fiscal '92.   That's the biggest shift in budget priorities we've made."   But Kerry noted a recent General Accounting Office study found 92 percent of the schools in Massachusetts "are in disrepair ... Education is the single most important thing we need to do in America.   The Republicans are cutting Head Start.   The Republicans are cutting safe and drug-free schools."   No matter the question, whether it was about personal sacrifice to the possible legalisation of assisted suicide, Kerry was able to turn it around to children.   When asked about any personal sacrifice he had made in his career, Kerry replied: "I would not say that being in public life is a sacrifice...there are things that you pay as a price and that is what happens to our children."   He said being in Washington so much kept him from seeing them and being there for them.   When asked about legalising assisted suicide, he said: "What I'd rather see us spending more time on ... is not how we're going to help people die, but how we're going to help people live beginning with children.   And the fact is we have got an awful lot of kids who are increasingly in poverty." 
476 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  State officials said Alaska has tightened air pollution controls on Ketchikan Pulp Co., a major logging firm that has been under scrutiny in recent years for its air and water pollution practices.   Officials said the firm was granted a new air-quality permit based on a recent decree that mandates reductions in sulphur dioxide emissions and controls of several other air pollutants.   The new permit, issued by state environmental authorities, was filed on Friday.   Ketchikan Pulp, owned by Louisiana-Pacific Corp., operates a dissolving-pulp mill in Ketchikan, Alaska, and sawmills in the area.   It is the biggest timber operator in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest. 
477 !GCAT !GENT  For someone who went from carrying camera packs as an assistant on "Entertainment Tonight" to turning a $25,000 first film into a $10 million hit, Edward Burns is a remarkably laid-back guy.   Handsome in an old-fashioned movie star way, with his hair slicked back, Burns, 28, may be among the brightest writer-director-actors in movies today but his feet are still on the ground.   As evidence, consider the second film, opening this month, from the man who made 1995 Sundance Film Festival winner "The Brothers McMullen."   For the Queens, New York, native who has been dubbed "an Irish Woody Allen," "She's the One" is a return to what Burns knows best, another tale of Irish-Catholic brothers and the women who drive them crazy.   Burns cites writer Saul Bellow as support for his interest in Irish-American guys like himself.   "Bellow once said he was constantly writing the same book, again and again, trying to get it right.   Basically I like to start with characters and just document the world I see: How these people look, what and how they think.   I want to do that as honestly as I can."   Burns' $3.5 million budget is about 14 times as much as he spent on his first movie, but he recruited "McMullen" veterans Maxine Bahns and Mike McGlone, along with himself, to star with small screen regulars Jennifer Aniston ("Friends"), Cameron Diaz ("The Mask") and John Mahoney ("Frasier").   "You can't compare the two, this is better on every level.   Me, Mike and Max have all jumped up," Burns said of his films, sitting in a Washington hotel room during a press weekend.   Bahns, 25, has been his lover for seven years.   Like the woman she plays in "She's the One," she was a graduate student with no interest in acting until she was cast in "Brothers McMullen."   Since she's REALLY the one, on screen and in real life, why not make it legal?   "She's not interested in marriage.   I beg, I plead," Burns said with a smile.   "We're not going anywhere, there's no hurry.   And," he added, sounding much like one of his screen characters, "I'm afraid of the legal document -- a house has to follow and a kid.   I need a couple of more kids?   I'm still a kid."   Since "McMullen" was an American hit, it has been shown around the world.   "We did $7 in Turkey but the fact it was released in Turkey blows my mind," Burns said.   He and his girlfriend have moved from "an apartment the size of a closet" into a Greenwich Village building with a doorman and they no longer eat peanut butter three nights a week.   Fame has also meant a trip to Ireland for Guinness beer.   "I was a judge in a 'Win a Pub' contest," Burns explained.   But success primarily means Burns has the opportunity to make the kind of movies he wants -- without interference.   He credits Robert Redford, father of the Sundance Film Festival and his executive producer, with helping on that score.   "At Sundance, when we won the Grand Jury prize, Redford told me, 'You're entering a really strange place and Hollywood is a weird town.   If you ever have a question, give me a call.   If I can help you I will,'" Burns said.   "I sent him the draft of 'She's the One' and he liked it enough to get involved -- he got involved in casting and we did a read-through on the script for the rhythm of the piece.   And all during post-production he looked at every cut.   If I disagreed with anything, he said, 'It's your film.'   "I had full creative control, including final cut," Burns added.   "I never heard from the studio until we showed the final film and they said, 'Let's go.'"   Next spring, for his third picture, Burns is planning to change direction slightly and do a comedy-drama without Max or Mike.   "I only know I'll be in it," he said, meaning it will still be an Eddie Burns movie. 
478 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  House Majority Whip Tom DeLay Monday predicted a Republican sweep in November's election and an expansion of the "Republican Revolution" that resulted in the party's 1994 takeover of Congress.   "Worst case scenario, we'll pick up 10 seats and probably pick up 20 seats," DeLay told an afternoon news conference.   "If Bob Dole is elected president, with a nice margin, we could pick up 30 seats from the West and from the South."   The Texas congressman, in Anchorage to campaign for Rep. Don Young, chairman of the House Resources Committee, cited previous Republican come-from-behind victories.   "I remind people that in 1992 we were behind 14 points and we gained 10 seats.   In 1994 we were behind 10 points and we took the House of Representatives and the Senate.   Now we're at dead even, so we're in great shape," he said.   He also promised a second version of the Republicans' 1994 "Contract With America."   "We're going to come back to the American people and remind them that Contract Number Two will include those things that this president vetoed in Number One, and hopefully they get a president who will sign them," he said.   Delay, who once in a floor speech referred to the Environmental Protection Agency as the "Gestapo," defended the Republicans' environmental record against recent attacks.   "The environmentalists issue is the most indicative issue of how commercials are being bought lying about what we did," he said.   The majority whip said Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole was committed to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling, a project cherished by Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation.   Young, Alaska's at-large House member, condemned President Clinton for blocking oil development in the wildlife refuge.   "This president, with Al Gore, is not ever going to open ANWR, and that's why we have to get rid of them," Young said.   The oil industry has said the wildlife refuge could contain an oil bonanza, but environmentalists have said the area was too fragile for industrial development. 
479 !GCAT !GPRO  Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy have reluctantly listed their southern California ranch -- known during his presidency as the Western White House -- for sale, an aide said on Monday.   "Sadly, since President Reagan's illness, it hasn't been used," Reagan's spokeswoman, Joanne Drake, said in a brief statement.   Reagan announced in 1994 that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and he and his wife have lived solely in their Los Angeles mansion since then.   Drake said the sale of the Reagans' sprawling ranch near Santa Barbara was being handled by Sotheby International Realty's office in Newport Beach, California.   Sotheby spokesman Zachary Wright said the ranch would be listed in all Sotheby International's offices worldwide.   Wright said he was "not at liberty" to say how much the Reagans were asking for the 688-acre (278-hectare) property, which is called Ranch del Cielo.   A neighbouring 1,400-acre (566-hectare) ranch was sold at auction for $2.5 million in 1988.   The ranch became a part of history when Reagan designated it the "Western White House" in 1981 shortly after taking office.   During the eight years of his presidency he visited the ranch often, once telling a local reporter, "When you get out there, the world is gone."   Reagan prized the privacy that the ranch, set in the rugged Santa Ynez mountains 30 miles (48 km) from Santa Barbara, afforded him.   During the Reagans' visits during his presidency, he ordered that only essential staff stay on the ranch.   Generally the only others present were Secret Service agents, the White House physician and the military officer carrying the communications equipment always close at hand in case of nuclear war.   Other aides and the press contingent that followed the president stayed in Santa Barbara.   Reagan would spend time horseback riding the trails on the property that offered spectacular views of the Pacific coastline and the Santa Ynez Valley.   He also exercised by chain-sawing fallen oak branches and using a hydraulic device to split logs.   The Reagans shared the ranch with a variety of domestic and wild animals, including deer, ducks, rabbits, dogs and cats, as well as the occasional mountain lion. 
480 !E14 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Annual wage increases in Canadian collective bargaining agreements reached in June averaged 0.5 percent, down from 0.8 percent in May, the Department of Human Resources Development said on Tuesday.    Agreements/employees Pct change   Public sector  31/145,106 +0.4   Private sector  17/ 14,882 +1.3   Annual wage increases in collective bargaining agreements reached in the first half of 1996 averaged 0.6 percent, down from 0.9 percent in the first half of 1995.    Agreements/employees Pct change   Public sector  116/386,198 +0.5   Private sector  74/ 87,821 +1.4   A Reuters survey of economists had forecast a 0.9 percent increase in wage settlements in June.   Wage increases are the average annual percentage increase in base rates -- the wage rate of the lowest paid classification in a bargaining unit -- over the term of the agreement in settlements negotiated during the period shown.   (For more information on the settlements, contact Human Resources Development's Workplace Information Directorate, at 1-800-567-6866 or 819-997-3117.)   -- Reuters Ottawa Bureau (613) 235-6745 
481 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Inco Ltd and Diamond Fields Resources Inc said on Tuesday a court approved a settlement deal reached with the plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuit filed on May 14 and that the court has entered a judgment and order dismissing that lawsuit.   Inco and Diamond Fields said they expect to close Inco's C$4.3 billion acquisition of Diamond Fields on August 21.   -- Reuters Toronto Bureau (416) 941-8100 
482 !GCAT  The following are top headlines from selected Canadian newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE GLOBE AND MAIL:   - Ontario, Alberta take aim at Ottawa: In informal alliance, provinces will push for decentralization of social policy, other shifts in power.   Indications of an informal alliance between Ontario's Harris government and Alberta's Klein government are the talk of the country's premiers as they gather for their annual meeting.   - Quebec cement firms socked: C$5.8-million fine over price-fixing.   A Quebec Superior Court judge has slapped a C$5.8 million fine on four cement companies, including three of the industry's largest players, for conspiring to fix prices in the Quebec City area.   - Changing system, loss of status angers doctors: Government regulation of profession at heart of dispute threatening strike.   - Canadian Health Minister David Dingwall rejects privatizing medicine: Ottawa stresses one tier of health care as Canadian Medical Association faces vote on extra charges.   - Monarchy ponders overhaul: Self-financing, 'streamlined' Royal Family being considered.   Report on Business Section:   - Bombardier Inc snags crucial deal: US$320-million Canadair contract keeps order book full, avoids production cutbacks.   - Electric cars fuel utility headache: Recent tests by General Motors in Vancouver highlight that insufficient power supplies is just one of the potential problems -- and costs -- of the rechargeable vehicles.   - Acco World Corp woos Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd; Board recommends acceptance of C$8.9-million cash offer.   - Battle over local phone service begins: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission setting rules for competition.   THE FINANCIAL POST:   - Talks aim to save Telsat deal: A new U.S.-Mexico satellite-TV agreement is the model as Ottawa and Washington try to hammer out a pact that would allow Telesat to point its signals at the U.S. market.   - Clearly Canadian Beverages Corp fails to bottle up Sun-Rype Products Ltd.   -- Reuters Toronto Bureau 416 941-8100 
483 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  Alaska has granted a new air-quality permit to Louisiana-Pacific Corp's Ketchikan Pulp Co, based on a consent decree that mandates reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions and controls of several other air pollutants, state officials said.   The permit, issued by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, includes "the most comprehensive compliance monitoring that DEC has ever required of an Alaskan company," John Stone, the agency's chief of air-quality maintenance, said in statement issued on Monday.   Ketchikan Pulp operates a dissolving-pulp mill in Ketchikan and sawmills in the area.   It is the dominant timber operator in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest.   The consent decree was filed last Friday, DEC officials said.   In addition to the new air-quality permit, the DEC proposed establishing a public communications forum to address community complaints about pollution from the mill.   The program is modeled after panels used to review and manage oil spills and other such accidents, DEC said. 
484 !GCAT !GCRIM  The hunt for two kidnapped young girls in Belgium's deadly child sex scandal went international on Tuesday with police in several nations being drawn into the expanding search.   "We are at the moment establishing contact with police in other countries via the services of Interpol," Major Jean-Marie Boudin, spokesman for the Belgian Gendarmerie's special missing children squad, told Reuters.   "This process began today."   He declined to specify which countries had been contacted.   The media spotlight has been on the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.   "The investigation is evolving.   We are making the first contacts now.   There are no results yet," Boudin said.   He confirmed that the prime focus of the investigation was on finding An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, abducted from Ostend in August 1995 by convicted child rapist, 39-year-old father of three Marc Dutroux.   But Boudin said the search included Nathalie Geijsbregts who was 10 years old when she disappeared from the town of Berthem in February 1991.   "We are looking at all the dossiers connected with this affair, An and Eefje and Nathalie as well as a number of others," he said.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have so far been rescued.   British police said their Belgian counterparts had asked for the help of John Bennett, the officer who dealt with the unmasking of Fred and Rosemary West in Britain's "House of Horrors" mass murder investigation.   Dutroux was formally charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children after police raided a house he owned in Charleroi and rescued Laetitia Delhez and Sabine Dardenne from a makeshift concrete dungeon.   Both girls had been sexually abused.   Michel Lelievre was charged with same offence.   Michelle Martin, Dutroux' second wife, has been charged as an accomplice.   Jean-Michel Nihoul was charged on Tuesday with criminal association.   Dutroux led police on Saturday to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo -- kidnapped in June 1995 and starved to death in late February or early March.   Dutroux denied responsibility for the deaths on the grounds that at the time he was serving four months in jail for theft.   But he did admit having paid Lelievre and another accomplice, Bernard Weinstein, 40,000 francs ($1,300) for the girls.   He also admitted killing Weinstein for letting the girls die.   His body was found with the girls.   Dutroux, released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for multiple rape and child abuse, also told police he had abducted Marchal and Lambrecks.   Their fate remains unknown, but there has been speculation they were sold into prostitution in the Czech Republic.   Interpol in Prague said there was no trace of the girls on Czech soil.   Child rights lawyer Michele Hirsch told Reuters the Belgian case was symptomatic of a global sickness.   "Whether you talk about paedophilia, prostitution, pornography or the traffic in human organs, people are increasingly being treated as a primary resource," she said.   "It is a a global problem." 
485 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Belgian court formally charged a fourth person on Tuesday in a major child sex scandal in which two eight-year-old girls have died and at least four others were abducted.   Officials said the court decided to keep Brussels businessman Jean-Michel Nihoul, detained on charges of criminal association, in jail.   Convicted paedophile Marc Dutroux and associate Michel Lelievre were formally charged last Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment after police rescued two young girls from a house owned by Dutroux in the southern town of Charleroi.   Dutroux led police on Saturday to the buried bodies of Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo who died of starvation early this year after being kidnapped in June 1995.   Dutroux's wife Michelle Martin was charged on Monday with being an accomplice in the abduction and imprisonment of children.   Nihoul's lawyer, Clement de Clety, earlier told reporters that Nihoul knew Lelievre and Dutroux.   "(Nihoul) just gave (them) his car for two or three days to repair it and to pass it on to the technical control authorities.   These are the only concrete points in the file, nothing more," de Clety said.   Belgian media said earlier on Tuesday that the Dutch boyfriend of Nihoul's ex-wife had also been arrested, but court sources said the charges against him had been dropped and that he had only been questioned. 
486 !GCAT !GVIO  A senior Corsican politician, fresh from escaping a bomb attack, said on Tuesday the French Mediterranean island was headed for a new flare-up of separatist violence which could spread to the mainland.   "I fear that we are heading away from a peace process towards violence in Corsica as well as on the mainland," former French industry minister Jose Rossi said hours after police defused a bomb on his doorstep.   The device was defused on Monday night outside his Ajaccio flat after an anonymous telephone warning.   Police said Rossi, who heads the elected council of southern Corsica, had been scheduled to spend the night at his flat, which is occupied by his daughter and son-in-law.   Hours after the attack, the first direct one against Rossi, a powerful bomb damaged the office of the central government representative in Sartene early on Tuesday, wrecking his car.   It was the fifth bombing of a public building on the island in just over a week.   No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Corsican separatists seeking greater autonomy from mainland France regularly target government buildings in a guerrilla campaign that has been going on for two decades.   The justice ministry said last week that violence would not "diminish its determination to seek out and and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts".   Rossi said the flare-up of violence may stem from confusion after secret talks reported between the government and a separatist movement.   "There must be no doublespeak which lets nationalists hope for things that we cannot give them...Nationalists also must say clearly what they want," he told France 2 television.   Prime Minister Alain Juppe, visiting the island last month, announced a policy of economic aid twinned with new-found toughness to restore law and order after judges on the island complained the state was too lax on guerrilla violence. 
487 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  A hunger strike by African immigrants fighting expulsion orders divided France's ruling coalition on Tuesday, with some senior politicians calling on the government to compromise.   Gilles de Robien of the centre-right UDF, junior coalition partner, met representatives of the 300 protesters, 10 of whom have been fasting for 47 days, and suggested negotiations with the government and deputies of all parties.   "These people want a dialogue which has been interrupted.   They want a moratorium (on the expulsion orders) while talks take place," de Robien, UDF floor leader at the National Assembly, told a news conference.   "I'm going to pass on messages to the government.   It's up to the government to listen or not," he added, insisting that his initiative was a personal one and not a mediation attempt.   The protesters, who include more than 100 children, are holed up in a Paris church surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers bent on preventing police from seizing them.   Abubakar Diop, the immigrants' spokesman, said he hoped a solution would soon be found but gave no indication when the fast might end.   "Each side wants to come out of this with dignity.   We have to start talking again," he said.   There was little sign the government, with an eye on voters of the far-right and anti-immigrant National Front, would be mollified by the increasingly political turn to the protest.   De Robien's party was itself divided, with Urban Affairs Minister Jean-Claude Gaudin urging firmness.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre has repeatedly rejected any compromise and only offered to discuss repatriation terms.   The daily Le Parisien said this could be an offer of money.   Left-wing party leaders, trade unions and human rights groups kept up the pressure with a petition urging President Jacques Chirac, who is on holiday on the Riviera, to intervene and launch talks to avert "the risk of a human tragedy".   Signatories included Socialist Lionel Jospin, Communist Robert Hue, Louis Viannet, head of the pro-Communist CGT union, and Fode Sylla of the SOS Racism association.   At the Saint-Bernard church in the heavily-immigrant Goutte d'Or neighbourhood, hundreds of supporters formed a human barricade around the clock to prevent a possible police raid.   "The government is in a terrible bind.   The protesters have too much support for the police to intervene," said Dominique Noguere, lawyer for the Human Rights League and some immigrants.   The protest by mostly Malian immigrants, including 110 children, has made newspaper headlines but does not appear to have rallied widespread support.   A demonstration in the port of Marseille gathered only about 50 people on Monday.   Another march was planned in Paris on Wednesday.   Diop said the fasters were extremely weak.   "At one point we asked them to stop their hunger strike because a little piece of paper is not worth dying for.   But they have refused," he said.   Lawyers say the immigrants' status is a legal tangle ranging from some people who are entitled to stay, to others who can be expelled outright, and others whose situation has become unclear following controversial 1993 laws to curb immigration. 
488 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Latest European Union data show grain export commitments between July 1 and August 6 of the new 1996/97 (July/June) campaign were sharply below year-ago levels, member country officials said on Tuesday.   The figures, based on delivered export certificates, showed grain sales plunged to 1.432 million tonnes from 4.206 million.   Commercial wheat exports, which are still subject to an export tax, fell to 183,000 tonnes from 1.919 million tonnes, but heavy export commitments to China had inflated wheat export figures at the start of the previous 1995/96 campaign.    Flour export commitments, however, reached 804,000 tonnes against 743,000 tonnes during the same period last year.   Commercial barley exports stood at 205,000 tonnes against 632,000 tonnes.   Since August 6, the EU has granted 94,250 tonnes of soft wheat, 3,675 tonnes of barley and 2,500 tonnes of oats through its weekly grain tender system.   --Paris newsroom +331 4221 5432 
489 !GCAT !GDIS  A helicopter carrying four people crashed into the IJsselmeer lake in the northern Netherlands on Tuesday, Dutch television reported.   First reports did not identify the type of helicopter or its operators but said one person was seriously injured.   The helicopter crashed between the villages of Ketelhaven and Schokkerhaven, on the eastern side of the IJsselmeer.   The Dutch aviation authority and air traffic control authorities at Amsterdam's international Schiphol airport could not immediately confirm the crash.   Rescue teams were on the way to look for the missing passengers, Dutch television reported. 
490 !C21 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G153 !G158 !GCAT  Farm reforms on both sides of the Atlantic are expected to boost production for export and sharpen rivalry between the United States and the European Union, the two main agricultural superpowers, analysts say.   U.S. grain and other farm exports are set to expand under a new seven-year "Freedom to Farm" Act which effectively removed production curbs.   American farmers are likely to plant more wheat and maize which will end up on export markets, according to EU officials.   For its part the EU is preparing reforms involving further cuts in its price support mechanism to prevent costs spiralling after it expands eastwards and takes in large numbers of low-cost farmers from 10 former communist countries.   The reforms, aimed at making EU farmers cope with world price levels, would allow a major growth in exports since, under international trade rules, there are no limits on unsubsidised exports of grain and other agricultural products.   But Brussels would still top up European farmers' incomes through direct payments independent of what they produce.   "(EU) farmers could be receiving world market prices for what they sell and then get a side package of compensatory payments," said U.S. agricultural attache George Pope.   In an interview on Monday, Pope said that the big battle in the next round of European farm reform was likely to be over the level of compensatory payments for cuts in support prices.   Under the Farm Act signed by President Bill Clinton in April, U.S. farmers also receive fixed aid payments independent of market prices with an extra safety net of a loan rate system.   But the major change is that American farmers no longer have to set aside farmland annually and can choose what crops, except for fruit and vegetables, to grow.   However, the EU, anxious to prevent mountains of unwanted grain reappearing as farmers cash in on record world prices, has maintained a compulsory, annual set-aside but at a lower rate.   We want to keep some control of output, said an EU official.   Most EU farmers will have to set aside five percent of their farmland in 1997, compared with 15 percent when the scheme was introduced in 1993 and public stocks stood at 33 million tonnes.   Pope said around 35 million acres (14 million hectares) of U.S. farmland continued to be set aside under a long-term Conservation Reserve Programme.   U.S. Agricultural Secretary Dan Glickman was surprised that more farmers had not moved out of the long-term programme to take advantage of the new production opportunities, Pope said.   However, the new act was only signed late in the marketing year and farmers may opt out next year, he said.   European farmers have attacked the Farm Act, saying it aimed to increase American dominance of world grain and other agricultural markets.   But Pope said U.S. farm exports would be rising in expanding world markets. 
491 !C11 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Swedish defence and technology group Celsius's Kockums units said on Tuesday that it is to concentrate all its military production in Karlskrona in southern Sweden.   Kockums said in a statement that the restructuring would involve cutting its workforce by 600, leaving a total of about 1,300 people still within Kockums.   Under the restructuring Kockum's production and maintenance of submarines and ships will be carried out at the one location.   "This decision has been made because of a defence decision and to adjust for the future," the company said in a statement.   However the submarine design division in Malmo will be organised as a separate division within Kockums AB while the Kockums Submarines Systems division will be phased out.   Celsius spokesman Lennart Jonsson told Reuters that Kockums has already reserved 600 million crowns for the restructure.   The changes will be carried out over a two year period.   -- Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1017 
492 !GCAT !GCRIM  The family of Marc Dutroux, main suspect in a Belgian child sex scandal, said on Tuesday they had begged the authorities to keep him in prison longer after his 1989 convictions for rape.   "It was known that he was a sick man," sister Valerie Dutroux told Belgium's VTM television.   "To me he is no longer human.   I was scared to death by him."   She said their parents had opposed Marc's early release and had "begged" authorities to keep him in jail.   Dutroux's mother Jeanine told De Morgen newspaper: "Just like the parents of Julie and Melissa, I cannot understand how they could have released him after what became clear in 1989."   Dutroux, a 39-year-old father of three, led police to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, who had died of starvation early this year after being kidnapped in June 1995.   He has been charged with kidnapping Laetitia Delhez, 14, and Sabine Dardenne, 12, has admitted abducting An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks and is suspected of involvement in several other disappearances.   There was a national outcry when it was revealed that Dutroux was a convicted child sex offender who had been released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year jail sentence.   Valerie, who has a three-year-old son, said she had chosen a school surrounded by walls to help protect her own child.   Marc Dutroux, described by neighbours as a bizarre but quiet man with few friends, was the oldest of five children but considered the black sheep of the family.   The family moved to the Belgian Congo in 1956, shortly after Marc's birth, but returned in 1960.   His parents, both teachers, divorced soon after.   He was described as a problem child who had to change schools at least four times.   "Marc always had a problem with authority.   He always had to be right and it was best not to contradict him," his mother said.   He was repeatedly caught red-handed by police for minor crime like breaking into cars but still managed to obtain a qualification as an electrician.   His mother said he fled home 23 years ago and severed all ties with the family.   His youngest brother committed suicide a few years ago.   His two other brothers are mailmen.   Marc has a 12-year-old son Frederic from a first marriage and two children -- Andy, nearly three, and Celine, nine months -- with his second wife Michelle Martin.   Martin has been charged with being an accomplice in the abduction and illegal imprisonment of children.   She and Dutroux, who beat his first wife, had been living apart because she feared his rages.   Until his arrest, Marc had been living with Frederic.   The two other children stayed with Martin.   He is officially unemployed but had been enjoying a health insurance benefit payment of 38,500 francs per month ($1,280).   "He presented himself as a sick and disoriented man, blaming his stay in prison for his bad state of health," according to a dossier on Dutroux delivered to the media by Belgian Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck on Monday.   The dossier said that Dutroux has always maintained his innocence but carefully complied with the conditions set for his early release.   Judicial authorities have been criticised for insufficiently monitoring Marc Dutroux after his release from jail. 
493 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The United States and its allies denounced India on Tuesday for preventing a nuclear test ban treaty from being adopted in Geneva and vowed to bring the pact to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) for signature.   The move by Indian ambassador Arundhati Ghose also drew immediate fire from rival Pakistan, whose envoy expressed concern about the "nuclear ambitions" of its eastern neighbour.   In a speech, Ghose confirmed India was vetoing the formal adoption of the treaty by the Conference on Disarmament and blocking its transmission to the United Nations in New York.   "Our opposition to that text continues," Ghose said.   "We would not, therefore, agree to it being forwarded to the UNGA in any form by this conference."   New Delhi objects that the pact fails to commit nuclear powers to a firm timetable for total disarmament and does not stop them from making qualitative improvements in their nuclear arsenals through computer simulation and other costly methods.   It rejects a key clause saying that the pact would become law upon ratification by 44 states including India.   In its view, this would infringe on its sovereign right to decide freely.   The five declared nuclear powers (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) were marshalling support to rescue the global pact and send the text via a special resolution to New York for action, according to Western diplomats.   The conference holds its next plenary session on Thursday to discuss the fate of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a landmark pact banning all nuclear explosions.   U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar said: "India has formally vetoed the treaty text and made it clear that it would take whatever step was necessary to prevent the text being acted upon by the Conference on Disarmament."   But he said India was alone among the 44 countries with nuclear arms or nuclear reactors in objecting to the pact's entry-into-force formula and accused it of insincerity in its arguments against the draft treaty.   "The real reason is that the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option," Ledogar said.   "That's regrettable, but that's within the sovereign right of India.   "The problem now is how the rest of us can do what we have to do," he added.   "We are now consulting, the rest of us, as to how, despite this most regrettable development in the Conference on Disarmament, we can get this text to New York for further action.   That has to be done promptly.   We have in effect played out the CD's options with this veto."   Britain's ambassador Sir Michael Weston agreed that India's rejection left no hope for reaching a pact through the Geneva forum, which began the negotiations in January 1994.   "Of course, we had always hoped it could be done by the CD in the orthodox way," Weston told Reuters.   "Now that looks clearly impossible."   "As far as the text goes, there are plenty of other ways to get it to New York if that is what people want to do," he said.   Pakistan, a nuclear "threshold" state which has said it will not sign the pact unless India does, immediately took the floor after Ghose's speech to put the blame squarely on its rival.   Ambassador Munir Akram said in a speech: "Today, the mask of the "Smiling Buddha' has been torn off revealing the face of the Goddess of War."   Akram was referring to India's only nuclear blast in 1974, which was followed by the coded message "the Buddha has smiled".   "The leaders of our neighbour have proclaimed that they will keep their nuclear "options' open, that they reserve the right to conduct nuclear tests, that they will go ahead with their short and medium-range missile programmes," Akram said.   But the Pakistani said his country would be against any procedural manoeuvres sidestepping the Geneva body.   "We are all aware that the CTBT may well rise from the ashes, like the Phoenix, in the U.N. General Assembly.   "Pakistan would regret any procedure that circumvents the C.D. -- the single multilateral negotiating forum on disarmament," he said. 
494 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  An extra production levy for "B" quota sugar is due to be discussed by the European Union's sugar management committee on Wednesday, EU sources said.   The European Commission is checking export refund figures and receipts to see if there is a budget shortfall for financing the cost of disposing of surplus EU sugar.   The weekly EU white sugar export tender will also be held on Wednesday. 
495 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  An extra production levy for "B" quota sugar is due to be discussed by the European Union's sugar management committee on Wednesday, EU sources said on Tuesday.   The European Commission is checking export refund figures and receipts to see if there is a budget shortfall for financing the cost of disposing of surplus EU sugar.   The weekly EU white sugar export tender will also be held on Wednesday.   --Brussels Bureau +322 287 6830 
496 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  A majority of Swedes are opposed to Sweden joining the European Monetary Union (EMU), a survey by a national pollster said on Tuesday.   The Swedish Institute of Public Opinion Research (SIFO) said the poll found 56 percent of Swedes did not want their country to join the EMU while only 21 percent were in favour.   The rest were undecided.   Over 61 percent of supporters of Sweden's ruling Social Democrat Party were against joining the EMU and only 17 percent in favour of the move.   "The SDP, which is to deal with the EMU question in its 1997 autumn congress, has a very critical opinion to take into account," said Swedish daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, as it reported the findings of the poll.   Dagens Nyheter said Sweden's main opposition party, the centre-right Moderates, is officially in favour of joining the EMU but will have an uphill battle to convince its supporters.   Only 40 percent of Moderate supporters were in favour of EMU and 35 percent were against, according to the SIFO poll.   Almost one quarter of the 1,000 Swedes questioned by telephone this month had never heard of the EMU, said SIFO.   -- Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1017 
497 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Francois Leotard, the leader of France's UDF junior ruling coalition party, said on Tuesday flexibility on the Maastricht criteria for European monetary union could provide "oxygen" needed to boost the economy.   "This oxygen will come notably from lower interest rates and obtaining a temporary margin of flexibility on the Maastricht criteria," Leotard wrote in Le Monde newspaper.   He said there was no question of delaying the 1999 deadline for moving to a single European currency and he was "convinced the moment of truth would come before next summer" on transition to a single currency.   In the countdown period, he said "It would be a question of keeping the Maastricht criteria as objectives reflecting a medium term economic will."   "This decision is essentially political.   It's a question of giving the Maastricht treaty its true interpretation: the single currency is the goal and the criteria are the means," he said.   The Maastricht treaty calls for countries to reduce their public deficits to three percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but allows for overshooting, in the treaty's own words if "the ratio has declined substantially and continuously and reached a level that comes close to three percent".   Prime Minister Alain Juppe's conservative government has always insisted it will meet the three percent target.   Economists are sceptical on this because of continued weak economic growth but widely believe the single currency can be achieved based on the treaty flexibility.   Leotard said in his Le Monde article that the short-term cost of preparing for monetary union was a "mechanical slowing" of the economy which prevented the government finding quick solutions for pressing problems.   Reducing public spending was "an absolute necessity" but would not produce benefits immediately, he said, adding that job creation would depend on better economic growth.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 4221 5452 
498 !GCAT !GDIP  The Nordic prime minsters' traditional summer meeting will be held in Helsinki on August 26, the Finnish government said in a statement on Tuesday.   All five Nordic premiers would attend, from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, it said.   "The meeting will address e.g. the Nordic countries' regional co-operation, energy policies and topical EU issues," the government said.   The prime ministers would also meet Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, it said.   They would hold a news conference at 1500/1200 GMT. 
499 !GCAT !GCRIM  Belgium's shocking child sex scandal in which two young girls have been killed, two rescued and at least two are missing is symptomatic of a global sickness, child rights lawyer Michele Hirsch said on Tuesday.   "Whether you talk about paedophilia, prostitution, pornography or the traffic in human organs, people are increasingly being treated as a primary resource," she told Reuters in an interview.   "It is a global problem."   Hirsch was involved in changing Belgium's child protection laws last year after the unmasking of Briton John Stamford -- a Belgian resident and head of the Spartacus international paedophile ring -- who died during his trial last December.   She said there was plenty of evidence that paedophile sex tourism -- primarily to countries like Thailand, the Philippines and India -- really got into its stride in the 1970s.   Research has indicated up to 800,000 child prostitutes in Thailand, some 400,000 in India and some 60,000 in the Philippines.   However, a combination of tougher rules in Thailand and the Philippines and fear of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome has changed the nature of the trade.   Paedophiles are now in the market for virgins, and the younger the better, Hirsch said.   At the same time the trade in pornography -- video tapes, books and magazines -- has boomed.   Vietnam, Cambodia, and Latin America are emerging as major supplies of child prostitutes, but eastern Europe -- paricularly Russia and Romania are quickly catching up, Hirsch said.   East Europe is one of the newest markets, both for the supply of child prostitutes to their western neighbours and as consumers of pornography.   "Organised crime, the Russian Mafia is heavily involved.   It is big business," Hirsch said.   One of the factors in the Belgian case is just how wealthy the key witness, 39-year-old unemployed father of three Marc Dutroux, appears to have been.   Dutroux, a convicted child abuser who was charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children, owns at least six houses in Belgium and has admitted paying two of his associates 40,000 francs ($1,300) to kidnap a child.   In the end they turned up with two, eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo.   The girls, abducted in June last year, starved to death in late February or early March.   Dutroux led police to their bodies on Saturday.   Dutroux has also admitted kidnapping An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks in Ostend last August.   The fate of the two girls is a mystery.   Belgian media has speculated that they may have been sold into prostitution in the Czech Republic, although Interpol in Prague said there was no trace of the two on Czech soil.   Belgian investigators have found makeshift cells in some of Dutroux' houses where some of the kidnapped girls were certainly imprisoned, and confiscated large quantities of videos and magazines in their raids.   As far as Hirsch is concerned, this is all part of a pattern that will find echoes around the globe -- with increasing coordination and communication between different paedophile groups, some of which are now on the internet.   She points to radically different laws on child protection even in neighbouring countries, regardless of the morality, but says simply locking up the perpetrators will not solve the problem.   "Unless we cure the demand there is no solution.   We must treat the victims because time and again we find the abusers were themselves the abused," she says. 
500 !C13 !C31 !C311 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Following are details of EU grain export/import commitments between July 1 and August 6 of the new 1996/97 (July/June) campaign supplied by member country officials.   Since the figures were drawn up, the EU has granted exports of 94,250 tonnes of soft wheat, 3,675 tonnes of barley and 2,500 tonnes of oats.   Figures ('000 tonnes) are based on officially communicated certificates and are subject to revision.    ---------1996/97------- ------1995/96-------    1Jul96 to 6Aug96  1Jul95 to 6Aug95    EXPORTS PCT(1) IMPORTS EXPORTS IMPORTS    Soft wheat(grain) 183  10  14 1,919  471    Flour (2)  804 108  0  743  0   Food aid    - grain  126 307  -  41  -    - flour (2)  7  41  -  17  -   Donations    - grain 0 -  0  -    - flour (2)  0 -  0  -    TOTAL SOFT WHEAT 1,120  41  14 2,720  471    Durum (grain)  6 55  0  162    Semolina (3)  29 0  0  0    Food aid 0 -  0  -    TOTAL DURUM WHEAT 35 55  0  162    ALL WHEAT  1,155  42  69 2,720  633    Barley (grain)  205  32  5  632  43    Malt (4) 3 0  0  0    Donations 0 -  0  -    TOTAL BARLEY  208  33  5  632  43    Maize (grain)  10 87  1  66    Food aid 0 -  0  -    TOTAL MAIZE  10 87  1  66    Rye (grain)  55  6  0  853  4    Rye flour (5)  0 0  0  0   Donations    - grain 0 -  0  -    - flour (5)  0 -  0  -    TOTAL RYE 55  6  0  853  4    OATS 4 0  0  0    Sorghum (grain)  0 1  0  0    Food aid 0 0  0  -    TOTAL SORGHUM  0 1  0  0   OTHER GRAINS   Buckwheat, Millet,    Triticale 0 14  0  10    TOTAL GRAIN  1,432  34 176 4,206  756   Notes - (1) NB: column shows this year's exports expressed as a percentage of last year's exports, not as a percentage change.   (2) wheat equivalent.   (3) durum equivalent.   (4) barley equivalent.   (5) rye equivalent.   --Paris newsroom +331 4221 5432 
501 !C17 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt is to talk to European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert on Tuesday, in a bid to cool a growing row about payments to Volkswagen AG, a Commission spokesman said.   "There will be a contact this afternoon between Mr Rexrodt and Mr Van Miert to see how to proceed with this affair and how to calm the proceedings down a little bit," spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told a news briefing.   Saxony premier Kurt Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, overrode Commission objections to the size of a proposed package for the carmaker and paid out extra funds, contending the state stood to lose 23,000 automotive jobs in Mosel and Chemnitz if it didn't pay.   Some 91 million marks are in dispute in the row that has worried Bonn by spurring anti-EU sentiment in the country, even from within the ranks of Kohl's conservatives.   Bonn accepts Saxony's arguments that the payouts are justified, but believes the state went too far by defying the order from Brussels, an economics ministry spokeswoman said.   "Mr Van Miert is concerned about the tone of the public debate," van der Pas said.   Van Miert warned at the weekend that Saxony could touch off a "subsidy war" in Europe if left unchallenged, telling Germany's Focus magagine Brussels could raise the stakes by blocking other AID to VW or excluding it from public tenders.   "You cannot simply break the law and hope the European Commission will close its eyes," van Miert said in an interview released ahead of publication on Monday.   "This would be the end of the internal market and also of Europe." 
502 !G15 !GCAT  Following are highlights of the midday briefing by the European Commission on Tuesday:   Commission spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told reporters Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert would speak by telephone to German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt later on Tuesday about the Saxony subsidies case (see BC-STATE AID-VOLKSWAGEN, moving shortly).   He said he would brief reporters later on Tuesday about the outcome.   - - - -   The Commission released the following documents:   - IP/96/797: Commission clears Siemens and Sommer Allibert joint venture.   - IP/96/798: Commission clears General Electric's CompuNet purchase.   - IP/96/799: Commission clears Kloeckner Stahlund Metallhandel buy of 62 percent share in ARUS Distribution Industrielle SA.   - IP/96/800: Commission makes 251 million Ecus available to SMEs in Spain.   - ME96/20.8: Midday Express. 
503 !GCAT !GPRO !GREL  Pope John Paul, who suffered an abdominal problem last week, was in good health on Tuesday and took part in a seminar on Eastern Europe at his summer residence, the Vatican said.   Chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters he found the 76-year-old Pope in "good form and spirits" at the Castelgandolfo residence south of Rome.   He said the Polish Pontiff was taking active part in a two-day seminar on Slavic cultures attended by 17 academics and scientists from countries in Eastern Europe and elsewhere.   The spokesman said the Pope would return to the Vatican for several hours as planned on Wednesday for his weekly general audience.   The Pope entered hospital briefly for a checkup last week after complaining of pains and took antibiotics for the unspecified abdominal problem caused by a mild infection.   The infection also caused the Pope to suffer a mild fever.   A CAT (Computed Axial Tomography) scan showed nothing out of order, particularly in relation to a 1992 operation to remove an intestinal tumour that was starting to turn malignant.   The Pontiff looked rosy-cheeked but tired on Sunday when he last appeared in public at Castelgandolfo.   The Vatican has said visits to Hungary and France in September would go ahead as planned. 
504 !C31 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Austrian oil group OMV AG reiterated on Tuesday that it was unaffected by a controversial U.S. law imposing sanctions on firms that do business with Libya and said it doubted that the legislation would survive.   "The law does not affect us.   It does not affect our long-standing contracts and our new investments do not exceed the $40 million (a year) limit," chief executive Richard Schenz told a news conference.   Earlier this month U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Iran-Libyan Sanctions Act, which lets the United States penalise non-U.S. firms that invest $40 million or more a year in the oil and natural gas sectors of Iran or Libya.   "We will consider (the law) in future but it is questionnable whether the Americans will be able to sustain it long term, given EU opposition to their "world sheriff" approach," Schenz said.   OMV, which is seeking to double its Libyan oil production to about 20,000 barrels per day, has said it is sticking to plans to develop the Murzuk oilfield along with France's Total and Spain's Repsol.   -- Janet McBride, Vienna Newsroom 43-1-531 12 254 
505 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The United States reacted angrily on Tuesday to India's formal veto of a nuclear test ban treaty and said it would work to bypass New Delhi's opposition and have the treaty adopted and signed anyway.   After a meeting at which India confirmed its veto, U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar accused it of being "insincere" in its arguments against the test ban, telling reporters: "The real reason is that the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the nuclear weapon option."    Earlier, India's Arundhati Ghose told the international Conference on Disarmament that her country could still not accept the treaty text, which it first vetoed in a negotiating committee last week.   India, one of three nuclear "threshold states", says that the treaty should include a time-bound commitment by the five declared nuclear powers for total nuclear disarmament.   Ledogar said the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was never meant to be a nuclear disarmament pact until India decided last year that it should be so.   He said the United States and other supporters of the treaty would act "in the next few days" to either have the draft treaty introduced to the U.N. General Assembly for signature late next month or would convene an international signature conference outside U.N. auspices. 
506 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Austrian oil and chemicals group OMV said on Tuesday it would continue to reduce its cost base over the next few years and aimed to cut its workforce by around four percent annually.   OMV employed 8,663 staff on June 30, down from 10,028 at the same time last year.   "We have managed to cut our workforce by around 14 percent over the past year.   The bulk is behind us but we will continue with the rationalisation," director Walter Hatak told a news conference.   "We aim to shed five percent of (existing) staff annually while replacing one percent," he added.   -- Janet McBride, Vienna Newsroom 43-1-531 12 254 
507 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A British man arrested during a neo-Nazi demonstration in southern Sweden, allegedly armed with a homemade bomb, was remanded in custody on Tuesday and will face trial in two weeks time, a police spokesman said.   The 34-year-old man, born in London but currently of no fixed address, was one of seven people arrested on Saturday when a demonstration in Trollhattan erupted into violent clashes between neo-Nazis and anti-racist groups.   Contrary to an earlier police statement, the man was a supporter of the anti-racist group, not the neo-Nazis.   Police spokesman Sergeant Stig Andersson told Reuters that the British man appeared before Trollhattan court on Tuesday, charged with possessing a weapon with intent to harm.   He was remanded in custody.   Andersson said the man, whose name cannot be released under Swedish law, would face trial in nearby Uddevalla in about two weeks' time.   He said the other six people arrested had been released.   The demonstration was held to mark the anniversary of the death of Adolf Hitler's right-hand man, Rudolf Hess.   Around 600 police, some on horseback, were called in to separate the two groups after fighting broke out.   Some of the demonstrators had travelled from Norway, Denmark, Britain and Germany for the event.   One person, a skinhead, needed hospital treatment after being hit on the head by a rock during the brawl.   Some policemen were slightly hurt in the melee and several demonstrators were bitten by police dogs but no other injuries were reported. 
508 !GCAT !GVIO  Algerian security forces killed five Moslem rebels on Sunday night near Algiers and one person was wounded when a bomb exploded on Monday in a coffee shop in the northeastern town of Tizi-Ouzou, Algerian newspapers said.   The newspaper Liberte said the five rebels were killed at Sidi el Kebir, near the capital, and security forces seized weapons.   Le Matin said the coffee shop bomb was the second attack on a coffee shop in central Tizi-Ouzou, 90 km (55 miles) from Algiers.   A rash of bomb attacks against restaurants and coffee shops in Algiers and other towns in July killed more than 20 people, according to Algerian reports.   The government-appointed watchdog body, Human Rights National Observatory (ONDH), was quoted on Monday by el Watan newspaper as saying about 1,400 civilians have been killed in the past two years in bomb attacks, including booby-trapped cars, blamed on Moslem guerrillas.   An estimated 50,000 people, mostly Moslem militants and security forces members, have been killed in Algeria's violence since early 1992 when authorities cancelled a general election in which radical Islamists had taken a commanding lead. 
509 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  Pirates attacked a yacht moored off the southern toe of Italy and forced six Frenchwomen on board to hand over jewels and money, police said on Tuesday.   A police spokesman said the British-registered Renalo was boarded by a group of men, one armed with a pistol, who reached the yacht in a small motorboat just hours after it had anchored off the village of Scilla.   Around $2,600 worth of foreign currency was stolen along with the jewellery, the police said.   The women and the Renalo's crew were not injured. 
510 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India told the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday that it could still not accept a draft nuclear text ban treaty, preventing its formal adoption in Geneva after more than two years of negotiations.   At a meeting called to examine the final report on negotiations for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Indian ambassador Arundhati Ghose was fiercely critical of a text that she said was unbalanced and violated India's sovereignty.   She confirmed that India, which blocked the treaty last week, would veto its transmission to the U.N. General Assembly in New York for signature at the end of next month.   "Our opposition to that text continues," Ghose told the conference.   "We would not, therefore, agree to it being forwarded to the UNGA in any form by this conference."   Her remarks were greeted with anger by India's neighbour and long-time foe Pakistan.   "Today, the mask of the smiling Buddha has been torn off, revealing the face of the goddess of war," Pakistani ambassador Munir Akram told the conference.   "Pakistan would regret any procedure that would circumvent the Conference on Disarmament, the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum," he added.   Yet supporters of the treaty, which include all five declared nuclear powers, hope to bypass India's veto in Geneva and have the treaty signed anyway at the General Assembly.   The Conference on Disarmament, or CD, takes all decisions by consensus of its 61 member states.   But if the treaty text were presented to the General Assembly in the form of a co-sponsored resolution, it would need only a simple majority of the 185 member states to be adopted -- although opponents of the treaty could also propose amendments to it.   It was not clear whether Ghose's remark that the treaty could not be forwarded to New York "in any form" meant the CD would not be able even to transmit the negotiating report to the General Assembly.   That report clearly says there is no consensus on the text, but Western diplomats said that since it refers to the text it would be procedurally easier to introduce the treaty in New York if the report was forwarded.   If not, a co-sponsored resolution could be more difficult to introduce if the treaty were still to be open for signature from the end of September.   India's main problem with the treaty is that it does not commit the five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- to a timetable for full nuclear disarmament, and instead encourages the divide between nuclear "haves" and "have nots".   After rejecting the treaty on those grounds, New Delhi was further angered when the draft text demanded that India was among those that signed up to the treaty before it could enter into force.   India, along with Pakistan and Israel, is one of three "nuclear threshold states" that have the capability to swiftly build nuclear weapons.   New Delhi exploded a nuclear device in 1974, but has not undertaken any nuclear tests since then.   Ghose told the CD that New Delhi had led the call for a test ban treaty as far back as 1954, but the Geneva negotiations had ignored their mandate to negotiate a universal, balanced test ban.   She was particularly critical of the text's clause on entry-into-force, saying: "It is unprecedented in multilateral negotiations and international law that any sovereign country should be denied its right of voluntary consent on adherence to an international treaty." 
511 !GCAT  These are leading stories in Tuesday's afternoon daily Le Monde, dated Aug 21.   FRONT PAGE   -- Left-wing parties unite behind appeal to President Jacques Chirac to negotiate with Africans on hunger strike in Paris church to renew or obtain work and residence papers.   BUSINESS PAGES   -- Sharp upturn in airline orders surprises planners at Boeing and Aerospatiale.   -- Air France Europe passenger miles rose three percent and revenue per passenger fell two percent in Q2.   CULTURAL PAGES   -- Nobel prize winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer says the rational mindset that governs us is becoming more and more unreasonable and is now out of control: the challenge is not to change the world but to keep it from falling to pieces.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 42 21 53 81 
512 !G15 !G158 !GCAT !GVIO  The European Union on Tuesday called on Burundi to seek peace, saying it would support recovery efforts if resolve was shown.   Ireland -- which holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation bloc -- said in a statement that the EU was deeply concerned about the situation in Burundi.   This comes after reports from Rwanda saying aid agencies were preparing for a flood of Hutu refugees fleeing Burundi under pressure from the Tutsi-led army.   Around two million Rwandan Hutus left their homeland for Tanzania, Zaire and Burundi in 1994.    The EU said it was essential for all political groups, civil societies and the Organisation of African Unity to engage in dialogue to bring about peace in Burundi.   The latest Burundi crisis comes four weeks after new military strongman Pierre Buyoya promised to halt forced repatriation in the face of international condemnation.   Burundi officials accuse the refugees of supporting Hutu rebels waging a guerrilla war against the Burundian army.   - Dublin Newsroom + 660 3377 
513 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Belgian court will decide later on Tuesday whether to formally charge a fourth suspect in a Belgian child sex scandal in which two eight-year old girls have died and at least four others were abducted.   "The decision will be this afternoon," said Clement de Clety, lawyer of Brussels businessman Jean-Michel Nihoul who has been detained and faces charges of criminal association.   About the charge, de Clety told reporters that the only point was that Nihoul knew Lelievre and Dutroux.   "(Nihoul) just gave (them) his car for two or three days to repair it and to pass it on to the technical control authorities.   These are the only concrete points in the file, nothing more," de Clety said.   Convicted paedophile Marc Dutroux and associate Michel Lelievre were formally charged last Friday after police rescued two abducted young girls from a house owned by Dutroux in the southern town of Charleroi.   Dutroux led police on Saturday to the buried bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo who died of starvation early this year after being kidnapped in June 1995.   Dutroux's wife Michelle Martin was charged on Monday with being an accomplice in the abduction and illegal imprisonment of children.   Belgian media said earlier on Tuesday that the Dutch boyfriend of Nihoul's ex-wife had also been arrested.   But court sources said the charges against him had been dropped and that he had just been questioned. 
514 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS !GPOL  Denmark on Tuesday confirmed General Christian Hvidt as new armed forces chief to replace Admiral Hans Joergen Garde, who died in a plane crash on the Faroe Islands in early August, the defence ministry said.   Hvidt, 54, had been second-in-command to Garde since April 1, 1996.   His appointment as new armed forces chief also brought promotion from lieutenant-general to general, the ministry statement said.   Garde, 57, was among nine people killed when a Royal Danish Airforce Gulfstream III crashed on approach to Vagar Airport on the windswept North Atlantic Faroe Islands on August 3.   The plane, which was carrying a military delegation on an official visit, hit a cliffside in poor visibility.   The other victims were four crew, Garde's wife and three senior officers.   The cause of the crash has not been determined yet but eye witnesses saw the aircraft hit a pocket of turbulence, twist upside down and fly into the cliff face near the airport.   Denmark has been a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) since 1948. 
515 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   EVENING STANDARD   CHILD MURDERS: APPEAL TO YARD   Belgian police are set to ask Scotland Yard for advice as investigations continue into a paedophile network which kidnapped and murdered young children.   The investigation widens across Europe.   Scotland Yard said today that it would be happy to help in any capacity.   --   BUYERS QUEUE UP FOR GRANADA'S TOP HOTELS   The Granada group's exclusive hotels chain has three potential bidders keen to buy the whole group.   The sale of all 17 trophy hotels to a single buyer would be more tax-advantageous to Granada.   --   BTR IN TILCON TALKS   Ian Strachan the chief executive of BTR is in talks to sell the conglomerate's U.S. crushed stone and concrete business Tilcon.   --   IMPERIAL GETS RIGHT BACK INTO MINT CONDITION   Gareth Davies, managing director of Imperial Tobacco (now under Hanson) tells how a company badly in need of new owners 10 years ago is now fit for an life as FTSE 100 stock with a 2.5 billion stg valuation.   -- BMC +44 171 377 1742 
516 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   FINANCIAL TIMES   -- BLOW FOR AT&T AS HEIR APPARENT QUITS   US telecoms giant has suffered a setback with the announcement that the man widely expected to take over the company, Alex Mandl, is to leave to take up a position with a new company which aims to capitalise on the opening up of the market for local calls.   The search for a replacement is expected to see an outsider brought in.   Mandl will head a new company, Association Communications, which will aim to provide businesses in a range of U.S. cities with services including Internet access, data communication and video conferencing.   -- EMI IN STRONG FIRST PERFORMANCE   Shares in EMI Group have risen by a greater degree than expected following the demerger of Thorn EMI.   The increase in share price values the group at some 6.39 billion stg.   Observers at ABN Amro Hoare Govett are reported to be expecting the EMI Group share price to reach 15 stg.   There remains some speculation concerning a possible bid for the company by a US entertainment group, possibly Viacom, Seagram or Walt Disney.   -- UK REJECTS BONN-US MODEL FOR OPEN SKIES   The British government has let it be known that it will not sign an open skies deal with the U.S. based on an accord reached between the U.S. and Germany recently, claiming that this deal favoured the U.S. Talks resume next week between U.S. and UK authorities on an aviation accord which both parties are keen to secure prior to the U.S. presidential elections and which is seen as vital to the recently-announced plan for an alliance between British Airways and American Airlines.   -- REFUGE SHAREHOLDER THREATENS 1.46 BILLION STG MERGER   Perpetual, a leading shareholder in life insurance company Refuge Group is reported to be threatening a planned merger with United Friendly, believing that the deal could leave shareholders in Refuge at a disadvantage.   Neill Woodford, senior investment manager with Perpetual noted that he was giving consideration to voting against the plan.   He also expressed concern about the speed with which the 1.46 billion stg merger plans have been drawn up.   -- ARGOS JUMPS 45 PER CENT AND PLANS NETHERLANDS STORES   A rise of 45 per cent in its interim pre-tax profits has been reported by catalogue retailer Argos.   The figure of 31.8 million stg exceeded forecasts, triggering upgrades for its full- year profits.   Meanwhile, the company also revealed plans to expand into the Dutch market, where it hopes to open its first store in 1998.   Eventually it plans to operate 70 stores in the Netherlands.   -- POST OFFICE CHIEF WARNS UNIONS OF THREAT TO JOBS   At a meeting between management and union leaders involved in a worsening industrial dispute at the Post Office a warning will be delivered by chief executive John Roberts that a failure to secure an end to the strife could place in jeopardy the Post Office's commercial future.   Finances could be particularly badly hit if the government decides in the face of continuing strike action to extend the suspension of the Royal Mail's monopoly on the delivery of letters.   -- PROBATION SERVICE COMPUTER A DISASTER, SAY STAFF   The Home Office has delayed the implementation of a new computer system designed to maintain checks on criminals on probation and asked supplier Bull Information Systems to make changes to its design after staff complained about the unwieldiness of the technology.   Confusion surrounding the use of the system, warn staff, could lead to information about potentially dangerous offenders being misfiled.   -- AGREEMENT IN RAIL DISPUTE AVERTS STRIKES   Thames Trains has become the latest of a number of privatised rail companies to have reached agreement with unions over wages and averted the threat of stoppages.   There are reports that in private unions involved in the sector concede that the privatisation of the industry has actually led to an improvement in wages and conditions for staff now that the companies involved are free from government intervention.   Unions hope to establish benchmark deals that can be taken up by others in the industry.   -- MORE FUNDS SWITCHING MANAGERS   A report from the fund management division of Union Bank of Switzerland, PDFM, has found that pension funds in the UK are becoming increasingly willing to switch fund managers if they feel that their assets are not being exploited to the full.   A poll of some 400 of the country's largest funds has found that over the past year 24 per cent have terminated contracts with managers after reviewing asset performances.   In the U.S. the trend is even more pronounced, with 37 per cent of funds having changed managers at least once in 1995.   -- CABLE FEE CASE MAY GO BACK TO EC   Britain's cable companies are reported to be considering making a new appeal to the European Commission to intervene in their dispute with BSkyB over the satellite company's pricing structure for programming.   The companies believe that the rates being charged for the provision of some of Sky's most popular channels leave them little scope to offer subscribers better value services.   The EU has looked previously at the situation and decided to leave a resolution in the hands of the UK authorities.   phone BMC +44-171-377-1742 
517 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   DAILY TELEGRAPH   -- DIAMOND SIGNS 5 MILLION POUNDS PACKAGE AT BZW   Robert Diamond is believed to have signed a two-year contract with BZW as head of global markets worth at least 5 million pounds stg.   Incentive payments are also included in the package and could push the final figure higher.   The appointment of Mr Diamond has been viewed as a coup for BZW, who previously worked as head of the global bond operations of Credit Suisse First Boston in New York.   -- BIOTECH BIG BONUS PLAN 'TO ATTRACT THE BEST'   Generous bonus and share option plans are being introduced by British Biotech in an attempt to attract top level international executives.   The company will ask next month's annual meeting to approve one new scheme that could increase bonuses by 50 percent and another that will give new recruits option packages worth in excess of four-times their salaries.   -- CONSUMER CONFIDENCE HELPS ARGOS RISE 45 PERCENT   Argos yesterday revealed a 45 percent leap in half-year profits before tax to nearly 32 million pounds stg.   Chief executive Mike Smith said consumer confidence was picking up, but the better than expected profits were mostly due to low prices, tight control of costs and a rise in products in the Argos catalogue.   THE TIMES   -- COSTAIN RULE BREACH A THREAT TO EXCHANGE QUOTATION   The construction company Costain Group is in talks with the Stock Exchange after finding it is in breach of official listing requirements as three of its shareholders hold over 75 percent of its equity capital.   The Exchange could force the cancellation of Costain's quotation if the issue cannot be resolved.   -- CHAMBERLAIN PHIPPS IN RECEIVERSHIP   The shoemaker Chamberlain Phipps has gone into receivership after the Bank of Scotland, its main lender, refused to back a rescue package.   The collapse comes two years after Chamberlain was floated on the stock market, valued at 75 million pounds stg.   A rescue package would have involved the Bank of Scotland putting an extra 5 million pounds stg into the company.   -- HOUSING RECOVERY SPREADS TO ALL REGIONS   A new survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors will boost the housing market today showing that house prices in all regions of England and Wales have either held steady or risen during the last quarter.   The survey also forecasts that the number of households caught in the negative equity trap will fall to about 100,000 within the next year.   THE GUARDIAN   -- SPARKS FLY ON COMPETITION   It emerged last night that many regional electricity companies want to delay the introduction of competition in household supply.   The industry regulator, Offer, admitted it was considering the case for a phased start to competition.   The Government said its position remained that competition should start from the scheduled date and the Trade and Industry Department is getting increasingly annoyed over the industry's reluctance to prepare for competition with full vigour.   -- MORE SHOPPERS GET CREDIT FOR LOYALTY   The number of businesses offering combined payment and loyalty schemes grew yesterday with Lakeside Shopping Centre in Thurrock and American Airlines both announcing plans.   Lakeside has teamed up with Midland Bank to offer a Visa card that will combine with the centre's existing loyalty scheme, and American Airlines has launched a Royal Bank of Scotland MasterCard that gives points in the airline's AAdvantage frequent flyer programme.   -- DOCTOR'S SURGERY TAKES THE STRAIN AT VICTORIA STATION   Britain's first walk-in doctor's surgery at a train station was opened yesterday.   The 200,000 commuters who pass through London's Victoria Station daily will be able to get check-ups, vaccinations, asthma treatment and a well-woman clinic.   Sinclair Montrose Healthcare, the owner, expects the project on platform one to recoup its 115,000 pounds stg launch costs in under a year.   They plan to open at least one more station-based Medicentre before Christmas.   THE INDEPENDENT   -- BRITAIN'S SHARE OF WORLD TRADE FALLS TO ALL-TIME LOW   Britain's share of world trade in manufactured goods reached an all-time low of 4.7 percent last year after falling steadily for ten years.   A survey from the Association of German Chambers of Industries and Commerce shows Britain broadly maintained its position in the European and North American markets, but that its share of export markets in Asia has plummeted.   -- STRONG DEBUT FOR EMI AFTER THORN SPLIT   The music arm of the former Thorn-EMI conglomerate, EMI Group remained a favoured takeover candidate after its first day of trading as a separately quoted company, its shares rising 37.5p to 14.60 pounds stg.   EMI is the only top five music company not owned by a multimedia giant, and analysts believe it is still attracting interest as a potential bid candidate.   -- TEN FUNDS CONSIDER BIDDING FOR EMBATTLED KEPIT TRUST   The deadline to express an interest in Kleinwort European Privatisation Investment Trust was met by 10 fund management companies yesterday.   Among those expressing an interest are Kleinwort Benson itself, TR European Growth Trust and Morgan Grenfell Trust Managers.   It is understood that a decision on the preferred option will be made within the next two weeks.   For a full range of news monitoring services, phone BMC +44-171-377-1742 
518 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in two London-based Arabic-language newspapers on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-HAYAT   - Saudi may allow foreigners residing in the kingdom to deal in Saudi shares; bankers rule out any negative impact.   - Saudi's Safari Company Ltd is maintaining and operating government projects worth 1.5 billion riyals.   ASHARQ AL-AWSAT   - Three opposition candidates win in Lebanon's parliamentary election.   - King Hussein of Jordan rejects Prime Minister's Kabariti resignation.   - Kuwaiti finance ministry signs memorandum of understanding with a British company and a French firm to invest $99 million in Kuwait.   - Deep differences between Syrian producers and investors over import laws. 
519 !GCAT !GCRIM  King Hassan II of Morocco has pardoned 592 prisoners to mark an important national anniversary, Moroccan radio reported on Monday night.   The mass pardon was commemorate King Mohamed V's temporary removal from the throne by French colonial authorities in 1953, the radio quoted Morocco's justice ministry as saying in a broadcast monitored by the BBC. 
520 !GCAT  FEDERAL LABOR SENATOR RESIGNS FROM PARTY   Queensland Labor Party Senator, Mal Colston, has resigned from the Labor Party and will serve out the rest of his term as an Independent.   Senator Colson has been in the Senate since 1975 and will end his term in 1999.   He says his voting patterns will be influenced by his long held Labor beliefs, but also by an acceptance that the present Government has an electoral mandate to pursue a number of issues.   The Senator has given no reason for his resignation.   Meanwhile Federal Opposition leader, Kim Beazley, says he hopes Senator Colston will change his mind.   Labour sources say Senator Colston's differences with the ALP are personality, rather than policy based.   - - - -   PARLIAMENT HOUSE RIOT MAY COST A$100,000   The cost of yesterday's riot at Parliament House in Canberra has been estimated at nearly A$100,000.   About A$75,000 damage was done to the foyer and forecourt when protestors smashed down doors.   Once inside they rampaged through the Parliament gift shop, where it will cost A$15,000 to repair the damage and replace looted goods.   The rioters were a breakaway group from a much larger peaceful protest which ACTU Secretary Bill Kelty called the most successful in the country's history.   That remark's angered deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, and Deputy Labor Leader, Gareth Evans is furious at the violence.   - - - -   PEACEFUL ABORIGINAL PROTEST   Organisers of an Aboriginal protest in Canberra have stressed the contrast between their peaceful protest today and yesterday's storming of parliament house.   One thousand Aborigines have conducted a march to Parliament House and staged a rally on the lawn, in protest of Federal government budget cuts to indigenous affairs.   Aboriginal representative Charlie Perkins says the 1,000 protestors have gathered from all over Australia.   - - - -   PAEDOPHILE WITNESS AT NSW COMMISSION   A self confessed paedophile has told the New South Wales police Royal Commission that up to 100 paedophiles are active in Sydney.   Codenamed KR-248, the man says that in most cases boys are willing partners looking for friendship, care, or money to survive on the streets.   KR-248 told the Commission that children could be picked up at most beaches or any public toilets.   He says there are four main areas where paedophile rings operate around Sydney including one with up to 50 members based in the city.   - - - -   VICTORIAN GOVT APPEALS COURT DECISION   An appeal against a decision to allow parents of intellectually disabled people to sue the Victorian Government is underway.   Parents of residents at Melbourne's Kew Cottages won the right to take action, after a Supreme Court Judge last year refused to strike out a major part of the writ.   They want the State Government to improve living conditions at the cottages, which they say have been the subject of reduced budgets since 1986.   But the State Government has launched action in the Court of Appeal, arguing the Courts don't have jurisdiction to querie how Governments spend money.   The Court's been told a decision to provide funding to any service is purely an act of Government.   - - - -   MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR SEAL VIEWING CENTRE   Victoria is to have a multi-million dollar seal viewing centre at Phillip Island.   Premier Jeff Kennett says the two stage development, off the Nobbies, will make the Island one of Australia's leading eco-tourist destinations.   The Seal Rocks Sealife Centre, will feature an information and dining area, and provide giant video screens showing Australia's largest colony of fur seals.   Mr Kennett says stage two involves an underwater viewing tunnel leading to a tower above the Seal Rocks, but he says that project is subject to a strict environmental effects study.   - - - -   WHALES AND YACHTS TRAFFIC JAM   In North Queensland, a traffic jam of whales and yachts is converging in the Whitsundays.   More than 100 yachts from around the country are preparing for the Hamilton Island Race Week series.   Race official Ian Grant is expecting some close encounters this weekend, as migrating whales also gather to breed.   - - - -   BOON'S TESTIMONIAL LINE UP   In cricket, West Indian Brian Lara, England's Devon Malcolm and New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee are expected to take part in former test cricketer David Boon's testimonial match in November.   Two one-day games will be held, one at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on November the twelfth and at the NTCA Ground in Launceston on November 14.   Former Test captain, Greg Chappell, says current and former Australian players plus Tasmanian-born AFL players will be among those taking part.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
521 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  The New Zealand government thumbed its nose at public and political opposition on Tuesday by proceeding with the privatisation of a huge plantation forest less than two months before a general election.   It announced the sale of the Forestry Corporation of New Zealand to a consortium of New Zealand companies, Fletcher Challenge and Brierley Investments and China's China International Trust and Investment Corp (CITIC) for NZ$2.0 billion (US$1.38 billion).    The privatisation was New Zealand's second biggest after the 1990 sale of Telecom Corp for more than twice that price.   Finance Minister Bill Birch said he would use the net proceeds of NZ$1.6 billion to repay debt, allowing New Zealand to eliminate net foreign debt for the first time since a 1954 wool boom caused by the Korean War.   But the sale stirred heated opposition, and political commentators said the publicity had been partially responsible for the governing National Party's five-point dip to 37 percent support in a TV3 opinion poll published on Monday.    A separate TVNZ poll on Monday showed more than 60 percent of New Zealanders opposed the privatisation of Forestry Corp, which controls 188,000 hectares (465,000 acres) of prime pine and fir forest in the central North Island.   The sale riled opposition parties.   Both the left-wing Alliance Party and the economic nationalist New Zealand First said they would return the consortium's cheque and repurchase the forest if they came to power after the general election on October 12.    Alliance Party leader Jim Anderton called the sale a betrayal.   "The sale of Forestry Corporation is a betrayal of New Zealanders which will not be forgotten when votes are cast on October 12," he said.   But Birch was unrepentant, saying the sale price, exactly NZ$2.026 billion, exceeded the book value and would create new investment and jobs.   "This exceeds the book value of NZ$2.024 billion and is a very good price," he told a briefing, adding that the consortium would invest NZ$260 million to create 700 new jobs over the next seven to eight years.    The Fletcher group planned to build a "world-scale solid wood processing plant in the central North Island."   "The sale is an important new step in the development of New Zealand's forestry industry," Birch said.   The Fletcher group outbid U.S. giant Weyerhaeuser and local forestry giant Carter Holt Harvey, which had teamed up with Malaysia's Jaya Tiasa and central North Island Maori tribes who claim the land the forest stands on.   The failure to sell to the Maori-backed consortium may cause further political fallout for the government.   A spokesman for the Maori tribes said they would now try to get the land back.    Fletcher Forest chief executive Mike Andrews said his group now controlled a forest estate of 300,000 hectares (741,300 acres).   "This will create a critical mass that will bring many benefits for New Zealand," he said.   But even some members of the government were unsure about the wisdom of the sale, fearing job losses as Forestry Corp's and Fletcher's operations were rationalised.   Influential government backbench member Max Bradford, whose Rotorua seat is in the forest heartland, said he had "some significant reservations about the sale to Fletchers."    "Nor can I say all my concerns, particularly with respect to the development of the best long-term strategy for forestry in New Zealand and a healthy investment programme which leads to jobs and higher incomes with this bid, have been satisfied," Bradford said.   ($1 = NZ$1.44) 
522 !GCAT !GPOL  Australia's Senate, the upper house of parliament, on Tuesday elected Mal Colston as its deputy president amid controversy over his decision to quit the Labor Party earlier in the day.    "My loyalties will be directed not to any particular party or group of parties, rather my loyalty will be directed to the Senate ..." Colston said in parliament after his election.    Colston resigned as a Labor party senator to complete his present term, which ends in 1999, as an independent in the Senate.   Labor opposition Senate leader John Faulkner said he was disappointed Colston had not made his loyalties to the Labor party clear.   "It is very disappointing that he did not mention the Labor party as Mal Colston has been a Labor party senator since the mid-1970's," Faulkner told Australian Broadcasting Corp Radio.    "He was endorsed as a labor party senator ... and as far as I'm concerned he has a primary loyalty to the Australian Labor Party," Faulkner said.   But Colston had indicated to a senior Labor member earlier on Tuesday that he would support the Labor party on the key policy issues in parliament, Faulkner said.   "It remains to be seen how he will vote, but I am sure all those people that cast a ballot for the Labor party in the Senate in Queensland and elected Mal Colston will demand that level of loyalty from Mal Colston," Faulkner said.    Queensland Labor party state secretary Mike Kaiser said in a statement on Tuesday that he understood Colston had resigned because the federal Labor party had chosen someone else for the position of Deputy President of the Senate.   In a fax to Kaiser, Colston said he had resigned because of significant differences between himself and other members of the federal Labor party.   "There is no doubt in my mind that Senator Colston's decision to resign was designed to put a loaded gun to Labor's head, but the Party was not prepared to give in to blackmail," Kaiser said.    Colston's resignation from the Labor party means he is no longer bound by party policy and can decide his own position on legislation.   The Labor opposition and minor parties hold the balance of power in the Senate and have pledged to block some of the new Liberal-National government's reforms, including the partial privatisation of Telecommunications carrier Telstra Corp.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
523 !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Labor Opposition Senate leader John Faulkner said on Tuesday that Mal Colston, a Labor senator who resigned from the party earlier in the day, had indicated he would support the party in the Senate.   "Senator Colston has indicated to Gareth Evans, the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, that he will support the party on all major issues before the Senate," Faulkner told reporters.    Faulkner said Colston had been pre-selected and endorsed by Labor for decades and the Labor party expected him to show a minimal amount of loyalty on the floor of the Senate.   "We will demand of Senator Colston that he show that minimal level of loyalty to the party that has supported him in public life for so long," Faulkner said.   Colston said he intended to complete his present term in the Senate as an independent.    "My voting pattern in that chamber will be influenced by my long held Labor beliefs, by an acceptance that the present government has an electoral mandate to pursue a number of issues and by what I judge to be the most appropriate course of action for the people of Queensland (state)," he said in statement.   Colston was unavailable for further comment.   His resignation means he is no longer bound by party policy and can decide his own position on legislation.    The Labor opposition and minor parties hold the balance of power in the Senate and have pledged to block some of the new Liberal-National government's reforms, including the partial privatisation of Telecommunications carrier Telstra Corp.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
524 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Prominent government backbencher Max Bradford said on Tuesday he had significant reservations about the sale of Forestry Corporation to a consortium led by Fletcher Challenge Ltd.   Bradford is the ruling National Party's candidate for the seat of Rotorua and has questioned the wisdom of a sale to the Fletcher consortium after reports that it may scale down the Waipa sawmill situated in his electorate.   Bradford said a major positive of the deal announced on Tuesday was the commitment by the consortium not to close the Waipa mill and to invest NZ$16 million in an upgrade.    "The Prime Minister (Jim Bolger) and Finance Minister (Bill Birch) have given me a commitment they will ensure the FCL joint venture will live up to its commitment," Bradford said.   "Therefore, the workforce should have no concern about their jobs."   "I would have to say Fletchers' poor public relations image means they start behind the eight-ball," Bradford said.   He said he "would not be honest...if he did not admit to some significant reservations about the sale to Fletchers".    "Nor can I say all my concerns, particularly with respect to the development of the best long-term strategy for forestry in New Zealand and a healthy investment programme which leads to jobs and higher incomes with this bid have been satisfied by ministers."   He said Fletcher Forests chief executive Michael Andrews had agreed to put the company's plans to the local communities in a few days.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
525 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  North Ltd said production would not be affected by a rock slide on Tuesday that killed one man at its Northparkes copper and gold mine in New South Wales.   The rock slide occurred in an underground section of the mine, North said.   North holds 80 percent of the mine, with Sumitomo Metal Australia Pty Ltd owning the rest.   North's share of production in the latest quarter was 5,550 tonnes of copper and 13,677 ounces of gold.   North said it would investigate the cause of the accident.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
526 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Striking miners at the RTZ-CRA RTZ.   Blair Athol coal mine in central Queensland were meeting on Tuesday to hear a recommendation that they return to work, a Blair Athol coal spokesman said.   "As a result of talks, a meeting has been called by union officials to put a proposal to miners that recommends a return to work," general manager, operations at Blair Athol Coal, Rod Bates told Reuters.   Union officials were not available for comment.   The return-to-work proposal also recommended that the issue of training on a new drill be put to arbitration, Bates said.   "I'm very hopeful they (the coal miners) will return to work tomorrow," Bates said.   The workers have been on strike for 5-1/2 weeks over the issue of training on the drill and other matters.   The strike is despite a return-to-work order from the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).   The AIRC has convened a meeting of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) members at Blair Athol for Wednesday to hear admissions on a return to work, Bates said.   Bates said the strike was costing A$10 million a week in lost production from Australia's biggest thermal coal mine.   Blair Athol produces 10 million tonnes annually with the bulk of production shipped to Japanese customers.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
527 !GCAT !GHEA !GSCI  Shark cartilage may play a role in curbing blood vessel growth and restricting the spread of cancers, according to new research by New Zealand's Wellington Medical School.   "We have now established that there is some validity to the claim that shark cartilage can inhibit blood vessel growth," Paul Davis, leader of a research team at the medical school, told Reuters on Tuesday.   Blood vessel growth is required for tumours to spread.   Sharks have a low incidence of cancer, and ground shark cartilage has for years been used as a folk remedy for tumours, arthritis and other ailments.   But there has been little scientific evidence of its effectiveness.   Davis said that after a year's work his team had found that in rats fed cartilage from sharks, the development of blood vessels in abnormal tissue was reduced by up to 70 percent.   "It's an early step but it's a significant one," Davis said.   He stressed the research was a long way from showing that shark cartilage was a "cure" for cancer.   "But what we would like to think is that it will at least slow the spread."   Davis added: "What it's going to do is, rather than putting people on chemotherapies and radiotherapies to try and stop the progression, you may be able to use a compound like this."   "If you can at least hold it while you're trying to kill the cancer cells, then the job in theory should be easier," he said. 
528 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Striking miners at the RTZ-CRA Blair Athol coal mine in central Queensland were meeting on Tuesday to hear a recommendation that they return to work, a Blair Athol coal spokesman said.   "As a result of talks, a meeting has been called by union officials to put a proposal to miners that recommends a return to work," general manager, operations at Blair Athol Coal, Rod Bates told Reuters.   Union officials were not available for comment.   The return-to-work proposal also recommended that the issue of training on a new drill be put to arbitration, Bates said.    "I'm very hopeful they (the coal miners) will return to work tomorrow," Bates said.   The workers have been on strike for 5-1/2 weeks over the issue of training on the drill and other matters.   The strike is despite a return-to-work order from the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).   The AIRC has convened a meeting of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) members at Blair Athol for Wednesday to hear admissions on a return to work, Bates said.   Bates said the strike was costing A$10 million a week in lost production from Australia's biggest thermal coal mine.    Blair Athol produces 10 million tonnes annually with the bulk of production shipped to Japanese customers.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
529 !GCAT !GPOL  A member of Australia's Labor Party opposition said he quit the party on Tuesday in a move that could affect government efforts to pass legislation through parliament's upper house, the Senate.   Mal Colston, a Labor senator, said his resignation took effect immediately.    "It is my intention to complete my present term in the Senate as an independent," Colston said in a statement.   "My voting pattern in that chamber will be influenced by my long held Labor beliefs, by an acceptance that the present government has an electoral mandate to pursue a number of issues and by what I judge to be the most appropriate course of action for the people of Queensland (state)," he said.   Colston would not comment further.   His resignation from the Labor Party means he is now no longer bound by party policy and can decide his own position on legislation.    The new conservative Liberal-National government elected in March does not have a majority in the Senate and needs support of at least two non-government senators to pass legislation.   Prime Minister John Howard, pointing to his landslide election win, has claimed a strong mandate from the electorate for several controversial moves, including selling one-third of government telecoms giant Telstra Corp.   The Labor opposition and minor parties holding the Senate balance of power have pleged to block some of the government reforms, including the partial Telstra privatisation.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
530 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Australia's new conservative government said it would hand down a "fair" budget on Tuesday night, but budget opponents rallied for a second day outside parliament, the scene of a riot the day before.   The five-month-old Liberal-National government was to announce its budget to June 30, 1997 at 0930 GMT.   The budget will be its first and the first for a conservative Australian government in 14 years.   "It's going to be a fair budget, and we are looking forward to putting in place the measures that will help families and small businesses and get Australia moving," Treasurer Peter Costello told reporters on Tuesday morning.   The government has promised to cut A$4.0 billion (US$3.0 billion) from its maiden budget in a tough fiscal programme aimed at achieving a budget surplus within three years.   The budget deficit for 1995/96 was A$10.3 billion.   But the sharp spending cuts already announced have provoked angry protests across Australia from workers, students, Aborigines and welfare groups.   Monday's riot outside parliament house began during a rally in the capital by up to 15,000 unionists, aborigines, students, welfare and other community groups.   Police in riot gear fought for two hours to control hundreds of protesters who stormed the foyer of Parliament House.   Aboriginal organisers of Tuesday's protest have promised a peaceful rally.   About 600 Aborigines gathered for an overnight protest on the lawns of old parliament house.   The government has announced funding cuts of A$400 million for indigenous people over the next four years.   Financial markets are concerned about Australia's chronic national savings and external debt problems and are counting on Costello slashing the budget deficit, hopefully by more than the forecast A$4.0 billion.   Canberra, committed to no extra tax revenue, has already announced big spending cuts in aboriginal affairs, higher education and programmes to help the jobless find work.   Ideally, markets want a bottom-line underlying deficit of at most A$5.0 billion, half the 1995/96 shortfall.   The underlying deficit excludes one-off items such as asset sales.   (A$1 = US$0.78) 
531 !GCAT !GPOL  The government's bumbling performance has left Beehive watchers scratching their heads over what master plan its celebrated strategists are following in the run-up to the election.   The last minute U-turn over the culling of Kiamanawa wild horses, the Michelle Boag affair, and a less than triumphant visit to South Africa by Prime Minister have left the government looking increasingly vulnerable.    And its failure to ram home the political pluses in the sale of Forestcorp has compounded the appearance of a government running out of steam.   There may be another public backlash over the price at which Forestcorp is sold - largely because expectations have been built that it would go for around $2 billion, ignoring the $500 million or so of debt the SOE is carrying.   Even so, an announcement naming the successful bidders for the huge Bay of Plenty forest cutting rights is due after it goes to the government caucus tomorrow.   The latest opinion poll, admittedly from the relatively small sample of 500 voters, confirms a slump in support for the government.   National has dropped five percentage points to 37 percentin the last fortnight.   That is a much sharper decline than had been expected, even by those realistic enough to believe that the lead it had been enjoying for most of the year would begin to shrink as polling day approached.   The TV3-CM Research Gallup Poll wasn't all bad news for the government; it confirmed that New Zealand First's challenge, which last month's poll showed was beginning to bend, is still on a downward slope.    NZ First has dropped four points to 17 percent, while Labour has regained its slot as the main opposition party with a one-point rise to 20 percent support.   The Alliance which has been campaigning vigorously against the sale of Forestcorp has risen five percentage points to 14 percent.   Among the smaller parties, the Christian coalition has risen from 1.7 percent in the last sampling at the beginning of August to 4.3 percent.    Even though the party still has not reached the 5 percent threshold, the rise in support for the Christians in this poll parallels the upward movement recorded to other major poll conducted for the rival television channel.   With only 40 working days left to the election, it may take something spectacular to revive the government's hopes of a clear-cut election result.   So far they are showing little of the spirit that carried the All Blacks to their astonishing comebacks against the Wallabies and the Springboks.    It's too far fetched to suggest, as some Beehive-watchers have done in recent days, that the master plan envisages an election outcome that makes governing by any conceivable grouping virtually impossible - thus forcing a second election some time in 1997, at a time when the majority of Kiwis will be so appalled at the lack o a helmsman at the wheel they will turn back in overwhelming numbers to the safest pair of hands.   For the government, there is considerable disappointment that positive economic factors are not yielding the political spin-off it had hoped for.    The gains in employment, with the steady shrinking in the dole queues, have been virtually submerged in the backwash.   And the tax cuts do not appear to have influenced swinging voters, to any significant degree.   Still, Education Minister Wyat Creech could point to a good outcome from the protracted negotiations over a pay rise for secondary school teachers.   And possibly the Australian budget will have a flow-on effect to New Zealand, if the money markets there react to a deficit-pruning effort by the Treasurer Peter Costello.    A further cut in official interest rates in Australia could produce cheaper money in New Zealand, too, and that could provide a boost for the local sharemarket, re-igniting greater confidence that the economy is moving in the right direction.   But it is evident that the government has a real fight on its hands to come out on top on October 12.   (Note - The opinions expressed in this article represent the views of the author only.   They should not be seen as reflecting the views of Reuters) 
532 !GCAT !GPOL  Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys said New Zealand may eventually opt to change the rules governing parliament so a vote of no-confidence would be taken only if there was a new government in waiting.   "One day we might get to the position -- and it would require a general agreement to do it -- that we should have a constructive vote of no-confidence so that the vote is for no-confidence in one administration and confidence in another, so you know what the alternative is.   But we haven't got to that yet," Hardie Boys said in an interview with Reuters.    "Maybe experience will bring everybody to realise that should be done.   It would make my position much easier," he said.   The governor-general has "reserve powers" to appoint or dismiss a prime minister or in special circumstances to refuse a dissolution of parliament.   All other decisions must be taken on the advice of ministers.   Hardie Boys noted that even a caretaker government could remain in office until it lost a confidence vote.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 473-4746 
533 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Would-be coalition partners after New Zealand's general election will need to provide clear evidence of a workable deal, ideally in the form of a written accord, Governor-General Sir Michael Hardie Boys says.   "The ideal would be a written commitment in one form or another.   Ideally it would be...a written coalition such as we have at the moment between United New Zealand and National.   But I don't think I could insist on that," Hardie Boys told Reuters.    "But there would have to be public statements agreeing to support another party so everyone would know the situation that I was relying on," he said in an interview.   "As long as it is clear and unequivocal...so that if it is reneged on, everyone knows."   The switch from Westminster-style voting to Mixed Member Proportional meant, Hardie Boys said, that no government was likely to be formed on election night or even within a few days.    "Of course parliament has to be summoned within some eight weeks of election date and by that stage it is likely that the government will be formed or that the meeting of parliament will prompt a resolution," he said.   "If it can't be formed, even after some months of negotiation, then parliament might need to be dissolved and another election held.   I hope not and don't expect that."   The governor-general's "reserve powers" under the constitution include the power to appoint or dismiss a prime minister and in special circumstances to refuse a dissolution of parliament.   All other decisions must be taken on the advice of    ministers.   Hardie Boys said it would be for party leaders to conduct negotiations.   "If it gets to a stage where it looks as if we are getting to an impasse, I certainly have the right to talk to them and suggest they might sort out whatever differences there are outstanding and come to an accommodation rather than go back to the electorate as a last resort.   "I am sure no party would want to be seen as responsible for that."    "Of course if he fails, and it is clear the majority against him is cohesive, then I would be entitled to call on the other group.   By cohesive I don't mean that the coalition will clearly last a long time, but at least long enough to get past the first vote of no confidence.   I certainly can't require a long term commitment for three years or anything of that kind."   He acknowledged that coalitions could fall apart.   "That could well happen.   I would want to be sure as far as I could that it would not dissolve in a week or two.   That they really were agreed sufficiently to get on with government."   But in the absence of anything but a shaky coalition?    Opinion polls consistently suggest the National Party will be the biggest in parliament, while short of a majority.   A left-wing coalition is unlikely to command a majority, especially as the Alliance has ruled out post-election deals.   In that situation, Prime Minister Jim Bolger would have the option of attempting to govern as a minority.   "If the PM decides he is going to see it out and test the position in parliament, then he is entitled to do that and see how he gets on," Hardie Boys said.    "I do plan to be here (in Government House) in front of the television set to see what happens.   I have tried to discourage the notion that everyone should get on the telephone and ring me up and say 'hey what about me?'"   Hardie Boys said it could well take a couple of weeks to "sort everything out", but did not think parliament should be called early to resolve the issue.   "No I think it is better they take time to sort it out."   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 473-4746    "Yes, I would accept that, particularly if it survived a confidence vote."   He said if no grouping could retain confidence in parliament, another election would probably have to be called and the incumbent would continue as a caretaker.   Constitutional conventions indicate a caretaker government makes no major policy decisions and no major appointments, but Hardie Boys said: "Even a caretaker government could stay in office until it loses a confidence vote."   Given his pivotal role, what will he be doing on election night? 
534 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The Electoral Commission on Tuesday released details of broadcasting time and funding for political parties for the coming election, but was critical of the system it operated under.   The commission said the criteria in the Broadcasting Act were deficient and neeeded to be re-examined after the election.   It said within the strict requirements of the Act it could not "exclude a registered political party that some voters would consider not to be a 'serious' party or to have little chance of success".    It said the allocation of money had not been increased since 1990 but now had to be divided among 20 elligible parties.   "If the commission makes no allocation to a minor party, that party cannot obtain any broadcasting time," the commission said.   However granting funds to small parties disadvantaged larger parties because they were prevented from buying more broadcasting time with their own funds.   The commission had $1.85 million to allocate and despite submissions to the government, no increase was approved.    It allocated $534,360 to the ruling National Party, $431,540 to the main opposition Labour Party and about $250,000 each to the Alliance and New Zealand First.   The government's coalition partner United, with seven MPs in the House, received $93,000, the same as the Christian Coalition with only one MP and free-market party Act New Zealand which has no MPs.   United has barely registered in opinion polls while the Christian and Act parties have regularly polled between two percent and five percent.    The "joke" party McGillicuddy Serious, the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and the one MP Conservative Party each get $35,000 as do the Progressive Greens and the "transcendentalists" of the Natural Law Party.   Smaller amounts are allocated to eight other parties.   On top of the funds allocated, the 12 largest parties also receive free radio and television time on state broadcasters for their opening and closing addresses.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
535 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  More than 600 people are missing after a series of storms which struck northern Vietnam last week, and city authorities in Hanoi said on Tuesday they were placing the capital on maxmimum flood alert.   Voice of Vietnam radio said 34 people had been killed and 22 were missing following torrential rain in remote mountain provinces of northwest Vietnam over the weekend.   Efforts were continuing meanwhile in coastal provinces to the southeast of Hanoi to try to account for hundreds not seen since a whirlwind storm struck the area a few days earlier.   In an interview with the Tuoi Tre newspaper on Tuesday Agriculture Minister Nguyen Cong Tan said 635 people were missing and warned the true death toll was unlikely to be known for some time.   He said most of the missing had been aboard fishing boats caught at sea as the storm swept the coast.   Newspapers on Tuesday described the flooding as the worst to strike northern Vietnam in years.   The Saigon Times daily said water was being released from the massive Hoa Binh reservoir to the west of Hanoi in order to reduce flooding further upstream.   The newspaper quoted agriculture ministry officials as urging the evacuation of people living along nearby rivers.   City authorities in Hanoi placed the capital ity of 2.2 million people on maximum flood alert as water levels continued rising on the Red River.   They warned that tropical storm Niki was approaching Vietnam across the South China Sea and could bring further flooding later this week. 
536 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  The United States stepped forward on Tuesday to reveal that two of its fighter jets, not Japanese planes, flew close to a Qantas passenger aircraft off Japan 12 days ago.   The acknowledgement came after Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported that Qantas flight 22 from Tokyo to Sydney was tailed by Japanese military aircraft off Japan's Pacific coast on August 8.   "Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 'Hornet' fighter aircraft flew below and came no closer than 1,200 feet to a Qantas Airlines 747 at 11.54 a.m., Aug. 8, 20 miles northeast of Japan's Miyake-jima," the U.S. military command said in a statement released in Tokyo.   "The 1,200 foot separation is within authorised International Civil Aviation Organisation procedures, and regarded by ICAO standards as both safe and acceptable," the statement said.   The two fighter aircraft were flying on the edge of a designated military training area below the Qantas 747, the statement said.   ABC radio reported that the pilot on the Qantas aircraft saw on his radar two fighters--which he identified as Japanese planes--tracking the Boeing 747, forcing him to pull the plane into a steep ascent to avoid an incident.   Commenting on the report, Japanese air force officials said there was no record of its fighters scrambling or taking emergency steps on that date and that there are no Japanese air force training zones along the route from Tokyo to Sydney.   Japan's Ministry of Transportation said it had received a request from its Australian counterpart to investigate what the ministry called the "approach" of two fighters toward the Qantas jet, but said it was unable to confirm the origin of the planes.   The Qantas captain filed a report complaining of the intimidating behaviour of the fighter jets, ABC radio said. 
537 !GCAT !GCRIM  Vietnam is expected to place two prominent intellectuals on trial this week nine months after the pair were arrested in a crackdown on dissent ahead of June's Communist Party Congress.   Dissident sources and Hanoi-based diplomats said Le Hong Ha, a former high-ranking party member, and Ha Si Phu, a leading academic, would appear in court in Hanoi on Thursday.   The two men are being charged under a catch-all section of Vietnam's penal code involving violations of national security.   If convicted they face likely jail terms of between two and seven years.   In serious cases the term can be extended to 15 years.   Their arrests late last year were widely interpreted as part of a broader crackdown on dissent as the Hanoi authorities prepared for the June congress.   Ha Si Phu, also known as Nguyen Xuan Tu, was detained following an interview with a foreign radio station and after distributing documents in which it is said he openly criticised the Hanoi government.   Le Hong Ha, whose also used the name Le Van Quy, was expelled from the ruling Communist Party in June last year after voicing support for an outspoken communist dissident Hoang Minh Chinh.   Hoang Minh Chinh had been jailed a few weeks earlier.   Several international human rights groups condemned the arrests at the time.   The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch/Asia said Vietnam -- which signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1982 -- had placed itself in violation of international laws.   Official confirmation was not available on Tuesday and it was not clear whether outside observers would be allowed to attend the trial.   But foreign diplomats said the trial -- the first such case since the congress -- was likely to be watched for indications of the prevailing political mood in Vietnam.   The late-June conclave, the country's most important political event in years, saw a shake-up of the party leadership and the appointment of a number of security and defence-related personnel to prominent politburo positions.   But seven weeks after that event the picture remains hazy, and Hanoi's political rumour mill has fallen quiet.   In some cases newly-appointed personnel have yet to take up their expected posts.   In a faxed statement the Paris-based pressure group Alliance Vietnam Liberte said Ha Si Phu's case was being followed closely by groups across Europe and North America.   It called on Hanoi to allow independent observers to attend the trial.   The statement made no mention of Le Hong Ha's case. 
538 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it had severed ties with Niger after the West African state renewed diplomatic relations with China.   Niger -- one of just 31 countries in the world which had recognised Taipei insteadof Beijing -- made an about-face on Monday and said the People's Republic of China was the sole legal government of China and Taiwan was part of its territory.   "The Republic of China (Taiwan) deeply regrets Niger's submission to communist China's threats and temptations and has decided to terminate diplomatic relations with Niger with immediate effect and stop all cooperation between the two countries," a Taiwan foreign ministry statement issued late on Monday said.   "Communist China forced Niger to stop relations with us as a condition for renewing their ties...," the statement said.   "The Republic of China (Taiwan) government offers the strongest condemnation of such behavior from communist China.   Our government...will continue to expand our external relations, and our position is firm and will never sway.   China has recently stepped up international contacts in a bid to counter a diplomatic offensive by Taiwan, which has relations with nine other African states, including South Africa.   Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited six African countries in May, including Niger's neighbour Mali.   Taipei's decision to sever ties with Niger comes amid news that Taiwan's vice-president was on a secretive trip to an unspecified country where it has no diplomatic ties, apparently in Europe.   Vice President Lien Chan, described by one Taipei daily as "travelling like a cat", made a brief and quiet stopover in Vienna and left only oblique clues as to his final destination.   Taiwan's state-funded Central News Agency said from Vienna that unsubstantiated reports had Lien "heading north" or perhaps going to a "German-speaking country bordering Italy" -- a clear reference to Switzerland.   Lien's move is expected to anger Beijing, which has tried to shut down Taiwan's international activity.   Investors, wary that China-Taiwan tensions could quickly boil up again, sent the island's stock market reeling on Tuesday for the second day.   Any country which allows senior Taiwanese politicians on its soil may be set on a diplomatic collision course with China which has regarded Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a renegade province since the end of a Chinese civil war in 1949.   The Vatican is the only state in Europe which has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, recognising Taipei as China's capital rather than Beijing.   Niger and Taiwan renewed relations in 1992, causing a break in the African country's ties with China, but winning Niamey a US$50 million Taiwan loan.   Taiwan, holding foreign-exchange reserves of US$85.18 billion, among the largest in the world, has set up a US$1 billion dollar fund to aid Third World development. 
539 !GCAT  Newspaper headlines   CHINA TIMES - Vice President Lien Chan may be in Hungary for private visit.   Taiwan severs diplomatic ties with Niger after Niger renews diplomatic relations with China.   UNITED DAILY NEWS - Vice President Lien Chan flies to Kiev and will meet with Ukraine's head of state.   Five people injured in gas well burst at Chinese Petroleum Corp oil well.   COMMERCIAL TIMES - Taiwan stock market plunges 181 points due to uncertain relations across the Taiwan strait.   Chiang Ping-kun, head of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, says relations with mainland China will move at steady pace and government will not change direction.   ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS - Taiwan central bank to study plan to control capital outflows to China.   Taiwan severs ties with Niger.   -- Taipei Newsroom (2-5080815) 
540 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indonesian political and business stories in leading newspapers, prepared by Reuters in Jakarta.   Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy.   Telephone: (6221) 384-6364.   Fax: (6221) 344-8404.   - - - -   KOMPAS   A Catholic priest will be questioned by the police in connection with the July 27 riots in Jakarta.   He is accused of protecting Budiman Sudjatmiko, leader of the People's Democratic Party (PRD), blamed by the government for the riots.   - - - -   JAKARTA POST   President Suharto calls for greater cooperation among developing nations to overcome common obstacles and shortcomings.   Suharto, speaking during a banquest in honour of visiting Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, said people of all nations should work together in building a new economic order that is more just and equitable.   - - - -   MEDIA INDONESIA   The Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) has delayed issuing permits for 17 foreign security companies which plan to operate in Indonesia, saying the agency has yet to screen the applications.   - - - -   MERDEKA   The South Jakarta district court has rejected the suit filed by labour leader Muchtar Pakpahan against the Attorney General for arresting him in connection with the July 27 riots in Jakarta.   The court said the arrest was in line with criminal code procedures.   Pakpahan is accused of subversion. 
541 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GWELF  China is investing an average of 200 billion yuan a year in housing but further reform is needed to make the sector a hot spot of economic growth, the China Securities newspaper said on Tuesday.   Investment in housing as a proportion of residents' expenditures had dropped in recent years and was not enough to meet demand, the newspaper quoted State Planning Commission chief Chen Jinhua as saying.   China still subsidises housing for most urban residents.   The state has been trying to push up rents to real market levels so that it can afford to pay for property improvements.   If spending by residents were increased it would help spur development in the steel, cement, timber, chemical and home appliance industries, Chen said.   The newspaper gave no further details.   ($1 = 8.3 yuan) 
542 !C31 !C311 !C312 !C33 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  China, worried that Australia is considering selling uranium to Taiwan, on Tuesday called for prudence in the event of any such sale.   "Uranium is not an ordinary commodity.   Exporting uranium to Taiwan is a highly sensitive issue," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said when asked about the reports.   "We express concern about the matter and request concerned countries to act with great care," he said without mentioning Australia by name.   Beijing and Taipei have been rivals since the Communists won the Chinese civil war in 1949 and sent the Nationalists fleeing to Taiwan.   Last week, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Canberra was studying whether uranium could be sold to Taiwan's state utility Taiwan Power Co with safeguards so that it would be used only for peaceful purposes.   Downer is scheduled to visit China this week.   Diplomats have said a sale could strain Sino-Australian ties already frayed over the axing of an aid scheme, plans by an Australian cabinet minister to visit Taiwan, a security pact between Canberra and Washington and a planned visit to Australia next month by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. 
543 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  China on Tuesday introduced rules governing direct shipping links with Taiwan, ignoring a decades-old ban by the island it regards as a renegade province.   The regulations, which take effect from Tuesday, allow only wholly Chinese-owned or Taiwan-owned shipping companies or joint ventures involving Chinese or Taiwanese shipowners to sail between the two sides, Xinhua news agency said.   Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said the southeastern Chinese cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou would be the first ports to be opened to direct shipping links with Taiwan.   "The conditions for (establishing) direct shipping links are ripe," the newspaper said.   Taiwan's Nationalist government has banned direct air and shipping links with China since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops lost the Chinese civil war to the communists and fled to the island.   With tensions easing since the late 1980s, civilian aircraft and vessels have skirted the ban by stopping over in a third country or territory such as the British colony of Hong Kong or Portuguese-run Macau.   Taiwanese businessmen, who have poured more than $20 billion into China, are eager for direct transport links, but Taiwanese authorities have been reluctant to lift the ban.   The Nationalists, who say they are committed to reunification with China, see direct transport links as their last bargaining chip in talks with the communists.   China has threatened to invade if the island seeks independence.   Under the regulations, shipping companies must apply with the Chinese Ministry of Communications for permission to ply routes between the two sides.   The rules made no mention of any need to seek approval from Taiwan authorities.   The ministry has 45 days to decide whether to allow a shipping company to sail between the two sides, according to the regulations.   The rules empower the ministry to warn and seize the unlawful income of shipping companies breaking the rules.   China has poured cold water on a proposal by Taipei to turn Taiwan's Kaohsiung into an extraterritorial port, allowing third party ships to ply routes between the two sides.   The Taipei-based Economic Daily News said on Tuesday Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui had urged the central bank to study how to control capital outflows to China in a further bid to limit the island's economic exposure on its main rival's turf.   The central bank denied the report.   Speculation that Taipei might change its China policy has mounted since Lee cautioned last week that the island's economy needed to avoid over-dependence on the mainland.   "The Chinese are not really making much progress on other fronts... They have decided to focus on the three links and apply pressure on the Taiwanese," a Western diplomat in Beijing said.   The three links refer to trade, transport and mail.   On the diplomatic front, the rivalry has intensified, analysts say, with China trying hard to isolate the island and limit its contacts with other states.   Taiwan state-funded television said Vice-President Lien Chan was visiting the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, which formally recognises Beijing.   The Ukraine has denied the report.   China announced a diplomatic coup on Monday, persuading the West African nation of Niger to switch recognition to Beijing. 
544 !GCAT !GDEF  Japan's defence minister, touring the country this week in search of alternative sites for U.S. military artillery ranges to ease the concentration of bases on Okinawa, keeps getting the same answer -- not in my backyard.   Defense Agency chief Hideo Usui, who on Monday launched a five prefecture tour to look for new hosts for the unpopular drills, was rebuffed in Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures, two Tokyo-area districts that are home to Japanese military ranges.   "Yamanashi is doing its part just like Okinawa," Usui was told by Yamanashi Governor Ken Amano, who stressed that his rural prefecture already had a U.S. base near Mt.   Fuji.   Playing down the setback, Usui vowed "greater efforts so that the drills will not have to be held in Okinawa anymore from fiscal 1997".   Three other prefectures -- Hokkaido and Miyagi in northern Japan and Oita in the south -- have indicated there will be no welcome mat for U.S. facilities.   Usui's delicate mission is designed to flesh out an agreement reached last week by Japan and the United States to shift U.S. live-fire artillery drills from Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa to five Japanese military facilities located on the main islands.   The relocation of the drills is a down payment on a wider Japan-U.S. plan to placate the restive southern island, where anti-base sentiment boiled over into massive demonstrations after the rape of a schoolgirl last year by U.S. servicemen.   Okinawa's politicians seized on the sexual assault, for which three U.S. servicemen are serving prison sentences, to highlight long-simmering discontent on tiny Okinawa, home to about 75 percent of all U.S. military facilities.   The defence minister's campaign to persuade other prefectural governors to share Okinawa's burden came as a court battle between the central government and Okinawa Governor Masahide Ota reached a critical phase.   The central government has three times sued Ota for his refusal to serve as Tokyo's proxy in forcing Okinawan landowners to renew leases for U.S. bases.   A final Supreme Court ruling on the first case, initiated last December, is slated for August 28.   The closely watched ruling would set a precedent for the other lawsuits, the most recent of which was filed last week over Ota's refusal to renew land leases for 11 U.S. military bases, including the vital Kadena air base.   The lease contracts expire next May, posing a potential threat to U.S. use of the facilities and thereby complicating U.S.-Japan security ties.   Ota has said that a U.S.-Japan agreement in April to reduce the amount of land occupied by U.S. bases by one-fifth does not go far enough to quell sentiment in Okinawa, the poorest of Japan's 47 prefectures.   To placate Okinawans, who say the sprawling U.S. bases hamper economic development, the government on Tuesday launched a panel of experts to devise schemes to promote industry and create jobs in communities where the U.S. military is located.   Okinawa will hold a referendum on the bases on September 8, just after the first anniversary of the emotive rape case -- the latest example in which local governments have turned to plebiscites to challenge unpopular central government policies.   In a non-binding referendum on August 4, citizens of Maki village in Niigata Prefecture voted against government plans to build a nuclear power plant on a local beach. 
545 !GCAT !GDEF  Manila's armed forces chief General Arturo Enrile said on Tuesday that Singapore had agreed to help modernise the Philippine army by selling it weapons and helping upgrade its armour.   Enrile told reporters that defence ties, which nearly broke down in the furore over the March 1995 hanging in Singapore of Filipina maid Flor Contemplacion for double murder, are now "better than before".   "We are looking at Singapore as one of our sources for our equipment and weapon systems in connection with the modernisation of the armed forces," he said.   Enrile said he sought Singapore's assistance when he met Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Defence Minister Tony Tan on Monday.   He arrived on Saturday after visiting Indonesia and was scheduled to head for Malaysia later on Tuesday.   Enrile said military ties between the two countries were expanding rapidly.   A naval exercise has been inaugurated this year along with the annual exercise between the two armies.   "It is not far-fetched that some time in the future, we will be conducting joint exercises involving all services," he said.   Some of the armaments Manila would be interested in buying were automatic grenade launchers which Singapore was already producing and exporting, Enrile said.   The Philippines was also seeking technical support to upgrade its tanks and armoured cars and had proposed the creation of joint venture companies for the manufacture of items such as automatic rifles and armoured personnel carriers.   Manila has recently embarked on the first phase of a programme to overhaul its armed forces, reducing its size and replacing obsolete equipment in the navy and air force.   The Philippines will spend 50 billion pesos (US$1.9 billion) in the first five years of the modernisation programme running from 1996 to 2000, Enrile said.   The House of Representatives in Manila has already approved a budget of 330 billion pesos over 15 years to modernise the military.   The sum is being reviewed by the Senate.   Some of the money will go into replacing obsolete planes such as the F-5, first commissioned in the mid-1960s and which pales in comparison to the U.S.-made F-16 fighter-bombers in the arsenals of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.   Another target for overhaul and replacement would be most of the World War Two-vintage ships handed to Manila by Washington, which are older than the men serving on them.   ($1 = 26 pesos) 
546 !GCAT !GWEA  Temperatures in Japan are generally expected to be at average and higher-than-average levels from September to November, with average rainfall also anticipated, the Meteorological Agency said on Tuesday.   In September, temperatures will be higher than average, while rainfall will be at average levels, the agency said in its three-month forecast.   October will see as many sunny days as is usual for the month, and temperatures will be average, it said.   Precipitation will be lower than average in most areas, but average in northern Japan and the southern Ryukyu islands, it said.   For November, the agency forecasts average temperatures and rainfall.   However, coastal areas facing the sea of Japan in northern and eastern Japan will tend to have many cloudy, rainy or snowy days, the agency said. 
547 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Cambodian armed forces chief General Ke Kim Yan held peace talks in Thailand with the breakaway Khmer Rouge faction, a top official said on Tuesday.   "The meeting went well and we only have some technical problems about how to (physically) reach each others' bases," co-Defence Minister Tea Banh told reporters outside parliament, adding that they were in radio contact.   He did not give any more details on the talks but said the government forces were just five km (three miles) from the guerrilla positions in some areas around Pailin but had problems linking up.   The government has also been holding talks inside Cambodia with guerrillas loyal to former top Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary from the base of Phnom Malai, north of Pailin.   Ieng Sary and his followers, including the commanders of substantial forces at Phnom Malai and Pailin, have publicly split with hardline Khmer Rouge rulers and said they want to stop fighting and work for national reconciliation.   The government has agreed to a ceasefire and to let the rebels remain in their zones but has balked at allowing Ieng Sary run for a new party in general elections slated for 1998.   Ieng Sary was foreign minister and deputy premier in the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime of his former brother-in-law Pol Pot.   Both men were in 1979 sentenced to death in absentia for overseeing the death of more than one million people.   Tea Banh said there had been clashes between the rival Khmer Rouge groups near Phnom Malai, a forest-clad mountain area on the border with Thailand, but the government had not intervened as the dissidents felt strong enough to beat off any threat.   Khmer Rouge radio, which remains loyal to hardliners led by Pol Pot, claimed on Tuesday that "the traitors in Malai" had asked the government's 12th Division to help put down dissent from Khmer Rouge rank and file in the area.   "The traitors have a lot of money and they can leave the bases easily but the people cannot leave, so the people are furious with them and have started planning to kill the traitors," it reported.   The Ieng Sary commanders, in a statement read out on state radio on Tuesday, denied Khmer Rouge claims there had been demonstrations in their bases.   They said Pol Pot had publicly said violence should be avoided while sending small groups to fight the dissidents.   State radio said people had decided to cut off all radio and phone contacts with hardliners and called on all Khmer Rouge fighters to avoid fighting each other. 
548 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  A man detained in a police cell in northern Japan committed suicide by stuffing toilet paper down his throat, police said on Tuesday.   The 45-year-old man, arrested for allegedly setting fire to his own shop, was found on Sunday in the police cell with five metres (5.5 yards) of toilet paper stuffed down his throat, said a spokesman for Toyohira police in Hokkaido, northern Japan.   "We tried pulling out the paper from his mouth, but he looked pretty suffocated already.   He probably would have been dead in the cell if we had found him a few minutes later," the police spokesman said.   The man was taken to hospital but died on Monday.   Guards patrol the cells every 15 minutes, and the man was last seen squatting in the toilet in his cell, according to the spokesman.   "We can't leave the toilets fully open to view because of human rights considerations...nor can we leave the toilets without paper," the spokesman said.   Police said the man was drunk at the time of the arrest and said he had set the shop on fire because he was feeling irritated. 
549 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Sumitomo Corp reiterated on Tuesday it was not aware of unauthorised trading by former star trader Yasuo Hamanaka when the London Metal Exchange (LME) made an inquiry about the firm's copper trading in late 1991.   In December 1991 Sumitomo sent a letter in reply to the LME, assuring the exchange that its copper trading was legitimate and in line with regulations, according to the text of the letter disclosed by trade sources last week.   The letter, dated December 8, was faxed to LME chief executive David King from the firm's non-ferrous metals division head Iwao Nishiumi in reply to the query.   "When we sent the reply to the LME in December 1991, we were not aware of any unauthorised trades by Hamanaka.   The letter referred to Sumitomo's normal copper trading," a Sumitomo spokesman said.   The 1991 LME letter asked if Sumitomo was having any problems in executing its heavy copper transactions, he said.   The letters were exchanged at a time of large price fluctuations, which some blamed on Hamanaka, who was fired in June this year after Sumitomo admitted it had lost $1.8 billion in copper trading over the last decade.    The Sumitomo spokesman also said the company's then president Tomiichi Akiyama was aware of the exchange of the letters. 
550 !GCAT !GPOL  Thaksin Shinawatra, the tycoon-turned-politician leader of the Palang Dharma Party which recently pulled out of the coalition government, is showering his former colleagues with expensive gifts.   Thaksin, who made a fortune in telecommunications and computers before turning to politics, is known for lavishing his friends and colleagues with expensive presents.   Last week, Thaksin said he sent a 145,800 baht ($5,832) bottle of Romanee-Conti wine to Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa after pulling the Palang Dharma out of Banharn's 13-month-old coalition government.   He said he sent the wine to apologise for leaving the government, which is now facing a no-confidence debate.   On Tuesday, deputy prime minister Somboon Rahong surprised bystanders when he drove up to government house in a brand new black Daimler car.   "It is a present given to me by Thaksin," Somboon, a member of Banharn's Chart Thai party, told reporters.   "He just said that he liked me, then gave me this.   It is not appropriate for me to turn down a present given to me by a millionaire," he said, adding that he did not know the price of the present but estimated it was worth about six million baht.   ($1 = 25 baht) 
551 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  A Maltese bulk carrier that sank off Singapore after a collison leaked a small quantity of oil, an official of Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority said on Tuesday.   "The leak was minimal and most of the opening from which the oil leaked has been plugged," the official told Reuters.   "The oil has not reached Singapore's shore," he said.   The Maltese-flagged 14,114 dwt Herceg Novi sank after it was in collision with the 29,873 gross ton Tawainese container ship Ming Galaxy just before midnight on Sunday.   The bulk carrier had been carrying 12,000 tonnes of scrap iron and 450 tonnes of fuel and diesel oil.   "Investigation has begun into the circustances leading to the collision," the official said.   The collision occurred 5.5 km (3.4 miles) east of Singapore's Raffles lighthouse at the southern tip of Singapore.   The official said the port authority had issued a notice of removal to the owner and agent of the Herceg Novi to remove the sunken vessel as soon as possible.   The port official said the 32 crew members on board the stricken ship had been rescued.    The Taiwanese ship, now anchored off Johor shoal, sustained little damage, while the Herceg Novi sank about two-and-a-half hours after the collision.   The Ming Galaxy was bound for Singapore from the Malacca Strait, while the Herceg Novi was headed for Chittagong in Bangladesh from Singapore, the offical said.   -- Singapore newsroom (65-870-3080) 
552 !GCAT !GCRIM !GREL !GVIO  Japan's police force on Tuesday rapped itself for poor scientific and technical knowledge in investigating the deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways last year.   The National Police Agency's annual white paper for 1996, released on Tuesday, said police lacked expert knowledge when officers started investigations of the March 20, 1995, nerve gas attack on Tokyo subways which killed 11 and left thousands ill.   "It cannot be denied that police were perplexed by the use of the nerve gas sarin," the report said.   Police could not immediately identify the poison gas first developed as a chemical weapon by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.   The report said a series of crimes allegedly committed by doomsday cult Aum Shinri Kyo (Supreme Truth Sect) represented an unprecedented, new type of organised crime.   This type of what police said was new organised crime left a lot for police authorities to consider in reviewing the prevention of organised crime, the report said.   Aum Shinri Kyo leader Shoko Asahara is currently on trial for a total of 17 criminal cases, including two sets of murder charges for the gas attacks.   He could be sentenced to death by hanging.   The 15 other charges range from ordering the execution of rebellious followers to illegal manufacturing of drugs and weapons.   Asahara was also charged with allegedly ordering cult members to spread sarin gas in the city of Matsumoto, 150 km (90 miles) northwest of Tokyo, in June 1994, killing seven people and injuring 600.   The report noted how Yoshiyuki Kono, a victim in the Matsumoto sarin case, was wrongly identified as a prime suspect and that police formally apologised to him.   The white paper also noted that the current police system based on provinces was a hindrance to investigating nationwide crimes.   The report said the Tokyo Metropolitan Police was unable to search the cult's complex in Yamanashi Prefecture, adjacent to the capital, before the Tokyo subway gas attack because of police laws which have prevented investigations crossing prefectural borders.   The white paper suggested that Japan should consider introducing wider legislation to combat organised crime similar to laws in Europe and the United States which allow authorities to seize unlawfully earned money and to pay rewards for information in criminal investigations. 
553 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Japan's vice-defence minister arrived in China on Tuesday to resume military talks between the two nations after contact was suspended in 1989, officials said.   Naoaki Murata, the Defence Agency's highest ranking career official, would meet Chinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian on Thursday, a Japanese embassy official said.   Murata would also meet Qian Shugen, deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, on Tuesday and is to visit a tank division on Wednesday, the official said.   "The dignitaries will work to make bilateral understanding much stronger," the official said, without giving details.   Other Japanese officials have said Murata would brief Beijing on the agreement this year between Japan and the United States to step up defence cooperation under their security pact.   Beijing expressed concern about closer Japan-U.S. defence ties after Tokyo and Washington agreed in April to strengthen military cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.   Japan suspended high-level defence contacts with China after the June 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. 
554 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto departed on Tuesday for a five-nation Latin American visit, saying he was "relieved" at the release of a kidnapped Japanese executive in Mexico, his first stop.   "I was truly relieved to hear the news," Hashimoto said of the release of Japanese electronics executive Mamoru Konno, in the Mexican-U.S. border city of Tijuana after a $2 million ransom was paid.   After nine days in captivity, Konno, president of a U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sanyo Electric Co was found in the basement of an unoccupied building after a Mexican police official contacted kidnappers with the money.   Hashimoto, who expressed gratitude to Mexican authorities and confidence in their ability to deal with any future problems, stressed that he believed Japanese firms "would not pull out or scale down operations in Mexico".   Hashimoto's 10-day tour of Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica will be the first by a Japanese prime minister for seven years to a region whose economic growth is second only to East Asia.   Tokyo has pumped nearly $60 billion into the region in the past 14 years as direct investment, and its economic aid in 1995, at $1.14 billion, was double the level of 1990.   While Japan is the second-largest trading partner after the United States with Latin America, only about four percent of Tokyo's total exports make it to the region.   Japanese officials said Hashimoto hoped to lay a basis for more investment in Latin America, greater exports and closer political ties.   Hashimoto is slated to make a rest stop in Hawaii before returning to Japan on August 30. 
555 !GCAT !GWEA  The weather in Hong Kong will remain fine and hot with haze on Tuesday afternoon with the chance of one of two thunderstorms, the Royal Observatory said.   The number one tropical cyclone warning is in effect.   At 3 pm (0700 GMT) the centre of severe tropical storm Niki was estimated at about 670 km southeast of the territotry and was forecast to move west at about 22 kmh.   Temperatures in Hong Kong averaged 32 C and the relative humidity was 67 percent.   -- Hong Kong Newsroom (852) 2843-6352 
556 !GCAT !GDIP  Three Chinese pensioners have been pedalling the word about the return of Hong Kong to China on a marathon bicycle ride across the country, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.   The three men, aged between 64 and 70, recently bicycled 5,300 km (3,200 miles) across China to celebrate the return of the British colony on July 1, 1997.   Along the way they have been holding seminars and distributing information about the handover, the agency said.   The 88-day road trip took them from Yongcheng city in eastern Shandong province to a remote checkpoint on the border between China's northwestern Xinjiang region and Kazakhstan, which they reached on August 15, it said.   One of them decided last October not to cut his hair until the colony returns to China next year, it said.   China has been trying to boost public interest in the return of Hong Kong with a spate of television shows, exhibitions and newspaper articles.   It recently launched a nationwide competition to test the general knowledge of the colony. 
557 !GCAT !GDIS  Vietnam said on Tuesday a further 34 people had been killed after a storm last week, bringing the death toll to more than 50 with hundreds still missing.   Voice of Vietnam radio said the deaths had been reported in the country's remote northwest, and also said 22 people were missing in the mountainous region some 300 km (190 miles) northwest of Hanoi on the border with China's Yunnan province.   The report said torrential rains over the weekend had caused flooding and landslides and left some 5,000 people in the area without adequate food supplies.   The latest casualties, which could not be immediately confirmed, are in addition to dozens of dead and hundreds still missing in coastal areas to the southeast of Hanoi following a whirlwind storm a few days earlier.   Accurate estimates of the number of missing and dead were still not available on Tuesday.   Survivors contacted at the weekend described how people clung to floating debris after the storm ripped through offshore fishing fleets.   Vietnamese media warned on Tuesday that a new tropical storm, Niki, was heading across the South China Sea and was likely to hit the country later this week.   City authorities in Hanoi, which lies on the Red River, said they had posted a stage three flood warning on Tuesday -- the highest level of alert. 
558 !GCAT !GPOL  Thailand's opposition parties submitted a no-confidence motion on Tuesday against beleaguered Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa, accusing him of damaging the country through mismanagement and inefficiency.   "Prime Minister Banharn is inefficient and shows a lack of leadership... ," the opposition said in the motion submitted to the president of parliament.   "He has abused his duty and turned a blind eye to rampant corruption... all of which has caused damage to the country... "   Debate on the motion will begin on September 11, an opposition member of parliament (MP) told Reuters.   The opposition has said it was confident there was enough strong evidence to bring down Banharn's 13-month old coalition, which has been rocked by the withdrawal of one of its member parties.   "The public will be shocked with the evidence we have in hand," Democrat parliamentarian Chamni Sakdiseth told reporters after the motion was put forward.   Banharn has denied allegations of mismanagement and impropriety, and said he was ready to face the accusations in parliament and had no plans to dissolve the house.   There had been speculation he might try to escape the grilling by dissolving parliament or resigning before the debate.   "You can just forget about me resigning or dissolving parliament," Banharn said on Monday.   He was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday after the no-confidence motion was submitted.   Questions have been raised about the future of Banharn's government since last week when the third largest member, the Palang Dharma party, pulled out of the coalition.   Although the pullout left the six-party coalition with a majority in parliament, factional rivalry within Banharn's own Chart Thai party and threats of more partners leaving the alliance have raised doubts about its survival.   Palang Dharma resigned last week after a row in cabinet over controversial banking licences.   The remaining six parties vowed to stick together at least until the 1996/97 fiscal budget bill was passed.   The debate on the budget bill, which began last Wednesday and is expected to be boted on later on Tuesday, was still going on as the censure motion was put forward.   The record budget of 984 billion baht ($39.36 billion) is expected to easily win parliamentary approval.   Palang Dharma said it would support the bill to ensure its passage.   In the censure debate, the opposition has said it will not only grill Banharn over alleged mismanagement and corruption, but also plans to attack him over his handling of the economy.   Political analysts said on Tuesday that Banharn has various options, making it difficult to predict the course of events in coming weeks.   "Banharn may make a major change to his coalition by resigning and forming a new coalition," said Sukhum Naulsakul, a politics lecturer at Ramkhamhang University.   "He could bring more parties in to his coalition to boost his numbers to ensure he passes the censure vote," he said.   ($1 = 25 baht) 
559 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  A China-controlled body has handed out more than 10,000 nomination forms for Hong Kong people to join the panel that will choose the British colony's leader and legislature when it reverts to China in mid-1997.   The mad scramble began last Thursday when the Preparatory Committee opened the nomination process.   By noon on Tuesday, a committee spokesman told Reuters, 10,767 forms had been issued.   Hong Kong, a bustling capitalist territory of 6.2 million people, will revert to China at midnight on June 30 next year, ending a century-and-a-half of British colonial rule.   The first post-colonial chief executive and a provisional legislature will be picked in November by the Selection Committee, whose 400 seats are now being chased.   "In the entire political history of Hong Kong, we have never seen such an enthusiastic response to any election process," independent political commentator Andy Ho told Reuters.   "From this point of view, China can be considered to have been successful," Ho said.   The nomination process, which will last a month, has drawn a wide range of seat-seekers ranging from members of professional associations to business organisations, from local tycoons and politicians to resident foreign businessmen.   The popular Democratic Party is boycotting the process because it views as illegal China's plan to dismantle Hong Kong's fully elected Legislative Council and replace it with the appointed provisional council on July 1 next year. 
560 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan's secretive journey has taken him to the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, a state-funded television station said on Tuesday.   "After Vice-President Lien mysteriously disappeared in New York (on Sunday), he made a brief stopover in Vienna and then flew to the Ukrainian capital Kiev," Taiwan Television said in its midday broadcast.   The broadcast gave no source for the information.   The latest report follows a flurry of rumours since Monday that Lien had arrived in various European nations.   China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province ineligible for foreign ties and has sought to isolate it diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   Last week China denounced Lien's transit stop in New York.   Taiwan's authoritative United Daily News, also giving no source for its information, said in its Tuesday editions that Lien would meet in Kiev with Ukraine's head of state.   Officials in Taipei declined to comment on the reports.   Ukraine recognises the communist government in Beijing, not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China, but has made clear its desire for better ties with Taiwan and its export-driven economy.   Taiwan had donated rice and medicine to help Ukraine and both sides were mulling setting up representative offices to boost economic ties, the television said.   "Bilateral relations should improve after Vice-President Lien's visit," the television said.   Reports swirled in Taipei that Lien, a billionaire who is also the island's premier, was bound for Hungary, Spain, Austria, Switzerland or even Belarus or Poland.   Foreign Minister John Chang said on Monday that Lien, in transit in New York on Sunday after visiting the Dominican Republic, had made a detour to a "third country" where Taiwan has no diplomatic ties.   He declined to say which country.   The Czech Republic and Austria are still smarting from Beijing's diplomatic tirades after Lien visited those two countries in mid-1995.   Beijing downgraded its U.S. ties after Washington allowed Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to make a private visit in June 1995 and has only recently taken steps to mend relations.   Taiwan's diplomatic allies were cut to 30 on late on Monday after Niger renewed diplomatic relations with China.   Taiwan's foreign ministry severed diplomatic ties with the West African state shortly after the announcement. 
561 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Burma's military government has imposed a seven-year prison sentence on a personal assistant to democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and two other party members, National League for Democracy (NLD) sources said on Tuesday.   "U Win Htein and two other NLD members were sentenced on August 16 to seven years imprisonment each," an NLD source told Reuters.   "They were charged for taking part in a video conspiracy fabricating the poor situation of the farmers.   He said the identity of the other two was not known nor was it known what section they were sentenced under, but said he thought it was likely under a sweeping Emergency Powers Act.   Win Htein, Suu Kyi's assistant was one of more than 250 NLD members arrested by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in a crackdown on democracy politicians ahead of a May 26 party congress at Suu Kyi's house.   Aye Win, a relative and personal assistant to NLD leader Su Kyi, was also arrested in the crackdown.   His family told Reuters on Tuesday he had not yet been sentenced.   Most of the NLD politicians arrested by the SLORC were released after the May 26-28 party meeting took place.   The government said at the time the arrests were made to prevent "anarchy" and unrest from the meeting.   But a handful of the NLD members, including Win Htein, remained in custody and were sent to Rangoon's Insein Prison. 
562 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  An overture by China to bring its critics into the team picking Hong Kong's future leadership shows openness but might split the democratic camp in the British colony, analysts said on Tuesday.   Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said this month the 400-member body that will choose the chief executive and legislators who will run the territory after its July 1, 1997, transfer to China could include people with divergent views on democracy.   His remark at a Beijing meeting was taken in the colony as an olive branch towards Hong Kong's popular Democratic Party, which so far has been excluded from transition arrangements.   Although pegged to the acceptance of China's plan for an appointed "provisional legislature" to replace the current fully elected council, the remark was in stark contrast to China's harsh invective against the party over the past year.   The gesture is also fuelling heated discussion in local political circles and newspaper columns about China's motives.   "It might be an attempt to split the democrats, but more probably Beijing has realised that they've failed to split them so far and it's time to get them on board," Hong Kong University political analyst Nihal Jayawickrama told Reuters.   "I'm sure there are elements in the Democratic Party who will feel the urge to respond positively," he said.   But Democratic Party leader Martin Lee last weekend rejected the idea of joining the Selection Committee, saying that would amount to recognition of an illegitimate body.   The party argues that China's plan to scrap the present legislature and appoint a new "provisional" one has no basis in law or in the handover treaties with London.   "So long as China insists that any participant must assist in both selection processes -- Hong Kong's future chief executive and the provisional legislature -- I can't see how they can get the democrats on board," Jayawickrama said.   But he said it was likely the temptation would prove strong for some of Lee's associates and that they would quit the party.   China is very eager to give the Selection Committee a greater air of legitimacy by including some democrats, some China analysts in Hong Kong believe.   "At the end of the day, it's a question of who gets into the committee.   And I don't think people like Lee or (deputy party leader) Szeto Wah would get in even if they are nominated," political commentator Andy Ho told Reuters.   The leaders of the party, the biggest in this territory of 6.2 million people, have drawn Beijing's wrath since 1989 when they sided with the student-led, pro-democracy movement that Chinese army tanks crushed in Tiananmen Square.   "We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that China has changed its position towards the Democratic Party," Ho said.   "It just wants to create an impression of openness."   Some of China's Hong Kong advisers differ in their view of Qian's remarks.   Tsang Yok-Sing, a pro-Beijing politician, has said he did not see them as an invitation to the democrats.   Emily Lau, an outspoken independent democrat who has often riled China's communist rulers, interpreted Qian's comment as a brazen effort to drive a wedge into the democratic movement.   Qian had divided the pro-democracy camp into "people who are prepared to compromise their principles and those who will stand firm", Lau wrote in a column in the South China Morning Post.   "With the scramble for seats on the Selection Committee having begun in earnest, it will rapidly become clear that some members of the pro-democracy camp are eager for a place... These people have long been itching to open dialogue with Beijing and are now only too eager to be given recognition," Lau wrote. 
563 !GCAT !GDEF  Japan is investigating reports that two Japanese fighter planes chased a Qantas airliner earlier this month, forcing it to take emergency evasive action, Defence Minister Hideo Usui said on Tuesday.   According to an Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) report, Qantas flight 22 from Tokyo to Sydney was tailed off Japan's Pacific coast on August 8.   The pilot saw on his radar that two Japanese fighters were tracking the Boeing 747 and pulled the plane into a steep ascent to avoid an incident, ABC radio reported.   Commenting on the report, officials of Japan's air force said there was no record of its fighters scrambling or taking emergency steps on that date and that there are no Japanese air force training zones along the route from Tokyo to Sydney.   The Ministry of Transportation said it had received a request from its Australian counterpart to investigate what the ministry called the "approach" of two fighters toward the Qantas jet, but said it was unable to confirm the origin of the planes.   The Qantas captain filed a report complaining of the intimidating behaviour of the Japanese fighter jets, ABC radio said.   The report comes as Japan's armed forces are working to overcome criticism for shooting down friendly aircraft twice in the past nine months.   In June a Japanese navy destroyer shot down a U.S. warplane during naval manoeuvres in the mid-Pacific near Hawaii.   The previous incident involving Japan's military happened last November, when a Japanese Air Force F-15 fighter shot down another Japanese F-15 during dogfight training in the Sea of Japan.   In both cases, the pilots were rescued unharmed. 
564 !GCAT !GPOL  Thailand's opposition parties submitted on Tuesday a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa accusing him of damaging the country through mismanagement and inefficiency.   "Prime Minister Banharn is inefficient and shows a lack of leadership... He has abused his duty and turned a blind eye to rampant corruption...all of which has caused damage to the country...," the opposition said in the motion submitted to the president of parliament.    The president of the parliament has set September 11 as the date when the debate will begin, an opposition member of parliament (MP) told Reuters.   Opposition MPs have said they are confident they will be able to bring about an end to the six-party coalition government.   "The public will be shocked with the evidence we have," Democrat MP Chamni Sakdiseth told reporters after the motion was tabled.   Banharn has said he is ready to face the accusations in parliament and has no plans to dissolve the house. 
565 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  A split within Cambodia's secretive Khmer Rouge rebel group offers the biggest chance for peace in years but has ruffled feathers within the nation's strained coalition government, analysts said on Tuesday.   "The bottom line is that everyone in government is looking at how the Khmer Rouge can enhance their own interests.   Everybody wants a slice of the Khmer Rouge," said one analyst, adding the rebel dissidents were also seen as election assets.   "The Khmer Rouge becomes like a mercenary army.   They (have) become a prized possession," said an Asian diplomat.   Second Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formerly communist Cambodian People's Party (CPP) was quick to make the most out of the announcements by former top Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary and two senior commanders that they had split from the hardliners.   The co-premier on Friday said Ieng Sary, who was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the deaths of more than one million people under the 1975-79 Khmer Rouge regime, must be protected and his past put aside in the interests of peace.   First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who heads the royalist FUNCINPEC party in an uneasy alliance with the CPP, has said Hun Sen's announcement on August 8 of thousands of defections in two key northwest rebel bases was premature.   He said on Saturday that any decision to allow Ieng Sary back into the national fold could not be taken by the prime ministers, but should be up to the members of parliament who had unanimously outlawed the group in 1994 after peace talks failed.   Analysts said Hun Sen seemed to have realised he had jumped the gun as he met Ranariddh on the weekend and agreed they must work out a common strategy and handle the issue in accordance with the constitution and law.   His gesture has helped, at least temporarily, to prevent the Khmer Rouge split from widening the rift between FUNCINPEC and CPP, which began in March when Ranariddh threatened to leave the government if the CPP refused to cede royalists more power to royalists .   Hun Sen warned that he would use force to prevent any attempt to break up the government and parliament and while the war of words has abated in recent weeks, suspicion, resentment and anger still lingers beneath the surface, analysts said.   The second premier's handling of the dissident Khmer Rouge guerrillas and apparently extra-legal promises of protection and rehabilitation had threatened to further torpedo relations between the coalition parnters.   "He wants to take (the credit) for his own advantage," a senior royalist said after Hun Sen's announced the defections.   "It is a delicate affair and we must not be happy before killing the tiger...let them get under our control first," he told Reuters.   "Do you believe that if the CPP (alone) invited them to come that they will come?"   Hun Sen has since acknowledged the key role being played by FUNCINPEC commanders, who were once allied with the Khmer Rouge.   One analyst said Hun Sen might have hoped that by embracing Ieng Sary he would be able to claim the allegiance of his own group of Khmer Rouge defectors and counter rebels who agreed to join the royalists in the northwest province of Siem Reap.   "In politics there are no permanent friends, there are permanent interests," he said, adding that if Hun Sen managed to get his way over Ieng Sary, Ranariddh would be finished, but "If this backfires, Hun Sen will be in trouble."   Several analysts believed the ultimate goal was to boost standing ahead of the next polls.   "This is the road to the 1998 elections, to the one real premiership," he said.   He warned that the Khmer Rouge should not be underestimated and added that if all sides approached the developments from a national interest the outlaws would be finished.   "I'm not convinced yet if we are united...if we are it's a happy ending story for Cambodia." 
566 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan's secretive journey has taken him to Ukraine, a state-funded television station said on Tuesday.   "After Vice-President Lien mysteriously disappeared in New York (on Sunday), he made a brief stopover in Vienna and then flew to the Ukrainian capital Kiev," Taiwan Television said in its midday broadcast.    The broadcast gave no source for the information.   Taiwan's authoritative United Daily News, also giving no source for its information, said in Tuesday's edition that Lien would meet in Kiev with Ukraine's head of state.   Ukraine, a member of the former Soviet Union, recognises the communist government in Beijing, not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China government, but has made clear its desire for better relations with Taiwan and its powerful export-driven economy.   Since a civil war separated them in 1949, Beijing has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province ineligible for sovereign ties with other countries and has pledged to retake Taiwan by force if it tries to become an independent country. 
567 !GCAT !GVIO  South Korean riot police on Tuesday ended a seven-day occupation of a university campus by more than 2,000 students calling for reunification with communist North Korea.   Here is chronology of the Yonsei protests:   Aug 13 - Students begin three-day festival at Yonsei University calling for unification with communist North Korea.   Hundreds of radicals, who also demand the withdrawal of 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in the South, are blocked from leaving Seoul to march towards the border.   The festival is outlawed.   Aug 14 - Riot police backed by helicopters and armoured vehicles firing tear gas storm Yonsei to break up the festival attended by about 2,000 students.   Students shelter at a classroom complex and a science block.   Police ring the campus.   Aug 15 - About 6,000 students gather at Yonsei to mark the 51st anniversary of the end of World War Two that liberated Korea from 35-year Japanese colonial rule but divided the peninsula into communist North and the capitalist South.   Police storm Yonsei again.   Aug 16 - Police raid the campus again to try to arrest about 3,600 students continuing violent protests.   They pull back after failing to seize the students.   Some students sneak off the campus into surrounding hills.   Aug 17 - More than 10,000 riot police storm the university for the fourth straight day and mass around the two buildings.   More than 2,000 students hole up inside.   Aug 18 - Police step up pressure on students by stopping parents from delivering food and medicine.   Police seek to cut power supply to the buildings but the university refuses permission because a blackout could spoil costly projects under way in science block laboratories.   Aug 19 - Weary students begin fainting and ambulances rush about a dozen of them, some unconscious, to hospital.   More than 10 students surrender.   Police warn they could use firearms to break up violent protests.   Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung vows severe punishment for radical leaders but promises leniency for students who have simply taken part in occupation.   Aug 20 - Crack police units backed by helicopters storm the classroom building to end seven-day occupation.   Hours later, students at the science block escape into narrow alleyways and hills surrounding Yonsei.   Police arrest more than 1,000 students from the captured complex and more than 700 fleeing from the science block. 
568 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Indonesia's military has pledged to rescue 13 forestry company workers held hostage in remote Irian Jaya province, the official Antara news agency reported on Tuesday.   "We will move to rescue them before long," army chief General Hartono was quoted as saying on Monday.   The hostages are employees of concessionaire PT Kamundan Raya, a subsidiary of the Djajanti Group.   They were kidnapped last Wednesday when their base camp 60 km (37 miles) west of the town of Timika was attacked by a group of Irianese.   Timika is about 4,000 km (2,500 miles) east of Jakarta.   Hartono said the military thought the hostage-takers were criminals and not seperatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) rebels.   Antara gave no other details.   Military officials in Irian Jaya said they had located the area where the hostages were being held and were ready to free them.   The kidnappers have sent sent three demands to the military in Irian Jaya: cessation of all logging; appointment of tribal leader Tom Beanal as a mediator; and the involvement of a human rights organisation in negotiations.   Beanal, an environmental activist, told Reuters from Timika, that he had not received the demand.   "Everything regarding this kidnapping is still vague.   I don't have much idea of what's going on, so I think I don't want to get involved," he said by telephone.   Indonesia faces limited resistance to its rule in Irian, a former Dutch colony it seized in 1963, especially from the OPM.   The OPM held 11 hostages, including five Europeans, for more than four months to publicise its fight for a free Irian Jaya.   In May, four British, two Dutch and three Indonesian hostages held by the OPM escaped after the army tried to rescue them.   Two Indonesian hostages were killed by their captors. 
569 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GREL  Police have accused an Indonesian Catholic priest of publicly showing hatred against President Suharto following last month's riots in Jakarta, a lawyer said on Tuesday.   Police were not immediately available for comment.   A spokesman for the Legal Aid Institute, Munir, told Reuters that Father Ignatius Sandyawan would appear before police for questioning later on Tuesday.   "Sandyawan has been accused of...publicly showing hatred against President Suharto, showing enmity against the authorities and harbouring criminals.   He is not under arrest, but his arrest may come anytime," Munir said.   Officials have accused Sandyawan of sheltering three members of the leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD), including Budiman Sudjatmiko, its leader who is blamed for the July 27 riots in which four people died and scores of cars and buildings were set on fire.   Showing hatred against the president carries a maximum penalty of six years' imprisonment.   Sandyawan is the secretary of a team of volunteers trying to assist the victims of the July 27 riots, the worst violence in the city for more than two decades.   He was not immediately available for comment.   The riots began after police stormed the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of former founding president Sukarno.   The Kompas newspaper said on Tuesday that Sudjatmiko and two other PRD acitivists had come to Sandyawan for protection.   The priest housed them in the home of his brother, Benny Sumardi.   Sumardi, who is also accused of harbouring criminals, and the activists were arrested last week.   Munir said authorities had accused 13 activists, including those from the PRD, of subversion in connection with the riots.   Subversion is punishable by death.   An Indonesian court on Monday upheld the arrest of labour leader Muchtar Pakpahan on subversion charges.   Pakpahan, leader of the unrecognised Indonesian Labour Welfare Union, had appealed his arrest but a district court turned it down. 
570 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Vietnam will this week put on trial two prominent intellectuals jailed last year in a crackdown on dissent, a rights group and dissident sources said on Tuesday.   They said Le Hong Ha, a former high ranking Communist Party member, and Ha Si Phu, a leading academic, would face a court in Hanoi on Thursday on charges of disclosing state secrets.   The two men were arrested in November last year as part of a crackdown on dissent in the run-up to Hanoi's Eighth Communist Party Congress, which has held in late June.   Phu was said to have given an interview to a French radio station and to have distributed documents in which he criticised the Hanoi government.   Le Hong Ha had been expelled from the Communist Party after voicing support for Hoang Minh Chinh, another leading dissident.   The arrests of the two men were criticised at the time by international human rights groups that accused Hanoi of placing itself in violation of international laws.   The Paris-based Alliance Vietnam Liberte said in a statement on Tuesday that the case was being watched closely by several organisations in Europe and North America.   It called for independent observers to be allowed to attend the court hearing.   Official confirmation of the trial was not immediately available.   The charges against the two men fall under article 92 of Vietnam's Penal Code and allow for jail terms of between two and seven years.   In serious cases, however, the jail term can be extended to a maximum of 15 years. 
571 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Hong Kong dimsum cook has told a court he chopped up his temptress boss into 11 pieces after she stripped off her clothes in his bedroom and tried to seduce him.   Zeng Liangxin, a 31-year-old worker imported from China who went on trial for the murder on Monday, told the court he killed the woman because he feared she would accuse him of rape after he had spurned her, the South China Morning Post newspaper said.   He decapitated the body and carved it into chunks that he threw into a river, he told Monday's hearing.   But he slept with her legs that night after becoming too exhausted with the grisly task and fearing that he would be spotted if he made too many trips with the dismembered body.   He dumped the legs the next morning, he said.   Zeng is a specialist in dimsum, a style of Chinese teahouse snacks popular among the local Cantonese population as well as in Chinatowns overseas. 
572 !GCAT  With 315 days to go before the British colony reverts to China, the Hong Kong media focused on issues related to the handover, the election of the 400-strong Selection Committee and the future official language.   The middle of the road HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL said the Democratic Party's refusal to join the Selection Committee might not prove to be political suicide provided the party could influence the establishment from the outside.   It said Hong Kong people should persuade Beijing to allow such political freedoms to counteract the lack of representativeness of the provisional legislature.   It said the Democratic Party should grasp any opportunity to talk to Beijing and fight for its legal existence after the handover.   It said time was running out and it was meaningless to quibble over the election of the provisional legislature and the chief executive.   It said politicians should not ignore the reality that if Hong Kong people were forced to choose, most of them would go for money instead of democracy.   The pro-Beijing TA KUNG PAO said that the attempt by some people to ask the courts to judge the legality of the provisional legislature was ridiculous.   It said the Hong Kong courts were a part of the British colonial structure, while the provisional legislature would be set up according to the Basic Law and the decisions of China's National People's Congress.   It said the colonial court had no power to judge the legality of the provisional legislature and the laws it would make.   The English-language HONGKONG STANDARD said the Government should do everything it could to encourage young people to want to learn Putonghua.   It said Putonghua would make a more logical official language than Cantonese.   The middle of the road HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES said Hong Kong's unemployment rate was likely to drop further but it was still difficult for low-income, old and skilless people to find jobs.   -- Hong Kong Newsroom (852) 28436441 
573 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Vietnam will this week place on trial two prominent intellectuals who were jailed last year in a government crackdown on dissent, a rights group and dissident sources said on Tuesday.   They said Le Hong Ha, a former high ranking Communist Party member and Ha Si Phu, a leading academic, would face a court in Hanoi on Thursday.    The two men were arrested in November last year as part of a crackdown on dissent in the run-up to Hanoi's Eighth Communist Party Congress.   Phu was charged with leaking state secrets through an interview with a French radio station and through the distribution of documents in which he criticised the Hanoi government.   Le Hong Ha had earlier been expelled from the Communist Party after voicing support for Hoang Minh Chinh, another prominent dissident.   The Paris-based group Alliance Vietnam Liberte said in a statement on Tuesday the arrests had been condemned by numerous overseas bodies as well as international rights groups. 
574 !GCAT !GVIO  South Korean students fled a Seoul university building on Tuesday, ending a violent seven-day occupation of the campus in which they had demanded unification with North Korea, witnesses said.   The students left a science building hours after riot police backed by helicopters and assault troops stormed one of two occupied buildings on the Yonsei university campus and began arresting undergraduates branded by authorities as North Korean sympathisers, the witnesses said.    Hundreds of students streamed out of the back door of the science block where they had been holding riot police at bay with gas cylinders and dangerous chemicals seized from laboratories, witnesses said.   It was not clear whether any students remained in the building, but witnesses said resistance on the campus now appeared to be over.   Many of the students raced into narrow alleyways surrounding the university and clamboured over rooftops to try to evade riot police.   But some gathered on a main road and confronted riot police with rocks and iron bars. 
575 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Workers at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co Ltd and Hyundai Pipe Co Ltd, units of South Korea's Hyundai Group, have gone on strike over wages and working conditions, a group spokesman said on Tuesday. 
576 !GCAT  In the narrow, cobbled streets of Portuguese-run Macau, a rocky outcrop on the south China coast, a humble rice cake has come to symbolise a meeting of cultures.   The cake, a twist of traditional Portuguese pastry fashioned from rice flour, is called Bolo de Arroz.   So is the popular cafe run by Luisa Castanheira.   "We named it Bolo de Arroz because rice cakes are a traditional Portuguese pastry and rice is associated with China, and here in Macau we are in China," Castanheira told Reuters.   The cake shop, which doubles as a Lisbon-style coffee house, has become an institution among local residents and tourists, almost three years after its opening by the Castanheira family from Portugal.   "We are not just a cake shop and cafe but also a meeting place," said Castanheira, from Lisbon.   Some local Chinese call the shop "the Portuguese cave," not only for its cavern-like layout but also because they consider it to be the territory's number-one hangout for civil servants on secondment for Portugal.   She said that while most of her customers were Portuguese, there was an ever increasing number of tourists from Hong Kong and elsewhere, as well as local Chinese dropping by.   "The Portuguese tend to linger on, but many Chinese just come for takeaways," Castanheira said.   For Macau's 4,000-plus Portuguese expatriates, the Bolo de Arroz is the ultimate culinary blessing in the twilight years of Portugal's rule over the territory, which reverts to China in 1999.   For the majority Chinese population and foreign visitors, the Bolo de Arroz is one of the exotic attractions of Macau's unique Sino-Portuguese cultural -- and culinary -- heritage.   In the local Chinese dialect, Cantonese, the shop is called "mai beng uk" or rice cake house.   The Bolo de Arroz not only serves rice cakes but 100 other types of Portuguese-style cakes, sandwiches, cheeses and hams imported from Portugal.   The shop is in the basement of a residential building on Travessa de S. Domingos next to Macau's main square, the Largo do Senado.   It seats up to 40 people, including several tables on a mezzanine gallery.   With the exception of a master pastry cook from Portugal, all its employees are Filipinos, some of whom have already picked up a smattering of Portuguese.   Castanheira is confident her shop in Macau will be around long after the change in sovereignty.   The family also runs three Portuguese restaurants in Macau, and is mulling proposals to open a Portuguese rice cake shop in the nearby British colony of Hong Kong, which China takes back in mid-1997. 
577 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Moroccan press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LE MATIN DU SAHARA   - King Hassan to deliver speech on 43rd anniversary of the revolution of the king and the people marking Morocco's fight against French protectorate.   - Tunisian Prime Minister expected in Morocco soon.   LE QUOTIDIEN DU MAROC   - Referendum over split of parliament into two chambers might be held mid-September.   BAYANE-AL-YOUM   - What is the point of arresting and sentencing drug traffickers in absence of global strategy?  .   AL-ANBAA   - King Hassans pardons 570 prisoners and commutes sentences of 22 others, on day marking the 43rd anniversary of the revolution of the king and the people. 
578 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to mediate with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt Jewish settlements in the Palestinian occupied West Bank and Gaza.   "An explosion between the Palestinian landowners and the settlers has come very close as a result of the Israeli government policy supporting settlement," Arafat told Mubarak in a message this week, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday.   "I'm sure that your excellency will not spare any effort to get the peace process back to its correct track," he said.   Netanyahu's government this month cancelled a new settlement building freeze imposed by the previous government which made peace deals with the Palestinians.   Palestinians, who hope to eventually establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, regard the 130,000 Jews settled amidst the nearly two million Palestinians in the areas since Israel captured them in 1967 as an obstacle.   Under an interim peace deal, Israel handed parts of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to Palestinian rule in 1994 and 1995.   Final peace talks begun before Israel's May elections have yet to resume under Netanyahu.   Egypt, which was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel in 1979, has acted as a mediator in the Middle East peace process that started in Madrid in 1991. 
579 !GCAT !GDIP  A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned escalation of violence in Lebanon would not be good for Syria, a senior government source said on Tuesday Israel was not trying to "heat up the border" with Syria.   The statement followed an Israeli Channel Two television report on Monday that Syria had tested a long-range Scud missile able to hit Israeli cities.   "There is no intention to heat up the border with Syria," a government source who spoke on condition he not be named told Reuters.   During his first visit to Israeli-occupied south Lebanon since his May election victory, Netanyahu warned the Hizbollah guerrilla group that its raids on Israeli forces would only worsen the conflict.   "It is not good for Syria, Lebanon or Hizbollah or Israel.   Therefore our choice is to try to reach a calming of the situation and guaranteeing security for all," Netanyahu said.   Israel says Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon with 35,000 troops there, could curb Hizbollah guerrillas fighting to oust Israel from a 15 km (nine mile) south Lebanon buffer strip the Jewish state has held since 1982.   Lebanon and Syria have both rejected Netanyahu's "Lebanon First" proposal -- by which Israel would withdraw from south Lebanon for the right security guarantees -- as a ploy to avoid handing the Golan Heights back to Damascus.   Israel captured the strategic Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war.   Netanyahu says he will keep the plateau.   Israel's previous government said it was ready to make painfull concessions on the Golan for full peace with Syria. 
580 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Saudi Arabian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-RIYADH   - King Fahd orders promotion of eight military officers to the rank of major general from brigadier.   - Saudi Basic Industries Corp operates 19 plants producing 22 million tonnes annually; 75 percent of production exported to international markets.   ARAB NEWS   - King Fahd highlights agricultural growth, says will remain an indivisible part of Saudi security.   - Defence Minister Prince Sultan to visit Yemen on August 28, will preside over Saudi-Yemeni joint commission in Sanaa.   - Private Saudi companies which show a lack of commitment to employ Saudi nationals will be denied government loans.   - China signs $110 million agreement with Saudi's National Factory for Air Conditioning to import air conditioners. 
581 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Tunisian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LA PRESSE   - President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali recommends new measures to face overproduction in some agricultural products this season.   LE TEMPS   - President Ben Ali discusses the 1997 budget draft with Finances Minister Nouri Zorgati.   ASSABAH   - Overproduction in tomatoes this season.   LE RENOUVEAU   - President Ben Ali recommends studies for computer applications development. 
582 !GCAT !GVIO  Turkish police killed two people on Tuesday in an attack on a suspected guerrilla safe house in Istanbul, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.   The two died in an exchange of gunfire with the police in the western Istanbul district of Eyup, the agency reported.   It did not identify the dead.   Police in the past have raided houses where they believe Kurdish separatist rebels or leftist guerrillas are sheltered. 
583 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Cyprus newspapers on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   ALITHIA   - American proposal for military talks is to be discussed at National Council session this afternoon.   - The Greek-Cyprus defence cooperation "dogma" will only be invoked in case the Cyprus military force is attacked, says government spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides.   HARAVGHI   - The United States instists on military talks; President Clerides rejects proposal for a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.   - Cyprus Airways crisis still on, flight delays continue.   PHILELEFTHEROS   - Full parliamentary control over semi-governmental organisations.   All decisions by management councils will have to be approved by parliament.   - Plenty of money in the market, not enough demand for loans, says A. Afxentiou, governor of Cyprus Central Bank.   SIMERINI   - Nicosia rejects a proposal put forward by U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali for a meeting between President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. 
584 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Iraq on Tuesday criticised the United Nations Security Council for imposing an air embargo on Sudan for failing to hand over three men accused of trying to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last year.   "When the Security Council deals with Arab issues it does not take into consideration principles of justice and the United Nations charter.   It only becomes energetic when it wants to direct a blow against this Arab country or that," said a Foreign Ministry spokesman in remarks quoted by Iraqi newspapers.   "Iraq rejects such unjust policy being followed by the Security Council which contradicts principles and objectives of the United Nations charter," the spokesman said.   The Security Council last week imposed an air embargo on Sudan -- but delayed putting it into effect for at least three months -- for failing to extradite three men accused of trying to assassinate Mubarak in Addis Ababa last year.   Khartoum said it could not hand over the three Egptian suspects because they were not in Sudan.   The Iraqi spokesman said: "The brotherly Arabs should solve their problems by themselves...and should not internationalise them."   Sudan sympathised with Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War in which a U.S-led multinational force ended Iraq's seven-month occupation of Kuwait. 
585 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   SABAH   - Opposition Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Yilmaz causes confusion ahead of the ANAP annual conference by saying those with different views should form different parties.   - Exporters call for a realistic exchange rate to help boost exports.   MILLIYET   - Islamist premier Erbakan wants to reopen investigation of a plane crash in 1993 in which the head of the gendarmerie died.   - Two major unions agree joint action to protest against criticism of workers by Deputy Prime Minister Ciller.   HURRIYET   - New casino regulations, restricting opening hours and introducing a dress code, have reduced the number of gamblers and casino revenues.   CUMHURIYET   - Istanbul faces a hard winter with inadequate amounts of natural gas to meet the rising number of subscribers.   YENI YUZYIL   - Foreign investment in Turkey has began to decrease in the last two years while investment in emerging markets generally increases.   DUNYA   - Bus companies, leaving travellers stranded, continue to boycott the coach station in the major resort of Antalya in protest at the level of fees for using the station. 
586 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in Syrian newspapers on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   SYRIA TIMES   - Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah ends his visit to Syria and stresses identical views on ties and joint Arab action.   TISHREEN   - In a provocative act, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the occupied zone in south Lebanon and threatens escalating attacks against Lebanon.   - Palestinian leader Farouk Kaddoumi says: "Israel does not want peace."   AL-THAWRA   - Lebanese President Elias Hrawi says: "We are committed to coordination with Syria to achieve peace."   - Arab League says "Israeli nuclear armament threatens the pan-Arab security."   AL-BAATH   - Syrian-Iranian talks continue.   Preparations to sign a number of agreements today.   Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi says: "We will not accept any solution that would not achieve total Israeli withdrawal." 
587 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Jordanian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL RAI   - King Hussein: We are serious about fighting corruption and implementing self-sufficiency.   I have no thoughts of adjusting or changing the government and will not take any steps in this atmosphere.   Our relations with Saudi Arabia are continuous and we will not forget they stood by us in all our ordeals.   - Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti denies any plans to reshuffle government.   Says the situation is calm and government will continue its programme.   - Complete calm prevails in southern governorates.   - 150 people arrested for suspected involvement in violence or agitation.   JORDAN TIMES   - King says no intention or even thought to change government.   Normal life returns slowly to Karak.   - At least 40 leftist activists among 150 rounded up after riots in the south.   - Eleven professional associations reject opposition calls for government's resignation.   - Kabariti and Karak deputy Nazih Ammarin reconcile after Ammarin's "temporary exile" in Amman, sources say.   AD DUSTOUR   - King Hussein: We will not meet disobedience with concessions.   - Kabariti tells ministries to prepare 1997 budgets.   AL ASWAQ   - King Hussein says rioters were linked to Iraq and investigations will show just how large Iraqi involvement was.   - Curfew on Karak expected to be lifted today. 
588 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Egyptian press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AHRAM   - Government to promote internationally 100 projects worth 75 billion pounds; work in 20 of the projects will begin this year.   Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri says government is working on removing obstacles to investment.   - Private sector will contribute in establishing tourism and development area to cost 3.65 billion pounds between Balteem and Hamasa.   - Social Fund will earmark $800 million for projects during the next stage; projects to concentrate on development and creating job opportunities in southern Egypt.   - Mubarak calls Yemeni president to discuss developments in the Red Sea and Arab and regional affairs.   - Mubarak congratulates Egyptian team to disabled olympics.   AL-AKHBAR   - Extremism rife in Israel -- Netanyahu to review new project on settlements in West Bank.   Israeli government boycotts Oslo anniversary celebrations; Peres may meet Arafat to examine peace process.   - 10 percent of private education income to boost plan to introduce technology to education field.   - Tough security measures in place to track down suspects in armed robbery of Sohag gold shops.   AL-GOMHURIA   - Arafat threatens to take peace process to international arbitration; Israel drags feet over Hebron pullout.   Peres says "Lebanon First" is laughable.   - 4.2 billion pounds turnover on stock market during past seven months. 
589 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Bahraini press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AYAM   - Bahrain's economy will witness positive developments, various sectors achieve higher economic growth.   - Crown Prince Sheikh Hamad meets Oman's minister of state for foreign affairs.   Talks covered ways of settling disputes between Gulf Arab states.   - Bahraini-Jordanian joint committee meets next month in Amman.   AKHBAR AL-KHALEEJ   - Second biggest hospital in Bahrain built at a cost of 1.5 million dinars is due to be completed next month.   - Official sources: Half of the members of the new Shura council will be selected from the boards of national societies.   GULF DAILY NEWS   - Better labour ties sought.   A campaign is being waged to forge better ties between workers and managements.   - Partial production of the first Bahrain-made vehicle battery begins on Tuesday at Gulf Powerbeat.   - Gulf Arab states face huge capital costs to meet growing demands for energy, economist says. 
590 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Beirut press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AN-NAHAR   -Kuwaiti Crown Prince in Beirut.   -Death of one pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia officer in south Lebanon blast.   AS-SAFIR   -Mount Lebanon elections...the first step towards a parliament without opposition.   -Hizbollah: We will not run on pro-government lists in either south Lebanon or the Bekaa Valley elections.   -Economy Minister Jaber: a common Arab market is needed.   AL-ANWAR   -President Hrawi: Lebanon will stick to the Madrid principles of land-for-peace.   -Netanyahu: We will not stand with our hands tied in the face of Hizbollah attacks.   AD-DIYAR   -Interest rates down on treasury bills.   NIDA'A AL-WATAN   -Gross Domestic Product growth was slightly up in Q2 1996 but remains well below the seven percent forecast for the year, partly due to an Israeli blitz in April, Banque Audi said. 
591 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Kuwaiti press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   AL-QABAS   - Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah promises full support to Lebanon.   - Kuwait National Petroleum Company reports profit fall in fiscal year 1994/95.   AL-WATAN   - Kuwait lends Lebanon 50 million dinars ($167 million).   - Al-Fujairah Cement Company leads trade at Kuwait Stock Exchange.   AL-RAI AL-AAM   - Turkish minister of justice says his visit to Iraq is not aimed against Kuwait or other Gulf countries.   AL-SEYASSAH   - Parliamentary committee to discuss giving women voting rights at some stage in the future.   Women do not have the vote in Kuwait and will not be allowed to cast ballots in the next parliamentary elections, due in October 1996. 
592 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the official Iraqi press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   JUMHOURIYA   - Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman condemns the U.N. air embargo against Sudan.   - British vessel loaded with rice arrives in Umm Qasr port.   - Turkey says it will support Iraq against trade sanctions in the U.N. Security Council.   (The above were also carried by IRAQ and QADISSIYA)   QADISSIYA   - Commentary attacks Kurdish parties who control northern Iraq. 
593 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in Israeli newspapers on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   JERUSALEM POST   - Prime Minister Netanyahu warns Hizbollah guerrillas against Lebanon escalation.   - Syria test launched a Scud C missile.   - Jewish settlers want international observers out of Hebron.   - Israeli officials concerned at Palestinian self-rule Authority offices operating just outside Jerusalem.   - Housing for 70,000 people planned for both sides of pre- 1967 Middle East war border with occupied West Bank.   Housing Ministry says at first building will be inside Israel but if needed will extend east into West Bank.   - Accent Software lays off 17 of 150 employees after "disappointing" second quarter results.   - Cool reception for safety net tender at bond market.   HAARETZ   - Syria test launches Scud C missile.   - Religious party in coalition will demand Netanyahu put up law on closing Jerusalem street.   - Agriculture Minister Raphael Eitan warns Netanyahu to stick to hardline government guidelines.   - Army checking setting up pre-army training for secular youth like that run for religious youth.   - Immigrant women divorced abroad asked to remarry, re-divorce by rabbinate in Israel.   - 70 billion shekels is owed by government to army and police pensioners ($1=3.20 shekels).   MAARIV   - Syria tests improved Scud.   - Israeli army closely watching Syrian manoeuvres.   - Palestinian sources say Israel caught guerrillas who killed Israelis in drive-by shootings.   - Investment group sells 23.2 percent of Union Bank shares.   YEDIOTH AHRONOTH   - Israel under former prime minister Peres kidnapped four Lebanese who gave Mossad agent to Syria.   - Army has to pay property tax on positions on Golan.   - Convicted spy Klingberg got seven-hour leave from jail.   GLOBES   - Brodet commission rejects proposal to ensure minimum return to pension fund members. 
594 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the United Arab Emirates press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-ITTIHAD   - UAE to hand over to Red Cross the Taliban militia guards overpowered by their Russian hostages during escape by plane to the UAE.   AL-BAYAN   - In the first half, 202,400 tonnes of cargo moved through Dubai Cargo village.   AL-KHALEEJ   - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Al Ain airports to be expanded.   GULF NEWS   - UAE to adopt new national anthem after it endorsed a permanent federal constitution.   - International call charges from UAE to more than 220 countries to be reduced by 15 percent starting on September 1.   - Ministry of Education to implement ambitious five-year vocational training programme to get more nationals in the private sector work force.   - UAE national received a 5,000 dirhams ($1,362) reward for informing the Business Software Alliance of software piracy.   KHALEEJ TIMES   - Ministries of agriculture and health and Abu Dhabi municipality to curb use of pesticides.   - Huge stocks of unfit food destroyed in Sharjah because of poor storage conditions.   - Sri Lankan embassy to start registering maids' employment contracts to prevent harassment and other difficulties. 
595 !GCAT  NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG   - WWF Switzerland presented a report on the quality of the soil in Switzerland.   The study said 12,000 square kilometers, about 30 percent of the total Swiss ground, was negatively affected by human civilisation.   - Average annual working hours in Switzerland per employee were 1,633 hours in 1993.   Compared with other OECD countries, Switzerland has the fourth lowest working hours, only beaten by Germany, Norway, and Sweden.   - Swiss technology group Gurit-Heberlein said it raised turnover by nine percent to 304.6 million Swiss francs in the 1996 first half.   Cash-flow rose 18 percent 27.8 million francs.   - A study of the Federal Institute of Technology said that some 42,000 jobs will be directly or indirectly depending on gene technology in Switzerland by the year 2005.   TAGES ANZEIGER   - Swiss watch manufacturer SMH -- Swatch, Omega etc -- reported a seven percent rise in turnover in the 1996 first half.   Chairman N. Hayek said in an interview that he expected an 18 percent increase in net profit for 1996.   - Swiss group Biber sold British paper group John Dickinson to the British group David S. Smith. 
596 !GCAT  Headlines from major national newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   EL PAIS   - San Sebastian court finds evidence against general Enrique Rodriguez Galindo   EL MUNDO   - British Queen draws up plan to adapt monarchy for 21st century   DIARIO 16   - Confusion over possible killing of 63 civilians in Algeria   ABC   - Tourism rides the crest of a wave   LA VANGUARDIA   - Mayor of Barcelona Pascual Maragall defends Popular Party's leader in Catalonia, Aleix Vidal-Quadras, for speaking his mind   CINCO DIAS   - Anti-Castro politician Jorge Mas Canosa involved in further business with Telefonica   EXPANSION   - Cajamadrid investigates irregularities in debt recovery   GACETA DE LOS NEGOCIOS   - Riofisa will invest eight billion pesetas in commercial park near Madrid 
597 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Algerian press on Tuesday as reported by the official Algerian news agency APS.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LE MATIN   - The interior ministry denies London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat's report on massacre in the Algerian region of Batna.   EL MOUDJAHID   - Algeria commemorates the uprising of Aug 20, 1956, against French colonial rule in Constantine areas.   AL CHAAB   - The revolutionary family of former nationalist fighters gather at Ifri in the eastern town of Bejaia to remember the Aug 20, 1956, events which helped Algeria win the liberation war.   L'OPINION   - Representatives of opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy party suspend participation in joint committees debating political reforms to seek advice from the party leadership. 
598 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  French aluminium and packaging group Pechiney may cut between 3,000 and 3,500 jobs by end 1998 under its cost reduction plan code-named Challenge, trade union sources said on Tuesday.   The plan, which is aimed at cutting costs by between 1.5 and three billion francs by 1998 should be announced next month.   But a company spokeswoman said it would be premature to quote a job reduction figure.   The company has already said there would be no layoffs in France.   Pechiney will hold a board meeting on September 19 ahead of the release of its first half earnings.   Company offficials said Pechiney may also hold a meeting of its group committee the same day to fine tune its estimate of the cost savings the Challenge plan will generate.   Pechiney employs 37,000 people worldwide, of which 19,000 are in France.   Pechiney swung back to profit in 1995 but wants to raise profitability to the level of its best competitors in all businesses.   It sees cost savings as a way to meet investment needs without furher raising debt.   In a June interview with French business weekly Investir Pechniney chairman Jean-Pierre Rodier said profit in 1996 would probably remain unchanged from the previous year because while macroeconomic factors looked good it was still unclear when this would help sales volume.   Pechiney had a net profit of 1.47 billion francs in 1995 but this included 730 million francs of capital gains linked to the sale of assets.   -- Dominique Vidalon, Pais newsroom +331 4221 5432 
599 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India vowed on Tuesday to block a nuclear test ban treaty from being formally adopted by the Conference on Disarmament and sent to the U.N. General Assembly.   Indian ambassador Arundhati Ghose, asked by reporters before addressing the Geneva forum whether she would announce her country would block a consensus on the treaty, replied: "Yes."    But Western diplomats said they were marshalling support for the global pact and if prevented from reaching consensus in the conference would send it to the General Assembly by using a special resolution.   India last week blocked the committee which has been negotiating on the treaty text since January 1994 from formally adopting the pact and sending it to the main conference.   Ghose, speaking before a conference session, said that making the treaty text an official document of the full conference would be "an assault on the institution".   Asked whether she expected treaty sponsors to try to send it to the General Assembly, she replied: "That is the right of all states to go to the General Assembly.   They can take what they want to the General Assembly." 
600 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  A leading member of France's ruling coalition urged the government on Tuesday to compromise on its threat to expel 300 African immigrants entrenched in a Paris church, 10 of them on a hunger strike for a month and a half.   Gilles de Robien, floor leader of the centrist UDF, junior partner in the governing majority, met a delegation of the protesters for talks at the National Assembly.   "We are ready to work day and night on such a delicate problem.   Time is pressing," he told French radio as the hunger strikers began their 47th day of fasting.   "A firm policy does not bother me in principle," he added.   "But there are special cases that deserve a close-up analysis.   We are talking about men and women, not objects."   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre has said he would only discuss terms for the Africans' repatriation, fearing that concessions could unleash thousands of similar demands and play into the hands of the far right anti-immigrant National Front.   The highly-publicised protest by mostly Malian immigrants, including 110 children, has backed the government into a corner.   Hundreds of supporters stood a round-the-clock vigil around the Saint-Bernard church to prevent a possible police raid as politicians both Left and Centre called for a humane solution.   "The government is in a terrible bind.   The protesters have too much support for the police to intervene," said Dominique Noguere, lawyer for the Human Rights League and some immigrants.   The opposition Socialists have agreed to a proposal by the Communist Party to ask President Jacques Chirac to intervene for the "sans papiers" (without papers) protesters.   The stand-off in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district has grabbed headlines, but the protest does not appear to have rallied widespread support.   A demonstration in the heavily immigrant port of Marseille gathered only about 50 people on Monday.   Another march was planned in Paris on Wednesday.   Greens leader Dominique Voynet praised de Robien's offer to talk with the immigrants.   "It shows that there are divisions within the majority, and that not everybody shares Mr Debre's blind obscurantism," she said.   Outside the church, human rights activists, leftists and ordinary citizens lay on sleeping bags on the ground in the dark pre-dawn hours, ready to form a human barrage against a police raid they feared could be imminent.   "The government thought it could stand by and watch the movement crumble, but they didn't count on so much support," said Huguette Cordelier, a teacher who had spent three nights sleeping outside the church with her husband.   Abubakar Diop, the immigrants' spokesman, said the hunger strikers were extremely weak and could not to receive visitors or members of the press.   "At one point we asked them to stop their hunger strike because a little piece of paper is not worth dying for.   But they have refused," he said. "   Lawyers say the immigrants' status is a legal tangle ranging from some people who are entitled to stay, to others who can be expelled outright, and others whose situation has become unclear following controversial 1993 laws to curb immigration.   "If the government can't tell the difference between illegal aliens and those who used to have papers but are refused them now, it doesn't know how to use the French language," Diop said.   Noguere said the problem affected many more foreigners in France than the 300 protesters.   "When the law was passed, its effects were not taken into account," she said. 
601 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Malta's Mid-Med Bank and the Malta Union of Bank Employees have agreed to return to the negotiating table after a bruising two-week industrial dispute which led to a two-day strike.   The dispute arose over renewal of a collective agreement on working conditions.   The union said the bank's proposals for a new agreement were "morally reprehensible" and had been refusing to meet the bank.   The two sides held a conciliation meeting before the chairman of an industrial tribunal on Monday when they decided to withdraw all their proposals and start from scratch.   The union said it was lifting all industrial actions.   Bank workers went on strike on Friday and Saturday.   The workers had also been opening branches late and refusing to service cash machines.   Mid-Med Bank is Malta's largest bank and the only commercial bank where government has a controlling stake. 
602 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP !GPOL  Chancellor Franz Vranitzky has firmly denied Austria will decide on possible NATO membership next year, contradicting controversial comments by his defence minister a month ago.   "(In 1997) we will certainly not make a decision on NATO membership," the Social Democrat leader said in an interview published in Tuesday's edition of the daily Der Standard.   Vranitzky said NATO membership would not necessarily grant the neutral republic greater security.   The government should instead work for closer international cooperation through the Atlantic alliance's Partnership for Peace programme, he said.   Defence Minister Werner Fasslabend, whose conservative People's Party rules as junior coalition partner with the Social Democrats, said on July 22 the debate over NATO membership should be completed by the middle of 1997.   The remarks by Fasslabend, a staunch supporter of joining the military alliance, triggered a new round of a NATO debate which surfaced as an issue among Austria's political parties since the country joined the European Union in 1995.   The political right has generally argued for a swift decision, while the pro-neutrality left insists the issue must be decided by a national referendum.   A recent poll showed only 23 percent of Austrians support joining NATO.   Two weeks ago, conservative Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schuessel appeared to back off from Fasslabend's disputed comments for the first time, saying Austria was not negotiating a deal with NATO or planning to scrap its long-held neutrality.   Austria, perched on the traditional border between the feuding eastern and western blocs, has been neutral since 1955, when it inaugurated its post-World War Two constitution.   The Soviet Union, which occupied Austria after the war with its allies Britain, France and United States, demanded Austria enshrine neutrality as a central pillar of its national charter before it agreed to withdraw its troops. 
603 !GCAT !GCRIM  Belgian police have turned to other countries in their search for two teenage girls who were abducted a year ago by a convicted child sex offender at the heart of a widening sex scandal, Belgian media said on Tuesday.   The media spotlight focused particularly on the Czech Republic, but there were also reports that Interpol in Germany, the Netherlands and France had been asked for help.   There has been widespread speculation the two may have been sold into prostitution, possibly in the Czech Republic.   Officials in the case would only say there were foreign leads.   "Unbearable," Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper said, referring to the tension being borne by the parents of An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, who went missing at the Belgian port of Ostend in August 1995.   BRTN radio on Tuesday quoted An's father, Paul Marchal, as saying it could still be a matter of days before the case was solved.   BRTN said a fifth suspect in the case had been detained after a series of house searches on Monday but magistrates in charge of the case in Neufchateau, southern Belgium, were not immediately available for comment.   The main suspect in the biggest child sex scandal in Belgian history is Marc Dutroux, a convicted child abuser and unemployed father of three.   Dutroux and associate Michel Lelievre were formally charged last Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment after police rescued Laetitia Delhez, 14, and Sabine Dardenne, 12, from a cell in a house owned by Dutroux in Charleroi.   Both girls had been sexually abused.   Michelle Martin, Dutroux' second wife, was charged on Monday with being an accomplice.   National euphoria at the rescue turned to dismay and anger at the weekend when Dutroux led police to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, who had died of starvation early this year after being kidnapped in June 1995.   The children will be buried on Thursday.   The leader of the investigation into the case of British serial killers Fred and Rosemary West, whose house and garden in Gloucester contained the bodies of several murdered women, has offered to help Belgian investigators, BRTN radio said.   Brussels businessman Jean-Michel Nihoul arrived amid tight security at the Neufchateau court building on Tuesday.   He is to be formally charged with criminal association, assistant magistrate Jean-Paul Pavanello said on Monday.   BRTN radio said the fifth arrested person is the Dutch boyfriend of Nihoul's former wife.   His house in Brussels and caravan in Dinant, southern Belgium, have been searched.   Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad said Dutroux abducted girls for a network with international links.   BRTN said a total of 15 house searches had been carried out on Monday.   Public anger spread further at the fact that Dutroux had been released for good behaviour 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for rape and child abuse.   Former Belgian Justice Minister Melchior Wathelet, blamed by Julie and Melissa's parents for having approved Dutroux's release, said he too was shocked.   But he told BRTN radio he had released him in good faith on the basis of a full judicial report.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two -- Delhez and Dardenne -- have been rescued. 
604 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Maltese press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE TIMES   - Russian plane bound for Malta crashes in Belgrade.   Mystery about nature of cargo bound for Libya.   International news agencies reported on Monday that the plane was carrying military hardware, but the aircraft's owners said it was carrying sportswear and rescue flares.   The Malta government said the plane was carrying agricultural equipment and sportswear which were to be unloaded in Malta for shipment to Libya.   - Opposition says government hiding real economic situation.   Labour Party spokesman Lino Spiteri said the five percent growth this year was, according to the Malta Central Bank, expected to come from government expenditure and private consumption, harming the balance of payments.   Spiteri said economic expansion should be based on exports.   IN-NAZZJON   - Company considering legal action against opposition leader.   Malta Fishfarming is considering action after opposition leader Alfred Sant on Sunday said it was operating without planning permission.   Sant on Monday issued a statement saying he was mistaken when he said the prime minister's son was involved in the company.   L-ORIZZONT   - General workers' union warns of industrial action at Sea Malta.   The dispute is over a collective agreement on working conditions. 
605 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  French Riviera train conductors ended a 36-hour strike on Tuesday against growing crime which has badly disrupted traffic at the peak summer holiday period.   A trade union spokesman said the management of state railway company SNCF had responded to the protest by promising to increase staff and equip conductors with portable telephones to tighten security on routes regarded as dangerous.   Unionists say train conductors in southeast France are increasingly at risk from fare dodgers, pickpockets and thugs.   The strike forced SNCF to cancel five long distance trains between Marseille and Nice and 75 percent of regional traffic on Monday.   High-speed trains ran normally. 
606 !GCAT  The following are leading domestic stories in Portuguese newspapers.   DIARIO ECONOMICO   - Government wants hypermarkets to finance small businesses' pension funds says Commerce Secretary of State Jaime Andrez.   - Estoril Coast Hotels registered a 11.3 percent rise in occupancy rate in the first half of 1996 compared to the same period in 1995.   DIARIO DE NOTICIAS   - Interest rate falls favoured the main banks in the first half of 1996.   Analysts expect that the second half of 1996 will not be so favourable.   - Government wants emigrants to invest more of their remittances to Portugal and has created an instruction book.   The formalities, however, may cause headaches.   PUBLICO   - An "incorrect translation" saying Banco Comercial de Macau (BCM) branches in Macau were to close sparked panic amongst BCM clients in the territory yesterday.   --Lisbon bureau 3511-3538254 
607 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in the Swedish papers this morning.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAGENS NYHETER   - Swedish insurance giant Skandia says it is losing ground on the Swedish life insurance market because of a recent increase in competition from banks.   - The deregulation of domestic flights in Sweden has been successful but has not led to lower prices for customers, according to a Swedish survey.   But the survey said SAS had lost over one billion crowns on the domestic service since 1992.   - Over 50 percent of Swedes are against joining the European Monetary Union, according to a Swedish polling group.   SVENSKA DAGBLADET   - Cheating is becoming a way of life in Sweden, the Swedish daily says.   The paper said Swedes take in over 11 billion crowns in black market income each year and over eight billion in benefits.   - Workers in Swedish industry are increasingly working longer hours as work hours have risen by 12 percent between April 1995 and April 1996, according to Statistics Sweden.   - Sweden is to relax its labour laws by giving employers greater flexibility in employing people.   DAGENS INDUSTRI   - Swedish stockbrokers are furious at plans by the Stockholm Stock Exchange to allow institutional investors and major traders to buy and sell shares directly via computer link-ups starting in September.   - The Chilean Air Force is considering buying Jas 39 Gripen Fighters, produced by Saab Military Aircraft.   -- Paul de Bendern, Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1003 
608 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in Norwegian papers this morning:   AFTENPOSTEN   - During the last six months 33 foreign insurance companies have formally applied to set up business in Norway under the European Economic Area agreement.   The Norwegian organization for insurers says it is not worried about possible competition from foreign companies.   Except for Swedish-owned Vesta, the foreign companies are practically non-existent in the private market.   - Norwegian salmon producers want support from parliament against British accusations of dumping.   Today a delegation of senior civil servants is meeting the EU Commission in Brussels to discuss the accusations that Norway subsidises production.   DAGENS NAERINGSLIV   - The agrarian-based Centre Party wants to postpone a debate in parliament on a new housing tax, saying it should be seen in a wider context.   Discussions have been going on since the ruling Labour Party suggested to alter current housing taxes earlier this year.   - Over 50 Norwegian municipalities have offered land for the Coca-Cola Company's new plant. 
609 !GCAT  The following are some of the top headlines in leading Italian newspapers.   ----------   TOP POLITICAL STORIES   *Trade unions say they are not going to strike against secessionist Northern league party leader Umberto Bossi, as communist leader Fausto Bertinotti had suggested yesterday (all).   *Umberto Bossi says his party is ready to vote in favour of STET privatization if Prime Minister Romano Prodi goes to Mantova, capoital of the proposed independent Republic of Padania (all).   *The Democratic party of the Left (Pds) says there is still room for an agreement with Bertinotti over STET, but "we can't go on like this anymore" protest some party members such as Gavino Angius (all).   TOP BUSINESS STORIES   *Minister for Public Employment Franco Bassanini wants to stop double employment in the public sector.   He is ready to send his inspectors to check how many people have more than one job and how much they earn (Corriere, Stampa, Repubblica, Unita').   *Certificates of deposit will be tax-exempt for non residents (Sole 24 Ore).   * The crisis of the car market is getting worse: for the first time there are signs that a lower number of cars are circulating in Italy (Sole 24 ore).   ---------   Reuter has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.   --- Milan bureau +392 66129450 
610 !GCAT  Here are the highlights of stories in the Danish press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   BERLINGSKE TIDENDE   --- The issue of changing the early retirement system has split the Danish government which cannot agree on a plan to cut benefits for those who have capital savings.   POLITIKEN   --- Chinese authorities have agreed to meet Danish experts to discuss democratic elections and legal principles during foreign minister Niels Helveg Petersen's visit to China in September.   JYLLANDS-POSTEN   --- Medicine prices will rise next year as part of the new government budget for 1997 which will introduce cuts to medicine subsidies totalling 80-100 million crowns.   --- Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) will not have to pay compensation of 150 million crowns to Swissair as had been believed, because the two sides agreed to end their partnership within the Quality Alliance peacefully.   BORSEN   --- Denmark is the only country to honour an OECD agreement on not subsidising shipyards, but it will be still harder for the shipyards to win orders without breaking the present agreement.   DET FRI AKTUELT   Danish dairy group MD Foods has not had the expected success with their yoghurt product Gaio in Great Britain.   The product was launched in June last year. 
611 !GCAT  The following are some of the leading stories in Finnish papers this morning.   HELSINGIN SANOMAT   - Head of Educational Board says regional school controllers should be reinstated after recent report of teachers' violent acts against handicapped children in special schools.   - Those with higher income to benefit most from the tax cuts next year, SAK trade union study shows.   - Finnish customs confiscated 5.5 million cigarettes coming from Latvia in the biggest smuggling attempt of cigarettes to Finland.    - Level of education helps people earn higher salaries significantly more often than thought earlier, new study says.   Men who study one year more may end up earning 15 percent more.   - Charter flights increasingly compete with regular scheduled flights as travel agencies now sell cheap charter flights also without accomodation.   - Finland's 1,000 Lakes rally, part of the world rally championships, likely to jam roads in central Finland -- 400,000 spectators and 100,000 cars expected.   - Helsinki preparing for its Festival Week beginning tomorrow with nearly 2,000 performing artists.    - Police release eagle owl stuck in volley ball net.   KAUPPALEHTI   - Finland and Russia likely to strike deal on outstanding payments of 400 million markka in Russian debts to about 60 Finnish companies, industrial officials say.   - Price competition between Silja Line and Viking Line is harmful for both, investment bank Kleinwort Benson report says.   DEMARI   - Amount of work cooperative increased fast -- in 1993-1996 more than 100 new cooperatives formed with almost 3,000 workers, a study shows.    - Eutrophication -- excessive seaweed growth -- the biggest threat to the Baltic Sea, already badly eutrophicated in some parts.   TURUN SANOMAT   - Duck hunting season starts today but small catch expected as water fowl population has decreased 11 percent from last year, reserachers say.   -- Paivi Mattila, Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 292 
612 !GCAT  These are leading stories in this morning's Paris newspapers.   LES ECHOS   -- Tourism up sharply in August in France after slow July.   -- French customs impounded 45 percent more copies of brand name goods in 1995 than 1994.   -- German mark is firm in run-up to today's Federal Reserve Bank meeting and Thursday's Bundesbank policy council meeting.   LA TRIBUNE DESFOSSES   -- Caisses d'Epargne is finalising a bid for Gan's banking unit CIC and plans to revamp its own statutes.   -- Paris Bourse sluggish in run-up to corporate first half results announcements.   -- Banque Rivaud says the Canard Enchaine newspaper's revelations of a tax investigation at the bank were "isolated facts, biased and inaccurate".   -- Franc slips on foreign exchange markets as operators remain wary of 1997 national budget and slim chances of Bundesbank rate cuts on Thursday.   L'AGEFI   -- Prime Minister Alain Juppe says he will announce tax cuts within two weeks.   -- Matif chairman Gerard Pfauwadel explains failure of linkup with Germany's DTB futures market and outlines new strategy, preparing for the euro currency.   LE FIGARO-ECONOMIE   -- Air France Q2 passenger miles up 19 percent while revenue per passenger falls 11 percent but the airline still expects to break even in 1997.   -- European competition commissioner Karel Van Miert says he is impartial about whether a company is state-owned or private, but a commitment to privatise makes a government's request for EC approval of state subsidies more credible.   THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE   -- Bond and currency markets on tenterhooks, waiting for the Federal Reserve to take no action on interest rates.   LE PARISIEN   -- Prime Minister Alain Juppe says there will be no announcements of fiscal reforms before a working meeting with President Jacques Chirac in Bregancon on August 24.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 4221 5381 
613 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Tuesday morning's German newspapers:   FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG   - Police search headquarters of reform communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in probe into assets hidden by East Germany's hardline regime.   - Prosecutors suspect German firms of providing equipment for poison gas factory in Libya.   - Finance Minister of Saxony state sees great opportunity to reform tax system.   - Liberal Free Democrats want further measures to reduce financial burden on companies.   - Wage negotiations for retail sector in North Rhine-Westphalia state make no progress.   HANDELSBLATT   - Main opposition Social Democrats (SPD) say comprehensive tax reform could begin in 1998.   - Mechanical engineering sector increases production from foreign bases.   - Insurance companies Berlin-Koelnische Versicherungsgruppe and Gothaer Gruppe plan merger.   - Mannesmann says its 1996 full-year results will be a slight improvement on its 1995 figures.   SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG   - Two managers from German firms in investigative custody as part of probe into export of equipment for Libyan poison gas factory.   - FDP says proposal by Bavarian finance minister to tax life insurance pay-outs is worth considering.   - Company health insurance funds hope to keep contributions stable until at least middle of 1997.   - Retailers vow to fight against plans to allow post offices to sell a wider range of goods.   DIE WELT   - Government announces plans to introduce performance-related pay for some academics.   - FDP repeats demands for early tax reform despite criticism from Chancellor Helmut Kohl.   - Federation of German Wholesalers and Exporters (BGA) disagrees with Chambers of Commerce over export performance of German companies.   The BGA says German firms are losing ground.   - Life Insurance firms protest speak out against suggestions that their pay-outs to customers should be taxed.   -- Bonn Newsroom +49 228 2609760 
614 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in the Dutch newspapers this morning.   HET FINANCIEELE DAGBLAD   - Social Affairs Minister Ad Melkert is prepared to review proposals to introduce European-wide works councils.   (p1)   - Volume of imported medicines will decline by 30 pct due to new law on medicine prices, according to pharmaceutical wholesalers ACF and OPG.   (p1)   - Dutch companies, often obliged to join industry-wide pension schemes, want freedom to choose their own funds.   (p1)   - Netherlands Securities Board (STE) to probe Amsterdam Stock Exchange's supervision of broker Nusse Brink.   (p1)   - Environment ministry to force importers and producers of "white" electrical goods to collect and recycle old equipment.   (p3)   - New six-year government bond issue raises 1.2 bln guilders on first day of tap sales.   (p7) DE VOLKSKRANT   - Cabinet needs two billion guilders less than originally estimated to maintain spending power for all income groups in 1997, according to Central Planning Bureau (CPB) (p1)   - Tobacco industry infuriated by cabinet's plans for a tax hike of 0.70 guilders on a packet of cigarettes.   (p2)   - British retailer Argos seeks to conquer the Dutch market with new catalogue shopping formula.   (p15) DE TELEGRAAF   - Former parliamentary leader of Labour Party (PvdA), Thijs Woltgens, says Dutch influence in Europe would be greater, if Netherlands were part of Germany.   (p1)   - Economic Affairs Minister Gerard Wijers opposes health government plans to increase tax on tobacco.   (p3)   - Banks angry about junior finance minister's plans to limit tax deductabliity of interest paid on loans.   (p19)   - Papermaker KNP BT's unit BT Office Products to target European expansion.   (p21) TROUW   - German chemical giants Hoechst and Schering take over Belgian-Dutch biotechnology firm Plant Genetic Systems.   (p7) ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD   - No problems expected in preparing next month's 1997 Dutch state budget, according to well-informed sources.   (p3)   - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Martinair slash prices on Antillean route.   (p11)   -- Amsterdam newsroom +31 20 504 5000, Fax +31 20 504 5040 
615 !GCAT  Following are highlights of stories in the Irish press on Tuesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   IRISH TIMES   - A man was being questioned by Irish police on Monday night following the seizure of cocaine and cannabis in Dublin with a street value of 1.5 million Irish pounds.   - Dublin-based financial services firm Taylor Asset Managers is facing an Irish Brokers Asssociation (IBA) hearing into two client complaints.    - Irish exploration company Glencar plans to increase its stake in the Wassa gold project in Ghana from 45.2 percent to 61 percent at a cost of between $11.4 million and $12.2 million.   -Insurance company Hibernian Group warned that its motor premiums may rise after it reported that rising motor accident claims contributed to a 17 percent fall in operating profits to 11.2 million for the first six months of 1996.   - Unilever will find out on Tuesday how many Lyons Irish Holldings have accepted their offer of 323p per share.    IRISH INDEPENDENT   - The Irish Department of Education has ordered an inquiry into aspects of a detailed financial report on one of the country's vocational educational committees.   - Irish police are investigating the deaths of two women in their homes in Dublin and Kerry.   - Irish exploration company Dragon Oil said at its annual meeting in Dublin yesterday that production from its oil well in the Caspian Sea has been increased by 20 percent.    - Belfast-based exploration company Andaman may seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange if its proposed acquisition of an unnamed Asian oil and gas company goes ahead.   - Insurance sales staff at financial services firm Irish Life agreed by a narrow margin to accept a Labour Relations Commission initiative to open further talks with management at the company.   -- Dublin Newsroom + 353-1-6603377 
616 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Tuesday morning's Austrian newspapers.   DIE PRESSE   - Vienna against lowering taxes despite Bonn's plans for overall tax reform in 1999 by easing tax burden on Germans.   - People's Party General Secretary Otmar Karas said the Freedom Party damaged Austria's reputation.   - Austria's travel agencies are suffering from dropping prices and late bookings.   DER STANDARD   - Chancellor Franz Vranitzky said in an interview that Austria would "certainly not" make a decision about joining NATO in 1997.   An increasing number of People's Party officials are also urging the country to wait.   - People's Party social affairs spokesman Gottfried Feuerstein said he wanted to take in more foreigners as managers and seasonal workers at the expense of traditional guestworkers.   - Only four percent of Austrians own stocks.   - Heating equipment manufacturer Vogel & Noot Waermetechnik AG said it was planning a dividend cut for 1996 to 10 percent from 16 percent in 1995.   KURIER   - Rate cut expected on Thursday.   Adolf Wala, director general of the Austrian National Bank, said Germany had more room to manoeuvre in terms of interest rates than Austria.   - Despite an economic boom in eastern Europe, Austrian businesses are investing and exporting less to the region. 
617 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Police said on Tuesday they had defused a bomb at the home of a top Corsican politician, and a bomb blast damaged the office of a government official on the French Mediterranean island.   The device was planted on the doorstep of the Ajaccio flat of former industry minister Jose Rossi, the president of the elected council of south Corsica.   Police defused it late on Monday it after an anonymous telephone warning.   They said Rossi had been scheduled to spend the night at the flat, which is occupied by his daughter and son-in-law.   The attack, the first direct one against Rossi, came a few days after a bomb wrecked a villa belonging to his elected council.   The attacks mark an escalation of violence on the island, torn by separatist strife.   A powerful bomb damaged the office of the central government representative in Sartene early on Tuesday, wrecking his car.   Police said the attackers scaled a high wall protecting the office and lowered the bomb into the grounds with a rope.   It was the fifth bombing of a public building on the island in just over a week.   No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Corsican separatists seeking greater autonomy from mainland France regularly target government buildings in a guerrilla campaign that has been going on for two decades.   The French justice ministry said last week the flare-up of violence would not "diminish its determination to seek out and and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts". 
618 !GCAT !GCRIM  Children's rights campaigners are urging governments worldwide to give their courts the powers to prosecute paedophiles who travel overseas to have sex with children.   Organisers of the first international conference on the sexual exploitation of children say lawyers and police often find themselves unable to take action against child sex tourists because the crimes fall outside their jurisdiction.   Awareness of the problem is growing, with the United Nations Children's Fund estimating at least one million children -- mainly from developing countries -- are forced into prostitution, sold for sexual purposes, or used in pornography each year.   But at present only 12 countries permit the prosecution of child sex tourists in their home countries for crimes committed against children abroad, or allow the investigation of such crimes by their nationals in other countries.   "In other countries, penal provisions do not reach further than the territory of the country," said Madeleine Leijonhuvud, a Swedish criminal law professor who is joint organiser of the conference to be held in Stockholm from August 27 to 31.   "It leaves lawyers and police frustrated as nothing can be done."   Leijonhuvud said there was an urgent need to strengthen and harmonise laws internationally, including a global agreement on the age of consent.   Laws regarding child pornography also varied widely, with Sweden, for example, still allowing possession of such material.   "When any country does not live up to international standards -- like Sweden and child pornography -- it can cause problems for other countries trying to take action," Leijonhuvud told Reuters.   A Bangkok-based lobby group, End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), said penalties imposed on child sex tourists were not severe enough and were often lighter if the victim was a foreign child.   In Sweden, for example, a man last year received a custodial sentence of just three months when he was found guilty of sexually abusing a child in Thailand.   "It has been suggested in relation to that case that the penalty would have been greater if the abused child had been Swedish," said Muireann O'Briain of ECPAT's working group on law reform and law enforcement.   ECPAT pointed to Australian legislation, introduced two years ago, as a model for other countries.   Of the 12 countries that currently allow their nationals to be prosecuted at home for sex crimes against children abroad, Australia has the highest rate of action and the most severe penalties, including jail terms of up to 17 years.   A 44-year-old man from Sydney was the first person to be imprisoned under the law in March this year, when he was convicted of offences against children in the Philippines.   Leaflets warning of the legal consequences are circulated in key destination countries for Australian sex tourists, such as Thailand and the Philippines, and are also distributed in Australian airports and by some travel agents.   "There is no doubt that (Australia) is doing more about this issue than any other industrialised country," ECPAT national director Bernadette McMenamin told Reuters.   Christian Aid representative Martin Cottingham, who is to attend this month's conference, said Britain needed to speed up its proposals for similar extraterritorial legislation.   "(We want) early implementation and extra police resources to ensure prosecutions which will deter would-be child-sex offenders," Cottingham said in a statement.   The introduction of extraterritorial legislation is seen as only the first step against child sex tourists.   Stockholm conference organiser and former Swedish ambassador Tom Tscherning said resources needed to be set aside to help implement the laws, which includes gathering evidence abroad and bringing witnesses to court.   "Cooperation between governmental law enforcement agencies and INTERPOL is vitally important," Tscherning told Reuters.   "Laws are the ultimate protection for children and not enough is being done either to make laws sufficiently strong or to enforce them when they are in place."   Sweden's Queen Silvia, patron of the conference, has joined the campaign for tougher laws against paedophiles.   In an unprecedented outburst during a recent television interview, she rebuked Swedish politicians for not taking firm enough action and called for the name and photograph of anyone who sexually abused a child to be published nationally.   The queen said she had seen some pornographic films involving children and was devastated by the images, saying all politicians should watch these films to make them act.   "It is the worst thing I have ever seen," the queen said.   "It is torture of the worst kind." 
619 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Striving to cut record 12.5 percent unemployment, France's centre-right government has enacted legislation designed to spur companies to reduce working hours and hire more staff.   But economists doubt the move to shorten the working week -- last reduced to 39 hours from 40 hours in 1982 -- will have much impact on unemployment in the face of sluggish economic growth and labour market inflexiblity.   Economists suggest the measure is more a window-dressing attempt by the government to show voters it is taking some action to cut unemployment -- especially in light of President Jacques Chirac's pledge when running for office last year to make "jobs, jobs, jobs" his priority.   "Unemployment is a key political challenge for the government," said a French economist who did not wish to be named.   "Chirac said he wanted to be judged on his jobs record and in the past year things haven't improved."   In fact, with the prospect of more layoffs ahead as a result of the government's austerity programme to meet deficit targets aimed at qualifying for a single European currency due to start in 1999, the situation may get worse before it gets better.   So far, economists say, the government has shown no taste for taking steps they say are really needed to cut unemployment -- loosening rigid labour policies that make hiring expensive and firing tough, allowing the minimum wage to fall in real value and significantly scaling back generous welfare schemes.   "Most French unemployment is structural so to reduce it you need to have structural reforms of the labour market," said Jean-Francois Mercier of Salomon Brothers in London.   The new legislation, which came into effect last Thursday, was the result of a series of negotations between the government, unions and employers.   It says that companies which cut working hours by 15 percent and hire the same proportion of new staff will pay up to 50 percent lower social security contributions for the first year and 40 percent less for the succeeding six years.   "I think it (the law's effect) will be pretty marginal," said Gwyn Hacche, chief European economist at James Capel.   "It may add a small amount to employment but (lowering unemployment) is much more dependent on the level of demand in the economy and the latest indicators suggest the recovery is somewhat in limbo."   The law also allows employers to reduce working hours to avoid layoffs, a provision which economists say may be more useful -- at least in helping stem a rise in jobless.   France's largest union, the CFDT, which has led the drive for a shorter working week, would like to see tougher action by the government.   "Decision-makers continue to think unemployment will be solved by the classic means of growth, consumption and investment," said CFDT head Nicole Notat, who is pushing for a "massive" reduction in the work week to as low as 32 hours.   Economists say a shorter work week without a corresponding increase in productivity would actually increase unemployment by driving up the cost of goods.   The government has chosen to leave it up to unions and business to work out "voluntary agreements" on working hours.   But progress has been slow and the French employers' federation, the CNPF, is sceptical that shorter working hours are a remedy for unemployment.   "You only have to look around at our neighbours in Europe to see that those countries with the lowest unemployment have the longest working hours," said one senior CNPF official.   In Britain, for instance, there is no ceiling on the work week and unemployment is much lower at 7.6 percent.   Britain's lower jobless rate is "the result mainly of the (free) labour market policies pursued by former conservative prime minister Mrs (Margaret) Thatcher in 1980s now bearing fruit," said Hacche.   "There is no historical evidence that reducing working hours anywhere has led to real significant increases in employment," he added.   Economists say even with incentives, businesses are unlikely to hire more workers until the economic climate improves.   "If a company is worried about future demand, they will not hire even if they get incentives to reduce working hours," said Mercier.   In any event, economists say the trend toward lower working hours in the West may have come to a close as competition from developing countries becomes ever more intense.   "The secular trend to reducing working time that the world witnessed during the 19th and 20th centuries has come to an end as a result of global competition," said one Paris economist.   "People may have to work harder and longer if anything." 
620 !C13 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  Bangladeshi traders on Monday took issue with a government plan to restrict imports of used cars in its drive against pollution and said it could push up prices.   "It's absolutely wrong to put the blame on used imported cars.   All re-conditioned Japanese vehicles... are sure to have anti-pollution devices as per Japan's export rule," said Abdul Haque, president of the Bangladesh Re-conditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association.   The re-conditioned cars constitute nearly 90 percent of Bangladesh's total car imports.   Huque told a news conference the government served notice last month it was going to limit the age of used imported cars to three years, arguing the vehicles are polluting the environment.   Currently, importers are allowed to bring in five-year- old used cars.   "We are importing the cars that have in-biult anti-pollution devices and are safe," Haque said.   He said the government also imposed Value Added Tax (VAT) at a rate of 15 percent on sales of the cars, effective July this year.   He warned that the price of re-conditioned cars in local markets might be "doubled or trippled" because of such moves.   Bangladesh reduced import duty on car imports to 45 percent from 50 percent in fiscal 1996/97 which began on July 1.   The country imported nearly 30,000 re-conditioned cars, mostly from Japan, in 1995-96.   The government earned 3.0 billion taka ($71.4 million) as tax revenue from car imports last year. 
621 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  China has issued a set of regulations governing direct shipping links with Taiwan, the Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.   The regulations take effect today, although Taiwan still bans direct shipping links between the two sides.    "The regulations...are meant to promote cargo and passenger transport between the two sides of the Straits and accelerate the development of direct mail service, trade, and air and shipping links across the Straits," Xinhua said.   It gave no further details.   Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper said on Tuesday that the southeastern Chinese cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou would be the first ports to be opened to direct shipping links with Taiwan.   The conditions were ripe for establishing direct shipping links between the two sides, the newspaper said.   An official of the Ministry of Communications declined to comment on the reports, saying only that China would make a statement through the official media in future.   Taiwan has banned direct air and shipping links with China since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war and fled to the island in 1949. 
622 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GENT  The Recording Industry Association of America said Wednesday that 896,594 illegally-produced or pirate compact discs were seized in the United States in the first six months of 1996, up sharply from 19,366 in the year-ago period.   It said it was the first time that seizures of CD pirates overtook seizures of cassete pirates.   It said most of the illegal CDs seized were bootleg recordings and were seized in two raids in the spring.   It said many of the seized bootlegs are entering the country from abroad and are being intercepted by federal agencies, such as the Customs Service. 
623 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  President Bill Clinton is expected to announce on Friday a long awaited series of restrictions to try to curb the growing use of tobacco by young people, White House officials said on Wednesday.   The curbs would range from banning cigarette vending machines to limiting cigarette sponsorship of sporting and entertainment events popular with young people.   Clinton last year endorsed a Food and Drug Administration finding recommendation that nicotine was a drug, paving the way for FDA regulation of tobacco.   The proposed restrictions would include a federal law banning sales of cigarettes to people under 18 years of age -- up to now only loosely enforced local laws have banned such sales.   The White House officials said Clinton's announcement "depends on whether OMB's (Office of Management and Budget) review is completed by Friday.   It's not at all clear it will be," said a senior official who asked not to be identified.   The FDA's final recommendations to curb teen smoking were sent to the OMB last week and White House spokesman Mike McCurry said he could not rule out Clinton making the announcement on Friday if the OMB review is complete.   The rules are thought to be little different from those Clinton proposed a year ago in an effort to stop minors from starting smoking, an increasing phenomena.   FDA Commissioner David Kessler, a pediatrician, has said that smoking is a children's disease, with almost all smokers beginning when they are young.   His agency says that 3,000 youths begin smoking each day and that 1,000 of them end up dying because of it.   Other curbs would prohibit tobacco advertising within 1,000 feet of schools and playgrounds, the corporate sponsorship of events aimed at young people and stop the sales or giveaways of wearing apparel with tobacco company logos.   McCurry said: "He (Clinton) made a decision a long time ago to seek a proposed rule that would accomplish his objective of protecting the health of American children and to protect them from the addictive qualities of tobacco."   He said a Friday announcement has been discussed but nothing was decided as yet.   He said FDA officials were at the OMB on Wednesday discussing the final review.   Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat long involved in national health issues, said Clinton's expected move would be "very very bold and significant."   "(Tobacco) is a gateway drug.   The gateway drug in all substance abuses is basically smoking," Kennedy said.   There was no immediate comment on the likely announcement from the Tobacco Institute, the tobacco company lobby.   John Banzhaf, executive director of the anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health, said of the likely announcement: "I think it's great," adding it was something his group had sought for 15 years.   "I think it's high time that cigarettes were regulated like every other drug."   Banzhaf said."   But he predicted that the issue would end up in court.   Tobacco companies filed suit last year challenging the FDA's right to regulate tobacco.   That suit is pending.   And it was likely to file another suit to block imposition of new restrictions on tobacco sales and advertising. 
624 !GCAT !GENT  Vintage surfboards became hot collectibles in the late 1980s, their value rising as Baby Boomers paid up for a piece of lost youth and museum curators eyed their beauty and cultural symbolism.   Boards in top condition from around 1967 and earlier rose from garage sale giveaway prices to thousands of dollars today, especially those ridden by champions or hand-shaped by respected craftsmen.   The Malibu Perpetual Surfboard, made of redwood in 1948 in California, was retrieved from a wood pile in 1979 but is unavailable today at any price -- a bid of $25,000 having been turned down.   Prices accelerated quickly for about five years but leveled off around 1994, though the rarest boards and ones in mint condition continue to appreciate.   With the sport's popularity growing on coastlines around the world and with many boards set aside in collections, prices are destined to rise again, top collectors say.   "There are not as many boards out there any more.   But it seems that around Christmas and tax time I get pretty good deals because people sell some" for needed cash, said Tim Dion, manager at Beckers Surf Shop in Malibu, Calif.   Surfboards evolved from wooden planks to high-performance boards.   Duke Kahanamoku, a champion swimmer from Hawaii, helped popularise surfing using a redwood board in the early years of the century.   In the early 1950s, boards of balsa wood with a coat of fiberglass were introduced, and in the 1960s styrofoam and fiberglass boards became the standard.   Hollywood films and rock-n-roll in the 1960s spread tidings of a carefree surfing lifestyle that hooked surfers and non-surfers everywhere, and pioneers in the subculture became legends.   The names of Californians and Hawaiians who surfed or hand-crafted the best boards are now associated with prized collectibles: Bob Simmons, Phil Edwards, Mickey Dora, Greg Noll, Hobie Alter, Dale Velzy, John Peck, Lance Carson and Dewey Webber, to name a few.   In addition to rarity and condition, some makers are more desirable than others.   A board by Bob Simmons is a benchmark for any collection.   He is credited with originating the idea of covering a balsa wood board with fiberglass in the late 1940s, and one in excellent condition should fetch $5,000 and up, according to Steve Pezman, editor of "The Surfer's Journal."   Collector Pete Noble turned down $25,000 for the Malibu Perpetual Surfboard, the centrepiece of one of the premier collections.   For potential investment, he suggests avoiding restored surfboards on which dents, known as "dings," and damage from the sun have been repaired.   "These are aesthetically beautiful but they've lost the originality that hard-core collectors treasure," he said.   The prices of most production boards are more modest, between $300 and $1,000.   Collectors stress that weathered, beat-up boards may not have appreciated very much, no matter who made or rode it.   Collectors with many beautiful boards display them on loan at restuarants, museums, surf shops and professional offices.   The hobby does not yet have a reliable, oft-updated price guide.   Appraised value is pretty much agreed upon by a knowledgable buyer and seller, discussed through writing and by telephone.   Auctions are rare, informal and advertised through the grapevine.   There are different opinions, too, as to what is desirable.   "A brand's popularity may be localised depending on what beach you surfed at," Noble said.   "A board may be hot in Santa Cruz or another California community but surfers in Daytona (Fla.) or Cape Hatteras (N.C.) may not think much of it."   Around 1967 a shorter style of styrofoam and fiberglass board about six- to seven-feet long became popular, but they are not as coveted as the older nine-to-10-foot "longboards" used until then.   Yet collectors say these shouldn't be dismissed because demand may grow as the supply of longboards diminishes.   Replicas of older boards are being made, primarily for display.   Craftsmen Greg Noll -- a pioneer among big wave riders -- and Dale Velzy are turning out redwood longboards for $3,000 to $6,000, and Pat Curren is using imported balsa wood for longboards.   "If you can't get your hands on a vintage board for possible investment, I'd buy a Velzy or Noll wooden board.   They're absolutely gorgeous for wall hanging and as a potential investment," said Lee Gerachis, owner of Malibu's Surf Shop in Ocean City, Maryland, and a long-time collector.   One tip: Try not to overpay.   If you're considering paying big money for a beautiful board, know what you are buying.   If you have a cared-for board you want appraised or you want to buy one, surf shops and surfboard collectors clubs are helpful.   Magazines such as "Surfer's Journal," "Surfer" and "Longboard" run informative features.   With the rise in value, counterfeiters are in the market.   When buying a board, ask for original order forms and sales receipts.   One good way to judge a board's authenticity is to know a craftsman's logo, which have evolved over the years and thus indicate age.   "It takes a trained eye to judge a board," said Gerachis.   Said Pezman, "A board's oral history should get passed along with it, but people are now trying to emulate other fields of collecting by placing a board's history in writing" as documentation.   Greg Escalante, a trustee member of the former Laguna Beach, Calif., Art Museum, sees surfboards as examples of functional sculpture.   "They have a glowing art spirit," he said.   Prices will continue to rise, collectors say, as collectible boards attract a wider ownership and art historians recognise that surfboards express the soul of a golden moment in America. 
625 !C12 !C13 !C15 !C152 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent   The tobacco industry's troubles deepened Wednesday with the White House expected to endorse strict new regulations on cigarettes on Friday and jury deliberations about to start in a key smoking case.   The timing of the White House announcement could hardly be worse for the industry, which is still reeling from a surprise $750,000 damage award earlier this month.   Meanwhile, Michigan became the 13th state to sue the industry Wednesday, and on Thursday an Indiana jury is to start weighing whether cigarette makers can be held liable for a smoker's addiction that allegedly led to his death.   Tobacco stocks were already tumbling Wednesday on concerns about the Indiana trial when White House officials said they expected President Bill Clinton to accept the new regulations from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.   The rules were expected to be similar to those the FDA proposed about a year ago.   Those included barring cigarette billboard advertising near schools and playgrounds and eliminating mail-order sales, vending machines, free samples, self-service displays and sales of fewer than 20 cigarettes.   The tobacco industry has sued, challenging the FDA's legal authority to regulate tobacco.   Closing arguments were set to begin Thursday morning at the Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis.   The jury, which is expected to start deliberations in the afternoon, will be the first panel to decide a smoker's wrongful death case since the surprise verdict by a jury in Jacksonville, Fla., on Aug. 9.   If the industry loses the case it will strengthen the view among plaintiffs' lawyers and jury consultants that jurors' attitudes are changing and that panellists are more willing to hold cigarette companies liable for a smoker's addiction.   "If the plaintiffs win (the Indiapolis case) the tobacco companies are really in the soup," said Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor who chairs the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston.   The stock of Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., the world's largest cigarette maker, tumbled $3.875 to $87.625 on the New York Stock Exchange and RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., the owner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, fell $1.375 to $25.25.   Other tobacco company stocks also fell, and the drop helped pull the entire stock market lower, analysts said.   Although the uncertainty from the trial was hurting stocks, the Indianapolis jury, unlike the Florida panel, was not shown certain inflammatory internal tobacco documents.   Jury consultants said the documents, which concern the tobacco industry's knowledge of nicotine and addiction, angered the Florida jury.   The papers convinced panellists that tobacco companies try to keep smokers hooked and that smoking was not a matter of individual choice, consultants said.   The tobacco industry maintains that nicotine is not addictive and denies that it manipulates the level of nicotine to keep smokers hooked.   Personal injury lawyers have not been overly optimistic about the Indianapolis case because the documents were not allowed in as evidence.   The case involves Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis lawyer who died of lung cancer in 1987.   Rogers, who was 52 when he died, began smoking as a young child by stealing his father's cigarette butts.   When the case first went to trial last year, the jury was split 5-1 on whether Rogers "voluntarily" incurred a known risk by smoking.   "Heads, we win and it becomes a smashing victory.   Tails we lose and nobody thought we would win all of these cases," said Daynard of the Tobacco Products Liability Project.   A loss in the jury case without admission of the key documents could have severe implications for an industry that is facing mounting legal attacks across the country.   Since Monday, Kansas, Arizona and Michigan have joined 10 other states that have filed lawsuits aimed at forcing tobacco companies to pay for Medicaid costs of smokers.   Oklahoma is expected to file a similar case on Thursday that will bring the number of states to 14 by the end of the week.   New Jersey also plans to file a Medicaid suit in the near future and several other states including Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas are also seriously interested.   There are also more than 200 cases brought on behalf of individuals in the state of Florida alone and a growing number of class actions including a second-hand smoking case involving flight attendants set to go to trial next year. 
626 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent   The tobacco industry's troubles deepened Wednesday with the White House expected to endorse strict new regulations on cigarettes on Friday and jury deliberations about to start in a key smoking case.   The timing of the White House announcement could hardly be worse for the industry, which is still reeling from a surprise $750,000 damage award earlier this month.   Meanwhile, Michigan became the 13th state to sue the industry Wednesday, and on Thursday an Indiana jury is to start weighing whether cigarette makers can be held liable for a smoker's addiction that allegedly led to his death.   Tobacco stocks were already tumbling Wednesday on concerns about the Indiana trial when White House officials said they expected President Bill Clinton to accept the new regulations from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.   The rules were expected to be similar to those the FDA proposed about a year ago.   Those included barring cigarette billboard advertising near schools and playgrounds and eliminating mail-order sales, vending machines, free samples, self-service displays and sales of fewer than 20 cigarettes.   The tobacco industry has sued, challenging the FDA's legal authority to regulate tobacco.   Closing arguments were set to begin Thursday morning at the Marion County Superior Court in Indianapolis.   The jury, which is expected to start deliberations in the afternoon, will be the first panel to decide a smoker's wrongful death case since the surprise verdict by a jury in Jacksonville, Fla., on Aug. 9.   If the industry loses the case it will strengthen the view among plaintiffs' lawyers and jury consultants that jurors' attitudes are changing and that panellists are more willing to hold cigarette companies liable for a smoker's addiction.   "If the plaintiffs win (the Indiapolis case) the tobacco companies are really in the soup," said Richard Daynard, a Northeastern University law professor who chairs the Tobacco Products Liability Project in Boston.   The stock of Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., the world's largest cigarette maker, tumbled $3.875 to $87.625 on the New York Stock Exchange and RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp., the owner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, fell $1.375 to $25.25.   Other tobacco company stocks also fell, and the drop helped pull the entire stock market lower, analysts said.   Although the uncertainty from the trial was hurting stocks, the Indianapolis jury, unlike the Florida panel, was not shown certain inflammatory internal tobacco documents.   Jury consultants said the documents, which concern the tobacco industry's knowledge of nicotine and addiction, angered the Florida jury.   The papers convinced panellists that tobacco companies try to keep smokers hooked and that smoking was not a matter of individual choice, consultants said.   The tobacco industry maintains that nicotine is not addictive and denies that it manipulates the level of nicotine to keep smokers hooked.   Personal injury lawyers have not been overly optimistic about the Indianapolis case because the documents were not allowed in as evidence.   The case involves Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis lawyer who died of lung cancer in 1987.   Rogers, who was 52 when he died, began smoking as a young child by stealing his father's cigarette butts.   When the case first went to trial last year, the jury was split 5-1 on whether Rogers "voluntarily" incurred a known risk by smoking.   "Heads, we win and it becomes a smashing victory.   Tails we lose and nobody thought we would win all of these cases," said Daynard of the Tobacco Products Liability Project.   A loss in the jury case without admission of the key documents could have severe implications for an industry that is facing mounting legal attacks across the country.   Since Monday, Kansas, Arizona and Michigan have joined 10 other states that have filed lawsuits aimed at forcing tobacco companies to pay for Medicaid costs of smokers.   Oklahoma is expected to file a similar case on Thursday that will bring the number of states to 14 by the end of the week.   New Jersey also plans to file a Medicaid suit in the near future and several other states including Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas are also seriously interested.   There are also more than 200 cases brought on behalf of individuals in the state of Florida alone and a growing number of class actions including a second-hand smoking case involving flight attendants set to go to trial next year. 
627 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Germany's Agriculture Ministry suggested on Wednesday that consumers avoid eating meat from British sheep until scientists determine whether mad cow disease can be transmitted to the animals.   "Until this is cleared up by the European Union's scientific panels -- and we have asked this to be done as quickly as possible -- (consumers) should if at all possible give preference to sheepmeat from other countries," ministry official Werner Zwingmann told ZDF television.   "I do not want to say that there is a concrete danger for consumers," he added.   "There are too many holes in what we know, and these must be filled very quickly."   Bonn has led efforts to ensure consumer protection tops the list of priorities in dealing with the mad cow crisis, which erupted in March when Britain acknowledged humans could contract a similar illness by eating contaminated beef.   The European Commission agreed this month to rethink a proposal to ban the use of suspect sheep tissue after some EU veterinary experts questioned whether it was justified.   EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler had proposed banning sheep brains, spleens and spinal cords from the human and animal food chains after reports from Britain and France that under laboratory conditions sheep could contract Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) -- mad cow disease.   But some members of the EU's standing veterinary committee questioned whether the action was necessary given the slight risk to human health.   The question is being studied separately by two EU scientific committees.   Sheep have long been known to contract scrapie, a similar brain-wasting disease to BSE which is believed to have been transferred to cattle through feed containing animal waste.   British officials say sheep meat is perfectly safe to eat.   ZDF said Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports.   After the British government admitted a possible link between mad cow disease and its fatal human equivalent, the EU imposed a worldwide ban on British beef exports.   EU leaders agreed at a summit in June to a progressive lifting of the ban as Britain takes parallel measures to eradicate the disease. 
628 !GCAT !GPOL  Advertising force Maurice Saatchi was elevated to the House of Lords by Prime Minister John Major Wednesday in a move industry experts said would give marketing new respectability and influence.   "We are delighted that someone so influential in advertising has been recognised.   ... It also recognises the industry's important contribution as an economic force for the good," said Andrew Brown, director general of the Advertising Association, the industry's main trade group.   But Major's decision to honour Saatchi as well as public relations expert Peter Selwyn Gummer, both advisers to the ruling Conservative Party on its latest pre-election campaign, triggered a political storm.   Saatchi, who helped the Conservatives win four general elections in a row, is behind a much-vilified newspaper campaign this month which depicts opposition Labour Party leader Tony Blair with devillish red eyes.   The ad -- now under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority -- is part of the Conservative's "New Labour New Danger' offensive, which has shocked many by the ferocity of its attacks on the opposition.   Gummer is the brother of Environment Secretary John Gummer and chairman of the Shandwick public relations company.   He and Saatchi are among 14 people who will be made life peers, a honour that dies with the recipient, unlike heriditary peerages.   The Labour Party criticised Major for recognising two of the architects of the "dirtiest" campaign in modern politics, who it said were being promoted merely for aiding the Conservatives. 
629 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Two years after South Africa's first democratic elections, Nelson Mandela's African National Congress is attempting an economic policy U-turn, bringing it into conflict with old allies on the Left.   Gone is the language of the liberation struggle, with its talk of redistribution and nationalisation.   Instead, the ANC is singing the benefits of budget cuts and privatisation.   Critics talk of a sell-out.   But ANC pragmatists argue that South Africa has no choice if it wants to boost economic growth and cut crippling unemployment afflicting one-third of the work force.   Finance Minister Trevor Manuel laid down the new economic gospel in June -- and insists he will not be blown off course.   "We've got to concentrate on ensuring that we can implement a programme that will evolve a different kind of economy in this country, one that absorbs labour, creates employment, deals with these issues differently," he said earlier this month.   His macroeconomic strategy sets clear targets for the next five years.   The aim is to double economic growth to 6 percent and create 400,000 new jobs a year by the year 2000, while cutting the budget deficit from more than 5 percent of GDP this year to 4 percent next and 3 percent in 1999.   But trade union leaders have condemned the policy, which runs counter to their own demands for greater state involvement.   "There is no way the government will succeed in simply pushing its framework down our throats," said Zwelinzima Vavi, assistant general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu).   "It is the entire framework which we wish to discuss.   We are not simply seeking the amendment of minor details here and there, but a complete reassessment of their view of the role of the state in stimulating reconstruction and development."   Cosatu is a key partner, together with the South African Communist Party, in the triple alliance that swept Mandela to office -- and its tough words have triggered fears of a damaging clash.   The big showdown with the unions could well come over privatisation.   After months of dithering, during which privatisation was euphemistically labelled "restructuring state assets," Mandela has finally laid down the law, declaring:   "Privatization is the fundamental policy of the ANC and it is going to be implemented."   The prize for the government is great.   Economists estimate it could, in theory, raise as much as 100 billion rand ($22 billion) from selling state concerns -- enough to cut government debt by a third.   It is already looking for a foreign partner to take a 25-30 percent chunk of telecommunications group Telkom, and recently appointed Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank to advise on other privatisation options.   Other candidates include South African Airways, the state airports company, government oil companies, a forestry business -- and possibly electricity generator Eskom.   The plans to sell the family silver have set alarm bells ringing among union members, who fear job cuts, triggering protest marches and strikes.   Together with a rash of industrial action in the mines in recent months, analysts say this has only underscored South Africa's reputation for labour unrest.   Cosatu denies it has a blanket opposition to privatisation, but insists government must keep control of essential services.   "We must look at what are the proposals on the table.   Are those proposals saying the government must move out of the provision of the basic services and out of the productive sector?   If that is the proposal, we will reject it," said general secretary Sam Shilowa.   Big business, meanwhile, formerly at odds with the ANC, suddenly finds itself on the same side.   Trevor Manuel and his macroeconomic strategy are the toast of Johannesburg board rooms.   Instead of worrying about government policy, business leaders' concern nowadays is rather whether government has the political clout to implement it.   "If (the ANC's) political allies are seen to be delaying or in any way undermining what the government has committed itself to in terms of its economic programme, then quite clearly there will be consequences," said South African Chamber of Business director general Raymond Parsons.   "Foreign markets and foreign investors, as well as South African investors, are watching the implementation of the macroeconomic strategy with great intensity."   Foreign investment is crucial to the new economic strategy.   Without it, South Africa will not build the new industry needed to drive growth, create jobs and give the unemployed a viable alternative to a life of crime.   So far, foreign firms have been slow to put their money into South African bricks and mortar.   The recent pummelling of the rand on the foreign exchange markets suggests overseas investors still need to be persuaded that government will deliver on its economic promises. 
630 !C13 !C21 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !GHEA  Germany's Agriculture Ministry suggested on Wednesday that consumers avoid eating British mutton until scientists determine whether mad cow disease can be transmitted to sheep.   "Until this is cleared up by the European Union's scientific panels -- and we have asked this to be done as quickly as possible -- (consumers) should if at all possible give preference to mutton from other countries," ministry official Werner Zwingmann told ZDF television.   "I do not want to say that there is a concrete danger for consumers," he added.   "There are too many holes in what we know, and these must be filled very quickly."   Bonn has led efforts to ensure consumer protection tops the list of priorities in dealing with the mad cow crisis, which erupted in March when Britain acknowledged humans could contract a similar illness by eating contaminated beef.   The European Commission agreed this month to rethink a proposal to ban the use of suspect sheep tissue after some EU veterinary experts questioned whether it was justified.   EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler had proposed banning sheep brains, spleens and spinal cords from the human and animal food chains after reports from Britain and France that under laboratory conditions sheep could contract Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) -- mad cow disease.   But some members of the EU's standing veterinary committee questioned whether the action was necessary given the slight risk to human health.   The question is being studied separately by two EU scientific committees.   Sheep have long been known to contract scrapie, a similar brain-wasting disease to BSE which is believed to have been transferred to cattle through feed containing animal waste.   British officials say sheep meat is perfectly safe to eat.   ZDF said Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports.   After the British government admitted a possible link between mad cow disease and its fatal human equivalent, the EU imposed a worldwide ban on British beef exports.   EU leaders agreed at a summit in June to a progressive lifting of the ban as Britain takes parallel measures to eradicate the disease. 
631 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA !GJOB !GPOL  President Clinton this week signed into law a host of measures that will change everything from how much you can sock away in a small business pension fund to how quickly you can write off a gas station.   While the headlines focused on the main news -- the 90 cent raise in the minimum wage to $5.15 an hour -- business owners, home-based workers, and employees of small companies should be aware of the details in these bills.   The White House said the "Small Business Protection Act" included some $22 billion in tax breaks for small businesses over 10 years, paid for in part by reimposing a 10 percent tax on airline tickets.   A health insurance bill also included significant tax breaks for the self-employed.   Here are the major changes that affect small and home-based businesses:   -- Pension plans.   The new law alters 401(k) plans for firms with less than 100 employees, creating incentives for small companies employing some 10 million workers to set up retirement plans.   In the absence of a pension plan, the most an owner or a worker could sock away tax-free was $2,000 in most cases -- the amount of an IRA contribution.   Under the new law, employees can contribute up to $6,000 a year to 401(k) plans.   The law requires employers to match employee contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 3 percent of their workers' salaries or make a blanket 2-percent contribution for all workers.   Owners get a break in setting up the plan, for they will be able to save up to $6,000 a year for their own retirement fund regardless of employee participation.   Previously, the amount an owner could put away in a company plan was limited by the amount lower-paid employees saved.   The new law also minimises the paper work for the new 401(k) retirement accounts, cutting costs faced by small firms.   Once employees enter a plan they become fully vested, so they can take the entire pot of savings with them, including company contributions, if they quit.   Previously employees became vested in steps.   -- Retirement accounts for non-working spouses.   Under the law, a non-working spouse can make a full $2,000 contribution to an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) in 1997.   Couples in which only one person works are now limited to a total IRA contribution of $2,250 a year.   -- Equipment tax write off.   This is a good break for anyone who wants to write off the full cost of an expensive purchase like a computer or machine in the year it was bought.   Currently, the ceiling is $17,500 a year.   Under the new law the write-off will rise to $25,000 by the year 2003, if you spend less than $200,000 a year on equipment.   -- Deductible health insurance premiums for self-employed workers.   Under the new health insurance law, the portion of health insurance premiums that can be deducted by self-employed workers rises to 40 percent next year from 30 percent currently.   It then climbs to 45 percent by 1998, and after 2002 rises steadily to 80 percent in 2006.   -- Small company medical savings accounts.   Companies with less than 50 employees will be able to set up tax-free accounts to pay for medical expenses, if the workers have only catastrophic insurance.   This measure is being provided as a test to 750,000 workers.   -- Educational assistance.   The wage bill reinstates the exclusion from income taxes of up to $5,250 for employer educational assistance.   This tax benefit expired at the end of 1994 but the bill has reinstated it retroactively and extended it until May 31, 1997.   Post-graduate work, however, would be excluded for courses starting after July 1, 1996.   -- Employer tax credit for hiring.   Employers will get a tax break for hiring people in targeted groups most in need of jobs or with the least skills, including welfare and food stamp recipients, former felons and young adults from certain targeted communities.   The break amounts to a 35 percent tax credit on the first $6,000 of first-year wages paid.   -- Depreciation.   Owners of convenience stores and gas stations will now be able to depreciate the cost of building their stores and buying equipment over 15 years from the current rate of 39 years.   Questions or comments on the Newbiz column can be sent to sam.  fromartz(at)reuters.  com 
632 !C13 !C21 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Germany's Agriculture Ministry suggested on Wednesday that consumers avoid eating British mutton until scientists determine whether mad cow disease can be transmitted to sheep.   "Until this is cleared up by the European Union's scientific panels -- and we have asked this to be done as quickly as possible -- (consumers) should if at all possible give preference to mutton from other countries," ministry official Werner Zwingmann told ZDF television.   "I do not want to say that there is a concrete danger for consumers," he added.   "There are too many holes in what we know, and these must be filled very quickly."   Bonn has led efforts to ensure consumer protection tops the list of priorities in dealing with the mad cow crisis, which erupted in March when Britain acknowledged humans could contract a similar illness by eating contaminated beef.   Scientists are still investigating whether the disease can be transmitted to sheep as well if they are fed animal meal made from infected cattle.   ZDF said Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports.   After the British government admitted a possible link between mad cow disease -- bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) -- and its fatal human equivalent, the EU imposed a worldwide ban on British beef exports.   EU leaders agreed at a summit in June to a progressive lifting of the ban as Britain takes parallel measures to eradicate the disease. 
633 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Zimbabwean civil servants on Wednesday called off a strike that partially paralysed some critical essential services, the state news agency ZIANA said.   The agency quoted Palmer Chinosengwa, an executive member of the Public Service Association (PSA) union, as saying the strike over pay was suspended following an agreement by the government to discuss their grievances.   The civil servants had defied a government order to return to work by Wednesday morning, with their leaders saying they would only do so if the government committed to addressing the workers' complaints.   Chinosengwa urged all strikers to return to work on Thursday, but added they might walk out again if negotiations with the government scheduled for Thursday proved unsatisfactory.   "The strike achieved something because we managed to force government to come to a roundtable and look critically at our grievances," Chinosengwa said.   PSA officials were unavailable for an independent confirmation of the report.   However, state radio said two PSA leaders arrested by secret police earlier in the day had been freed.   Police spokesman Dave Njagu said the two, PSA executive secretary John Makoni and his assistant Charles Chiviru, were arrested while organising civil servants for a protest march at a government building.   "The two men were picked up for forcing people to join the strike and the police are now looking into the charges," Njagu said.   The PSA called the strike -- which started on Tuesday and is a rare action by civil servants -- to press demands for wage rises of around 30 percent and said increases of between three to eight percent recently awarded by the government were unacceptable.   Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro declared the strike illegal, saying those who did not return to work by Wednesday would be sacked. 
634 !C18 !C182 !C21 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Campbell Soup Co. is planning to cut its headquarters staff of 1,500, shut one of four major soup plants and divest some brand names, including Swanson frozen foods, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.   A Campbell spokesman called the newspaper report speculative but did not deny it, which cited company sources and Wall Street analysts.   "We are engaged in a process to unlock resources to grow our company," said Campbell spokesman Jerry Buckley.   He acknowledged that Campbell has commissioned a study of operations by the management consulting firm Coopers & Lybrand.   "We use consultants all the time," he said.   Buckley also said there is no deadline for the study and that no decisions are likely to be made soon.   Since David Johnson became Campbell's chief executive, the company has been retreating from the paternal interest in the city of Camden, where it was founded a century ago by the Dorrance family.   Johnson closed the company's original soup plant, costing Camden 900 jobs as part of a company-wide restructuring that cut 11,000 jobs.   Campbell has also changed the terms of its commitment to build a new headquarters building on the banks of the Delaware River, a key ingredient in the city's planned economic recovery.   Instead, the company offered to be the prime tenant for any developer willing to take the risk.   Two expressed interest, but neither was able to obtain financing.   Last year Campbell sold its Mrs. Paul's frozen fish subsidiary. 
635 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  A general strike led by Nepal's opposition communists, which brought much of Kathmandu to a halt on Wednesday, ended peacefully, eyewitnesses and officials said.   "Barring a few incidents of throwing stones at transport vehicles, the situation was normal," Gopendra Bahadur Pandey, spokesman for the Home (Interior) Ministry, said.   The strike was called by the National Mass Movement Coordination Committee (NMMCC) in protest against the ruling centre-right coalition saying it was responsible for corruption, high inflation and unemployment in the Himalayan kingdom.   "The strike passed off peacefully and in an impressive way," a spokesperson of the communist-led who called the strike, said.   This is the first major political protest against Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's Nepali Congress-led coalition.   Goverment officials said the strike had a "minor impact" in the city while eye witnesses said most shops in the main shopping area remained closed.   Only a few transport vehicles were running.   The communists also criticised Deuba's government for signing in February a treaty with neighbouring India to share waters of the Mahakali river, which they say was not fair to Nepal.   The treaty now awaits a ratification by the Nepali parliament.   The strikers have also accused the government of harassing innocent people and political rivals in western Nepal under the guise of a crackdown on Maoist rebels in an insurgency which has claimed more than 40 lives in the past six months.   The strike, which came a day after the end of a three-month closure by textile mills opposing a rise in sales tax, was the first major showdown with the opposition since the government came to power last September.   The Deuba's coalition assumed power after it dislodged in a confidence vote a communist minority government which had ruled for nine months.   Nepal launched a multi-party democracy under a constitutional monarchy headed by King Birendra in 1990 after bloody pro-democracy demonstrations. 
636 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Zimbabwean civil servants defied on Wednesday a government order to end a rare strike over pay, leaving some critical essential services partially paralysed.   Tension rose among the striking workers during the day amid rumours that some Public Service Association (PSA) union leaders, including its influential executive secretary John Makoni, had been arrested by Zimbabwe's feared secret police.   Police spokesmen were unavailable for immediate comment, but PSA officials said they were definite their colleagues were in police custody.   Earlier, Makoni had told reporters that "many" of the southern African state's 180,000 civil servants would continue the strike that began on Tuesday and left only senior officials at work.   "We have not changed our stance.   Our position is still that we will only return to work once there is some commitment that the PSC (Public Services Commission) and ministry of public service, labour and social service will address our grievances," he said.   In the capital Harare, thousands of workers marched, sang and danced mostly around government offices and in a central city park, vowing only promises of higher pay would take them off the streets.   Dozens of police kept a wary eye on the crowd.   Elsewhere around the country, state media reported that "many workers" were demonstrating, and that at least two provincial governors had been booed off the stage after attempts to persuade workers to return to work.   The PSA called the strike to press demands for wage rises of around 30 percent and said increases of between three to eight percent recently awarded by the government were unacceptable.   Local media reports said thousands of government employees were milling around their work places despite calls on Tuesday by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro to report to work.   Chitauro said the strike was illegal and those who did not return to work would be dismissed.   State hospitals were handling only critical cases and offering rudimentary services in the general wards, using senior nurses, army medical personnel and the Red Cross nurses, with thousands of their own nurses out on strike. 
637 !GCAT !GDIP  Ukraine tried to soothe China's anger on Wednesday over a visit by Taiwanese Vice-President Lien Chan and re-affirmed Kiev's commitment to a "one China" policy.   "We in Kiev regard Taiwan as an integral part of China.   Nothing should damage our relations with China," Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko told reporters.   "We think the private trip of the Taiwanese representative on a private invitation should not be enough to worsen Ukrainian-Chinese relations."   China has already reacted to the visit by scrapping a planned trip to Kiev by a delegation headed by Li Tieying, chairman of the State Commission for Economic Restructuring.   The visitors had been due to arrive on Wednesday for five days and hold meetings with President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko.   Officials in Kiev, which regards China as one of its most important political and economic partners, were clearly upset over the row.   Udovenko said the postponement of the visit was a "temporary decision".   Lien left Ukraine on Wednesday afternoon after a three-day visit at the invitation of the chancellor of Kiev State University, which granted him an honorary degree.   He also visited Ukraine's separatist pro-Russia Crimean peninsula.   A Chinese spokesman in Beijing said Lien's trip to Ukraine to accept a degree had been made with political motives.   China's ambassador to Ukraine protested to the Foreign Ministry and announced the cancellation of Li Tieying's visit.   Taiwan State Radio said Lien had met Ukraine's president on Wednesday.   Kiev denied the report.   "There was no meeting.   Neither official, nor private nor non-official.   I officially deny that information," a spokesman for Kuchma said.   "There is no point at all for the president to meet him.   The Chinese are even angry over his private stay in Ukraine."   Officials blamed a lack of coordination between governmental bodies.   Ukraine had denied Lien's presence in the country immediately after the first media reports that he was here.   "We are innocent, and this is all so stupid.   When we were saying that he was not here -- well, much to our surprise, he was," a top Ukrainian diplomat told Reuters.   "We made fools of ourselves by allowing the world to see this mess."   China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province and has sought to isolate the island diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   China is Ukraine's second largest economic partner after Russia with annual bilateral trade totalling almost $1 billion.   Kiev has no diplomatic or official ties with Taiwan.   A Chinese spokesman said on Tuesday Ukraine's acceptance of Lien's visit had constituted a grave violation of its commitment on the question of Taiwan in a 1994 communique which established diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine. 
638 !C13 !C33 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad shrugged off on Wednesday the possibility of U.S. sanctions after the state oil company Petronas agreed to buy into an Iranian oil field.   "We know the general feelings of the U.S.," he said in reply to questions from reporters.   "We are for working with the U.S. in certain matters, and where we disagree, we will not work with them."   "We feel we have the right to make our own national decision," Mahathir said in the first official comment on the Iranian deal.   The French oil group Total SA on Monday said Petronas had taken a 30 percent stake in Iran's Sirri A and E fields through its Carigali subsidiary, in a deal approved by Iranian authorities.   Petronas has declined comment on the reports.   The announcement by Total ended a search of more than a year for partners in the $600 million project and came two weeks after U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a bill which would punish foreign firms that invest $40 million or more annually in Iran's or Libya's energy sector.   Mahathir said the United States did not try to dissuade Malaysia from making the deal.   "Not that I'm aware of," he said when asked if there was any pressure from Washington.   "The matter didn't come to us."   He said Malaysia was opposed to unilateral pressures for sanctions against "rogue countries".   Mahathir, taking a sarcastic tone, said: "What we should do, really, is to have an international court to decide which country's citizens should starve to death.   Countries should be labelled rogue countries and therefore their peoples should be starved to death.   And when the World Court says we should starve all Iranians, then we will comply."   An Iranian official told Reuters earlier this week that Petronas sealed the deal before the new U.S. sanctions law was signed by Clinton.   Washington accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear weapons.   Tehran denies both charges. 
639 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan on Wednesday defended a $23-billion natural gas deal with Iran which has angered the United States.   "What could be more natural than us getting such cheap, abundant natural gas from right next door?"   Erbakan told a news conference.   Washington said earlier this month it would slap sanctions on companies investing more than $40 million in energy projects in Iran and Libya, calling them "two supporters of terrorism."   The United States has condemned the Turkey-Iran deal but said last week it was too early to decide whether to punish NATO ally Turkey.   "The American administration has shown understanding but certain circles in America are assessing (the deal) negatively," he said.   Erbakan, Turkey's first Islamist leader, was speaking hours after returning from a 10-day foreign tour that included a stop in Iran where the gas agreement was signed last week.   "We want to improve all kinds of relations with both the East and the West," he said.   "This sincere desire was openly expressed on our visit."   He also went to Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia and Indonesia.   Under the gas deal, a pipeline is to be built from the Iranian city of Tabriz to Ankara beginning in 1999.   Turkey, facing an energy shortage, will buy a total of 190 billion cubic metres by the year 2022.   "Turkey is an independent country.   We have the responsibiliy to sort out national problems.   It is our duty," Erbakan said.   He predicted the Iran project would boost the economy of Turkey's impoverished southeast, hit by 12 years of fighting between government forces and separatist Kurdish rebels. 
640 !GCAT !GENV  The British government on Wednesday unveiled what it called the first comprehensive national air quality strategy in Europe with the aim of eliminating smog by the year 2005.   Under the new measures, authorities could close off parts of cities and stop cars if pollution gets too high.   Environment Secretary John Gummer announced targets for major cuts in the level of eight key pollutants ranging from benzene to ozone, which a consultation paper drawn up by his department blames for hundreds of premature deaths every year.   "My aim is that in the first decade of the next century, children will begin to say to their parents "what was smog?'  ," he told a news conference.   "If we can do that, then we have made a major improvement to the environment and to the nation."   Speaking during a week in which record high temperatures have sent pollution levels soaring in London, Gummer insisted that British air quality had improved greatly from the 1950s and 1960s when heavy industry belched out smoke from factories across the land.   Improvements to industrial processes and to vehicle emissions already under way and the adoption of new European Union standards would bring further improvements -- but in many cases not enough to achieve the targets he now proposes.   So the government was planning a further crackdown on vehicle and industrial emissions, and was considering giving local councils radical new powers.   These could include the authority to close parts of cities temporarily to vehicles where pollution levels were too high, and to stop cars and trucks suspected of exceeding emission norms.   "If we can deal with the 10-20 percent of cars that represent the worst cases of pollution, we can cut vehicle emissions out of all proportion," Gummer said.   He said the government did not plan to force people to give up their cars.   But he wanted to see towns planned so that people could choose to have no car, or to reduce the number of cars in their household, without making a major sacrifice.   His plans were given a cautious welcome by environmental groups, but political opponents said the recognition of the need to change planning and transport policies came after 17 years in which the ruling Conservatives had supported the car culture.   "The UK is now the most car-dependent country in Europe," the opposition Labour Party said in a statement.   "This document, which has been trailed as evidence of new government concern about our environment, is in fact a remarkable admission of failure."   Two reports published on Tuesday warned of the dangers to Britons from pollution agents for which motor vehicles are largely responsible.   The British Lung Foundation published research showing even healthy people were in danger of suffering inflammation of the airways when exposed to the levels of low-level ozone common in summer in traffic-clogged streets.   The minority Liberal Democrat party released a research paper showing asthma has increased four-fold in the past 30 years and blaming the rise on increased traffic. 
641 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday he hoped an unfolding corruption scandal involving a former minister would not stall an ambitious telephone privatisation programme.   Federal police have filed a corruption case against former communications minister Sukh Ram, who oversaw the telephone privatisation programme until the Congress party was defeated in general elections in April and May.   No charges have been laid, despite the filing by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).   Last week, CBI agents recovered more than $1 million in cash during a raid on two of Sukh Ram's homes.   A senior Department of Telecommunications civil servant has been arrested.   Ashok Mitra of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) told Reuters on Wednesday that he had written to Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda asking for the suspension of all telecommunications licences granted during Sukh Ram's tenure.   Under India's telephone privatisation programme, the previous Congress government awarded licences to dozens of private joint ventures, involving Indian and foreign companies, to operate cellular and basic services.   A fourth round of bidding to grant basic service licences in remaining zones has not yet been scheduled.   "I sincerely hope that none of the earlier decisions will be reconsidered because of revelations made now," Chidambaram told reporters.   "I hope that those who have been given licences will move forward to implement those licences."   The minister said he was not aware of any impact from the suspected scandal on the privatisation process.   "But I hope that the process will not be stalled," he said.   Chidambaram said the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector was high on the 13-party United Front government's agenda and it would ensure that the process moved forward.   "The process of liberalisation in the telecommunications sector and introduction of private investments in the basic telecommunications services must go forward and I am confident will go forward," Chidambaram said.   Sukh Ram's whereabouts were still a mystery on Wednesday, five days after the CBI raided his homes.   Chidambaram said the Deve Gowda government was trying to remove the perception of corruption, which was one of the reasons that led to the defeat of the previous government.   "We want it (corruption) to be minimised if not totally eliminated.   But sometimes I am afraid some of these traders also encourage and feed corruption," Chidambaram said. 
642 !GCAT !GREL !GVIO  President Fidel Ramos on Wednesday tried to dispel Christian fears that Moslem rebels would take advantage of a peace deal to impose Islam on the southern Philippines.   "Whoever is thinking this way might as well forget it," Ramos said.   "There will be no Islamisation."   Ramos has struck a peace deal with the insurgent Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) which involves setting up a Moslem-led council to supervise development of 14 southern provinces.   A provision in the draft accord providing for an Islamic advisory body to help MNLF chief Nur Misuari run the council has raised fears among Christians that the rebels would propagate Islam as a dominant religion in the area.   The country's five million Moslems regard Mindanao as their ancestral homeland although they have become a minority in the area after decades of Christian migration.   Ramos told his weekly news conference Christians should not fear the council because government and MNLF negotiators working out the final text of the peace agreement had dropped any reference to the religious advisory body.   He said Misuari himself had publicly stated the guerrillas would not impose Islam on anyone and that "if some have embraced Islam, it is on a voluntary basis".   "And so we are saying it, there will be no Islamisation and the MNLF are also saying there will be no Islamisation," he added.   Ramos said he did not foresee any delay in the signing in Jakarta shortly of a treaty ending a 24-year MNLF-led rebellion.   Indonesia heads an Islamic panel mediating the peace talks.   Philippine officials earlier said they expected the accord to be initialled in Jakarta towards the end of this month to be followed by a ceremonial signing in Manila.   Ramos and Misuari sealed the deal on Monday in an unprecedented meeting in Malabang town, where they also attended a rally to campaign for support for the council.   Christian protests against the accord continued on Wednesday as public transport drivers in southern Iligan city went on strike and 5,000 residents carried cardboard coffins.   Protesters set up human barricades at intersections as the planned three-day strike paralysed about 70 percent of commercial activity in the overwhelmingly Christian city of 280,000 people.   Carrying signs "War is coming", the protesters burned Ramos' effigy after marching through the city.   "President Ramos, you are Judas, don't sell us," other signs read. 
643 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India does not expect its opposition to a global nuclear test ban treaty to damage economic relations with the rest of the world, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday.   "I have been assured we don't expect any economic fallout and hope there would not be any economic fallout," Chidambaram told reporters in the Indian capital.   On Tuesday, India prevented the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) from being adopted at disarmament talks in Geneva.   The treaty, which supporters would like to forward to the United Nations General Assembly over India's objections, includes a clause which could provide for eventual, unspecified measures to encourage countries to ratify the pact.   India has expressed concern that the measures could involve punitive sanctions aimed at forcing it to approve the treaty.   The United States has reassured New Delhi that it would not be punished for opposing the CTBT, but India has said Washington's unilateral assurances did not allay its concerns because the disarmament talks involved many countries.   Foreign diplomats in New Delhi have said that while the measures might not involve punitive sanctions, countries that support the CTBT might lose confidence in India due to its stance in Geneva.   On Wednesday, Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda reaffirmed the country's commitment to nuclear disarmament, vowing not to be a party to any "discriminatory" goals along the way.   "We believe nuclear disarmament is vital for the future of humanity and would like to work towards this goal.   However, till the goal is accepted by all, we cannot afford to subscribe to any goal that is discriminatory, unfair and inimical to national security interests," Deve Gowda told a gathering of scientists.   All major Indian political parties oppose the CTBT, and opinion polls show there is broad public support for the government's policy of retaining the option to test and deploy nuclear weapons.   India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 but says it has never built the bomb.   Experts say both India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947, could quickly assemble a nuclear bomb. 
644 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Australia's new conservative government on Wednesday launched a campaign blitz to sell its deficit-slashing budget and calm community fears after two days of violent protests against spending cuts.   As workers cleaned up after rioting at parliament house, Treasurer Peter Costello said his budget, slashing spending by almost A$4.0 billion (US$3.1 billion), would repair the structure of the economy, put it on the path to prosperity into the next century and deliver on key election pldeges.   "There are no smoke and mirrors in these accounts -- we have come clean with the Australian people," Costello said in the traditional post-budget address to the National Press Club.   After two days of clashes between police and demonstrators protesting against the spending cuts, the streets of the capital were quiet on Wednesday.   But the long-foreshadowed massive spending cuts triggered strong criticism from the Labor opposition, unions, students, Aborigines, conservationists, welfare and community groups.   About 150 protesting Aborigines attacked police with bricks, bottles and stakes near parliament house on Tuesday as Costello prepared to deliver the budget for the year to June 30, 1997.   On Monday, rioters stormed parliament house and clashed with police equipped with riot gear during a two-hour confrontation.   Costello's budget, the first by a conservative government in 14 years, halved the underlying deficit to A$5.6 billion in 1996/97 from A$10.3 billion in 1995/96.   The tough measures paid early dividends for the Liberal-National government in the financial markets.   After a mixed initial reaction, confidence returned and the Australian dollar rose and bond yields tumbled as markets became increasingly confident the government's debt reduction strategy would yield economic benefits, including lower interest rates.   Ratings agency Standard and Poor's Corp on Wednesday revised its outlook for Australia's short-term currency rating to positive from stable.   Costello and Prime Minister John Howard embarked on a flurry of media appearances on Wednesday to push the budget's merits and reassure voters the cuts were not as bad as critics had claimed.   "This is a reformist government, this is a government which is building for the future, this is a government which is repairing Australia's finances for the next century," Costello said.   Parliament appears almost certain to pass the bulk of the budget, despite criticism by the opposition and minor parties.   Labor opposition treasury spokesman Gareth Evans said Labor would seek only minor changes to the budget when it comes before the upper house, the Senate, where the government does not have a majority.   "I don't want to be taken for a moment to suggest that the budget will survive intact," Evans told Reuters Financial Television in an interview.   "I am saying that it is a reasonable anticipation that the overall shape of the budget and its general flavour will survive," Evans said.   Despite its landslide win in the March national election which ended 13 years of Labor rule, the new government needs the support of at least two non-government senators in the 76-seat upper house to pass legislation.   (A$1 = US$0.79) 
645 !C11 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London asked a U.S. judge on Tuesday to dismiss a suit by investors seeking to block the 300-year-old insurance market's recovery plan.   Lloyd's also said it was willing to allow those investors to sue in Britain if fraud was found in its restructuring.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case, in which U.S. investors have applied for an injunction to stop the recovery plan.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   The proposal also includes a 3.2 billion British pound ($4.95 billion) cash offer to the Names designed to offset the cost of Equitas.   The investors must vote on the proposal by Aug. 28.   The suit, which names 93 plaintiffs, seeks to block the plan until more detailed financial information is released.   Arguing to have the suit dismissed, Lloyd's attorney Harvey Pitt told U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne that the case did not belong in his court.   "This case has no business in this court," Pitt told the court.   "I have never seen a case where none of the witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants live in the eastern district of Virginia."   Pitt said Lloyd's Chief Executive Officer Ronald Sandler, who was on the witness stand for four hours Tuesday, was prepared to stipulate that if the judge dismissed the case and fraud later was found to be a part of the restructuring, the plaintiffs could sue in Britain.   Earlier, Sandler answered questions from lawyers and from Payne as he sought to defend Lloyd's complex, multibillion-dollar restructuring plan to settle massive insurance losses.   Sandler has said the plan, known as R&R for reconstructional and renewal, is critical to Lloyd's solvency.   Payne questioned Sandler for about an hour, asking about Lloyd's plans to pay its liabilities and what would happen if its investments made more money than was needed to pay off those liabilities.   "Most (Lloyd's officials) believe that some time over 30 years the liability will be extinguished," Sandler said, adding that any money left over would go to charities.   When asked by the judge who the benefactors would be, Sandler said he was not able to answer.   Payne told Sandler firmly that the company needed to have a plan for the disposition of leftover assets and that he would need to be told who the benefactors would be.   Payne also asked whether Lloyd's was able to pay the total premium if U.S. investors did not back the recovery plan.   Sandler said he was unable to answer.   The plantiffs' motion for an injunction, filed in July, said Lloyd's had not provided investors with adequate financial statements for Equitas, had not provided substantive information as to who will run Equitas, about reserves and other funding requirements and how funds and proceeds would be used.   Payne earlier criticised the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for refusing to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the SEC's neutral position on this issue.   Payne said the SEC would have a second opportunity to respond to his request for a ruling.   Separately Tuesday, Lloyd's received a boost from another court case in New York, which dismissed action brought against the market by four Names.   They had claimed that Lloyd's knew long ago the extent of liabilities faced by Names.   "We are pleased by this decision.   Names entered into their commitments under U.K. law and we are pleased that U.S. courts continue to recognise this," said Lloyd's U.S. executive, Peter Lane. 
646 !C15 !C151 !C18 !C181 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  CompuServe Corp.   Tuesday reported a surprisingly large $29.6 million fiscal first-quarter loss, blaming a decline in the number of subscribers to the No. 2 online service and spending on a new family-oriented service and improvements.   CompuServe predicted a second-quarter loss but said earnings would improve in the second half of the fiscal year.   "We are taking steps to revitalise CompuServe," said Chief Executive Bob Massey.   The company said it would cut 150 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, as part of a cost-cutting programme expected to save $30 million on an annualized basis.   The Columbus, Ohio-based company said that as part of the cost cuts it would sell its Spry Inc. unit, whose Web browser trails far behind similar products made by Netscape Communications Corp. and Microsoft Corp.   The loss of $29.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the company's fiscal 1997 first quarter ended July 31 compared with last year's quarterly profit of $26.8 million, or 36 cents a share.   The results included a pretax charge of $17.7 million, or 13 cents per share.   CompuServe last month said it expected to post a loss for the quarter, but the actual loss was greater than Wall Street expectations.   The company reported revenues of $208.6 million for the quarter vs. $186.5 million in the previous year's quarter.   Massey, expanding on last month's comments, said the number of people cancelling their subscriptions exceeded the 900,000 new subscribers to the company's online services, producing a "modest decline" in subscriber numbers.   Massey said in an interview later Tuesday, however, that in the second quarter, usage of the company's flagship CompuServe Information Service increased.   He said the first-quarter decline in subscribers may be weather-related.   "I think, in general, the trend is in a positive direction," he said.   As of July 31, CompuServe had 3.3 million members worldwide, the company said.   Total subscribers, including members of NiftyServe, a joint-venture Japanese online service, numbered 5.2 million.   CompuServe, founded in 1969, is second only to America Online Inc., with 6.2 million subscribers.   CompuServe also blamed the loss on investments in its family-oriented WOW!   service and infrastructure improvements.   It said it expected losses to continue into the second fiscal quarter, hitting 10 cents to 15 cents a share, due to the costs of rolling out the latest version of the software needed to access the service, Compuserve 3.0, and the release of a feature that makes WOW!   look different to teenagers than it does to their parents.   But the forecast for the second half of its fiscal year was rosier.   "Coupled with new product releases and aggressive marketing campaigns, we expect the third and fourth quarters to improve with subscribers topping the 7-million mark, including our Japanese licensee service, NiftyServe," Massey said in a statement.   The company said it also expected increased revenue from advertising and fees for electronic commerce.   CompuServe is a former subsidiary of tax preparer H&R Block Inc., which spun off the company and is selling its 80 percent stake in CompuServe.   CompuServe announced its financial results after markets closed.   Its stock dropped 12.5 cents to $13.50 on Nasdaq in earlier trading. 
647 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  London underground train drivers were split on Wednesday over a pay and working-hours deal, with one union voting to accept the package while another rejected it and pledged to continue strike action.   Members of the Aslef union voted 60 percent in favour of the deal offered by the management of the underground network.   Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted by nearly four to one against it and said they would stage 24-hour strikes next Friday and Tuesday.   Britain has been hit by a series of strikes this summer.   Postal workers, some firemen and overground train drivers are either taking or planning strike action.   The London underground drivers have been offered a 35-hour week in 1998, down from 38.5 hours now.   But this would be paid for by an effective cut in pay, with annual wage rises below the rate of inflation over three years.   RMT leaders campaigned for a "no" vote.   "Yes, we did say we would moderate the cash claims to get real time off from the job, but this is daylight robbery," the RMT said in a leaflet to members.   The two unions paralysed the underground system four times this summer but called off a 24-hour stoppage due on August 13 while the workforce was consulted on the latest offer.   The RMT represents around 900 of the 2,200 drivers on the underground.   Aslef organises the rest.   The RMT's 24-hour tube stoppages on Friday and Tuesday will ensure disruption to the capital's transport system either side of a long holiday weekend.   Other RMT members belonging to seven regional train operating companies will also be on strike on August 23 and 27.   One of them, North London Railways, runs overland services to and from London, which will add to the chaos.   RMT called for further talks with London underground management, saying only "details" stood in the way of a settlement.   The below-inflation rises were "the main sticking point", it said. 
648 !GCAT !GHEA  British blood authorities said on Wednesday they had started screening donors for the human form of "mad cow" disease, just in case the deadly brain disease can be passed on through the blood.   Concerns have been rising about a possible epidemic of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), the human form of the illness, since government scientists said a new variant of the disease was probably caused by people eating infected beef.   Then, in August, a government scientific committee monitoring such diseases said experiments had shown cows could pass bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or mad cow disease) to their calves.   The National Blood Authority, which oversees blood donations, said it had instructed clinics to start asking potential donors about CJD as of August 1.   Anyone with a family history of the illness, which turns the brain to a sponge, will not be allowed to give blood.   "This is not, however, a change of policy," the Authority said in a statement, but "an operational safeguard to make absolutely sure that any family connection is identified during the medical screening interview."   But Dr Stephen Dealler, one of a few "independent" scientists who have warned of the dangers of BSE for years, said blood transfusions were a potential source of infection.   "While we don't know how many people are infected with BSE, we must assume the blood they are donating is infected," Dealler, a microbiologist at Burnley General Hospital in northern England, said in an interview.   He recommended that hospitals only use blood transfusions in life-or-death situations.   In a report in this week's issue of the journal Transfusion Medicine, Dealler estimated as many as 60,000 people in Britain could have been given CJD-infected blood each year.   Dealler admits his calculations are highly speculative -- and assume that blood was highly infective.   There is at present no test for CJD or BSE in a living person or animal -- it can only be diagnosed after death.   But studies have found CJD can be passed via the blood of infected mice, guinea-pigs and humans.   Most tests involve injecting blood or tissue into a mouse's brain.   Because it can have a long incubation period -- up to 30 years for naturally occurring CJD in people -- it is impossible to know how many people might be infected.   CJD normally strikes about one in a million people per year, and a dozen cases of the new variant have been identified.   Because no experiment could ethically use living people, it is not known whether people can be infected by mouth, although 16 other species have been, including mice, cats and deer.   After the new variant of CJD was identified, the government strengthened controls aimed at preventing infected beef from getting into the human food supply.   Parts of the cow shown in tests to be infectious have been banned from use since 1990.   But some scientists say enough infected beef would have made its way into the food supply before then to potentially infect hundreds of thousands of meat-eaters.   They say the 12 cases of the new variant could be the tip of a giant iceberg. 
649 !GCAT !GPRO  The elevation of advertising legend Maurice Saatchi to Britain's House of Lords will add new respectability and influence to the marketing sector, industry experts said on Wednesday.   "We are delighted that someone so influential in advertising has been recognised...It also recognises the industry's important contribution as an economic force for the good," said Andrew Brown, director general of the Advertising Association, the industry's main trade body.   But Prime Minister John Major's decision to honour Saatchi as well as public relations expert Peter Selwyn Gummer, both advisers to the ruling Conservative Party on its latest pre-election campaign, has sparked a political storm.   Saatchi, the advertising guru who helped the Conservatives to win four successive general elections, is behind a much-vilified newspaper campaign this month which depicts Opposition leader Tony Blair with devilish red eyes.   The ad -- now under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority -- is part of the Conservative's "New Labour New Danger' offensive, which has shocked many by the ferocity of its attacks on the Opposition.   Gummer is the brother of Environment Secretary John Gummer and chairman of public relations company, Shandwick.   He and Saatchi are among 14 people, six Conservatives, six Labour and two others, who will be made life peers, a honour that dies with the recipient, unlike heriditary peerages.   The Labour Party criticised Major for recognising two of the architects of the "dirtiest" campaign in modern politics, who it said were being promoted merely for aiding the Conservatives.   But marketing heads welcomed the appointments saying they marked the coming of age of an industry that, in the past, has lacked weight and political clout in Britain.   "Advertising needs to be and is being seen as an activity central to business and life in this country," said Nick Phillips, director general of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, the ad agencies' main body.   The advertising industry -- worth over 10 billion sterling a year in turnover -- is seeking political support for its activities, which, it says, sharpen the competitiveness of British businesses and maintain choice for consumers.   Saatchi's presence as an unofficial advertising spokesman in the non-elected House of Lords should aid this drive.   "The industry needs as many parts of the political process to understand the role of advertising in the economy so to this extent Maurice's (Saatchi) promotion is a boost," Brown said.   John Hooper, director general of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers, which represents many British multinationals, said the move would improve advertising's image, which has been "poorly understood and poorly represented".   "My one regret is that by being wrapped up in the demonic eyes (advertisement) affair, it belittles the achievement and provides fodder for Labour and other critics," Hooper said.   British newspapers mainly agreed Saatchi was being honoured more for his skill in producing ads for the Conservatives -- which have included memorable slogaBritain isn't working" and "Labour's tax bombshell" -- than for his record as a creator of advertising since 1970.   "...How very convenient to be able to reward (Saatchi and Gummer) who do your party's work -- sometimes its dirty work -- with a seat in the Lords!"   the left-leaning Guardian newspaper said in its editorial column.   M&C Saatchi, the ad agency Saatchi created with his brother Charles after being ousted from Saatchi & Saatchi in December 1994, denied Saatchi's award was politically motivated.   The Daily Telegraph newspaper quoted it saying its chairman had "made the British advertising industry respected throughout the world and created thousands of jobs in the process."   Jennifer Laing, chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, who took over after Saatchi's acrimonious departure, praised her predecessor.   "It's an extraordinary honour (for Saatchi).   It will heighten the profile of the industry," she told Reuters. 
650 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM  South Africa's militant Moslem anti-crime group People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) has told foreign investors to avoid the country because crime levels meant their money would not be safe.   "I cannot see how we should allow investors into the country, their money is not safe here," PAGAD leader Farouk Jaffer told a news conference at a Cape Town mosque on Tuesday night.   "They should not invest a cent in South Africa until PAGAD gives them the green light."   Jaffer and his lieutenant Ali Parker appeared at the news conference, guarded by youths with their faces hidden by Palestinian scarves, despite being sought by police in connection with the killing of a drug dealer by vigilantes earlier this month.   Jaffer said PAGAD would continue its campaign to rid South Africa of drugs and crime because the police had failed in the task.   "We will intensify our campaign," he said.   "All drug merchants will be legitimate targets.   We will use any means necessary to eradicate this scourge from society.   We are peaceful, but we will meet force with greater force."   Police using armoured vehicles and a helicopter monitored the meeting at he mosque, attended by several hundred Moslems.   PAGAD and similar movements in other parts of the country have been marching through their neighbourhoods to the homes of drug dealers in a bid to highlight what they call the cancer destroying their communities.   During one of these marches in a working class, mixed race district of Cape Town vigilantes shot and burned to death gang leader Rashaad Staggie. 
651 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The Mexican government said it formally protested on Tuesday to the United States over U.S. sanctions against telecommunications firm Grupo Domos, which the Clinton administration is seeking to punish for its business ties with Cuba.   "Today the Mexican embassy in Washington delivered to the U.S. State Department a diplomatic note concerning the letter it sent to the Mexican firm Domos, based on the Helms-Burton law, telling of its decision not to give visas to directors of the firm and their families," the foreign ministry said.   "In it the Mexican government reiterated the formal protest of the Mexican state at an unacceptable effort to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction in Mexico, contravening the principles and norms of international law."   There was no comment on the case on Tuesday from Domos, which said on Monday that it had not yet been officially notified of the State Department's ruling.   "We are awaiting the letters so that we can emit an opinion," Domos spokesman Hector Cuellar said in a telephone interview on Monday from Monterrey in northern Mexico.   The U.S. government said on Monday it would send letters to about six top Domos executives notifying them that they would be banned from the United States under the controversial Helms-Burton law if within 45 days the firm did not "divest" its business in Cuba.   The law, which has been angrily protested by Mexico, Canada and several European countries, was aimed at tightening 35-year-old U.S. sanctions against Cuba.   It threatened penalties against foreign investors deemed to be "trafficking" in properties confiscated by the Cuban government that were formerly owned by U.S. nationals or Cubans who later became U.S. citizens.   Domos, based in Monterrey, owns some 37 percent of Cuba's national telephone company, which was confiscated from a unit of the U.S. company ITT after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.   Cuellar said Domos had paid $700 million for its stake in the phone company in 1994, and later sold 25 percent of its share to Italian telecommunications firm STET SpA for $291 million.   STET has been warned by the United States it could also face penalties under the Helms-Burton law. 
652 !C33 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday shrugged off the possibility of U.S. sanctions after the state oil company Petronas agreed to buy into an Iranian oil field.   "We know the general feelings of the U.S.," he said in reply to questions from reporters.   "We are for working with the U.S. in certain matters, and where we disagree, we will not work with them." 
653 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  One thousand government agents seized nearly US$2 billion in counterfeit software and detained more than 70 suspected bootleggers, officials said on Wednesday.   The island's largest-ever anti-piracy force stormed 126 businesses across the island on Tuesday in coordinated raids, they said.   "This coordinated effort was intended to eliminate pornographic and pirated compact disc software," an investigator said.   "Sixty-four thousand copies of illegal disks were found with a market value of over T$50 billion (US$1.8 billion)."   The day's haul included 50,000 bootleg compact discs of computer software from Microsoft, Lotus, Netscape and other top international firms, he said.   The raids also yielded 11,000 copies of pornographic compact discs and 3,000 data-compressed compact discs (CD-ROMs).   Such discs can contain hundreds of megabytes of counterfeit software each but sell for as little as T$800 to T$2,000 (US$30-$72) on Taiwan's market, the investigator said.   Taiwan has waged a largely successful drive against what had been rampant intellectual property theft, but recent cases have brought new cause for alarm.   The island remains on a U.S. watch list of countries where copyright piracy is a problem.   -- Taipei Newsroom (2-5080815) 
654 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The narrow margin by which the Thai budget won parliamentary approval shows that Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa faces an uphill battle in a forthcoming no-confidence debate, analysts said on Wednesday.   The House of Representatives voted early on Wednesday 199 to 115 to approve the 1996/97 fiscal budget.   The budget bill, which had been expected to sail through parliament easily, received only three votes more than the majority needed for passage in the 391-seat lower House.   The fact that the budget bill just scraped by, even though Banharn's coalition commands 209 seats, shows the instability of his 13-month old government, political analysts said.   They said it did not augur well for Banharn as he heads into next month's censure debate in parliament.   The opposition on Tuesday tabled a no-confidence motion against Banharn, accusing him of damaging the country through mismanagement and inefficiency.   Debate is set to begin on the motion on September 11.   The budget vote came just a week after the Palang Dharma Party (PDP), formerly the third largest member in the coalition, pulled out of Banharn's government.   After the PDP withdrew, the six remaining coalition partners vowed to stick together at least until the budget bill passed through parliament.   The 23-seat PDP also promised to support the budget bill in order to ensure its approval.   "We all voted to support the bill except two of our MPs who were absent," deputy PDP leader Thawin Praison told Reuters.   If most of the PDP voted for the budget, it meant some of the coalition members of parliament (MPs) did not vote, analysts said.   "The absence of the government votes may be regarded as a message from those who were bargaining for power in (Banharn's) Chart Thai party," Chaiwat Kamchoo, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University, told Reuters.   A senior member of the Therd Thai, a faction within the Chart Thai with about 30 seats in parliament, said his faction could not guarantee support for Banharn during the censure debate.   "I hope the prime minister will be able to explain charges made by the opposition, but if he cannot clear himself I think the Prime Minister knows well what to do next," Boonchu Trithong, minister of university affairs, told reporters.   Some other coalition partners have said they could not guarantee support for Banharn during the no-confidence debate.   "No party can guarantee to vote in support of the prime minister.   We can say yes or no only after we listen to the accusations and see if the one who was accused can clear himself out of the charges."   Suraporn Danaitangtrakul of second largest coalition member the New Aspiration Party (NAP) told Reuters.   Analysts speculate that the NAP leader, Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who has made no secret of his ambitions to become prime minister, might break ranks with Banharn during the debate in an effort to form his own coalition.   Chulalongkorn University's Chaiwat said Banharn's shaky support from his own party and the coalition may force him to resign or carry out a major reshuffle before the vote.   Sukhum Naulsakul, political science lecturer at Ramkhamheang University, predicted the situation would force Banharn to resign before the non-confidence debate.   "I am quite confident that Banharn will not dare to face a political grilling in parliament," Sukhum told reporters.   Banharn has denied allegations of impropriety and said he will face the censure debate in parliament.   He has also said he will not resign. 
655 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GWELF  Senior Asia Pacific officials were urged on Wednesday not to get bogged down in detail but to keep their focus on how to improve the welfare of the region's growing population.   "It is important in our continuing work to revisit the mandate handed down by leaders to us in the past, so we may not lose sight of the ultimate objective of our work, which is to promote the well-being of the peoples in the region," Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Federico Macaranas said.   Macaranas made the remarks in the southern Philippine city of Davao at the opening of a meeting of senior officials from the 18 member nations of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.   Macaranas is chairman of the meeting, the third in a series of senior officials' gatherings to prepare for the APEC summit in the Philippines in November.   APEC is devising a comprehensive trade and investment liberalisation plan going into the next century.   The officials are trying to compile a total of 1,512 voluntary tariff reduction schedules into one overall plan to be presented at the APEC leaders' summit at Subic Bay north of Manila in November.   "At this stage, APEC should not be concerned with mere number of projects, but in generating meaningful impact and benefits to the people," Macaranas added.   APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and the United States.   It has identified 350 joint activities in 13 areas of economic and technical cooperations that address specific concerns of the communities.   APEC economic committee chairman John Curtis told a news conference early Wednesday that his committee, which has been meeting ahead of the Davao talks, had discussed how to address concerns over how to feed the region's growing population.   "The focus of the economic committee is maintaining, strengthening economic growth by reducing economic disparities within the region," he said. 
656 !GCAT !GODD  Andrew Lim gently strokes the tattered, greying yellow teddy bear sitting on his lap.   "He's lovely, isn't he.   Almost certainly made in the 1920s and probably by Farnell...mohair, he's fully jointed with sweet cardboard paws.   I'd say this bear would go for S$6,000 (US$4,255)," he says, turning the bear over with reverence.   Lim is one of a growing number of young, professional Asians who collect, study, make, and sometimes sell teddy bears.   He is not interested in the modern, mass-produced, soft toys that fill the windows of city department stores.   Each one of his collection of more than one hundred bears is special: either handmade by enthusiasts who have laboured long hours on works of art, tiny miniatures just inches high, or rare, old bears with valuable pedigrees.   A successful actor through his role in Singapore's popular television sit-com "Under One Roof," Lim has dedicated more and more of his time recently to bears and now works regularly for the island's first teddy bear shop, "Sasha's."   Tucked in a back-street close to the Raffles Hotel, the bear shop has become a Mecca for enthusiasts -- "bearologists" or "arctophiles" as they like to be called.   Visitors can admire the hundreds of antique and designer teddies, browse through its library of specialist teddy bear books and magazines, or sign up for a course in bear-making.   "We get all kinds of people in here," said local collector Vanessa Martin, who set up the bear shop three years ago when she couldn't find a teddy bear she liked for her baby daughter.   "I didn't have a teddy until I was 18 and hardly any of my friends had them either," she said.   "We had stuffed toys, of course, but they tended to be plush, pink things shaped like elephants or other animals.   There's no real tradition of teddy bears in Asia."   First made in New York in 1903, teddies got their name from president Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt after his famous refusal on a hunting trip in Mississippi to shoot a bear tied to a tree.   The toys' popularity spread rapidly and the success of A.A. Milne's series of "Winnie-the-Pooh" books in Britain in the 1920's helped make teddies an essential part of middle class nurseries across North America and Europe.   Early teddies were usually rigid, fully-jointed, fairly life-like models of mohair stuffed with wood-shavings.   They often had eyes made of glass or precious stones and involved a workmanship that has attracted Western collectors ever since.   But the allure of the teddy made little impact outside the West until a new generation of newly-affluent Asians began collecting them a few years ago.   "I would say it started in Japan," said Lim.   "In 1994 a bear, Teddy Girl, was bought for a record 110,000 pounds sterling ($169,200) at a Christie's auction in London by a Japanese man who was himself a toy manufacturer."   British collector and connoisseur Pam Hebbs, who successfully bid for Teddy Girl on behalf of her client Yoshihiro Sekihguchi, said Asians are now among the keenest and biggest buyers of antique bears.   "These days I get faxes at my shop in London from so-called 'teddy bear agents' from all over Asia looking for investments for their clients.   It is already big business and I don't think it has reached its peak yet," she said.   Lim said most Asian collectors are looking for an old bear, possibly made by early German manufacturers Steiff.   "The German teddy bears really started the whole market in Europe," he said.   "There are many old Steiff bears around, but the most collectable are the black ones, which are very, very rare, or bears with their original collar.   These are difficult to find because when they were bought, parents took the accessories off before giving them to the children," he said.   "Other collectable bear makes include Farnell from Britain in the 1920s or Merrythought made in England in the 1930s."   Hebbs said the widespread interest in collecting bears has spawned an entire industry making bear-related items that were in turn exciting more interest in teddies.   "You've not just got teddy bears, but "bearaphernalia:" clothing, jewellery and ornaments.   I've even got a pair of model bears in my garden," she said.   Interest in teddy bears is so strong in Singapore that no less than eight other shops dedicated to selling the toys have sprung up in the city since Sasha's first opened in 1993.   A teddy bears' picnic held for charity in one of the city's parks in August attracted more than 1,000 teddy enthusiasts, parents and children all keen to show off their collections.   "I am gob-smacked (stunned) at the interest in Singapore," said Hebbs, who attended the picnic to display and sell some of her collection.   "Singapore is now taking over as the place for teddy bear collectors in Asia."   As she sat on the grass surrounded by hundreds of fellow enthusiasts and their families eating lunch in the park, Martin said it was difficult to explain what drew her to teddies.   "I suppose teddy bears are symbols of childhood.   And I think there is a little girl or boy in all of us," she said.   (US$1 = S$1.41 = 0.65 STG) 
657 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO !M11 !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Jordan's business community said on Wednesday last week's bread riots shook investor confidence but the government is unlikely to backtrack on market reforms despite the heavy political cost.   Businessmen said while the troubles added uncertainty over the country's long-term economic outlook, the government's tough handling so far shows determination to push on with radical IMF-backed economic reforms.   "Investors were buoyed by the resolve the government showed to go ahead with economic reforms despite the political costs," said Ziad al-Basha, securities manager at the British Bank of the Middle East.   The Amman stockmarket, already suffering from lack of cash liquidity and little institutional support, has fallen by just under one percent since the two days of rioting but brokers say most investors remain in a wait-and-see mood.   Demand for the dollar, a traditional safe haven currency, has also increased, reflecting investors' jitters.   Bankers say the Central Bank has offered dollars to exchange dealers to buttress the dinar, effectively pegged since last November at around 0.708 dinars to the dollar.   But so far businessmen are betting on the government's success in quelling unrest in the southern city of Karak, triggered by a doubling of bread prices this month and worsening economic hardship in the poorer south.   Hamdi al-Tabaa, head of Jordan's Businessmen's Association, said the government has to act fast to boost private sector investments to generate new jobs and absorb thousands of fresh graduates, whom the state sector can no longer employ.   "The riots have added uncertainty but the government should take heed by reviewing obstacles to investment by reducing the role of the government in the economy," Tabaa said.   Some say the government's promise to confront protesters with an "iron fist" could backfire and lead to more unrest.   "If they cannot maintain stability investors will get worried, but if the government overcomes this and moves ahead it could turn to its advantage," said a businessman who has worked in both private and state sectors.   Officials argue that the government's pressing on with the bread price hike signalled to the kingdom's creditors and donors it would not backtrack on IMF-directed reforms, including privatisation and streamlining a bloated public sector employing half the 900,000 workforce.   The riots have also brought home the urgency of tackling grinding poverty in desolate semi-arid areas that have fed the tension that exploded into violence on the streets.   The World Bank puts unemployment at 20 percent of the workforce and official figures classify 25 percent of the 4.2 population as living in poverty.   Businessmen talk of need for action to tackle the growing social divide, the lack of equal opportunities, and minimal foreign investments by reducing red-tape and improving business confidence that will encourage projects in the more depressed regions of the country.   This will help job-generating investments to raise the private sector's share of the state-dominated economy, straddled with a $7.6 billion debt burden which outweighs Jordan's $6.4 billion GDP. 
658 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Turkey's Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller has said Turkish companies would participate in trade fairs in Iraq in an attempt to increase trade volume with Baghdad.   "Our businessmen will participate in various fairs in Iraq in August and November," Ciller was quoted as saying by the state-controlled Anatolian news agency late on Tuesday.   "Our businessmen will have to show big efforts to increase trade volume with Iraq," she said.   Iraq agreed to a U.N. plan in May to sell oil worth $2 billion over six months to meet humanitarian needs and pay reparations for victims of its 1990 invasion of Kuwait and other U.N. costs.   Iraq will use $1.135 billion of its total proceeds to buy food and medicine.   Turkish businessmen, who launched several trade missions into Iraq last month, have said they could supply Iraq with goods worth as much as $870 million -- the entire amount Baghdad allocated to food purchases.   Ciller said Turkey would get money from the U.N. reparations fund after Iraqi oil sales for its losses due to the halt to trade with Iraq as part of U.N. sanctions against Baghdad after its invasion of Kuwait.   She reiterated an earlier remark that Iraq's oil sales could begin by mid-September. 
659 !C11 !C12 !C13 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge conferred with his law clerks into the night on Wednesday, preparing a ruling in a lawsuit that could decide the future of the Lloyd's of London insurance market.   U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne was to issue his ruling challenging the proposed reorganization of Lloyd's, which American investors argued did not disclose adequate financial information to assess the settlement.   "The court will enter its ruling just as soon as possible," a clerk for the judge said on Wednesday, declining further comment.   The judge said after two days of testimony which ended Tuesday that he would issue his order on Thursday afternoon.   Lawyers for the sides also declined to comment.   The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to block the plan.   Their lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex recovery plan that would use their own investment to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   They claim Lloyd's should have to comply with U.S. federal or state securities laws, which enforces strict disclosure rules.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   Lloyd's is asking Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.95 billion) to offset this cost and to end litigation.   "The Names, or investors, believe they were misled by Lloyd's when they were recruited as Names because it was not disclosed to them what they believe Lloyd's already knew to be incredible liabilities," said Ken Schrad of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates insurance companies.   Lawyers for Lloyds and its Chief Executive Ronald Sandler, told the court that, without a settlement, the market's solvency was in doubt.   Industry sources in London, meanwhile, said the judge might be considering a compromise that would grant the U.S. Names some type of relief, but not stop the recovery plan worldwide.   Lloyd's is up against an Aug. 28 deadline for Names to accept or reject the plan.   Lloyd's has for several years faced a raft of litigation in the United States, but the timing of this latest challenge has caused it a serious headache.   Industry sources noted that while Payne might seek to grant some sort of relief to the U.S. Names he said Tuesday it was not his intention to stop the Lloyd's recovery plan worldwide.   It is possible that, apart from dismissing the case as Lloyd's has requested, Payne may be considering a compromise.   He could, for example, issue an order that Lloyd's provide Names with more information and that funds be held in escrow allowing Names more time to accept or reject the recovery plan.   It is unclear how Lloyd's would respond to a ruling like this.   But the insurance market has already said it would appeal any decision which it felt was a setback. 
660 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot has listed James Campbell, his former boss, as a "stand-in" vice presidential candidate on forms filed with the Federal Election Commission, a Perot spokeswoman said Wednesday.   Sharon Holman said Campbell's name was used only because a name was required in the federal filing made in Washington and there was no chance he would be Perot's running mate.   Campbell, now retired and living in Los Angeles, was Perot's supervisor when he was a salesman years ago at the computer giant IBM.   "This is just to hold the space for when we have the person who will be the vice president," Holman said.   In Perot's 1992 run for the presidency, James Stockdale was used as a stand-in candidate in federal filings and eventually became his running mate.   Holman said it was not yet known when the vice presidential nominee would be selected.   "We're simply going to take our time and move forward and make right decisions, not rushed ones.   I don't have any timelines, but I know it's top priority for us," she said. 
661 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission gave television networks the green light on Wednesday to offer the major presidential candidates free air time during the fall general election.   The agency ruled that proposals for free time made by Rupert Murdoch's Fox Network, ABC, and the Public Broadcasting Service did not violate the "equal time" provisions of federal communications law.    The FCC instead determined that the proposals represented "on-the-spot coverage of 'bona fide' news events," and so are exempt from the requirement that TV stations give equal opportunity to all legally qualified candidates.   Fox had been the first network to ask the agency for permission to provide free time to "major" candidates, without giving minor or fringe candidates the same opportunity.   NBC, CBS and CNN also have offered to give the candidates free time.   But all the plans differ in format.   Both Republican nominee Bob Dole and President Bill Clinton have accepted a proposal from an independent coalition to give presidential canadidates free time.   But the major networks so far have declined jointly to provide the uniform blocks of time that the plan envisions. 
662 !C13 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA !GJOB  A data bank aimed at giving employers and workers information about the quality of health care plans made its debut Wednesday.   The National Committee for Quality Assurance, a nonprofit group developing ways to measure the quality of health care, said it was launching "Quality Compass," a data bank covering hundreds of plans providing care for nearly 28 million people.   "Quality Compass reports will make it possible for thousands of key decision-makers to compare the quality of hundreds of health plans in a way that was previously unthinkable," NCQA president Margaret O'Kane said.   "That provides a powerful incentive for plans to imrpve and compete on the basis of quality."   Available in written form or on CD-ROM, the data base will be updated twice a year.   It allows users to compare health plans with one another, against national and regional averages and against the best plans, known as "benchmarks."   The data base is intended to enable small and middle-sized businesses to get quality information, to which large firms can get access more easily.   Unions will be able better to gauge benefits being offered their members. 
663 !GCAT !GPOL  Where are the great Democratic orators of yesteryear?   The party that produced former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, former Texas Gov. Ann Richards and late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan is searching for new talent.   Of course President Clinton himself is capable of delivering a memorable address.   But beyond him the ranks are thin and the keynote speaker at next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be Evan Bayh, the little-known governor of Indiana.   Bayh will be hard pressed to eclipse Republican convention showstoppers including Elizabeth Dole's talk-show like testimonial to her husband Bob Dole, retired Gen. Colin Powell's baptism speech into Republican ranks and Representative Susan Molinari's keynote talk featuring her three-month-old baby.   "Bayh is no Cuomo but a different kind of speaker," said one Democratic convention planner, recalling Cuomo's soaring keynote oratory in the 1984 convention that nominated Walter Mondale (corrects from "soaring oratory of 1984 nominating Michael Dukakis").   Four years ago, Bayh delivered a short, punchy Democratic convention speech that few can even recall.   The keynote address on Tuesday, intended to serve as a clarion call for the party to rally behind Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, is a chance for Bayh to show his stuff on the national stage.   Convention planners hope he will be a bright new light in the Democratic horizon although he is little known nationally.   The son of former Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh and the youngest governor in the nation when first elected in 1988 at age 32, Bayh has won a strong reputation as the sort of moderate, mainstream executive the Democrats want to highlight -- a good fiscal manager, education leader and promoter of business.   Convention planners will show off a few others as rising leaders as well even though Republican congressional and state election wins in 1994 have cut into Democratic ranks.   These include Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and Representative Barbara Kennelly of Connecticut, co-chairs of the party platform committee; Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez; California Representative Nancy Pelosi and various challengers for Republican congressional seats.   Well-known Democrats will also be featured including first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, as will party regulars such as Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri, Louisiana Sen. John Breaux and Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun.   Some of the spell-binding speakers of the past are expected as well, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, who rarely fail to bring Democrats to their feet.   But their best political days may be gone and election losses also have left a trail of fallen stars such as Cuomo and Richards, who were trounced in the 1994 Republican sweeps.   Even former Representative Dave McCurdy of Oklahoma, a once bright prospect who gave a nominating speech along with Cuomo for Clinton in 1992, lost a 1994 Senate election.   Democratic planners also want non-politicians on the programme -- what the Republicans called "real people" -- who can talk about Clinton administration initiatives such as the family leave plan and the continuing growing economy.   These include Sarah Brady, the gun-control advocate and wife of former Republican President Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who was left partially paralysed from gunshot wounds in the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan.   Actor Christopher Reeve, paralysed from a horse riding accident and an advocate of medical research, also will speak. 
664 !GCAT !GPOL  The 1968 Democratic Convention marked a sea-change in U.S. politics, ending the rule of party bosses at presidential nominating conventions and bringing an era of social protest to a bloody climax.   For millions watching on television, the tumult inside and outside the convention hall blurred into one image.   Perhaps for the last time, a political convention was an unorchestrated event and participants in the history-making clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators felt that effective change seemed possible.   "There was a feeling in the Sixties that you could make a difference, that you could take on the issues of war and peace, of rights and representation.   That sort of feeling is not present now," said John Shultz, author of two books on the convention and a professor at Chicago's Columbia College.   In the tightly scripted "dramas" organised for this year's conventions, Republican nominee Bob Dole arrived in San Diego by boat and President Bill Clinton scheduled a whistle-stop train trip to Chicago from Washington.   America's political scene in 1968, strained by three years of divisive war in Vietnam, was still dominated by an old guard represented by outgoing President Lyndon Johnson and local party bosses like Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.   Antiwar upheavals had already led Johnson to abandon his re-election effort and the 1968 election debacle, including revulsion over the Chicago events, sparked reforms that broke the grip of bosses like Daley over the nomination process and gave women and minorities a larger voice in the Democratic party's makeup and policies.   Starting in 1972, candidates focused on state primary elections that apportioned convention delegates.   Daley himself was ousted from the Democrats' 1972 convention by the party's newly dominant left wing.   In 1968, Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey was heckled for weeks after the Chicago convention and lost by a razor-thin margin to Richard Nixon.   From 1968 to 1988, Republicans won five of the six presidential elections.   "It was a sea change, the pivotal moment for American politics," said Don Rose, who served as a press liason for one of the protest groups at the 1968 convention.   "The behaviour of the city administration plunged a deep wedge into the (Democratic) party, splitting the party in such a way as to cost them their majorities for the next 20 years."   In Chicago, delegates dedicated to pro-peace candidates Gene McCarthy and the assassinated Robert Kennedy challenged the party's stance on the war and the overall status quo.   A dramatic moment came when black civil rights leader Julian Bond marched a mixed-race Georgia delegation onto the floor.   Behind the scenes, then-Vice President Humphrey bowed to pressure from Johnson just an hour before a vote on the Vietnam War policy plank in the party platform.   In an effort to stifle dissent, Daley flooded the convention hall with security men who made the proceedings eerily similar to what was happening out on the streets.   On tear gas-choked Michigan Avenue, thousands of protesters fought police and National Guardsmen, a shocking sight for an estimated 90 million Americans watching on TV.   The demonstrators were part of the huge generation of relatively well-educated baby boomers coming of age in a decade of civil rights victories in the South.   Some were stoked by revolutionary ideas, culled from an explosion of cheap paperback books on philosophy.   Others felt threatened by the thought of being drafted to serve in the war.   But when Nixon halted the draft in 1973, the "culture of protest" fizzled and fragmented.   The American left fell into disarray, riven by "identity politics" -- or, "who's the most oppressed" -- said David Horowitz, a radical journalist turned author.   Today the most intense U.S. demonstrations usually emanate from the political right, in anti-abortion protests.   Although the current younger generation displays a cynical apathy toward politics, that may change.   "There is a kind of ferment going on, there is something stirring, and it has the beginnings of something political," Shultz said.   "There is concern about issues that affect them directly (such as government backing for student loans).   If something isn't done about some of these issues, we could have some pretty wild conventions in the year 2000." 
665 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Michigan became the 13th state to take the tobacco industry to court, filing a lawsuit Wednesday seeking $14 billion in damages from major tobacco firms and their wholesale distributors.   Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley said the suit, which names 28 separate defendants, sought $2 billion in restitution to the state for past smoking-related health care costs, $2 billion for future anticipated health care costs and $10 billion in punitive damages.    The suit, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, also asks the court to order tobacco companies to:   - Disclose all research information on the effects of smoking that relates to public health issues.   - Pay for a corrective public education campaign on the impact of smoking and nicotine addiction and pay for smoking cessation programs.   - Issue corrective statements on the health risks of smoking and stop advertising that targets children.   - Pay civil penalties for violations of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Reform acts and pay reasonable attorney fees and costs.   "Every year in Michigan, thousands of addicted smokers die from using tobacco company products precisely as the merchants of death have designed and intended for those products to be used," Kelley said in a statement.   "Through a well-organized campaign of fraud, lies, intimidation and deception, the tobacco companies have avoided legal responsibility for engineering, manufacturing and selling the most deadly and harmful consumer product in history while reaping billions of dollars in profit," he said. 
666 !C15 !C151 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  CompuServe Corp.   Tuesday reported a surprisingly large $29.6 million fiscal first-quarter loss, blaming a decline in the number of subscribers to the No. 2 online service and spending on a new family-oriented service and improvements.   CompuServe predicted a second-quarter loss but said earnings would improve in the second half of the fiscal year.   "We are taking steps to revitalise CompuServe," said Chief Executive Bob Massey.   The company said it would cut 150 jobs, or 4 percent of its work force, as part of a cost-cutting programme expected to save $30 million on an annualized basis.   The Columbus, Ohio-based company said that as part of the cost cuts it would sell the corporate computer software group of its Spry, Inc., unit, whose Web browser trails far behind similar products made by Netscape Communications Corp and Microsoft Corp.   The loss of $29.6 million, or 32 cents a share, in the company's fiscal 1997 first quarter ended July 31 compared with last year's quarterly profit of $26.8 million, or 36 cents a share.   The results included a pretax charge of $17.7 million, or 13 cents per share.   CompuServe last month said it expected to post a loss for the quarter, but the actual loss was greater than Wall Street expectations.   The company reported revenues of $208.6 million for the quarter vs. $186.5 million in the previous year's quarter.   Massey, expanding on last month's comments, said the number of people cancelling their subscriptions exceeded the 900,000 new subscribers to the company's online services, producing a "modest decline" in subscriber numbers.   Massey said in an interview later Tuesday, however, that in the second quarter, usage of the company's flagship CompuServe Information Service increased.   He said the first-quarter decline in subscribers may be weather-related.   "I think, in general, the trend is in a positive direction," he said.   As of July 31, CompuServe had 3.3 million members worldwide, the company said.   Total subscribers, including members of NiftyServe, a joint-venture Japanese online service, numbered 5.2 million.   CompuServe, founded in 1969, is second only to America Online Inc., with 6.2 million subscribers.   CompuServe also blamed the loss on investments in its family-oriented WOW!   service and infrastructure improvements.   It said it expected losses to continue into the second fiscal quarter, hitting 10 cents to 15 cents a share, due to the costs of rolling out the latest version of the software needed to access the service, Compuserve 3.0, and the release of a feature that makes WOW!   look different to teenagers than it does to their parents.   But the forecast for the second half of its fiscal year was rosier.   "Coupled with new product releases and aggressive marketing campaigns, we expect the third and fourth quarters to improve with subscribers topping the 7-million mark, including our Japanese licensee service, NiftyServe," Massey said in a statement.   The company said it also expected increased revenue from advertising and fees for electronic commerce.   CompuServe is a former subsidiary of tax preparer H&R Block Inc., which spun off the company and is selling its 80 percent stake in CompuServe.   CompuServe announced its financial results after markets closed.   Its stock dropped 12.5 cents to $13.50 on Nasdaq in earlier trading. 
667 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  President Bill Clinton is likely next week to propose tax breaks for businesses that hire people off the welfare rolls, aides said.   In doing so, Clinton will resist the political appeal of a broad tax cut and concentrate instead on smaller, more affordable tax incentives for the middle-class and poor.   "He's not going to propose a tax cut like a Bob Dole tax cut that blows up the deficit.   It's not in the cards," said a White House official involved in the planning.   Dole put some life into his flagging Republican campaign against Clinton this month by saying he would cut federal income taxes across the board by 15 percent if he is elected president on Nov. 5.   The announcement helped pull his campaign out of its doldrums and put the ex-senator within striking distance of Clinton in public opinion polls.   Aides said the White House was in high gear looking at more targeted, affordable tax incentives beyond Clinton's already announced ways to help families pay for rising costs of higher education.   One likely proposal would put meat on the bones of the welfare reform bill that Clinton was to sign on Thursday.   Liberal Democrats were unhappy that the bill would end federal assistance to many poor people.   Clinton was considering a plan to offer tax breaks to businesses that hire people on welfare as a way to create jobs in the inner city, aides said.   He was to announce the plan either in his Aug. 29 convention speech in Chicago accepting his party's nomination for a second four-year term or on his four-day whistlestop train tour to the convention.   "What the president has to do is show that we can implement welfare reform effectively, and one of the things we have to do is create jobs for those welfare-dependent mothers who have to move from welfare to work," an aide said.   "So you can obviously expect a lot of focus on job creation and particularly job creation in inner-city areas where there are concentrations of welfare recipients."   Another idea that has been discussed is liberalising rules that limit homeowners' ability to avoid the capital gains tax on the sale of their home.   Clinton's caution on broad tax cuts reflects concern that such a move would explode the budget deficit or require deep cuts in programmes for the poor and elderly.   Democrats dismiss the Republican argument that cutting taxes would trigger economic growth, which would generate new tax revenues.   "That is the wrong thing for America," Clinton said in New York on Sunday.   "I won't do that."   Dole has accused Clinton of engineering "the largest tax increase in the history of the world" when he raised taxes in 1993.   The president said on Sunday he had no intention of raising taxes if re-elected but could not rule out the possibility of doing so in an emergency.   White House officials do not see Clinton's convention speech as an answer to Dole's nearly hour-long address in San Diego but rather as a chance to offer his vision of the next four years leading up to the turn of the century.   "We're going to put forward a very concrete set of proposals, let the American people look at them and think about them, as the president makes the case of why four more years of his leadership will be good for the American people," said White House spokesman Mike McCurry.   White House officials are hoping Clinton's train ride to Chicago, which begins on Sunday in West Virginia, will generate interest in the convention.   They plan to have Clinton announce new proposals at stops along the way. 
668 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Insurance market Lloyd's of London made its final pitch late on Tuesday to fend off investors trying to block its recovery plan, and a decision is expected on Thursday.   In a 12-1/2 hour session in U.S. federal court that ended after 9 p.m.   EDT (0100 GMT Wednesday), Lloyd's attorneys sought approval for a plan designed to keep it solvent after multibillion-dollar losses from insurance claims.   Lawyers for the investors said the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex plan to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   U.S. District Judge Robert Payne said he would rule on the matter by Thursday afternoon.   No hearings are scheduled for Wednesday.   The hearing is the latest in a series on Lloyd's recovery plan.   The programme has been approved in Britain and in other U.S. federal courts, but 93 of about 3,000 U.S. investors filed suit in the Virginia court to block it.   Lloyd's needs to pass the rescue proposal by Aug 28.   A court order blocking it would upset the recovery of a market reeling from $12.4 billion in losses from asbestos, pollution and disaster claims between 1988 and 1992.   "If the ... plan is not complete, Lloyd's cannot pass its solvency test," Chief Executive Ronald Sandler told the court.   He testified for six hours on Monday and Tuesday.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's would reinsure liabilities, including pollution and asbestos-related claims, in the United States through a new company called Equitas.   But investors found the offer short on details.   They said Lloyd's had not yet provided adequate pro forma financial statements for Equitas or solid information on such points such as who will operate it, what its costs will be or how its funds and proceeds will be used.   "We are here to try to make sure we get that information," said Steve Clay, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.   Lloyd's attorney Michael Rauch told Payne it would take months for the information to be sent to investors.   Lloyd's said it was willing to allow investors to sue in Britain if fraud was found in its restructuring.   Lloyd's executives expect the liablities to be wiped out in 30 years and any money left over would go to charities.   The names of the charities are to be put before Payne before he rules.   Sandler said Equitas would have a set of trustees to run it and one Lloyd's director would be among them.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.   It refused to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to U.S. securities laws.   The judge criticised the SEC's neutral ruling and the absence of an SEC representative in the courtroom.   "What the SEC has done on this is administrative malfeasance," Payne said. 
669 !C12 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Insurance market Lloyd's of London made its final pitch late on Tuesday to fend off investors trying to block its recovery plan, and a decision is expected on Thursday.   In a 12-1/2 hour session in federal court that ended after 9 p.m.   EDT, Lloyd's attorneys sought approval for a plan designed to keep it solvent after multibillion-dollar losses from insurance claims.   Lawyers for the investors said the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex plan to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   U.S. District Judge Robert Payne said he would rule on the matter by Thursday afternoon.   No hearings are scheduled for Wednesday.   The hearing is the latest in a series on Lloyd's recovery plan.   The program has been approved in Britain and in other U.S. federal courts, but 93 of about 3,000 U.S. investors filed suit in the Virginia court to block it.   Lloyd's needs to pass the rescue proposal by August 28.   A court order blocking it would upset the recovery of a market reeling from $12.4 billion in losses from asbestos, pollution and disaster claims between 1988 and 1992.   "If the...plan is not complete, Lloyd's cannot pass its solvency test," chief executive Ronald Sandler told the court.   He testified for a total of six hours on Monday and Tuesday.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's would reinsure liabilities, including pollution and asbestos-related claims, in the United States through a new company called Equitas.   But investors found the offer short on details.   They said Lloyd's had not yet provided adequate pro forma financial statements for Equitas or solid information on such points as who will operate it, what its costs will be or how its funds and proceeds will be used.   "We are here to try to make sure we get that information," said Steve Clay, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.   Lloyd's attorney Michael Rauch told Payne it would take months for the information to be sent to investors.   Lloyd's said it was willing to allow investors to sue in Britain if fraud was found in its restructuring.   Lloyd's executives expect the liabilities to be wiped out in 30 years and any money left over would go to charities.   The names of the charities are to be put before Payne before he rules.   Sandler said Equitas would have a set of trustees to run it and one Lloyd's director would be among them.   The legal challenge was complicated on Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission.   It refused to determine whether Lloyd's should be subject to securities laws.   The judge criticized the SEC's neutral ruling and the absence of an SEC representative in the courtroom.   "What the SEC has done on this is administrative malfeasance," Payne said.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
670 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following business stories on Wednesday:   * Venezuela is becoming Coca-Cola Co country as the company forms an alliance with PepsiCo Inc's longtime bottler there.   * Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged.   * Early call on AT&T Corp management change shows the power of Wall Street analysts to roll stock.   * Westinghouse Electric Corp's CBS announces it will start a cable channel.   * U.S. trade deficit shrinks in June, but gap with China surges.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 21.82 to 5,721.26.   The Nasdaq composite index falls 6.24 to 1,124.67.   * Leading retailers, including AnnTaylor Stores Corp, report gains in profits.   * President Bill Clinton signs legislation raising the minimum wage to $5.15 an hour from $4.25.   * Sprint Corp will start offering Internet services to its customers.    * Shares in British Airways fall after a report that "open sky" talks between Britain and the United States were stalled.   * Thursday's meeting of Germany's Bundesbank on interest rates is being watched by politicians, business leaders and government officials across Europe.   * Wine lovers start comparing vintages over the Internet.   * Britain's More O'Farrell advertising agency opens first office in the United States.   * Consumer Reports magazine says two sport utility vehicles, Isuzu Motors Ltd's Trooper and Acura SLX, can overturn during quick turns at low speed and demands a recall.   * New Jersey officials say organized crime has infiltrated the health-care industry.   * Sequana Therapeutics Inc and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center agree to form a joint venture to do cancer research.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
671 !C31 !CCAT !GCAT !GENT  Walibi Group's Mini-Europe theme park in Brussels Bruparck is experiencing a good flow of summer visitors and expects larger attendance than last year, managing director Thierry Meeus said on Wednesday.   "This year is a good year for us," Meeus told Reuters.   "The season is not finished but I hope to reach a little more than 300,000 (visitors) this year."   Attendance was a little below 300,000 in 1995, he said.   The park would expand its exhibits next year with a model of the Austrian city of Melk, donated by the government of Lower Austria.   Countries and regions had begun donating models to Mini-Europe a few years ago, Meeus said.   -- Brussels Newsroom +32 2 287 6810, Fax +32 2 230 7710 
672 !C13 !C21 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Germany's agriculture ministry suggested on Wednesday that consumers avoid eating British mutton until scientists can determine whether "mad cow" disease can be transmitted to sheep.   "Until this is cleared up by the European Union's scientific panels -- and we have asked this to be done as quickly as possible -- (consumers) should if at all possible give preference to mutton from other countries," ministry official Werner Zwingmann told ZDF television.    "I do not want to say that there is a concrete danger for consumers," he added.   "There are too many holes in what we know, and these must be filled very quickly."   Bonn has been in the vanguard of efforts to ensure consumer protection tops the list of priorities in dealing with the mad cow crisis, which erupted when Britain acknowledged humans could contract a similar illness by eating contaminated beef.   Scientists are still investigating whether the disease can be transmitted to sheep as well if they are fed animal meal made from infected cattle.   ZDF said Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports. 
673 !C11 !C12 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GJOB !GVIO  Former slave workers sold by the Nazis to chemical giant IG Farben over 50 years ago protested outside a shareholders' meeting on Wednesday to press for compensation from the firm's assets.   About 70 survivors and supporters said that IG Farben, which produced Zyklon B gas for the death camps, should complete its dissolution and give the former slave workers an ample share.   The shareholders' meeting was held by IG Farben in Abwicklung -- which means "in liquidation" -- a shell company set up in 1955 to dispose of remaining assets of the chemical giant broken up after Germany's defeat in World War Two.   The company decided last August to pay ex-slave labourers a share of any assets it reclaimed in east Germany.   But groups representing ex-slave labourers want it, as well as BASF, Hoechst and Bayer, which all took over parts of the IG Farben empire, to admit moral responsibility for the deaths of thousands of workers and to pay compensation.   "I have a message to the shareholders...they should realise that their company was part of the murdering machine of the Third Reich," said Rudi Kennedy, 68, who survived IG Farben's slave labour camp in the Auschwitz concentration camp complex.   "We were all 'people who were condemned to death' -- we were not forced labour.   As long as we were able to work, we lived.'   said Kennedy, a Jew from Wroclaw now in Poland, who was deported to Auschwitz aged 15 and recruited there to work.   Kennedy said he had returned to Germany for the first time since he emigrated to London in 1946 and that he had come expressly to call for the dissolution of IG Farben, which ran its own forced labour camp at Monowitz-Auschwitz.   "We want to publicise the scandal that this IG Farben is allowed to exist...the more pressure we put on the company, the more likely the company's assets will be liquidated," Peter Gingold, a member of the Association of Victims of the Nazi Regime told Reuters Television in Frankfurt.   Police officers formed a chain to stop the protestors from blocking the way for shareholders.   Some survivors, who were sold by SS concentration camp guards, to IG Farben shouted "SS" at German police as they tried to hold them back.   Many German firms used slave labourers during the war but IG Farben, the world's fourth largest company until the end of the war, stood out by running its own concentration camp at Monowitz in Poland to ensure a regular supply of labour.   The liquidation has been taking so long because of the company's fight to reclaim assets seized at the end of the war.   Its shares, or liquidation certificates, are still traded.   IG Farben in Abwicklung paid 30 million marks ($20 million) in compensation to the Jewish Claims Conference in 1957 but no compensation has been paid on an individual basis or to ex-slaves in Poland.   Survivors' groups say that was insufficient.   IG Farben in Abwicklung paid its shareholders more than 100 million marks in dividends in 1993. 
674 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  France rapped the United States on Wednesday over its plans to ban Mexican executives from its territory under controversial sanctions on foreign firms doing business with Cuba.   "Such a unilateral step, contrary to international trade rules, is not acceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves Doutriaux told reporters.   "France deplores this fresh implementation of a legislation with it firmly opposes, as do its European Union partners," he told a regular news briefing.   He said Paris was in contact with Mexican authorities obout the case.   Mexico's Grupo Domos telecommunications company was the second foreign concern hit by the Helms-Burton law tightening the 35-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. 
675 !C33 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Wednesday it was looking into agreements under which Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages Ltd (CCSB) will have the exclusive right to make, distribute and sell Cadbury Schweppes soft drink brands in Britain.   The agreements are part of a deal announced in June in which Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc acquires control of CCSB by buying a 51 percent stake from Cadbury Schweppes.   CCSB is the bottler of Cadbury Schweppes' soft drink brands in Britain.   In its official journal the Commission said the agreements could fall within the scope of EU rules which ban anti-competitive behaviour.   There is no formal deadline in such investigations, but the Commission usually tries to give the the companies involved a preliminary answer within two months.   Under the deal that was announced on June 4, Cadbury Schweppes gets 622.5 million stg from the sale of its 51 percent stake in CCSB to Coca-Cola Enterprises.   CCE also signs a 15 year licensing deal to cover bottling and distribution of Cadbury Schweppes soft drinks in the UK.   The Commission said the agreements would be extended by a further 10 years unless either party gives notice of termination.   The Commission also said on Wednesday it was looking into the acquisition of the 51 percent stake but under the EU merger regulation, which gives it one month to clear the deal or start a detailed investigation.   -- Brussels newsroom +32 2 287 68 11 
676 !GCAT !GSPO  Russian chess veteran Anatoly Karpov will challenge the rest of the world in an historic virtual chess game on the Internet on August 26, Finnish host Telecom Finland said on Wednesday.   After every move by Karpov, the rest of the world has 10 minutes to enter moves against him through the Internet.   A server will select the most frequently proposed move and execute it.   "Surfers" who want to play can go to http://www.tele.fi/karpov on Monday, August 26, at 1000 GMT.   Karpov retained his title as International Chess Federation world champion in July when he defeated Russian-born U.S. grandmaster Gata Kamsky in a match held in the former Soviet republic of Kalmykia.   World number one Garry Kasparov did not challenge because of a split with the federation. 
677 !GCAT !GENT  The French people are losing faith in television's ability to keep them informed and teach them good citizenship, according to a public opinion poll released on Wednesday.   The CSA poll, conducted for the Roman Catholic weekly La Vie, found that 58 percent of adults believed television was doing a good job of keeping them in touch with world events, compared with 74 percent two years ago.   Just 21 percent thought television was performing well in teaching them to be good citizens, down from 30 percent two years ago.   "The French broadcaster increasingly sees viewers as consumers rather than as citizens," the magazine concluded.   The poll was based on interviews conducted in late July with 1,003 adults aged 18 and over. 
678 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Prime Minister Alain Juppe and President Jacques Chirac will meet this weekend in the south of France where they are expected to discuss plans for major tax reform, newspaper Les Echos reported on Wednesday, quoting government officials.   The meeting will take place at the presidential summer retreat in Bregancon on the Riviera.   On Tuesday, finance minister Jean Arthuis promised taxes would be eased "substantially" during the first phase of tax reform in 1997, another newspaper, Le Figaro said.   The tax overhaul would "be noticable for everyone paying taxes and notably for the most modest (earners)," Arthuis was quoted as telling a local radio.   The five-year tax reform plan is to be presented to parliament in September.   Le Figaro quoted a close aide to Juppe as saying taxes would be eased in 1997 by around 20 billion francs, the figure initially expected, not the 15 to 18 billion francs reported earlier this week in another newspaper.   It appeared likely that many of the recommendations by the tax reform commission headed by a former head of the tax office, Dominique de La Martiniere, would be followed, Le Figaro said.   It said the government was also looking at the possibility of extending a 20 percent tax allowance to all taxpayers, regardless of income.   At the moment just salaried workers enjoy the allowance.   Juppe's centre-right government, aiming to combine austere spending plans with tax reductions to lift the economy, has pledged tax cuts from 1997 but has not said how much they would be.   He pledged in June that taxes would be lowered over the next five years but said the move would be conditional on the government's capacity to control spending. 
679 !C13 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !G15 !G152 !G155 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Wednesday it had started a routine review of plans by Germany's Schering AG and Gehe AG to acquire joint control of pharmaceuticals firm Jenapharm GmbH.   The European Union executive said in its official journal that the deal apparently fell within the scope of the EU merger regulation, under which its vets mergers and other corporate deals to see whether they may harm competitition.   It has one month to clear the deal or start a detailed four-month investigation.   Most cases are cleared after the initial review.   -- Brussels newsroom +32 2 287 68 11 
680 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Unions representing German retail workers in a four-month-old pay dispute on Wednesday denied they had split decisively over tactics in regional talks and said they expected to resume their co-operation soon.   A split had appeared to occur Tuesday evening when the HBV service sector union pulled out of negotiations with shopowners in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia while the white-collar DAG opted to continue talks.   Both unions had been jointly negotiating a wage and work hours deal for the region's 450,000 retail workers, one of several local deals being hammered out in advance of November's liberalisation of shop hours.   In a German radio interview, HBV head Margret Moenig-Raane described the occurence as a "summer storm ... not a change in climate" and said she was confident that both unions would return to the negotiating table.   DAG official Holger Grape told German radio he hoped the HBV might rejoin talks as early as next week.   However Heinz Trompeter, negotiator for the employer side, said shopowners were currently focusing their hopes for a settlement on the DAG.   The HBV pulled out of talks after employers refused to accept its unexpected demand for extra compensation for night work.   The DAG distanced itself from this demand.   Unions are generally seeking a deal similar to one struck in Rhineland-Palatinate which called for workers to get a 1.85 percent wage rise plus 20 percent extra time in lieu per hour worked after 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 2:00 p.m.   Saturdays. 
681 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !E12 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Nepal's central bank has asked commercial banks not to issue letters of credit to 40 foreign firms named in a report on a $36.1 million financial scandal, officials said on Wednesday.   "We have restricted all commercial banks from issuing import letters of credit in favour of foreign suppliers who are listed in the LC (letters of credit) investigation commission report," said Bhaikaji Shrestha, deputy chief manager of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).   In June, a government-appointed commission accused more than 90 Nepali businessmen of violating foreign exchange rules in 1994 and 1995 by deflecting $36.1 million through fake letters of credit.   Authorities said the scandal, one of the biggest in the country's financial sector, resulted in a customs loss of $9 million because goods were not imported.   The report named more than 40 foreign business firms based in Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Taiwan and South Korea whose documents were produced by Nepali businessmen to obtain payment, without actually importing any goods.   So far, 15 Nepali businessmen including two top executives, have been arrested and produced in court in connection with the scandal.   The commercial banks have been asked to withhold outstanding payments to the foreign firms named in the report, Shrestha told Reuters.   Banks have also been asked to investigate letters of credit not covered by the panel, which only examined documents for $50,000 or more.   The centre-right coalition government, which ordered the probe into the scandal six months ago, has been criticised for being slow in taking action against the businessmen who had violated the country's foreign exchange laws. 
682 !GCAT !GSPO  Laurent Boudouani of France took the World Boxing Association junior middleweight title in style by knocking out holder Julio Cesar Vasquez of Argentina on Wednesday.   Veteran Vasquez, 30, who had only suffered two losses in a professional career spanning over 10 years and featuring 56 wins, was floored by a fierce right uppercut early in the fifth round.   The Argentine showed plenty of courage to get up but a speedy left-right combination by the Frenchman knocked him out for good almost straight afterwards.   Boudouani, a silver medallist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, was regarded by many as one of the most gifted fighters of his generation but he had lost against two-lightly-regarded opponents and some were questioning his stamina.   "Since I was a kid, my goal has always been to become a world champion," he said.   "I know people were wondering if I would ever make it but I knew I could."   Boudouani, 29, stayed cool under pressure in the early rounds as the technically limited but powerful Vasquez kept going forward.   "I knew I had to be careful because guys like him are always dangerous," said the Frenchman after recording his 33rd win.   "But I felt confident.   I was prepared for a tough fight and everything went as planned."   Boudouani's coach Dominique Ramirez felt the win was a well deserved one.   "He has worked hard for this," he said.   "Things have not always been easy for him and I'm glad he made it.   He's such a nice kid." 
683 !GCAT !GSPO  Frenchman Laurent Boudouani took the World Boxing Association (WBA) junior middleweight title when he knocked out holder Julio Cesar Vasquez of Argentina in the fifth round on Wednesday. 
684 !GCAT !GSPO  A northern Italian amateur soccer club has urged prison authorities to release a Moroccan midfielder on match days so he can play for them.   Dario Zearo, president of Tolmezzo soccer club, said on Wednesday he wanted to sign 28-year-old Abdul Hajim but recognised that his jail sentence posed a problem.   Hajim, who says he played in the Moroccan first division before arriving in Italy, impressed when he scored four goals against players from nearby serie A club Udinese in a recent friendly match involving a prison team.   The Moroccan, who would not say what crimes he had committed, is due to be freed in December 1997.   Zearo said he had asked the director of the local prison if Hajim could be granted day release.   "It would be the first case of day release being granted in Italy on sporting grounds," he said.   Prison director Salvatore Pirruccio said he would contact magistrates and let Zearo know their decision. 
685 !GCAT !GSPO  Sick world track cycling champion Graeme Obree has been denied the chance to defend his title next week.   Obree, whose Olympic medal hopes in Atlanta were also ruined by ill-health, has been suffering since May with a viral infection.   The Scot won the world 4,000 metres pursuit title for the second time last year.   But national coach Doug Dailey said on Wednesday: "He is still suffering with post-viral problems and after a day of medical tests a specialist advised him not to compete."   Obree hopes he can recover in time to race in the world time trial championship in Lugano in October.   The five-day track championships start next Wednesday at the Manchester Velodrome.   One of the highpoints was to have been the projected clash between Obree and fellow Briton Chris Boardman, the 1992 Olympic champion. 
686 !GCAT !GSPO  French raider Shamadara, the 2-1 favourite, flopped in Wednesday's group one Yorkshire Oaks.   The Aga Khan's filly could finish only fifth to Irish-trained Key Change, a 7-1 chance ridden by Johnny Murtagh.   Key Change was a place behind Shamadara in last month's Irish Oaks but she turned the tables emphatically to defeat Papering (8-1) by a length and three quarters.   Russian Snows battled into third place but was demoted to sixth after she was found to have interfered with Whitewater Affair when beginning her challenge.   Her jockey Frankie Dettori later received a four-day ban for irresponsible riding.   Winning trainer John Oxx said: "I knew she was better today than before the Irish Oaks but I didn't really believe she would win.   But she has won so well that we will have to consider the Irish St Leger or Prix Vermeille."   French Oaks winner Sil Sila was virtually pulled up by Ray Cochrane and finished last.   Trainer Bryan Smart said: "She might have pulled a muscle."    Dettori, undeterred by his ban which starts next week, went on to win the group two Gimcrack Stakes on 4-1 chance Abou Zouz, trained by David Loder.   On Sunday, Dettori and Loder had teamed up to take the group one Prix Morny at Deauville on Bahamian Bounty.   Abou Zouz, who cost around $570,000 as a yearling, earned a 33-1 quote for next year's 2,000 Guineas after Wednesday's success. 
687 !GCAT !GSPO  Result on Wednesday of the   group one Yorkshire Oaks, for fillies aged three and upwards,   run over 12 furlongs (2.4 km):   1.   Key Change (ridden by Johnny Murtagh) 7-1   2.   Papering (Kevin Darley) 8-1   3.   Mezzogiorno (Michael Hills) 16-1   4.   Shamadara (Gerald Mosse) 2-1 favourite   Nine ran.   Distances: One and three quarter lengths, three   lengths, neck.   Winner owned by Lady Clague and trained in Ireland by John   Oxx.   Value to winner 78,800 pounds ($122,000). 
688 !GCAT !GSPO  LONDON, Aug 21 (Retuer) - Ed Giddins, banned from playing first-class cricket for 19 months for using cocaine, would be welcome to play for Sussex League champions Eastbourne, the club said on Wednesday.   The 25-year-old Sussex fast bowler was barred on Tuesday from playing any match under the jurisdiction of the Test and County Cricket Board (TCCB) until April 1, 1998.   The TCCB have cancelled his registration with Sussex but he is still able to play club cricket and benefit matches.   Giddins played for Eastbourne before joining Sussex six years ago.   "We would be delighted to have Ed back provided he paid his membership like anyone else," said Eastbourne's chairman of selectors David Lockyer.   "I don't think anyone here would have a problem with it.   He's got a lot of friends at Eastbourne and some of them will feel very sorry about what has happened.   "But, providing he wants to play again, we would be delighted if he came to play with us."   Giddins, who toured Pakistan with England A last winter, tested positive after a county match against Kent in May.   A second test also proved positive. 
689 !GCAT !GSPO  Defending champion Conchita Martinez overcame a second-set letdown before easing past Naoko Sawamtsu 6-1 2-6 6-1 on Tuesday at the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic.   Both Martinez and No. 3 Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic advanced into the third round.   Novotna edged Linda Wild of the U.S. 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2).   In first round results involving seeded players, No. 5 Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina routed Lindsay Lee of the U.S. 6-0 6-0; No. 6 seed Karina Habsudova of Slovakia rallied past veteran Pam Shriver of the U.S. 5-7 6-3 6-4; and eighth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France whipped local favourite Marianne Werdel Witmeyer 6-2, 6-2.   Earlier in the day, Katarina Studenikova of Slovakia needed a break in the final game to eclipse 16-year-old U.S. high school sensation Venus Williams 6-4 3-6 7-5.   The second-seeded Martinez sailed through the opening set without difficulty but collapsed in the next set.   The l994 Wimbledon champion regrouped, however, with her heavy topspin ground attack to reel off the final five games, punctuated with a pair of aces in the last game.   "She started playing better, not making many unforced errors and I could't finish the point," said Martinez of the second-set collapse.   "But I started playing with more patience, more aggressive and I started to mix up my game a bit more.   Sabatini is playing in only her seventh tournament, including the Olympics, in a disappointing year in which the former Top-10 player sat out four months due to a severely pulled stomach muscle.   The Argentine, however, looked every bit the world class player who won the l990 U.S. Open, displaying her signature heavy topspin baseline game and effective serve for the easy win.   "I don't judge the score, I judge the way I played," said Sabatini, who has fallen to No. 14 in the world rankings.   "I'm very satisfied with how I'm playing."   Sabatini last turned in that identical score against Maria Jose Gaidano of Argentine in March of l995 at the Bausch and Lomb Championships at Amelia Island.   "I won that easy because I played to win each point said Sabatini, who won 64-of-98 points against the worlds' No. 50 ranked player.   "I tried not to let her play her game because it could be tough.   I tried take control of the match the while time."   After a 26-point service game in which Sabatini committed six of her eight double faults for a 2-0 lead, she never looked back in the one-hour roasting.   Sabatini was asked if she had an sympathy for her opponent.   "No mercy," she said.   "I try to win every point.   I don't think about the whole picture.   It's wrong to think like that." 
690 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   $450,000 Toshiba Classic tennis tournament on Tuesday (prefix   number denotes seeding):   Second Round:   2-Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Naoko Sawamatsu (Japan) 6-1   2-6 6-1   3-Jana Novotna (Czech Republic) beat Linda Wild (U.S.) 7-6   (7-2) 7-6 (7-2).   First Round:   5-Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) beat Lindsay Lee (U.S.) 6-0   6-0   6-Karina Habsudova (Slovakia) beat Pam Shriver (U.S.) 5-7   6-3 6-4   8-Nathalie Tauziat (France) beat Marianne Werdel Witmeyer   (U.S.) 6-2 6-2   Katerina Studenikova (Slovakia) beat Venus Williams (U.S.)   6-4 3-6 7-5   Naoko Kijimuta beat Gigi Fernandez (U.S.) 6-2 6-1   Sandrine Testud (France) beat Rennae Stubbs (Australia) 6-4   6-1   Yone Kamio (Japan) beat Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) 0-6 6-1   6-3 
691 !GCAT !GSPO  Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, ranked fourth in world tennis, withdrew from the Hamlet Cup tournament on Tuesday with a rib injury suffered in practice, leaving his participation in next week's U.S. Open in doubt.   Kafelnikov, the tournament's second seed, was ordered to rest by his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Nathan Breazeale, who said that Kafelnikov, the French Open champion and two-time Hamlet Cup defender, had suffered "a lower left side and back rib strain."   Kafelnikov was in obvious discomfort when he spoke to reporters.   "I don't know about the Open," he said.   "I plan to stay in the draw but if I don't play tennis until Friday, I can't play the Open.   I'd be out of shape and can't compete 100 percent like you have to in the Open."   The U.S. Open draw is scheduled to be completed Wednesday.   The 22-year-old Kafelnikov said the injury happened suddenly while he was on a practice court.   "I played a few holes of golf in the morning," he said, "and then I was on the court twenty minutes when, Boom, I felt a sharp pain in my back all of a sudden."   Breazeale said the injury would require patience.   "It's a rotational problem and very temporary," the doctor explained.   "He has responded to treatment of anti-inflammatory medication, heat and massage and he should rest it about three days.   It's a common injury but by playing now he could aggravate it."   While Kafelnikov was receiving medical treatment, third-seeded Richey Reneberg of the U.S., and fifth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine advanced in early first round matches.   Reneberg eliminated Shuzo Matsuoka of Japan 6-4 6-2 in 67 minutes and Medvedev rallied to defeat Russia's Alexander Volkov 4-6 6-2 6-2.   Earlier in the day, unseeded Romanian Adrian Voinea beat seventh-seeded Hendrik Dreekman of Germany 6-3 6-4 in 65 minutes. 
692 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   Waldbaum Hamlet Cup tennis tournament on Tuesday (prefix   number denotes seeding):   Vincent Spadea (U.S.) beat Andrei Chesnokov (Russia) 7-6   (10-8) 6-4   Jan Kroslak (Slovakia) beat Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) 7-6   (10-8) 3-6 6-3   5-Andrei Medvedev (Ukraine) beat Alexander Volkov (Russia) 4   -6 6-2 6-2   3-Richey Reneberg (U.S.) beat Shuzo Matsuoka (Japan) 6-4 6-2   Adrian Voinea (Romania) beat 7-Hendrik Dreekman (Germany) 6-3   6-4   Michael Joyce (U.S.) beat Javier Frana (Argentina) 6-3 6-7   (5-7) 7-6 (7-3)   Fernon Wibier (Netherlands) beat Stephane Simian (France) 6-3   7-6 (8-6)   Jonathan Stark (U.S.) beat 4-Jan Siemerink (Netherlands) 6-4   6-4 
693 !GCAT !GSPO  Former Scotland international Kenny Dalglish has quit as Blackburn's director of football.   Robert Coar, chairman of the 1995 English premier league champions, announced Dalglish's departure at the press conference that followed Blackburn's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Wednesday -- their second successive league defeat.   Coar said Ray Harford would continue as first-team coach and would have complete control of the footballing side of the club.   Dalglish, who left Liverpool unexpectedly after a successful six-year spell as manager, was elevated to director at Blackburn after their championship winning season.   He was appointed Blackburn manager in October 1991 and guided them to promotion to the premier league the following year.   Dalglish broke the British transfer record twice in two years, signing England striker Alan Shearer from Southampton for 3.3 million pounds ($5.3 million) in 1992 and Chris Sutton for five million pounds ($8 million) from Norwich in 1994.   The two formed a highly successful strike partnership, helping Blackburn to their first championship since 1914 in only their third season in the premier league.   Both players have since left the club.   Shearer was sold to Newcastle for a world record fee of 15 million pounds ($22.2 million) before the start of the current season.    Dalglish, an outstanding striker with both Glasgow Celtic and Liverpool, has been seen less and less at the club's Ewood Park ground after "moving upstairs" to become director of football.   His interest in the first team has waned and he has been largely involved in scouting and youth team activities.   He is currently on holiday in Spain.   Coar said: "We appreciate what Kenny has done for Blackburn.   He has had a change in role during the past year, which was of his choosing.   "It is a situation that has just run its course.   He has left by mutual agreement...We discussed the situation.   It wasn't a particularly long conversation.   It was `thanks' on both sides and `let's move on'.   Harford said said he had always had an excellent relationship with Dalglish and had a lot to thank him for.   "We came as a package and those four years have been among the best of my life without any doubt." 
694 !GCAT !GSPO  Summaries of Wednesday's English premier league matches: Aston Villa 1 (Southgate 64th minute) Blackburn 0.   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance: 32,457 Chelsea 1 (Di Matteo 86th) Middlesbrough 0.   0-0.   28,272 Leicester 2 (Heskey 6th, 42nd) Southampton 1 (Le Tissier penalty 68th).   2-0.   17,652 Manchester United 2 (Cruyff 70th, Unsworth own goal 82nd) Everton 2 (Ferguson 35th, 41st).   54,943 Newcastle 2 (Batty 3rd, Shearer 88th) Wimbledon 0.   1-0.   36,385 Nottingham Forest 1 (Haaland 27th) Sunderland 4 (Gray 8th, Quinn 17th, 31st, Ord 43rd).   1-4.   22,874 Tottenham 1 (Sheringham 34th) Derby 1 (Dailly 90th).   1-0.   28,219 West Ham 1 (Rieper 74th) Coventry (McAllister 12th).   0-1.   21,580 
695 !GCAT !GSPO  Alan Shearer, the world's most expensive player, scored with a brilliant free-kick on his home debut for Newcastle in a 2-0 win over Wimbledon in the English premier league on Wednesday.   Big rivals Manchester United, staring their first home league defeat in 31 matches in the face, battled like the champions they are from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Everton.   In the night's other big match, featuring a dazzling galaxy of foreign imports, Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 1-0 thanks to a Roberto Di Matteo 30 metres strike four minutes from the end.   At Old Trafford, both the Everton goals came in the first half courtesy of big striker Duncan Ferguson on his 50th appearance for the Merseyside club.   But Jordi Cruyff pulled one back for the champions with a fine header 20 minutes from time and with eight minutes left Everton's David Unsworth, attempting to clear, only succeeded in turning the ball over his own line.   At St James's Park, Newcastle were set on their way in the third minute by another costly ex-Blackburn player, David Batty, who chipped over Wimbledon keeper Neil Sullivan from 30 metres.   Shearer finally got in on the act with just two minutes left.   Fouled by Chris Perry, the Newcastle-born striker decided to take the free-kick himself and from 20 metres curled it into the corner of the net.   Shearer wheeled away in delight as Newcastle sealed their first victory of the season and went some way to forgetting the disappointment of Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Everton and the 4-0 Charity Shield drubbing by Manchester United.    Serie A came to Chelsea, along with various other Europeans and Brazilians, with big things expected of Chelsea's Gianluca Vialli and Middlesbrough's Fabrizio Ravanelli, a hat-trick scorer against Liverpool on Saturday.   But it was midfielder Di Matteo, a costly close season signing from Lazio, who broke the deadlock to earn Ruud Gullit his first win as a manager.   Gareth Southgate, the man whose missed penalty sent England out of Euro 96, gave Aston Villa a 64th minute winner, but not from the penalty spot, at home to a dispirited Blackburn who could offer little in response as they went down 1-0.   After the game it was announced that Blackburn's director of football and ex-manager Kenny Dalglish was leaving the club by mutual agreement.   Sunderland found a rich vein of scoring form at Nottingham Forest with first half strikes from Michael Gray, Richard Ord and two goals from new signing Niall Quinn.   Alf-Inge Haaland provided the only consolation as the North East side went in 4-1 at the interval and that is how it stayed to cheer manager Peter Reid and the Sunderland faithful.   Teddy Sheringham presented Tottenham with a 34th minute lead at home to Derby, but the visitors, who earned a late draw at home to Leeds on Saturday, did the same again, thanks to Christian Dailly.   Leicester were indebted to promising youngster Emile Heskey who struck in the sixth and 42nd minutes against Southampton.   An otherwise quiet Matt le Tissier, in front of watching England manager Glenn Hoddle, gave his side hope from the penalty spot after 68 minutes, but Leicester held on for a 2-1 win with Southampton's Barry Venison sent off.   Gary McAllister showed Coventry the way forward after their dismal showing at home on Saturday when his 12th minute goal gave his new side the lead over West Ham.   But the Hammers surged back in the second half and deservedly levelled with a 74th minute equaliser from defender Marc Rieper.    After two matches, Sheffield Wednesday, are the surprise premier league leaders with two victories from their first two games, including a 2-0 win at Leeds on Tuesday.   Manchester United and Sunderland come next, heading seven teams on four points.   Blackburn and Wimbledon are bottom after two defeats.   Newcastle are in mid-table.   Shearer, thrilled with his goal, said: "I couldn't be more delighted but to be honest I'm more concerned with getting the three points than scoring.   "It was a big bonus to get a goal.   I don't really care about the pressure," he added.   Shearer, who scored 31 premier league goals for Blackburn last season, said of his free-kick, "It could have gone in the stand or in the top corner.   Luckily for me it went in the top corner.   "It was a shame we got off to a bad start against Everton (on Saturday) but there were more signs tonight we are getting it together."   Manchester United's satisfaction at fighting back against Everton was coloured by a late incident involving manager Alex Ferguson.   At the end of the match he had to be restrained by his assistant Brian Kidd and head of security at Old Trafford Ned Kelly as he moved towards match referee Graham Poll.   The Football Association is expected to call on Thursday for the referee's report into what happened. 
696 !GCAT !GSPO  English premier league standings   after Wednesday's matches (tabulated - played, won, drawn, lost,   goals for, goals against, points):    Sheffield Wednesday 2 2 0 0 4 1 6    Manchester United 2 1 1 0 5 2 4    Sunderland 2 1 1 0 4 1 4    Liverpool 2 1 1 0 5 3 4    Everton 2 1 1 0 4 2 4    Tottenham 2 1 1 0 3 1 4    Leicester 2 1 1 0 2 1 4    Chelsea 2 1 1 0 1 0 4    Nottingham Forest 2 1 0 1 4 4 3    Arsenal 2 1 0 1 2 2 3    Aston Villa  2 1 0 1 2 2 3    Newcastle 2 1 0 1 2 2 3    Derby 2 0 2 0 4 4 2    Middlesbrough  2 0 1 1 3 4 1    Southampton  2 0 1 1 1 2 1    Leeds 2 0 1 1 3 5 1    West Ham 2 0 1 1 1 3 1    Coventry 2 0 1 1 1 4 1    Blackburn 2 0 0 2 0 3 0    Wimbledon 2 0 0 2 0 5 0 
697 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of English soccer matches   on Wednesday:   Premier league    Aston Villa  1 Blackburn 0    Chelsea 1 Middlesbrough 0    Leicester  2 Southampton 1    Manchester United 2 Everton 2    Newcastle  2 Wimbledon 0    Nottingham Forest 1 Sunderland 4    Tottenham  1 Derby 1    West Ham 1 Coventry 1   Football League Cup first round, first leg:    Brighton 0 Birmingham 1    Millwall 1 Peterborough 0    Shrewsbury  0 Tranmere 2 
698 !GCAT !GSPO  Collated results of European Cup qualifying round, second leg matches on Wednesday:   In Kiev:   Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 2 Rapid Vienna (Austria) 4 (halftime 1-3)   Scorers:   Dynamo - Yuri Kalitvintsev (6th), Yuri Maximov (77th)   Rapid - Trifon Ivanov (23rd, 42nd), Dihmar Kibauer (32nd), Alexander Khatskevich (62nd, own goal)   Attendance: 80,000   Rapid won 6-2 on aggregate   In Vladikavkaz:   Alania Vladikavkaz (Russia) 2 Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) 7 (2-3)   Scorers:   Rangers - Ally McCoist (1st, 14th, 19th minutes), Peter Van Vossen (40th), Brian Laudrup (55th, 83rd), Charlie Miller (87th)   Alania - Igor Yanovski (15th), Nazim Suleimanov (penalty 24th)   Rangers won 10-3 on aggregate   In Istanbul:   Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Fenerbahce - Augustine Okacha (18th)   Maccabi - Drics (75th)   Attendance: 25,000   Fenerbahce won 2-1 on aggregate   In Bucharest:   Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 3 Club Brugge (Belgium) 0 (2-0)   Scorers: Adrian Ilie (penalty 33rd, 45th), Roland Nagy (55th)   Attendance: 16,000   Steaua won 5-2 on aggregate   In Prague:   Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 0 Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland) 1 (0-0)   Scorer: Kubilay Turkyilmaz (60th)   Attendence: 3,012   Grasshopper won 6-0 on aggregate   In Trondheim:   Rosenborg (Norway) 3 Panathinaikos (Greece) 0 (0-0)   Scorers: Roar Strand (63rd), Steffen Iversen (95th), Vegard Heggem (98th)   Attendance: 18,625   Rosenborg won 3-1 on aggregate   In Budapest:   Ferencvaros (Hungary) 1 IFK Gothenburg (Sweden) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Ferencvaros - Ferenc Horvath (15th)   IFK Gothenburg - Andreas Andersson (87th)   Attendance: 9,000   Gothenburg won 4-1 on aggregate   In Copenhagen:   Brondby (Denmark) 3 Widzew Lodz (Poland) 2 (2-0)   Scorers:   Brondby - Peter Moeller (32nd), Ole Bjur (44th), Kim Vilfort (48th)   Lodz - Marek Citko (56th), Pawel Wojtala (89th)   Attendance: 10,438   Aggregate score 4-4.   Widzew Lodz qualify on away goals rule. 
699 !GCAT !GSPO  Ally McCoist scored his second hat-trick in four days as Glasgow Rangers overwhelmed Russian champions Alania Vladikavkaz 7-2 in the away leg of their European Cup qualifying round tie on Wednesday.   They moved into the first round group matches on a 10-3 aggregate.   McCoist carried on where left off in the 5-2 Scottish premier division win over Dunfermline on Saturday, when he scored a second half hat-trick, with three strikes in the opening 19 minutes against the Russian side.   McCoist's first, a header, came in the opening minute.   His second in the 13th minute was another header and his third from close range took the predatory 33-year-old's tally for the new season to eight.   Dane Brian Laudrup scored twice for Rangers as did Rapid Vienna's Bulgarian international Trifon Ivanov in the 4-2 away win over Dynamo Kiev.   Ivanov's goals in the 23rd and 42nd minutes helped last season's beaten European Cup Winners' Cup finalists to a 6-2 aggregate win.   Augustine Okacha scored for Fenerbahce in the 18th minute but the Turkish champions were made to sweat by Maccabi Tel Aviv before drawing 1-1 on the night, giving them a 2-1 aggregate triumph.    Steaua Bucharest's Adrian Ilie had a night of mixed emotions as the 1986 European champions cruised into the next phase with a 5-2 aggregate win over Club Brugge of Belgium.   Ilie scored twice and laid on the third goal in the 3-0 second leg win.   But his celebrations were cut short in the 56th minute when he was sent off by Italian referee Pierluigi Collina for a tackle from behind.   Ilie's first goal came from a penalty in the 36th minute.   Goalkeeper Danny Verlinden parried his spot kick but Ilie rammed home at the second attempt.   A powerful shot from the edge of the area brought him his second a minute before halftime and he set up Roland Nagy for the third just 60 seconds before being sent off.   IFK Gothenburg also cruised into the group stage, a 1-1 draw in their away leg against Ferencvaros of Hungary earning them a 4-1 aggregate win.   Ferenc Horvath gave Ferencvaros the lead with a header after 15 minutes but the home side failed to convert their superior first-half possession into further goals.   The Swedes controlled much of the second half and equalised three minutes from the end when Andreas Andersson broke clear and drove home from inside the box.   Widzew Lodz snatched victory over Danish champions Brondby on the away goals rule when Pawel Wojtala scored their second goal in the 89th minute.   The Polish side lost 3-2 on the night but Wojtala's goal brought the scores level 4-4 on aggregate.   Brondby had appeared set for the next round when goals by Peter Moeller, Ole Bjur and Kim Vilfort put them 3-0 ahead -- 4-2 on aggregate -- by the 48th minute.   But Marek Citko sparked the Poles' revival with a goal in the 56th minute. 
700 !GCAT !GSPO  Close of play score of an English county championship match starting on Wednesday:   In Weston-super-Mare: Durham 326 (D.Cox 95 not out, S.Campbell 69; G.Rose 7-73), Somerset 71-1. 
701 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of European Cup qualifying round second leg matches on Wednesday:   In Kiev:   Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) 2 Rapid Vienna (Austria) 4 (halftime 1-3)   Scorers:   Dynamo - Yuri Kalitvintsev (6th), Yuri Maximov (77th)   Rapid - Trifon Ivanov (23rd, 42nd), Dihmar Kibauer (32nd), Alexander Khatskevich (62nd, own goal)   Attendance: 80,000   Rapid won 6-2 on aggregate   In Vladikavkaz:   Alania Vladikavkaz (Russia) 2 Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) 7 (2-3)   Scorers:   Rangers - Ally McCoist (1st, 14th, 19th minutes), Peter Van Vossen (40th), Brian Laudrup (55th, 83rd), Charlie Miller (87th)   Alania - Igor Yanovski (15th), Nazim Suleimanov (penalty 24th)   Rangers won 10-3 on aggregate    In Istanbul:   Fenerbahce (Turkey) 1 Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Fenerbahce - Augustine Okacha (18th)   Maccabi - Drics (75th)   Attendance: 25,000   Fenerbahce won 2-1 on aggregate    In Bucharest:   Steaua Bucharest (Romania) 3 Club Brugge (Belgium) 0 (2-0)   Scorers: Adrian Ilie (penalty 33rd, 45th), Roland Nagy (55th)   Attendance: 16,000   Steaua won 5-2 on aggregate    In Prague:   Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) 0 Grasshopper Zurich (Switzerland) 1 (0-0)   Scorer: Kubilay Turkyilmaz (60th)   Attendence: 3,012   Grasshopper won 6-0 on aggregate   In Trondheim:   Rosenborg (Norway) 3 Panathinaikos (Greece) 0 (0-0)   Scorers: Roar Strand (63rd), Steffen Iversen (95th), Vegard Heggem (98th)   Attendance: 18,625   Rosenborg won 3-1 on aggregate   In Budapest:   Ferencvaros (Hungary) 1 IFK Gothenburg (Sweden) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Ferencvaros - Ferenc Horvath (15th)   IFK Gothenburg - Andreas Andersson (87th)   Attendance: 9,000   Gothenburg won 4-1 on aggregate    In Copenhagen:   Brondby (Denmark) 3 Widzew Lodz (Poland) 2 (2-0)   Scorers:   Brondby - Peter Moeller (32nd), Ole Bjur (44th), Kim Vilfort (48th)   Lodz - Marek Citko (56th), Pawel Wojtala (89th)   Attendance: 10,438   Aggregate score 4-4.   Widzew Lodz qualify on away goals rule. 
702 !GCAT !GSPO  Former England spinner John Childs will retire from first-class cricket at the end of the season, his county side Essex said on Wednesday.   The 45-year-old slow left-arm bowler, who has taken more than 1,000 first-class wickets, began his career with Devon in 1973 and made his county debut for Gloucestershire two years later.   Childs at 36 years and 320 days became England's oldest debutant for more than 40 years in the third test against the West Indies at Old Trafford in 1988.   He played two tests, taking three wickets and scoring two runs. 
703 !GCAT !GSPO  Scotland on Wednesday appointed Arthur Hastie as team manager in succession to Jim Telfer who has stood down to concentrate on his duties as director of rugby.   The 61-year-old Hastie managed the Scotland tour to Zimbabwe last year and was the Scotland A manager for two seasons.   He was also Scotland's assistant manager on the 1993 South Seas tour and was in charge of Scotland's sevens squad in Hong Kong in 1994.   Hastie will chair the panel of four selectors which includes former Scotland flanker John Jeffrey.   The other selectors are coaches Richie Dixon and David Johnston, who have been appointed on a three-year contract up until the end of the 1999 World Cup, and Colin Fisher.   Scotland's convenor of rugby Duncan Paterson said: "We are extremely glad to have a manager of Arthur's experience and talent to draw upon, and we are confident that the new management team will work extremely well together.   "The coaches have established a winning record, based on open and fluid rugby, and John Jeffrey will also add a new perspective to selection."   Paterson also confirmed the Scottish Rugby Union had made Telfer available to take on the post as assistant coach of the British Lions for their tour to South Africa next May.    But he added: "Any announcement concerning such an appointment will have to come from the Four Home Unions Committee." 
704 !GCAT !GSPO  Security at English cricket grounds looks certain to be reviewed after two pitch invasions during the Lord's final of the first world under-15 tournament between India and Pakistan.   It was the worst violence of the season and comes soon after disturbances at Headingley during the second test between England and Pakistan.   Crowd trouble began midway through the Indian innings during Tuesday's final at Lord's when 50 supporters ran on to the ground after Pakistan were awarded an lbw decision.   The invasion delayed play for a few minutes.   Later, with India on the brink of victory, about 500 Pakistani supporters ran on to the pitch, stealing the stumps and goading the Indian fans who responded by throwing plastic bottles and aluminium cans.   Players sheltered in the pavilion as police and security officials took several minutes to clear the playing area.   There were more ugly scenes after India's youngsters had completed a four-wicket win when both sets of supporters invaded the pitch as the umpires and players, some aged only 13, ran for the pavilion.   A large group of supporters gathered and when police attempted to move them back, a small number charged and two or three arrests were made. 
705 !GCAT !GSPO  Italian Serie A club Fiorentina have no intention of releasing their Argentine striker Gabriel Bastituta in a 10-million-pound ($15.45-million) deal to English premier league side Blackburn, it was reported on Wednesday.   Blackburn manager Ray Harford was hoping to sign Bastituta as a replacement for Alan Shearer who left the club in a record 15-million-pound ($23.3-million) transfer to Newcastle last month.   "The problem in Batistuta's case was that the Fiorentina president told us he would get shot if he let him go," Harford told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.   Harford has also lost out in an attempt to sign French international Christophe Dugarry.   Dugarry chose to move to AC Milan from his former club Bordeaux in a 3.5-million-pound ($5.4-million) deal. 
706 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of UEFA Cup qualifying   round, second leg matches on Tuesday:   In Bodo: Bodo Glimt (Norway) 2 Beitar Jerusalem (Israel) 1   (halftime 1-0)   Bodo win 7-2 on aggregate   In Molde: FK Molde (Norway) 0 Dynamo Tbilisi (Georgia) 0   Dynamo win 2-1 on aggregate 
707 !GCAT !GSPO  England will have to produce their best performance of the season in the final test against Pakistan starting on Thursday if they want to send outgoing chairman of selectors Ray Illingworth into a happy retirement.   Former England captain Illingworth's 30-month reign officially ends after the one-day series against Pakistan and the announcement of the touring squad headed for Zimbabwe and New Zealand later this year.   But the Oval test, with the confident visitors ahead 1-0 in the best-of-three series, represents Illingworth's last major engagement in an international career which dates back to his test debut as a player in 1958.   The 64-year-old Yorkshireman is not the sentimental type, but there are several good reasons why an English victory over a highly-talented Pakistan side would give him greater than average satisfaction.   England under Mike Atherton and Illingworth have endured dismal overseas series in Australia in 1994-95 and South Africa a year later, not to mention their abortive World Cup campaign on the sub-continent.   At home, though, they have proved a more resilient bunch during Illingworth's tenure and have not lost a domestic series in four attempts since returning to winning habits with a 1-0 success over New Zealand in 1994.   Critics, of which Illingworth has attracted many in the last two years, will point out that England have won only six of their 27 tests at home and abroad in the same time period and have selected 39 different players for test duty.   Yet even his worst enemies will acknowledge Illingworth's unswerving desire to boost English credibility, even after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and being fined 2,000 pounds sterling ($3,100) by his employers this year.   The Test and County Cricket Board ruled he had made comments prejudicial to the interests of cricket in the wake of the row over the treatment of Devon Malcolm in South Africa, although his appeal is due to be heard next month.   In the meantime, Illingworth must hope his final gamble in charge will outflank Wasim Akram's tourists who warmed up in ominous fashion with a 271-run win over Essex this week.   Wicket-keeper Jack Russell has been dropped and Alec Stewart handed the gloves once again on his home ground to enable an extra bowler to be squeezed into the starting 11.   The switch comes just at the point when Stewart has re-established his opening partnership with Atherton, but if England bat second he is likely to drop down the order again with Nick Knight stepping up.   This time, though, England do not have Malcolm to blast through the opposition on the fastest pitch of the summer, preferring to keep faith with the seam attack which let Pakistan off the hook in favourable conditions on the first day at Headingley.   England coach David Lloyd described the pitch in terms that will please Pakistan's attack.   "It's white, it's rock hard, firm and bare.   It will have some pace," Lloyd said.   "We have no jurisdiction over Test match wickets," he added.   The Pakistanis have promised to play attacking cricket to the end rather than sit back on their 1-0 lead and can again select from a position of strength.   An indication of their resources is the sight of teenage off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, unable to claim a test place, on top of the national averages with 29 wickets in his last four matches.   "It is possible we may go into the test with five recognised bowlers, but no decision will be made until we see the composition of the Oval pitch," said Pakistan manager Yawar Saeed.   Teams (from):   England - Michael Atherton (captain), Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, John Crawley, Nick Knight, Dominic Cork, Chris Lewis, Ian Salisbury, Andy Caddick, Alan Mullally, Robert Croft.   Pakistan - Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Asif Mujtaba, Shadab Kabir, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram (captain), Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammed Akram, Ata-ur-Rehman. 
708 !GCAT !GSPO  Tim Henman of Britain survived a match point on his way to a first-round victory over 14th-seeded Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands on Tuesday at the $2 million Canadian Open.   Henman, the world's 37th-ranked player, who became the darling of the Wimbledon crowds by reaching the quarterfinals in July, recovered from a shaky second set to beat the 26th-ranked Haarhuis 6-2 2-6 7-6 (9-7).   In Tuesday's only second-round match, fifth-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden defeated Spain's Javier Sanchez 6-3 6-4.   Enqvist and the rest of the top-eight seeds were given first-round byes.   In an afternoon battle of up-and-coming 19-year-olds, Mark Philippoussis of Australia overpowered Sjeng Schlaken of the Netherlands 6-3 6-4.   Haarhuis was one of two seeded players to lose Tuesday.   Sixth seeded Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden was beaten by American Alex O'Brien, ranked 76th, 6-3 7-6 (7-5).   O'Brien, who won his first career tournament last week at New Haven, had the only service break of the match, in the eighth game of the first set.   The ninth seed, Cedric Pioline of France, had an easy time with Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, winning 6-4, 6-2.   After dropping five games in a row to lose the second set, Henman saved two break points on his serve in the opening game of the third, including one with a second-serve ace.   "That was a big game because I was playing some pretty poor tennis at the end of the second set," Henman said.   "I was really struggling to keep the ball in play.   If he'd broken me in that game things would have been very much in his favour."   Henman had five match points before finally winning the match on his sixth when Haarhuis hit a forehand long at 8-7 in the third-set tiebreaker.   Haarhuis held his only match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak and failed to convert when he netted an easy forehand.   "I had the easiest shot to win the match," said Haarhuis.   "It's better to lose a match 6-3 6-3 than to lose that way."   The Enqvist-Sanchez match was a closer affair than the score would suggest.   One rally late in the match, with the 14th-ranked Swede serving for the match and down 15-30, lasted for more than 40 strokes.   "That was an unbelievable point.   I thought I had won it a couple of times but he just kept getting it back," Enqvist said.   "He is a fighter and he never gives up."   Philippoussis, the 29th ranked player who caused a major shock by upsetting world number one Pete Sampras of the U.S. in the third round of this year's Australian Open, blasted 15 aces past Schalken, ranked 49th.   Four of those aces came in one game, the eighth of the second set, and the Aussie wrapped up the match with three more aces in the final game. 
709 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the Canadian Open   tennis tournament on Tuesday (prefix number denotes seeding):   First round   9-Cedric Pioline (France) beat Nicklas Kulti (Sweden) 6-4 6-2   13-Jason Stoltenberg (Australia) beat Tomas Carbonell (Spain)   6-1 6-0   Tim Henman (Britain) beat 14-Paul Haarhuis (Netherlands) 6-2   2-6 7-6 (9-7)   Alex O'Brien (U.S.) beat 16-Magnus Gustafsson (Sweden) 6-3   7-6 (7-5)   Petr Korda (Czech Republic) beat Neville Godwin (South   Africa) 3-6 6-0 6-4   Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) beat Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden) 6-1   5-7 6-3   Byron Black (Zimbabwe) beat Jakob Hlasek (Switzerland) 7-6   (7-4) 3-1 ret.   Renzo Furlan (Italy) beat Christian Ruud (Norway) 6-1 6-3   Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) beat Hernan Gumy (Argentina)   7-5 7-5   Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) beat Jordi Burillo (Spain) 6-2 6-0   Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat Sjeng Schalken   (Netherlands) 6-3 6-4   Daniel Nestor (Canada) beat Marc Goellner (Germany) 7-6 (7-4)   6-4   Second Round   5-Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) beat Javier Sanchez (Spain) 6-3 6-4 
710 !GCAT !GSPO  The Sports Trust said on Wednesday that Bruce Fordyce had accepted the position of executive director.   Fordyce, who has won nine gold medals in the Comrades marathon, will administer the day-to-day running of the trust, set up two years ago to provide funding from the public and private sectors to encourage sports development.   "Sport has given me many things and the Sports Trust is in the position to change lives around the country in the way running changed mine," Fordyce told a news conference.   "Through sport South Africa can become healthier and wealthier and gain the confidence of the world."   Mthobi Tyamzashe, the director general of the Department of Sport and Recreation, told reporters a fulltime administrator was needed by the trust, which had allocated eight million rand to sport since its formation.   "It has become clear that a dedicated fulltime professional is needed to make sure that future funds are correctly allocated.   I can think of no-one better qualified to achieve this than Bruce Fordyce," Tyamzashe said. 
711 !GCAT !GSPO  Northern Transvaal flanker Ruben Kruger is likely to take over as South African captain on his home ground for the second test against New Zealand on Saturday if Gary Teichmann fails a late fitness test.   Number eight Teichmann, who badly bruised his left hip in the 23-19 defeat by the All Blacks last Saturday, was clearly struggling with the injury during a fitness test on Wednesday.   South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) press officer Alex Broun said the 23-man squad would remain intact until Saturday morning when the Springbok test line-up would be picked.   If Teichmann fails his fitness test, his probable replacement would be Northern Transvaal loose forward Schutte Becker.   The only other likely change would see the return of outside centre Japie Mulder, who also has to pass a fitness test by Saturday after withdrawing from the Durban test with a back injury.   The Springbok management scotched rumours on Wednesday that Natal provincial players had been under particular pressure to retain their places in the test side.   South African team manager Morne du Plessis said: "I know nothing about a Natal bias...we pick the team purely in terms of the green and gold."   On the subject of provincial bias, Springbok lock Mark Andrews said: "Just look at our national team -- we've got a Natal captain." 
712 !GCAT !GSPO  Northern Transvaal flanker Ruben Kruger is likely to take over as South African captain on his home ground for the second test against New Zealand on Saturday if Gary Teichmann fails a late fitness test.   Number eight Teichmann, who badly bruised his left hip in the 23-19 defeat by the All Blacks last Saturday, was clearly struggling with the injury during a fitness test on Wednesday.   South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU) press officer Alex Broun said the 23-man squad would remain intact until Saturday morning when the Springbok test line-up would be picked.   If Teichmann fails his fitness test, his probable replacement would be Northern Transvaal loose forward Schutte Becker.   The only other likely change would see the return of outside centre Japie Mulder, who also has to pass a fitness test by Saturday after withdrawing from the Durban test with a back injury.   The Springbok management scotched rumours on Wednesday that Natal provincial players had been under particular pressure to retain their places in the test side.   South African team manager Morne du Plessis said: "I know nothing about a Natal bias...we pick the team purely in terms of the green and gold."   On the subject of provincial bias, Springbok lock Mark Andrews said: "Just look at our national team -- we've got a Natal captain." 
713 !GCAT !GSPO  South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel reaffirmed his rejection of the Springboks rugby union side on Wednesday, saying they had failed to bring enough blacks into the sport.   "Too little is happening to convince us that the rugby authorities support change and real development and we will withhold our support until rugby moves," Manuel told the national assembly during a finance debate.   Manuel caused outrage among the ranks of South Africa's mainly white rugby supporters earlier this month when he shouted for New Zealand during a test against South Africa, explaining to fellow spectators: "I am not a white South African."   One newspaper at the time called for Manuel to resign, accusing him of racism.   President Nelson Mandela, who supported the Springbok team during the World Cup last year, was reported to be planning to chide Manuel -- a mixed-race Coloured -- over his preference for the All Blacks. 
714 !GCAT !GSPO  A leading South African sports scientist has said drugs in sport should be legalised to end the `does he, doesn't he debate' once and for all.   Dr John Hawley, director of the High Performance laboratory at the South African Sports Science Institute in Cape Town, was quoted in the September issue of SA Sports Illustrated as saying it was no longer possible to tell who was "clean".   He said many athletes at last month's Atlanta Olympics have had to make a choice of whether they are going to take performance enhancing drugs.   "Whenever anyone stands up there on the podium I don't know whether it's them or the drugs," Hawley said.   "You can't ignore it.   There's no question that drugs are a big part of today's superior performances.   "I'm not going to mention any names but you look at the physiques of those guys...you just don't get pectoral muscles like that from huge bench presses.   "In the strength and power events I would say that as many as 50 percent of competitors at the Olympics have used performance-enhancing drugs, maybe more."   He said the only way to recreate a level playing field was to consider legalising the use of steroids and other enhancers.   "Maybe we should just make steroids legal.   As unethical and as morally wrong as it sounds I actually think that's the way to go.   "It's an ethical problem.   There's no question where I or anyone else at this institute stand medically -- steroids are illegal and performance-enhancing."   He claimed Atlanta's highly-publicised doping laboratory had been a public relations exercise.   "The public has been whitewashed into thinking that drugs enhance athletes the week before competition -- they don't.   Steroids help in training in the winter months long before the competitions," Hawley said.   "If an athlete stops using steroids three months before competition they won't be detected."   Hawley had been asked to theorise on how low world records would ultimately fall.   "If you are asking me what are the limits to human performance, we have already surpassed them.   Most of these are drug records." 
715 !GCAT !GSPO  Namibia's soccer team, who took four years to win their first match, now seek to continue a long-standing run of unbeaten results in this weekend's African Nations Cup qualifying matches.   Namibia host Botswana in Windhoek on Saturday in one of four preliminary round, second leg matches ahead of the start of the group qualifiers for the 1998 finals in Burkina Faso.   In the other matches, Togo host Congo in Lome, Mauritania attempt to overcome a three-goal deficit at home to Benin in Nouakchott and the tiny Seychelles have a very real chance of an upset victory over Mauritius.   Namibia, who have been members of the international soccer community for only six years and are placed 109th in the FIFA rankings, forced a goalless draw in the first leg in Gaborone two weeks ago to stretch their unbeaten record to 15 months and seven matches.   Included in that run was a surprise World Cup win over Mozambique two months ago which has given the arrid southern African country a whole new footballing profile.   "The team has really improved and is very dedicated," said midfielder Eliphas Shivute, who had to give up soccer for three years to earn a living as a miner.   Few of the youthful team, whose eldest member is 26, have regular employment and players earn less than $100 per appearance for the national team.   "But the fact that most don't work and that most of them live in Windhoek means we can train twice a week.   That has been one of our secrets," team manager Abraham So-oabeb told Reuters.   Namibia, who beat Botswana in a friendly in early 1994 to record the first international win in their history, will be playing only their 27th international since joining FIFA after independence in 1990.   But So-oabeb believes that despite the lack of experience and finance, Namibia can launch a strong bid at qualifying for the finals in Burkina Faso.   Should they beat Botswana, Namibia will be placed in group five of the qualifiers alongside Cameroon, Gabon and Kenya.   The Seychelles islands could provide the bigest shock of the weekend if they overcome a 0-1 deficit in their tie against fellow Indian Ocean islanders Mauritius.   The Seychelles is Africa's smallest country and they have only been intermittent competitors in 10 years of FIFA membership and are still without success in an official international match.   But they have a real chance to rewrite history in Mahe on Sunday against a Mauritian team who have beaten them in all nine of their previous encounters.   Togo and Congo, who both recorded surprise wins in the recent World Cup qualifiers, meet in Lome on Sunday after a goalless draw in the Congo earlier this month.   Mauritania host Benin on Friday but have their work cut out after suffering a 4-1 defeat away in the first leg.   The Central African Republic are already through to the group qualifiers after the disqualification of Burundi.   Burundi's team did not arrive for their scheduled preliminary round, first leg match in Bangui two weeks ago, unable to leave the trouble east African country because of an air ban imposed in a recent set of internationally-sponsored sanctions.   The Central African Republic go through on a walkover to play in group four with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Tunisia. 
716 !GCAT !GSPO  IFK Gothenburg of Sweden drew 1-1 (1-0) with Ferencvaros of Hungary in the second leg of their European Champions Cup preliminary round tie played on Wednesday.   Gothenburg go through 4-1 on aggregate.   Scorers:   Ferencvaros:   Ferenc Horvath (15th)   IFK Gothenburg:   Andreas Andersson (87th)   Attendance: 9,000 
717 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Russian premier league matches played on Wednesday:    Rostselmash Rostov  0 Baltika Kaliningrad  1    Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod 3 Tekstilshchik Kamyshin  1    Krylya Sovetov Samara 3 Lada Togliatti 1    Uralmash Yekaterinburg 2 Zhemchuzhina Sochi  1   Standings (tabulate under games played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points).   Note - if more than one team has the same number of points, precedence is given to the one with most wins.   If more than one team has the same number of wins and points, precedence goes to the side with the most successful record against the others).    Rotor Volgograd 22 15 5 2 42 16 50    Alania Vladikavkaz  23 15 5 3 45 24 50    Dynamo Moscow 24 14 7 3 42 21 49    Spartak Moscow 24 14 6 4 47 23 48    CSKA Moscow 24 12 6 6 36 25 42    Lokomotiv Nizhny Novgorod 24 11 3 10 25 33 36    Lokomotiv Moscow  24 8 9 7 28 23 33    Torpedo Moscow 24 8 9 7 30 31 33    Zenit St Petersburg  23 9 4 10 24 24 31    Zhemchuzhina Sochi  24 8 4 12 25 35 28    Rostselmash Rostov  22 7 7 8 39 33 28    Krylya Sovetov Samara  24 8 7 9 18 27 31    Baltika Kaliningrad  22 6 9 7 24 24 27    Chernomorets Novorossiisk 24 6 5 13 23 37 23    Kamaz Naberezhnye Chelny 23 5 4 14 23 38 19    Lada Togliatti 23 4 5 14 14 36 17    Uralmash Yekaterinburg 23 3 7 13 22 41 16    Tekstilshchik Kamyshin 24 2 9 13 13 29 15 
718 !GCAT !GSPO  Hungarian first division   soccer results and standings from weekend and bank holiday:   Videoton* 6 Vac 2   Ferencvaros  5 Kispest-Honved FC 2   Pecs MFC 2 Siofok 0   Bekescsaba EFC  4 Gyori ETO FC  0   DVSC-Epona  4 III ker TVE  0   Haladas 1 Csepel SC  1   Ujpest TE 5 Zalaegerszeg TE 0   BVSC Dreher  4 Innstadt Stadler 1   Standings (tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals   for, goals against, points):    Ujpest TE 2 2 - - 8 2 6    Bekescsabai EFC  2 2 - - 6 1 6    Ferencvaros  2 2 - - 8 4 6    MTK FC 2 2 - - 4 1 6    BVSC Dreher  2 1 1 - 5 2 4    Haladas VFC  2 1 1 - 2 1 4    Videoton 2 1 - 1 6 4 3    DVSC Epona  2 1 - 1 5 3 3    Pecs MFC 2 1 - 1 2 2 3 @    Gyori ETO FC  2 1 - 1 3 5 3    Zalaegerszeg TE  2 1 - 1 2 5 3    Csepel SC 2 - 2 - 2 2 2    Vasas Casino Vigado 2 - 1 1 2 3 1    Kispest Honved  2 - 1 1 3 6 1    Siofok 2 - - 2 2 5 0    Innstadt Stadler FC 2 - - 2 2 6 0    III ker TVE  2 - - 2 2 7 0    Vac 2 - - 2 2 7 0   *Name of Parmalat/Fehervar FC has been changed to Videoton.   -- Budapest newsroom, +361 266 2410 
719 !GCAT !GSPO  Veteran coach Cesar Luis Menotti is to return to football after an absence of nearly two years to take charge of Buenos Aires club Independiente.   "Menotti has the ideal profile for the liking of our supporters," club president Jorge Botari said on Wednesday.   The chain-smoking Menotti, who currently works for a local television station, led Argentina to World Cup victory when they hosted the event in 1978.   He was also in charge in Spain four years later when Argentina reached the second round group stage.   Since then he has worked with Spanish clubs Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and local sides River Plate and Boca Juniors, where he had two stints in charge.   He also spent a year in charge of the Mexican national team but left before the 1994 World Cup following differences with the local federation. 
720 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Mexican soccer championship matches played on Tuesday.    America 5 Morelia  1    Necaxa 3 Monterrey  0 
721 !GCAT !GSPO  Brazil coach Mario Zagallo admitted on Wednesday he had been forced to name a makeshift squad for a brief European tour at the end of this month.   Zagallo said he had stood by a policy of not picking more than one player from each team to avoid upsetting Brazilian clubs.   The only exception made was Palmeiras who contributed full-back Cafu and midfielder Flavio Conceicao.   "We try not to upset the clubs but as a result the national team ends up suffering instead and is still always expected to win," he said.   Brazil play friendlies away to Russia on August 28 and Netherlands three days later.   Unlike many countries, where the domestic programme is suspended on the weekend before a major international, Brazilian football carries on regardless.   The tour is seen as the first step towards forming the team which the world champions will send to the 1998 World Cup in France.   As holders, Brazil do not have to play in the qualifying competition.   Zagallo included 32-year-old striker Bebeto and Barcelona's Ronaldo in the squad, despite a much-publicised row between them following the Olympic team's semifinal defeat by Nigeria at the Atlanta Games.   Brazil had used most of their friendlies in the past year as warm-up matches for the Olympics, restricting Zagallo to players under 23.   Bad results on the tour could put Zagallo's job in jeopardy following the failure to win the gold medal in Atlanta.   The only uncapped player in the squad is central defender Goncalves who plays for Brazilian champions Botafogo.   Squad:   Goalkeepers - Carlos Germano (Vasco da Gama), Dida (Cruzeiro)   Defenders - Ze Maria (Parma), Ze Roberto (Portuguesa), Andre Luis (Sao Paulo), Cafu (Palmeiras), Goncalves (Botafogo), Narciso (Santos), Ronaldo Guiaro (Atletico Mineiro), Andre Cruz (Napoli)   Midfielders - Flavio Conceicao (Palmeiras), Ze Elias (Bayer Leverkusen), Amaral (Parma), Beto (Napoli), Giovanni (Barcelona), Leonardo (Paris St Germain), Mauro Silva (Deportivo Coruna), Sergio Manoel (Cerezo Osaka)   Strikers - Bebeto (Flamengo), Donizete (Benfica), Jardel (Porto), Ronaldo (Barcelona) 
722 !GCAT !GSPO  Australian swimmer Beverley Whitfield, a gold medallist in the 200 metres breaststroke at the 1972 Olympic Games, was found dead at her home on Wednesday, aged 42.   Whitfield, who also won a bronze medal in the 100 metres breaststroke in Munich, had been suffering influenza, police said in a statement.   Her body was found in bed on Tuesday night by a flatmate in their apartment near Wollongong, 60 km (37 miles) south of Sydney, police said.   Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates described Whitfield as a long-time supporter and friend of Australia's Olympic family.   "This is a tragic and unexpected loss to the Olympic movement in Australia," Coates told reporters.   Whitfield won three gold medals at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh. 
723 !GCAT !GSPO  Australia and England are to play two tests each year from 1997 until at least 2003, one home and the other away, the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said on Wednesday.   England will play one test in Australia each July, with the Wallabies travelling to Twickenham for the return fixture in November, said ARU chief executive officer John O'Neill.   "This agreement is in place until 2003," O'Neill said.   The ARU also agreed to add a one-off test against Wales to Australia's European tour later this year.   O'Neill said plans to approach England about playing a one-off test at Twickenham at the end of tour in December had been dropped.   "The Board considered this is not achievable due to the long-standing commitment to play the Barbarians at Twickenham on December 7," O'Neill said.   Australia are already scheduled to play Italy, Ireland and Scotland during the eight-week tour, starting in Italy in October.   The match against Wales is subject to an agreement with the Irish to change dates for the one-off test in Dublin, originally scheduled for November 30.   "The ARU will ask that the Ireland test be brought forward to November 23 and the Wales test be played on November 30," O'Neill said in a statement.   Australia are also seeking a satisfactory financial agreement with the Welsh to take part in the match.    In England, Rugby Football Union (RFU) president John Richardson welcomed the agreement.   "England has sought fixtures with Australia and is therefore delighted that the Australian Rugby Union has agreed to home and away fixtures each year from 1997," he said.   "This is consistent with the RFU policy of playing regularly against the challenge of the southern hemisphere countries." 
724 !GCAT !GSPO  Australia on Wednesday recalled teenager Mark Philippoussis for next month's Davis Cup tie against Croatia, signalling a thaw in relations with team captain John Newcombe.   Wimbledon semifinalist Jason Stoltenberg, Patrick Rafter, and Olympic doubles champions Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde complete Australia's squad for the world group qualifying tie in Split from September 20-22.   Newcombe criticised big-serving Philippoussis in March when he withdrew from the Davis Cup zonal tie against Japan to give himself more time to practice for a tournament.   At the time, Newcombe hinted that Philippoussis's decision to put practice ahead of playing for his country could affect his future Davis Cup selection.   But the 19-year-old earned an immediate recall after beating former world number one Jim Courier on his way to the semifinal of last week's hardcourt tournament in Connecticut.   "Obviously Stoltenberg is in fine form after doing so well at Wimbledon and the 'Woodies' are dominating in doubles," Newcombe said in a statement released by Tennis Australia.   "Philippoussis seems to be regaining form and Rafter is on an upward swing in the rebuilding of his game," Newcombe said.   Newcombe predicted the tie would be one of the hardest Australia has played in the past two years, predicting that world number six Goran Ivanisevic would lead the Croatians and be almost impossible to beat in his two singles matches.   "He is obviously going to be very hard to beat in his home town, so we are going to have to win the other two singles and doubles," Newcombe said. 
725 !GCAT !GSPO  Athletes who break world records at next year's world championships in Athens will be paid a US$100,000 bonus, International Amateur Athletics Federation president Primo Nebiolo said.   "We've already made an agreement with a great sponsor that will give $100,000 for each new world record -- this will be the case for 1997 and 1999," Nebiolo said in an interview published on Wednesday in Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.   He did not identify the sponsor.   Nebiolo said the federation hoped to expand the scheme to other major meetings.   "Our idea is that we want to find a sponsor giving us special money for a new world record for the indoor world championships, the outdoor world championships, the World Cup and Grand Prix Final," Nebiolo said.   As it stands, the most lucrative event in the sport in prize money terms is the privately-backed Zurich grand prix meeting, which has a $6.0 million budget, including a $50,000 bonus for world records.   "We are not doing this to go in competition for Zurich...We are not in competition with our private organisers," said Nebiolo, who made his comments during a visit to Sydney for the world junior championships, which began on Wednesday.   Increasing cash rewards in the sport have led to speculation that athletes might time their world record attempts depending on the rewards available. 
726 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of semifinal round games on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association second conference, which includes American players:   Santa Lucia Realty beat Purefoods Hotdogs 98-93 (49-42)   Alaska Milk beat Ginebra San Miguel 102-98 (48-41) 
727 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of South Korean   pro-baseball games played on Tuesday.    OB 0  Haitai  0    Ssangbangwool  4  Lotte 2    LG 10  Samsung  5    Hanwha 7  Hyundai  3   Standings after games played on Tuesday (tabulate under won,   drawn, lost, winning percentage, games behind first place)    W D L PCT  GB    Haitai  60 2 39 .604  -    Hyundai  53 5 44 .544  6    Hanwha  53 1 45 .540  6 1/2    Ssangbangwool 53 2 47 .529  7 1/2    Lotte  43 5 49 .469 13 1/2    Samsung  45 5 52 .466  14    LG 43 5 54 .446  16    OB 38 5 58 .401 20 1/2 
728 !GCAT !GSPO  Chicago Cubs rightfielder Sammy Sosa, one of the leading candidates for Most Valuable Player in the National League, will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken hand.   Sosa, who leads the league in homers with 40, suffered the injury during the Cubs' 8-1 win over the Florida Marlins on Tuesday when he was hit by a pitch from Mark Hutton in the first inning.   Sosa, who remained in the game until the fifth inning, recorded his 100th RBI of the season when was hit by the Hutton pitch with the bases loaded.   The injury snapped Sosa's streak of 304 consecutive games played, the third longest active streak in the majors behind Baltimore's Cal Ripken Jr and San Francisco's Barry Bonds.   "It's very disappointing to get an injury like this, particularly now when we are making a move in the division," Sosa told WMVP Radio in Chicago.   "The doctor told me it's going to be closer to the six weeks than four."   The loss of Sosa could be a huge blow to the Cubs' playoff hopes.   Chicago is five games behind Houston in the National League Central and five games behind Montreal in the wildcard race.   The 27-year-old Sosa had been struggling at the plate recently with just seven hits in his last 42 at-bats, but was still on a pace to hit 52 homers and drive in 131 runs, surpassing his career high of 119 set last year. 
729 !GCAT !GSPO  California Angels interim manager John McNamara was admitted to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday with a blood clot in his right calf.   McNamara is expected to remain in the hospital for the next four or five days.   The 64-year-old McNamara had watched several games from inside the clubhouse because of the injury.   Bench coach Joe Maddon is running the club during McNamara's absence.   The Angels continue on to Baltimore on Friday and complete their 10-game road trip there Sunday before returning home for an eight-game homestand beginning Monday.   McNamara had taken over as interim manager on August 6 after Marcel Lachemann stepped down.   At the time, California was 52-59 and in last place in the American League West.   Since then the Angels have gone 7-9.   A veteran of 18 seasons as a major league manager, McNamara was in his fifth season as a minor-league catching instructor in the Angels organisation when he was named interim manager.   McNamara has a lifetime managerial record of 1,150-1,215 with Oakland, Cincinnati, San Diego, California, Boston and Cleveland.   He took Boston to the World Series in 1986. 
730 !GCAT !GSPO  Singles draw for the U.S. Open   tennis championships beginning Monday at the U.S. National   Tennis Centre (prefix denotes seeding):   Men's Draw   1-Pete Sampras (U.S.) vs. David Rikl (Czech Republic)   Hicham Arazi (Morocco) vs. Alex Radulescu (Germany)   Alex Corretja (Spain) vs. Mark Philippoussis (Australia)   Tomas Carbonell (Spain) vs. Roberto Carretero (Spain)   Jared Palmer (U.S.) vs. Greg Rusedski (U.S.)   Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) vs. Carlos Costa (Spain)   Jim Grabb (U.S.) vs. Marcelo Filippine (Uruguay)   Karol Kucera (Slovakia) vs. 16-Cedric Pioline (France)   ------------------------   10-Marcelo Rios (Chile) vs. Arnaud Boetsch (France)   Alexander Volkov (Russia) vs. Andrei Chesnokov (Russia)   Javier Sanchez (Spain) vs. Jan Kroslak (Slovakia)   Francisco Clavet (Spain) vs. qualfier   Filip Dewulf (Belgium) vs. Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy)   Carl-Uwe Steeb (Germany) vs. Patrick Rafter (Australia)   Carlos Moya (Spain) vs. Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador)   Kevin Kim (U.S.) vs. 7-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)   ------------------------   4-Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) vs. qualifier   Jordi Burillo (Spain) vs. Guy Forget (France)   Qualifier vs. Christian Rudd (Norway)   Jason Stoltenberg (Australia) vs. Sjeng Schalken   (Netherlands)   Hernan Gumy (Argentina) vs. Byron Black (Zimbabwe)   Qualifier vs. Michael Stich (Germany)   Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) vs. Chuck Adams (U.S.)   Qualifier vs. 14-Alberto Costa (Spain)   ------------------------   11-MaliVai Washington (U.S.) vs. Sandon Stolle (Australia)   Adrian Voinea (Romania) vs. qualifier   David Wheaton (U.S.) vs. Stephane Simian (France)   Scott Humphries (U.S.) vs. Magnus Gustafsson (Sweden)   Renzo Furlan (Italy) vs. qualifier   Martin Damm (Czech Republic) vs. Todd Woodbridge (Australia)   Jakob Hlasek (Switzerland) vs. Sergi Bruguera (Spain)   Karim Alami (Morocco) vs. 6-Andre Agassi (U.S.)   ------------------------   5-Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) vs. Guillaume Raoux (France)   Kris Goossens (Belgium) vs. Mauricio Hadad (Colombia)   Felix Mantilla (Spain) vs. Alex O'Brien (U.S.)   Andrei Medvedev (Ukraine) vs. Jean-Philippe Fleurian (France)   Cecil Mamiit (U.S.) vs. qualifier   Petr Korda (Czech Republic) vs. Doug Flach (U.S.)   Magnus Larsson (Sweden) vs. Fernando Meligeni (Brazil)   Mats Wilander (Sweden) vs. 12-Todd Martin (U.S.)   ------------------------   13-Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) vs. Gilbert Schaller (Austria)   Galo Blanco (Spain) vs. qualifier   Alberto Berasategui (Spain) vs. qualifier   Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) vs. Shuzo Matsuoka (Japan)   Vince Spadea (U.S.) vs. Jan Siemerink (Netherlands)   Thomas Johansson (Sweden) vs. Stefano Pescosolido (Italy)   Tim Henman (Britain) vs. Andrei Olhovskiy (Russia)   Richey Reneberg (U.S.) vs. 3-Thomas Muster (Austria)   ------------------------   8-Jim Courier (U.S.) vs. Stefan Edberg (Sweden)   Mark Knowles (Bahamas) vs. qualifier   Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) vs. Hendrik Dreekman (Germany)   Paul Haarhuis (Netherlands) vs. Michael Tebbutt (Australia)   Javier Frana (Argentina) vs. Michael Joyce (U.S.)   Qualifier vs. qualifier   Jonathan Stark (U.S.) vs. David Prinosil (Germany)   Scott Draper (Australia) vs. 9-Wayne Ferreira (South Africa)   ------------------------   15-Marc Rosset (Switzerland) vs. Nicklas Kulti (Sweden)   Qualifier vs. Mark Woodforde (Australia)   Grant Stafford (South Africa) vs. Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden)   Jeff Tarango (U.S.) vs. Chris Woodruff (U.S.)   Bernd Karbacher (Germany) vs. qualifier   Qualifier vs. Slava Dosedel (Czech Republic)   Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) vs. Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech   Republic)   Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic) vs. 2-Michael Chang (U.S.)   1-Steffi Graf (Germany) vs. Yayuk Basuki (Indonesia)   Karin Kschwendt (Germany) vs. Sandra Kleinova (Czech   Republic)   Jana Kandarr (Germany) vs. Ai Sugiyama (Japan)   Virginia Ruano-Pascual (Spain) vs. Natasha Zvereva (Belarus)   Qualifier vs. Ludmila Richterova (Czech Republic)   Natalia Baudone (Italy) vs. Jolene Watanabe (U.S.)   Gigi Fernandez (U.S.) vs. Elena Wagner (Germany)   Yi Jing Qian (China) vs. 14-Barbara Paulus (Austria)   ------------------------   9-Mary Joe Fernandez (U.S.) vs. Rika Hiraki (Japan)   Rita Grande (Italy) vs. Alexia Dechaume-Balleret (France)   Qualifier vs. Jennifer Capriati (U.S.)   Nicole Bradtke (Australia) vs. Els Callens (Belgium)   Katrina Adams (U.S.) vs. Petra Langrova (Czech Republic)   Naoko Sawamatsu (Japan) vs. Rennae Stubbs (Australia)   Debbie Graham (U.S.) vs. qualifier   Judith Wiesner (Austria) vs. 5-Iva Majoli (Croatia)   ------------------------   3-Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Spain) vs. qualifier   Nicole Arendt (U.S.) vs. Sandra Cacic (U.S.)   Elena Likhovtseva (Russia) vs. Kyoko Nagatsuka (Japan)   Mana Endo (Japan) vs. Lilia Osterloh (U.S.)   Tatyana Jecmenica (Yugoslavia) vs. Naoko Kijimuta (Japan)   Alexandra Fusai (France) vs. Jill Craybas (U.S.)   Miriam Oremans (Netherlands) vs. qualifier   Angeles Montolio (Spain) vs. 16-Martina Hingis (Switzerland)   ------------------------   11-Chanda Rubin (U.S.) vs. Radka Bobkova (Czech Republic)   Nathalie Dechy (France) vs. Christina Singer (Germany)   Lindsay Lee (U.S.) vs. Nanne Dahlman (Finland)   Sandra Dopfer (Austria) vs. Zina Garrison Jackson (U.S.)   Sandra Cecchini (Italy) vs. Tami Whitlinger-Jones (U.S.)   Amy Frazier (U.S.) vs. Larisa Neiland (Latvia)   Kathy Rinaldi-Stunkel (U.S.) vs. Florencia Labat (Argentina)   Francesca Lubiani (Italy) vs. 7-Jana Novotna (Czech Republic)   ------------------------   8-Lindsay Davenport (U.S.) vs. Karina Habsudova (Slovakia)   Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) vs. Gala Leon Garcia (Spain)   Anne-Gaelle Sidot (France) vs. Janette Husarova (Slovakia)   Corina Morariu (U.S.) vs. Shi-Ting Wang (Taiwan)   Sung-Hee Park (South Korea) vs. Linda Wild (U.S.)   Kristie Boogert (Netherlands) vs. Joannette Kruger (South   Africa)   Barbara Rittner (Germany) vs. Katarina Studenikova (Slovakia)   Nana Miyagi (Japan) vs. Brenda 13-Schultz-McCarthy   (Netherlands)   ------------------------   15-Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) vs. Patrica Hy-Boulais   (Canada)   Ann Grossman (U.S.) vs. Silvia Farina (Italy)   Gloria Pizzichini (Italy) vs. Asa Carlsson (Sweden)   Barbara Schett (Austria) vs. Sabine Appelmans (Belgium)   Marianne Werdel Witmeyer (U.S.) vs. Paola Suarez (Argentina)   Yone Kamio (Japan) vs. Helena Sukova (Czech Republic)   Nathalie Tauziat (France) vs. qualifier   Ruxandra Dragomir (Romania) vs. 4-Conchita Martinez (Spain)   ------------------------   6-Anke Huber (Germany) vs. Amanda Coetzer (South Africa)   Dominique Van Roost (Belgium) vs. Mariaan de Swardt (South   Africa)   Irina Spirlea (Romania) vs. Petra Begerow (Germany)   Qualifier vs. Melanie Schnell (Austria)   Lori McNeil (U.S.) vs. Lisa Raymond (U.S.)   Meghan Shaugnessy (U.S.) vs. Sarah Pitkowski (France)   Kristina Brandi (U.S.) vs. Andrea Glass (Germany)   Kimberly Po (U.S.) vs. 10-Kimiko Date (Japan)   ------------------------   12-Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) vs. qualifier   Ines Gorrochategui (Argentina) vs. Magdalena Grzybowska   (Poland)   Christina Torrens-Valero (Spain) vs. Sabine Hack (Germany)   Sandrine Testud (France) vs. Pam Shriver (U.S.)   Jane Chi (U.S.) vs. Maria Antonio Sanchez Lorenzo (Spain)   Dally Randriantefy (Madagascar) vs. Elena Makarova (Russia)   Flora Perfetti (Italy) vs. Laurence Courtois (Belgium)   Anne Miller (U.S.) vs. 2-Monica Seles (U.S.) 
731 !GCAT !GSPO  World number one Pete Sampras, seeking his first Grand Slam title of the year, and women's top seed Steffi Graf, aiming for her third, should be able to ease into the year's final major, which begins on Monday.   Sampras opens defence of his U.S. Open crown against David Rikl of the Czech Republic, while top-ranked Graf begins her title defence against Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia.   Wednesday's U.S. Open draw ceremony revealed that both title holders should run into their first serious opposition in the third round.   Looming in Sampras's future is a likely third-round date with recent nemesis Mark Philippoussis, the rising Australian who took out Sampras in the third round of the Australian Open in January.   Sampras avenged that defeat with a straight sets win over the 19-year-old power hitter in the second round at Wimbledon and their rubber match in New York could provide some first-week fireworks.   While only a stunning upset will keep Graf from sailing through to a predictable semifinal showdown with third seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the German star could also be tested in the third round where she will probably face 28th-ranked veteran Natasha Zvereva of Belarus.   There will be no repeat of last year's men's final with eighth-ranked Andre Agassi landing in Sampras's half of the draw.   Bumping Agassi up to the sixth seeding avoided the possibility that he would run into Sampras as early as the quarter-finals, but they could lock horns in the semis.   Olympic champion Agassi meets Karim Alami of Marocco in the first round.   Surprise second seed Michael Chang, ranked third in the world, opens against Czech Daniel Vacek, while women's second seed Monica Seles drew American Anne Miller as her first victim.   Second-ranked Austrian Thomas Muster, who was seeded third, did not have the luck of the draw with him.   In the first round Muster faces American Richey Reneberg, who has been playing some of the best tennis of his career of late.   If he survives, Muster is seeded to run into either fifth-seeded Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands or 12th-seeded American Todd Martin in the quarter-finals in Chang's half of the draw.   Perhaps the best, yet most unfortunate, first-round matchup of the men's competition pits eighth seed Jim Courier against retiring star Stefan Edberg.   The popular Swede is playing his final major tournament next week and the two-time champion's Grand Slam farewell could well be a one-match affair.   With the exception of a Philippoussis showdown, Sampras looks to have landed in a comfortable quarter of the draw with the likes of Frenchman Cedric Pioline and ailing French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who is nursing a rib injury, in his path.   Seles, runner-up to Graf last year, is seeded to run into fifth-ranked German Anke Huber in the quarter-finals with fourth seed Conchita Martinez or eighth-seeded Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport looking like her most likely semifinal opponents.   But Huber will be tested immediately with a first-round encounter against dangerous 18th-ranked South African Amanda Coetzer.   Sanchez Vicario, runner-up to Graf at the French Open and Wimbledon, begins play against a qualifier in a quarter of the draw that includes young talent Martina Hingis, the 16th seed, before a probable quarter-final clash with seventh-seeded veteran Jana Novotna.   Martinez begins play against Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania. 
732 !GCAT !GSPO  The U.S. Tennis Association broke with its own longstanding tradition and took a page out of the Wimbledon handbook on Wednesday by deviating from the ATP Tour rankings in formulating men's seedings for the U.S. Open Tennis Championships.   Unlike Wimbledon officials, the usually conservative association has for many years seeded players at the Open strictly according to world rankings.   USTA President and Tournament Chairman Les Snyder decided to do things a little differently this year, withholding the list of men's seeds until just prior to Wednesday's draw ceremony with the promise of a few surprises.   Most notable was the bumping of red-hot Michael Chang, currenly ranked a career-high third in the world, to the second seed, right behind world number one Pete Sampras.   That dropped second-ranked Thomas Muster of Austria, who has achieved nearly all of his success on clay, to the third spot for the tournament which begins on Monday.   Snyder said tournament officials wanted the seedings to be a more accurate predictor of the event rather than a reflection of the rankings computer.   He said a player's showing in the other Grand Slams, recent performance and record on hard courts were all taken into consideration in making the seeding decisions.   He insisted the popularity of a player was not a factor.   "Just like any sport, players can get on a hot streak and I think that should be taken into account," Snyder said.   Chang holds a 15-1 match record during the summer hardcourt season after winning titles in Washington and Los Angeles and reaching the final in Cincinnati.   In other moves, eighth-ranked Andre Agassi, coming off victories in the Olympics and at Cincinnati, was seeded sixth, and seventh-ranked Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek was seeded fifth.   Despite a history of disappointing showings at Flushing Meadow, sixth-ranked Croatian Goran Ivanisevic was seeded fourth, while fourth-ranked French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was seeded only seventh.   Sixteenth-ranked Spaniard Felix Mantilla, who would have been awarded the final seeding under the usual U.S. Open format, was left unseeded, allowing Frenchman Cedric Pioline to join the seeded ranks in the men's draw.   Asked how he hoped it would all pan out on the final Sunday, Snyder said: "I'd like to have what we had last year, women one and two, and men one and two."   The following is the list of men's seeds for the U.S. Open with their world ranking in parenthesis.   Several of the players were moved up one place by the withdrawal of fifth-ranked Boris Becker, who pulled out with a wrist injury.   1.   Pete Sampras (U.S.) (1)   2.   Michael Chang (U.S.) (3)   3.   Thomas Muster (Austria) (2)   4.   Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) (6)   5.   Richard Krajicek (Netherlands) (7)   6.   Andre Agassi (U.S.) (8)   7.   Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) (4)   8.   Jim Courier (U.S.) (9)   9.   Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) (10)   10.   Marcelo Rios (Chile) (11)   11.   MaliVai Washington (U.S.) (12)   12.   Todd Martin (U.S.) (13)   13.   Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) (14)   14.   Alberto Costa (Spain) (15)   15.   Marc Rosset (Switzerland) (17)   16.   Cedric Pioline (France) (18) 
733 !GCAT !GSPO  Australian Open champion Boris Becker has withdrawn from the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, which begins on Monday, the U.S. Tennis Association announced on Wednesday.   The fifth-ranked German star, who won the U.S. Open in 1989, is still suffering from the wrist injury he sustained at Wimbledon.   The USTA also announced that Mary Pierce of France and American Meredith McGrath had pulled out of the year's final Grand Slam tournament.   Pierce, ranked 12th in the world, is sidelined with an injury to her right shoulder.   The 20th-ranked McGrath, who made quite a splash at Wimbledon this year by reaching the semifinals, has a knee injury.   French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was included in Wednesday's U.S. Open draw, but the fourth-ranked Russian considers himself questionable after pulling out of the Hamlet Cup on Tuesday with a rib injury. 
734 !GCAT !GSPO  Seeded players for the U.S.   Open tennis championships beginning next Monday at Flushing   Meadows:   Men   1.   Pete Sampras (U.S.)   2.   Michael Chang (U.S.)   3.   Thomas Muster (Austria)   4.   Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia)   5.   Richard Krajicek (Netherlands)   6.   Andre Agassi (U.S.)   7.   Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)   8.   Jim Courier (U.S.)   9.   Wayne Ferreira (South Africa)   10.   Marcelo Rios (Chile)   11.   MaliVai Washington (U.S.)   12.   Todd Martin (U.S.)   13.   Thomas Enqvist (Sweden)   14.   Alberto Costa (Spain)   15.   Marc Rosset (Switzerland)   16.   Cedric Pioline (France)   Women   1.   Steffi Graf (Germany)   2.   Monica Seles (U.S.)   3.   Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain)   4.   Conchita Martinez (Spain)   5.   Iva Majoli (Croatia)   6.   Anke Huber (Germany)   7.   Jana Novotna (Czech Republic)   8.   Lindsay Davenport (U.S.)   9.   Mary Joe Fernandez (U.S.)   10.   Kimiko Date (Japan)   11.   Chanda Rubin (U.S.)   12.   Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria)   13.   Brenda Schultz-McCarthy (Netherlands)   14.   Barbara Paulus (Austria)   15.   Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina)   16.   Martina Hingis (Switzerland) 
735 !GCAT !GSPO  To err had been been unlike the Texas Rangers -- until Tuesday.   Shortstop Kevin Elster made the club's first error in 16 games, leaving the Rangers one game short of the all-time major-league mark, and Manny Ramirez hit his third grand slam of the season as the Cleveland Indians pounded out a 10-4 victory over the Rangers in a battle of division leaders.   Elster, who played errorless ball for 45 straight games, mishandled a throw to second by second baseman Mark McLemore, ending the streak in the fourth inning.   The St. Louis Cardinals played errorless ball for 16 straight games in 1992.   "I'm more diasappointed with the loss than the streak," McLemore said.   "It's a pretty impressive streak.   I think he (Elster) kind of looked down at the bag."   Omar Vizquel walked to lead off the fifth and Jim Thome hit his 28th homer to give Cleveland the lead for good, 5-4.   Albert Belle added his 41st homer in the eighth.   Albie Lopez (3-4) allowed four runs and nine hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts in five innings.   Bobby Witt (12-9) was tagged for five runs and six hits with six walks and no strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.   Juan Gonzalez drove in three runs for Texas.   In Boston, Mo Vaughn's 36th homer, a three-run shot in the eighth inning against reliever Mike Mohler (4-2), lifted the Red Sox past the Oakland Athletics 4-3.   Rich Garces (3-1), recalled earlier in the day from the minors, pitched a scoreless eighth inning to pick up the win for Boston, which has won 13 of its last 17 games.   Heathcliff Slocumb pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 21st save.   An inning earlier, Mike Bordick had given Oakland a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer off Sox starter Mike Maddux.   Maddux allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings with four walks and two strikeouts.   In Baltimore, Mike Mussina allowed two hits over seven innings for his 16th win of the season and B.J. Surhoff and Cal Ripken each knocked in a run in a three-run fourth, as the Orioles downed the Seattle Mariners 4-1.   Mussina (16-8) walked four and struck out eight to join New York's Andy Pettitte as the A.L.'s only 16-game winners.   Randy Myers struck out two in the ninth for his 24th save.   Mark Whiten homered to give Seattle a 1-0 lead in the third, but the Orioles scored three runs off rookie starter Matt Wagner (3-4), who was recalled from the minors earlier in the day.   In New York, Jim Leyritz's two-run homered highlighted a six-run fourth-inning rally and Brian Boehringer pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for his first major-league win as the Yankees bombed the California Angels 17-6.   Leyritz tied a career high with five RBI as New York's 7,8 and 9 hitters went a combined 9-for-13 with 10 RBI.   The Angels scored five first-inning runs against Yankees starter David Weathers.   Garret Anderson and Jorge Fabregas had two-run singles and Rex Hudler added an RBI double.   Paul O'Neill and Mariano Duncan added homers for New York, which batted around twice in the contest.   At Minnesota, Marty Cordova homered twice and drove in four runs as the Twins used a season-high 20-hit attack to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 12-7.   Dave Nilsson's first of two homers had given Milwaukee a 3-0 leadin the first, but Scott Stahoviak led off the second with his 10th homer off Ricky Bones (7-14).   Six pitches later, Cordova cracked his 11th homer.   Ron Coomer also homered for the Twins.   Jose Parra (5-3) pitched three innings in relief of starter Scott Klingenbeck, giving up two hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts for his fourth straight win.   At Kansas City, Alex Gonzalez's leadoff homer in the 14th inning off Rick Huisman provided the go-ahead run and Mike Timlin won for the first time in exactly a year as the Toronto Blue Jays outlasted the Royals 6-5.   The teams traded runs in the 13th.   Carlos Delgado hit a two-out home run, his 20th, off Huisman to give Toronto a 5-4 lead, but Craig Paquette tied the game with a one-out single off Timlin.   Domingo Cedeno had tied the game when he led off the ninth with a home run off Royals closer Jeff Montgomery.   Paquette and Kevin Young hit solo homers for K.C.   In Detroit, Melvin Nieves homered from both sides of the plate and drove in a career-high five runs as the Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 16-11 pounding of the Chicago White Sox.   Bob Higginson and Andujar Cedeno hit fourth-inning homers for the Tigers.   Mark Lewis had three hits and scored two runs and Kimera Bartee added three hits and two RBI.   Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, Tony Phillips and Danny Tartabull homered for the White Sox.   White Sox starter Kevin Tapani (11-8) was the loser, giving up nine runs and eight hits in four innings. 
736 !GCAT !GSPO  The Atlanta Braves made Cincinnati Reds pitcher Dave Burba feel black and blue on Tuesday night, exploding for three homers in six pitches during the third inning.   Terry Pendleton, Chipper Jones and Ryan Klesko all took Burba (7-12) downtown and Tom Glavine snapped a personal two-game losing streak as the Braves beat the Reds 4-1 for their fifth straight win.   With the score tied 1-1, Pendleton led off with his eighth homer.   Three pitches later, Jones hit his 26th, extending his hitting streak to 14 games.   After Fred McGriff popped out on the next pitch, Klesko belted the first pitch he saw for his team-high 30th homer to cap the scoring.   "Burba made some mistakes," said Jones.   "Pendleton hit a good pitch, but he was down the middle to Ryan and me.   Three runs on three pitches really picks you up."   Glavine (13-7) allowed five hits -- including a solo homer by Bret Boone -- over eight innings.   He walked three and struck out five.   Mark Wohlers pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save.   In Chicago, Kevin Foster (4-2), recalled from the minors earlier in the day, allowed a run in five innings and keyed an eight-run first with a two-run triple, leading the Cubs to an 8-1 victory over the Florida Marlins.   Foster allowed two hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts before giving way to Terry Adams, who hurled three perfect innings, and Turk Wendell, who added a 1-2-3 ninth.   Astro starter Mark Hutton (1-1) did not retire a batter, hitting Sammy Sosa and walking Luis Gonzalez to force in runs.   Chicago's Mark Grace singled in a run and extended his hit streak to 14 games.   In San Francisco, Bobby Jones allowed four hits and struck out a career-high 10 over seven innings and an obstruction call in a four-run eighth inning snapped a tie and helped the New York Mets to a 7-3 victory over the Giants.   Jones (11-7) allowed three runs, including homers to Rick Wilkins and Glenallen Hill, and walked one.   With the score tied at 3-3 in the eighth, pinch-hitter Carl Everett bounced a single into right field.   As Alex Ochoa rounded third, Giants third baseman Bill Mueller cut into his path and was called for interference by umpire Gary Darling.   Todd Hundley hit his 37th homer for the Mets.   In San Diego, Greg Vaughn homered and Bob Tewksbury and two relievers combined on a three-hitter to lead the Padres to a 3-0 victory over the Montreal Expos.   In the sixth inning, Vaughn hit a 3-0 pitch from Rheal Cormier (7-9) over the left-field fence for a 1-0 lead.   Tewksbury (10-8) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out three over 7 2/3 innings.   He retired 19 straight batters until Rondell White singled with two out in the eighth.   Doug Bochtler replaced Tewksbury in the eighth and Trevor Hoffman struck out one in a perfect ninth inning for his 30th save.   In Houston, Jeff Bagwell homered and drove in three runs and John Cangelosi had four hits as the Astros raced to a seven-run lead and beat the the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-4.   The Astros scored three times in the first inning against starter Dan Miceli (2-9), who gave up seven runs and nine hits over four innings as the Pirates lost their fifth straight.   Donne Wall (7-4) allowed three runs and seven hits through seven-plus innings as the Astros won for the eighth time in 12 games.   He walked one and struck out four.   Xavier Hernandez allowed one hit and struck out three in 1 2/3 innings for his third save.   In Los Angeles, pinch hitter Ruben Amaro's two-run homer with two out in the top of the ninth snapped a tie and centre fielder Wendell Magee's leaping catch at the wall for the final out preserved the lead as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Dodgers 3-1.   With two out in the ninth, Kevin Stocker doubled off Antonio Osuna (8-5).   Amaro, pinch-hitting for winning pitcher Ricardo Jordan, hit the first pitch over the wall.   Eric Karros singled with one out off closer Ricky Bottalico in the ninth and Tim Wallach hit a ball that Magee reached over the fence and snared for the final out.   At Colorado, Dante Bichette's second homer of the game, a two-run blast with one out in the bottom of the 13th inning, lifted the Rockies past the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4.   T.J. Mathews (2-5) gave up a bloop single to Andres Galarraga before Bichette drilled Mathews' first pitch.   Mike Munoz (1-2) recorded the win, despite giving up a run in the 13th when Brian Jordan singled in Ron Gant.   Galarraga also hit his 35th home run of the year.   The Cards nearly took the lead in the 12th off Marvin Freeman.   Tom Pagnozzi walked with one out and Alicea doubled to deep right but Pagnozzi was thrown out at home. 
737 !GCAT !GSPO  Major League Baseball   standings after games played on Tuesday (tabulate under won,   lost, winning percentage and games behind):    AMERICAN LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    NEW YORK  72 52 .581 -    BALTIMORE  66 58 .532 6    BOSTON  62 64 .492 11    TORONTO  57 69 .452 16    DETROIT  43 82 .344 29 1/2    CENTRAL DIVISION    CLEVELAND  76 50 .603 -    CHICAGO  69 58 .543 7 1/2    MINNESOTA  63 62 .504 12 1/2    MILWAUKEE  59 68 .465 17 1/2    KANSAS CITY  58 69 .457 18 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    TEXAS 72 54 .571 -    SEATTLE  64 60 .516 7    OAKLAND  62 66 .484 11    CALIFORNIA  57 68 .456 14 1/2   WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 SCHEDULE   CALIFORNIA AT NEW YORK     CHICAGO AT DETROIT    MILWAUKEE AT MINNESOTA     OAKLAND AT BOSTON    SEATTLE AT BALTIMORE     TEXAS AT CLEVELAND    TORONTO AT KANSAS CITY      NATIONAL LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    ATLANTA  78 46 .629 -    MONTREAL  67 57 .540 11    NEW YORK  59 68 .465 20 1/2    FLORIDA  58 68 .460 21    PHILADELPHIA 51 75 .405 28    CENTRAL DIVISION    HOUSTON  68 58 .540 -    ST LOUIS  67 58 .536 - 1/2    CINCINNATI  62 61 .504 4 1/2    CHICAGO  62 62 .500 5    PITTSBURGH  52 73 .416 15 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    SAN DIEGO  69 59 .539 -    LOS ANGELES  66 59 .528 1 1/2    COLORADO  64 62 .508 4    SAN FRANCISCO 53 70 .431 13 1/2   WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 SCHEDULE   FLORIDA AT CHICAGO    NEW YORK AT SAN FRANCISCO    CINCINNATI AT ATLANTA     PITTSBURGH AT HOUSTON     ST LOUIS AT COLORADO     PHILADELPHIA AT LOS ANGELES    MONTREAL AT SAN DIEGO 
738 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Major League   Baseball games played on Tuesday (home team in CAPS):     American League    BOSTON  4 Oakland  3    CLEVELAND  10 Texas 4    DETROIT  16 Chicago  11    NEW YORK  17 California  6    Toronto  6 KANSAS CITY  5 (in 14)    MINNESOTA  12 Milwaukee  7     National League    CHICAGO  8 Florida  1    HOUSTON  9 Pittsburgh  4    SAN DIEGO  3 Montreal  0    New York  7 SAN FRANCISCO 3    ATLANTA  4 Cincinnati  1    Philadelphia 3 LOS ANGELES  1    COLORADO  5 St. Louis  4 (in 13) 
739 !GCAT !GSPO  Summary of Dutch first division   soccer played on Wednesday:   Volendam 1 (Leeflang 48th) Graafschap Doetinchem 1 (Taiwo   66th).   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance 4,000.   Groningen 0 Willem II Tilburg 0.   Attendance 9,500.   AZ Alkmaar 0 Vitesse Arnhem 2 (Van den Brom 39th, Laros 62nd)   Halftime 0-1.   Attendance 7,169.   Utrecht 2 (Van Loen 18th, De Jong 45th) RKC Waalwijk 2 (Dos   Santos 41st, Van Arum 59th penalty).   Halftime 2-1.   Attendance   6,900.   Sparta Rotterdam 0 Fortuna Sittard 0.   Attendance 5,000   Heerenveen (Nygaard) 1 Twente Enschede 3 (Ten Cate 8th, Oude   Kamphuis 66th, Bosman 86th).   Halftime 0-1.   Attendance 12,500.   Ajax Amsterdam 1 (Musampa 82nd) NAC Breda 0.   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance 48,000   Played on Tuesday:   Roda JC Kerkrade 1 (Roelofsen 88th penalty) Feyenoord Rotterdam   1 (Van Wonderen 82nd).   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance 10,000 
740 !GCAT !GSPO  Italian champions Milan beat European Cup holders Juventus 1-0 in a bad-tempered soccer friendly on Wednesday with each team having a man sent off in the second half.   Milan's Yugoslav striker Dejan Savicevic and Juventus midfielder Antonio Conte were sent off in the 59th minute after a scuffle on the pitch.   The home team's new Dutch signing Edgar Davids and Juventus midfielder Angelo Di Livio were fortunate not to join them after also trading blows out of sight of the referee two minutes from time.   Stefano Eranio scored the winning goal in the 84th minute, picking up a rebound from close range after Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi parried a shot from Marco Simone, to secure the Luigi Berlusconi trophy.   The match was the first between the two old serie A rivals since last season's Milan coach Fabio Capello departed for Spain's Real Madrid and Juventus strikers Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli moved to England's premier league.   Milan were without striker George Weah and former Italian international Roberto Baggio. 
741 !GCAT !GSPO  Collated results at the   Linz Grand Prix athletics meeting on Wednesday:   Men's 400 metres hurdles    1.   Eric Thomas (U.S.) 48.95 seconds    2.   Dusan Kovacs (Hungary) 49.05    3.   Ken Harnden (Zimbabwe) 49.12    4.   Erick Keter (Kenya) 49.81    5.   Laurent Ottoz (Italy) 50.30    6.   Rohan Robinson (Australia)  51.54   Men's 100 metres    1.   Davidson Ezinwa (Nigeria)  10.01    2.   Dennis Mitchell (U.S.) 10.06    3.   Osmond Ezinwa (Nigeria) 10.09    4.   Darren Campbell (Britain)  10.21    5.   Bruny Surin (Canada) 10.24    6.   Mike Marsh (U.S.) 10.28   Women's discus    1.   Ilke Wyludda (Germany) 67.28 metres    2.   Franka Dietzsch (Germany)  63.80    3.   Ellina Zvereva (Belarus)  63.70    4.   Nicoleta Grasu (Romania)  62.82    5.   Olga Chernyavskaya (Russia)  62.56    6.   Natalya Sadova (Russia) 62.32   Men's 800 metres    1.   Johnny Gray (U.S.) 1 minute 44.73 seconds    2.   Norberto Tellez (Cuba) 1:44.74    3.   Rich Kenah (U.S.) 1:45.05    4.   Robert Kibet (Kenya) 1:45.86    5.   David Matthews (Ireland)  1:46.13    6.   Billy Konchellah (Kenya)  1:46.18   Women's 1,500 metres    1.   Amy Wickus (U.S.) 4:12.57    2.   Therese Kiesl (Austria) 4:13.49    3.   Stefanie Graf (Austria) 4:13.58    4.   Sara Shwald (U.S.) 4:13.79    5.   Elena Kaledina (Russia) 4:14.44    6.   Kristina Wollheim-daFonseca (Germany)  4:14.75   Women's 100 metres hurdles    1.   Michelle Freeman (Jamaica) 12.65 seconds    2.   Dawn Bowles (U.S.) 12.84    3.   Patricia Girard (France) 13.01    4.   Aliuska Lopez (Cuba) 13.02    5.   Julie Baumann (Switzerland) 13.03    6.   Gillian Russell (Jamaica) 13.09   Men's 110 metre hurdles    1.   Allen Johnson (U.S.) 13.25 seconds    2.   Emilio Valle (Cuba) 13.29    3.   Igor Kovac (Slovenia) 13.44    4.   Steve Brown (U.S.) 13.46    5.   Claude Edorh (Germany) 13.91    6.   Levente Csillag (Hungary) 14.06   Men's 400 metres    1.   Derek Mills (U.S.) 44.92 seconds    2.   LaMont Smith (U.S.) 45.80    3.   Jared Deacon (Britain) 46.38    4.   Tom O'Dell (Britain) 46.57    5.   Andreas Hein (Germany) 46.82    6.   Quincy Douglas (Norway) 47.36   Women's long jump    1.   Chioma Ajunwa (Nigeria) 6.85 metres    2.   Ludmila Ninova (Austria) 6.79    3.   Heike Drechsler (Germany) 6.64    4.   Marieke Veltman (U.S.) 6.62    5.   Anna Biryukova (Russia) 6.58    6.   Claudia Gerhardt (Germany) 6.55   Women's high jump    1.   Nele Zilinskiene (Lithuania) 1.9 metres    2.   Sieglinde Cadusch (Switzerland) 1.9    3.   Alica Javat (Slovakia) 1.9    4.   Monika Gollner (Austria) 1.8    4.   Olga Bolshova (Moldava) 1.8    4.   Evgenia Stanova (Russia) 1.8   Men's javelin    1.   Jan Zelezny (Czech Republic) 89.24 metres    2.   Sergei Makarov (Russia) 85.14    3.   Andreas Linden (Germany) 82.62    4.   Todd Riech (U.S.) 79.52    5.   Gregor Hoegler (Austria) 79.00    6.   Christian Nikolay (Germany) 77.48   Men's shot    1.   Paulo Dal Soglio (Italy) 20.30 metres    2.   Aleksandr Bagach (Ukraine) 20.12    3.   Randy Barnes (U.S.) 19.89    4.   Corrado Fantini (Italy) 19.79    5.   Oliver-Sven Buder (Germany) 19.24    6.   Giorgo Venturi (Italy) 18.21   Pole vault    1.   Scott Huffman (U.S.) 5.90 metres    2.   Tim Lobinger (Germany) 5.80    3.   Riaan Botha (South Africa) 5.70    4.   Pat Manson (U.S.) 5.70    5.   Kory Tarpenning (U.S.) 5.50    6.   Alexei Gladkikh (Russia) 5.50   Women's 400 metres    1.   Ana Fidelia Quirot (Cuba) 50.84 seconds    2.   Kim Graham (U.S.) 51.35    3.   Inez Turner (Jamaica) 51.93    4.   Juliet Campbell (Jamaica) 51.96    5.   Charity Opara (Nigeria) 52.74    6.   Rosey Edeh (Canada) 52.80   Women's 100 metres    1.   Gail Devers (U.S.) 10.92 seconds    2.   Chandra Sturrup (Bahamas) 11.16    3.   Juliet Cuthbert (Jamaica) 11.20    4.   Chryste Gaines (U.S.) 11.21    5.   Chioma Ajunwa (Nigeria) 11.35    6.   Alenka Bikar (Slovenia) 11.52    6.   Treshelle Mayo (U.S.) 11.52   Add results:   Men's 5,000 metres    1.   L.K. Chepkuto (Kenya) 13 minutes 22.10 seconds    2.   Simon Chemoiywo (Kenya) 13:22.79    3.   Jonah Birir (Kenya) 13:35.93    4.   William Sigei (Kenya) 13:38.01    5.   Cormak Finnerty (Ireland)  13:40.17   6.   Pangiotis Papoulias (G45.05   Men's long jump    1.   Kareem Streete-Thompson (U.S.) 8.34 metres    2.   Joe Greene (U.S.) 8.20    3.   Emmanuel Bangue (France)  8.08    4.   Yuri Naumkin (Russia) 8.04    5.   Alexandre Glavatski (Belarus)  7.93    6.   Andrei Ignatov (Russia) 7.84 
742 !GCAT !GSPO  Olympic champion Gail Devers ran the third-fastest time of the season to win the women's 100 metres at the Linz Grand Prix athletics meeting on Wednesday.   The American clocked 10.92 seconds for her first victory since her triumph in Atlanta, leaving Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas well behind in second place with 11.16.   In the men's sprint, American Dennis Mitchell, who beat Olympic champion Donovan Bailey in Zurich last week, finished five hundredths of a second behind Nigerian Davidson Ezinwa who won in 10.01 seconds.   Ezinwa's twin brother Osmond was third in 10.09.   "(At the start) I had too little time...the race was then a matter of catching up.   I've got more in me than the 10.06," Mitchell said.   Allen Johnson repeated his Olympic triumph with victory in the 110 metres hurdles.   The American finished in 13.25 seconds, four-hundredths ahead of Emilio Valle of Cuba.   Other Atlanta gold medallists also came up trumps.   Germany's Ilke Wyludda outclassed her rivals with a throw of 67.28 metres in the women's discus and Nigeria's long jump champion Chioma Ajunwa outjumped Austrian Ludmila Ninova and Heike Drechsler of Germany with 6.85 metres.   Olympic javelin gold medallist Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic won his event by more than three metres with a throw of 89.24 metres.   But Randy Barnes of the U.S. failed to repeat his Olympic triumph in the shot, finishing third behind Italy's Paulo Dal Soglio and Ukraine's Aleksandr Bagach.   Theresia Kiesl, who won Austria's first ever track medal in Atlanta -- a bronze -- disappointed her home crowd when she finished second to Amy Wickus of the United States in the women's 1,500 metres. 
743 !GCAT !GSPO  Italian champions AC Milan beat European Cup holders Juventus 1-0 in a soccer friendly played on Wednesday (halftime 0-0).   Scorer: Stefano Eranio (84th minute)   Attendance: 68,000 
744 !GCAT !GSPO  Kiki Musampa went down in history as the first man to score for Ajax in the team's new stadium on Wednesday.   Ajax, playing in the new, 51,000-seater Amsterdam Arena, started the league season well with a 1-0 win over NAC Breda, thanks to Musampa's goal in the 82nd minute, from a pass from Nordin Wooter.   The Amsterdam side had played two just friendlies in the new stadium before the season opened but lost 3-0 both times, to AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven.   Pre-season injuries had depleted Ajax, with strikers Jari Litmanen and Marc Overmars and defenders Marcio Santos and Winston Bogarde unable to play.   Striker Patrick Kluivert was back after injury but he lacked match fitness and missed several chances.   In the final minute NAC came close to equalising but a Graham Arnold header just missed the Ajax goal.   Ajax's main rivals PSV play on Thursday against NEC Nijmegen. 
745 !GCAT !GSPO  Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund bounced back from their opening-day defeat to thrash Fortuna Duesseldorf 4-0 on Wednesday.   Skipper Michael Zorc set Dortmund on their way to a comfortable win with a goal in the 35th minute.   He finally got the better of Georg Koch after the Duesseldorf goalkeeper had denied him three times early in the half.   Swiss international Stephane Chapuisat added the second six minutes later.   Substitute Karl Heinz Riedle scored twice in the second half, his second set up by new arrival Paulo Sousa.   Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Dortmund 4-2 on Saturday, carried on in a similar vein against Duisburg, a hat-trick by Ulf Kirsten powering them to a 3-1 win.   Kirsten struck in the 65th, 71st and 82nd minutes after Markus Marin had put Duisburg ahead with a penalty in the 54th minute.   Bayern Munich fared less well, drawing 1-1 with Bochum at home.   They were booed by their fans and criticised by club president Franz Beckenbauer.   "The players thought this would be easy.   They thought they could win by playing at half strength," said Beckenbauer.   "But 50 percent is too little against this opposition."   Ruggiero Rizzitelli put Bayern ahead in the 52nd minute.   Peter Peschel equalised after 73 minutes. 
746 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Dutch first division   soccer matches played on Wednesday:    Volendam 1 Graafschap Doetinchem 1    Groningen 0 Willem II Tilburg  0    AZ Alkmaar 0 Vitesse Arnhem 2    Utrecht 2 RKC Waalwijk 2    Sparta Rotterdam  0 Fortuna Sittard  0    Heerenveen 1 Twente Enschede  3    Ajax Amsterdam  1 NAC Breda 0   Played on Tuesday:    Roda JC Kerkrade  1 Feyenoord Rotterdam  1   Standings (tabulate under played, won, drawn, lost, goals   for, goals against, points):    Twente Enschede  1 1 0 0 3 1 3    Vitesse Arnhem 1 1 0 0 2 0 3    Ajax Amsterdam 1 1 0 0 1 0 3    Utrecht 1 0 1 0 2 2 1    RKC Waalwijk 1 0 1 0 2 2 1    Feyenoord Rotterdam  1 0 1 0 1 1 1    Roda JC Kerkrade  1 0 1 0 1 1 1    Graafschap Doetinchem 1 0 1 0 1 1 1    Volendam 1 0 1 0 1 1 1    Sparta Rotterdam  1 0 1 0 0 0 1    Groningen 1 0 1 0 0 0 1    Willem II Tilburg  1 0 1 0 0 0 1    Fortuna Sittard  1 0 1 0 0 0 1    PSV Eindhoven 0 0 0 0 0 0 0    NEC Nijmegen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0    NAC Breda 1 0 0 1 0 1 0    AZ Alkmaar 1 0 0 1 0 2 0    Heerenveen 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 
747 !GCAT !GSPO  Summaries of German first division matches played on Wednesday:   Borussia Dortmund 4 (Zorc 35th minute, Chapuisat 41st, Riedle 70th, 87th) Fortuna Duesseldorf 0.   Halftime 2-0.   Attendance 48,000   Bayern Munich 1 (Rizzitelli 52nd) Bochum 1 (Peschel 73rd).   0-0.   60,000   Duisburg 1 (Marin 54th penalty) Bayer Leverkusen 3 (Kirsten 65th, 71st, 82nd).   0-0.   20,000   Cologne 1 (Vladoiu 5th) 1860 Munich 0.   1-0.   28,000 
748 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of German first division   soccer matches played on Wednesday:    Borussia Dortmund 4 Fortuna Duesseldorf 0    Bayern Munich 1 Bochum 1    Duisburg  1 Bayer Leverkusen 3   Add result:    Cologne 1 1860 Munich 0 
749 !GCAT !GSPO  Leading results at the Linz   Grand Prix athletics meeting on Wednesday:   Men's 400 metres hurdles    1.   Eric Thomas (U.S.) 48.95 seconds    2.   Dusan Kovacs (Hungary) 49.05    3.   Ken Harnden (Zimbabwe) 49.12    4.   Erick Keter (Kenya) 49.81    5.   Laurent Ottoz (Italy) 50.30    6.   Rohan Robinson (Australia)  51.54   Men's 100 metres    1.   Davidson Ezinwa (Nigeria)  10.01    2.   Dennis Mitchell (U.S.) 10.06    3.   Osmond Ezinwa (Nigeria) 10.09    4.   Darren Campbell (Britain)  10.21    5.   Bruny Surin (Canada) 10.24    6.   Mike Marsh (U.S.) 10.28   Women's discus    1.   Ilke Wyludda (Germany) 67.28 metres    2.   Franka Dietzsch (Germany)  63.80    3.   Ellina Zvereva (Belarus)  63.70    4.   Nicoleta Grasu (Romania)  62.82    5.   Olga Chernyavskaya (Russia)  62.56    6.   Natalya Sadova (Russia) 62.32   Men's 800 metres    1.   Johnny Gray (U.S.) 1 minute 44.73 seconds    2.   Norberto Tellez (Cuba) 1:44.74    3.   Rich Kenah (U.S.) 1:45.05    4.   Robert Kibet (Kenya) 1:45.86    5.   David Matthews (Ireland)  1:46.13    6.   Billy Konchellah (Kenya)  1:46.18   Women's 1,500 metres    1.   Amy Wickus (U.S.) 4:12.57    2.   Therese Kiesl (Austria) 4:13.49    3.   Stefanie Graf (Austria) 4:13.58    4.   Sara Shwald (U.S.) 4:13.79    5.   Elena Kaledina (Russia) 4:14.44    6.   Kristina Wollheim-daFonseca (Germany)  4:14.75   Women's 100 metres hurdles    1.   Michelle Freeman (Jamaica) 12.65 seconds    2.   Dawn Bowles (U.S.) 12.84    3.   Patricia Girard (France) 13.01    4.   Aliuska Lopez (Cuba) 13.02    5.   Julie Baumann (Switzerland) 13.03    6.   Gillian Russell (Jamaica) 13.09   Men's 110 metre hurdles    1.   Allen Johnson (U.S.) 13.25 seconds    2.   Emilio Valle (Cuba) 13.29    3.   Igor Kovac (Slovenia) 13.44    4.   Steve Brown (U.S.) 13.46    5.   Claude Edorh (Germany) 13.91    6.   Levente Csillag (Hungary) 14.06   Men's 400 metres    1.   Derek Mills (U.S.) 44.92 seconds    2.   LaMont Smith (U.S.) 45.80    3.   Jared Deacon (Britain) 46.38    4.   Tom O'Dell (Britain) 46.57    5.   Andreas Hein (Germany) 46.82    6.   Quincy Douglas (Norway) 47.36   Women's long jump    1.   Chioma Ajunwa (Nigeria) 6.85 metres    2.   Ludmila Ninova (Austria) 6.79    3.   Heike Drechsler (Germany) 6.64    4.   Marieke Veltman (U.S.) 6.62    5.   Anna Biryukova (Russia) 6.58    6.   Claudia Gerhardt (Germany) 6.55   Women's high jump    1.   Nele Zilinskiene (Lithuania) 1.9 metres    2.   Sieglinde Cadusch (Switzerland) 1.9    3.   Alica Javat (Slovakia) 1.9    4.   Monika Gollner (Austria) 1.8    4.   Olga Bolshova (Moldava) 1.8    4.   Evgenia Stanova (Russia) 1.8   Men's javelin    1.   Jan Zelezny (Czech Republic) 89.24 metres    2.   Sergei Makarov (Russia) 85.14    3.   Andreas Linden (Germany) 82.62    4.   Todd Riech (U.S.) 79.52    5.   Gregor Hoegler (Austria) 79.00    6.   Christian Nikolay (Germany) 77.48   Men's shot    1.   Paulo Dal Soglio (Italy) 20.30 metres    2.   Aleksandr Bagach (Ukraine) 20.12    3.   Randy Barnes (U.S.) 19.89    4.   Corrado Fantini (Italy) 19.79    5.   Oliver-Sven Buder (Germany) 19.24    6.   Giorgo Venturi (Italy) 18.21   Pole vault    1.   Scott Huffman (U.S.) 5.90 metres    2.   Tim Lobinger (Germany) 5.80    3.   Riaan Botha (South Africa) 5.70    4.   Pat Manson (U.S.) 5.70    5.   Kory Tarpenning (U.S.) 5.50    6.   Alexei Gladkikh (Russia) 5.50   Women's 400 metres    1.   Ana Fidelia Quirot (Cuba) 50.84 seconds    2.   Kim Graham (U.S.) 51.35    3.   Inez Turner (Jamaica) 51.93    4.   Juliet Campbell (Jamaica) 51.96    5.   Charity Opara (Nigeria) 52.74    6.   Rosey Edeh (Canada) 52.80   Women's 100 metres    1.   Gail Devers (U.S.) 10.92 seconds    2.   Chandra Sturrup (Bahamas) 11.16    3.   Juliet Cuthbert (Jamaica) 11.20    4.   Chryste Gaines (U.S.) 11.21    5.   Chioma Ajunwa (Nigeria) 11.35    6.   Alenka Bikar (Slovenia) 11.52    6.   Treshelle Mayo (U.S.) 11.52   Add results:   Men's 5,000 metres    1.   L.K. Chepkuto (Kenya) 13 minutes 22.10 seconds    2.   Simon Chemoiywo (Kenya) 13:22.79    3.   Jonah Birir (Kenya) 13:35.93    4.   William Sigei (Kenya) 13:38.01    5.   Cormak Finnerty (Ireland)  13:40.17    6.   Pangiotis Papoulias (Greece)  13:45.05   Men's long jump    1.   Kareem Streete-Thompson (U.S.) 8.34 metres    2.   Joe Greene (U.S.) 8.20    3.   Emmanuel Bangue (France)  8.08    4.   Yuri Naumkin (Russia) 8.04    5.   Alexandre Glavatski (Belarus)  7.93    6.   Andrei Ignatov (Russia) 7.84 
750 !GCAT !GSPO  Olympic gold medallist Miguel Indurain said on Wednesday he would reluctantly take part in the Tour of Spain with his team Banesto next month for the first time in five years.   "It was the team's decision and one has to accept it," Indurain, five-times winner of the Tour de France, told state television at the end of the third stage of the Tour of Burgos.   "I didn't particularly want to do it but the team decides," Indurain said.   "Physically I am well but mentally I'm not.   I was planning to take a vacation."   Indurain, who won the individual time-trial gold in Atlanta, has never won the Tour of Spain.   In 1991, he came second behind Melchor Mauri.   The three-week Tour of Spain starts in Valencia on September 7. 
751 !GCAT !GSPO  Zurich FC gave themselves a 100th anniversary gift on Wednesday when they acquired Swedish striker Thomas Brolin on loan from English premier league club Leeds United for the rest of the season.   The move ends a frustrating period in England for Brolin, who commanded a club record transfer fee of $6.8 million when Leeds obtained him from Italian Serie A side Parma last November but ended up on the substitutes' bench.   Brolin is scheduled to arrive in Zurich on Thursday and make his Swiss league debut in Berne on September 4 against Young Boys.   No details on the transfer were released but club president Sven Hotz said: "We were only able to acquire the Swede thanks to an exceptional offer from abroad."   Zurich, currently fifth in the Swiss premier division with nine goals in as many games, will be hoping that the 26-year-old striker, who has 26 goals in 46 internationals, can ignite their attack.   Once considered one of the most spectacular players in Europe, Brolin led Sweden to third place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States and Parma to the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1993.   But, plagued by injuries and a lack of fitness, Brolin never displayed the form that was expected of him with Leeds and had to settle eventually for the role of substitute.   He missed the final two games of last season when he returned to Sweden to have an operation on his ankle. 
752 !GCAT !GSPO  Dutch soccer referees are threatening to go on strike in September if the Dutch Soccer Union (KNVB) does not offer improved terms, the Dutch news agency ANP said on Wednesday.   The referees want increased match fees, pension rights and payments similar to those received by players when their photographs are published.   The KNVB has offered to increase the fee for top referees to 1,750 guilders ($1,050) per match immediately and 2,000 guilders ($1,200) in three years time from 1,000 ($600) now.   The referees are demanding 2,000 guilders immediately.   The referees union has advised their members to go on strike during a league round in September, with the date to be set five days ahead of a strike. 
753 !GCAT !GSPO  On the eve of the new Dutch soccer season, Ajax Amsterdam, European champions in 1995 and runners-up in 1996, are looking out of sorts.   In their last five pre-season games the Dutch champions have conceded 16 goals without themselves finding the net once.   Racked by injury and bedevilled by waning confidence, the world club champions look a pale shadow of the side that in recent years has rivalled Blackbeard the pirate in capturing silverware.   The latest setback, Sunday's 3-0 defeat by a strong, fluent PSV Eindhoven in the Johan Cruyff Shield, the traditional season curtain-raiser, exposed alarming deficiencies in an Ajax machine that is used to sweeping all before it.   Coming hard on the heels of drubbings by AC Milan, Juventus and Spain's Deportivo La Coruna, as well as defeat against Ruud Gullit's Chelsea, the extent of PSV's superiority in all departments will worry Ajax coach Louis van Gaal.   PSV, European champions in 1988 and now led by former Dutch coach Dick Advocaat, have fired a serious warning at Ajax -- it was their first win in Amsterdam for almost four years -- and they look a good bet to usurp the Dutch crown.   But it would be unwise to write off Ajax, bidding for their fourth consecutive Dutch title and 27th in total, before the season kicks off in earnest.   Van Gaal sees no reason to panic, preferring to blame a lengthy list of players injured or recovering, including internationals Marc Overmars, Patrick Kluivert, Winston Bogarde and Peter Hoekstra.   Defections, not helped by the Bosman ruling which made stars like Edgar Davids and Michael Reiziger give-away bargains for AC Milan, have also forced Van Gaal to chop, change and improvise his line-up.   "I have to protect the players from themselves.   Many of them just aren't yet fit enough for big games.   Only the Boer brothers (Frank and Ronald) and (Edwin) van der Saar are really fit."   "I can't really change anything.   Some players need time to get into a rhythm.   We usually use the pre-season to get the team to build up a head of steam, but we'll have to make the most of the next games just to limit the damage," Van Gaal said.   Dutch media have also speculated that Ajax's move to a new home, the towering multi-billion dollar Arena, has eroded the club's previous air of invincibility at the cramped de Meer stadium.   "The recent defeats hurt, they have damaged our confidence and will have given other opponents heart," Van Gaal said.   "Other teams will have been watching and will come here with more confidence.   At the Meer we built up a fearsome reputation which we don't yet have at the Arena.   We're going to have to work on that."   Van Gaal insists he has bought wisely over the summer, replacing Davids and Reiziger, as well as the Nigerian pair Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu.   But Richard Witschge, who caught the eye during the European championships, is no Davids.   His languid style, deft touch and superb passing will help when Ajax go forward.   But Davids's strength was as ball-winner when the team were under pressure.   Mariano Juan, the young Argentine who cannot yet communicate with his team mates, is no replacement for Bogarde, another who emerged from Dutch disappointment at Euro 96 with his reputation enhanced, while Kluivert's slow recuperation may force Van Gaal to shop around for a stand-in goalscorer.   Babangida, signed from Roda to replace his fellow countryman Finidi, has looked sluggish, while both Peter Hoekstra and Finn Jari Litmanen are struggling to find form and confidence.   PSV's emergence from a summer of canny buying as serious title contenders has whetted the appetite of Dutch soccer fans and may spell an end to Ajax's recent hegemony.   The champions begin the defence of their title against NAC of Breda on Wednesday. 
754 !GCAT !GSPO  The usually combative Australian wicketkeeper and stand-in captain Ian Healy said on Wednesday he was willing to play diplomat to mend the strained relations with Sri Lanka's cricketers.   "Yes, I think I can do that without much difficulty," Healy told a news conference after being asked if he should now be a diplomat.   Australia, making their first visit to Sri Lanka since boycotting a World Cup fixture in February, arrived in Colombo on Tuesday night for a limited overs tournament which also includes India and Zimbabwe.   Healy is leading the side in place of injured captain Mark Taylor.   Leg-spinner Shane Warne is also missing because of injury.   "We've got sufficient replacements, but whether they got sufficient experience to fill their hole is to be seen," Healy said.   "You can't replace these fellows overnight."   Healy said the 13-man squad still had reservations about playing in Sri Lanka, which has been fighting a civil war with separatist Tamil guerrillas for the past 13 years.   "I'd be lying if I said there are no worries," he said.   Colombo's police chief has said he would deploy commandoes, sniffer dogs and plainclothed policemen in a massive security operation to ensure the tournament was trouble-free.   Relations between the sides were badly strained last year when the Sri Lankans were first found guilty and then cleared of ball tampering, and spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing during a controversial test series in Australia.   Many Sri Lankans believe the Australians forfeited their World Cup opener in Colombo not due to security fears but due to fears of hostile local crowds.   "The reception we got has dispelled fears," Healy said.   Tour manager Cam Battersby said the team had been well received.   "We've already experienced what we've experienced in the past -- that marvellous Sri Lankan hospitality," Battersby said.   He said Australia were keen to avenge their defeat by Sri Lanka in the final of the World Cup in Lahore in March.   The two-week, four-nation Singer World Series begins on August 26. 
755 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  In the wake of severe labour unrest, which claimed at least 17 lives, mine management and unions agreed on Wednesday that violence should cease, Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd chief executive Alan Wright said.   Speaking at a presentation of the group's year results, Wright said labour issues were critical at Gold Fields' mines and management was facing a "fairly severe dilemma".   In the past two weeks violent union action, hinting at ethnic conflict, killed at least 17 miners at Gold Fields' Kloof Gold Mining Co and Driefontein Consolidated .   "We've had a number of tragedies at our mines in the past couple of weeks... management have a fairly severe dilemma on their hands.    "We had talks this morning (Wednesday) and consensus was reached on the basis that all of us feel there should be no more violence.   No more tragedies," Wright said.   He urged the safe return to work for all employees who wished to and warned that those who did not stood the risk of losing their jobs.   Hesitant to say the conflict was ethnically based, Wright did emphasise that the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) had a traditional Xhosa membership, while the United Workers of South Africa (Uwusa) drew mostly Zulus.   "It is hard to say whether it is a straight ethnic fight but if it is, then it can still be interpreted as unions," he said.   NUM is aligned to the African National Congress, while the smaller Uwusa is linked to Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party.    -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482-1003 
756 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Miners must work more shifts if the South African mining industry is to survive, Gold Fields of South Africa chief executive Alan Wright said on Wednesday.   Speaking at a presentation of Gold Fields' year results, he criticised rising working costs at the group's mines and the slow progress being made on full calendar operations (FULCO).   "The costs on our mines are increasing at a rate equivalent to the price of the product we are selling," Wright said.   "We reached agreement in priniciple with all unions but I don't believe we are any further down the path to FULCO operations than we were a year ago.   If we don't change to FULCO we're going to lose our industry in South Africa."   Gold Fields posted earnings per share for the year ended June 30 of 393 cents from 417 cents previously.   It declared a steady dividend of 220 cents per share.   In the same period unit working costs rose to 34,000 rand per kg of gold produced from 28,000 rand.   "Unit working costs were up 21 percent year-on-year.   As we go deeper it costs more... we are also being pushed into higher wage agreements," Wright said.   Gold Fields, a member of the Chamber of Mines employer negotiating body, has yet to sign a wage agreement with the unions on 1996/97 wages and working conditions.   Wright urged the industry to reach rapid agreement on FULCO in order to compete successfully with global mining companies.   "We are competing where major global companies work a 20 out of a possibe 21 shifts (per week)... We work 11 shifts every fortnight.   I hope for the benefit of the entire industry that very quickly we can move to working seven days a week."   Looking to the future, he said that Gold Fields would focus on mining -- particularly gold -- and aggressive exploration.   "Mining will remain the core business of Gold Fields, focused on exploration, mining and mineral beneficiation.   "(We plan to) progressively expand through exploration and investments in new selected geological and geographical areas."   The group's ultimate cocnentration would be on gold to build maximum shareholder wealth, Wright said.   The short to medium term would see the group capitalising on its existing "super mine" asses -- Driefontein Consolidated Ltd and Kloof Gold Mining Co Ltd .   Wright said the group had budgeted 86 million rand for exploration capital spending this financial year -- 36 million of which would be spent on exploration in South Africa.   Gold exploration would win 54 million of the 86 million rand.   Underground fires at Kloof and Dries' east and west mines in May and JUne had knocked the group's gold production -- losing it 1.5 tonnes of gold valued at 82 million rand, Wright said.   -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482-1003 
757 !GCAT !GENT !GPOL !GSCI  President Nelson Mandela on Wednesday named Inkatha Freedom Party veteran Lionel Mtshali to replace Ben Ngubane as Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology from September 1.   Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the conservative Zulu-based Inkatha, announced recently that Ngubane would be transferred to the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal.   Analysts said at the time that Buthelezi wanted Ngubane, who has won the admiration of the dominant African National Congress (ANC), to bolster his party's strength in the province, the only one of nine that it rules.   Under the rules of an interim constitution guiding South Africa from white rule to full democracy by 1999, Inkatha is entitled to three of the 27 seats in Mandela's transitional government of national unity.   Former president F.W. de Klerk's white-led National Party (NP) was entitled to a deputy president and six cabinet portfolios, but decided earlier this year to withdraw from the coalition at the end of June. 
758 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in Botswana's independent midweek newspapers The Sun and The Gazette on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   - - - -   THE SUN   - Debswana, the 50/50 partnership between De Beers Centenary and the Botswana government, is to spend one billion pula to double treatment capacity at the Orapa diamond mine.   This will increase Botwana's annual diamond production from 17 million carats to 23 million.   - The former general manager of the Botswana Housing Corporation, Gaolekwe abana, having successfuly fought a case against wrongful dismissal and been awarded payment 400,000 pula, is now charged with corruption involving the award of building contracts to a building firm.   - A freelance journalist has been charged by the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) for revealing the name of a person under investigation by the department, contrary to the Ant-Corruption Act.   - - - -   THE GAZETTE   - The government announced a nine-member Vision 2020 task group to define and shape the long term vision of the country.   Members of the public are invited to make submisions to the group as to how they see Botswana's future social and economic development.   - Gaborone newsroom (+267) 347182 
759 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Zimbabwean civil servants defied on Wednesday a government order to end a countrywide strike over pay which has partially paralysed some critical social services.   Officials from the Public Service Association (PSA) union said "many" of Zimbabwe's 180,000 civil servants would continue the strike that began on Tuesday and left only senior officials at work.   "We have not changed our stance.   Our position is still that we will only return to work once there is some commitment that the PSC (Public Services Commission) and Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Services will address our grievances," said John Makoni, executive secretary of the PSA.   The PSA is demanding wage rises of around 30 percent and says increases of between three to eight percent recently awarded by the government were unacceptable.   Local media reports said thousands of government employees were milling around their work places in the southern African country despite calls on Tuesday by Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro to go back.   Chitauro said the strike was illegal and those who did not return to work would be dismissed.   State hospitals were handling only critical cases and offering rudimentary services in general wards, using senior nurses, army medical personnel and the Red Cross nurses, with thousands of of their own nurses out on strike.   ---Cris Chinaka, Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 27/8/9 
760 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in Zimbabwe's state-owned Herald newspaper on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   - Zimbabwe's public service, labour and social welfare minister ordered civil servants across the country who are on strike demanding salary rises go back to work on Wednesday or face dismissal.   - Chaos reigned at most Zimbabwean government hospitals on Tuesday because of limited services being offered as nurses and support staff went into the second day of their strike to press for a 20 percent minimum salary hike.   - Malawi's president Bakili Muluzi is expected to officially open the Zimbabwean capital Harare's annual agricultural show next week.   ---Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 28/9 
761 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the South African press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   - - - -   BUSINESS DAY   - Government has released a consolidated, country-by-country breakdown of South Africa's trade which shows its growing reliance on exports to African countries.   - The rand would renew its assault on the 4.60 level against the dollar, which could signal the turning point for the currency, traders predicted.   - Government's low-cost housing programme has received a major boost with private sector participation materialising in Gauteng province, where 20,000 houses will be built over three years in a one billion rand deal.   - Gold Fields' Leeudoorn gold mine was tense last night as management and union officials met to stabilise the situation after clashes which left four miners dead.   - Packaging and rubber group Consol increased earnings before exceptional items by 17 percent, overcoming a weaker second half performance induced by a decline in the economy.   - Food group Kolosus has quietly striped Silveroak Industries of assets and sold it after the subsidiary was landed with a $100 million damages claim from its former U.S. partner.   - - - -   BUSINESS REPORT   - The government will look for ways to lower taxes on low-income earners in next year's budget, Gill Marcus, deputy minister of finance, said.   - The International Monetary Fund has proposed scrapping the special tax regime for mining companies in South Africa and the imposition of a levy on them for developing minerals.   - A top-level meeting last night to settle conditions for the purchase of Anglo American's 48 percent stake in Johnnies Industrial Corp by New African Investment Ltd and the National Empowerment Consortium failed after Anglo raised the issue of an editorial charter for its newspaper interests.   - - - -   THE STAR   - German businessmen have issued a stern warning to the government to curb escalating crime or face future disinvestment.   - Two policemen have been quizzed in connection with South Africa's biggest armed robbery, the 31 million rand heist at Pinetown, near Durban, earlier this month.   - Johannesburg's Kippies jazz club, one of the city's best known venues, is to close after receiving an eviction notice from the property owners.   -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482 1003 
762 !GCAT  ALBANIA   KOHA JONE   - An editorial said Albania could not expect European Union membership unless democracy was fully respected.   - At an upcoming party convention, the opposition Socialist Party is due to announce its complete separation from the former communist party and the late dictator Enver Hoxha, the party presidency decided at its last meeting.   GAZETA SHQIPTARE   - Fires have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest in southern Albania.   AUSTRIA   DIE PRESSE   - Johannes Ditz, finance chief of the national postal system, said he doubted the 1999 deadline for privatisation could be met.   He said it was only possible "under optimal conditions".   - Austria has the fourth highest wage costs world-wide.   - Austria's industry is not expected to pick up until 1997, chamber of economy expert Joachim Lamel said.   - OMV is investing seven billion schillings in a new expansion drive this year, almost twice as much as last year.   The company plans to build 100 petrol stations abroad by 1998 and cut the number of stations in Austria.   DER STANDARD   - Tyre-maker Semperit AG will be split into two limited liability companies directly subordinate to the German group Continental.   The two units will handle sales and production seperately.   KURIER   - Finance Minister Viktor Klima said the state would have to consider a tax reform in 1999 or 2000 "at the latest".   He said loopholes would be eliminated and tax rates cut.   - Raiffeisen Zentralbank said it was expanding its eastern European activities, moving into investment banking in Croatia and Russia.   The company expects both sectors to break even within two years.   CROATIA   VJESNIK   - Citizens express great interest in moving to areas of special state interest.   - Croatian-Yugoslav talks on the missing and captured: Croatia looking for 2,605 people, while Yugoslavia's request stands at 999 people.   - Is the end of 1996 to see some 300,000 people out of work?   VECERNJI LIST   - Just 4 more months until the new value added tax (PDV) takes effect: entrepreneurs are getting acquainted with the new tax system.   SLOBODNA DALMACIJA   - Has mutual recognition between Croatia and Yugoslavia run into problems due to Prevlaka?   - We'll be introducting drastic measures in an attempt to quash the labour black market, says in an interview the deputy minister for labour and social welfare Vera Stanic.   -- Zagreb Newsroom, 385-1-4557075   CZECH REPUBLIC   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - The Czech Airplane industry could take part in the manufacturing of F/A-18 fighter planes if the Czech Air Force chooses this type of plane, Gary E. Mitchell from McDonnell Douglas told reporters yesterday.   - The government is prepared to protect consumers from rising food prices by preventing farmers from raising the prices of their crops after this year's harvest according to the head of the Prime Minister's advisors.   - By the year 2000, nuclear energy should account for 44 percent of all energy produced in the country, compared with last year's 26 percent, Coal-based energy should decrease from 70 percent to 53 percent by the end of the millenium according to Ladislav Kriz from electrical utility CEZ.   - The export of Czech electronics to the European Union increased by more than 40 percent to 912 million ECU in 1995 compared with 1994 levels.   - Czech engineering conrecn Skoda denied it is obtaining shares in Omnipol, the largest Czech weapons manufacturer, through Cimex Holding.   Skoda Praha is currently not involved in any weapons production and is not interested in purchasing shares of companies which produce weapons, Jaroslav Hudec, Skoda Plzen's press agent, stated yesterday.   - The quality of hops from this year's harvest will be above average with an average of a tonne of hops per hectare expected.   - The general manager of Kladno's Poldi Ocel steel plant, Vladimir Stehlik, has called the company's employees to work starting with the morning shift on Monday, August 26.   According to the company's former general director, at least seven weeks will be necessary to get the plant back to full capacity.   PRAVO - Computers from the american company Apple computers will continue to be sold on the Czech market in spite of the fact that TIS, a local computer company, broke its exclusive contract with Apple Computers on August 7th.   - According to Agriculture Minister Josef Lux, the Czech government has recommended the sale of a minority, 11-percent share in steel makers Vitkovice and Nova Hut, a group of foundery's located in Northern Moravia, to the foundry's management.   -- Prague Newsroom, 42-2-2423-0003   LATVIA   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - The government dismissed the chief of the state revenue service Imants Grikis and appointed Andrejs Sonchiks to replace him.   The official explanation is that he was replaced in connection with an overall reorganisation of the service, the unofficial reason is that he failed to solve a dispute with market workers who did not want electronic cash registers.   - The deputy chairman of the parliament education committee Juris Celmins said plans by Prime Minister Andris Shkele to reform the system of paying wages to teachers is contrary to the law on education and the law on the state budget.   - Foreign ministers of the three Baltic States and five Nordic Countries met in Riga.   They discussed the abolition of visa regulations, security problems and integration with the EU.   - The government approved a package of draft laws needed to reform the border troop service by giving them over to the ministry of the interior.   - The parliament defence committee prepared the draft law on compulsory military service for its second reading.   To pass the law, Shkele may ask parliament to convoke an extraordinary session this Friday.   - A Riga city council committee has revealed several transgressions of the law by the administration of the Riga central district in restoring the right of ownership to several houses in the district.   - In Vilnius, the newly appointed Latvian ambassador to Lithuania, Atis Sjanitis, presented his credentials to Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas.   DIENA   - The privatisation of enterprises by liquidating them may lead to an increase in the level of unemployment in Latvia, which was at 7.1 percent in July.   NEATKARIGA RITA AVIZE   - Lithuania's parliament called on Latvian deputies not to ratify the licence agreement between Latvia and Amoco , which, the Lithuanians believe, may harm relations between the two countries.   BIZNESS & BALTIYA   - According to statistical data, in the first half of 1996 cargo turnover in Latvian ports increased by 15 percent.   DIENAS BIZNESS   - Latvian van maker RAF is going to offer ambulance vehicles made on the basis of the Chevrolet Astrovan.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93   SLOVAKIA   NARODNA OBRODA - Some 92,729 orders to sell privatisation bonds have been registered on the over-the-counter RMS since beginning of trading two weeks ago.   No anonymous trades, however, have been concluded so far.   - Gear box producer Sachs Trnava, a 100-percent subsidiary of German Fichtel und Sach A.G., plans turnover of 500 million crowns this year, up from 370 million in 1995.   The company, exporting 80 percent of its production to Germany and the Czech Republic, plans to increase turnover to one billion crowns by the year 2001.   - The Slovak Association of Agricultural Companies (ZPD) said it would propose exports of grain if this year's harvest exceeds the country's consumption needs.   The agriculture ministry had said it would not grant any export licences this year.   - The National Property Fund, which issued privatisation bonds, registered 88 entities entitled to purchase the bonds.   SME - Today is the 28th anniversary of invasion of the former Warsaw Pact armies into then Czechoslovakia.   - The finance ministry said revenues from sale of privatisation bonds would be tax-free.   PRACA - The ZPD demands the state fund of market regulation to increase prices of grain to 4,000 crowns per tonne, from the proposed maximum price of 3,700 crowns.   - ZPD warns that if government does not solve the current problems of Slovak agriculture domestic production will radically decrease within two years, resulting in significant increase of food prices as most of the food will have to be imported.   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - Volkswagen A.G. plans to invest about 41.8 million marks in its Slovak subsidiary, located in the capital Bratislava, next year.   - Completion of the highway connecting the northern Slovak town of Zilina with the Polish borders is expected to cost about 18 billion crowns.   -- Bratislava Newsroom, 42-7-210-3687 
763 !GCAT  IZVESTIA   - The Russian military is determined to drive rebel fighters out of the Chechen capital Grozny.   The only difference in the opinions among the military is whether to bomb the city immediately or take some time for thorough preparations.   - President Yeltsin has given security chief Alexander Lebed an impossible task -- to restore order in Grozny.   It could be used as a pretext to remove the stubborn general from the political scene.   SEVODNYA   - The deepening crisis in Grozny may turn into a catastrophe for Russian state authorities.   They seem to be losing control over the military.   -President Yeltsin could have easily stopped all rumours about his health simply by flying back to Moscow and showing himself in public, the paper said.   NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA   - The pro-Moscow Chechen leader Doku Zavgayev promised to do all in his power to make General Pulikovsky to withdraw the ultimatum.   ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA   - Grozny now is like a clock bomb which may explode in 24 hours if General Pulikovsky keeps his word on an ultimatum and rebel fighters ignore it.   PRAVDA   - Recent developments in the banking sphere may lead to a financial crisis in the nearest future, the paper's expert says.   MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS   - I do not rule out that under certain circumstances such attempts ( of a new coup d'etat) are possible although very unlikely.   In any case their results would be the same if not more deplorable than in August 1991, said Russian president Boris Yeltsin looking back at the attempted putsch of 1991 in the interview to the paper.   --Svetlana Kovaleva, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941 8520 
764 !GCAT  Radio Romania news headlines:   * Health Minister Iulian Mincu and Culture Minister Viorel Marginean told the state radio they had tendered their resignations for personal reasons.   Their decision to quit was confirmed by Vacaroiu.   * Foreign Ministry spokesman Sorin Ducaru told a news conference President Ion Iliescu and government would organise next week a meeting with parliamentary parties to discuss the final text of the Romanian-Hungarian political treaty.   * Ducaru said both collective rights and autonomy on ethnic grounds had not been included in treaty due to be signed soon by the presidents of the two countries.   * Ducaru said all diplomats involved in politics or the electoral campaign should resign temporarily, in line with regulations forbidding diplomats to get involved in politics.   * Labour Minister Dan Mircea Popescu met prefects of counties where unemployement is high to discuss ways to solve the issue.   He put the country's unemployement at 6.7 percent.   * Ivan Truter, deputy director of Council for National Minorities told a news conference the Council of Europe and the Romanian government would organise an international conference on "Governments for minorities" in Bucharest, September 10-11.   --Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264 
765 !GCAT  These are the main Hungarian headlines on Hungary's Kossuth Radio midday news.   Reuters cannot vouch for their accuracy:   - The Foreign Ministry began finalising the text of the Hungarian-Romanian friendship treaty.   - The Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee will discuss the treaty probably next week.   - The head of the Foreign Affairs committee advises Prime Minister Gyula Horn he should receive the chairman of the Hungarians' Association from Romania Bela Marko, to hear his views on the treaty.   - Refugees from the Nagyatad camp are being transferred to the town of Debrecen.   - New army conscripts will arrive to their units during the next two days.   -- Budapest newsroom +36 1 266 2410 
766 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Czech Finance Ministry is seeking cuts of roughly more than one percent from the 1996 budgets of every ministry in order to balance the state budget by the year's end, a senior ministry official said.   "The total we need to cut is roughly 9.3 billion crowns," Deputy Finance Minister Miroslav Havel told Reuters.    Earlier, Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus told a news conference after a cabinet meeting that a finance ministry plan to balance the budget would be on the agenda of next week's cabinet meeting.   Havel said the cuts, needed because of a projected 6.6 billion crown revenue shortfall and a 2.7 billion over-expenditure from the originally approved balanced budget, would not affect pensions or civil service wages.   "(The cuts) will touch every ministry and in the same level -- the same percentage of reduction of several non-investment outlays.   Certainly we're not cutting pensions or wages," sadi Havel, who directs budget planning for the ministry.   "But we are reducing such expenditures on materials and other things," he added.    The budget cuts, if passed, would reduce the entire 1996 state budget to 291 billion crowns from the plan passed by parliament last December.   He said the revenue gap was mostly due to Russia's failure to pay about five billion crowns on loans owed to the country.   The largest component of the over-expenditure was subsidies for heating because of the longer than expected winter and other social aid payments, he said.   A sampling of the proposed cuts were presented to a council of economic ministers on Tuesday.   Havel said although most were not happy to make the reductions in their own budgets, there was a larger macroeconomic question at stake.   "You know (the ministers) don't like cutting their budgets.   But we're doing it because of the total macroeconomic situation," Havel said.   Annual inflation has remained stubbornly around nine percent this year, and the central bank has been seeking ways to reduce demand on the money supply.   "Because inflation this year in certain ways has shifted and will be probably higher than we expected...if the budget ended in deficit, it would mean a further increase in demand on the money supply," Havel said.   -- John Mastrini, Prague Newsroom, 42-2-2423-0003 
767 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The co-ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) should control the powerful treasury portfolio, which is to be created under the coming reconstruction of the ministries, a SLD official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.   PAP news agency quoted Jerzy Szmajdzinski, the head of SLD's parliamentary caucus as saying that the coalition's smaller partner, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), should be in charge of the new economy ministry.   The two parties are scheduled to begin discussion on the cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday night.   The treasury ministry -- due to be created in October -- would encompass the current privatisation ministry and take charge of of all state assets controlled by the central government.   The ministry would be put in charge of those state-owned companies which are now supervised by the finance, privatisation, telecommunications and industry ministries.   It is logical that SLD should appoint its candidate to the treasury ministry because its member Wieslaw Kaczmarek is now privatisation minister, Szmajdzinski was quoted as saying.   It was also logical that a PSL candidate should head the economy ministry since it would emerge from the current industry and foreign trade ministries, controlled by the Peasants, he was quoted as saying.   PSL officials earlier said that putting SLD's candidates in charge of the treasury and finance ministries would give the party too much influence in the government.   -- Warsaw Newsroom +48 22 653 9700 
768 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Belgrade press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   NASA BORBA   - Owner of the cargo on the plane that crashed at Belgrade on Monday, Yugoslav Misko Djordjevic, was one of 12 on board.   - Kragujevac arms factory workers continue strike in front of city council, demanding wages.   - Walls in Bosnian Serb town of Visegrad plastered by posters of ousted leader Radovan Karadzic, Serbian Radical Leader Vojislav Seselj and Party of Serbian Unity Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan.   - Recently adopted oil-product import quotas being revised to let Montenegro import oil products for its users.   - Military court in southern Serbian town of Nis sentences four Croatian spies to between one and five years in jail.   POLITIKA   - Yugoslav and Croatian Foreign Ministers will sign agreement on normalising relations on August 23; the remaining open issues will be resolved in intensive diplomatic contacts over the next few days, says Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic after visit to Belgrade.   - Yugoslav exploration crews continue probing for oil on Montenegrin coast after a four-year break.   - Heads of the Yugoslav, Serbian and Bosnian Serb Chambers of Commerce agree to barter seeds for agricultural products.   - Yugoslav government committee sets draft platform for talks on succession to speed up negotiations and tear down "outer wall" of sanctions.   - Operation Volcano, demolishing Bosnian Serb contraband munitions, negatively affecting preparations for September 14 elections, says Bosnian Serb Acting President Biljana Plavsic.   BORBA   - Both Yugoslavia and other countries are underestimating the danger of terrorism in the Serbian province of Kosovo, says Yugoslav Parliament's Defense and Security Board Chairman Radmilo Bogdanovic.   VECERNJE NOVOSTI   - Although crime in Serbia is on the rise, number of jail sentences is dropping, Institute of Criminology and Sociological Research analysis shows.   POLITIKA EKSPRES   - Out of 220,000 Bosnian refugees in Yugoslavia, 98,000 will vote in absence, over 122,000 will vote in Bosnia, says Yugoslav Refugeee Committee chairwoman Bratislava Morina.   -- Belgrade newsroom 381 11 +2224305 
769 !GCAT  NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG   - The Swiss farmers association demanded massive intervention form the government with regard to the Swiss meat market.   The farmers hope to raise meat prices to an acceptable level.   - Swiss Economic forecasting institute BAK said it expected Switzerland's real gross domestic product (GDP) to decline by 0.4 percent in 1996 compared to the previous year.   In spring, BAK predicted a 0.9 increase in GDP.   - The Swiss government said in an answer to a parlamentary request that it did not want to conduct referendums via the internet, claiming results could be manipulated.   TAGES ANZEIGER   - Swiss sports equipment market be concentrated as Intersport Schweiz AG and PSC Power Sport Corporation with its subsidies Camaro Sport AG and Zentralsport announced plans to merge.   - The Swiss government might postpone the referendum over the new labour law from December 1, 1996 to March 2, 1997.   Swiss labour unions said the desision to postpone the referendum could have been initiated by employers associations, who first wanted to push through wage cuts at the end of the year before tackling the debate of the new labour law.   JOURNAL DE GENEVE   - ABB Switzerland reported a seven percent drop in net profit to 139 million Swiss francs for the 1996 first half.   Sales rose by nine percent to 2,594 million francs in the same period.   REUTER 
770 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !G158 !GCAT !GDIP !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Like eager students looking for careers, countries from central and eastern Europe hoping to win admission into the European Union have filled in the application papers on time.   Now, they face a long -- and, for many, an agonising -- wait while Brussels bureaucrats weigh up their suitability to join a club which officially wants them in, but privately is terrified of the effects the newcomers may have on the existing set-up.   "Recently, hard facts have dawned on both sides -- enlargement is not for tomorrow.   It is going to be a long, hard process, but that is not to say we are no longer committed to it," said one senior EU official.   Ten countries from former communist Europe -- Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia -- are all waiting outside the most successful political and trade group ever seen in Europe.   In the euphoria that greeted the fall of communism on the continent seven years ago, the EU's existing member states -- most also members of the NATO military alliance that won the Cold War -- held out the prospect of quick membership.   All the new democracies had to do, they suggested, was embrace pluralism, adopt market reforms, and impose political control of their once-dominant military.   The reward would be a single market with a free flow of goods, people, capital and services stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea -- a global show-case for successful free-market democracy.   But as so often in EU affairs, diplomats say harsh realities are now acting as a brake on lofty idealism.   Pessimists fear the whole project could be delayed for years, and even the optimists no longer believe in a turn-of-the-century target date.   At the root of the problem is money, most often the cause of EU woes.   The prospective new members are poorer than even the EU's poorest countries -- Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- and much poorer than those countries were when they joined.   Worse still, the applicant states are still overwhelmingly agrarian economies which could torpedo attempts to keep the EU's $52-billion farm budget under control.   Unless the EU's system of payments to poor regions and subsidies to farmers is reformed, enlargement could force an unacceptably large increase on the budget -- some estimates have suggested as high as 60 percent.   With internal EU relations already strained by moves to create a single currency by 1999, diplomats and analysts say a new bout of reform negotiations could take months to bear fruit.   EU member states have already begun an inter-governmental conference (IGC) to plot the shape of a union that could one day include 30 states.   Cyprus and Malta are also waiting in the wings and even Turkey has not yet lost all hope of membership.   "The IGC could last months and membership negotiations years even before the laborious ratification process gets underway," said one EU diplomat who follows the enlargement issue.   Officials say even the most ardent supporters now accept the most likely batch of new members -- Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic -- are unlikely to gain admission before 2002.   When Brussels' officials return from their summer break, the issue is likely to dominate EU politics.   The first job will be to analyse boxes and boxes of replies to questions submitted to all 10 governments earlier this year by the European Commission to try to gauge each country's ability to meet the rights and obligations of membership.   When that process is complete, the Commission will submit "opinions" to the current 15 EU states on which applicants are most likely to be able to make the grade and a recommendation on whether to open negotiations.   190839 GMT aug 96 
771 !GCAT  These are leading stories in this morning's Paris newspapers.   LES ECHOS   -- Markets betting on German interest rate cut as Paris Bourse closes up 1.66 percent.   -- CGT unionists say shoemaker Bally is about to close down French unit which employs 1,200 people.   -- MATIF and Societe des Bourses Francaises exploring closer links.   LA TRIBUNE DESFOSSES   -- Government considering either abolishing 20 percent general deduction on taxable income or extending it to all taxpayers.   Either way, property owners stand to benefit as wage earners lose out and the move conflicts with President Jacques Chirac's election promises.   -- CAC 40 index back up past 2,000 mark on Tuesday.   L'AGEFI   -- Lower German M3 money supply points to Bundesbank rate cut.   -- Switch to euro will force utility supplier EDF to upgrade investor relations services, says top executive Bruno Lescoeur.   -- No discussions opened yet on takeover of Credit Foncier by rival Credit Immobilier de France and many questions still unanswered.   LIBERATION   -- African hunger strikers split conservative parties.   LIBERATION (Economic section)   -- Finance ministry critical of Credit Lyonnais chairman Jean Peyrelevade for insufficient cover of 135 billion franc loan to CDR holding company with swap agreements.   LE FIGARO   -- Africans start 48th day of hunger strike in Paris church to renew or obtain work and residence rights.   LE FIGARO-ECONOMIE   -- Finance minister Jean Arthuis repeats everyone will feel the impact of substantial tax cuts, especially the lowest wage earners.   -- French government expects about 2.5 percent GDP growth for 1997 but doesn't explain how.   -- Pechiney may lay off 3,000 to 3,500 workers.   LE PARISIEN   -- Morocco's King Hassan II announces referendum on creation of second house of parliament for wage earners, professional associations and municipal representatives.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 4221 5381 
772 !GCAT  Leading stories in the Greek financial press:   EXPRESS   --Capital markets vote for early elections.   Despite the uncertainty there was no capital flight or downside speculation.   The Athens bourse gained 2.30 percent piercing resistance at 900 points   --Bank of Attica valuation is set at 18.5 billion drachmas   --Despite the certainty of early elections next month the government wants to show it is maintaining pace.   It seeks to be profiled as a political party of European orientation aiming to modernise the economy   KERDOS   --EU Commissioner Jacques Santer sends tough message to Ankara on recent violence in Cyprus   --International fair in Thessaloniki which starts September 7 will provide the podium for political arguments by the parties ahead of early elections   --Limiting the wasteful state becomes a pre-election campaign promise for the ruling socialists   --Early elections will temporarily halt rate easing in state debt paper   IMERISIA   --September 22 is the most likely date for going to the polls again   --Pre-election euphoria led by shares of OTE telecom and National Bank help benchmark share index break 900 points   --The economy is the key issue: elections now will clear the way for tough economic measures ahead.   Finance ministers are proposing state spending cuts of 850 billion drachmas in 1997   --Stavros-Elefsina highway project passes parliament as deputies voted in principle in favour of the contract with building consortium Attiki Odos   FINANCIAL KATHIMERINI   --Athens stock exchange votes in favour of early elections, market reacts warmly   --OTE telecom expects earnings growth of 27 percent this year with profits reaching 259 billion drachmas   NAFTEMBORIKI   --The untouchables, an expert I.R.S. team from the US, is coming to help the fight against money laundering   --Government spokesman gives clear hint of early polls amid a favourable climate in the financial markets --George Georgiopoulos, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4 
773 !G15 !GCAT  *   SPECIAL REPORT No 1/96 on the MED programmes together with the Commission's replies END OF DOCUMENT. 
774 !G15 !GCAT  *   (Note - contents are displayed in reverse order to that in the printed Journal)   *   JOINT DECLARATION   AGREEMENT on scientific and technical cooperation between the European Community and the State of Israel   COUNCIL DECISION of 25 July 1996 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between the European Community and the State of Israel   FRAMEWORK COOPERATION AGREEMENT leading ultimately to the establishment of a political and economic association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part   EXCHANGE OF LETTERS between the European Community and Chile concerning the provisional application of certain provisions of the Framework Cooperation Agreement leading ultimately to the establishment of a political and economic association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part   COUNCIL DECISION of 18 July 1996 on the Exchange of Letters between the European Community and Chile concerning the provisional application of certain provisions of the Framework Cooperation Agreement leading ultimately to the establishment of a political and economic association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part END OF DOCUMENT. 
775 !G15 !GCAT  *   (Note - contents are displayed in reverse order to that in the printed Journal)   *   Sheet-fed offset press (96/C 242/12)   Study on an examination of the effects of the Single Market Programme: Computable General Equilibrium Modelling Contract award notice (96/C 242/11)   Study on the impact of Internal Market integration on the access of third-country economic operators (a study in 2 lots) Contract award notice (96/C 242/10)   Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 93/53/EEC introducing minimum Community measures for the control of certain fish diseases (96/C 242/09) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(96) 279 final - 96/0158(CNS)   Proposal for a Council Directive amending, with regard to Gyrodactylus salaris, Directive 91/67/EEC concerning the animal health conditions governing the placing on the market of aquaculture animals and products (96/C 242/08) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(96) 279 final - 96/0157(CNS)   Memorandum on applying Article 171 of the EC treaty (96/C 242/07)   Recapitulation of current tenders, published in the Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Communities, financed by the European Community under the European Development Fund (EDF) or the European Communities budget (week: 13 to 17 August 1996) (96/C 242/06)   Updated list of the official bodies and bodies officially recognized for the purpose of granting awards for table wines, quality wines psr and imported wines designated by a geographical ascription (96/C 242/05)   Information procedure - technical regulations (96/C 242/04)   Ecu (1) 20 August 1996 (96/C 242/03)   COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 25 July 1996 on electronic publishing and libraries (96/C 242/02)   COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 25 July 1996 on access to culture for all (96/C 242/01) END OF DOCUMENT. 
776 !G15 !GCAT  *   COUNCIL DECISION of 9 August 1996 setting the date on which Joint Action 96/442/CFSP adopted by the Council on 15 July 1996 shall take effect (96/508/CFSP) END OF DOCUMENT. 
777 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union president Buzz Hargrove said the union will likely hit the Canadian unit of General Motors Corp with strikes whether or not it is chosen as the CAW's strike target next week.   Hargrove said he suggested a plan to the union's bargaining committee to begin striking at GM plant by plant, while seeking a master agreement with the Canadian subsidiaries of either Ford Motor Co or Chrysler Corp.   "If we were to select GM as the target, then we could follow this strategy of hitting GM while we moved over to one of the other companies," Hargrove told Reuters on Tuesday.    Hargrove said that even if the union chooses Ford or Chrysler as its target for a September 14 strike deadline he anticipates strikes will also be necessary at GM for the union to win concessions over the thorny issue of outsourcing.   "Whether or not they are the target, if they are first second or third we have a different problem at GM than we do at Ford or Chrysler, Hargrove told Reuters.   He said the union is exploring a range of possibilities, but will not set a plan of attack before the United Auto Workers (UAW) union announces its strike target on Thursday.   The CAW usually chooses a different target from the UAW.    Rhetoric from Hargrove over the issue of contracting out at General Motors Canada has risen sharply over the past year and led to a demonstration outside the company's headquarters after it released its first quarter results this year.   The UAW shut down GM entirely in the first quarter of 1996 with a 17-day strike at its Dayton, Ohio brake plant, forcing a US$900 million loss in revenues.   A CAW spokeswoman said the union will hold a press conference on Thursday after the U.S. strike target is announced and will release the results of the voting on the strike mandates from its members on Sunday.    Next week, the CAW is expected to announce its choice for a strike target ahead of the Labor Day long weekend holiday which begins on Friday August 30.   -- Paul Casciato (416) 941-8100, or e-mail: paul.casciato@reuters.com 
778 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  A Canadian appeals court has overturned a deportation order against a Hong Kong billionaire convicted of bribery in the British colony, his lawyer said on Wednesday.   Ronald Li, one of Hong Kong's richest businessmen and former head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, left Canada in 1994 but fought to overturn the deportation order so he would be free to travel here.   "The deportation order against Mr. Li has been quashed.   He is admissible in Canada," Toronto lawyer Lorne Waldman said.   Li's whereabouts were unknown and it was not clear whether he planned to return to Canada as a result of the ruling.   Waldman said Canada's federal Court of Appeal ruled this month that the deportation order should not stand because the statute under which Li was convicted in Hong Kong was broader than equivalent law in Canada.   Under Canadian immigration law, he could be denied entry only if the crime for which he was convicted in Hong Kong was equivalent to an offense in Canada.   He was jailed in Hong Kong in 1990 after being convicted on corruption charges after acquiring shares in two companies in return for supporting their listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.   His downfall followed a scandal over his closure of the exchange after the global share market crash in October 1987 and a government report that said he ran the exchange like a private club.   He was released from jail in 1993.   Li invested in Canada and before the case erupted was granted honorary citizenship of Toronto and Calgary for his contributions to community life.   Despite the deportation order, he has continued to invest in Canada and support charities here. 
779 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Michigan became the 13th state to take the tobacco industry to court, filing a lawsuit on Wednesday seeking $14 billion in damages from major tobacco firms and their wholesale distributors.   Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley said the suit, which names 28 separate defendants, sought $2 billion in restitution to the state for past smoking-related health care costs, $2 billion for future anticipated health care costs and $10 billion in punitive damages.   Kansas and Arizona filed lawsuits against major tobacco firms on Tuesday, and Oklahoma was expected to file a similar lawsuit sometime this week.   In Indianapolis, a jury was expected to begin deliberations on Wednesday or Thursday in the case of Richard Rogers, a lawyer who began smoking at age six and died of lung cancer at age 52.   His widow and children are suing four tobacco companies for unspecified damaages.   Tobacco firms "have harmed the public and they should pay for that harm," Kelley said in a statement.   The Michigan suit, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court in Lansing, also asks the court to order tobacco companies to:   -- Disclose all research information on the effects of smoking that relates to public health issues.   -- Fund a corrective public education campaign on the impact of smoking and nicotine addiction and fund smoking cessation programs.   -- Issue corrective statements on the health risks of smoking and stop advertising that targets children.   -- Pay civil penalties for violations of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Reform Acts and pay reasonable attorney fees and costs.   "Every year in Michigan, thousands of addicted smokers die from using tobacco company products precisely as the merchants of death have designed and intended for those products to be used," Kelley said in a statement.   "Through a well-organized campaign of fraud, lies, intimidation and deception, the tobacco companies have avoided legal responsibility for engineering, manufacturing and selling the most deadly and harmful consumer product in history while reaping billions of dollars in profit," he said.   The lawsuit cites the defendants for violations of Michigan's Consumer Protection Act, Antitrust Reform Act, and Social Welfare Act, in order to recover Medicaid and other costs.   Defendants named in the suit include: Philip Morris Cos.   Inc. ; RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.'s RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and its parent, B.A.T Industries Plc ; Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco Co.; the Brooke Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group Inc.; UST Inc.'s United States Tobacco Co.; Hill and Knowlton Inc; Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ; The Council for Tobacco Research U.S.A. Inc; and the Tobacco Institute Inc., among others. 
780 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE !GWELF  President Clinton says in a new book that parts of the welfare reform legislation he will sign Thursday "are just plain wrong."   The book, "Between Hope and History: Meeting America's Challenges for the 21st Century," reaches stores this week, just in time for Clinton's fall re-election campaign.   The 178-page campaign manifesto presents Clinton's reasons for thinking he deserves a second four-year term and the Republicans are on the wrong path.   Selling for $16.95, the book is essentially culled from Clinton's frequent speeches.   He wrote it secretly in his spare time with much help from Seattle writer William Nothdurft.   A first printing of 400,000 copies was ordered by the publisher, Times Books, a division of Random House.   Clinton Thursday signs welfare reform legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Congress.   It will end the 61-year-old federal guarantee of aid to the poor and delegate broad power to states to design their own welfare programs.   Liberal Democrats are outraged, saying it would hurt poor children and throw hundreds of thousands of people into poverty.   But Clinton wants to sign it to make a start toward overhauling the moribund U.S. welfare system and meet his 1992 campaign pledge to "end welfare as we know it."   "There are parts of the legislation that are just plain wrong," Clinton says in the book.   "We must work hard in the coming months and years to make them right."   Particularly offensive to the president are new cuts in child nutrition assistance that will hit working families and the cutting off of assistance to legal immigrants.   "We will be refining this reform for some time to come," he says.   At a time when Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole is going to great lengths to have his personal story told, Clinton's book largely sticks to policy.   The most personal section concerns race and riding the city bus to school in segregated Arkansas.   "My friends and I liked to sit at the back of the bus.   When the bus was crowded, it was pointed out to us that black folks were supposed to sit in the back of the bus.   I didn't know any better.   Discrimination doesn't come naturally; it has to be taught," he says. 
781 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  Dolly, the tropical depression downgraded from a hurricane but expected to re-intensify to that status by Friday, inched into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday as a new depression formed off the coast of west Africa, the National Hurricane Center said.   Once re-established as a hurricane, Dolly could eventually threaten the northern coast of Mexico, forecasters said.   "She should start to pick up some speed and could become a hurricane again in about 48 hours," said forecaster Mike Hopkins.   "It may take a little longer that we first thought, but we believe it's going to happen."    At 1700 EDT/2100 GMT, Dolly was located 50 miles (90 km) southwest of Campeche, or at latitude 19.4 north and longitude 91.1 west.   Dolly had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (60 kmh) and was inching west at 3 mph (5 kmh), forecasters said.   Hurricane forecasters also announced the formation of a new tropical depression, the fifth of this Atlantic hurricane season.   The depression would be upgraded and named Tropical Storm Edouard when its maximum sustained winds top 39 mph (70 kmh), probably by Thursday afternoon, Hopkins said.   At 1700, the depression was located far from land, about 400 miles (700 km) west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.   The storm was packing winds of 35 mph (60 kmh) and moving west at 13 mph (23 kmh).   Its exact position was latitude 13.0 north and longitude 29.5 west.   -- Miami news bureau, 305-374-5013 
782 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Medaphis Corp was named in a class action shareholder lawsuit filed in federal court, alleging that the company and its executives misrepresented the company's condition, attorneys for the plaintiffs said.   The law firm Weiss and Yourman filed the suit on behalf of buyers of Medaphis common stock during the period March 14, 1996 through August 14, 1996, the law firm said.   The complaint charges Medaphis (MEDA) and its president, director and chief executive officer with violating securities laws by misrepresenting and or omitting material information about the company and also the company employed improper accounting practices.   Medaphis forecast a loss for the third quarter on August 14 and the company's share price fell sharply after the announcement.   Medaphis was not immediately available for comment. 
783 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  By Rich Miller, Economics Correspondent   Republican presidential hopeful Bob Dole has called himself the most optimistic man in America and critics charged on Wednesday that is exactly what is wrong with his plan to slash taxes and balance the budget.   They accused the former Kansas lawmaker of over-estimating both the amount of revenue he can count on and the spending cuts he will be able to deliver to make the plan work.   "The revenue estimates are optimistic and the spending cuts problematic," Richard Kogan of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said.   "There is considerable risk that the (budget) deficit targets in the Dole plan will be missed by substantial amounts."   Dole, who last week was anointed his party's standard bearer to run against President Clinton in the November 5 election, has scoffed at the critics, saying that he can deliver on his plan if Republicans retain control of Congress.   The centerpiece of the program is $548 billion in tax cuts over six years, including a 15 percent cut in individual income tax rates and a halving of the maximum capital gains tax.    Robert Reischauer, former head of the Congressional Budget Office, agreed that Dole and a Republican Congress could push through the plan, but he doubted they would stick with it.   "Initially this is really quite doable," Reischauer told a symposium sponsored by the Center for National Policy.   "The question is, is it sustainable?  ," he asked.   "The answer is no.   The spending reductions would be unacceptable to our political system."   The program builds on $393 billion in spending cuts already proposed by Congressional Republicans for the next six year and adds $217 billion on top on that.   Dole has ruled out any further cuts in Medicare health care spending for the elderly, the Social Security pension fund and military outlays to help pay for his program.   He also said on Tuesday that military veterans would not be hurt by the plan.   "It's mind-boggling when you think of how much Dole has taken off the table," said Martha Phillips, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition anti-deficit group.   She said that Dole has ruled out further cuts in more than two thirds of the budget and questioned whether he could find the needed savings in the portion that remains.    Robert Greenstein, Executive Director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said the Dole plan would lead to deep cuts in discretionary spending.   "There will be fewer teachers, there will be fewer border guards,' he said.   However, Dole supporter and former budget official John Cogan argued that the spending cuts were doable and that critics had exaggerated their size.   The $217 billion in extra spending reductions proposed by Dole amounts to a just over a six percent cut in the various programs not ruled off limits by the candidate, Cogan said.   The Dole plan has also come under fire for its allegedly rosy scenario for government revenue.   Much of the criticism has been focussed on the program's dependance on faster economic growth to generate some of the tax revenues that would be needed to close the deficit -- a reprise of the supply-side arguments of the 1980's.   According to the Dole proposal, faster growth and reduced tax avoidance would help boost government revenues by $147 billion over six years, paying for 27 percent of the scheduled $548 billion in tax cuts.    Reischauer said the consensus among economists for the expected revenue feed-back from faster growth from supply-side tax cuts was more on the order of 10 to 20 percent.   But he conceded that estimate does not include any extra revenues that might be generated from reduced tax avoidance.   Nor does it include any calculation of the economic impact of Dole's proposal to cut back on government regulation.   Reischauer said he believed the CBO would give Dole credit for some revenue feed-back if it judged his plan credible.   But the feedback would likely be much smaller than calculated by Dole.   "You might have to take your electron microscope to detect it," he said. 
784 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Former U.S. Surgeon Gen. Jesse Steinfeld heads a list of health and smoking experts who may be called to testify in the state of Mississippi's landmark lawsuit against the U.S. tobacco industry, legal documents show.   A 40-member list of potential state witnesses obtained by Reuters on Wednesday also included market researchers, cancer specialists, public health experts and analysts capable of estimating the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.   State Attorney General Mike Moore called the list a "who's who" of scientists and doctors from across the country.   "They have volunteered to help us on this case," he said.    The list was turned over to tobacco attorneys last week as part of pre-trial discovery proceedings before Jackson County Chancery Judge William Myers in Pascagoula, Mississippi.   Moore said those listed also would likely testify against tobacco companies by 12 other states.   Mississippi is seeking $940 million in damages from the tobacco industry as compensation for state Medicaid funds spent treating poor people for smoking-related illnesses since the 1960s.    The lawsuit contends that tobacco executives knew of smoking's health hazards and the addictiveness of nicotine as early as 1954 but concealed their research.   A trial is set for March 1997.   R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. attorney Daniel Donahue said the witnesses listed have a long history of involvement in tobacco issues but no connnection with any cigarette companies.   A corporate spokeswoman for the RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp tobacco unit described the witnesses as anti-tobacco activists, saying: "This is not an objective group where tobacco issues are concerned."    Steinfeld, who was surgeon general in 1970, marked his term of office with a call for a non-smoker's bill of rights.   Also on the list are:   -- Richard Peto, a medical statistics and epidemiology professor at Britain's Oxford University, who has done extensive studies on the link between smoking and death rates worldwide;   -- Dr. Neal Benowitz, a professor of medicine, psychiatry and pharmacy at the University of California at San Francisco and a recognized expert on nicotine addiction; he has proposed Food and Drug Administration rules by which tobacco companies would have to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes over several decades;   -- Dr. Lester Breslow, former dean of the UCLA School of Public Health and past president of the American Public Health Association;   -- Dr. David Burns, a University of San Diego medical professor who has testified in previous lawsuits against the tobacco industry;   -- Dr. Donald Davis, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit;   -- Dr. Joseph Roland DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, who has published studies linking smoking to miscarriages and linking the much-assailed R.J. Reyonlds cartoon character Joe Camel to smoking among youngsters. 
785 !C12 !C33 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Concorde Gaming Corp said Wednesday it is in negotiations with three affiliated Native American tribes to settle disputes arising out of a management agreement for the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge.   The casino and lodge is located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.   "A successful settlement of these disputes would eliminate ongoing litigation costs and enable the company to proceed with other opportunities where we have been restricted because of the legal uncertainty created by these contract disputes," Jerry Baum, president, said in a statement.    Concorde said declines in management agreement revenues from the 4 Bears Casino and in video lottery revenues in South Dakota contributed to an overall drop in revenues for the third quarter ended June 30 to $2.8 million from $3.3 million.   Earlier, Concorde reported third quarter earnings of $0.01 a share, down from $0.02.   Litigation costs associated with the management agreement also hurt earnings.   "With our revenue from the 4 Bears Casino & Lodge being off due to road construction, a downturn in tourism and an increase in competition, our earnings per share were lower for the current period than the same period last year," Jerry Baum, president, said in a statement.   Baum said the decrease in revenues is expected to level off during the fiscal fourth quarter and first quarter of 1997.   Reuters Chicago Newsdesk - 312-408-8787 
786 !C17 !C21 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  A host of environmental advocacy groups charged Wednesday that the World Bank has weakened its commitment to promoting environmentally-friendly energy and electrical power projects.   In a letter to World Bank president James Wolfensohn, the environmental groups complained that the bank issued recent positions on electrical power and on energy efficiency in non-binding "good practices" documents instead of as binding operational policies.    "We believe that the Bank's actions reflect a lack of commitment to sustainable energy -- in stark contrast to its stated goals," said the letter from the Environmental Defense Fund, Greenpeace International, Climate Action Network and other advocacy groups.   But bank officials denied that the bank has weakened its support for sustainable energy.   "The bank policy is there for electrical and energy efficiency -- that hasn't changed and it's binding for anyone in the bank," said Henri Bretaudeau, senior external affairs counselor in the bank's Industry and Energy Department.    Bretaudeau and other bank officials said the World Bank board in 1992 adopted the sustainable energy policies to make the bank's lending more selective and incorporate conservation and energy from renewable sources, and they still stand.   These documents that are more specific and focused than the board's policies were issued to guide project manangers, not as rigid rules, the officials said.   "Simply, instead of ratifying policy every time we learn a new lesson, we incorporate our practices on the ground," a bank spokesman said.    But Karan Capoor of the Environmental Defense Fund said the bank had indicated the documents would be binding operational policies, then bank officials changed their mind at the last minute.   "The World Bank's issuing of new energy policies as non-binding 'good practices' stands in stark contrast to where the rest of the world is moving: binding urgent action on global climate change," Capoor said.    He said the bank's attitude could weaken "the resolve of governments worldwide" to negotiate legally binding targets to reduce emissions frm burning fossil fuels that trap heat in the earth's atmosphere. 
787 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Bargaining between Phelps Dodge Corp and United Steelworkers of America representing employees at the Chino copper mine in New Mexico has yet to resume, a company spokeswoman said.   Phelps made a revised contract offer to the union Tuesday when officials from both sides met for the first time since negotiations broke off July 23.   The union was unhappy with the revised proposal, the company said earlier today.   Talks had been expected to continue this morning.   "The unions are working on a counter proposal," the spokeswoman said.   "They have yet to come back to the table."   The company was unable to say when officials from both sides would next meet.   Union representatives were unavailable for comment.   Chino's three-year labor contract expired at the end of June.   --New York Commodities 212-859-1646 
788 !GCAT !GPOL !M11 !MCAT  Contrary to popular wisdom, investors in small companies should root for President Bill Clinton winning a second term over his Republican rival Bob Dole, a study suggests.   But shareholders in large companies should cheer for Dole over Clinton, according to a study released Wednesday by Liberty Financial Co Inc.   Small stocks performed better during almost all Democratic administrations than during Republican presidencies, the study found.    "It's the opposite of what most people would think," said Kenneth Leibler, chief executive of Liberty.   "There seems to be a perception, widely held, that the Republicans are better for business."   Since the end of the Great Depression in 1937, small stocks have risen an average of 17.2 percent a year under Democratic presidents, compared with 10.2 percent under Republicans.    Going back to 1929 at the beginning of Republican President Herbert Hoover's administration, the differences are even more striking.   Stocks rose an average 22.8 percent under Democrats versus 1.9 percent under Republicans.   The difference held for even more recent administrations.   Small stocks have risen 19.9 percent a year during Clinton's term through June 30, bettering the 11.8 percent rise during President George Bush's four years and the 13.3 percent rise when President Ronald Reagan's two terms are added.    "It's just our belief that (correlation) comes from the emphasis on jobs in Democratic policy-making, and most jobs come from small companies rather than large companies," Leibler said.   By contrast, large companies performed better during the seven Republican administrations since the end of the Depression than under the six Democratic presidents.   The S&P 500 index, which is weighted toward large companies, has risen 11.9 percent a year on average under Republican presidents during that period versus 10.2 percent under Democrats through the end of June.    Liberty Financial focused the small-company study on the Ibbotson small-stock index, which tracks the 100 smallest companies in the Standard & Poor's 500.   The stock market figures do not adjust for inflation, which erodes the return on a shareholder's investments.   Leibler said Liberty Financial, which owns several mutual fund companies, including Colonial Investments and Stein Roe & Farnham Inc, has no affiliation with either political party.   -- Michael Ellis, Boston bureau, (617) 367-4176 
789 !C12 !C13 !C34 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Antitrust lawyers doubt the Justice Department will decide Microsoft Corp has acted improperly, based on charges leveled against the company by rival Netscape Communications Corp.   Netscape has asked the department to take immediate action against Microsoft for "far-reaching anti-competitive behavior" involving the market for software used to browse the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.    In an eight-page letter, Netscape charged that Microsoft offered improper payments and various inducements to computer makers and Internet service providers to entice them to use Microsoft's browser software.   Lawyers questioned whether the tactics described were unlawful and noted that in the market for browser software, Netscape is the dominant player and not Microsoft.   "It's a bit of a stretch to call what Microsoft is described as doing a violation of the consent decree or a violation of antitrust laws," said Robert Skitol of Drinker Biddle & Reath.    In 1995, a federal judge approved the Justice Department's antitrust settlement with Microsoft, under which the computer software maker agreed to modify its licensing practices.   Much of the investigation centered on how Microsoft achieved dominance in the market for operating system software.   By contrast, Skitol noted that in the latest dispute Netscape has a commanding lead in the growing browser market, with a share estimated at more than 80 percent.   "In the browser category, Netscape is the elephant and Microsoft is the mouse," he said.    Netscape said Microsoft's inducements were made on the condition that the parties involved would "make competitors' browsers far less accessible to users than Microsoft's own browsers."   "Absent some abuse of market power, it's hard to see how this is unlawful," said Phillip Proger of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.   "If all Microsoft is doing is giving consumers higher value and competing on a value basis, then it's hard to say that's unlawful," he added.   Meanwhile, lawyers doubted that the Justice Department would follow Netscape's suggestion and turn the issue back to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation.   They suggested that the department will want to retain the case.   A Justice Department spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the matter. 
790 !C12 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Delaware Chancery Court has denied two motions aimed at blocking the merger of Recoton Corp and International Jensen Inc, Emerson Radio Corp said on Wednesday.   The motions, one filed by Emerson and the other on behalf of Jensen shareholders, had sought prelimiary injunctions.   The motions also sought to block the sale of Jensen's OEM equipment manufacturing business to a company wholly-owned by its chairman and CEO, Robert Shaw, Emerson said.   Emerson said it would appeal the court's decision, which came late on Tuesday.   It also said the court had not yet made a final determination on the merits of Emerson's complaint seeking to enjoin the merger.   Emerson, which is seeking to acquire Jensen, said it was soliciting proxies to oppose the Recoton deals.   It also said it was seeking an injunction in federal court in Chicago to enjoin the holding of a special Jensen shareholder meeting on August 28 to vote on the merger with Recoton.   -- New York Newsdesk 212 859-1610 
791 !C24 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  McDonnell Douglas Corp said it has not shouldered any extraordinary expenses to maintain operations during an ongoing strike by machinists.   "There are no extraordinary expenses due to this," McDonnell spokesman Tom Williams said.   Williams said 2,000 people have been hired as temporary replacements and another 3,000 or so white-collar workers are helping to maintain production.   Together, that number is less than the 6,400 members of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) who went on strike against McDonnell on June 5.    In spite of the strike, there has been no effect on the quality or cost of military aircraft being produced, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.   The Defense Department responded to a request from George Kourpias, IAM international president, who wrote to the Clinton Administration seeking an audit of the production of fighter planes and weapons being built by replacement workers.   Defense officials said they found no production problems, adding McDonnell has not passed on any strike-related costs to the government.   Gay Maund, spokeswoman for the Defense Contract Management Command, said her agency stepped up oversight of McDonnell's quality, cost and safety immediately after the strike began.   "We are not finding anything significant," Maund said.   She said output is reduced somewhat, and problems typical to any large manufacturing company have turned up.   But she added that no serious problems have been uncovered.   The machinists and the company have not held talks since the IAM broke off negotiations August 16.   No further negotiations have been scheduled.   Reuters Chicago Newsdesk - 312-408-8787 
792 !GCAT !GWEA  Typhoon Niki is moving westward about 12 mph across the South China Sea, and has top winds near 105 mph.   Niki is expected to intensify to 115 mph while turning a little more to the west northwest.   Niki is expected to hit Hainan, China, in the next 12-24 hours, producing damaging winds and flooding rains.   The storm will also be a major threat to any shipping along its path.    Tropical Storm Dolly, with 45 mph winds, is over the Yucatan Peninsula about 100 miles south southeast of Merida, moving west northwest at 10 mph.   Dolly will continue to cross over the Yucatan and into the waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico today, where it will begin to intensify again.   Rainfall amounts of 5-10 inches are expected along the path of the storm, bringing flooding to the Yucatan Peninsula.   The current forecast track shows Dolly reaching the upper east coast of Mexico within 48 hours as at least a minimal hurricane.    There are no further statements at this time. 
793 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Amgen Inc said Wednesday it has been granted a U.S. patent covering the product rights to recombinant erythropoietin (EPO), strengthening Amgen's protection for its drug, Epogen.   The patent gives Amgen a broad defense against other drug manufacturers making, importing or selling recombinant EPO in the United States.   "(The patent) will be a very strong defense against potential EPO competition," Salomon Bros analyst Meirav Chovav said in a statement.   Amgen's stock jumped 2-1/4 to 58 by mid-afternoon on the news.    A competing company, Transkaryotic Therapies Inc, is developing a new genetic technology that may be used to produce EPO, and speculation about that technology has depressed Amgen's stock recently, Chovav said.   The new patent should help Amgen defend against the threat of Trankaryotic's technology, she said.   Epogen is used to treat anemia that is associated with chronic renal failure of patients undergoing kidney dialysis.   "We are pleased to receive this patent as it adds to the strength of our intellectual property position on EPOGEN and helps ensure that we will be able to continue to provide this breakthrough therapeutic," Gordon Binder, Amgen chief executive officer, said in a statement. 
794 !GCAT !GSCI  Scientists were heading back to the Antarctic ice field where the famed Martian meteorite was discovered 12 years ago with hopes of finding up to 1,000 more, the leader of the U.S. search team said on Wednesday.   "We use a superb scientific instrument -- the human eye," said Ralph Harvey, head of an annual Antarctic hunt funded by the National Science Foundation.   "If we see a little black rock lying on this ice, it's probably a meteorite."   The search will take place this year in the same region where an unprepossessing dark rock designated ALH84001 was found in 1984.   After years of study by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the rock was determined to show evidence of possible ancient microscopic life on Mars.   The resulting furor has drawn worldwide attention since NASA announced its findings this month, but Harvey told a news conference it was pure coincidence that his team planned to look in the same area.   The complex logistics of polar travel and research mean such expeditions are planned many months or even years in advance, he said.   He was optimistic about the prospects for the 1996 trip: "I'm guessing the numbers (of meteorites recovered) will be very good this year, in the hundreds or possibly up to 1,000."   The team planned to search an area known as Elephant Moraine for about seven weeks, he said.   Some 16,000 meteorites from Mars and the Moon have been found in Antarctica so far, half by Harvey's teams.   But the one that showed promise of Martian life was spotted and picked up by Roberta Score.   "I've always thought this rock was kind of special," Score told the news conference.   "I kept telling people, wait'll you see this thing."   She said she first saw it on Dec. 7, 1984, "just laying on the top of the surface" looking "greenish."   The green cast was not evident when she saw it years later in a U.S. lab and she acknowledged she was wearing dark glasses when she first noticed the rock.   Following customary procedure to minimize contamination, Score said she grabbed the rock with a sterile nylon bag, secured it with tape and sent it by ship on a two-month trip to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.   NASA researchers began studying the rock in earnest two years ago and published their findings in last week's edition of the journal Science.   Harvey's team disputed NASA's contention that the rock indicated possible Martian life, notably because the NSF team's studies showed little evidence that water -- seen as a pre-condition for Earth-type life -- ever flowed through it.   But he said more study of this rock and others was needed, including thousands of meteorites in Japan's collection.   Dennis Peacock, who heads the NSF's Antarctic Science section, said the discovery of ALH84001 will not necessarily spur research into Martian meteorites, which will depend directly on how much money is set aside for this.   But he stressed that thousands of meteorites were already available and said the analytical effort might be accelerated.   Antarctica is considered a fertile field for meteorite collection not because more meteorites fall there than elsewhere on Earth but because its dry, cold climate preserves them well and its snowy terrain makes these dark rocks easily visible.   Also, the movement of the southern ice fields concentrates meteorites in certain known areas. 
795 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  U.S. officials expect to define within the next month the scope of Washington's new sanctions law targeting new foreign oil and gas investments in Iran and Libya, a Treasury Department source said Wednesday.   "In a fairly short time after Labor Day (September 2) we can expect to see some regulations," the source said.   The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the State Department are responsible for carrying out the law to punish non-U.S. companies that invest $40 million or more in any one year in petroleum resources in Iran or Libya.    Progress on interpreting the law has been slow in the two weeks since President Bill Clinton signed it, with a Congressional recess and election-year conventions emptying out official Washington, administration officials have said.   In the meantime, Iran has sealed agreements involving natural gas and oil sales to neighbors Turkey and Pakistan.   French oil major Total SA announced that Malaysia's state-owned Petronas has taken a 30 percent stake in a project to develop two fields offshore Iran with Total.   The administration now has to decide whether those agreements fall within the terms of the sanctions law. 
796 !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Green Rate Ref Period 1 Day 3 Day Forecast Current    21 Aug  21 Aug 21 Aug G.Rate rate in    AMR  RMG RMG  RMG 31 Aug effect   BFr 39.5239 39.1820 0.865 0.865 n/a unch 24.06.95   Dmk 1.91639 1.90182 0.760 0.760 n/a unch 07.07.96   DFl 2.14934 2.13326 0.748 0.748 n/a unch 07.07.96   UK 0.833821 0.827679 0.737 0.737 n/a unch 17.06.96   DKr 7.49997 7.35044 1.994 1.994 n/a unch 24.07.95   FFr 6.61023 6.50352 1.614 1.614 n/a unch 01.02.95   Lit 2030.40 1946.50 4.132 4.132 n/a unch 26.04.96   IR 0.829498 0.796521 3.976 3.976 n/a unch 26.03.95   Dra 311.761 304.006 2.487 2.487 n/a unch 01.01.96   Pta 165.198 160.287 2.558 2.558 n/a unch 24.07.95   Esc 198.202 195.272 1.478 1.478 n/a unch 01.02.95   Skr 8.64446 8.47048 2.013 2.013 n/a unch 07.07.96   Os 13.4875 13.3827 0.777 0.777 n/a unch 07.07.96   Fmk 6.02811 5.74315 4.727 4.727 n/a unch 06.05.96   AMR = Agricultural Market Rate.   RMG = Real Monetary Gap.   On the basis of exchange rates on 21 August, the average Finnish RMG has fallen below +5 percent.   The Finnish markka is therefore currently forecast not to enter a second confirmation period on 31 August and its green rate would therefore remain unchanged.   All other green rates are alos currently forecast to remain unchanged from 31 August. 
797 !GCAT !GENV !GHEA !GSCI  American researchers said on Wednesday they had invented an artificial nose that literally lights up to identify different smells.   Todd Dickinson, a chemist, and colleagues at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts said their entirely new approach to detecting odours could be used in a variety of applications, from hospitals to pollution monitoring.   The "nose" uses bundles of optical fibres coated with slightly different solutions of plastic and dye.   The plastics have varying properties which cause them to react to different vapours, or smells, in characteristic ways.   The researchers shone light through the optical fibres while exposing the bundles to different vapours.   The way the polymer and dye mixtures reacted to the vapours changed the light signal, and the researchers could then measure and categorise the change caused by different smells.   "The system is able to identify individual vapours at different concentrations with great accuracy," they wrote in the scientific journal Nature.   "For example, in response to a two-second pulse of benzene vapour, some fibres exhibited a large, rapid decrease in fluorescence while others showed smaller, more gradual decreases."   They added: ""Artificial noses' such as this should have wide potential application, most notably in environment and medical monitoring."   But they said the system had pure scientific applications, too.   "It is possible that further investigation of the "artificial' nose may provide insight into the functioning of the "real' nose," they wrote.   So far the system can only pick out nine different odours, including benzene and different alcohols, Dickinson said.   But he said it would be expanded to react to many more.   "What we are really trying to emphasise is that this is a new approach," he said.   "This is certainly not commercialised yet." 
798 !GCAT !GSCI  New guesses published on Wednesday about the age of the universe using white dwarf stars add to growing evidence that it is older rather than younger.   Astronomers said their findings indicated the Milky Way galaxy started forming between 14 and 17 billion years ago and gradually cooled and coalesced into stars 10 billion years ago.   Reporting in the science journal Nature, Terry Oswalt of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne and colleagues at the NASA Goddard Space Centre in Maryland said they looked at white dwarfs nearby -- in the Earth's own Milky Way galaxy.   They measured light from the dying white dwarf stars to estimate when they had been created -- and from there when the galaxy first formed and the universe before that.   "They cool slowly enough that even the oldest white dwarfs are still observable...and they therefore provide a record of the age and star-formation history of the local disk of the Milky Way -- and hence a useful constraint on the age of the Galaxy itself," they wrote.   The Milky Way probably started forming about a billion years after the Big Bang that scientists say started the universe.   Therefore, their measurements would indicate the universe could not possibly be any younger than 11.5 billion years -- which is older than some recent theories that say it is only eight to nine billion years old.   Scientists do not yet agree on how old the universe actually is, but think it is anywhere between eight and 17 billion years old.   Earlier this month Alvio Renzini of the European Southern Observatory said they estimated the age of white dwarfs using light emissions to measure how much iron they had remaining in their cores.   They said their findings put the stars at a minimum of 13 billion years old. 
799 !GCAT !GSCI  It's official -- Tyrannosaurus rex could bite, and bite hard.   Measurements made by experts in California show its jaws were stronger than those of an alligator, and it could easily have ripped apart a struggling triceratops, for example.   The 6.5 metre (20 foot) tall carnivore epitomises everything terrifying about dinosaurs, with its 15 cm (six inch) long teeth and gaping jaws.   But some palaeontologists say Tyrannosaurus's tiny, useless-looking arms meant it must have scavenged on carrion rather than hunting down prey.   Others have said its teeth and jaws did not look strong enough to tear apart a live victim.   But Gregory Erickson of the University of California at Berkeley and colleagues put the dinosaur's teeth to the test.   They found the bones of a triceratops that had been killed by a tyrannosaur 70 million years ago and made impressions of the tooth marks.   "We took dental putty and pushed it into some of puncture marks and when it came out it was identical to a Tyrannosaurus rex tooth," Erickson said in a telephone interview.   They were serrated like the giant carnivore's were and curved backwards.   "But the bones were spongy and wasn't clear whether it took a strong bite to do this."   Erickson, an expert in comparative anatomy, found that a cow's pelvis was very similar in strength and structure to a triceratops'.   So he hooked one up into a mechanical loading frame, which measures stresses, made a model of the tyrannosaurus's teeth and pushed them into the bone to the same depth as the indentations found in the actual triceratops.   "When we punched the tooth into the cow bones, the bite marks were very similar to those we found on the triceratops pelvis," Erickson said.   The loader measured the stress required to do this.   Erickson's group reported in the science journal Nature that the bite was very strong indeed.   "It's more force than you see in any animal tested to date, which includes lions and sharks," he said.   The closest bite, Erickson said, was seen in very large alligators when they are snapping at prey.   But Erickson said the findings still do not prove that the giant meat-eater was a bold hunter as opposed to a craven scavenger.   "I think what we need to do is find bite marks like when big cats like cougars attack prey.   If you were to find bite marks on dinosaurs from Tyrannosaurus rex from some sort of a killing bite like this, then you could say it was a predator."   Erickson said his work was important to find out how dinosaurs really behaved.   "Palaeontologists early on were just digging up a dinosaur and saying what it looked like," he said.   "With our equipment, you can really get some neat data.   Palaeontology is becoming more of a hi-tech science." 
800 !GCAT !GHEA !GSCI  Two studies published on Wednesday offered hope for a drug that could be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia whose sufferers include former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.   Both studies suggested ways to close off reactions between brain cells and chemicals or proteins.   Many drugs block receptors that allow chemicals or cells to attach to other cells, just as a door could be nailed shut.   In Alzheimer's, which affects 15 percent of people over the age of 65 and about half those over 85, proteins gum up and form "plaques" in the brain.   The main component of this plaque is amyloid-beta peptide, which is known to be toxic to nerve cells and activates immune cells in the brain.   To have an effect on cells, the peptide would first have to attach.   Shi Du Yan of Columbia University in New York and a team of international collaborators looked for the receptor, a kind of door into the cell, where this might happen.   They found that a known receptor,the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), was the door letting the peptide hook up to brain cells.   When the peptide interacted with a RAGE, immune system scavenger cells known as microglia were activated -- indicating that brain cells were stressed, they wrote in a report published in the science journal Nature.   Microglia are meant to clean up dead or damaged brain cells, and other studies show they may be involved in the brain damage seen in Alzheimer's.   Yan's group said the receptor may help keep the brain clear of the damaging peptides, but may become overwhelmed by the huge amounts produced during Alzheimer's.   In a second study published in Nature, Joseph el Khoury and colleagues, also at Columbia University, found a second interaction involved in Alzheimer's.   They found the microglia attach to the peptides via a receptor known as class-A scavenging receptor.   They suggest the microglia are trying to clear out the peptide, but get mired down in the plaque.   The distressed microglia secrete poisonous chemicals, damaging cells around them.   Khoury's group said chemicals that would block this interaction could help delay the onset of Alzheimer's or cause it to progress more slowly. 
801 !GCAT !GDIS  Plans to raise part of the Titanic from the ocean floor 80 years after it sank are under attack from a society in Belfast, the doomed liner's birthplace.   The Ulster Titanic Society (UTS) said on Wednesday it was opposed to plans to raise a section of the hull, weighing 10 metric tonnes, from its grave in the North Atlantic because the site was sacred.   The Belfast-built Titanic, thought to be unsinkable, left Southampton, England for New York on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912 packed with passengers.   But it collided with an iceberg and sank off the coast of Newfoundland with the loss of 1,522 lives.   The RMS Titanic Inc, a New York-based company with exclusive salvage rights to the wreck, hopes to raise a section of the hull in an operation planned for next week.   The company has already gathered some 4,000 artefacts from the doomed liner in three previous salvage efforts and says the hull would be an Important find for future exhibitions for the general public.   But the UTS said the wreck site was a grave site and should be left in peace.   "The recovery of the artifacts has added nothing to the story of the Titanic, only to the coffers of RMS Titanic Inc.   Anything to do with Titanic makes money and this latest venture is, I feel, unseemly and distasteful," UTS chairman Una Reilly said in a statement.   "The wreck has lain in peace and solitude for nearly 80 years, a fitting resting place for those who went down with her," Reilly added.   She told Reuters that the site, should be protected and regarded as an international grave site.   "It was after all the final resting place of peoples of many different countries -- a true site of an international grave," Reilly said.   The 150-member UTS was set up in 1992 to commemorate the Titanic, built in Belfast's Harland & Wolff shipyard.   Among those who perished on the ship were several Northern Irish engineers.   Two cruise ships with some 1,500 people on board will witness the raising of the hull.   It will also be seen by three of the handful of remaining survivors of the disaster.   A new Hollywood production about the sinking of the Titanic is currently underway and the luxury liner, regarded as the most magnificent ship of its time, has been the subject of countless other films and documentaries. 
802 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP !GVIO  Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind will reopen the sensitive issue of compensation for British survivors of Japanese World War Two labour camps when he visits Tokyo early next month, officials said.   A group representing prisoners of war and civilian internees are pursuing legal action in Tokyo demanding compensation from the government for their ordeal and lobbied Rifkind last month to press their long-running case.   Although Britain believes the question of compensation was legally settled by the San Francisco peace treaty of 1951, Rifkind was left in no doubt that passions are still running high among prison camp survivors.   "It's in those sorts of terms that he'll mention the issue," a British official told reporters.   More than 12,000 Britons died from disease and starvation in Japanese war camps or in work gangs.   Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologised last August for his country's actions during the war, but British veterans had been hoping for an unequivocal apology on behalf of the entire nation to mark the 50th anniversary of World War Two.   "I see no reason why our government can't back us on human rights grounds," said Arthur Titherington, secretary of the 12,500-strong Japanese Labour Camp Survivors' Association.   "Our claim is not based on legal matters or politics."   Rifkind will visit Tokyo from September 1 to 3 as part of an Asian tour during which he will tiptoe through several other diplomatic minefields.   Chief among these is a long-running territorial dispute between Pakistan and India over Kashmir.   In Islamabad and Karachi from August 27 to 28, followed by a visit to Delhi from August 28 to 30, Rifkind will stake out a carefully balanced position on Kashmir that emphasises the need for political dialogue, observance of human rights and an end to outside interference, British officials said.   A further contentious issue in Delhi will be India's veto of a global treaty banning nuclear tests.   India says the proposed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty would allow the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to retain their nuclear arsenals while the nuclear "have-nots" would be barred from obtaining such weapons.   Britain strongly backs the pact and Rifkind would not be willing to dangle a carrot -- such as an agreement to share nuclear test data -- to get Delhi to drop its reservations.   "We think the case makes itself without any incentives," a British official said.   Rifkind will also use his trip to try to cast new light on the plight of four western hostages, including two Britons, who have been held by Kashmiri rebels for more than a year.   Other stops on Rifkind's tour are war-torn Sri Lanka on August 30 to 31 and Mongolia -- the first by a British Foreign Secretary -- from September 3 to 4. 
803 !GCAT  Following are some of the major events to have occurred on August 28 in history.   1619 - Ferdinand II elected Holy Roman Emperor.   He instigated the Thirty Years War and tried to outlaw Protestantism by his policy of "One church, one king".   1735 - Count Andreas Peter von Bernstorff, Danish politician and diplomat, born.   He took a leading part in Danish domestic reform and also maintained the country's neutrality.   1749 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.   German poet, dramatist, novelist and scientist, born.   1774 - Elizabeth Ann Seton born.   An American educator and religious leader who founded the Sisters of St Joseph, she was canonised in 1975 as the first U.S.-born saint.   1850 - Richard Wagner's "Lohengrin" was premiered at Weimar, Germany, under the direction of Franz Liszt.   1879 - Cetewayo (or Cetshwayo), last of the great Zulu kings, was captured by the British at the end of the Zulu wars.   1910 - Montenegro proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman empire, with Nicholas I as ruler.   1914 - The first big naval encounter of World War One took place between British and German ships off the North Sea island of Heligoland.   The Germans lost three ships and 1,000 sailors; British casualties were 33 killed.   1922 - The first ever radio advertisement, a 10-minute property commercial by Queensboro Corp, was broadcast by station WEAF in New York.   1930 - Ben Gazzara, U.S. film and T.V. actor, born.   On stage he appeared in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and among his films was "Anatomy of a Murder".   1945 - U.S. forces landed in Japan led by General George Marshall, supreme commander of the Allied occupation.   1963 - Dr Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech to 200,000 civil rights demonstrators who had marched on Washington, .   1971 - 25 people died and 1,150 were rescued when fire broke out aboard the Greek liner Haleanna.   1973 - Princess Anne became the first member of the British royal family to visit the Soviet Union when she arrived in Kiev for an equestrian event.   1981 - In Kenya, Paul Nakwale was found guilty of murdering "Born Free" author Joy Adamson in January 1980.   1983 - Menachim Begin announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Israel.   1988 - 33 people were killed when jets from an Italian Air Force display team collided in mid-air and one crashed into the crowd during an air show at Ramstein, West Germany.   1990 - Iraq declared occupied Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq, renamed Kuwait City Kadhima and created a new district named after President Saddam Hussein.   1994 - Father Jean-Marie Vincent, a prominent Haitian Catholic priest loyal to deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was shot dead by suspected paramilitary gunmen.   1995 - At least 37 people were killed and 85 injured by a shelling attack on a busy street in Sarajevo. 
804 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London is expected by Thursday evening to have avoided the worst possible outcome of a last minute legal assault in the United States to its recovery plan, said industry sources.   U.S. district judge Robert Payne, who is to rule by then on demands from 93 U.S. investors (or Names) for an injunction blocking the plan, was thinking over his decision on Wednesday.    Lloyd's has for several years faced a huge amount of litigation in the U.S., but the timing of the latest challenge, so near the August 28 deadline for Names to accept or reject the recovery plan, has caused serious problems.   Under its recovery proposals, Lloyd's plans to reinsure billions of pounds in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis claims in the U.S., into a new company Equitas.   It is asking Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion stg to offset this cost and to end litigation.    Industry sources noted that, while Payne might seek to grant some sort of relief to the U.S. Names, he said on Tuesday that it was not his intention to stop the Lloyd's recovery plan worldwide.   It is possible that, apart from dismissing the case as Lloyd's has requested, Payne may be considering a compromise.   He could, for example, issue an order that Lloyd's provide Names with more information and that funds be held in escrow allowing Names more time to accept or reject the recovery plan.    It is unclear how Lloyd's would respond to a ruling like this.   But the insurance market has already said it would appeal any decision it felt was a setback.   Lloyd's is also likely to consider the implications of the judge's decision on where legal battles with Names are fought.   In moving to dismiss this case, it has argued that the U.S. Names under their contract with Lloyd's are bound to conduct legal action against the insurance market in Britain.   The Names contend that Lloyd's sold them a security and they cannot under U.S. laws waive protection in their own country. 
805 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  A Continental Airlines DC-10 jet flying from Frankfurt to New York was forced to make an emergency landing at London's Gatwick airport after developing hydraulic problems, airline officials said.   Marketing manager Keith Woodward, speaking by telephone, said the aircraft, with 140 passengers on board, landed safely at 1556 GMT and no one had been injured.   Maintenance crews were examining the plane to determine what had caused the problem, he said. 
806 !C41 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Employees of the soft commodities house RBL Ltd will transfer on October 1 to Credit Lyonnais Rouse Ltd (CLR) -- the trading arm of the French banking group Credit Lyonnais, market sources said.   An official from RBL said, "A collective group of people who...have worked for RBL since its creation have amicably agreed with the shareholders of RBL to transfer...almost in their entirety to the Credit Lyonnais agriculturals division."   It was not immediately known whether RBL, a subsidiary of the South African investment banking group Cavmont would fold after the departure of its six key cocoa and coffee brokers.   "It's going to be up to the shareholders to decide," said another RBL trader.   But cocoa traders said it could be practically impossible for RBL to keep the business going, given that the move leaves virtually no other key players in the company.   Some traders linked the transfer to the approaching merger of the London Commodity Exchange (LCE) with the London International Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE) on September 16.   "It makes sense to be part of a financially wealthy house if you're going to be a player with LIFFE," said one trader.   Other small brokerage houses could also seek links with more powerful companies to beef up their global presence after the merger of the two exchanges.   But other sources said Cavmont has enough financial clout to inject fresh capital to RBL and that the move had no implications other than a group of traders moving to CRL.   For Rouse, the arrival of RBL brokers would help to strengthen its agriculturals team as RBL is one of the biggest cocoa players in the LCE.   "They have the ability to put large crosses together because they have the secrecy by just being a small firm," said one cocoa trader.   They said CRL was eyeing more aggressive trades in cocoa and coffee.   The company currently has six brokers and floor traders in soft commodities.   -- Clelia Oziel, London Newsroom +44 171 542 8072 
807 !GCAT !GSPO  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN   Adelaide Crows coach Robert Shaw has announced he will quit the club at the end of the season, citing personal reasons and poor results as a basis for his decision.   Crows chief executive Bill Sanders said the club will start the search for a new coach thi week.   Page 22   --   Fitzroy captain Brad Boyd claims he feared for his safety after angry Fitzroy supporters invaded the ground after Saturday's match with Brisbane.   A group of supporters abused the Lions players in the belief that they were not trying against their merger partners.   Page 22   --   Canberra Raiders centre Ruben Wiki is the latest of a myriad of casualties to plague the rugby league camp.   Wiki tore ankle ligaments when he rolled over on it, after colliding with team-mates at training and as a result he will not play again this season.   Page 22   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Shane Heal, Boomer and Sydney King, is off to the US National Basketball League.   Though terms of guaranteed contract were not disclosed, sources in the US have revealed that Heal will be paid the base rookie salary of $US250,000 a season by the Minnesota Timberwolves.   Page 50   --   A Tamil separatist leader has given assurances to the world that cricketers, including the currently touring Australians, will not be a target of Tamil commando strikes.   General secretary of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress G. G Ponnambalam reiterated yesteray that civilians will never be targets of political action.   Page 50   --   Australia will play England twice every year until 2003, but the proposal to turn the end of season Wallaby tour of the Isles to incorporate England as a grand slam tour has been put on hold.   England is now seeking to convert the Wallabies traditional end of playing season match against the Barbarians into a Test.   Page 50   --   THE AGE   Neil Balme will apply for the coaching position with the Melbourne Hawks should the merger with Hawthorn be realised.   But the likelihood of Balme having to prepare for another job interview is slight following the news that the Brian Dixon-led anti-merger group will offer members a new board if they vote against the merger.   Page B8   --   Former Geelong and South Australian coach Mal Blight is expected to be named as coach of the 1997 Adelaide Crows AFL side following the resignation of present coach Robert Shaw.   Sources have revealed that Blight has had meetings with the Crows and is set to become the highest paid coach in AFL.   Page B8   --   Some of Australia's greatest players, including former Socceroo captains, have expressed their outrage over Soccer Australia's intention to ban at least three clubs from the competition, on the grounds that they have refused to remove ethnic symbols from club motifs.   Page B6.   --   HERALD SUN   Outspoken horse racing trainer Pat Hyland fired up a cold mid-weeker yesterday, criticising the VATC's decision to run two-year-old trials before the races at Sandown on Saturday.   The first two-year-old race traditionally is not until October.   Page 84   --   New Zealand has proved it is a nation created to play the game of rugby - even when crippled, at the Paralympics yesterday.   Australia lost the wheelchair rugby to a robust and determined Kiwi side, 39-23.   Page 82   --   The AFL will probably not play a lightning series next season with AFL football operations manager Ian Collins yesterday confirming that no decision has been made as yet, but the series is unlikely to be continued due to the financial cost as it lost A$30,000 this season.   Page 85   --   THE DAILY TELEGRAPH   Breakaway racing proponent TeleTrak yesterday announced it will buy a property in Tasmania's north-east to establish a race track for it's televised night racing venture.   The sale hinges upon the State Government giving Teletrak approval to conduct its race meetings which are set for the Asian betting markets.   Page 83   --   The Melbourne Cricket Ground looks set to become next year's host of the one-off Bledisloe Cup rugby Test between the Wallabies and the All Blacks.   The MCG board met yesterday for six hours, hearing a presentation from Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and Mlbourne Major Events chief Ron Walker on the benefits of bringing top-class rugby south.   Page 82   --   The traditional schoolboy clash of the titans - the Joeys/Riverview match, drew a 17,500 crowd over the weekend, in a fine celebration of running rugby, which thrilled the massed supporters.   In a see-sawing match the "rugby-nursery" of St Josephs went down 36-21, but displayed fine spirit in defeat.   Page 77   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
808 !GCAT !GSPO  All Black rugby coach John Hart delayed the announcement of his second test team in Pretoria, South Africa, on Wednesday to allow key back Andrew Mehrtens more recovery time.   NZPA reported that the Springboks also postponed releasing their playing 15 from a squad of 23 until match day on Saturday as the psychological war started for Saturday's crucial second test in Pretoria.   It was clear from Hart's explanation however, that Mehrtens might not be ready mentally for the match following an operation on his injured knee last week, NZPA said.    It is likely Simon Culhane will retain his No 10 spot in an unchanged team that emerged with a 23-19 first test victory in Durban last Saturday.   The team will be announced in Pretoria on Thursday morning (8pm Thursday NZ time).   "My personal view is that we don't need to take a risk," Hart said.   "We've got to be very confident that Andrew Mehrtens is 110 percent.   This is an awfully big test match and I'm not going in with a player who is not 110 percent.    "Andrew Mehrtens is a matchwinner, he's a class act.   They're different players and if Andrew was right then obviously he'd play.   "But there is a lot of judgment on what is right.   It's not the knee being right.   It's the fact that coming back from the operation he missed a bit of training, missed a bit of time with us -- the mental preparation is not quite as good as maybe others who have been thinking a lot more about playing.   "Realistically, I don't think he saw himself playing this week."    However, Mehrtens' swift recovery saw him participating fully in today's physical training session.   He took kickoffs and showed no signs of restrictions of movement on the injured knee.   The Springboks' postponement was due to centre Japie Mulder's recurring back problem, manager Morne du Plessis said tonight.   Mulder missed last week's test but said he was recovering well.   "His selection or non-selection will determine our reserves and we're giving him every chance to play," du Plessis said.    Likely All Black test 15: Christian Cullen, Jeff Wilson, Frank Bunce, Glen Osborne, Walter Little, Simon Culhane, Justin Marshall, Zinzan Brooke, Josh Kronfeld, Ian Jones, Robin Brooke, Michael Jones, Olo Brown, Sean Fitzpatrick (captain), Craig Dowd.   --Wellington Newsroom (64 4) 4734746 
809 !GCAT !GSPO  Sydney Kings guard Shane Heal has joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA on a three-year contract worth a reported AS1.5 million.   Heal, a three-point specialist, said the prospect of playing in the best league in the world was beyond his expectations.   During the NBA off-season he would return to Australia to help the Kings in a "non-playing capacity", Heal said.   Heal told reporters he would wear the number 10 singlet when playing in the U.S. in honour of his friend and Australia teammate Andrew Gaze.   The Kings released Heal from the final two years of his three-year contract but will have first choice on the player when he is finished with the NBA, The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.   Heal becomes only the third Australian to play in the NBA behind Luc Longley of the Chicago Bulls and Gaze, who spent a brief time with the Washington Bullets two years ago.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
810 !GCAT !GSPO  POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa, Aug 20 - Jonah Lomu may have to wait another week to convince the All Black selectors he's ready to play test rugby again after yet another frustrating midweek game, NZPA reported on Wednesday (NZT).   The big winger failed to produce the form that shot him to international glory or do enough to threaten Glen Osborne's place in the second test side to be announced on Wednesday or Thursday.   "He's still not 100 percent when tries to turn -- it's not quite there but he did some quite strong things today," All Black coach John Hart said after the midweek match.    Osborne played the last two tests on tour here in place of Lomu, who had failed to impress the national selectors in last week's midweek match as well.   A recurring left knee injury had sidelined him, allowing Osborne the opportunity to play in the No 11 jersey.   Last year's test fullback Osborne has done well to hold on to the spot and is highly likely to play his third consecutive match against South Africa on Saturday at Pretoria.   A win for the All Blacks on Saturday will mean their first ever test series victory in South Africa following their 23-19 first test win last Saturday.    The All Blacks will still have one midweek match, against Griqualand West at Kimberley next Tuesday, in which Lomu should have another chance to prove himself, before the third test the following Saturday.   Lomu's frustration was evident in the midweek game after an ordinary 60 minutes when he collected a kick and raced straight ahead for 30 metres to smash into the Western Transvaal defence.   He appeared to have strained his knee again as he emerged from the ensuing ruck, limping and holding his left leg.   Nevertheless, he tried hard in the last quarter, joining a maul and then looking for work closer to the set pieces.    Two other players, hooker Norm Hewitt and flanker Andrew Blowers, had only niggles, the All Blacks' medical team said.   The midweek side beat Western Transvaal 31-0, their third win in as many matches on tour but their most convincing one to date. 
811 !GCAT !GSPO  POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa, Aug 20 - Andrew Mehrtens' remarkable recovery from last week's knee injury that required surgery to clear has put him into consideration for Saturday's second All Blacks-Springboks rugby test, NZPA reported on Wednesday (NZT).   All Black coach John Hart said Mehrtens' availability could force him to delay naming the test team tomorrow.   Mehrtens underwent a fitness test in Pretoria while the midweek team travelled to Potchefstroom to play Western Transvaal.    Hart said his fitness would be analysed tomorrow or even later before he named his test 15.   Simon Culhane played at first five-eighth in the All Blacks' 23-19 first test win in Durban last Saturday.   The Durban team will remain intact for Saturday's second test in Pretoria unless Mehrtens is declared fit which will see him returning to the team. 
812 !GCAT !GSPO  Springboks team manager Morne du Plessis on Wednesday in Pretoria accused the touring All Black rugby team of using deliberate fouls to prevent the Springboks from scoring tries.   The New Zealand Press Association reported that du Plessis said the All Blacks used what he termed as professional fouls in all their three tests to date, all won by the All Blacks.   Du Plessis believed that, had southern hemisphere referees controlled the last two games, South Africa would have won five penalty tries for such infringements.    As northern hemisphere referees were not used to the new laws, he said, they tended to treat the fouls more leniently.   Both teams delayed naming their test sides today as the psychological battle began for Saturday's Loftus Versfeld showdown.   While the All Blacks postponed releasing their test 15 until Thursday morning (8pm Thursday NZ time), the Springbok management said their team would be named on Saturday.    Such delaying tactics and hurling barbs at each other have been common in psychological wars leading up to important internationals, but the mind games began to turn nasty with du Plessis' accusations.   "We're very concerned that New Zealand have deliberately conceded penalties when we've got close to their line," du Plessis said.   "They've done it in all the three games we've played against them."   Northern hemisphere referees had a cautious approach to matches at present as they were still coming to terms with the new scrum and lineout laws, he said.    "Once they get used to the new laws like the southern hemisphere refs, they'll be awarding penalty tries for those professional fouls," du Plessis said.   All Black coach John Hart, referring to last Saturday's 23-19 win over the Springboks, said both teams got penalised several times for killing the ball or stopping the ball being played.   "I think it's part of the game -- it's not a professional foul.   I don't think anyone goes out to create fouls, certainly this (All Black) team doesn't," Hart responded.    "I'm not really interested in Morne du Plessis' view about our game."   --Wellington Newsroom (64 4) 4734746 
813 !GCAT !GSPO  Alaska Milk overcame a 17-point deficit to defeat arch-rivals Ginebra San Miguel 102-98 on Tuesday evening and secure a place in the finals of the Philippine Basketball Association second conference.   Team captain Jojo Lastimosa and point guard Johnny Abarrientos sparked a 13-0 run in the last quarter to lead the Milkmen to their 13th win against four losses.   The Gins slumped to their sixth defeat against 11 victories.   Ginebra face Formula Shell in a sudden-death playoff on Sunday to decide who will face Alaska in a best-of-seven series for the title.   In the evening's other match, Santa Lucia Realty beat Purefoods Hotdogs 98-93, posting their their eighth win against 10 losses.   The defeat took the Hotdogs' record to 11 wins and six losses.   Santa Lucia will meet the loser of the Ginebra-Shell match in the battle for third place.   Santa Lucia has completed its 18-game schedule while the other teams all have a game left to play. 
814 !GCAT !GSPO  Russian chess veteran Anatoly Karpov will challenge the rest of the world in an historic virtual chess game on the Internet on August 26, Finnish host Telecom Finland said on Wednesday.   After every move by Karpov, the rest of the world has 10 minutes to enter moves against him through the Internet.   A server will select the most frequently proposed move and execute it.   "Surfers" who want to play can go to http://www.tele.fi/karpov on Monday, August 26, at 1000 GMT.   Karpov retained his title as International Chess Federation world champion in July when he defeated Russian-born U.S. grandmaster Gata Kamsky in a match held in the former Soviet republic of Kalmykia.   World number one Garry Kasparov did not challenge because of a split with the federation. 
815 !GCAT !GPOL  NORTHERN CYPRUS GOVERNMENT LIST (960821)    ***********************************************************    * NOTE: Rauf DENKTASH should be described simply as  *    *  Turkish Cypriot leader.   *    * NOTE: Formed as the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic *    *  of Northern Cyprus on 13 December 1983.   Only *    *  Turkey has recognised the Republic.   *    ***********************************************************    - - - - - - -    President.......................................Rauf DENKTASH   (Sworn in 24 April 95 for a third term)    - - - - - - -   COALITION GOVERNMENT (Formed 16 Aug 96)   (See end of list for party affiliations)    Prime Minister............................Dervis EROGLU (UBP)    Deputy Prime Minister....................Serdar DENKTASH (DP)    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS    Agriculture & Forestry........................Kenan AKIN (DP)    Economy...................................Erdal ONURHAN (UBP)    Education, Culture & Sports................  .  Gani CAYMAZ (UBP)    Finance......................................Salih COSAR (DP)    Foreign, Defence.............................Taner ETKIN (DP)    Health, Environment..................Ertugrul HASIPOGLU (UBP)    Interior....................................  Ilkay KAMIL (UBP)    Labour.........................................  Ali OZKAN (DP)    Public Works, Transport...................Mehmet BEYMAN (UBP)    - - - - - - -   PARTY AFFILIATIONS:   UBP - National Unity Party   DP - Democrat Party (DP)    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
816 !GCAT !GPOL  SOUTH AFRICA GOVERNMENT LIST (960821)    President (Sworn in 10 May 94)................  .  Nelson MANDELA    Deputy President..................................Thabo MBEKI    - - - - - - -   NATIONAL UNITY GOVERNMENT (Sworn in 11 May 94)   (All members of the ANC except - (INK)-Inkatha)   MINISTERS:    Agriculture & Land Affairs.....................  .  Derek HANEKOM    Arts, Culture, Science & Technology......  Lionel MTSHALI (INK)    Correctional Services.....................  .  Sipo MZIMELA (INK)    Defence............................................Joe MODISE    Education......................................Sibusiso BENGU    Environment Affairs & Tourism....................Pallo JORDAN    Finance.........................................  Trevor MANUEL    Foreign Affairs....................................  Alfred NZO    Health.................................Nkosazana Dlamini ZUMA    Home Affairs.......................Mangosuthu BUTHELEZI (INK)    Housing..............................Sankie MTHEMBI-MAHANYELE    Justice...........................................Dullah OMAR    Labour...........................................Tito MBOWENI    Mineral & Energy...............................  Penuell MADUNA    Posts, Telecommunications & Broadcasting...........  Jay NAIDOO   Provincial Affairs,    Constitutional Development...........  Mohammed VALLI MOOSA    Public Enterprises..............................Stella SIGCAU    Public Services & Administration................  Zola SKWEYIYA    Public Works......................................Jeff RADEBE    Safety & Security.............................Sydney MUFAMADI    Sport & Recreation..............................Steve TSHWETE    Trade & Industry...................................Alec ERWIN    Transport.........................................  Mac MAHARAJ    Water Affairs & Forestry..........................  Kader ASMAL   Welfare & Population Development....Geraldine FRASER-MOLEKETI    - - - - - - -   DEPUTY MINISTERS:    Agriculture.......................................Thoko MSANE    Arts, Culture, Science & Technology.........Brigitte MABANDLA    Defence........................................Ronald KASRILS    Education...............................  .  Smangaliso MKHATSHWA    Environment Affairs & Tourism....................Peter MOKABA    Finance...........................................Gill MARCUS    Foreign Affairs....................................  Aziz PAHAD    Home Affairs..............................Lindiwe SISULU-GUMA    Justice......................................Manto TSHABALALA    Mineral & Energy Affairs.......................Susan SHABANGU    Safety & Security..........................  Joe MATTHEWS (INK)    Trade & Industry.......................Phumzile MLAMBO-NGCUKA    - - - - - - -    Speaker of Parliament..........................  .  Frene GINWALA    - - - - - - -    Reserve Bank (Central Bank) Governor..............Chris STALS    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
817 !GCAT !GPOL  COMOROS GOVERNMENT LIST (960821)    **********************************************************    * 21 Aug 96 - President Taki dissolved the government and*    * asked the outgoing prime minister to form *    * a new cabinet.   *    **********************************************************    - - - - - - -    President........................................Mohamed TAKI    - - - - - - -   OUTGOING GOVERNMENT (Formed 27 Mar 96):   Prime Minister (Apptd 25 Mar 96).  .  Tajiddine Ben Said MASSONDE    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:   Agricultural Production, Fishing, Stock Farming,    Forests & the Environment................  Said Ali MOHAMED   Director of Cabinet in the President's Office    in charge of Defence................  .  Mouhdar Ahmed CHARIF   Education, Professional Training,   Francophone Affairs, Culture, Youth,    Sports & Scientific Research...........  .  Mouzaoir ABDALLAH    Finance, Economy, Budget & Internal Trade......  Said Ali KEMAL   Foreign Affairs, Cooperation    and External Trade...................Said Omar Said AHMED    Industry, Works & Mining Research................  .  Madi AHMADA    Interior and Information.............Said Mohamed Said HASSAN   Justice & Islamic Affairs charged   with relations with Islamic institutions,    Attorney-General.....................  .  Mohamed Abdul WAHAB   Minister-Delegate reporting to Prime Minister for    Administrative Reform.........................Ali Ben ALI   Minister-Delegate reporting to Finance Minister    for Economy and the Budget...................Dahilou OMAR   Minister-Delegate reporting to Tourism Minister    for Posts and Telecommunications......  Soifa Said BOURHANE   Minister of State for Territorial Development    Housing & Town Planning................  .  Soidri Salim MADI   Public Health, Population    & Social Affairs................  Halidi Abderenane IBRAHIM   Secretary of State to the Interior Ministry    in charge of Information......  .  Assoumani Youssouf MONDOHA   Tourism, Transport, Posts & Telecommunications.....Omar TAMOU    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End Government List) 
818 !GCAT !GDIP  Nigeria is barring the lawyer for executed human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa from speaking at an international legal conference in Canada, officials said on Wednesday.   Olisa Agbakoba, who represented Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian minority rights activists, planned to speak on Aug. 29 at the Commonwealth Law Conference in Vancouver.   About 2,300 judges, lawyers and justice officials from Commonwealth countries were scheduled to attend the event.   But the Canadian ministry of foreign affairs said the Nigerian government had refused to give Agbakoba his passport so he could travel to the conference.   "Our understanding was that he was not able to obtain his passport, that it was being withheld," ministry spokesman Rodney Moore said in Ottawa.   Canadian diplomats have raised the issue with government officials in Nigeria, stressing that Canada would welcome Agbakoba's visit "on the basis he is such a distinguished person," Moore said.   He said Canada hoped Nigeria would change its position but it appeared unlikely this would happen in time for Agbakoba's scheduled appearance in Vancouver.   Kathleen Keating, a Canadian lawyer who will co-chair next week's conference, said Agbakoba was "definitely being stopped from leaving the country to speak on human rights issues.   It has happened to him before.   ... I don't have any expectation that he is going to be able to come," she said.   Keating said the executive director of Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organisation, Abdul Oroh, hoped to stand in for Agbakoba at the meeting, but it was unclear whether he would be allowed to leave Nigeria either.   Oroh told the Vancouver Sun newspaper from Lagos that the Nigerian government had denied Agbakoba's repeated requests for a passport to attend the conference.   Nigeria was suspended last year from the Commonwealth, which groups 56 nations with links to Britain, after the executions of Saro-Wiwa and the eight other activists.   The executions sparked international condemnation of Nigeria, which has been in crisis since the army annulled a 1993 presidential vote meant to end military rule.   Officials at Nigeria's High Commission in Ottawa were not available for comment.   The main powers in the Commonwealth group are Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. 
819 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Nigeria is barring the lawyer for executed human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa from speaking at an international legal conference in Canada, a conference organiser said on Wednesday.   Olisa Agbakoba, who represented Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian minority rights activists, planned to speak on Aug. 29 at the Commonwealth Law Conference in Vancouver.   About 2,300 judges, lawyers and justice officials from Commonwealth countries were scheduled to attend the event.   But Nigeria was withholding Agbakoba's passport and preventing him from travelling, said Kathleen Keating, a Canadian lawyer who will co-chair next week's conference.   "He is definitely being stopped from leaving the country to speak on human rights issues.   It has happened to him before.   ... I don't have any expectation that he is going to be able to come," she said.   Keating said the executive director of Nigeria's Civil Liberties Organisation, Abdul Oroh, hoped to attend the Vancouver meeting in Agbakoba's place but it was unclear whether he would be allowed to leave Nigeria either.   Oroh told the Vancouver Sun newspaper from Lagos that the Nigerian government had denied Agbakoba's repeated requests for a passport to attend the conference.   Nigeria was suspended last year from the Commonwealth, which groups 56 nations with links to Britain, after the executions of Saro-Wiwa and the eight other activists.   The executions triggered international condemnation of Nigeria, which has been in crisis since the army annulled a 1993 presidential vote meant to end military rule.   Officials at Canada's foreign affairs ministry and Nigeria's High Commission in Ottawa were not available for comment.   The main powers in the Commonwealth group are Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. 
820 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Up to 4,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees abandoned their camp in northern Burundi on Wednesday, heading for Rwanda in the biggest movement back to their homeland since they fled in 1994.   Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda, said 3,000 to 4,000 refugees left Magara camp in northern Burundi before heavy rain slowed the exodus.   The UNHCR had revised its estimate of the number of refugees remaining in the camp down to some 6,000.   On Tuesday a total of 4,500 refugees returned to Rwanda from Magara before an aid agency operation to help them was suspended because heavy rains made a road to Musange transit camp near Butare impassable.   Refugees accuse the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army, which seized power on July 25, of a deliberate campaign of harassment and say they are leaving because they fear for their lives.   The flood of Rwandan Hutus this month from Burundi is the biggest mass movement homewards since a total of two million Rwandan Hutus fled to Burundi, Tanzania and Zaire in 1994 during civil war and the genocide of up to one million people, mostly minority Tutsis, by Hutus.   Hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutus remain in exile in camps in Zaire.   "It is good to return.   I have not seen Rwanda since August 1994," said refugee Tharcisse Nyanranzima, unloading plastic sheeting, a bucket and his brother's artificial limb off a lorry at Musange transit camp five km (three miles) outside Butare.   "We should have come home before but the rumours and lies in the Burundi camps are incredible," said Nyanranzima on Tuesday as sodden refugees sloshed through thick mud towards the camp.   Hardline Hutus among the refugees say they fear they will be killed if they return to Rwanda in reprisal for the genocide.   Stromberg said if the refugee flow continued Magara could be emptied of those refugees who wanted to go home in a few days.   UNHCR is in talks with Burundian authorities to establish what would happen to Rwandans who refused to go home.   The refugee flood swelled after Burundian troops killed three refugees as they tried to flee Magara camp on Sunday.   The army said soldiers fired after a Rwandan refugee shot at them.   Some refugees also stoned soldiers at Magara camp after refusing to tear down shelters left empty by returning refugees.   "During the rock throwing incident at Magara it was clear that there are groups who desperately do not want to go back.   We hope they will not stop others going back," Stromberg said.   He said after all those refugees who wanted to leave Magara had done so a repatriation campaign would move on to the last Rwandan refugee camp in Burundi at Rukuramigabo, which has some 13,000 Rwandans.   There were 135,000 Rwandan refugees in Burundi at the start of the year.   Stromberg said at least 143 returning refugees have been detained by Rwanda's Tutsi-led authorities since mid-July.   Burundi's new Tutsi military leader Pierre Buyoya pledged on Tuesday to protect the Rwandan refugees in line with international conventions and said a team of investigators had been sent to northern Burundi to check on their complaints.   Burundian army officers have accused the Rwandan Hutu refugees of backing Burundian Hutu rebels infiltrating Burundi. 
821 !GCAT !GPOL  Former South African president F.W. de Klerk formally apologised on Wednesday for the miseries of apartheid and said rogue security forces had committed atrocities, but that he had never issued an order to kill or torture.   "I have already publicly apologised for the pain and suffering caused by former policies of the National Party...I reiterate these apologies today," de Klerk told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.   De Klerk, whose National Party (NP) implemented apartheid in 1948 and began scrapping it 42 years later, made the apology during a three-hour summary of South Africa's race conflict intended to help the commission establish as full a picture of who did what, and why, during apartheid.   "History has shown that as far as the policy of apartheid was concerned, our former leaders were deeply mistaken in the course upon which they embarked," said de Klerk, ousted by President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa's first all race election in April 1994.   Addressing the evidence of hit-squad killings of black activists that has emerged since the collapse of apartheid, de Klerk acknowledged his government and previous ones had approved "unconventional" actions which "created the environment within which abuses and gross violations of human rights could take place".   But he added: "I want to make clear that within my knowledge and experience (unconventional strategies) never included the authorisation of assassination, murder, torture, rape, assault or the like...   "Nor did I individually directly or indirectly ever suggest, order or authorise any such action."   De Klerk said some members of the security forces accused him of being a traitor for his dismantling of apartheid.   "It has now become clear that certain elements misused state funds and were involved in unauthorised operations leading to abuses and violation of human rights," he said.   About 20 ANC demonstrators picketed outside the building where the commission met but de Klerk evaded them by entering through an underground garage.   ANC supporters in the packed public gallery of about 400 people jeered when de Klerk denied knowledge of a notorious hit-squad killing but Tutu admonished them to keep quiet or be thrown out.   "I know how difficult it is to say 'I'm sorry' in public," Tutu told de Klerk at the end of his presentation.   "We are sure it will have a significant impact."   Tutu's deputy chairman, Alex Boraine, added: "I don't think anyone should underestimate the power of a former state president saying 'I'm sorry'."   De Klerk said responsibility for what happened during apartheid lay with political leaders.   "I accept such overall responsibility in respect of the period of my leadership," he said, but added that cabinet ministers should be held to account for specific actions only if such actions were executed "in terms of a reasonable interpretation" of cabinet instructions.   The ANC is due to present its view of the apartheid struggle to Tutu on Thursday. 
822 !GCAT !GVIO  The Tutsi minority in Burundi blames three weeks of stringent sanctions for the siege mentality in the capital as prices rise and fuel grows scarce.   Most Tutsi Bujumbura residents, who dismissed regional sanctions imposed on July 31 after the overthrow of the Hutu president by the Tutsi-dominated army, are now sombre.   "The most dramatic effect of the embargo is the creation of a besieged mentality among Tutsis.   We know we have to survive on our own," said a Tutsi analyst working for a Western company.   A foreign aid worker said five people were killed in the Bujumbura suburb of Kamenge on Tuesday but had no details.   The capital has been relatively calm since before the embargo.   On Wednesday, queues of cars with drivers clutching government-issued ration cards stretched for a mile (1.6 km) at the few petrol stations in the capital with supplies of fuel.   Prices of basic foodstuffs available in fertile landlocked Burundi have risen by up to 50 per cent because of shortages of fuel to move goods by road from the interior to urban markets.   A 10-kg (22-pound) bunch of bananas, which cost some 1,000 Burundian francs ($3.33) in Bujumbura's main market before sanctions, now costs 1,500 francs ($5).   A sack of charcoal costs 2,500 francs ($8.33) from 2,000 francs ($6.66) before July 31.   "I spent all day looking for (cooking) gas and I didn't get anything.   At least there is some fuel left, but we don't know how long this can go on," said Caritas Ndikuramana, a Tutsi.   Bujumbura's airport is closed, its lake port deserted and most Tutsi residents are afraid to drive out of the capital because of fears of attack by rebels of the Hutu majority.   New Tutsi military ruler Pierre Buyoya, who has said Burundi will overcome the regional sanctions, has also embarked on a charm offensive to win over foreign powers.   Regional African states demand a return to constitutional rule and peace negotiations with Hutu rebels to end three years of vicious civil war and massacres that have killed more than 150,000 people.   Buyoya sacked Army Chief of Staff Colonel Jean Bikomagu on Tuesday in what analysts saw as a bid to reassure powers behind sanctions and build the new ruler's image as a Tutsi moderate.   The move seemed to find favour with some Western officials.   "Sacking Bikomagu is a bigger coup than the coup," said a U.N. official.   "Buyoya is either extremely brave or has a side deal organised, which we don't know about, to protect himself."   Bikomagu is implicated in a U.N. report on an attempted army coup in October 1993, in which the country's first Hutu president was assassinated, and subsequent Hutu-Tutsi killings.   Buyoya also replaced the chief of staff of the gendarmerie paramilitary police and the presidential palace army commander.   A Hutu opposition official, speaking in Nairobi, forecast Bikomagu would soon be made an ambassador, while the former head of the gendarmerie would become Burundi's head of immigration.   "Bikomagu remains the largest power broker in Burundi.   This was arranged to give Buyoya credibility abroad so he is seen as the man who is able to tackle the mono-ethnic army," he said.   ($1=300 Burundian francs) 
823 !GCAT !GPOL  Former South African president F.W. de Klerk on Wednesday apologised to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's "Truth Commission" for human rights violations under white rule, but said he never sanctioned an order to kill.   "I stand before you today neither in shame nor in arrogance, but deeply conscious of my responsibility," de Klerk told commission members headed by Tutu, who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid.   "The National Party is prepared to admit its many mistakes of the past and is genuinely repentant...we have gone on our knees before God Almighty to pray for His forgiveness," he said.   A score of African National Congress (ANC) demonstrators greeted de Klerk outside the Good Hope exhibition centre in which he spoke, waving placards saying "Apartheid, never again" and "How many people died during apartheid?"   Inside the audience appeared to be mostly from his own party, but a small contingent jeered some of his points until Tutu, wearing purple robes, demanded "dignified behaviour" and threatened to eject hecklers.   "I know how hard it is to say 'I'm sorry' in public," Tutu told de Klerk.   "We are sure it will have a significant impact."   Alex Boraine, deputy chairman of the statutory Truth and Reconciliation Commission, added: "I don't think anyone should underestimate the power of a former state president saying: I'm sorry."   Tutu's truth commission was set up in April, with two years to investigate human rights crimes committed in defence of white rule or in opposition to it, to pardon offenders and to compensate victims.   Apartheid ended in April 1994 when Nelson Mandela, jailed for 27 years for fighting white rule, was elected the country's first black president.   After four months of gruelling testimony from mainly black victims of white rule, including personal accounts of murder, rape, torture and the killing of children, the commission this week began hearing submissions by political parties.   Submitting a 29-page explanation of the actions of his National Party during 46 years of white rule, de Klerk conceded that many wrongs were inflicted upon the black majority.   He said the state of emergency imposed by his predecessor, P.W. Botha, in the 1980s "created circumstances and an atmosphere which were conducive to many of the abuses and transgressions against human rights which form the basis of the Commission's present investigations."   He said most of the officials, police and soldiers who defended white rule were honorable men and women who believed they were protecting their country against communism.   But he said none of the abuses that have been reported to Tutu's commission since it began work in April were officially sanctioned by his government.   "In dealing with the unconventional strategies from the side of the government, I want to make it clear from the outset that, within my knowledge and experience, they never included the authorisation of assassination, murder, torture, rape, assault or the like.   "Nor did I individually, directly or indirectly, ever suggest, order or authorise any such action," he said.   De Klerk said that after the National Party began to move away from strict apartheid, it was criticised from within white Afrikaner ranks for being too "soft".   "I suspect that many of the unauthorised actions that are now coming to light were at the time directed as much against the transformation process as they were directed against the revolutionary threat.   "It has now become clear that certain elements misused state funds and were involved in unauthorised operations leading to abuses and violations of human rights," he said.   One former policeman who headed a secretive government unit fighting black political groups recently admitted to more than 100 charges including murder and assault.   De Klerk said he accepted overall responsibility for government actions under his leadership, but said ministers and military leaders should accept the blame for things they ordered or allowed their juniors to believe they had ordered.   Ending with a call for reconciliation, he said: "We must accept the importance of reconciliation, of coming to terms with ourselves, our neighbours and our past -- of forgiving and of being forgiven." 
824 !GCAT !GPOL  Former South African president F.W. de Klerk on Wednesday apologised to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's "truth commission" for human rights violations under white rule, but said he never sanctioned an order to kill.   "I stand before you today neither in shame nor in arrogance, but deeply conscious of my responsibility," de Klerk told commission members headed by Tutu, who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid.   Tutu's statutory Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to investigate human rights crimes committed in defence of white rule or in opposition to it, to pardon offenders and to compensate victims.   Apartheid ended in April 1994, when Nelson Mandela, jailed for 27 years for fighting white rule, was elected the country's first black president.   After four months of gruelling testimony from mainly black victims of white rule, including personal accounts of murder, rape, torture and the killing of children, the commission this week began hearing submissions by political parties.   On his way to the Good Hope centre de Klerk drove past a score of black demonstrators carrying placards reading "Apartheid -- never again" and "How many people died during apartheid?"   Inside, he was greeted with loud applause from the 300-strong crowd, mostly party supporters.   Tutu began proceedings with a prayer.   Submitting a 29-page explanation of the actions of his National Party during 46 years of white rule, de Klerk conceded that many wrongs were inflicted upon the black majority:   "The National Party is prepared to admit its many mistakes of the past and is genuinely repentant...we have gone on our knees before God Almighty to pray for His forgiveness."   De Klerk said the state of emergency imposed by his predecessor, P.W. Botha, in the 1980s "created circumstances and an atmosphere which were conducive to many of the abuses and transgressions against human rights which form the basis of the Commission's present investigations".   He said most of the officials, police and soldiers who defended white rule were honorable men and women who believed they were protecting their country against communism.   "They were convinced that their cause was just, necessary and legitimate," he said.   But de Klerk said none of the abuses that have been reported to Tutu's commission since it began work in April were officially sanctioned by his government.   "In dealing with the unconventional strategies from the side of the government, I want to make it clear from the outset that, within my knowledge and experience, they never included the authorisation of assassination, murder, torture, rape, assault or the like.   "Nor did I individually, directly or indirectly, ever suggest, order or authorise any such action," he said.   De Klerk said that after the National Party began to move away from strict apartheid, it was criticised from within white Afrikaner ranks for being too "soft".   "I suspect that many of the unauthorised actions that are now coming to light were at the time directed as much against the transformation process as they were directed against the revolutionary threat.   "It has now become clear that certain elements misused state funds and were involved in unauthorised operations leading to abuses and violations of human rights," he said.   De Klerk said he accepted overall responsibility for government actions under his leadership, but said ministers and military leaders should accept the blame for things they ordered or allowed their juniors to believe they had ordered.   Ending with a call for reconciliation, he cautioned: "No single side in the conflict of the past has a monopoly of virtue or should bear responsibility for all the abuses that occurred.   "We must accept the importance of reconciliation, of coming to terms with ourselves, our neighbours and our past -- of forgiving and of being forgiven." 
825 !GCAT !GPOL  President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress gives its version of history to South Africa's "truth commission" on Thursday in a presentation that will portray its anti-apartheid struggle as a "just war".   The ANC submission to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission will be presented by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, who told reporters he would deal with such issues as "just war versus unjust war".   "We want to concentrate on the broad issue, not get involved in individual events," he said.   An ANC statement said the party, which came to power in the country's first all-race election in 1994, wanted peace and reconciliation to become the cornerstones of the new democracy.   "At the core of the ANC submission is the indictment of the system of apartheid as a crime against humanity...The struggle against apartheid cannot therefore be equated with acts committed in defence of this repugnant system."   The ANC's submission follows one on Wednesday by former president F.W. de Klerk, whose National Party introduced apartheid in 1948 and began dismantling it in 1990.   De Klerk told the commission he did not agree that the ANC had been fighting a morally superior war.   "I don't think that argument can apply to the father of a child killed by an (ANC) limpet mine.   That child did not deserve to die and it remains an atrocity."   Mbeki said he did not think de Klerk had addressed the main issue in South Africa's race war, the apparent fear on the part of whites that they would be swamped by black hordes.   "The role of the truth commission should be to find ways of ensuring such fears don't arise again," he said.   Mandela suggested setting up a truth commission in the early 1990s when reports emerged of human rights abuses committed in ANC military camps in exile.   He said the abuses should be dealt with in the wider context of the struggle for and against apartheid.   The ANC has acknowledged executing about 30 of its own members in the camps.   The ANC statement said the movement was "honest enough to acknowledge that human rights abuses did occur, (but) these abuses did not occur within the framework of official policy".   "The ANC trusts that at the end of the process of truth and reconciliation, South Africa will emerge victorious and better able to march to the future with confidence that never again will such abuses occur in our country."   De Klerk apologised on Wednesday for the pain caused by apartheid and acknowledged that rogue members of the security forces committed abuses. 
826 !GCAT !GDIP  Tibet's spiritual leader and Nobel peace laureate, the Dalai Lama, called on Wednesday for the free world to help nations still fighting for human rights.   "If we accept that others have a right to peace and happiness equal to our own, do we not have a responsibility to help those in need?"   he told a packed Cape Town City Hall.   The Dalai Lama said disadvantaged people in certain African and Asian states wished to enjoy the rights won by citizens of Europe and the Americas.   "But of course it is just those people who are deprived of their human rights who are least able to speak for themselves.   "The responsibility, therefore, rests with those of us who enjoy such freedoms," he said.   The Dalai Lama fled to India from Tibet in 1959.   He is a fierce critic of China's occupation of Tibet and has travelled extensively to call for support against Beijing.   He heads a Tibetan government-in-exile in the Himalayan Indian town of Dharamsala.   The 1989 Nobel Peace prize winner is scheduled to meet President Nelson Mandela on Thursday.   Earlier on Wednesday he met South Africa's other Nobel Peace laureate, retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.   The two religious leaders spoke briefly to reporters, saying only that they were pleased to meet each other.   The Dalai Lama is in South Africa for a week-long visit at the invitation of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.   He leaves on Saturday. 
827 !GCAT !GPOL  Delegates of Angola's former rebel UNITA movement on Wednesday rejected the vice presidency offered to their leader in a proposed unity coalition with Angola's MPLA-led government.   The delegates shouted "negative, negative" after party secretary general Lukamba Gato told them they had to decide if UNITA accepted the post, offered to the movement's leader Jonas Savimbi under a peace deal.   "It is an awkward, institutionalised system which will empty UNITA of its power and confuse the two leaders (Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Savimbi)," Gato told about 1,500 delegates at an extraordinary congress in UNITA's stronghold of Bailundo.   He said the vice presidency was "cosmetic".   It was not clear whether the voice rejection by delegates was UNITA's final position on the offer.   Savimbi's chief peace negotiator Isaias Samakuva said ahead of the congress that if Savimbi accepted the vice-presidency, he would be based in Luanda from where it would be hard for him to run UNITA too.   "If the congress elects Dr Savimbi he will come to Luanda, but Dr Savimbi has said he cannot be national vice-president as well as president of UNITA," Samakuva told Reuters.   Instead, some party officials suggested that UNITA's chief constitutional negotiator, Abel Chivukuvuku, could accept the vice presidency for the party.   Savimbi, 63, charismatic and with a reputation for ruthlessness, said before the congress meeting his UNITA colleagues had to accept or decline the post for him.   The congress, UNITA's main decision-making body, is meeting to reorganise its structures from a military-dominated movement into a political opposition.   It will also decide whether to enter into a partnership with the MPLA.   Both sides signed a peace accord in November 1994 to end two decades of fighting which erupted after independence from Portugal in 1975.   In opening remarks to the congress, UNITA called for a revision of Angola's constitution and proposed that the current national assembly, whose mandate expires in November, be transformed into a constituent assembly.   "As far as UNITA is concerned, the constitutional revision is fundamental and should involve all political parties represented in parliament in order to widen the debate.   "The debate should not serve as an alibi to prolong the current mandate of parliament or annul the conclusion of the electoral process with regard to the run-off presidential poll.   "Why not transform the current national assembly into the country's constituent assembly, charged with, besides other things, the need to strengthen local government through local government elections," UNITA said.   Savimbi, who was not present on the first day of this congress, is expected to address delegates on the last day of the four-day meeting. 
828 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Togo's new prime minister Kwassi Klutse took over on Wednesday, pledging to focus on developing the economy.   "I will try to redouble efforts to achieve better results with a restructuring programme which will enable the country to achieve the targets it has in its programme with the Bretton Woods institutions," the new technocrat prime minister told Radio France International.   President Gnassingbe Eyadema named Klutse, one of his supporters, as prime minister on Tuesday to replace former Organisation of African Unity secretary general Edem Kodjo who resigned as prime minister on Monday.   Klutse was minister of planning and regional development in the outgoing government.   Togo's Gross Domestic Product grew 8.3 percent in 1995, one of the best growth rates among Francophone states in the region following the 1994 devaluation of their CFA franc common currency.   Kodjo broke with opposition allies in 1994 to accept Eyadema's offer of the post of prime minister.   His relations with Eyadema had been strained in recent months.   Kodjo spoke publicly of differences and Eyadema's supporters openly criticised the prime minister.   Kodjo resigned after Eyadema's party won three by-elections, saying the balance of power within parliament had changed. 
829 !C11 !C15 !C152 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Miners must work more shifts if the South African mining industry is to survive, Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd chief executive Alan Wright said on Wednesday.   Speaking at a presentation of Gold Fields' year results, he criticised rising working costs at the group's mines and the slow progress being made on full calendar operations (FULCO).   "The costs on our mines are increasing at a rate equivalent to the price of the product we are selling," Wright said.    "We reached agreement in priniciple with all unions but I don't believe we are any further down the path to FULCO operations than we were a year ago.   If we don't change to FULCO we're going to lose our industry in South Africa."   Gold Fields posted earnings per share for the year ended June 30 of 393 cents from 417 cents previously.   It declared a steady dividend of 220 cents per share.   In the same period unit working costs rose to 34,000 rand per kg of gold produced from 28,000 rand.    "Unit working costs were up 21 percent year-on-year.   As we go deeper it costs more... we are also being pushed into higher wage agreements," Wright said.   Gold Fields, a member of the Chamber of Mines employer negotiating body, has yet to sign a wage agreement with the unions on 1996/97 wages and working conditions.   Wright urged the industry to reach rapid agreement on FULCO in order to compete successfully with global mining companies.    "We are competing where major global companies work a 20 out of a possibe 21 shifts (per week)... We work 11 shifts every fortnight.   I hope for the benefit of the entire industry that very quickly we can move to working seven days a week."   Looking to the future, he said that Gold Fields would focus on mining -- particularly gold -- and aggressive exploration.   "Mining will remain the core business of Gold Fields, focused on exploration, mining and mineral beneficiation.   "(We plan to) progressively expand through exploration and investments in new selected geological and geographical areas."    The group's ultimate cocnentration would be on gold to build maximum shareholder wealth, Wright said.   The short to medium term would see the group capitalising on its existing "super mine" assets -- Driefontein Consolidated Ltd and Kloof Gold Mining Co Ltd.   Wright said the group had budgeted 86 million rand for exploration capital spending this financial year -- 36 million of which would be spent on exploration in South Africa.   Gold exploration would win 54 million of the 86 million rand.    Underground fires at Kloof and Dries' east and west mines in May and JUne had knocked the group's gold production -- losing it 1.5 tonnes of gold valued at 82 million rand, Wright said.   -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482-1003 
830 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Former Zimbabwean president Caanan Banana, acting as an envoy of the Organisation of African Unity, held talks in Sierra Leone on Wednesday to try to push forward its stalled peace process.   Banana, who had talks with Sierra Leonean rebel leader Foday Sankoh in Ivory Coast, told reporters that he had had talks with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and civic groups.   "The search for peace is a collective one and this OAU-appointed team is in Freetown to consult with the president of Sierra Leone... and also with civic groups so as to move forward the stalled peace process," he said.   Banana said Tejan Kabbah was keen the resume the peace process but he declined to comment on whether Sankoh had demanded the post of deputy head of state and withdrawal of foreign troops as conditions for a final deal.   Banana, OAU special envoy to Sierra Leone's war-ravaged neighbour Liberia, was Zimbabwe's president from 1980 to 1987.   Tejan Kabbah, who took over after the army restored civilian rule in March, had talks in Ivory Coast with Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in April.   The two sides agreed to extend a ceasefire, which has been generally holding, but remain deadlocked on the issues of disarmament and withdrawal of foreign troops helping the government.   The rebels took up arms in 1991. 
831 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVOTE  Gambia's military government has threatened anyone contravening a ban on main political parties with life imprisonment and set tough penalties for political activity before the official start of election campaigning.   The Political Activities, Resumption Decree published on Wednesday said anyone involved in politics before campaigning for presidential elections starts on September 9 would face a fine of one million dalasis ($102,000) or life imprisonment.   Gambia's military rulers lifted a two-year ban on all political activity on August 14, then announced two days later that the country's three main parties would be excluded from political life.   They banned anyone who had served as a minister under ousted president Sir Dawda Jawara, head of state from independence from Britain in 1965 until 1994, and excluded Jawara's People's Progressive Party, the National Convention Party of Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, and Hassan Musa Camara's Gambia People's Party.   Any party contravening the ban on the three main political parties will be fined one million dalasis "or in default all its members who subscribe to its constitution shall be eligible to imprisonment for life," the decree said.   Army ruler Captain Yahya Jammeh has said he will stand as a civilian candidate in the September 26 election but will not campaign as he does not want to get involved in politics.   It was not clear how the decree would affect the requirement for presidential candidates to gather 5,000 signatures from around the country by the September 5 registration deadline.   The Commonwealth said on Tuesday the election rules were obviously flawed and would allow the West African country's military leaders to strengthen their grip on power.   Jammeh's opponents will be drawn from two small parties, the leftist People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism, and the People's Democratic Party of Lamin Bojang -- provided they succeed in registering.   Parliamentary elections are set for December 11.   Jammeh has said there would be no point in uncovering what he termed the corruption of the former government if those responsible were allowed to resume their political careers.   ($=9.8 dalasis) 
832 !GCAT !GDIS !GHEA  Cholera has killed 150 people in northern Cameroon, public health minister Joseph Owona said on Wednesday.   Owona told state radio that 1,500 cases had been recorded since June and appealed for international help to combat the epidemic. 
833 !GCAT !GPOL  Nigerian army ruler General Sani Abacha told 30 newly appointed state military governors at a swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday to give his democracy plan top priority.   "You must see to a meticulous execution of the transition political programme and cooperate with various electoral officers in this regard," Abacha told them in the capital Abuja.   Last week all Nigeria's powerful state governors were removed at a stroke in the most sweeping change at state level since Abacha took power in 1993.   No official explanation was given for the change.   All the new administrators are middle ranking army, navy and air force officers.   Africa's most populous nation has been in political crisis since 1993, when a previous military government annulled elections that would have ended a decade of army rule.   Last year Abacha set out a plan to restore democracy by October 1998.   Critics at home and abroad say that is too late.   The administrators are chief executives of the 30 states and make up the second tier of authority in Nigeria after the federal government.   Abacha told the new administrators to: "Ensure the continuity of projects already in progress in your states and resist attempts to embark on new projects not in tune with financial reality of the times." 
834 !GCAT !GCRIM  South African police said on Wednesday there could be a link between the child sex scandal rocking Belgium and the disappearance of five girls in Pretoria up to eight years ago.   "The modus operandi...as to what happened in Belgium and what's happening here in South Africa seems to be very, very closely related," Pretoria police director Reggie Mariemuthoo told reporters.   "The modus operandi in which our girls were abducted and kept in secret cellars in houses is similar to what happened in Belgium.   The age groups are also more or less the same as those in Belgium."   South African paedophile Gert van Rooyen and his lover Joey Haarhof were linked by police to the disappearance of the girls, aged 11 to 13.   Van Rooyen shot Haarhof and himself six years ago as police closed in on them.   The girls were never traced, despite a thorough excavation of van Rooyen's Pretoria home in May.   The girls were allegedly kept in a cellar under the house.   In Belgium, convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux is the main suspect after the bodies of two eight-year-old child sex victims were found last weekend in his house in the southern Belgian city of Charleroi.   Two other girls were rescued from his house and at least another two are missing.   Dutroux's wife, Michelle Martin, was also formally charged with being an accomplice in the abduction and illegal imprisonment of children.   Mariemuthoo said South African police had been investigating the "very, very strong possibility" of an international link to the van Rooyen case even before the Belgian scandal broke.   "Immediately we heard about that we...then speculated that there is a strong possibility of a link between the South African case and that of Belgium."   Asked about the possibility of an international child sex ring, Mariemuthoo said: "It is possible.   Unfortunately we don't have any information on those lines at the moment."   Mariemuthoo said he had been in contact with Interpol in Belgium and would send South African detectives there "as soon as they (the Belgians) have discovered, for sure, that there is an international link". 
835 !GCAT !GVIO  United Nations observers travelling to the western Liberian town of Tubmanburg on Wednesday to monitor a new ceasefire were delayed by shooting along the highway, the U.N. said.   U.N. special representative Anthony Nyakyi told reporters the observers had difficulty in reaching the town, the main base of the ULIMO-J militia loyal to Roosevelt Johnson.   "We could not proceed at first because of some shooting along the highway," Nyakyi said.   The mission finally went ahead with a ULIMO-J escort.   Faction leaders still in the Nigerian capital Abuja after agreeing a new peace deal at the weekend accused each other of breaking the ceasefire, which was supposed to come into force on Tuesday.   The latest peace deal threatens faction leaders with sanctions, including seizure of assets and war crimes tribunals, if they are seen to be obstructing the peace process.   Johnson said he had complained to rival militia leader Alhaji Kromah about skirmishing in Bomi County, the area around Tubmanburg.   The peace deal agreed with West African leaders on Saturday foresees the disarmament of an estimated 60,000 combatants and the holding of elections by May 1997.   Over a dozen peace deals have failed to end the war launched by Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) in late 1989.   Taylor and Kromah are both vice-chairmen of an interim ruling State Council.   Their attempt to arrest Johnson for murder in April triggered some of the bloodiest fighting of the war in the streets of Monrovia, pitting ULIMO-J and its ethnic Krahn allies against Taylor and Kromah.   The Liberia Peace Council, another Krahn faction, accused Taylor's forces on Saturday of attacking its positions in the southeast in Grand Gedeh County.   "The ceasefire violation committee was meeting today to look into the allegations by the Liberia Peace Council about renewed fighing in the southeast," Nyakyi said.   He said his observers could not reach the remote region.   NPFL officials in Abuja said they had received the accusation in a letter but could give no confirmation.   Johnson said he intended to return to the Liberian capital as soon as possible.   The United States airlifted him out to peace talks in Ghana in May, but declined to fly him back.   Freed American slaves founded Liberia in 1847.   The war has killed well over 150,000 people, hundreds of them in April and May. 
836 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Ghana's two main opposition parties have agreed to present a joint candidate for December's presidential election but are finding it harder to agree on parliamentary candidates, party officials said on Wednesday.   The New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Peoples Convention Party (PCP) agreed last Friday to put up NPP leader Joseph Agyekum Kuffour for the presidency with incumbent vice-president Kow Arkaah as his running mate.   Presidential and parliamentary elections are set for December 7, with President Jerry Rawlings expected to seek a final term four-year term.   The presidential vote is organised along U.S. lines with candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency running together.   "Both parties are now nominating their parliamentary candidates.   The thorny problem is that where both sides feel they are strong on the ground as far as a constituency is concerned, it will be very difficult for one side to give ground," PCP publicity secretary Dan Quartey said on Wednesday.   "I hope somehow that some compromise will be reached in such situations to resolve these issues to enable the alliance to make a strong showing in the elections."   Electoral commission chairman Kwadwo Afari Djan told both parties on Tuesday they could not use the same campaign symbol "since they are distinct political entities legally recognised by the commission".   He said the commission would only recognise the symbol of the presidential candidate's party for the presidential poll, though the commission is holding further talks with alliance representatives.   The alliance has attracted criticism from PCP supporters who say the party has betrayed the tradition of Ghana's founding president Kwame Nkrumah.   Arkaah was previously allied with Rawlings but increasing antagonism between them exploded into a much publicised scuffle during a cabinet meeting last December.   Rawlings, 49, a former air force flight lieutenant who staged two successful coups before turning politician, is expected to stand as leader of the National Democratic Congress.   Opposition parties boycotted the 1992 parliamentary polls after accusing Rawlings of manipulating the presidential vote. 
837 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Senegal on Wednesday denounced Angola's expulsion of hundreds of African migrants, adding its voice to that of neighbouring Guinea.   "It's inadmissible that measures of this nature are being taken by African states against African nationals whatever the reasons or justification," the Senegalese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.   Angola said on Friday it had deported 415 immigrants operating unlawful businesses and would expel hundreds more by early this week.   A sudden clampdown began on August 12 with 349 citizens of Senegal, Lebanon and Mali being expelled.   A total of 86 Senegalese have been expelled, mostly businessmen.   A further 54 are expected home this week.   More than 80 Mauritanians returned home on Tuesday, with some saying they had been badly treated and prevented from saying their Moslem prayers.   Guinean officials said on Monday that 159 expelled Guineans had been mistreated by Angolan security forces and that their papers had been in order.   Senegal has sent Abdoulaye Wade, minister of state to the presidency, to Angola to try to solve the problem of unlawful immigrants.   Senegalese migrant traders are a common sight on streets away from home, whether in Africa, Europe or North America. 
838 !GCAT !GCRIM  Senior African police officials ended a three-day conference on Wednesday pledging to cooperate to stem rising white collar crime across the continent.   Rainer-Diethardt Buhrer, an officer with the economic crime group of the international police organisation Interpol, said criminals were moving speedily across borders, and countries had no option but to cooperate to fight them.   "National police bureaus used to operate within their own national areas but now international crime is moving with speed across borders there's need for countries to cooperate to fight it," Buhrer told reporters.   "International crooks know no boundaries...There is need for the (law enforcement) institutions in the region to pool their resources together for security needs," Zimbabwe's deputy commissioner Godwin Matanga said in closing the conference.   Saying Africa could no longer rely on handouts due to increasing international donor fatigue, he said the continent's police needed to establish a regional fund to train their officers in white collar crime, some types of which, such as computer fraud, were just emerging in Africa.   "Our cooperation in the fight against cross-border and international crime will be enriched by our own self-reliance in the region," he said.   Although the conference agreed there was a rise in economic crimes in Africa, delegates refused to release statistics.   But experts pointed to cases of fraud through electronic money transfers, cheque forgeries, investment scams and illegal exports of precious stones.   In recommendations at the end of the conference for English- speaking Africa in Harare, the officials agreed to set up sub- regional and national legal committees to identify disparities in legislation on economic crimes and ways of harmonising them to boost cooperation among countries.   On Monday, when he opened the conference whose discussions were closed to the press, Zimbabwe's Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa said the fight against white collar crime was frustrated partly by differences in laws defining offences and the severity of punishment in various African countries.   Zimbabwe's assistant commissioner Osborne Mawere, who chaired the conference organised by Interpol, said the legal committees would also take their recommendations to policy-makers and press them to cut immigration redtape inhibiting the speedy chase of criminals across borders. 
839 !E12 !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GVIO  Central African Republic's prime minister has said the country will be unable to meet targets set by the International Monetary Fund because of economic losses caused by an army mutiny in May.   Jean-Paul Ngoupande told a national conference the looting and destruction in the city centre had caused a sharp fall in revenue, which meant the government could not meet commitments set out in a letter of intent signed in March.   Soldiers first mutinied in April but May's pay revolt turned into a protest against the government of President Ange-Felix Patasse.   French troops intervened to support the president and 43 people were killed.   The 10-day meeting of the States General on National Defence opened on Monday with a call from Patasse for a truly national army free of ethnic or political bias.   In his Tuesday speech, Ngoupande said his priorities were to reestablish security, get government offices back to work, reconstruct damaged industries and businesses and clean up public finances.   Patasse appointed Ngoupande, previously ambassador to Paris, in June to head a national unity government including members of the party of former military leader Andre Kolingba and people from outside politics.   The authorities have made several calls on civilians to hand in weapons distributed during the army mutinies, with little success so far.   Three policemen were killed while pursuing bandits last Thursday, and a bar owner was shot dead in the capital's southern Lakouanga district on Tuesday night. 
840 !GCAT !GENT !GPOL !GSCI  President Nelson Mandela on Wednesday named Inkatha Freedom Party veteran Lionel Mtshali to replace Ben Ngubane as Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology from September 1.   Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the conservative Zulu-based Inkatha, announced recently that Ngubane would be transferred to the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal.   Analysts said at the time that Buthelezi wanted Ngubane, who has won the admiration of the dominant African National Congress (ANC), to bolster his party's strength in the province, the only one of nine that it rules.   Under the rules of an interim constitution guiding South Africa from white rule to full democracy by 1999, Inkatha is entitled to three of the 27 seats in Mandela's transitional government of national unity.   Former President F.W. de Klerk's white-led National Party (NP) was entitled to a deputy president and six cabinet portfolios, but decided earlier this year to withdraw from the coalition at the end of June. 
841 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Zaire's prime minister arrived in Rwanda on Wednesday for talks with the government on the fate of 1.1 million Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire since 1994.   Kengo Wa Dondo arrived while Rwandan Hutus, some accused of taking part in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, were going back to Rwanda from neighbouring Burundi.   Kengo, who has repeatedly stressed the need for the Rwandan Hutu refugees to return to Rwanda, will hold talks with his counterpart Pierre-Celestin Rwigema, Rwandan officials said.   He will also meet Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu and military strongman and Vice-President Major-General Paul Kagame.   "It is a visit to promote bilateral ties between the two countries.   The main focus will be on Rwandan refugees now living in Zaire," said Claude Dusaidi, political adviser to Kagame.   Kengo's visit is the first by such a senior Zairean official since Kagame's Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels took power in 1994 and drove into exile in Zaire the Hutu government and Hutu soldiers held reponsible for the genocide.   The civil war in Rwanda and the seizure of power by the RPF led to strained ties between the two neighbouring states.   Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko has intervened in the past two years to stop Kengo from ordering the deportation of Rwandan Hutus in violation of international law.   Last August, Zairean troops forcibly expelled some 15,000 Rwandan and Burundian Hutus.   The expulsions were only stopped after Mobutu stepped in following an international outcry.   Together with the refugees, eastern Zaire is also home to Rwanda's 40,000-strong former Hutu army and Hutu militiamen who infiltrate back into Rwanda and are a major security concern for Kigali.   Government officials said Rwanda would also raise with Kengo the issue of the rebels based in Zaire who together with Hutu rebels in Burundi have stepped up their attacks in Rwanda and Burundi this year.   Rwandan officials said they wanted assurances that Zaire would take action against rebels operating from its territory.   The rebels have disrupted economic activity in the Rwandan border towns of Cyangugu and Gisenyi, Rwandan officials say.   In Burundi, Hutu guerrillas operating from bases in eastern Zaire have gained ground this year in their ferocious war with Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army despite Zaire closing its border with Burundi to prevent an influx of refugees from the conflict.   In the largest repatration movement since they left in 1994, Rwandan Hutu refugees are streaming home from camps in northern Burundi, accusing the Tutsi-dominated army of harassment.   The U.N. refugee agency expected up to 5,000 Rwandan refugees to enter southern Rwanda from Burundi on Wednesday.   The refugee flood swelled after Burundian troops killed three refugees as they tried to flee Magara camp on Sunday.   The army said soldiers fired after a Rwandan refugee shot at them. 
842 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd has been hit by violent trade union action at three of its mines which has claimed the lives of at least 17 miners in the past two weeks.   Production at the Leeudoorn division of Kloof Gold Mining Company Ltd was at a standstill after the killing of four miners in clashes between supporters of rival unions on Monday, Gold Fields spokeswoman Marian Brower said.   On Wednesday, Gold Fields executive director Alan Munro and the president of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), James Motlatsi met in a bid to defuse the situation which has cost millions of rand in lost production.   "They wholeheartedly expressed their respective commitment to preventing any further violence and restoring a climate of peaceful co-existence of all employees," they said in a joint statement after the talks.   Brower said the conflict at Leeudoorn and violence at Driefontein Consolidated Mines Ltd's east mine in which seven miners were killed last week, was costing millions of rand in lost production.   "It will probably run into millions by now," she said, adding that no production had been taking place at Leeudoorn for the past three days.   She said production at Leeudoorn, which produced 1,544 kg of gold in the quarter to end June, could be delayed further.   "We are probably not going to start production until we have solved the problems on surface," she said.   In other violence at a Gold Fields-managed mine, six more miners were killed in fighting at Northam Platinum Ltd on August 11.   Brower said it was possible that the conflict at the three mines -- pitting NUM supporters against miners loyal to the United Workers Union of South Africa (Uwusa) -- could be linked.   "It is the same thing, it is exactly the same thing at all three operations.   It is beginning to look like more than coincidence," Brower said.   NUM said it condemned the latest violence at Leeudoorn and warned that any union members found to be behind the conflict would be regarded as having dismissed themselves from the union.   "We will not tolerate violence from our members towards other workers," Motlatsi said in a statement on Tuesday.   NUM is aligned to President Nelson Mandela's ruling African National Congress (ANC) while the much smaller Uwusa has strong links to the rival Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party.   --Marius Bosch, Johannesburg newsroom, +27-11 482 1003 
843 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Ethiopia's transport and communications minister, wounded in an assassination attempt last month, returned to Ethiopia on Wednesday after treatement in Israel.   Abdulmejid Hussein was shot six times by unidentified gunmen on his way to his office in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa July 8.   Two people were killed in an ensuing shootout with guards.   A smiling Abdulmejid told reporters at Addis Ababa airport he needed no extra medical care and would soon go back to work.   "As you can see, I can walk, read and write," he said.   He said the attempt on his life was part of a campaign "by terrorists" bent on undermining Ethiopian peace and development.   "We shall never kneel before such terrorist acts," he said.   Ethiopian troops, backed by artillery and helicopter gunships, launched a two-day incursion into western Somalia on August 8 and 9 to destroy what Addis Ababa said were Moslem fundamentalist training camps linked to attacks in Ethiopia.   The Ethiopian government said its troops killed more than 200 people and captured documents showing "terrorist" groups in Somalia aimed to destabilise Ethiopia and other countries in the region. 
844 !GCAT !GPOL  Former president F.W. de Klerk reached back to the year 1652 on Wednesday as he sought to place apartheid in a context that would not make his National Party look all bad.   "The commission should consider the elusive nature of truth in an historical and political context," de Klerk told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the start of a three-hour presentation of his party's hindsight view of South Africa's race conflict.   He said his ancestors had arrived with the first wave of white settlers 344 years ago, fleeing religious persecution of protestants in France, and became Afrikaners -- "A people of Africa, white Africans".   De Klerk noted that South African governments inherited race segregation policies from British colonial administrations that ran much of the country in the last century.   "We are all the children of our times and the product of the cultural and political circumstances into which we were born.   "Deplorable as it now may seem, until the middle of this century hardly anyone in the European-dominated world considered that the indigenous peoples of the far-flung colonial empires were ready to rule themselves," de Klerk said.   "In the southern states of the United States the colour bar was still firmly in place."   The National Party voted in to power by the white electorate in 1948 had fought the African National Congress partly because of its alliance with the South African Communist Party, "one of the most Stalinist and pro-Soviet parties in the world".   Against the abuses committed by security forces, had to be set the record of the ANC's "revolutionary strategy" that included destruction of thousands of homes and schools and the deaths of 295 people by the "necklace", he said.   During the 1980s young black activists killed suspected "sell-outs" in their communities by placing burning tyres around their necks.   "The security forces were expected to play by the rules while their opponents could use any methods that they liked," de Klerk said, comparing apartheid governments with Britain:   "There was a perceived need for unconventional counter-strategies of the kind developed by the British and others in successful campaigns against insurgency and terrorism."   De Klerk noted that he and his conservative predecessor P.W. Botha were the only National Party presidents still alive but said Botha had refused to collaborate in drafting the party's submission to the commission.   De Klerk said the National Party had changed drastically from the Botha days and now counted blacks, mixed-race Coloureds and Indians among its supporters. 
845 !GCAT !GDEF  South Africa's white generals on Wednesday again balked at revealing full details of a controversial project to make chemical weapons during the last days of apartheid.   Despite intense pressure from members of the parliamentary public accounts committee, South African National Defence Force chief Georg Meiring and his top staff insisted that making public key details of "Project B" would be a "serious breach of security".   But what they did reveal depicted a trail of intrigue and deception involving a foreign agent who disappeared with $1.6 million in state funds and the sale of state assets worth at least 50 million rand ($11 million) for 350,000 rand ($77,000).   Although Meiring refused to name the foreign agent or say where he was, documents before the committee said the Office of Serious Economic Offences was investigating the deposit of the $1.6 million "into an account in Croatia".   Meiring said the agent had been used to buy "very sensitive chemicals" from an Eastern European country for Project B, which was aimed at developing chemical and biological weapons.   But the deal went sour and the agent disappeared with the money.   An officer was sent to Europe to trace the agent, but he was "set up" and arrested after being repaid with "fraudulent money instruments".   The agent had, however, since made a statement to the South African Embassy in Bonn and had contacted the defence force by telephone.   He offered to help recover the money but Meiring said it had been difficult to keep in touch with him since then.   Committee members also questioned the sale of four companies involved in the project to senior staff for nominal amounts that did not bear any relation to their real value.   The committee then went into a closed session for a further briefing by Meiring.   This was the second time this year that the committee had tried to get Meiring to lift the lid on the project in public.   In May, he also refused to divulge details.   ($=4.56 rand) 
846 !GCAT !GENV  Ethnic Somali nomads in arid northeastern Kenya have gotten a court order to stop the Kenya Wildlife Service from relocating rare antelopes out of a national park.   Five nomads argued in papers sent to the high court that the hirola antelope was "a good omen and a gift of nature bestowed on the local people".   "According to the traditional beliefs and customs of the pastoralist communities of the people who live side by side with hirola, its translocation to another far off land will bring disaster to the people and their livestock," they said.   The Kenya Wildlife Service says a move to Tsavo National Park from the Arawale area in the northeast will help to conserve the hirola, of which only 350 remain in the world.   The Nairobi court, which issued a temporary ruling on Tuesday, will make a final decision after a full hearing. 
847 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !M11 !MCAT  Zimbabwe's key industrial index jumped nearly 54 points higher on Wednesday, boosted mostly by foreign bargain hunters who were expected to remain strong players on the market in coming days.   But dealers noted many local investors stayed off on the day, watching developments in Zimbabwe's public sector where civil servants were defying calls by the government to end a two-day strike for higher pay.   "The strike had some effect on some local investors.   Many are watching to see how the government will handle the strike," one broker commented.   "But foreign investors are active and the hunt for bargains is fairly high and pushing share prices up," he added.   "I think these will determine the direction of the market for some days"   The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange's 57-counter industrial index rose 53.89 points to 5,571.55 following five-cent gains in money market dealers Discount Company of Zimbabwe (DCZ) at 120, textilers David Whitehead at 55 and Zimbabwe Sugar Refinery (ZSR) at 825.   Dealers said bluechip conglomerate Delta gained 40 cents in "reasonable turnover" to 2,660.   In minings, trading was generally quiet but the seven-share mining index rose 1.07 points to 1,249.24 after a 10 cents gain in coal miners Wankie at 295.   -- Cris Chinaka, Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 27/8/9 
848 !GCAT !GPOL  F.W. de Klerk, the white National Party leader who turned South Africa from apartheid towards democracy, sought on Wednesday to explain the policies of his National Party to a post-apartheid "truth commission".   This is a partial text of his presentation:   "I stand before you today neither in shame nor in arrogance, but deeply conscious of my responsibility...to be open, frank and helpful...to stand by those who served under me...to admit that which was wrong, to defend that which was right and to continue to build bridges in our quest for reconciliation.   "It is a gross injustice to put all the blame for the conflicts of the past on the shoulders of the National party...the killing, torture and intimidation of so many black South Africans by the revolutionary movements cannot simply be justified by the struggle against apartheid.   "The National Party is prepared to admit its many mistakes of the past and is genuinely repentant....and we have gone on our knees before God Almighty to pray for His forgiveness.   "We are all children of our times and the product of the cultural and political circumstances into which we were born and with which we grew up.   Deplorable as it may now seem, until the middle of the century, hardly anyone in the European-dominated world considered that the indigenous peoples of the far-flung colonial empires were ready to rule themselves.   "However, in the 15 years between 1955 and 1970, most of the countries of Africa were granted independence.   The receding empires left the whites of South Africa increasingly isolated and out of step with the rest of humanity.   "We thought that we could solve the complex problems that confronted us by giving each of the 10 distinguishable black South African nations self-government and independence within... a commonwealth of South African states.   "The homelands were too small, too poor and economically too unattractive to provide a decent livelihood for all their citizens.   It was evident that the great majority of black South Africans totally rejected the concept of separate development.   "The policy of separate development had clearly failed.   "Those who fought on the side of the government believed that they were defending their country against what they perceived to be the aggressive expansion of Soviet communism.   "On the other hand, those who fought against the government were often equally convinced that they were fighting against a bastion of capitalism and imperialism.   "The great majority of those who served in the security forces during the conflict were honourable, professional and dedicated men and women.   They were convinced that their cause was just, necessary and legitimate.   "The revolutionary strategies adopted by the government's opponents blurred traditional distinctions between combatants and non-combatants, between legitimate and illegitimate targets, and between acceptable and unacceptable methods.   "In dealing with the unconventional strategies from the side of the government, I want to make it clear from the outset that, within my knowledge and experience, they never included the authorisation of assassination, murder, torture, rape, assault or the like...Nor did I individually, directly or indirectly, ever suggest, order or authorise any such action.   "The fundamental change of direction that I initiated...was not supported by some elements in the security forces.   My colleagues and I were accused along the grapevine of being soft and of being traitors.   "I suspect that many of the unauthorised action that are now coming to light were at the time directed as much against the transformation process as they were directed against the revolutionary threat.   "Obviously, there rests an overall responsibility on the leadership of the various parties, organisations and institutions which were part of the conflict.   "I accept such overall responsibility in respect of the period of my leadership.   "However...responsibility should be attributed to... individual ministers for all decisions taken by them personally in their ministerial capacity, including authorised actions and operations executed in terms of a reasonable interpretation of instructions issued by them.   "Reconciliation...cannot be achieved unless there is also repentance on all sides.   It is in this spirit that I want to emphasise that it is not my intention to excuse or gloss over the many unacceptable things that occurred during the period of Natonal Party rule.   They happened and caused immeasurable pain and suffering to many.   "I should like to express my deepest sympathy with all those on all sides who suffered during the conflict.   "I and many other leading figures have already publicly apologised for the pain and suffering caused by former policies of the National Party.   I reiterate these apologies today.   "No single side in the conflict of the past has a monopoly of virtue or should bear responsibility for all the abuses that occurred.   Neither can any single side claim sole credit for the transformation of South Africa.   "The transformation belongs to us all." 
849 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Accusations of renewed skirmishing between Liberian factions surfaced in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Wednesday, days after a new deal was agreed to end six years of civil war.   "I have complained to Alhaji Kromah about skirmishing in Bomi County (northwest Liberia), where one of our fighters was shot in the leg as we were handing over heavy weapons in accordance with the agreement," General Roosevelt Johnson told Reuters by telephone from Abuja.   The clash was not independently confirmed.   A peace deal agreed with West African leaders on Saturday forsees the disarmament of an estimated 60,000 combatants and the holding of elections by May 1997.   Over a dozen peace deals have failed to end the war launched by faction leader Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) in late 1989.   Taylor and Kromah are both vice-chairmen of an interim ruling State Council.   Their attempt to arrest Johnson for murder in April triggered some of the bloodiest fighting of the war in the streets of Monrovia, pitting Johnson's ULIMO-J faction and ethnic Krahn allies against Taylor and Kromah.   United Nations envoy in Liberia Anthony Nyakyi on Tuesday told Reuters ULIMO-J had returned two artillery pieces to the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force, seized during fighting in December and January.   The Liberia Peace Council, another Krahn faction, accused Taylor's forces on Saturday of attacking its positions in the southeast in Grand Gedeh County.   NPFL officials in Abuja said they had received the accusation in a letter but could give no confirmation.   "A meeting between Taylor and his high command before coming to Abuja has mandated his troops to the extent that even when shot at they are bound not to retaliate," an NPFL statement said on Wednesday.   At least 150,000 people are thought to have been killed in the civil war in Africa's oldest republic, founded by freed slaves in 1847.   Leaders of all the significant factions are still in Abuja.   Officials from several of them said they were hoping to meet with Nigerian military ruler General Abacha for further discussions on Wednesday.   "I am sure we can sort things out, the peace plan must work," Johnson said.   Johnson said he intended to return to the Liberian capital as soon as possible.   The United States airlifted him out to peace talks in Ghana in May, but declined to fly him back.   The latest peace deal threatens faction leaders with sanctions, including seizure of assets and war crimes tribunals, if they are seen to be obstructing the peace process.   Under the deal the West African peacekeeping force will start disarming the fighters in September.   The operation is due to be finished by November.   "We are hopeful that people will keep to their words in keeping with the Abuja accord and we have reasons to believe that they will comply with what they agreed," Nyakyi said on Tuesday. 
850 !GCAT !GCRIM  South African squatters discovered two murdered toddlers in an abandoned fridge in Soweto township outside Johannesburg, police said on Wednesday.   They found a three-year-old girl, Mpho Johannes, and a four-year-old boy, Pohane Rathepe, on Tuesday night.   "The girl was strangled and the boy stabbed to death," a police statement said.   The motive was not known.   Police said they had detained a man for questioning.   "His wife was severely beaten at the scene by an angry mob and was taken to hospital," they said. 
851 !GCAT !GPOL  President Mohamed Taki of the coup-prone Comoro Islands dissolved the government on Wednesday and asked his outgoing prime minister to form a new cabinet.   Ministers said Taki summoned them at short notice and told them Prime Minister Tadjiddine Ben Said Massonde had tendered his resignation and had been asked to form a new government.   Taki dissolved the 14-member government a week after suspending government and ministerial meetings in preparation for a new cabinet with its members united in one political party.   Earlier this month Taki said he wanted to unite the parties which supported him in presidential polls in March this year.   The government dissolved on Wednesday included candidates he defeated in presidential elections but who were seen as necessary to balance political factions after an abortive coup in September last year.   The Indian Ocean Comoro Islands have seen up to 17 coups or attempted coups since independence from France in 1975. 
852 !GCAT !GPOL  One of the last chapters on South Africa's apartheid rule, a policy of racial segregation and oppression, was written on Wednesday when former president F.W. de Klerk apologised for past human rights violations.   His Afrikaner-led National Party turned a tradition of racial inequality, during three centuries of Dutch and British colonial rule, into an official doctrine when it defeated more moderate parties in the whites-only general election in 1948.   In 1949, restrictive laws underpinning apartheid -- an Afrikaner word meaning separateness -- began to be implemented.   The four official race groups -- white, black, Indian and Coloured (mixed-race) -- had to live in separate areas, babies had to be registered by race, sex between whites and other races was banned and park benches, toilets and public facilities for races were segregated, with the best reserved for whites.   In 1959 the government created 10 black "homelands", giving whites 87 percent of land and blacks the barren 13 percent.   1960 - Police killed 69 people in an anti-apartheid protest at Sharpeville, near Johannesburg.   The government -- run by the National Party until 1994 -- banned black resistance groups.   1964 - Nelson Mandela and senior African National Congress associates were jailed for life for resisting apartheid.   1976 - Over 600 blacks died in a year-long uprising sparked by a Soweto student revolt against inferior apartheid education.   1986 - Emergency rule was declared.   The U.S. Congress passed comprehensive sanctions, followed by many Western governments.   1989 - F.W. de Klerk replaced P.W. Botha as National Party leader and then president and won elections as a reformist.   1990 - De Klerk repudiated apartheid, unbanned some 30 black opposition groups and freed Mandela after 27 years in jail.   1991 - Apartheid laws and racist restrictions were repealed.   Power-sharing talks started between the state and 16 anti-apartheid groups.   1992 - De Klerk won 70 percent in a referendum to test support among 3.3 million white voters for apartheid reforms.   1994 - Apartheid was given the final death blow when ANC won 62.65 percent of the vote in the first all-race elections.   1996 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins its task of revealing and healing the injustices of apartheid.   South Africans acknowledge the wounds of apartheid and its economic iniquities will take decades, or even longer, to heal. 
853 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Zimbabwe's public servants walked out of their jobs in a rare strike over pay this week, which many local political and economic analysts see as a reflection of heated social frustrations in the southern African state.   Some also believe the strike -- which took President Robert Mugabe's government by surprise -- may also trigger a round of general industrial unrest from workers in private and state enterprises who have been grumbling about low wages.   "There is widespread frustration in the country, and it is much higher in the public service which is closer to political double standards," said John Makumbe, an outspoken government critic and political scientist at Harare's University of Zimbabwe.   "What the strike shows is that the civil servants can no longer accept the perennial excuse from the government that it can't pay them decent salaries because it has no money.   They see how the little there is is being used and mostly wastefully," Makumbe told Reuters.   The Public Service Association (PSA) union called the strike to press demands for wage rises of around 30 percent, rejecting as "an unacceptable insult" an up to eight percent increase recently awarded by the government.   "Many" in Zimbabwe's 180,000-strong civil service on Wednesday defied government orders to return to work, leaving some critical essential services partially paralysed, according to the PSA.   Major state hospitals throughout the country were struggling to cope with growing queues of patients, and the army was using state radio to recall medical personnel on leave to help out.   The government has declared the strike illegal and threatened to dismiss those who did not return to work on Wednesday, but the PSA said it would not give in without a concrete promise that its grievances would be addressed seriously.   Makumbe said Mugabe's government, whose spending accounts for about 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and last year ran a 10.1 percent budget deficit, seemed only concerned with paying top officials.   "That is what is fuelling public frustration," he said, noting that the government had paid most of its workers an average 20 percent wage rise last year while Mugabe and huge cabinet awarded themselves over 130 percent.   The ministers have not yet announced their own increases this year, but John Makoni, executive secretary of the Public Service Association, said there was "justified suspicion" the top leaders planned to take big rises again.   Makumbe and Kempton Makamure, another political analyst, said there was also general anger that Mugabe and his dominant ZANU-PF party -- who have ruled with little challenge over the last 16 years -- have a tendency to ride rough-shod.   Unconfirmed reports that the 72-year-old Mugabe had left Harare on a honeymoon with his former presidential secretary, Grace Marufu, 31, whom he wed at a lavish ceremony at the weekend, also fed public anger on Wednesday.   A Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) official told reporters he feared the current civil servants strike could spark unrest in other private and state-owned sectors.   "The possibilities are great but if the government shows flexibility that it is ready to negotiate...the others would take its lead and all we will get is hard bargaining," he said.   Economist John Robertson said the strike showed government should have cut its civil service size and set itself on paying a leaner body better.   "The government would certainly be in a position to pay well if it took this decision.   It has been saying for years it wants to do this but it hasn't and this is the result," he said.   The government says workers must demand "reasonable salaries" to help it bring down annual inflation, from about 22 percent now to around 15 percent by next June. 
854 !GCAT !GPOL  When F.W. de Klerk apologised to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's "truth commission" on Wednesday for the sins of apartheid, he was admitting the fault of generations of his white Calvinist Afrikaner nation.   In a 29-page submission explaining the actions of his National Party (NP) during 45 years of apartheid rule, the former president, 60, admitted that many grave mistakes were made.   Acknowledging the mistakes implicated even his own family.   "I retain my deep respect for our former leaders," de Klerk told the commission that is slowly laying bare the gruesome reality of systematic white oppression.   "Within the context of their time, circumstances and convictions, they were good and honourable men -- although history has subsequently shown that, as far as the policy of apartheid was concerned, they were deeply mistaken in the course upon which they embarked.   "My own father was a cabinet minister under three prime ministers and my aunt was married to a prime minister of South Africa.   I myself have always been a loyal supporter of the National Party," he said.   But it was de Klerk who, in 1989, led a cabinet revolt against the increasingly autocratic rule of President P.W. Botha, who had pitted his white-led army and police against the aspirations of the five-to-one black majority.   As president from September that year, de Klerk quickly abandoned the tradition of brutally suppressing black dissent by allowing Tutu to lead a massive march through Cape Town.   On February 2, 1990, de Klerk stunned the world, including most of his own white cabinet, by legalising the long-banned African National Congress, including its armed wing, and the South African Communist Party.   Eight days later, he freed Nelson Mandela after 27 years of political imprisonment and immediately began talks that led to the country's first all-race elections in April 1994.   De Klerk and Mandela shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their efforts to end white rule, but Mandela charged even then that "although Mr de Klerk is in discussions with us, he is actually waging a war against our people."   The relationship between de Klerk, a chain-smoking whisky drinker, and the austere Mandela, who enjoys only an occasional glass of sweet wine, was often strained.   In October last year it degenerated to the extent where the leaders wagged angry fingers at each other in a Johannesburg street after Mandela had blamed de Klerk's former government for continuing violence and crime.   "Our marriage is therefore not a marriage in the real sense of the word.   There are some fundamental philosophical differences between us," de Klerk told Reuters at the time.   De Klerk, a small-town lawyer and a devout Calvinist from a fundamentalist wing of the Reformed Church family, was regarded as a conservative within the white National Party.   His wife Marike, with whom he raised three adopted children, bolstered the conservative label when she described the Afrikaner nation's Coloured cousins as "the leftovers of creation."   Awed by his own family's central role in creating and implementing the network of segregationist laws that made South Africa an international pariah, de Klerk refused long after he repudiated apartheid to acknowledge that it had been a mistake.   But he has slowly expanded the scope of his apology to the barely qualified confession he made on Wednesday.   "It is not my intention to excuse or gloss over the many unacceptable things that occurred during the period of National Party rule.   They happened and caused immeasurable pain and suffering to many.   "I should like to express my deepest sympathy with all those on all sides who suffered during the conflict," he said.   De Klerk was appointed as one of Mandela's two deputies after the landmark 1994 elections in which his party won 20 percent of the vote.   But he and his party were seen to be sidelined in the new government, having little influence on policy formation and being denied the opposition right to criticise the government of which it was at least nominally a part.   De Klerk withdrew from the coalition at the end of June this year, promising Mandela's African National Congress "a very, very hard time". 
855 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Niger's near-bankrupt government plans to cut its annual student grant bill to 3.8 billion CFA ($7.5 million) from 4.5 billion, sources at the higher education ministry said on Wednesday.   The ministry announced a new grant system last week aimed at cutting costs by reducing administration and limiting access to state funding, notably for older students.   The military government owes six billion CFA in grant arrears which have reached 15 months for some students, while at the same time Niger's 40,000 civil servants are owed five months back pay.   Non-payment of grants has caused regular and violent student demonstrations.   The 1995-96 academic year was declared invalid and Niamey university was closed indefinitely in January to prevent a new protest campaign.   The state treasury currently has a deficit of 200 billion CFA.   Niger is undergoing a tough economic reform programme overseen by the International Monetary Fund which granted an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility in June.   ($=508 CFA)   -- Abidjan newsroom +225 21 90 90 
856 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Nigerian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY TIMES   - New military administrators of Nigeria's 30 states are to be sworn in on Wednesday.   - Central Bank of Nigeria releases 676 million naira in stabilisation securities to merchant banks.   THE GUARDIAN   - Shareholders and interim directors of Savannah Bank endorse proposals to end the bank's crisis.   THISDAY   - Consumer rights protection group condemns special levies imposed by Nigerian Telecommunications (NITEL) to repair exchanges destroyed by fire.   --Lagos newsroom +234 1 2630317 
857 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Ivorian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   FRATERNITE MATIN   - Police under orders of new security minister Dibonan Kone detain 262 suspects in raid on lawless Krindjabo cinema area in Abidjan's Adjame district as part of government anti-crime campaign.   LA VOIE   - Indigenous Betes and migrant Baoules welcome opposition Ivorian Popular Front leader together to Kripahio as part of celebrations marking the investiture of Gagnoa's municipal council.   Political and ethnic violence in the Gagnoa area before and after last October's presidential election killed at least 25 people and forced some 10,000 Baoule farmers to flee their settlements.   - Authorities quietly appoint new prefect (local administrator) for Gagnoa.   -- Abidjan newsroom +225 21 90 90 
858 !GCAT !GPOL  White former president F.W. de Klerk appeared before South Africa's "truth commission" on Wednesday to begin a lengthy explanation of apartheid from the point of view of his National Party which imposed it.   On his way to the Good Hope centre he drove past a score of black demonstrators carrying placards reading "Apartheid -- never again" and "How many people died during apartheid?"    Inside, he was greeted with loud applause from the 300-strong crowd, mostly party supporters.   Former archbishop Desmond Tutu began proceedings with a prayer.   The reformist de Klerk, who freed Nelson Mandela from jail in 1990 and smoothed the country's successful 1994 transition to democracy after 46 years of white minority rule, has said his party will accept the blame for "many things that went wrong".   De Klerk said he planned to cover South Africa's history as far back as 1652 when the first white settlers arrived.   South Africans, especially the victims of apartheid, were waiting to see if he would expose new truths about the past, say sorry for its wrongs, or salvage what propaganda value he could for his reformed party, which quit Mandela's coalition in June for a new life in opposition, from the history of race war. 
859 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  The U.N. refugee agency said it expected up to 5,000 Rwandan refugees to stream into Rwanda from Burundi on Wednesday as part of the biggest move back since they fled after 1994's genocide.   Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Rwanda, said 4,500 returned from Magara camp in northern Burundi on Tuesday despite heavy rain turning roads into seas of mud.   "If it doesn't rain heavily again we expect 4,000 to 5,000 back today," said Stromberg.   "On Tuesday we had to call off the operation early because of problems on the Rwandan side of the border."   He said trucks stopped taking refugees out of Magara camp in Burundi after only four hours on Tuesday as rains on Monday had made an access road to a transit camp impassable so 2,500 were diverted to a stadium in the southern Rwandan town of Butare.   "Between 1,000 and 1,500 had to spend a second night last night at the stadium," said Stromberg, adding another problem was a shortage of UNHCR plastic sheeting for the returnees.   "We have about 14,000 still in Magara camp and at this rate we theoretically would be down to zero there in a few days.   We are now in contact with Burundian authorities to establish what will happen to those people who don't want to return," he said.   The refugee flood swelled after Burundian troops killed three refugees as they tried to flee Magara camp on Sunday.   The army said soldiers fired after a Rwandan refugee shot at them.   Some refugees also stoned soldiers at Magara camp after refusing to tear down shelters left empty by returning refugees.   "During the rock throwing incident at Magara it was clear that there are groups who desperately do not want to go back.   We hope they will not stop others going back," Stromberg said.   He said after all those refugees who wanted to leave Magara had done so a repatriation campaign would move on to the last Rwandan refugee camp in Burundi at Rukuramigabo, which has some 13,000 Rwandans.   There were 135,000 Rwandan refugees in Burundi at the start of the year.   Refugees accuse the Tutsi-dominated Burundian army, which seized power on July 25, of a deliberate campaign of harassment and say they are leaving because they fear for their lives.   The flood of Rwandan Hutus this month from Burundi is the biggest mass movement homewards since a total of two million Rwandans fled to Burundi, Tanzania and Zaire in 1994 during civil war and the genocide of up to one million people by Hutus.   "It is good to return.   I have not seen Rwanda since August 1994," said refugee Tharcisse Nyanranzima, unloading plastic sheeting, a bucket and his brother's artificial limb off a lorry at Musange transit camp five km (three miles) outside Butare.   "We should have come home before but the rumours and lies in the Burundi camps are incredible," said Nyanranzima on Tuesday as sodden refugees sloshed through mud towards the camp.   Hardline Hutus among the refugees say they fear they will be killed if they return to Rwanda in reprisal for the genocide.   Butare governor Atanase Samuhungu told Reuters he expected some refugees to face problems on reaching their home villages.   Burundi's new Tutsi military leader Pierre Buyoya pledged on Tuesday to protect the Rwandan refugees in line with international conventions and said a team of investigators had been sent to northern Burundi to check on their complaints.   Burundian army officers have accused the Rwandan Hutu refugees of backing Hutu Burundian rebels infiltrating Burundi. 
860 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Kenyan press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY NATION   - An opposition alliance opposes a suggestion by a member of parliament that a select committee on constitutional and legal reforms be appointed to deal with an impasse in the reform debate.   - President Daniel arap Moi says opposition leaders Raila Odinga and Kenneth Matiba plan civil disobedience in Trans Nzoia district and warns of tough measures against anyone trying to create fear and despondency.   EAST AFRICAN STANDARD   - 160 ruling Kenya African National Union supporters in northeast province defect to the opposition FORD-Kenya party.   - Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka is accused of attempting to muzzle the press through intimidation and issuing threats.   KENYA TIMES   - Health minister Joshua Angatia says the government is reforming the health sector to improve the quality of services.   ($1=57 Shillings) 
861 !GCAT !GVIO  Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed clinched a truce with Chechen rebels on Wednesday night and, just hours short of a grim deadline, promised to halt Russian generals' plan to bomb Grozny.   "Lebed gave a guarantee that there would be no storm of Grozny tomorrow nor in the future," separatist chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov told Reuters after his late-night talks with President Boris Yeltsin's personal envoy to Chechnya.   Lebed said the Russian army commander's ultimatum to clear the rebel-held Chechen capital before an all-out air and artillery bombardment on Thursday morning was "a bad joke".   He would meet the separatists again on Thursday at 10 a.m. in the same village, Novye Atagi 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny, to follow-up their talks on a truce and take "concrete decisions on a ceasefire and separating the warring sides".   "I have taken it upon myself never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums," said Lebed, the man to whom Yeltsin last week gave sweeping powers to make peace after the separatists humiliated the army and seized Grozny on August 6.   The last few days, however, has seen a stream contradiction in Russia over Chechen policy and Lebed was asked by reporters if he was sure he had the power to stop the generals.   "I am going there (Grozny army headquarters) now to see to it that things will be quiet tomorrow," he said firmly.   Maskhadov, a former colonel in the Soviet army whose forces have proved more than a match for Russian troops in 20 months of fighting, said he was putting his faith in Lebed as a soldier.   "His guarantee was the word of honour of a Russian officer," he said.   "As an officer in the Russia army I trust his word."   "We hope Lebed will be able to conquer those in Moscow who do not want to conclude the war...We hope that never again will it be like when we negotiated and then the next day federal forces began to bomb our villages," Maskhadov said.   He warned, however, that if Lebed was thwarted by enemies in the Kremlin, the war would go on.   "If Lebed does not succeed in stopping the war then we will fight on.   That's nothing we're not used to," he told Reuters.   One Chechen woman ran up to a smiling Lebed after he had taken supper with Maskhadov and shouted: "You're our only hope."   Turning to a small crowd of local people, Lebed said: "We will strive to end the war and justify your hopes."   Earlier in the day, Russian warplanes and artillery had pounded Grozny where tens of thousands of civilians have been unable or unwilling to join thousands of others who have fled.   But the bombing stopped as Lebed flew in and Grozny remained quiet all evening, lit only by the glow from burning buildings.   Asked about his tug-of-war with the generals, Lebed was quoted as saying earlier in the day: "No one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing."   "Here we have to restore a single command structure."   Lebed has overall control of decisions affecting Chechnya.   On two meetings with Maskhadov last week he laid the ground for a shaky ceasefire that has held for much of the past week.   Russian news agencies said Lebed met the Russian commander, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, before heading for the village of Novye Atagi 20 km (12 miles) south of Gronzy.   Tass quoted Lebed as saying after he met Tikhomirov that he would discuss "demilitarising" Grozny and pulling troops away from the foothills of the Caucasus in the south.   The tug of policy between Lebed and the generals highlighted confusion in the absence of Yeltsin.   Aides said he was taking a short break in northwest Russia.   Interfax said he would be back in Moscow on Wednesday and in the Kremlin on Thursday.   Civilians trapped in cellars, fearing carpet bombing from Russian forces, pleaded for help from the outside world and said they felt they had been abandoned in their own country.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war," said a handwritten appeal, passed to foreign journalists by a refugee.   The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Russia on Wednesday to extend the ultimatum for civilians to quit Grozny, saying the deadline did not give people time to leave.   The ICRC said in a statement that an estimated 60,000 people left the Chechen capital late last week and a further 70,000 fled on Tuesday.   But about 120,000 remained.   Many of Russia's western partners condemned the threat of bombing and urged Russia to halt its Chechnya campaign.   U.S. President Bill Clinton sent a letter to Yeltsin urging an end to the violence in Chechnya.   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which pulled its mission out of Grozny, also called for a peaceful settlement.   A statement by the 51-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Moslem world's largest organisation, said the group's secretary-general, Hamid Algabid, "expressed serious concern and anguish over the ultimatum". 
862 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed met rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov in Chechnya on Wednesday night and vowed to stop Russian generals carrying out a threat to bombard the capital Grozny.   Russian forces had pounded the rebel-held city before Lebed's arrival.   Civilians trapped there pleaded for help from the outside world as warplanes dropped tonnes of high explosive.   But the bombing stopped as Lebed flew in and Grozny remained quiet, lit only by the glow from burning buildings.   Lebed, given sweeping powers by President Boris Yeltsin last week to settle the 20-month-old Chechen conflict, said he had come to bring peace and promised to find a solution to the army threat to launch an all-out bombardment on Thursday morning.   Lebed, echoing an earlier comment by Defence Minister Igor Rodionov, said the ultimatum was not approved in Moscow.   "Nobody agreed it with anyone.   Everything is as it was, no one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing," Lebed told Interfax news agency.   "Here we have to restore a single command structure.   There will be no more ultimatums."   Lebed has overall control of decisions affecting Chechnya.   On two meetings with Maskhadov last week he laid the ground for a ceasefire.   Before Wednesday's meeting, he was quoted as saying he intended to separate the warring sides "as we agreed before".   The earlier bombing had seemed to signal the start of long-expected air raids to drive out the guerrillas who captured most of the city more than two weeks ago.   But Lebed said he "came with peace" and insisted he would settle the problem of the army ultimatum by Thursday morning.   "We will no longer speak in the language of ultimatums," he was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.   It was unclear, however, if the generals would heed his commands.   The Russian military command had given civilians 48 hours from Tuesday to quit Grozny before the assault started.   Russian news agencies said Lebed met the Russian commander, Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, before heading for the village of Novye Atagi 20 km (12 miles) south of Gronzy.   Tass quoted Lebed as saying after he met Tikhomirov that he would discuss "demilitarising" Grozny and pulling troops away from the foothills of the Caucasus in the south.   The tug of policy between Lebed and the generals highlighted confusion in the absence of Yeltsin.   Aides said he was taking a short break in northwest Russia.   Interfax said he would be back in Moscow on Wednesday and in the Kremlin on Thursday.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by the separatists' August 6 attack on Grozny and fierce fighting in which hundreds were killed, had seemed set on avenging itself.   RIA news agency, quoting the head of the military prosecutor's office in Chechnya, said 420 Russian servicemen had been killed and 1,300 had been wounded in the latest fighting for the control of Grozny, once a city of 400,000 people.   Civilians trapped in cellars, fearing carpet bombing from Russian forces, pleaded for help from the outside world and said they felt they had been abandoned in their own country.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously from heavy weaponry.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water, or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops," said a handwritten appeal, passed to foreign journalists by a refugee.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war."   The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Russia on Wednesday to extend the ultimatum for civilians to quit Grozny, saying the deadline did not give people time to leave.   The ICRC said in a statement that an estimated 60,000 people left the Chechen capital late last week and a further 70,000 fled on Tuesday.   But about 120,000 remained.   The United States, Germany and France condemned the threat of bombing and urged Russia to halt its Chechnya campaign.   U.S. President Bill Clinton sent a letter to Yeltsin urging an end to the violence in Chechnya.   The Moslem world's largest organisation called for Moscow to refrain from the use of force and to seek a political agreement to settle the crisis.   A statement by the 51-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said the group's secretary-general, Hamid Algabid, "expressed serious concern and anguish over the ultimatum issued by the Russian military authorities followed by a threat to use all possible means against...Grozny."   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has pulled its mission out of Grozny, also called for a peaceful settlement. 
863 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  A senior German diplomat visited Moscow on Wednesday to press home Bonn's growing alarm about the situation in breakaway Chechnya and urge Russia to halt its military campaign there, the German foreign ministry said.   German politicians from across the political spectrum called on Russian President Boris Yeltsin to halt the bloodshed.   Opposition parties demanded Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Yeltsin's closest Western ally, use his influence with his friend to help end the fighting.   Wolfgang Ischinger, the foreign ministry's political director, made clear to Russian government officials Bonn's desire for a peaceful settlement in Chechnya under the aegis of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).   "In his talks in Moscow, the political director stressed our great concern about current developments," a ministry statement said.   "He stressed the necessity of a peaceful solution that involves the OSCE and underscored our call to refrain from further military action."   Ischinger insisted in talks with Russia's National Security Council that security chief Alexander Lebed quickly hold talks with the leader of the OSCE mission in Chechnya.   Ischinger was told the request would be passed on to Lebed immediately.   The OSCE mission has withdrawn from the Chechen capital of Grozny in the light of Russian forces' threat on Monday to bomb Grozny if rebels, who captured most of the city on August 6, did not withdraw.   "We expressly urge President Yeltsin to forbid the big offensive in Chechnya announced by Russian forces and do his utmost... so that the bloodshed will end," said Rudolf Seiters, deputy parliamentary leader of Kohl's Christian Democrats.   Kohl said in a television interview at the weekend that he had repeatedly raised the issue of human rights abuses in Chechnya with Yeltsin and that he would call the Russian leader again once Kohl returned from his summer holiday in Austria.   Rudolf Scharping, parliamentary leader of the opposition Social Democrats, said this was not enough.   "This may be too late, above all for the people of Grozny.   The chancellor has to act now," he said.   He criticised Yeltsin for breaking his campaign promise to end the war and seek a peaceful settlement with rebels, adding: "You do not reach a political settlement with artillery shellings and bombardments.   This is naked terror." 
864 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed arrived in Chechnya on Wednesday and vowed to lift the threat of bombardment hanging over Grozny.   But Russian forces had already begun pounding the rebel-held city.   Civilians trapped in the Chechen capital pleaded for help from the outside world as Russian planes flew over.   The huge explosions heard in their wake seemed to signal the start of long-expected air raids to drive out the guerrillas who captured the city more than two weeks ago.   By the time Lebed flew into the military airport east of Grozny in the late afternoon, the crashes coming from the city and audible in the nearby village of Alkhan-Yurt had died down.   Lebed said he had "come with peace".   Later he said he would settle the problem of the army ultimatum by Thursday morning, when the deadline was due to expire.   "We will no longer speak in the language of ultimatums," he was quoted as saying by Tass.   The Russian military command gave civilians 48 hours from Tuesday morning to quit Grozny before the assault started.   Russian news agencies said Lebed met the Russian commander, Vyacheslav Tikhovmirov, and was due to head 20 km (12 miles) south to the village of Novye Atagi, where rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov was waiting for him.   Much of Grozny is in ruins from fighting at the start of Moscow's 20-month campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   A second devastation seemed imminent after the military threat.   Yet Defence Minister Igor Rodionov, a Lebed ally, dismissed the ultimatum issued by Tikhomirov's deputy while his chief was on holiday.   General Konstantin Pulikovsky had been reprimanded for his actions, Rodionov said in the southern city of Volgograd.   The comments highlighted apparent confusion over policy in the breakaway province in the absence of President Boris Yeltsin.   Aides said he was taking a short break in the lakelands of northwest Russia and Interfax news agency said he would be back in Moscow on Wednesday and in the Kremlin on Thursady.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by the separatists' August 6 attack on Grozny and subsequent fierce fighting in which hundreds were killed, seems determined to use whatever it takes to crush the guerrillas' resistance.   RIA news agency, quoting the head of the military prosecutor's office in Chechnya, said 420 Russian servicemen had been killed and 1,300 had been wounded in the latest fighting for the control of Grozny, once a city of 400,000 people.   Civilians trapped in cellars, fearing carpet bombing from Russian forces, pleaded for help from the outside world and said they felt they had been abandoned in their own country.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously from heavy weaponry.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water, or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops," said a handwritten appeal, passed on by a Chechen refugee.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war."   The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Russia on Wednesday to extend an ultimatum for civilians to quit Grozny, saying that the 48-hour deadline set on Monday did not give people time enough to leave.   The ICRC said in a statement that an estimated 60,000 people left the Chechen capital late last week and a further 70,000 fled on Tuesday.   But about 120,000 remained.   The United States, Germany and France condemned the threat of bombing and urged Russia to halt its Chechnya campaign.   The Moslem world's largest organisation called for Moscow to refrain from the use of force and to seek a political agreement to settle the crisis.   A statement by the 51-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said the group's Secretary-General Hamid Algabid "expressed serious concern and anguish over the ultimatum issued by the Russian military authorities followed by a threat to use all possible means against...Grozny."   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has pulled its mission out of Grozny, also called for a peaceful settlement. 
865 !GCAT !GVIO  Fresh shell craters and burning buildings scarred Grozny's desolate landscape on Wednesday even before the expiry of a Russian ultimatum to rebel fighters to get out of the Chechen capital or face destruction.   But, amid the explosions and smoke and the battle cries of the unyielding rebels, the most chilling sight remained the small clusters of elderly civilians, some struggling to leave town, others planning to stay.   Mangy, dust-laden stray cats and dogs far outnumbered people in the streets of the ruined city centre, where a market had bustled until a couple of weeks ago -- a potent symbol of Chechnya's dogged survival through 20 months of war.   But a flimsy hand-written cry for help offered up by one refugee provided an indication that many more people, possibly thousands, were still cringing in the city's cellars.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously by heavy weapons.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops.   "We feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war," said the appeal, scrawled in ballpoint pen and signed by 32 names.   "There are people left in basements all over the city," said Zoya, her face dripping with sweat from the flames shooting 10 metres (30 feet) into the air from gas mains hit during the past two weeks of renewed street to street fighting.   One elderly woman scurried through the marketplace shell and sniper fire rang out around here.   Planes and helicopters flew overhead.   A Russian armoured personnel carrier commandeered by the fighters and painted with Chechen rebel symbols was tucked quietly between two buildings nearby.   Other fighters careered around the city in jeeps and cars, shouting out the Chechen battle cry.   Kokha, 31, among a group of around 20 fighters in the southwestern district of Chernorechye, had a submachine gun with ammunition strung around his back.   "They've bombed for two years and it hasn't changed a thing," said Kohka, who said he had worked in Russia as a driver for 10 years before coming back to fight for independence when Russian troops poured in during the last month of 1994.   And what, he was asked, would happen if the Russians carried out their threat to carpet bomb Grozny?   "If they do something like that, then we'll just go to Russia and make them another Chernobyl.   Then we'll see how long the war will last," he said, referring to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster in 1986.   The sunny sky was shrouded in a haze from burning buildings, including a refinery which appeared to have been hit from the air.   A cloud of black smoke rose skywards.   A woman sat against a wall by the gateway of her one-storey house in the centre of the city, near a house on fire and another where journalists once lodged.   "There were reporters here last night but they've left now," she said simply, showing no signs of planning to follow suit.   There were few people on the bridge where more than a thousand refugees had poured through on Tuesday, when residents heard about the ultimatum issued on Monday by the Russian military to the rebels to get out within 48 hours.   "Can you help us get the three guys out of that jeep?"   said a passer-by.   Smoke and flames were rising from the vehicle, which had taken a fatal turning towards Russian troops who had dug in out of sight of the road.   A few horses and carts were piled with belongings, and other people drove cows and sheep out of city.   Anatoly and Valentina Kupatsov, ethnic Russians, were like most of the others, fleeing on foot.   "Our neighbours said they thought they heard on the radio that the bombing would begin today.   Before that we didn't know anything.   They only told us yesterday," said Anatoly, carrying a fishing rod among his few belongings.   "We don't even know where we're going.   We don't have any money.   Just what we could grab on the way out of the house."   Russia's security supremo, Alexander Lebed, whom President Boris Yeltsin had ordered to restore control over Grozny seized by rebels on August 6, was visiting the region on Wednesday.   "Maybe we can go home after the bombing stops, we heard Lebed was coming today.   Maybe that means everything that will end peacefully," said Valentina, the hope in her words overwhelmed by the dejection in her voice. 
866 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian forces pounded the Chechen capital Grozny on Wednesday even as confusion reigned over Kremlin policy.   Civilians trapped in Grozny pleaded for help from the outside world, but planes flew over the city and the huge explosions area heard in their wake seemed to signal the start of long-expected air raids to drive out separatists who captured the city over two weeks ago.   Much of Grozny is still in ruins from Russian raids at the start of Moscow's 20-month military campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   A second devastation seemed imminent, even though Defence Minister Igor Rodionov dismissed an ultimatum by Russia's deputy military commander in the region for people to quit Grozny or face massive bombing raids.   General Konstantin Pulikovsky had been reprimanded for his actions, Rodionov was reported as saying in the southern Russian city of Volgograd.   Itar-Tass news agency quoted Rodionov saying he had "nothing to do" with Pulikovsky's statement on Monday that he would bomb the Grozny from Thursday morning to dislodge the rebels.   The comments highlighted the complete confusion over Russia's policy in the breakaway province in the absence of President Boris Yeltsin.   Aides say Yeltsin is taking a short break in the lakelands of northwest Russia and Interfax news agency said he was returning to Moscow on Wednesday.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by the separatists' August 6 raid on Grozny and subsequent fighting in which hundreds were killed, seems determined to use whatever it takes to crush the guerrillas' resistance.   Yeltsin's security chief Alexander Lebed, appointed just two months ago, wants to use peaceful means resolve the conflict, in which tens of thousands of people have already been killed.   Lebed travelled to Chechnya on Wednesday for his third visit in just over a week.   He is due to meet Russian generals and then travel to meet rebel leaders in the village of Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) to the south of Grozny.   "(Lebed) is aiming at a more complicated way of resolving the situation in Chechnya -- a peaceful one and not a battle for one town or another," Interfax news agency quoted Lebed's spokesman Alexander Barkhatov as saying.   RIA news agency, quoting the head of the military prosecutor's office in Chechnya, said 420 Russian servicemen had been killed and 1,300 had been wounded in the latest fighting for the control of Grozny, once a city of 400,000 people.   Civilians trapped in cellars, fearing carpet bombing from Russian forces, pleaded for help from the outside world and said they felt they had been abandoned in their own country.   "In houses number seven and nine along Ulitsa Pobedy (Victory Street) there are many citizens, among them children, women, and elderly people, who have spent eight days in the basements of their houses," said an appeal, written on a flimsy sheet of paper and handed to foreign journalists as a plea to the outside world.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously from heavy weaponry.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water, or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war."   The United States and Germany have condemned the threat of bombing raids and urged Russia to halt its Chechnya campaign.   "It should be clear to the parties involved that after 20 months of conflict the dispute there cannot be resolved by use of force," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said.   "There has to be an element of negotiation."   The German Foreign Ministry said political director Wolfgang Ischinger had made Bonn's desire for a peaceful settlement in Chechnya clear to Russian officials.   "The political director stressed our great concern about current developments...He stressed the necessity of a peaceful solution that involves the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and underscored our call to refrain from further military action," a statement said.   OSCE mediators abandoned their central Grozny office on Wednesday in anticipation of the threatened bombing. 
867 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian heavy guns pounded the Chechen capital Grozny on Wednesday and Moscow's top commander in the region said he was ready to attack the separatist-held city without further warning.   Warplanes screamed overhead and a loud explosion sounded after one flew over.   A plume of black smoke then rose from the Zavodskoy district of the city, dotted with factories and oil refineries.   Other parts of the city were ablaze.   The centre of the Grozny was almost deserted.   In the once-bustling market place, a comandeered Russian armoured personnel carrier with a Chechen flag painted on it was tucked between two buildings.   The shelling started in the morning, well before the expiry of a deadline given by deputy Russian commander Lieutenant- General Konstantin Pulikovsky to the rebels to withdraw or face all-out bombardment.   Pulikovsky had not made clear when his ultimatum would expire, but Russian news media appeared to assume it would be at midnight (2000 GMT on Wednesday).   The top commander in the region, Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, on Wednesday backed his deputy.   Interfax news agency quoted Tikhomirov as saying he would give no further warning before launching an assault to recapture Grozny.   "They (the rebels) will not live to see further loose warnings from me," the general said.   The latest raids took place hours before the expected arrival of Alexander Lebed, Russia's security chief ordered by President Boris Yeltsin to restore Russian control over the city and bring peace to Chechnya.   Lebed, who had opposed plans to shell Grozny, was due to meet Russian officials at the Khankala military base outside the city and later meet rebels in the village of Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) to the south.   Rebels seized control over most of Grozny on August 6 in an operation that has humiliated Russian forces.   Hundreds of people have been killed in the latest fighting and the death toll for the whole conflict runs to tens of thousands.   In a sign of growing concern, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has been involved in attempts to broker peace, withdrew from Grozny.   Tens of thousands of people have fled from the city since Pulikovsky said he would use planes and artillery to clear rebels from the capital of the southern region.   But the flood of refugees slowed to a trickle on Wednesday after Russians appeared to have blocked the main escape route towards the northeast.   Civilians trapped by fighting in Grozny cellars pleaded for help.   An elderly woman struggling along the road to escape the city handed over an appeal, written in ball-point pen on a flimsy sheet of paper.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war," it said   Fourteen people had signed the appeal on behalf of themselves and their families.   It listed 32 names altogether, about half of them Russian.   Russian liberals called on Yeltsin on Tuesday to avert the threatened attack, which Yelena Bonner, widow of former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, said would be a "crime against humanity". 
868 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian troops started intensive heavy artillery attacks against rebel positions in the Chechen capital Grozny on Wednesday, setting parts of the city ablaze and sending a column of black smoke into the air.   The attacks started the day before Russian military were widely expected to launch a major assault to drive rebels out of the Chechen capital.   Warplanes screamed overhead and a loud blast sounded after one flew over.   A plume of black smoke rose from the Zavodskoy district of the city, dotted with factories and oil refineries.   The centre of the city was almost deserted.   In the once-bustling market place, a comandeered Russian armoured personnel carrier with a Chechen flag painted on it was tucked between two buildings.   Rebels had also captured a Russian tank and sprayed the slogan "Freedom or Death" on its side.   A captured Russian flag hung folornly on top of it.   Russia's acting military commander in Chechnya, Lieutenant- General Konstantin Pulikovsky, had given the separatists 48 hours to withdraw from Grozny or face an all-out bombardment.   His superior, Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, backed Pulikovsky on the assault when he returned from leave on Wednesday.   Russian media assumes that the deadline expires at midnight (2000 GMT on Wednesday).   Attacks have clearly already begun and I saw several new craters and houses damaged in the centre of Grozny.   One single-storey building was on fire and it looked as if it had been burning for a few hours.   The flood of refugees trying to escape the city had slowed to a trickle.   I saw only about 100-200 refugees on the road in the course of two hours.   The shelling broke out hours before Russia's security supremo Alexander Lebed, whom President Boris Yeltsin had ordered to restore control over Grozny seized by rebels on August 6, was due to arrive in the region.   Lebed's press office said that the ex-paratroop general would discuss the ulitmatum.   Lebed, who is also secretary of Yeltsin's policy-making Security Council, has made it clear that he opposes the bombing of Grozny, arguing that it could lead to bloodshed in the rebel province and public resentment at home and abroad. 
869 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  NATO is pondering whether to destroy some 2,600 tonnes of Bosnian Serb munitions spread over at least ten different locations, a NATO spokesman said on Wednesday.   Major Brett Boudreau said NATO was pressing ahead with Operation Volcano to blow up 400 tonnes of contraband Bosnan Serb munitions, but had still not decided the fate of the extra supplies stored in recently declared sites.   "All options are under consideration," said Boudreau, hinting the material might not be destroyed.   NATO mounted Operation Volcano on Saturday to destroy 400 tonnes of small arms ammunition and mines discovered by a routine NATO patrol in a schoolhouse in Margetici, near Sokolac, on August 5.   Since then 130 tonnes have been destroyed in a series of controlled explosions in blast pits, shooting towering columns of dirt, smoke and steam 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) into the air.   NATO responded on Tuesday to complaints by the mayor of Sokolac about damage to the underground aquifer which supplies his town by abandoning one set of blast pits even as it proceeded with demolition work in a second set of pits.   If NATO meets its weekend target for destruction of all the munitions found at Margetici, it will still face the problem of what to do about 16 other sites Serbs belatedly declared to NATO on August 5.   Some of the locations contain equipment other than weapons or ammunition, but in at least ten the contents are similar to Margetici.   Since all such sites should have been disclosed to NATO months ago under the terms of the Dayton peace agreement, they are liable to be seized and their contents destroyed.   But having proved its authority at Margetici NATO may be tempted to allow the Serbs to move the contraband to an already approved storage site.   That would save NATO the effort and responsibility entailed in transporting and destroying such a huge amount of material and might improve relations with the Bosnian Serbs.   Serbs have not been the only faction to violate clauses in the Dayton agreement dealing with weapons and ammunition.   NATO forces stopped a Bosnian Army truck carrying about 20 soldiers near Tuzla on Tuesday and discovered a number of unauthorised weapons inside.   Sources said the contraband, which included assault rifles and anti-tank weapons, would be destroyed.   NATO also reported it had destroyed a total of 1,242 weapons previously confiscated.   More than half the total were from the Moslem-led Bosnian Army side and included small arms, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft machine-guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.   "The weapons were destroyed on 16 and 17 August after having been held for a period of time," said a NATO source who asked not to be identified.   "We're being even-handed about discharging our duty under Dayton.   If we find unauthorised weapons or ammuntion we will confiscate and destroy it no matter whose it is." 
870 !GCAT  Here are highlights from Polish newspapers this morning.   RZECZPOSPOLITA   - Poland's ombudsman, Adam Zielinski, has decided to file charges against the communications ministry's GSM cellular telephone operator licensing decision forcing operators to use the TPSA telecommunications monopolist network.   Law violations present in the decision were also jointly announced by the Antimonopoly Office and Consumers Federation.   - In 1995 taxpayers used the donation clause in the tax law to write off 4.3 billion zlotys.   "In the coming five years the finance ministry will examine 3.6 million taxpayers who applied the donation clause in their tax returns," deputy finance minister Witold Manugiewicz said.   - Solidarity trade unions have demanded a 30 zloty monthly salary increase for public sector workers while Labour Minister Andrzej Baczkowski declared he is ready for a 15 zloty rise.   - Right-wing Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP) leader Jan Olszewski sharply criticised Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz for being televised wearing a baseball cap with the Mitsubishi company logo.   "Jan Olszewski's accusation are hilarious," government spokeswoman Aleksandra Jakubowska said.   - The newly formed Chemia Polska Holding should be privatised in the coming two or three years.   By year-end a list of firms to be included within the holding will be published, the holding's President Ludwik Klinkosz said.   - According to Agriculture Minister Roman Jagielinski this year's grain harvests should bring 24 million tonnes of grain, two million tonnes less than last year, while Central Statistics Office forecasts see the harvests at last year's results.   - Over the first seven months of 1996, 230,766 new cars were sold in Poland, which showed 33 percent sales growth compared with the same period last year.   Fiat reported the largest sales, amounting to 9,8545 cars.   NOWA EUROPA   - Poles have been buying less beef recently, which shows they do not trust the government which repeatedly assured that no British beef was imported to Poland following the mad cow disease fear, Mokpol retail company representatives said.   - The Swedish-based Securitas security agency has entered the Polish security services market.   It bought two Polish-based security agencies, Norma and SET, and plans to invest extensively in marketing, Securitas information director Amund Skarhalt said.   GAZETA WYBORCZA   -According to legal experts, the state's ZUS social insurance agency will not be able to withhold private passports of employers who are overdue with social insurance contributions.   The only thing ZUS can do is to take the recalcitrant payers to court, Wroclaw University legal experts said.   - Pekao SA bank will be the first to introduce the housing contract credit system this autumn, Pekao official Jolanta Kiwinska said.   ZYCIE WARSZAWY   - Parliamentary deputies who joined the committee investigating the spy scandal invoving former Prime Minister Jozef Oleksy disagree on the committee's final report.   "There is no chance for a compromise as the matter relates to a politician whose powers are still significant," opposition centrist Union for Freedom deputy Bogdan Borusewicz said.   - A banking consortium headed by Pekao SA and including three other consumer credit banks -- Bank Depozytowo- Kredytowy(BDK), Powszechny Bank Gospodarczy (PBG) and Pomorski Bank Kredytowy (PBK) -- will be formed in mid-September this year.   PARKIET   - Polish Development Bank (PBR) will be the third Polish bank to issue Eurobonds denominated in US dollars in accordance with the recent decision by the bank's extraordinary shareholders meeting.   - This week trade unions and the consortium of Euro Agro Centrum and South African Breweries (SAB) Ltd will start negotiations on the social package of the Browary Tyskie breweries, a controlling stake in which is to be bouhgt by the consortium in September.   -- Warsaw Newsroom +48 22 653 9700 
871 !GCAT !GVIO  The commander of Russian forces in Chechnya brushed aside criticism in Moscow and said on Wednesday rebel forces would not live to hear another warning from him before he launched an assault to win back Grozny.   The comments by Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, on his return from leave, publicly demonstrated backing for his deputy Konstantin Pulikovsky who sent refugees fleeing from the Chechen capital this week by setting a deadline for an assault.   President Boris Yeltsin, not seen in public since August 9 when he was sworn in for a second term as president, was on holiday hundreds of km (miles) northwest of Moscow in the Valdai lakeland as the deadline for the attack approached.   The Kremlin denied rumours he was ill.   Interfax news agency quoted Tikhomirov as saying he would give no further warning before launching an assault.   "They (the rebels) will not live to see further loose warnings from me," said Tikhomirov.   Acting commander Pulikovsky had not made clear when his ultimatum started, but the Russian media appeared to assume it would run out at midnight (2000 GMT on Wednesday).   He has vowed to use air raids and artillery to pound the rebels.   The assault plan, besides arousing criticism overseas, was questioned by Yeltsin's own security supremo Alexander Lebed, himself a retired general.   Lebed, whose future political career may hinge on his ability to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, planned to visit the region later on Wednesday.   Interfax quoted Lebed's spokesman as saying the general hoped to meet separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov.   The policy-making Security Council, of which Lebed is the secretary, on Tuesday questioned the authenticity of Yeltsin's order to win back Grozny.   It said in a statement that carrying out such orders would mean fresh bloodshed and a new wave of resentment at home and abroad.   Yeltsin's press office later reprimanded Lebed for making public comments on the president's orders.   Rebels seized control over most of Grozny on August 6 in an operation that humiliated Russian forces.   In a sign of growing concern in the Chechen capital, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission, which has been involved in attempts to broker peace, withdrew from Grozny, according to a Swiss diplomat.   "The mission temporarily moved out from Grozny due to the ultimatum, but it definitely will stay in the region to carry out its duties," said Olaf Kjelsen.   The OSCE's Grozny mission is headed by Swiss diplomat Tim Guldimann.   Separatist spokesman Movladi Udugov said on Wednesday that Russian planes had bombed parts of Grozny and other locations in Chechnya overnight.   He said that GRAD missiles had been launched at the city from the Russian base of Khankala on its outskirts.   His report could not immediately be confirmed.   Tens of thousands of people started fleeing from Grozny after Pulikovsky said he would use warplanes and heavy artillery to clear rebels from the capital of the historically-Moslem southern region.   But on Tuesday Russians appeared to have blocked the main escape route to the northeast of Grozny.   Unlike the first days of the exodus from Grozny, when most were young or middle-aged who found cars, buses, even donkey carts to cram into, a great number are now frail elderly people on foot who had waited until the last moment to get out.   Many in the chaotic crowd were driving cattle or bent over in exhaustion by the roadside under a blazing sun.   Black smoke from fires burning in Grozny rose in the sky over their heads.   "I didn't want to leave home but everyone says they are going to bomb everything in the city," said a toothless old man with one leg whom we gave a lift to.   Tens of thousands of people have died in Chechnya since Yeltsin sent troops there in December 1994 to crush the region's independence drive.   Russian liberals called on Yeltsin on Tuesday to avert the threatened attack, which Yelena Bonner, widow of former Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, said would be a "crime against humanity".   "It seems Boris Yeltsin is unable and does not want to stop the monstrous crime which is being prepared," Bonner told Ekho Moskvy news agency. 
872 !GCAT  DELO   - Slovenian Motorways said the 45 km motorway around the capital Ljubljana would be finished in 1998.   - Pension Fund said pensions in August would remain unchanged from July.   - Strike at machine producer Litostroj continues for 19th day due to unpaid salaries.   DNEVNIK   - In the past five years Slovenia opened 37 diplomatic missions abroad.   The government plans to open another three in India, South Africa and Denmark.   - Some 38 percent of Slovenians believe parliament was right to rule that a referendum on changes to the electoral system should be held after the upcoming general elections, which are due to take place by December, an survey showed.   REPUBLIKA   - The government said Slovenian citizen Nicholas Oman could no longer act as an honorary consul of Liberia after allegations linking him to arms trading. 
873 !GCAT  These are some of the main stories in Sofia newspapers today.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   STANDART   -- The lev fell beyond 200 per dollar on the interbank market on Tuesday on rising demand for foreign currency from final clients.   -- Journalists are to blame for the government's clash with wheat producers over grain purchasing prices, prime minister Zhan Videnov told municipal officials from Montana region.   @   -- The National Electricity Company has halted all payments in a bid to raise $5 million owed to Russia for fuel deliveries for the Kozloduy nuclear power plant, Balkan news agency said.   TRUD   -- The government plans to ban the State Savings Bank from extending loans to the agricultural sector within three weeks, prime minister Zhan Videnov said.   -- Bulgaria's most famous psychic Vanga has bequeathed all her property to the state, Petrich mayor Andon Chopakov said.   @   -- German judiciary have agreed to extradite the head of Bulgaria's Life Choice get-rich-quick fund Michael Kapustin to face embezzlement charges in Bulgaria, an official from the Bulgaria's chief prosecutor's office said.   -- The central bank (BNB) on Tuesday cut to 20 percent from 50 percent the share of minimum required reserves of commercial banks that banks can use daily as an overdraft on their settlement accounts at the BNB.   The move was aimed at draining free liquidity to relieve pressure on the falling lev.   -- Sofia Newsroom, (++359-2) 981 8569 
874 !GCAT  NARODNA OBRODA - Some 92,729 orders to sell privatisation bonds have been registered on the over-the-counter RMS since beginning of trading two weeks ago.   No anonymous trades, however, have been concluded so far.   - Gear box producer Sachs Trnava, a 100-percent subsidiary of German Fichtel und Sach A.G., plans turnover of 500 million crowns this year, up from 370 million in 1995.   The company, exporting 80 percent of its production to Germany and the Czech Republic, plans to increase turnover to one billion crowns by the year 2001.   - The Slovak Association of Agricultural Companies (ZPD) said it would propose exports of grain if this year's harvest exceeds the country's consumption needs.   The agriculture ministry had said it would not grant any export licences this year.   - The National Property Fund, which issued privatisation bonds, registered 88 entities entitled to purchase the bonds.   SME - Today is the 28th anniversary of invasion of the former Warsaw Pact armies into then Czechoslovakia.   - The finance ministry said revenues from sale of privatisation bonds would be tax-free.   PRACA - The ZPD demands the state fund of market regulation to increase prices of grain to 4,000 crowns per tonne, from the proposed maximum price of 3,700 crowns.   - ZPD warns that if government does not solve the current problems of Slovak agriculture domestic production will radically decrease within two years, resulting in significant increase of food prices as most of the food will have to be imported.   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - Volkswagen A.G. plans to invest about 41.8 million marks in its Slovak subsidiary, located in the capital Bratislava, next year.   - Completion of the highway connecting the northern Slovak town of Zilina with the Polish borders is expected to cost about 18 billion crowns.   -- Bratislava Newsroom, 42-7-210-3687 
875 !GCAT  HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - The Czech Airplane industry could take part in the manufacturing of F/A-18 fighter planes if the Czech Air Force chooses this type of plane, Gary E. Mitchell from McDonnell Douglas told reporters yesterday.   - The government is prepared to protect consumers from rising food prices by preventing farmers from raising the prices of their crops after this year's harvest according to the head of the Prime Minister's advisors.   - By the year 2000, nuclear energy should account for 44 percent of all energy produced in the country, compared with last year's 26 percent, Coal-based energy should decrease from 70 percent to 53 percent by the end of the millenium according to Ladislav Kriz from electrical utility CEZ.   - The export of Czech electronics to the European Union increased by more than 40 percent to 912 million ECU in 1995 compared with 1994 levels.   - Czech engineering conrecn Skoda denied it is obtaining shares in Omnipol, the largest Czech weapons manufacturer, through Cimex Holding.   Skoda Praha is currently not involved in any weapons production and is not interested in purchasing shares of companies which produce weapons, Jaroslav Hudec, Skoda Plzen's press agent, stated yesterday.   - The quality of hops from this year's harvest will be above average with an average of a tonne of hops per hectare expected.   - The general manager of Kladno's Poldi Ocel steel plant, Vladimir Stehlik, has called the company's employees to work starting with the morning shift on Monday, August 26.   According to the company's former general director, at least seven weeks will be necessary to get the plant back to full capacity.   PRAVO - Computers from the american company Apple computers will continue to be sold on the Czech market in spite of the fact that TIS, a local computer company, broke its exclusive contract with Apple Computers on August 7th.   - According to Agriculture Minister Josef Lux, the Czech government has recommended the sale of a minority, 11-percent share in steel makers Vitkovice and Nova Hut, a group of foundery's located in Northern Moravia, to the foundry's management.   -- Prague Newsroom, 42-2-2423-0003 
876 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Alexander Lebed, the man President Boris Yeltsin sent to make peace in Chechnya, said he had saved the people of Grozny from the Russian army's threat to flatten their city on Thursday morning.   But, with no word from the military command in the region, it may be daylight before the hundred thousand or so frightened civilians in the Chechen capital can feel surer that the president's man has prevailed over his own generals.   The Kremlin security chief said he agreed a ceasefire at an 11th hour meeting on Wednesday night with the commander of the separatist rebels who seized most of Grozny a fortnight ago.   Lebed assured Aslan Maskhadov that the Russian generals' ultimatum was "a bad joke" and said there would be no bombing.   "Lebed gave a guarantee that there would be no storm of Grozny tomorrow nor in the future," Maskhadov, the separatist chief-of-staff, told Reuters after his late-night talks with Yeltsin's security chief in the village of Novye Atagi.   "I have taken it upon myself never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums," said Lebed, telling local people who gathered around that he would strive to justify their trust.   The two men, who seemed at ease with each other, agreed the need for a truce.   Lebed said they would meet at 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday to take "concrete decisions on a ceasefire".   But ceasefires have come and gone in 20 months of war in Chechnya.   And, with Russia's chain of command looking more than usually tangled over the past few days, it will be some hours before Grozny can be sure that Lebed is as good as his word.   Asked about his tug-of-war with the generals, Lebed was quoted as saying: "No one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing."   "We have to restore a single command structure."   The acting Russian commander in the region made his threat of an all-out bombardment on Monday.   He accused the rebels of abusing a shaky truce agreed last week with Lebed's help and gave civilians 48 hours to Thursday morning to flee their homes.   His superior, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, returned from holiday and sounded equally bellicose on Wednesday.   The army seemed set on avenging the humiliation of losing Grozny to Maskhadov's irregular but well-led guerrillas.   Tikhomirov met Lebed before he headed off for his talks with Maskhadov.   But by the small hours of Thursday there was still no confirmation from the generals that they would hold their fire.   One hopeful sign for those in Grozny -- the Red Cross estimated there were now about 120,000 after a similar number fled the past fortnight's fighting -- was the lull that set in over the city as soon as Lebed landed.   Reuters correspondent Lawrence Sheets saw Russian aircraft flying over Grozny on Wednesday afternoon, dropping more high explosive on the ruined capital in what seemed like a dress rehearsal for the promised all-out strike.   But around 6 p.m. (1400 GMT), all went quiet.   At about the same time, Lebed, a tough-talking former paratroop general, flew in to the military base at nearby Khankala to meet Tikhomirov.   Yeltsin, as commander-in-chief of Russia's armed forces, is in overall command of Moscow's biggest military engagement since the Afghan war.   But at his only public appearance in seven weeks he looked stiff and tired.   Aides say he is resting and denied reports he has suffered a recurrence of heart trouble.   Interfax news agency said he was due back at his Kremlin desk on Thursday after a two-day break in the northwest lakes.   The absence has fuelled speculation about Yeltsin's health and the chain of command in Chechnya if he were not in control.   Lebed's Security Council added to that on Tuesday when it issued a statement questioning the authenticity of a presidential order instructing Lebed to restore order in Grozny -- an order it said was the cue for the army ultimatum.   Maskhadov said the separatist leadership remained wary of in-fighting in Moscow that could thwart Lebed's peacemaking.   "We hope Lebed will be able to conquer those in Moscow who do not want to conclude the war," he said.   But he warned: "If Lebed does not succeed in stopping the war, we will fight on." 
877 !GCAT !GVIO  Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov said they agreed a ceasefire on Wednesday night and Lebed said he would stop the Russian army from carrying out a threat to start bombing Grozny on Thursday morning.   Lebed told reporters after meeting Maskhadov for over an hour near the village of Novye Atagi, south of the rebel-held Chechen capital, that the Russian army commander's ultimatum to bomb Grozny was "a bad joke" and said he had given an undertaking "never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums".   Asked if he would prevent the generals' carrying out their threat, Lebed said: "I am now going there (army headquarters near Grozny) to see to it that things will be quiet tomorrow."   He said he would meet the separatists in the same place at 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday to continue the discussions he had had with Maskhadov on Wednesday on "concrete decisions on a ceasefire and separating the warring sides".   Maskhadov said: "We hope Lebed will be able to conquer those in Moscow who do not want to conclude the war...We hope that never again will it be like when we negotiated and then the next day federal forces began to bomb our villages."   Russian forces had pounded rebel-held Grozny before Lebed's arrival.   Civilians trapped there pleaded for help from the outside world as warplanes dropped tonnes of high explosive.   But the bombing stopped as Lebed flew in.   Lebed was given sweeping powers by President Boris Yeltsin last week to settle the 20-month-old Chechen conflict.   He has overall control of decisions affecting Chechnya.   In two meetings with Maskhadov last week he laid the ground for a ceasefire. 
878 !GCAT !GVIO  Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov said they agreed a ceasefire on Wednesday night and Lebed said he would stop the Russian army from carrying out a threat to start bombing Grozny on Thursday morning.    Lebed told reporters after meeting Maskhadov for over an hour near the village of Novye Atagi, south of the rebel-held Chechen capital, that the Russian army commander's ultimatum to bomb Grozny was "a bad joke" and said he had given an undertaking "never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums".   Asked if he would prevent the generals' carrying out their threat, Lebed said: "I am now going there (army headquarters near Grozny) to see to it that things will be quiet tomorrow."   He said he would meet the separatists in the same place at 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Thursday to continue the discussions he had had with Maskhadov on Wednesday on "concrete decisions on a ceasefire and separating the warring sides".   Maskhadov said: "We hope Lebed will be able to conquer those in Moscow who do not want to conclude the war...We hope that never again will it be like when we negotiated and then the next day federal forces began to bomb our villages." 
879 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Bosnia's ruling nationalist SDA party planned to call for a boycott of the country's September 14 elections if voting rules for refugees and displaced persons were not changed, government radio reported on Wednesday.   The radio broadcast, citing a "reliable source", said SDA wanted a suspension of the election rule which permits refugees and displaced persons to vote from a town other than their pre- war place of residence, or a delay in municipal elections.   The boycott threat could not be immediately confirmed but the government radio is close to the SDA.   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) is supervising the elections with a mandate provided by the Dayton peace agreement.   An election rule which permits refugees and displaced persons to vote in person or by absentee ballot from a place other than their pre-war residence has been abused during the voter registration process, the OSCE says. 
880 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Alexander Lebed, President Boris Yeltsin's envoy to Chechnya, began a meeting in the region on Wednesday with Aslan Maskhadov, chief-of-staff of separatist forces who seized the capital Grozny two weeks ago.   Lebed was earlier quoted as saying he would peacefully resolve the issue of a Russian army ultimatum to bomb the city from Thursday morning.   He declined to speak to reporters when he arrived for the talks at the village of Novye Atagi, 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.    General Konstantin Pulikovsky, the acting Russian commander in Chechnya, gave the people of Grozny 48 hours from Tuesday morning to clear the city before he launched an all-out bombardment.   On his return from holiday, his superior, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, said on Wednesday he too favoured "the most decisive measures" to dislodge the rebels.   But Lebed, given sweeping powers by Yeltsin last week to settle the 20-month Chechen conflict, has made clear he wants a peaceful solution and disapproves of bombing.   Russian warplanes and artillery bombarded the city for several hours on Wednesday.   Lebed was quoted by Interfax news agency after meeting Tikhomirov earlier on Wednesday evening as saying Pulikovsky's ultimatum had not been approved by Russia's leadership.   "Nobody agreed it with anyone.   Everything is as it was, no one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing," Lebed said.   "Here we have to restore a single command structure.   There will be no more ultimatums." 
881 !GCAT !GDIP  Hungary said on Wednesday it would sign a treaty with Romania to lay new foundations of their relationship despite strong criticism of the planned accord from opposition parties and ethnic Hungarian leaders abroad.   "We are ready to sign the treaty in September," Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs told a news conference.   The treaty is essential for the two country's ambitions to join the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.   Hungarian and Romanian experts began negotiations in Budapest on Wednesday to put the last touches to the treaty, the fruit of some four years of on-off talks.   However, a torrent of criticism of the planned treaty since last week's breakthrough has introduced a sour taste into the talks as well as marring the celebrations of the 1,100th anniversary of the Hungarians' settlement in Central Europe held earlier this week.   Hungarian opposition leaders and representatives of Hungarian communities in both Romania and Slovakia have accused Budapest of neglecting the interests of millions of Hungarians living in neighbouring countries.   The focus of their anger is a footnote to the treaty agreed with Romania as a way out of the deadlock which they allege limits the scope of autonomy for minorities and could legally be applied also to a similar treaty recently signed between Hungary and Slovakia.   "A planned footnote, refusing ethnic-based territorial autonomy and collective rights, practically means that it refuses all strivings for autonomy," said Miklos Duray, chairman of Coexistence, one of the largest ethnic Hungarian organisations in Slovakia.   But Kovacs said the footnote only confirmed the fact that the European Council's Recommendation 1201 on ethnic minority rights, to be included in the treaty, fails to refer to ethnic-based territorial autonomy or collective rights.   Hungary would continue to support the efforts of ethnic Hungarians to create autonomous organisations and practise their rights collectively according to European standards, he added.   "The treaty will provide (ethnic Hungarians) a much wider reference base concerning their rights than before," he said.   Fears in Slovakia and Romania -- mostly fuelled by nationalist parties -- that Hungary seeks to regain territories it lost to them after World War One have made the issue of ethnic autonomy rights a major stumbling block to the improvement of their relations with Hungary. 
882 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is in charge of Bosnia's elections, penalised Bosnian Croats in a southern town on Wednesday for "a serious violation" of electoral rules.   OSCE representatives said an official of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in Jasenica illegally took completed voter registration forms from the town's registration centre .   "The actions of the HDZ constitute a serious violation of the integrity, confidentiality and non-partisan nature of the voter registration process," the OSCE's Election Appeals Sub-Commission (EASC) said in a statement.   It ordered the immediate dismissal of the local election commission president, the removal of HDZ candidate Vlado Bevanda from the party's list and the payment of a $10,000 fine by the HDZ.   The EASC has previously punished the ruling Bosnian Serb and Moslem parties for election infringements in Doboj and Bihac respectively.   U.S. envoy Robert Frowick, who heads the OSCE election mission in Bosnia, told reporters in Vienna on Wednesday that his organisation had problems in nine municipalities across Bosnia and had taken action against clear irregularities.   "In Doboj (in Bosnian Serb territory) for example, there was an effort to tell individual voters that if they didn't register to vote as the authorities wished they would be denied humanitarian aid," Frowick said.   The OSCE demanded an end to the practice and got a public apology from the local Serb Democratic Party, which was also fined $25,000, he added.   The fine will be deducted from the cash the OSCE is making available to all parties for campaigning.   In Bihacembers of the ruling Moslem SDA party were struck off the candidates' list and the party was fined for orchestrating an armed assault on former Bosnian prime minister Haris Siljadzic, who now heads the opposition Party for Bosnia Herzegovina. 
883 !GCAT !GENV  Albanian fishermen have killed a rare sea lion and are demanding $3,000 for its corpse, which is being stored in a refrigerator, a leading Albanian biologist said on Wednesday.   Ferdinand Bego said there was no doubt the sea lion was a member of an endangered species, but added: "We don't know exactly which species because these animals are so foreign to our region."   The fishermen caught the animal in their nets off the coast of north-western Albania, and initially played with it.   "But we began clubbing it when it tried to leave," one of the men said on national television.   "Then one of our friends who was drunk fired on it when it tried to escape.   He killed it after two hours."   Officials of Albania's Environmental Protection Committee have urged police to seize the rare catch so it can be embalmed or its skeleton exhibited in a museum, Albania's ATA news agency said. 
884 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP !GPOL  The Czech government on Wednesday approved a draft law on nuclear materials which could eventually allow the stationing of NATO nuclear weapons on Czech territory.   The cabinet changed an earlier draft of the law which included a complete ban on nuclear weapons within the country, after parliamentary committees decided it could collide with the country's desire to join NATO.   The new draft, which must still be passed by parliament, would ban development, import, production, transfer, ownership, storage and other activity with nuclear weapons "unless an international treaty by which the Czech Republic is bound states otherwise," Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus told a news conference.   The addition leaves the door open for a NATO agreement which might require all new members to deploy nuclear weapons on their territory as is the case with current member states.   "We are persuaded that it is a correct and needed addition to the draft law," Klaus told reporters after a regular cabinet meeting.   The country is widely considered as one of the leading former East Bloc aspirants to join the North Atlantic security alliance along with Poland and Hungary, but NATO has yet to say when or with whom it would expand its membership.   Diplomats have said a decision might come later this year.   The alliance has yet to say if new members would be required to deploy nuclear weapons as a condition for membership, but Klaus and President Vaclav Havel have both said the country must be prepared to accept this responsibility.   The Czech draft passed on Wednesday also sets rules for commercial use of nuclear power, in connection with the new Temelin nuclear power station under construction in the southern part of the country close to the border with Austria.   The Czech Republic has one operating atomic power plant at Dukovany in the southeast of the country. 
885 !GCAT !GVIO  Russia's leading human rights activist left his sickbed on Wednesday to try to stop the Russian military bombing the Chechen capital Grozny and urged his fellow Russians and the West to help.   "Something monstrous is happening right before our eyes," Sergei Kovalyov, who is recovering from a heart attack, told a news conference called at short notice on Pushkin Square.   As he spoke, bombs crashed down on the Chechen capital, in what might be the start of threatened air raids to drive out rebels who captured much of the city on August 6.   Kovalyov, 66, said all those who backed President Boris Yeltsin in last month's presidential election must urge him to stand by his campaign promises to stop the bloodshed in Chechnya.   "We must not be silent.   In the end, if there is no reaction, we must launch acts of civil disobedience," he added.   Liberal members of parliament joined Kovalyov in calling for mass protests against the war, which began in December 1994 when Yeltsin sent his forces to crush Chechnya's independence drive.   White-haired and intense as ever but looking rather frail after his heart attack last month, Kovalyov urged Western leaders like Germany's Chancellor Helmut Kohl and U.S. President Bill Clinton to join his protest.   "The time for persuasion has passed.   It is time to make demands," said the former dissident, who spent 10 years in Soviet labour camps and internal exile.   "A bloody attempt is being prepared to restore what cannot be restored -- the prestige of talentless generals," he added.   The Russian military in Chechnya has vowed to stage an all-out attack on Grozny on Thursday morning.   Tens of thousands of civilians, given 48 hours to flee, have flooded out of the city, but the Red Cross says about 120,000 people remain.   "Now a new assault is being prepared and Grad missiles and bombs will fall on the most defenceless people," Kovalyov said.   "Old people, children and pregnant women will suffer the most."   Sergei Yushenkov, a soldier turned liberal politician, said he could understand Western leaders' silence on Chechnya in the run-up to the presidential election as they feared Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov might win.   "But what's stopping them actively opposing the Chechen war now?"   he said.   Kovalyov, once Yeltsin's human rights commissioner, has always criticised the 20-month-old Chechen campaign in which more than 30,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.   Many liberals had reservations in backing Yeltsin for re-election and the president, taking a break in the northern lakes far from Moscow, got a tongue-lashing on Wednesday.   Kovalyov mocked Kremlin aides, who explained Yeltsin's absence from Moscow by saying he had gone to the Valdai region to see if it was a good place for a longer holiday.   "What's he up to?   Gone off to check if the roof's leaking?"   he said.   "Was there really no one else apart from him to check what was going on in Valdai?   This is a monstrous act of irresponsibility -- if it is true."   Interfax news agency later quoted a source close to Yeltsin as saying he would return to Moscow later on Wednesday.   Kovalyov said that perhaps Yeltsin was really ill, as has been widely speculated, in which case his prime minister should take over in line with the constitution.   "If the president is sick, he has a legal deputy.   His name is Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin.   We can demand action from him -- and with more success by the way," Kovalyov said.   "How long will we put up with these desperate lies which they've been ramming down our throats...for more than 80 years?" 
886 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian artillery and aircraft pounded the Chechen capital Grozny for several hours on Wednesday as new contradictions surfaced over Moscow's policy towards the breakaway region.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by separatists who captured much of the city on August 6, seemed determined to use whatever force required to drive the rebels out of Grozny.   But President Boris Yeltsin's security chief, Alexander Lebed, who visited Chechnya on Wednesday for the third time in just over a week, wants to use peaceful means to resolve the conflict, in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.   "I come with peace," he said as he arrived at the Russian army based outside Grozny, according to Itar-Tass news agency.   The president himself, seen just once in public since July 26, stayed out of sight, although Interfax news agency said he would return to Moscow on Wednesday from a two-day break in the lakelands of northwestern Russia and be back at work at the Kremlin on Thursday.   Yeltsin's press office, which has been almost as elusive as the president in recent days, could not comment on the report.   "We are aware of the report.   We can neither confirm it nor deny it," a spokesman said.   Yeltsin's disappearance has unsettled Russia's financial markets, where traders are also alarmed at a series of media reports that the president has had a recurrance of the heart problems which put him in hospital twice last year.   One rumour circulating on Wednesday said Yeltsin was dead, but this, like the other reports, was denied by the presidential press office.   "I am firmly convinced that he is alive.   He has been signing decrees," a spokesman said.   Yeltsin's absence has also increased the sense of confusion about who is in charge of Russian security issues, which are theoretically shared between Lebed's Security Council and the ministries for defence and the interior.   "When Yeltsin is absent there is a pervasive feeling that nobody is in command," said one Western diplomat.   "The basic problem is the lack of any regular institutional line of command on security matters."   Defence Minister Igor Rodionov on Wednesday dismissed an ultimatum by Russia's deputy military commander in the region for people to quit Grozny or face bombing raids.   Many civilians, afraid that the threat will be carried out, have already fled Grozny, although others are still hiding in the cellars of the city, home to 400,000 people before Russia sent in the troops in December 1994 to crush an indepedence bid.   Trapped residents, whose fears were heightened by shelling and bombing on Wednesday afternoon, pleaded for help.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously from heavy weaponry.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water, or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops," said a handwritten statement from local residents handed to reporters.   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war."   Troops from both the defence and the interior ministries are based in Chechnya, but Lebed said after a visit there last week that they were demoralised and poorly clothed and equipped.   The latest fighting -- the head of the military prosecutor's office in Chechnya told RIA news agency that 420 Russian servicemen had been killed and 1,300 had been wounded -- has prompted criticism at home and abroad.   "It should be clear to the parties involved that after 20 months of conflict the dispute there cannot be resolved by use of force," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said.   "There has to be an element of negotiation."   The German Foreign Ministry said Russia should look for a peaceful solution involving the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which on Wednesday abandoned its central Grozny office in anticipation of the threatened bombing.   Russian human rights campaigner Sergei Kovalyov, recovering from a heart attack, called on Yeltsin to stop the fighting.   "Something monstrous is happening right before our eyes," the former dissident told an outdoor news conference on Pushkin Square in the centre of Moscow.   Kovalyov, once Yeltsin's human rights commissioner, was always an outspoken critic of the 20-month-old Chechen campaign in which more than 30,000 people, mostly civilians, have died. 
887 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL !GVIO  For the 20 months since President Boris Yeltsin sent troops to crush Chechnya's bid to secede from Russia, the question of who is in charge of the crisis has been unclear.   Confusion over Moscow's biggest military operation since the Afghan war was illustrated again on Wednesday.   Just hours before a deadline set by the commander of Russian forces in Chechnya for an all-out bombardment of its capital Grozny, Defence Minister Igor Rodionov disowned the plan.   As Rodionov spoke, his mentor in the Kremlin, security chief Alexander Lebed, was heading for talks with Chechen rebel leaders -- and Russian warplanes had already started bombing.   In late 1994, then-defence minister Pavel Grachev, a strong advocate of the use of force against the rebels, told Yeltsin he needed two hours and a regiment of paratroopers to crush them.   But Russia, faced with resolute guerrillas defending their own mountainous land, needed six months and many more regiments to take control of the bulk of Chechnya -- a region of about a million people and half the size of Belgium.   The army, under Grachev's defence ministry, dominated the initial stages of the operation launched on December 11, 1994.   However, heavy losses and heavy going subdued Grachev's optimism.   Once his forces had captured the ruins of Grozny in April he declared the "military stage" of the operation over and said his colleague, then-interior minister Viktor Yerin, would take charge of stamping out remaining pockets of resistance.   From that point on, the rival ministries, defence and interior, have had to struggle to coordinate their actions -- which many observers see as a factor in Russian setbacks in Chechnya.   When the separatists took Grozny back on August 6, interior ministry officials complained that the army refused to help them.   Defence ministry officials were quoted as saying their forces in Chechnya had been told not to interfere until they received a written request from the interior ministry.   There are no published official figures on troop numbers in the region.   Pavel Felgenhauer, military analyst for the newspaper Sevodnya, has estimated there are around 20,000 interior ministry troops, including police, and 19,000 defence ministry troops.   Both ministries' forces have heavy artillery, armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships.   The defence ministry also has combat aircraft.   Against them, the rebels say, is a guerrilla force of less than 10,000.   Theoretically both sets of Russian troops report to the commander of the Joint Group of the Federal Forces in Chechnya, a position now occupied by Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov.   He returned from holiday on Wednesday and appeared to approve of the ultimatum his deputy had issued on Monday.   There are no rules on whom the commander of the Joint Group, nominated directly by the president, reports to.   "He receives a few orders from the defence minister, a few orders from the interior minister, a few orders from Yeltsin and is free to choose which ones to carry out," a military expert in the region, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.   In theory Yeltsin, who is supreme commander of the Russian armed forces, is in overall charge.   But the 65-year-old president has never claimed day-to-day control and policy has swung back and forth between peace talks and main force.   After the rebel attack on Grozny, Yeltsin, out of the public eye for weeks and perhaps keen to be seen resolving the chain of command, gave his new security supremo Alexander Lebed sweeping powers to end the crisis.   Quite how this is supposed to work remains unclear.   The defence and interior ministers report directly to Yeltsin, not to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.   Lebed is secretary to the Security Council, a non-government body chaired by Yeltsin and including the defence and interior ministers.   But his formal powers have not been publicly defined.   Yeltsin issued a decree last week saying the Security Council would coordinate all operations in Chechnya.   Yet days later, the president ignored a demand by Lebed that Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov be sacked for the bungling over the conflict. 
888 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO !GVOTE  The Dayton accord is being badly implemented, forcing loyal citizens to accept in peace what they fought against in war, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic said in a speech on Wednesday.   His remarks cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Bosnian peace process and of nationwide elections scheduled for September 14.   "No one can expect us to legalise something that we have been fighting against and ask us to accept the results of a war of conquest and genocide," Izetbegovic told an international conference on post-war Bosnia.   "A hesitant, inconsistent and insufficient implementation of the Dayton agreement just leads to that.   As days go by our doubts and questions are multiplying."   Dayton brought an end to the 43-month Bosnian war last December and set a course for the country's reunification as a unitary, multi-ethnic state within its pre-war borders.   Bosnia's three armies were supposed to stand down, freedom of movement was meant to be restored and refugees were guaranteed the right to return to homes from which had been ethnically cleansed.   The peace process was then to culminate in free and fair elections to establish common institutions to bind Bosnians together in a decentralized state comprised of a Moslem-Croat federation and a Serb republic.   The deployment of 53,000 NATO-led combat troops forced Bosnia's three armies to return to barracks and store their weapons and ammunition in cantonment areas open to inspection.   By comparison, the civilian side of the Dayton agreement has limped forward with constant obstruction from Bosnia's three main nationalist parties.   Hardline separatist Croats and Serbs have not abandoned their desire to break-away from Bosnia.   While Izetbegovic's Moslem nationalist SDA party preached multi-ethnicity during the war it too is drifting away from that position under constant pressure from Croats and Serbs whose mono-ethnic politics are proving contagious.   The SDA's commitment to a unitary state now appears based more on territorial ambition than ethnic tolerance.   These communal tensions have stymied freedom of movement, making it virtually impossible for refugees to return to their homes across what have become de facto ethnic boundary lines.   Even the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe which is supervising the elections admits there is little prospect of the vote being free or fair.   By most accounts the nationalist parties will win handily, with the Croats and Serbs interpreting the result as a referendum endorsing their partition policies rather than reunification.   "We cannot afford to lose in peace what we have defended with our blood in the hard years of the war," Izetbegovic told his audience on Wednesday.   "Our goal is an integral and democratic Bosnia and Hercegovina and a stable peace." 
889 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Thousands of British troops with hundreds of armoured vehicles will pour across NATO's eastern border into Poland this month for a pioneering exercise that may lead other Western armies to hire Polish training grounds.   British Brigadier David Montgomery said on Wednesday that his 7th Armoured Brigade would bring almost 3,500 personnel and 440 armoured vehicles, including Challenger 1 tanks, from bases in Germany for the August 30 to September 20 exercise.   Britain has hired the 400 square km (154.5 sq mile) Drawsko area in the northeast, largest of several Polish post-Warsaw Pact training grounds, for Ulan Eagle '96.   The British plan to return in 1997, while Polish officials say they will reinvest earnings to improve facilities.   "I would expect to have a brigade back here every year -- and this brigade every three years -- if things go as planned," Montgomery told a news conference in Warsaw.   The vast Polish areas where Soviet armies trained before the 1989 fall of communism offer ideal conditions, without many of the constraints imposed by British and German civilian concern over noise.   They are also relatively cheap.   Montgomery said the exercise, which will not use live ammunition, would cost about 3.5 million sterling ($5.5 million) above the budget of his brigade, called the "Desert Rats" since the World War Two African campaigns of his distant relative Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.   An exercise in its training facility in Alberta, western Canada, using live rounds but involving only 1,200 troops, would cost 5.5 million sterling ($8.5 million) because of transport and other expenses.   Neither side in the deal, sealed by British Defence Minister Michael Portillo in Warsaw in June, will reveal how much Britain is paying Poland.   Polish Defence Ministry spokesman Eugeniusz Mleczak said this was a commercial secret as Poland was in talks with other interested armies.   Montgomery said Drawsko's terrain which was wooded, hilly and wet like much of Europe, unlike the much vaster Canadian ground which has only seven trees, or the smaller, heavily-booked German grounds which also lack forests.   Drawsko offers a first chance since the Gulf War for a British armoured brigade to train almost as a whole.   The exercise, simulating full-scale combat rather than peacekeeping, is purely British, although Polish forces are invited to observe closely and engineers will build a bridge.   But Mleczak said it would serve Poland's military and political progress towards joining NATO.   This goal is opposed by Russia, the heavily militarised Kaliningrad enclave of which borders Poland.   Portillo, accompanied by the Polish and Ukrainian defence ministers, is to visit the exercise on September 3.   The British and Polish governments have signed a detailed understanding on financial, legal, disciplinary, environmental and other issues and Poland's parliament is working on longer-term provisions for such exercises, Mleczak said.   While the tanks will come by train, almost 700 non-armoured vehicles are to travel the 600 kms (400 miles) to Drawsko by road, the first major British army crossing of the former East Germany.   This will be on a German holiday weekend, passing 36 road works on the way.   "They are predicting the biggest traffic jam this century," Montgomery said. 
890 !GCAT !GVIO  Alexander Lebed, President Boris Yeltsin's personal envoy to Chechnya, arrived in the region for talks with Russian military and Chechen separatist rebel leaders on Wednesday and said he had come "with peace", Interfax news agency said.   Lebed, whose visit comes just hours before the Russian army has threatened to bombard the rebel-held capital Grozny, met army commander General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov at the Khankala base near Grozny and said he would also meet separatist leader Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov.    It was Lebed's third trip to Chechnya since being named by Yeltsin 10 days ago after the military were humiliated by the rebel seizure of Grozny on August 6.   He was expected to meet Yandarbiyev near Novye Atagi, 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.   Lebed has spoken out against bombing the city.   The Security Council, of which he is secretary, issued a statement on Tuesday which queried the authenticity of Yeltsin's order, published on Monday, which instructed Lebed to restore order in Grozny and which, Lebed said, allowed the army to issue its threat.   Defence Minister Igor Rodionov, named last month at Lebed's insistence, on Wednesday disowned the ultimatum issued on Monday by Tikhomirov's deputy saying that the city would be bombed from Thursday morning.   Tikhomirov returned from holiday on Tuesday.   He said on Wednesday that he favoured the "most decisive measures" to drive out the separatists. 
891 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Hundreds and perhaps thousands of reporters will descend on Bosnia to cover the mid-September elections, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on Wednesday.   "Nobody knows for sure but we estimate there could be 2,500 or more journalists including Bosnian reporters for the period right around elections," said OSCE official Nicole Szulc.   The OSCE is responsible for organising the vote.   Bosnians go to the polls on September 14 in their country's first post-war national elections.   Meeting the needs of the press will not be easy, especially since the OSCE estimates it could take up to ten days to tally the election results.   In order to count and disseminate results the OSCE is building a big media facility at Sarajevo's Skenderija Sports Centre, where some of the 1984 Winter Olympics events were held.   The OSCE's main tabulation centre will be located there, as will a press centre capable of seating 1,000 reporters.   "People are going to be hanging around for days waiting for the count and we needed a spot that can accommodate them," explained Szulc.   "We'll be able to project results into the press centre from the tabulation centre and transmit them directly to television cameras... It will be state of the art for this part of the world."   NATO-led peace implementation forces in Bosnia operate a sizeable press centre at Sarajevo's Holiday Inn where NATO, U.N. and other officials brief the media six days a week.   Spending money to keep two such centres running during the weeks around the election strikes some as an extravagance in a country where many people still live in poverty.   One critic on Wednesday estimated the OSCE's price tag at $1 million.   Another put it a little lower, at one million Deutsche Marks.   If the OSCE knows, it isn't saying.   But it makes the point that, whatever the cost, a substantial portion must be allocated to the computer centre needed to tabulate election results, which is not an elective expenditure.   "The Holiday Inn isn't large enough to hold the crowd we expect and it wasn't suitable for the tabulation centre," explained Szulc.   "We were particularly interested in having a location that is comfortable for Bosnian reporters since these are their elections.   Skenderija is one of the few locations people still seem to have good feelings about, because of the Olympics." 
892 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Serbia plans to hold local elections on November 3, the same day federal and Montenegrin polls are due to be held in rump Yugoslavia, state media reported on Wednesday.   The announcement piled more pressure on the fragmented opposition already struggling to prepare for the federal parliamentary vote.   Political analysts said holding municipal elections the same day as the federal polls will strengthen the hand of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's ruling Socialist party and his wife's neo-communist Yugoslav United Left (JUL).   Opposition parties, which hold a majority in some town councils, have long hoped to weaken the Socialists by asserting themselves at the local level.   With less than 80 days to organise themselves, the opposition will be hard-pressed just to preserve their current position.   Serbian parliamentary speaker Dragan Tomic said the local elections would also cover city assemblies for Belgrade, Kragujevac, Nis, Novi Sad and Pristina.   The tiny republic of Montenegro, which together with Serbia comprises what is left of Yugoslavia, is also holding its elections on November 3.   The ruling Socialists are relying on the tightly-controlled state media to help stifle the opposition, which is preoccupied with internal debates.   Milosevic is considered the de facto ruler of rump Yugoslavia.   His second and final term as president of Serbia expires in 1997 and he is widely expected to run for the Yugoslav presidency next year.   The authorities hope November elections would provide Milosevic with a clear majority in the federal parliament. 
893 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF !GDIP !GPOL  Slovenia on Wednesday said it had dismissed its honorary consul to Liberia, two months after an Italian prosecutor issued an international warrant for his arrest on suspicion of smuggling arms.   In June, an Italian prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Nicholas Oman, accusing him of smuggling arms to Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.   The warrant was soon recalled due to lack of evidence.   The Slovenian government declined to explain its decision to remove Oman.   "The decision was taken on July 25, but it remained confidential until now because the man and the country in question had to be notified first," said Branko Vidrih, a spokesman for the government information office.   Oman was appointed Slovenia's honorary consul to Liberia in 1993. 
894 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  Bosnians supporting opposition politicians in the northwest of the country around Bihac are so frightened of reprisals they may not vote in upcoming elections, a U.N. spokesman said on Wednesday.   "U.N. monitors... believe that this intimidation may continue up to the elections," U.N. spokesman Alex Ivanko told reporters in Sarajevo.   "It will have dire consequences for the whole election process because people that support opposition parties will prefer, for security reasons, not to exercise their right to vote."   U.N. police operating in the Moslem-controlled Bihac area reported eight explosions there in the past week, all of them directed at people supporting candidates or parties in opposition to the ruling Moslem nationalist SDA party.   "If the local authorities in Bihac are interested in having free and fair elections they only have weeks, if not days, to get their act together, although their committments are doubtful right now," Ivanko said.   Active harassment and intimidation of the political opposition in the Bihac area began in June when an SDA loyalist struck Bosnia's former Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic on the head with an iron pipe.   Silajdzic resigned his government position and broke with the SDA in January, forming his own party to run in opposition to the SDA for a seat on Bosnia's collective Presidency.   Ivanko said U.N. monitors in the Bihac area had received a letter from one of the local opposition parties accusing nine police officers and eight SDA supporters of intimidation.   Last week, U.N. police Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald met interior ministers from Bosnia's Moslem-Croat federation and its Serb republic who agreed to instruct local police to support free and fair elections.   "They (the interior ministers) either failed to issue these orders, which is possible, or there was some bogus communication breakdown throughout the country, which I think is not very much possible," Ivanko said.   Ivanko said commissioner Fitzgerald would contact local police directly to get his message across even though "we have some unconfirmed reports that people are being intimidated by local policemen".   Political intimidation also took place in Serb-controlled Teslic earlier in the week.   Ivanko reported that a factory director was forced from his job on Monday because of his opposition to the ruling Serb nationalist SDS party.   He was the second factory manager in Teslic to be replaced in the past week -- both by SDS supporters. 
895 !GCAT !GPOL  Boris Yeltsin will return to the Moscow area on Wednesday from a trip to Russia's northwestern lakeland and will be back at work in the Kremlin on Thursday, Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the president as saying.   A Kremlin spokesman said he could not confirm the report.   "We do not have this information," he said.   The source told Interfax that Yeltsin would be working on documents and did not rule out that he might meet some candidates for ministerial posts that have yet to be filled in Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's new government.   Yeltsin's spokesman said on Tuesday that the president had left Moscow for a two-day trip to the Valdai region to look into whether he wanted to spend a longer holiday there.   The Kremlin has denied reports that president, who has been seen just once in public since being re-elected on July 3, is suffering a recurrence of the heart trouble that put him in hospital twice last year.   In Yeltsin's absence, Russian policy on the Chechen crisis has seemed confused, with some senior figures holding peace talks and army generals preparing to bomb Grozny.   In the latest twist, Defence Minister Igor Rodionov disowned the bombing threat made by the army commander in the region. 
896 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Albanian President Sali Berisha on Wednesday urged all political parties to participate in upcoming local elections, pledging his government's commitment to a free and fair vote.   Most opposition groups, citing fears of a biased electoral process, have threatened to boycott the nationwide local ballot on October 20, five months after a disputed general election cast a shadow over the ex-communist country's young democracy.   "I invite them to participate (in the local polls)," Berisha said at a news conference.   "I guarantee a serious engagement for free and fair elections".   Foreign governments, including the United States, have said they will keep a close eye on the local ballot and consider it a fresh test for democracy.   Albania's third multi-party general election, held on May 26 and June 2, was marred by widespread allegations of manipulation.   All major opposition parties withdrew from the parliamentary poll in protest.   Berisha told reporters that the boycott, led by the main opposition Socialists, had been immoral.   He did not refer to demands by the opposition to restyle a recently-formed electoral commission, which many parties claim is biased in favour of Berisha's Democratic Party. 
897 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin's former personal bodyguard and confidant General Alexander Korzhakov said in an interview published on Wednesday he had been shocked by what he called abuse of power by top Russian officials.   Korzhakov, sacked by Yeltsin in June after a Kremlin power struggle, told the weekly Argumenty i Fakty that he had fallen victim to his own anti-corruption crusade in the Kremlin.   "One could get the impression that nearly all top officials are working to loot state property," said Korzhakov, former head of the president's powerful security service.   He told Argumenty i Fakty that dozens of corrupt Kremlin officials had been demoted after his reports, but blamed faulty legislation for the fact that many officials had escaped trial.   "Frankly speaking I could never dream of seeing these people behind bars -- dismissal would be enough," he said.   Korzhakov, a shadowy figure whom many saw as Yeltsin's main confidant during much of his first term in office, had been Yeltsin's security officer for more than a decade.   He joined the president when Yeltsin moved to Moscow to head the local Communist Party and stayed with Yeltsin after he was expelled from the Soviet Communist Party leadership in 1987 for demanding a radical reform of the system.   Korzhakov's power grew after Yeltsin became Russia's first president and his well-equipped GUO security service, originally created to guarantee security for top state officials, competed in power and influence with the Federal Security Service (FSB).   But he and FSB head Mikhail Barsukov both fell from grace in a purge of hawkish hardliners between the two rounds of the Russian presidential election.   Korzhakov's men had seized two officials from Yeltsin's campaign team and interrogated them for several hours, placing the bodyguard in direct confrontation with top campaign official Anatoly Chubais.   Chubais, who once masterminded Russia's privatisation campaign, is now the president's chief of staff.   "I was dumped for my curiosity," Korzhakov said.   He said that the new Kremlin team had already started dismantling the system he had erected to keep Kremlin corruption under control.   "After my resignation they have started dispersing the service," he said.   "They are trying hard to isolate people with exclusive information from each other or even to sack them."   Korzhakov said he believed that Yeltsin was in charge of Russia but that he was heavily "assisted".   He made clear that this help came from Chubais.   "Mr Chubais...has become a regent to the live president and his utmost worry now is to set up his own regency in the Kremlin," he said.   Yeltsin, 65, has not been seen in public since he was inaugurated for a second term on August 9, but aides have denied a flurry of media reports that he is ill.   They say the president is taking a short break in the northwestern lakeland of Valdai and will decide whether to take a more extended holiday there. 
898 !GCAT !GVIO  Civilians trapped in the cellars of the Chechen capital, rocked by explosions and threatened with carpet bombing from Russian forces, pleaded for help from the outside world on Wednesday.   An elderly Chechen woman struggling along a dirt road to escape the city handed over the appeal, written in ballpoint pen on a flimsy sheet of paper.   The trapped civilians, many of them Russians, said they felt they had been abandoned in their own country.   "In houses number seven and nine along Pobeda (Victory) Street there are many citizens, among them children, women and elderly people, who have spent eight days in the basements of their houses," it began.   "Our houses are bombarded continuously by heavy weapons.   We are in a desperate state, without bread, water or light.   There are no fighters in our houses, no soldiers, and no one is firing from them, but the bombardment never stops."   "We are living in uncertainty and confusion, we feel that we have been abandoned in our own country.   We ask that you do everything possible to stop this war."   Fourteen people had signed the appeal on behalf of themselves and their families.   It listed 32 names altogether, about half of them Russian.   The woman, who gave her name as Zoya, said the civilians had begged her to hand over their appeal so that their message would reach the outside world.   She said they were not the only ones who had stayed behind because they had nowhere to go.   "There are poeple left in basements all over the city," said Zoya, her face dripping with sweat from the flames shooting 10 metres (33 feet) into the air from nearby gas mains which had been hit in the two weeks of fighting.   "Those bastards, the Russians.   They've deceived us all the time."   On Saturday, Russia's acting military commander signed a ceasefire deal with the rebels, who took over much of the city on August 6.   But on Monday he accused them of digging in and threatened to unleash all his firepower on Grozny unless they left by Thursday.   Zoya, one of a trickle of refugees trying to flee on Wednesday, was pushing a handcart stacked high with suitcases and she had trouble stopping it tipping over.   Around her explosions went off every few minutes and the sunny sky was hazy with smoke from burning buildings.   Helicopters hovered and warplanes screamed overhead.   Separatist fighters, who have vowed to fight to the death, drove along the road in jeeps and cars, hanging out of the windows screaming the Chechen battle cry "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great).   The refugees, in a side road near a main thoroughfare leading out of the city, had between 15 and 20 km (9-12 miles) of walking ahead of them and no guarantee they would get out alive. 
899 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian Defence Minister Igor Rodionov said on Wednesday the acting army commander in Chechnya had acted solely on his own initiative in threatening to bomb Grozny and had been "given a dressing down", Itar-Tass news agency said.    In a brief report from the southern Russian city of Volgograd, Tass quoted Rodionov as saying he had had "nothing to do" with a statement on Monday by acting commander General Konstantin Pulikovsky that he would begin an all-out bombing of the Chechen capital on Thursday morning to dislodge rebels.   "He did not agree this question with me," Rodionov told Tass, adding that "someone had provoked" Pulikovsky into the threat and that the general had "acted wrongly".   He had been told it was up to Russia's leadership to decide such matters.   Pulikovsky's superior, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, returned to Chechnya on Tuesday.   He told Interfax news agency on Wednesday he favoured "the most decisive measures" to drive out the separatists who seized Grozny on August 6, adding: "They (the rebels) will not live to see further loose warnings from me."   Rodionov, also a general, was appointed last month at the insistence of new Kremlin security chief Alexander Lebed, an old army comrade.   Lebed flew to Chechnya on Wednesday in an apparent last-ditch attempt to make peace with the separatists. 
900 !GCAT !GPOL  The personal physician of the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu has resigned as Romania's health minister as part of a reshuffle by the leftist ruling party to boost its image ahead of elections.   Bucharest radio said on Wednesday Health Minister Iulian Mincu and also Culture Minister Viorel Marginean had quit "for personal reasons".   Government spokesman Ion Rosca told Reuters their departure was "actually the reshuffle" of the cabinet lead by Prime Minister Nicolae Vacaroiu.   Mincu, 69, gave a last insulin shot to Ceausescu hours before the dictator and his wife Elena fled Bucharest during the December 1989 popular revolt that ended communist rule.   Ceausescu and his wife were later executed by firing squad.   Mincu became notorious under Ceausescu as the author of a "rational nutrition programme" which denied consumption of meat and sweets to Romania's starving population.   The programme was in line with the late dictator's drive to export most of the country's livestock and food products to earn hard currency and pay its huge foreign debt.   Mincu, appointed by Vacaroiu as health minister in 1992, told Bucharest radio he had resigned on health grounds but would continue to act as a senator of the ruling leftist Party of Social Democracy (PDSR).   Reports in the local media had said the PDSR planned a reshuffle in a last-ditch attempt to boost its image ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections due on November 3.   Analysts had called for more radical surgery, with some asking even Vacaroiu to resign.   Marginean had come under attack in the opposition press for allegedly using his position to spend large amounts from the public money to organise exhibits of his paintings abroad.   Vacaroiu confirmed the reshuffle on Bucharest radio.   "We are determined to take all necessary measures, if needed," he said when asked whether he expected other changes in his cabinet.   PDSR supporters had also called for a shake-up of the ranks of the government to improve its chances in November elections.   Wednesday's reshuffle is the fifth since Vacaroiu was appointed in 1992.   He has relied on nationalists and neo-communists to keep his hold on power. 
901 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO !MCAT  Anxiety over President Boris Yeltsin's health and a possible upsurge of violence in Chechnya unsettled Russian markets on Wednesday but analysts said the impact was muted, with investors used to volatility in Russia.   Leading Russian shares, which fell 2.31 percent on Tuesday, eased further on Wednesday.   Traders said this was mainly due to profit-taking but that Yeltsin's health was a background worry.   "Everybody is concerned about it.   Western investors are very concerned but are staying on the sidelines.   Nobody is panicking, nobody is selling into this very much," said Nick Mokhoff, head trader at Alliance-Menatep.   Yeltsin has not been seen in public since August 9.   His press service has said he is on holiday in northwestern Russia and has consistently denied rumours he is ill.   "I am firmly convinced that he is alive.   He has been signing decrees," a spokesman said.   In Yeltsin's absence, the powerful Security Council cast doubt on the authenticity of a presidential order on Chechnya on Tuesday, raising questions about who was running the country.   Council Secretary Alexander Lebed was planning to visit the breakaway region on Wednesday to avert a threatened major assault by Russian forces on rebel positions.   But Gavin Rankin, head of research at Troika-Dialog, said he did not believe there was a sense of a power vacuum and that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's government was in control.   He said the stock market fell sharply in early July on false rumours Yeltsin was dead but had since recovered.   "It is business as usual.   Our experience is that Russian presidents can be kept alive a very long time," he said.   Equity prices rose sharply in the run-up to Yeltsin's July 3 election victory and many analysts had forecast further climbs.   But prices slumped until the end of July, partly on worry over Yeltsin's health and after the International Monetary Fund's delayed payment of the July tranche of a $10 billion three-year loan.   The IMF board is due to discuss the release of the cash on Wednesday.   Mokhoff said the market had already discounted a positive decision by the IMF's board and said all the good news which could affect stocks was out.   "At this point, I would probably be more hesitant to be a buyer than a seller short-term," he said.   Tad Berger, senior equity analyst at Creditanstalt-Grant, said concern over Yeltsin had affected markets slightly but the impact was limited.   "It is the same stories people have heard before," he said.   He said structural issues, such as custody and settlement, were keeping institutional money out of Russian stocks but investors already in Russia were not reacting negatively.   "Anybody who invests in this market realises there are going to be little bumps along the way," he said.   Prices of Ministry of Finance bonds, which foreigners may buy, fell in nervous trade on Wednesday but dealers said the fall was due to rumours, denied by the ministry, that some bonds had been frozen.   Dealers said the Min Fin market could also be affected by political concerns.   "Somebody may be affected by it, but the fall may be also due to a correction after (last week's) rise," one said.   In domestic debt markets, which are driven mainly by supply, an issue of a new tranche of three-month discount Treasury bills yielded an average 63.18 percent at auction, down from 63.76 percent when the bills were first issued a week ago. 
902 !GCAT !GVIO  Huge explosions rocked the Chechen capital on Wednesday after warplanes flew over the city, in what appeared to be the start of large-scale Russian bombing raids.   Reuter correspondent Lawrence Sheets, in Alkhan-Yurt a few km (miles) southwest of Grozny, said the latest explosions were so loud they could only have come from aerial bombs.    Planes had been screaming over the city on and off since 11 a.m. (0700 GMT), but it had been difficult to tell if periodic blasts came from the air or from heavy artillery fire.   The latest explosions sounded after a plane flew over at around four p.m. (1200 GMT).   Another plane followed at a higher altitude a few minutes later.   Officials from the Interior Ministry were not immediately available for comment on whether this marked the start of the all-out bombardment threatened by top military officials.   On Monday, deputy Russian commander Lieutenant-General Konstantin Pulikovsky gave the rebels 48 hours to withdraw from the city.   Civilians flooded out, but the separatists, who captured Grozny on August 6, have pledged to fight to the death. 
903 !GCAT !GDIP  A spokesman for Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma on Wednesday denied a report by Taiwan radio that the Ukrainian leader had met Taiwan's Vice-President Lien Chan.   "There was no meeting.   Neither official, nor private or non-official.   I officially deny that information," Serhiy Kutsiy told Reuters by telephone.   "There is no point at all for the president to meet him.   The Chinese are even angry over his private stay in Ukraine."    Taiwanese radio said on Wednesday that Kuchma had met the island's leader in Kiev.   Kutsiy said there were no plans for a meeting before Lien's departure later today.   Lien, a professor of Taipei University, stayed in Ukraine for two days on a non-official visit at the invitation of the chancellor of Kiev State University.   China responded by cancelling a trip by a high-ranking government delegation to Ukraine, to be headed by a member of China's powerful State Council, according to a senior Chinese diplomat.   Meetings with Kuchma and Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko were planned during the visit.   A foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said China was voicing its concern to Ukraine over Lien's visit.   Communist China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province and has sought to isolate the island diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949. 
904 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA  Albania expects a smaller wheat harvest this year due to unfavourable weather conditions and a decline in area surface planted with the crop, a top Albanian agriculture official said on Wednesday.   Ylli Bicoku, head of the ministry's agriculture and livestock department, said the June-August harvest would be below the 410,000 tonnes reaped last year.   "Wheat production for this year is thought to be lower than last year but exact figures will be available in September," Bicoku told Reuters.   Wheat surface fell to 126,000 hectares this year from 142,000 in the 1994/95 season mainly as a result of low wheat prices driving farmers to opt for other crops.   But Bicoku said he expected 150,000 hectares to be planted this autumn due to a jump in prices last month to 23 leks from 13-15 leks. 
905 !GCAT !GWEA  No closures of airports in the Commonwealth of Independent States are expected on August 22 and August 23, the Russian Weather Service said on Wednesday.   --Moscow Newsroom +7095 941 8520 
906 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin, resting in the Valdai lakelands of northwestern Russia, signed two decrees on Wednesday, the presidential press service said.   Asked about rumours in Western financial markets that Yeltsin was dead, a spokesman answered: "I am firmly convinced that he is alive.   He has been signing decrees."   One decree, outlined by Itar-Tass news agency, relieved new ministers Alexander Livshits and Viktor Ilyushin of their old jobs as presidential aides.   The second one dealt with the budget of the federal social fund. 
907 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian troops started intensive heavy artillery attacks on Wednesday against rebel positions in the Chechen capital Grozny, setting parts of the city on fire, Itar-Tass news agency said.   "The federal forces are using self-propelled guns, firing more than 10 times a minute.   As a result of the shooting, parts of the town are covered in smoke and flames," it said, quoting its correspondent in Grozny.    Tass said its correspondent Boris Kipkeyev, speaking by telephone from Russia's military base in Khankala airport east of Grozny, reported that the main opposition was around Minutka square and a bridge over the Sundzha river in the centre.   The 101st brigade of interior ministry troops was destroying rebel positions and snipers, it said.   Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed was due to fly to Grozny later on Wednesday to try to defuse a crisis caused by threats by the Russian military to bomb the city if the rebels, who captured much of it on August 6, did not withdraw. 
908 !GCAT !GENV !GVIO  NATO on Monday agreed to abandon a set of pits they are using to destroy contraband Bosnian Serb munitions after local Serbs raised environmental concerns, officers said.   But NATO spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Max Marriner said Operation Volcano would go ahead as planned in another set of pits also being used in the operation.   He said about 96 tonnes of small arms ammunition and mines had been destroyed since blasting began about 10 km (six miles) north of Sokolac on Monday.   Bosnian Serbs voiced concern about possible effects of the explosions on the local water table and complained about broken windows.   "Lieutenant-General (Sir Michael) Walker (Commander of NATO ground forces in Bosnia) met with the Mayor of Sokolac and other municipal authorities on Tuesday and agreed to abandon one set of blast pits to meet their concerns," Marriner said.   "Meanwhile, Operation Volcano continues in the second set of blast pits.   About 30 tonnes were destroyed yesterday (Tuesday) evening, bringing the total so far to 96 tonnes."   Reporters who witnessed one blast on Tuesday saw a column of dirt, smoke and steam shoot some 4,000 feet (more than 1,000 metres) into the air.   A routine NATO patrol discovered what is now estimated to be 400 tonnes of small arms ammunition and mines in a schoolhouse in Margetici, near Sokolac, on August 5.   Because the Margetici site had not been declared to NATO as required under the terms of the Dayton peace agreement, NATO troops confiscated the material and prepared to destroy it in an operation codenamed "Volcano".   About 2,000 NATO-led peace implementation troops were despatched to the area beginning on Saturday to ensure the operation went ahead without risk to local citizens or the environment.   NATO engineers dug two sets of blasts pits in a remote area near Margetici to contain the exploding munitions, detonated in lots of a few tonnes each.   On Monday the Serbs began complaining that blasts from one set of pits might contaminate the water in the local aquifer which serves the area.   General Walker abandoned those pits on Tuesday but blasting continued in the other set.   The Bosnian Serbs have not been the only faction to violate clauses in the Dayton agreement about weapons and ammunition.   NATO forces stopped a Bosnian Army truck carrying about 20 soldiers near Tuzla on Tuesday and discovered it was transporting unauthorised weapons.   Sources said the contraband, which included assault rifles and anti-tank weapons, would be destroyed.   NATO also reported it had recently destroyed a total of 1,242 weapons it had confiscated.   More than half were from the Bosnian Army side and included small arms, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft machine-guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.   "The weapons were destroyed on August 16 and 17 after having been held for a period of time," said a NATO source who asked not to be identified.   "We're being even-handed about discharging our duty under Dayton.   If we find unauthorised weapons or ammuntion we will confiscate and destroy it no matter whose it is." 
909 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Sarajevo press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   OSLOBODJENJE   - Nationalist SDA and HDZ parties meet behind closed doors in Sarajevo on Tuesday to discuss upcoming elections.   They agree to provide each other with "fair conditions" for campaigning.   DNEVNI AVAZ   -Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is accused of war crimes by the Bosnian Institute for Research of Crimes against Humanity and International law and the Croatian Centre for Genocide and War Victims.   -   --Sarajevo newsroom, +387-71-663-864. 
910 !GCAT  Here are highlights of stories in Romania's press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   Business:   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Milk price is expected to rise to 950 lei per kilo.   Producers say rise follows energy and fuel price hikes.   ADEVARUL   - Romania's wheat output this year is 42 percent of last year's 7.4 million tonnes.   - Purchasing price for sunflower seeds from this year's harvest was set at 615 lei per kilo.   AZI   - Meva SA railway carriage maker signed long-term contract with French companies Socofer and Finmhal on supply of parts and carriages.   ZIUA   - Medicine prices are expected to go up by 40 percent in September.   Medicine makers import raw materials at leu exchange rate of 3,100 to dollar but sell medicines at older rate of 1,850.   - Radet thermal power utility requested 20 billion lei loan from Finance Ministry's economic recovery fund to pay its debts to electricity authority Renel RA.   LIBERTATEA   - Edible oil price is expected to go up by at least 40 percent after rise in buying price for sunflower seeds.   - Leu's exchange rate at licensed currency shops is on slide.   It fell from 3,450 to dollar to 3,465.   - Austrian Creditanstalt set up Romania's first depository for mutual funds.   It plans to integrate depositary into bank to open in Romania in future.   CURIERUL NATIONAL   - Bucharest stock exchange announced first 10 companies privatised under mass selloff which join in trading would be exempted from listing commissions.   General:   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Electoral campaign for the November 3 general polls will be a very tough one, with ruling Party of Social Democracy (PDSR), in a desperate situation, using rumours and calumny, says Remus Opris, campaign manager of opposition Democratic Convention (CDR) bloc.   - Newspaper publishes PDSR's statement accusing CDR candidate for presidency, Emil Constantinescu, of attack on national security.   Constantinescu said in an interview he would be honoured to hand over the power to Romania's exiled king Michael, whom he considers the country's "real leader".   - CDR's executive board says PDSR's accusations are "an expression of its panic".   - Two men jailed in a prison in southern town of Tulcea on the river Danube hammered nails in their heads demanding to be moved to another jail.   ADEVARUL   - Constantinescu's statement on monarchy could have a disastrous effect on the CDR parties in the general polls, says Cristian Tudor Popescu in the editorial.   - "Emil Constantinescu puts CDR's chances in danger with the monarchy bomb", reads a front page headline including comments from politicians on the monarchy issue.   - President Ion Iliescu has chosen Iosif Boda, Romania's envoy to Geneva, as campaign manager and Ioan Mircea Pascu, deputy defence minister, as spokesman for the electoral campaign ahead of the November 3 presidential elections.   - Only the health and culture ministers will be replaced, said sources in the ruling PDSR.   EVENIMENTUL ZILEI   - Romania needs a centre right government after the centre left formula stumbled and is no longer able to carry out radical reforms, said political analyst Silviu Brucan.   - Transport, agriculture and communication ministers, all of National Unity Party (PUNR), say treaty with Hungary must be signed, the text being very convenient to Romania.   - Oliviu Gherman, president of ruling PDSR and chairman of upper house of Senate will run again for parliament on the ruling PDSR list in the Transylvanian city of Cluj.   COTIDIANUL   - For the Bucharesters, President Iliescu is third after CDR leader Emil Constantinescu and former reformist premier Petre Roman, on list of candidates for presidency, shows poll by International Consulting and Development.   CURIERUL NATIONAL   - Bucharest's mayor Victor Ciorbea replaced 25 of the 28 department managers of the capital's city hall.   VREMEA   - Newspaper wonders whether Emil Constantinescu's interview on monarchy is real or a set-up to discredit him now, when he was given certain chance in a second round of the presidential polls.   ZIUA   - According to constitution, President Iliescu's mandate can be extended only in case of war or catastrophe, says the newspaper, alleging that his mandate can be extended because "there is an obvious economic and social catastrophy".   ($=3,156 lei) -- Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264 
911 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Skopje press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DNEVNIK   - The Russian plane that crashed near Belgrade was carrying arms to Lyba and the tragedy might become a major scandal.   - Government's anti-tax evasion measures will shut down Macedonian duty free shops on the border with Yugoslavia, and will undoubtedly make the Serbian shops much richer.   NOVA MAKEDONIJA   - Macedonian justice ministry says the government has adopted almost 80% of the suggestions made by the opposition and U.S. National Democratic Institute on the local elections law.   - Macedonia will face a sudden explosion of AIDS in the near future; greatest incidence is expected among heterosexuals.   - Macedonia asks the World Bank for $49 million for Lake Ohrid's environmental protection.   VECER   - Macedonian opposition intensifies talks ahead of local elections this autumn in an attempt to set up a coalition for town mayors.   - Slobodan Casule, Skopje newsroom +389 91 201196 
912 !GCAT  Lithuanian newspapers carried the following reports in their Wednesday editions.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   LIETUVOS RYTAS   - Former interior minister Romasis Vaitiekunas became the president of Stipator (Bodyguard) company, suspected of contacts with the Vilnius Brigade criminal group.   - Relations between Lithuania and Latvia are being over-shadowed by rows over oil.   Lithuanian lawmakers suggested to their Latvian counterparts that they suspend ratification of an agreement with foreign oil companies in territory in the Baltic Sea which Latvia and Lithuania dispute.   - Agricultural Minister Vytautas Einorius will continue his job since the opposition did not win a no-confidence vote against him on Tuesday.   - Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas in a speech on television criticised the slow privatisation of the energy sector, a complicated tax system, the bad situation at the Lithuanian-Belarus border and urged a reform of the police.   - Shareholders of the troubled Lithuanian State Commercial Bank annulled its 20 million litas share capital on Tuesday.   Lithuanian lawmakers are expected to vote for an issue of 90 million litas of government securities to support the bank's liquidity.   RESPUBLIKA   - Einorius expects a record harvest in Lithuania this autumn and accuses ex-prime minister and opposition leader Gediminas Vagnoris of ruining the agricultural sector.   - The biggest private financial intitution in Lithuania Vilnius Bank signed a long term cooperation agreement with Lithuanian Post to provide various banking services via the postal network.   - Lithuanian pensioners will be paid higher pensions in August.   The average pension will be 184.6 litas.   - Brazauskas wants to hold a referendum together at the same time as parliamentary elections in October to amend the constitution and establish a permanent date for elections in April to give more time to form new a cabinet.   LIETUVOS AIDAS   - The popularity of higher education is increasing in Lithuania.   Female students exceed males by four percent and the average age of university teachers is 55.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
913 !GCAT  The following are the reports carried by Estonia's newspapers on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - Estonian Anneli Ojastu won a gold metre in the women's 100 metre run in the Atlanta Para-olympics.   - The Swedish member of the Estonia commission Olaf Forssberg admits the possibility that some video tapes of the sunken ferry were not delivered to the Estonian side.   - Interview with Arnold Ruutel concentrates on events in August 1991 and the coming presidential elections.   - 361 former workers of Vohma Meat Producers are still waiting for wages and compensation with no hope for a new job.   SONUMILEHT   - The government decided to return two buildings to their former owner the Bank of Estonia and approved amendments to the law on gambling.   - Large sums circulate in religious sects in Estonia and the possibility that sects are being used for money laundering cannot be excluded, said the deacon of Tallin Kaarli church, Jaan Leppik.   EESTI PAEVALEHT   - Estonian Prime Minister Tiit Vaehi met his Finnish counterpart Paavo Lipponen in Helsinki.   Both premiers were hopeful that visa-free travel between their countries would be established by the end of 1996.   - 255 million kroons has been allocated by Tallin council for road repairs in 1996, half of the works have been completed and 100 million kroons spent.   - President Lennart Meri and British Ambassador to Estonia Charles de Chassiron opened on August 20 a restored memorial stone to British sailors who lost their lives in battles in 1721; the former stone was destroyed in the Soviet period.   ARIPAEV   - Estonian Energy service department cut off electricity in the Tallinn Meat Producers, causing a financial loss for several private companies who receive power from the same line.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
914 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Belgrade press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   NASA BORBA   - Owner of the cargo on the plane that crashed at Belgrade on Monday, Yugoslav Misko Djordjevic, was one of 12 on board.   - Kragujevac arms factory workers continue strike in front of city council, demanding wages.   - Walls in Bosnian Serb town of Visegrad plastered by posters of ousted leader Radovan Karadzic, Serbian Radical Leader Vojislav Seselj and Party of Serbian Unity Zeljko Raznatovic Arkan.   - Recently adopted oil-product import quotas being revised to let Montenegro import oil products for its users.   - Military court in southern Serbian town of Nis sentences four Croatian spies to between one and five years in jail.   POLITIKA   - Yugoslav and Croatian Foreign Ministers will sign agreement on normalising relations on August 23; the remaining open issues will be resolved in intensive diplomatic contacts over the next few days, says Croatian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic after visit to Belgrade.   - Yugoslav exploration crews continue probing for oil on Montenegrin coast after a four-year break.   - Heads of the Yugoslav, Serbian and Bosnian Serb Chambers of Commerce agree to barter seeds for agricultural products.   - Yugoslav government committee sets draft platform for talks on succession to speed up negotiations and tear down "outer wall" of sanctions.   - Operation Volcano, demolishing Bosnian Serb contraband munitions, negatively affecting preparations for September 14 elections, says Bosnian Serb Acting President Biljana Plavsic.   BORBA   - Both Yugoslavia and other countries are underestimating the danger of terrorism in the Serbian province of Kosovo, says Yugoslav Parliament's Defense and Security Board Chairman Radmilo Bogdanovic.   VECERNJE NOVOSTI   - Although crime in Serbia is on the rise, number of jail sentences is dropping, Institute of Criminology and Sociological Research analysis shows.   POLITIKA EKSPRES   - Out of 220,000 Bosnian refugees in Yugoslavia, 98,000 will vote in absence, over 122,000 will vote in Bosnia, says Yugoslav Refugeee Committee chairwoman Bratislava Morina.   -- Belgrade newsroom 381 11 +2224305 
915 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Wednesday morning's Albanian newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   KOHA JONE   - An editorial said Albania could not expect European Union membership unless democracy was fully respected.   - At an upcoming party convention, the opposition Socialist Party is due to announce its complete separation from the former communist party and the late dictator Enver Hoxha, the party presidency decided at its last meeting.   GAZETA SHQIPTARE   - Fires have destroyed thousands of hectares of forest in southern Albania. 
916 !GCAT  Here are highlights of stories reported by Hungary's press, based on information by Nepszabadsag's Hungary Around the Clock service.   For further details on how to subscribe to Hungary Around the Clock, please contact Monica Kovacs at (361) 351 2440 or fax your request to (361) 351 7141.   ALL PAPERS   - A multitude of commemorations were held across Hungary at the weekend to mark the millecentennary, the 1,100th anniversary of Magyar tribes settling in the Carpathian basin.   President Arpad Goncz said Hungary has reached a turning point.   - Prime Minister Gyula Horn said in Kaposvar on Sunday that Privatisation Minister Tamas Suchman stands the good chance of succeeding Imre Dunai as minister of industry and trade.   - The leaders of ethnic Hungarian organisations beyond the borders opened fire on the draft of the Romanian-Hungarian basic treaty at the weekend, demanding that yet another Hungarian summit be convened to discuss the issue.   - President Arpad Goncz on Saturday conferred an honorary medal on former US president Jimmy Carter, who was helping build homes in Vac over the last few days.   - President Arpad Goncz addressed the second world congress of Finno-Ugric peoples in Parliament on Saturday.   - The Austrian government notified Hungarian Prime Minister Gyula Horn on Tuesday that it will take all necessary measures at once to alleviate the monumental back-ups that have occurred in recent days at Hungary's border with Austria.   - A railway car repair company owned by the Hungarian State Railways has teamed up with its partial owner Adtranz in winning a $30 million international tender for the renovation of railway cars of the Bulgarian State Railways.   NEPSZABADSAG   - In an extensive interview, Hungarian Democratic Forum President Sandor Lezsak said his party intends to be radical in deeds not in words.   MAGYAR HIRLAP   - A fair share of the milling company Del-Gabona Rt of Szeged is back in the hands of the state.   - The agricultural trading company Agrimpex saw its sales revenue increase 21 percent in the first half over the same period last year.   - The world's most advanced fighter plane, the F/A-19 Hornet held a demonstration flight at Kecskemet air base on Friday.   - Rock and soul queen Tina Turner is giving a concert in the People's Stadium tonight.   VILAGGAZDASAG   - Industrial production fell in June by 7.8 per cent after a 7.3 per cent rise the previous month, according to the Central Statistics Office.   - Household savings grew by HUF 60.2 billion in July, a much higher degree than in previous months, the National Bank of Hungary announced Friday.   - Whirlpool Magyarorszag Kft saw a stagnating first half in terms of individual appliances sold, which amounted to HUF 2 billion in turnover.   NAPI GAZDASAG   - Combined first half turnover in the retail and catering sectors amounted to HUF 1,255 billion representing a 20 per cent growth over the same period of 1995, according to the Central Statistics Office.   - Joint ventures accounted for 70.4 percent or $9.1 billion of Hungary's 12.8 billion export volume last year and rose further to 78.9 per cent by the end of the first half, according to an analysis by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.   - Fotex showed slight signs of improvement in the second quarter with both its net profit of HUF 113 million and its sales revenue of HUF 8,496 million exceeding the respective figures of a year before.   -- Budapest newsroom (36-1) 266 2410 
917 !GCAT  Following are the main stories in Croatian newspapers on Wednesday.   VJESNIK   - Citizens express great interest in moving to areas of special state interest.   - Croatian-Yugoslav talks on the missing and captured: Croatia looking for 2,605 people, while Yugoslavia's request stands at 999 people.   - Is the end of 1996 to see some 300,000 people out of work?   VECERNJI LIST   - Just 4 more months until the new value added tax (PDV) takes effect: entrepreneurs are getting acquainted with the new tax system.   SLOBODNA DALMACIJA   - Has mutual recognition between Croatia and Yugoslavia run into problems due to Prevlaka?   - We'll be introducting drastic measures in an attempt to quash the labour black market, says in an interview the deputy minister for labour and social welfare Vera Stanic.   -- Zagreb Newsroom, 385-1-4557075 
918 !GCAT  These are the main stories in Latvian newspapers on Wednesday.   Prepared for Reuters by the Co-operation Fund.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - The government dismissed the chief of the state revenue service Imants Grikis and appointed Andrejs Sonchiks to replace him.   The official explanation is that he was replaced in connection with an overall reorganisation of the service, the unofficial reason is that he failed to solve a dispute with market workers who did not want electronic cash registers.   - The deputy chairman of the parliament education committee Juris Celmins said plans by Prime Minister Andris Shkele to reform the system of paying wages to teachers is contrary to the law on education and the law on the state budget.   - Foreign ministers of the three Baltic States and five Nordic Countries met in Riga.   They discussed the abolition of visa regulations, security problems and integration with the EU.   - The government approved a package of draft laws needed to reform the border troop service by giving them over to the ministry of the interior.   - The parliament defence committee prepared the draft law on compulsory military service for its second reading.   To pass the law, Shkele may ask parliament to convoke an extraordinary session this Friday.   - A Riga city council committee has revealed several transgressions of the law by the administration of the Riga central district in restoring the right of ownership to several houses in the district.   - In Vilnius, the newly appointed Latvian ambassador to Lithuania, Atis Sjanitis, presented his credentials to Lithuanian President Algirdas Brazauskas.   DIENA   - The privatisation of enterprises by liquidating them may lead to an increase in the level of unemployment in Latvia, which was at 7.1 percent in July.   NEATKARIGA RITA AVIZE   - Lithuania's parliament called on Latvian deputies not to ratify the licence agreement between Latvia and Amoco, which, the Lithuanians believe, may harm relations between the two countries.   BIZNESS & BALTIYA   - According to statistical data, in the first half of 1996 cargo turnover in Latvian ports increased by 15 percent.   DIENAS BIZNESS   - Latvian van maker RAF is going to offer ambulance vehicles made on the basis of the Chevrolet Astrovan.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
919 !GCAT !GVIO  Russia's top military commander in Chechnya, Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, said on Wednesday he favoured "most decisive measures" to drive rebels from the regional capital Grozny, Interfax news agency said.   Interfax quoted Tikhomirov as saying the separatist fighters should not expect further warnings.   Tikhimirov, whose acting commander threatened to bomb Grozny if rebels do not withdraw in 48 hours, has just returned from vacation.   Acting commander Konstantin Pulikovsky never specified exactly when his ultimatum started, but the Russian media appear to asume that it runs out at midnight (2000 GMT on Wednesday).   "They (the rebels) will not live to see further loose warnings from me," Tikhomirov said.   Separatist fighters seized much of Grozny on August 6 and have so far resisted Russian attempts to win the city back.   President Boris Yeltsin, who has not been seen in public since his inauguration for a second term on August 9, has ordered his national security supremo Alexander Lebed to restore Russian control over Grozny before the end of the month.   But the policy-making Security Council, where Lebed is the secretary, said in a statement on Wednesday that this order could lead to fresh bloodshed in Chechnya.   Tens of thousands people have died in Chechnya since Yeltsin sent troops there in December 1994 to crush the region's independence drive. 
920 !GCAT !GDIS  Four people were killed and three injured when a gas canister exploded in a home in eastern Moscow, Interfax news agency quoted Russia's ministry for emergency situations as saying on Wednesday.   Two of the injured people were detained in hospital and one was released after treatment.   Experts were still investigating the cause of the blast, on the sixth floor of a nine-storey building. 
921 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The Baltic state of Estonia holds presidential elections on Monday which will pit charismatic incumbent Lennart Meri against a parliament worried he is abusing his power.   Meri has no rivals yet in this former Soviet republic but his re-election is not automatic because some politicians have accused him of flouting the consitution.   "During Lennart Meri's presidency, the most noticeable change has been the turning of the president's office into a non-existent upper house of parliament," said nationalist politician Juri Adams in leading newspaper Postimees.   In Estonia, which quit the former Soviet Union in 1991, parliament chooses the president in a system similar to that of Germany and Italy.   Meri needs the backing of 68 of parliament's 101 members in a first round of voting on August 26.   If he fails, a second vote will be held next day.   With a wry sense of humour and strong intellect, Meri has been an eloquent spokesman for his country of 1.5 million people since his election in 1992 in the heady days of post-Soviet freedom.   His key theme has been driving Estonia's bid for entry to the European Union (EU) and NATO as the best guarantee against a resurgence of expansionism in its huge neighbour, Russia.   Russia has ruled Estonia for most of the last 200 years and many Estonians suspect it is eager to reassert its influence.   Western diplomats say Meri has kept Estonia's profile higher than its size would seem to merit.   "He has had the charisma and character that Estonia needed after regaining independence," a Western diplomat told Reuters.   "He could still be a good president but now what is needed is not too much idealism but pragmatism," the diplomat added.   At home Meri has been criticised for authoritarian tendencies, arrogance and taking on resonsibilities which are more properly those of the government.   One of the main criticisms levelled against him is that he signed an agreement in 1994 on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Estonia without consulting parliament.   His critics say the agreement was too generous because it allowed many former Soviet military pensioners to stay in Estonia.   Many Estonians regard the 300,000 Russians living in their country as colonists and especially dislike former Soviet military personnel.   Meri has also been accused of falling under the influence of Western liberals and Moscow to be soft on Estonia's Russians by rejecting laws on citizenship which seemed too harsh to him.   Most Russians in Estonia are Soviet-era immigrants and do not have citizenship.   They must undergo formal naturalisation, involving a test of Estonian, which most do not speak.   Estonian politicians say that before they vote for Meri again they want to make sure he will abide by the rules that dictate the relationship between parliament and president.   The main problem is that the Estonian constitution, adopted in 1938, just two years before the country was annexed by the Soviet Union, is vague about this relationship.   Adams, a member of the nationalist Fatherland Union party and a severe critic of Meri, is drafting a law that would force the president to operate within clearly defined limits.   "The weakest point in the restored Estonian state is currently the office of the president," Adams wrote in Postimees.   Meri's closest rival in the election is expected to be Arnold Ruutel, a former senior Communist and a leader of Estonia's indepence drive.   He has so far refused to say whether he will stand but he and Meri have been political rivals before.   Meri's 1992 election was at the expense of Ruutel, who won more votes in a deadlocked national poll but was later rejected by parliament for Meri.   Despite the dislike of politicians, many ordinary people approve of Meri and see him as a good spokesman abroad.   He at one time enjoyed 67 percent support in opinion polls although this has fallen recently to around 45 percent.   Although the latest polls do not give him a majority, Ruutel received only 15 percent backing. 
922 !GCAT !GDIP  Bogoto has told Washington to mind its manners after U.S. State Department official Robert Gelbard called Colombian President Ernesto Samper and his interior minister liars.   "The tone used by Mr. Gelbard is contrary to the most fundamental rules of diplomacy, and it contributes nothing to the construction of balanced and friendly relations between the two countries," the government said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.   In remarks on Tuesday to reporters in Washington that were broadcast by Colombian media, Gelbard, assistant U.S. secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, called both Samper and Interior Minister Horacio Serpa liars.   He was reponding to assertions by the two men that U.S. Ambassador Myles Frechette had never told them about a supposed coup attempt against Samper being hatched last August.   Frechette spoke publicly about the planned coup for the first time in a television interview last week.   He said he had been approached by a group of civilians claiming to represent a faction within the military and they had asked him about possible U.S. support for an anti-Samper putsch.   A day after the TV interview, Samper said he was "surprised" that Frechette had not contacted Colombian authorities to warn them about the planned coup.   Serpa made a similar comment, saying Frechette had acted wrongly in keeping the alleged plot secret for a year.   "I realise that President Samper and his Interior minister have said we did not approach them, but as is often the case with the Colombian government, they're lying," Gelbard said on Tuesday.   The statement issued in Bogota on Tuesday night rejected this version of events.   "The president and his ministers were not informed at any time by the United States ambassador that civilians supposedly representing sectors of the military had approached his office to explore the U.S. reaction in the event of a possible coup d'etat," the statement said.   It added that Gelbard's remarks "do not warrant additional comment by the Colombian government."   Additional comment came from Washington, however, where State Department spokesman Glyn Davies told reporters on Wedesday, "We stand by the words of our assistant secretary and our ambassador."   Gelbard has been one of the most outspoken critics of Samper because of charges that his 1994 election campaign was partly financed by Colombia's leading drug traffickers.   Also on Wednesday, Colombia's chief prosecutor denied a government official's claim that a secret U.S. slush fund had been used to coax witnesses into testifying about links between drug lords and some of the country's top political figures.   "It's false," Prosecutor-General Alfonso Valdivieso, an anti-drug crusader and sworn enemy of drug lords and corrupt politicians, said of the supposed fund.   "There's no basis to this," he added in an interview with the Caracol television network.   The fund, allegedly consisting of about $70 million, was denounced in a speech in the Senate late on Tuesday by Attorney-General Orlando Vasquez Velasquez.   Vasquez, a former interior and ruling Liberal Party senator, won release from custody on Aug. 8, three months after the Supreme Court ordered his arrest on drug corruption charges. 
923 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  A Haitian opposition leader and another member of his party were killed by unidentified gunmen on Tuesday afternoon, police and witnesses said.   Pastor Antoine Leroy, the No. 2 of the conservative opposition Mobilisation for National Development party, and Jacques Dorval, a member of the party, were killed near Dorval's home in Delmas 19, a Port-au-Prince suburb.   "Ten armed men in two vehicles shot and killed two civilians," said U.N. spokesman Eric Falt.   "One of the victims was handcuffed before he was killed."   Haitian National Police and international police trainers rushed to the scene of the attack, according to Falt.   Dorval's body was left in the back of his pickup truck about a block away from his home.   He was handcuffed and had been shot in the head.   Leroy's body was sprawled outside of what witnesses and police said was Dorval's house.   "Both men were found with nine millimeter pistols in their hands," said Octave St. Juste, a Delams Justice of the Peace.   "Leroy was killed outside of the home of Dorval, where he had been staying since Saturday night."   A witness at the scene giving a slightly different version of what happened said Leroy had been shot in the house and dragged out to the street.   "There was a lot of men with big automatic guns that came in three cars," he said.   "They killed Leroy and Dorval and then shot in the air, telling everyone on the street to get down, and then they left."   As Dorval had arrived handcuffed in the back of his own truck, neighbors speculated he had been kidnapped, perhaps to provide the whereabouts of Leroy.   U.N. officials said the MDN party had close links with former members of the disbanded Haitian military.   The assassination followed an attack on the Port-Au-Prince police station on Monday by unidentified men in military uniforms.   One civilian was killed and two police officers were wounded in the attack.   The Haitian military was disbanded by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in January, 1995, shortly after he was restored to power by U.S. troops.   He was ousted in 1991 in a bloody military coup.   The Haitian National Police replaced the military as the nation's security force.   Former soldiers have been marching in the capital, angry that they no longer receive a paycheck.   On Tuesday, President Rene Preval said the military was responsible for recent destabilisation of the country. 
924 !GCAT !GDIS  Electrical failure and not arson caused a blaze that destroyed Surinam's 18th century National Assembly, a combined team of Surinamese and Dutch police said on Wednesday.   The Aug. 1 fire, which also gutted the Foreign Affairs and General Affairs ministries, started in the National Assembly's main chamber, Chief Inspector Henk Holtslag, who headed a team of Dutch police experts, told a news conference.   The fire spread quickly through the wooden buildings which had inadequate fire prevention facilities, Holtslag said.   The buildings were also locked, hampering attempts to put out the fire once it was discovered, he said.   The blaze occurred five days before legislators were due to meet in the National Assembly to choose the country's next president, leading to early suspicions of arson.   The vote eventually took place in a nearby church.   The Surinamese government plans to rebuild the National Assembly at the same site.   The Dutch government said it will contribute to the building's reconstruction.   Surinam also lost many of its most important historical documents in the fire including the 1667 Peace of Breda Treaty under which Great Britain exchanged Surinam with the Netherlands for Nieuw Amsterdam which later became New York.   Paramaribo, the capital of the small former Dutch colony in South America, is famous for its colonial wooden architecture. 
925 !GCAT !GDIP  Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina on Wednesday criticised President Bill Clinton's decision to name a special representative for Cuba, saying the envoy was set for "the most sterile mission of his career."   Clinton on Friday named Stuart Eizenstat, a Department of Commerce undersecretary, to be his special representative for the promotion of democracy in Cuba.   His mission will be to persuade U.S. allies to join a U.S.-led campaign to force the Cuban government to implement political and other reforms.   Commenting on the fact that Eizenstat visited Miami this week and held talks with anti-communist Cuban exiles there, Robaina suggested he would have done better to try to learn about "the real Cuba."   "That way he would have found out that they are making him repeat lies like a parrot and that he's being used to carry out the most sterile mission of his entire career," he told Cuban news agency Prensa Latina in Havana.   One of Eizenstat's tasks will be to try to explain to U.S. allies like Canada, Mexico and the European Union, which have trade and investment links with Havana, why Washington insists on its policy of seeking to curb foreign investment in Cuba.   Robaina said it was ironic that Eizenstat, who also keeps his post of undersecretary for international trade, had been given the job of "interfering with free trade between nations," a reference to the latest U.S. embargo legislation.   The Cuban minister recalled an announcement by Clinton in July in which he suspended for six months the right to file lawsuits under the so-called Helms-Burton law, which threatens legal sanctions against foreign firms which "traffic" in expropriated properties in Cuba formerly owned by Americans.   Robaina said Eizenstat, who is shortly expected to visit Canada, Mexico and Europe, would be travelling to "remind all these countries that they have six months of sovereignty left."   International criticism of the Helms-Burton law has focused on its "extraterritorial" features which critics say seek to apply U.S. laws outside of the United States and therefore infringe the sovereignty of other states. 
926 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  A small group of U.S. Marines arrived in Haiti on Wednesday after a week of escalating violence marked by three assassinations and attacks on a police station and parliament.   The rash of violence in Haiti threatened the nation's fragile two-year-old security and what the Clinton administration called a foreign policy success, according to Western diplomats and other experts.   With the U.S. presidential election drawing near, some experts said further political violence in Haiti could emerge as a campaign issue.   While officially the group of 50 Marines were sent to Haiti only to perform routine exercises, U.S. embassy sources privately acknowledged they would welcome the added benefit of a show of force.   The Marines will march through the capital in full uniform and carrying weapons.   The arrival of the troops underlined growing international concern about Haiti.   "It seems as though the same old scenario is playing out here again," said a U.N. official after hearing that a leader and member of an opposition party associated with the disbanded military was assassinated.   Pastor Antoine Leroy, considered to be the number two man in the Mobilisation for National Development Party (MDN), and party member Jacques Florival were killed outside of Florival's suburban home on Tuesday afternoon.   Florival was handcuffed before he was shot in the head, officials said.   The killings came the day after what was widely believed to be an attack by former Haitian soldiers on a police station and parliament building on Monday morning.   The attackers shot automatic weapons and lobbed grenades, wounding two officers and killing a shoeshine boy.   Last Saturday some 19 members of the MDN were arrested in a raid at one of their meetings at which President Rene Preval said the men were planning the attack.   "Out with the Macoutes," said Preval on Monday, referring to the Ton Tons Macoute, the murderous military security force formed under the former Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier dictatorships.   Whether the string of violence was retailatory escalation between the ex-military and the Haitian government and police was a question haunting those who hoped for democracy and order after former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was restored to power in 1994 by U.S. troops.   Aristide was deposed in a 1991 bloody military coup.   Upon his return he disbanded the military, which was replaced by the internationally trained Haitian National Police force.   Port-au-Prince Mayor Joseph Emmanuel Charlemagne offered the theory that the Monday morning attack on the police station was staged by the Haitian government to justify arrests of former soldiers.   "Preval is in error to accuse a single sector of comitting destabilising actions," Charlemagne said.   U.S. embassy officials said they were suspicious of the low number of injuries and deaths in the Monday attack.   Supporters of Haiti's former brutal military, speaking on the condition of anonymity, claimed the Haitian government may be behind the attack on the police station as well as Tuesday's assassnations. 
927 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Coffee growers followed the lead of coca growers in Colombia's impoverished south by staging a mass protest march this week to demand more government aid for what some describe as a dying industry.   The march Wednesday by thousands of disgruntled growers in the central coffee-growing province of Quindio came despite an announcement hours earlier that Colombia's internal coffee price had been raised to 235,500 pesos per 125-kilogram load.   The price, set by the National Coffee Growers Committee, had held at 201,500 pesos per 125-kg since February 16.    At Colombia's official "representative" exchange rate, the new price for growers now stands at about $0.80 cents a pound.   That compares to prices as high as $1.40 a pound that Colombian excelso beans have fetched in New York this week.   The Growers Committee -- which Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo sits on along with officials of the central National Coffee Growers Federation -- actually set the new price at 221,500 pesos.   But it included a 14,000 peso premium because of the poor outlook for this year's harvest, set to begin in September.    "Growers should feel satisfied with this new agreement," Ocampo told reporters in announcing the price hike.   He added that it would provide "a satisfactory income" for growers.   Spokesmen for the estimated 10,000 growers who marched on the provincial capital of Quindio said the price hike was welcome.   But they also said it was barely enough to cover soaring production costs.   "It's important that there be complementary measures to deal with high interest rates, the high cost of equipment and the fight against the berry borer," Augusto Arias, a Quindio producer, said by phone from provincial capital Armenia.    "Nobody can work with such high financial costs," he added, referring to bank lending rates currently set at more than 40 percent and growing costs associated with fighting the berry borer -- a plague that threatens to ravish trees across the country.   Members of the National Coffee Growers Committee have talked in recent months about measures aimed at easing the plight of cash-strapped growers, including the need to lower interest rates.   But the Committee faces its own financial problems, including the risk of losing market share because of the Colombian peso's recent rise against the dollar.    A stronger local currency makes Colombian exports more expensive abroad.   "We've done everything possible to give growers a better income," Diego Arango, the Committee's president, told reporters.   "We've made a great effort, but to go any further would have meant jumping into the void."   Wednesday's march, in which growers demanded more government aid, was reminiscent of the marches staged by tens of thousands of peasants across southern Colombia since mid-July to protest against the government coca leaf eradication program.    The peasants, in three jungle-covered provinces, say coca is the one staple crop they can survive on.   There were unconfirmed reports this week that opium poppy growers in the central coffee- growing province of Tolima were planning on joining in the protests against drug crop eradication.   -- Bogota newsroom, 571 6107544 
928 !GCAT !GENV !GPOL  Brazil's army, air force and police will be called up to clear 3,000 wildcat gold miners out of the remote lands of the Yanomami Indians, officials said on Wednesday.   Operation Yanomami will be launched in late September or early October in an attmept to clear the miners from the Yanomami Indians' vast Amazon reservation on the border with Venezuela, four years after a similar operation that failed.   "The actions to be taken are an example of the Brazilian government's unquestionable determination to preserve the environment and protect Indian lands," the Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement.   Officials at Brazil's Justice Ministry said they were waiting for release of about $6 million by the government economic team before completing the plan.   "This time we will make sure the miners don't re-occupy the area," said a ministry spokesman.   In 1992 the Brazilian government launched the high profile Operation Free Forest to clear about 10,000 wildcat miners, known in Portuguese as garimpeiros, from the Yanomami land.   But many drifted back.   In 1993 an estimated 16 Yanomamis were killed in a clash with miners.   Carlos Zacquini, a director of the non-governmental Yanomami Commission, said 10 planes a day fly in and out of the reservation, ferrying miners and supplies, while government observation posts have been closed for lack of funds.   "Yet again, the government is promising to solve the Yanomami's problems.   Let's hope this time they stick to it," he said by telephone from the jungle city of Boa Vista. 
929 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GPRO  Mexico's Attorney General said on Wednesday that a verdict on murder charges against ex-President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's brother Raul was not expected before next year.   Antonio Lozano Gracia told a news conference that he believed prosecutors had firm proof against Raul Salinas, accused of masterminding the Sept. 28, 1994, killing of ruling party Secretary-General Jose Francisco Ruiz Massieu.   "There are sufficient elements and firm proof that strengthen the accusation," Lozano said, without giving details.   He said a verdict was expected by February 1997.   Raul Salinas was arrested on Feb. 28 last year on the murder charges and later was accused of forgery and illicit enrichment in connection with some $100 million prosecutors said he accumulated under a false name in Swiss and other foreign bank accounts.   Raul Salinas denied all the charges against him.   Lozano said an investigation into his finances and into possible ties to drug money-laundering continued.   In the most wide-ranging news conference since taking his post in December 1994, Lozano also said that a new special investigator would be named soon to continue the investigation into the March 23, 1994, assassination of top politician Luis Donaldo Colosio.   Colosio was the presidential candidate of the long-ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) for elections held two years ago.   His replacement as candidate, Ernesto Zedillo, won the presidential elections for the PRI. 
930 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  Tropical depression Dolly, after crashing into Mexico's Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday, threatens to pick up steam as it moves out from land into the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said on Wednesday.   Dolly, downgraded temporarily from a tropical storm, has slowly ploughed its way westerly across the Yucatan, home to hundreds of Mayan ruins, dumping heavy rains and causing flooding but no casualties.   "A total of 86 residents of the village of Punta Felipe have been left homeless, but we have no reports of deaths," a spokesman for the Quintana Roo Civil Protection Agency said after touring the affected area.   Dolly is still veering westerly toward the Gulf of Mexico from low-lying lagoons in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula where it is currently located, the National Meterological Service said.   The tropical depression is seen picking up steam again and returning to tropical storm status once it moves out into open seas.   "Around 1900 local 0001 GMT, Dolly will be a tropical storm again and will be centred in the Gulf of Mexico about 83 km (52 miles) north northwest of Isla Aguada in the state of Campeche, and 98 km (61 miles) north of Ciudad del Carmen, also in Campeche," the service said in an update.   Packing sustained winds of 34 mph (55 kmh) and gusts of 48 mph (75 kmh), Dolly is still whipping up heavy seas and dumping heavy rains across the south of Mexico.   The storm is causing rains of more than 2.8 inches (7 cm) in the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, and landslides in Chiapas, the weather service said, adding that flooding alerts had been issued in low-lying areas of Yucatan, Campeche and Tabasco. 
931 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The union representing workers at Ecuador's state-owned Petroecuador Wednesday called on the government to ban more foreign oil companies and said they ran inefficient, high cost operations.   The union call came after the government announced late Tuesday that it was banning U.S firm Maxus Energy Corp from continuing its operations in Ecuador until it reaches a joint-venture deal with state-owned Petroecuador.   The National Federation of Petroecuador workers said that its president, Ivan Narvaez, has asked Energy and Mines Minister Alfredo Adoum to adopt a hard line against other foreign oil companies operating in the country.   "Just like Maxus, they are inefficient and maintain higher production costs," the Federation said.   It praised the government's move because Maxus "was yielding the state zero profitability".   The Federation alleged that Petroecuador produced oil at a cost of only $2 a barrel and that Maxus's cost was $21.58 a barrel.   It alleged Tripetrol produced oil in Ecuador for $44.58 a barrel and Elf for $24.56.   Among the foreign oil companies operating in Ecuador are France's Elf Aquitaine, Repsol of Spain and ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Co) of the United States.   -- Gustavo Oviedo, Quito Newsroom +5932 258-433 
932 !GCAT !GDIS  Seven people died and 19 were injured when a bus and a truck collided in the southern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on Wednesday, police said.   A police spokesman said the accident happened in the early morning on a bridge near the city of Pouso Alegre, 250 miles (400 km) from the state capital Belo Horizonte.   The injured were taken to a hospital, where one was in serious condition. 
933 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Prime Minister Ibrahim Keita of Mali met Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on Wednesday during a visit intended to boost ties between the African republic and Latin America's largest country.   Keita told reporters in Brasilia that he hoped his visit, running until Saturday, would encourage Brazilian firms to invest in his country, which acquired independence in 1960.   "Our country has much in common with Brazil, being multiracial and multicultural, and we would like to take advantage of that to strengthen bilateral ties," he said.   A delegation of Malian businessmen accompanying Keita has been holding talks with Brazilian business leaders in Sao Paulo.   Total trade between the countries in 1995 amounted to only $25 million, according to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. 
934 !GCAT !GPOL  Cuba's ruling Communist Party said on Wednesday it was in favour of greater internal democracy but it should not threaten national unity and democratic centralism would remain its guiding principle.   The Cuban party said in an analysis published in the party newspaper Granma that it would not renounce "the principle of Democratic Centralism," which is traditionally an ideological pillar of Communist Party states.   This was a clear message that the leadership remained committed, despite increasing foreign pressure, to preserving its existing one-party political system.   But the document said this commitment did not contradict the need for "an ever greater democracy within the body of the party."   It defined this as "all the space necessary for the expression of ideas, proposals, opinions, whether they coincide or disagree, about any issue, however polemic or complicated."   But the document, which was being published in daily instalments by Granma, went on to say that there could be no room for "tendencies which weaken the discipline and political activity of the party."   It added that this encouragement of internal democracy "cannot be allowed to threaten the essential unity of our existence as an independent nation."   The need for unity in the face of external hostility, particularly from Cuba's ideological enemy the United States, was one of the arguments regularly used by President Fidel Castro to explain why his government continued to reject the idea of Western-style multi-party democracy.   Cuban authorities, invoking the island's constitution and laws, which defend the existence of a one-party state, treat internal political opposition groups as illegal and often persecute their members, accusing them of being "counter-revolutionaries" in the service of the United States.   The Cuban government last week revoked the visa of a U.S. diplomat at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, accusing her of actively supporting and organising Cuban dissident groups.   Washington denied this and expelled a Cuban diplomat in reply.   The analysis document said the aim of U.S. policy was still the destruction of the "Cuban Revolution" -- official Cuban shorthand for the island's one-party socialist system.   It also said religious values, when honestly put into practice, were good for the country and its people.   This reflected a policy of greater tolerance toward religion adopted by the ruling party in recent years, a contrast to the overt hostility and suspicion that marked church-state relations immediately after the 1959 revolution. 
935 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  Bolivian Justice Minister Rene Blattmann held talks with Cuban officials on Wednesday that included analysis of a possible bilateral accord against drug-trafficking.   The idea of formal anti-drug cooperation was discussed during Blattmann's visit with Cuban Justice Minister Carlos Amat, Cuba's domestic news agency, AIN, said.   It quoted the Bolivian minister as saying, "This is a battle which must be waged with equal energy in all parts, in the countries that produce the raw material, those that are used as a transit point for drug-trafficking and in consumer nations, because there can be no weak link in this chain."   Amat said Cuba, which has anti-drug accords with about 10 other countries, mostly in Latin America, was preparing a new law to strengthen its fight against illegal drugs.   Bolivia is one of the world's biggest producers of coca leaves, the raw material for cocaine, while Cuba lies astride major air and sea drug-smuggling routes that link producers in Latin America with consumers in Europe and the United States. 
936 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The newly installed government of the Dominican Republic said on Wednesday that it did not plan sigificant changes in the nation's basic economic policy from that of its predecessor, ratifying Hector Valdez Albizu as governor of the Central Bank.   A spokesman for President Leonel Fernandez, who was inaugurated last Friday, said the ratification of of Valdez Albizu, "maintains a policy that guarantees macroeconomic stability."   Valdez Albizu was appointed on August 31, 1994, by the government of then-president Joaquin Balaguer.   During his term, the Dominican Republic's economy has been one of the soundest in Latin America.   Economic growth was 5.7 percent during the first months of 1996. 
937 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  The chief aide to Economy Minister Roque Fernandez said Wednesday delays in Congress of a new budget package meant it would not meet its aim of reducing Argentina's deficit by $1.2 billion by year-end.   After Peronist congressmen said the package could not be passed until early October, Fernandez's top advisor Carlos Rodriguez told reporters this would mean its benefits would be felt over only two months instead of four.    "If it was calculated on four months, and now there are only two, then it's obvious, it's a matter of algebra," said Rodriguez.   "What makes it worse is that if the (new) fuel tax is voted in October it only takes effect from November."   Fernandez sent his package of new taxes and tax exemption cuts to Congress Wednesday and goes there to explain them to lawmakers Thursday.   They are designed to reduce a budget gap which hit $2.5 billion by mid-year and which Fernandez warns would be $6.6 billion by year-end without his austerity moves.   However Rodriguez played down the impact of any such delay on confidence in Argentina's commitment to fiscal solvency.   "If the package is approved by Congress and markets see they are going to be approved and society will execute those measures, then I believe it's not so important than we lose a little money," said the official.   Argentina had agreed with the International Monetary Fund on a $2.5 billion deficit for the whole year.   An IMF mission arrived in Buenos Aires Tuesday to renegotiate those targets.   Some analysts fear the measures will be watered down in Congress because of the reluctance of lawmakers from the ruling Peronist Party to approve more unpopular moves after benefit cuts by Fernandez's predecessor Domingo Cavallo.   They sparked one general strike and unions are threatening another.   Local newspapers said the package went to Congress a day late due to last minute revisions -- said to include scrapping plans to raise women's retirement age to 65 from 60 and to reduce value-added tax to 20 percent from 21 percent from January 1.   -- Stephen Brown, Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0695 
938 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  Chilean authorities gave final approval on Wednesday to an American company's plans to cut down rare beech forests in Tierra del Fuego, overruling objections from environmentalists.   The National Environmental Commission approved the project by Trillium Corp. of Bellingham, Washington, to harvest trees in a 316,000 acre (128,000 hectare) tract of virtually untouched woodlands at Chile's southernmost tip.   But Chile's equivalent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Trillium to carry out a series of environmental safeguards including a set-aside of about 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) as a "biological reserve."   Local and foreign environmentalists, who protested that the project doomed one of Chile's last major tracts of virgin forest, said they would study the ruling before commenting.   They conceded, however, that appeals looked exhausted.   "The project has the green light now," said Manuel Baquedano, head of the country's leading environmental group, the Political Ecology Institute.   The project attracted bitter opposition in Chile, where a growing green movement has sought to preserve rare temperate rain forests against encroachment by timber firms and farms.   Trillium officials have insisted they would harvest the forest in an environmentally sustainable way and would cull only mature trees, without the clear-cutting that has denuded hillsides and caused erosion elsewhere.   Sensitive to public opinion about forest destruction, they have said they will cut trees slowly enough for the forest to regenerate naturally. 
939 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL !GVIO  The Argentine government promised on Wednesday to investigate the role of union leaders in Tuesday's gunfight between rival labour groups that was condemned as a lapse into Argentina's violent past.   Seven men were injured in the shoot-out at a union leisure centre, where the Central Confederal Committee of trade unions was scheduled to vote on a general strike next month to follow a 24-hour strike on Aug. 8 against austerity measures.   The injured men were out of danger.   But the credibility of the trade union movement, already poor, was in tatters.   Labour Minister Armando Caro Figueroa promised a probe into "whether union leaders encouraged the presence of outsiders who should not have been at the Confederal."   He threatened to withdraw union status from the labour groups involved.   Newspapers carried front-page pictures of union men firing pistols and La Nacion's front-page column lamented that "in the best traditions of the '70s, unions lapsed into struggling for the leadership of the labour movement with firearms."   Opposition politicians accused the unions of playing into the hands of President Carlos Menem's Peronist government, whose austerity measures and failure to address 17.1 percent unemployment they are supposed to be opposing with strikes.   Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez of the centre-left Frepaso said "this just favours the policies of the government."   Radical Party leader Rodolfo Terragno called on union bosses to "avoid a return of the ghosts we exorcised in 1983" -- a reference to the return of democracy after six years of brutal military rule.   He hinted at "sectors of power using these methods to divide those who are leading social protest."   Menem's Chief of Staff Alberto Kohan denied any suggestion of government involvement.   "It would be unfair to attribute this to a government manoeuvre to get in the way of a CGT strike," he told reporters on Tuesday.   The gunfight broke out when construction workers loyal to the largest CGT union federation stopped truckers loyal to the rival MTA labour group attending the strike debate.   The MTA broke with the CGT in 1994, accusing it of being too soft on the free-market economic policies of Menem's government.   CGT boss Gerardo Martinez pledged to resign Tuesday if his group was deemed responsible and rescheduled the strike vote for Friday at the CGT's grand city-centre headquarters.   A CGT spokesman warned against a repeat of violence between CGT men and truckers at a Confederal Committee meeting last August.   "Let's hope our 'companeros' the truck drivers don't break the windows again like last time," he said.   An MTA spokesman said his group would stay away Friday "in case they shoot at us again and we get the blame." 
940 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  Thugs acting on the orders of a jilted Argentine nurse sliced off her boyfriend's penis with a kitchen knife, police said on Wednesday.   The 45-year-old woman allegedly told her boyfriend that if he left her, she would follow the example of Lorena Bobbitt, the Ecuadoran woman who cut off the penis of her rapist husband, American John Wayne Bobbitt, in 1994.   After boyfriend Jorge Vera, 31, left the woman, identified only as "Angela," after an argument, two men entered his house late on Monday and mutilated him.   Vera managed to walk to his mother's house and was rushed to a hospital.   His penis, thrown on his front doorstep, was not found until more than 10 hours later, and doctors said it was too late to reattach it.   In contrast, Bobbitt's penis was successfully reimplanted.   Angela, accused of causing serious bodily harm, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. 
941 !GCAT !GDIP  Bogoto has told Washington to mind its manners after U.S. State Department official Robert Gelbard called Colombian President Ernesto Samper and his interior minister liars.   "The tone used by Mr. Gelbard is contrary to the most fundamental rules of diplomacy, and it contributes nothing to the construction of balanced and friendly relations between the two countries," the government said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.   In remarks on Tuesday to reporters in Washington that were broadcast by Colombian media, Gelbard, assistant U.S. secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, called both Samper and Interior Minister Horacio Serpa liars.   He was reponding to assertions by the two men that U.S. Ambassador Myles Frechette had never told them about a supposed coup attempt against Samper being hatched last August.   Frechette spoke publicly about the planned coup for the first time in a television interview last week.   He said he had been approached by a group of civilians claiming to represent a faction within the military and they had asked him about possible U.S. support for an anti-Samper putsch.   A day after the TV interview, Samper said he was "surprised" that Frechette had not contacted Colombian authorities to warn them about the planned coup.   Serpa made a similar comment, saying Frechette had acted wrongly in keeping the alleged plot secret for a year.   "I realise that President Samper and his Interior minister have said we did not approach them, but as is often the case with the Colombian government, they're lying," Gelbard said on Tuesday.   The statement issued in Bogota on Tuesday night rejected this version of events.   "The president and his ministers were not informed at any time by the United States ambassador that civilians supposedly representing sectors of the military had approached his office to explore the U.S. reaction in the event of a possible coup d'etat," the statement said.   It added that Gelbard's remarks "do not warrant additional comment by the Colombian government."   Gelbard has been one of the most outspoken critics of Samper because of charges that his 1994 election campaign was partly financed by Colombia's leading drug traffickers.   On Wednesday, Colombia's chief prosecutor denied a government official's claim that a secret U.S. slush fund had been used to coax witnesses into testifying about links between drug lords and some of the country's top political figures.   "It's false," Prosecutor-General Alfonso Valdivieso, an anti-drug crusader and sworn enemy of drug lords and corrupt politicians, said of the supposed fund.   "There's no basis to this," he added in an interview with the Caracol television network.   The fund, allegedly consisting of about $70 million, was denounced in a speech in the Senate late on Tuesday by Attorney-General Orlando Vasquez Velasquez.   Vasquez, a former interior and ruling Liberal Party senator, won release from custody on Aug. 8, three months after the Supreme Court ordered his arrest on drug corruption charges. 
942 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said all three of its Gulf of Mexico crude ports had been closed due to the threatening Tropical Storm Dolly.   "All three are closed," a spokeswoman told Reuters.   She was referring to Pajaritos, Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas.    "Pajaritos was closed from 0800 local (1300 GMT)," a local port spokesman told Reuters, moments before Pemex head office in Mexico City confirmed the closures.   Spokesmen for the Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas ports said they were checking on the status of their ports.   These were also confirmed closed by the head office spokeswoman.   Tropical Storm Dolly, downgraded as it touched land Tuesday in the southern state of Quintana Roo, is expected to enter the Gulf of Mexico at around 1200 local (1700 GMT) after crossing over the Yucatan peninsula from the Caribbean.    The Pemex spokewoman gave no details about when the three ports might re-open, although the ports re-open as a matter of course once threatening weather systems have passed by.   Pemex traditionally reschedules exports accordingly. 
943 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Argentina's Economy Minister Roque Fernandez will explain his new austerity package to legislators Thursday and the measures could pass Congress in early October, a key lawmaker said Wednesday.   Jorge Matzkin, head of the ruling Peronist Party bloc in the lower house of Congress, made the announcements after meeting with Fernandez, cabinet chief Jorge Rodriguez and other senior officials at the government house.   The package launched earlier this month and sent to Congress Wednesday could win approval "in the first days of October", although that date is just tentative, Matzkin said.    Local newspapers said the package was sent to Congress one day later than expected due to last minute revisions.   These included the scrapping of a plan to extend the retirement age of women to 65 from 60 and the possibility that value added tax will not be lowered to 20 percent from 21 percent at the beginning of next year as stated initially, the papers said.   Some analysts had feared the measures would be watered down due to the reluctance of many legislators to endorse economic policies which have already resulted in one general strike this month and threats of a new one in September.    The measures, which mainly include fuel tax increases, seek to reverse the larger-than-expected budget gap of $2.5 billion in the first half of the year.   Fernandez has said that without the measures the budget deficit would be $6.6 billion for the whole year.   With them, it will be $1.2 billion lower.   The measures, which the government hopes will generate more revenue, will also come under review by the International Monetary Fund this week.   The first half deficit was more than $1.0 billion higher than that agreed with the IMF.   An IMF team is currently in Argentina and is expected to have its first meeting with Fernandez on Friday.   -- Axel Bugge, Buenos Aires Newsroom, 54 1 318 0668 
944 !GCAT !GPOL !M11 !MCAT  Demonstrators gathered outside the Mexican Stock Exchange on Wednesday, blocking the entry of traders, a spokesman for the exchange said.   But he told Reuters the demonstration would not prevent the market opening on time because of the market's electronic trading system.   The market is scheduled to open at 0830 (1300 GMT).    "There is a demonstration but there is no problem concerning operations because in the event that they do not let traders inside the market will start up with its electronic system," the spokesman said.   Floor trading was expected to start around 30 minutes behind the bell, traders said.   "I believe that we will get in because there are not that many demonstrators outside, but we will probably start trading late on the floor, although the electronic system is ready," one trader said.   "It is not going to be the same volume, but we are not going to be without the exchange," he added.    Witnesses said around 200 demonstrators -- students and parents protesting against Mexico's single examination system and school allocations -- were outside the exchange, which straddles Mexico City's main Reforma boulevard.   --Chris Aspin, Mexico City newsroom (525) 7829530. 
945 !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly, downgraded after touching land Tuesday in southern Mexico, is set to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said Wednesday.   Cleaving its way westerly across the Yucatan peninsula, Dolly is expected to leave land and move into the shallow waters of the Gulf around 1200 EDT/1700 GMT, National Meterological Service said.   Storm warnings are still out across much of southern Mexico from Puerto Progreso in the Yucatan state to Ciudad del Carmen in Campeche state.   There were no reports of deaths.    Currently, Dolly is centered over the town of Pich in Campeche state and packing sustained winds of 65 km/h (41 mph) and gusts of 85 km/h (53 mph).   By 1300 local/1800 GMT it is expected to have slid to a position 90 km (56 miles) north of the island of Isla Aguada in Campeche state, still maintaining its force and provoking waves of up to 4 meters high.   "The cyclical movement of the storm will cause rains above 7 cm (2.8 inches) in the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan, Campeche, Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Veracruz, landslides in Chiapas and possible flooding in low areas of Yucatan, Campeche and Tabasco," National Meterological Service said.    Quintana Roo authorities, where Dolly touched land Tuesday after racing across the Caribbean, have still not estimated crop damage in the area.   The area harvests mainly corn and beans.   Mexico's Communications and Transportation Ministry said Tuesday 29 ports had been forced to close to small vessels, although the state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said none of its crude export ports had shut down operations.   Pemex said it had taken preventive measures against Dolly ahead of the system's arrival in the Gulf of Mexico.   "This afternoon, the transfer to dry land began of workers carrying out support work on sea installations, leaving behind just operational personnel," Pemex said Tuesday.   Pemex has substantial oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in Campeche state and are often affected by hurricanes and storms.   Last year the hurricanes Opal and Roxanne closed down operations for several days, affecting production and shipments.   --Chris Aspin, Mexico City newsroom (525) 7289530 
946 !GCAT !GENV  It casts a thick grey haze over the city, obscures the snow-capped Andes nearby and aggravates everything from asthma to bronchitis to headaches.   Santiago's air pollution, among the world's worst, has been regarded until now by many Chileans as an unavoidable by-product of the country's breakneck economic growth.   But stubbornly high smog levels this year and increasing evidence of severe health effects, are forcing the authorities to consider new, more drastic steps including tougher restrictions on cars, buses and dirty factories.   While measures introduced six years ago have succeeded in controlling some sources of pollution, Santiago's rapid expansion has meant levels of other contaminants are getting out of control.   "With the city's growth, we are at stalemate.   We are not winning against the pollution," Javier Vergara, secretary of the state environmental agency Comision Regional del Medio Ambiente del Area Metropolitana, told Reuters.   "There has been a permanent improvement in many of the measurements since 1990, but this is not enough.   We will have to redo the plan and introduce new measures."   Faced with a public outcry over worsening air pollution, CONAMA, Chile's equivalent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, declared Santiago ozone-saturated in June and ordered officials to prepare a new anti-smog programme.   This will include measures to reorganise public transport, force firms to switch to clean-burning fuels such as natural gas and persuade motorists to use their cars less, officials say.   "We are entering the stage of proposing steps which will be drastic.   If people want clean air, then everyone must make an effort," said Vivianne Blanlot, CONAMA's executive director.   Environmentalists say more urgent steps are needed while experts prepare the plan -- the second this decade to tackle Santiago's air pollution.   "What worries us is that the plan will take nearly a year and the situation is very serious," said Sara Larrain, national co-ordinator of the ecology group Red Nacional de Accion Ecologica.   In a move to head off mounting criticism, the government has announced a $1.2 billion plan to upgrade Santiago's antiquated road and rail network which it hopes will curb air pollution and ease the city's chronic traffic congestion.   Although the haze is visible all year round, air quality is at its worst in winter when a grey smoggy cloud chokes the city for months.   Because Santiago lies in a valley surrounded by towering Andean peaks and coastal mountains, there is virtually no wind to sweep the contamination away.   While officials blame abnormally warm, dry weather this winter for the rise in smog levels, the underlying problem is that Santiago's uncontrolled growth has led to new sources of pollution which are more difficult to control, say experts.   Efforts have concentrated so far on cutting particle pollution from dust and bus and factory emissions, but ozone -- a colourless gas from vehicle exhausts -- has become a serious danger as a result of the sharp rise in the city's car fleet.   "Particulate levels are going down, but ozone is up sharply," said Stephen Hall, Latin American director of the International Institute for Energy Conservation.   "(The authorities) have done a lot, and are doing a lot, but the problem is moving faster than they are."   Car ownership is rising by up to 20 percent a year with the city's 650,000 strong fleet expected to nearly double by 2000.   Despite the steps to control emissions, a World Bank survey shows Santiago is the world's sixth most polluted city in terms of particle levels, ranking after Calcutta and Mexico City but above Brazil's industrial capital, Sao Paulo.   Doctors say that poor air quality is already causing severe health problems.   Breathing particle-laden air weakens the immune system, aggravates respiratory diseases and increases the risk of bronchial cancer, said Chile's Medical College.   The government's policy of declaring emergency measures when pollution levels reach 300 is too lax as health problems -- and deaths -- are caused at far lower counts, they said.   "As a result of smog levels at 100, we already see 10 percent mortality above the average considered normal," it said.   Chile's success in battling the smog will depend on whether the government develops a co-ordinated approach with measures to persuade residents to use public transport, rather than building new roads which encourage private car use, said Hall.   "Santiago has the fundamental choice...whether it tries to build itself out of the problem or develops a comprehensive set of policies and moves in a new direction," he said.   The problem is that government ministries are pulling in different directions with public works officials favouring massive road building schemes, while the transport officials talk about charging tolls for using city streets.   "To bring in co-ordinated policies will require strong political will," said Hall. 
947 !GCAT  These are the highlights of the main Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro newspapers this morning.   GAZETA MERCANTIL   -- CHRYSLER TO MAKE DAKOTA IN BRAZIL   U.S. automaker Chrysler Corporation is investing $315 million to build a factory in Brazil for the production of new Dakota pickup trucks.   -- LIGHT WANTS TO BUY CERJ   Brazilian power company Light, which was privatized three months ago, is planning to bid for Rio de Janeiro's state-owned power distributor Cerj when the firm goes on auction in November.   -- AUDITOR CAUTIOUS ON BAMERINDUS RESULTS   Independent auditors have cautioned that Brazilian bank Bamerindus still has serious liquidity problems and poor reserves for overdue loans despite posting a profit in the first half of this year.   O GLOBO   -- STATUTE ON MINORS HINDERS FIGHT AGAINST CRIME   Rio de Janeiro's state Security Secretary Nilton Cerqueira is calling for a lowering of the age at which minors can be held responsible for the crimes they commit.   He says the current statute hinders the fight against crime.   -- COMPANIES TO HELP GOVT IN FIGHT AGAINST ILLITERACY   Six large companies, including Votorantim, Bovespa and BM&F, are to help the government finance a program against illiteracy in the north and northeast of Brazil.   -- JUDGES HAVE RESTRICTED THE LAW ON COHABITATION   Judges in Rio de Janeiro have defined the law on cohabitation more precisely, specifying that only couples who have lived together for at least five years are eligible for some type of compensation should the relationship break up.   FOLHA DE SAO PAULO   -- SAO PAULO ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR STRENGTHENING OF POLICE   The cardinal and archbishop of Sao Paulo d. Paulo Evaristo Arns has called for a strengthening of the police force to fight the crime wave in Sao Paulo.   -- SAO PAULO STATE GOVT CRITICIZES FIESP FOR CRIME STANCE   Sao Paulo's state Security Secretary Jose Afonso da Silva has criticized industry federation Fiesp for supporting the anti-crime campaign Reage Sao Paulo, saying Fiesp was responsible for unemployment which is a major cause of crime.   -- POLLUTION WORSENS AND ALERT IS ISSUED FOR MAUA   Air quality worsened in greater Sao Paulo Tuesday for the third time since traffic restrictions were implemented August 5.   An alert was issued in the area of Maua on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.   Reuters has not verified the stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.   -- Simona de Logu, Rio de Janeiro newsroom, 5521 507 4151 
948 !GCAT !GCRIM  Townsfolk in central Mexico took the law into their own hands on Tuesday, seizing an armed robber and threatening to burn him to death or hang him if any of the people injured in the hold-up died, witnesses said.   Mexican television showed the 32-year-old burglar, Felipe Trejo, his bruised face caked with dried blood, bound hand and foot and surrounded by an angry mob in the small town of Santiago Tolman, some 40 miles (60 kms) east of the capital.   Locals, claiming that local police were corrupt and ineffectual, vowed to hold him for 48 hours and kill him if either of the two people shot during the hold-up late on Monday died of their wounds.   They also warned that he would face the same fate if his three accomplices in the robbery did not hand themselves in.   The few policemen in the town were outnumbered by the crowd and appeared to be keeping a low profile.   Such incidents of spontaneous mob anger are rare in Mexico.   "If there were justice and we knew for sure that the law would be applied, we would hand him over," Guadalupe Vargas, a woman at the scene, told CBS Telenoticias.   "But there's no law, so what we're doing here will serve (as an example)."   Trejo, for his part, looking dazed and speaking in broken sentences, urged his accomplices to hand themselves in.   "They say they're going to carry out justice.   But I should not pay alone, all (four) of us have to pay for what we did."   State officials acknowledged that crime rates had risen and that law enforcement efforts were often a failure.   "The people, to a certain extent, are right," the state deputy attorney general Gerardo de la Riva told CBS Telenoticias.   "There have been assaults, and in some cases the people have not had the results they expected."   Since Mexico plunged into an economic crisis in December 1994, crime and unemployment have soared.   The Mexican police -- long accused of harbouring corrupt officials -- are often suspected of turning a blind eye to criminals or actively supporting them. 
949 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  The Brazilian government and allied parties in Congress have agreed on the terms of an administrative reform which will do away with the job guarantees of civil servants, the government chief lower house whip said on Tuesday.   Under the agreement, governments at federal, state and municipal level may dismiss employees to bring their payroll spending to under 60 percent, Benito Gama said.    The government had originally wanted the adminstrative reform to include no restrictions on firing staff, mainly to help state governments and municipalities who spend an average of 80 percent of their receipts on pay, benefits and pensions.   But it agreed to the 60 percent ceiling as part of a compromise with two major allies in Congress who, until now, have opposed including an end to the job stability of fully qualified civil servants in the text of the reform.   "Stability is now included in the reform," Gama told Reuters.   "This is a victory for the government."    Gama said the revised text of the reform, which was drawn up on Tuesday, was due to be put to a vote by a special committee of the Chamber of Deputies next week, after which it will be sent to the floor of the lower house.   There it requires two ballots with three-fifths majorities before moving on to the Senate.   The administrative reform, along with reforms of the pension and tax systems, is considered essential to reducing public spending and trimming the role of the state in Brazil.   -- William Schomberg, Brasilia newsroom 5561 2230358 
950 !GCAT !GDIP !GTOUR  The United States has lifted a 2 1/2-year-old travel warning that recommended against non-essential travel to Guatemala by U.S. tourists, the U.S. embassy said on Tuesday.   "As a result of the most recent review of conditions in Guatemala, the government of the United States has eliminated the travel warning that has been in effect since March 1994," the embassy said in a news release.   The travel warning was issued after an American tourist was badly beaten by Guatemalans who believed she was trying to steal children.   At the time many Guatemalans were caught up in a nationwide fear of foreigners snatching babies to sell their organs.   Government officials and private citizens here consistently have complained about the travel warning, and the Guatemalan Tourism Institute has blamed the advisory for harming the tourism industry. 
951 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   According to superannuation and remuneration consultants, the Federal Budget's new tax on super contributions will pressure employers to move back to executive salary packaging to try to push incomes under the A$70,000 threshold for the new tax.   Experts also warn that the changes could push highly paid executives out of the superannuation system and into tax effective negative gearing investments.   Page 1.   --   Approaching its eighth month of pre-trial argument, Supreme Court Judge Justice Frank Vincent yesterday handed down his 13th ruling in the case against Melbourne business identity John Elliott.   Allegations of conspiracy to defraud Elders of A$66.5 million using sham foreign exchange transactions were laid against Elliott and three other former Elders colleagues on Christmas Eve 1993.   Page 1.   --   Under a plan estimated to save A$570 million over four years by restricting the number of general practitioners who are receiving Medicare payments, the Federal Government proposed in Tuesday's Budget that only one-third of medical graduates be allowed to practice.   Page 3.   --   Senator Mal Colston's defection from the Australian Labor Party will make it possible to deliver the Government passage of its legislation in the Senate and while senior Government figures believe he will vote in favour of the Telstra sale, it is unlikely he will support the Workplace Relations Bill.   Page 5.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   The Australian Labor Party is expected to decide to oppose the introduction of up-front nursing home fees and the increase in daily resident fees at a meeting on August 30, jeopardising Federal Treasurer Peter Costello's projected A$310 million in savings over the next four years.   Higher education and health cuts are emerging as two other contentious issues for the opposition parties.   Page 1.   --   The defection of Senator Mal Colston from the Australian Labor Party has made it possible for the Government to pass the Telstra sale legislation without ALP, Democrat or Green support and senior Labor figures believe Colston will vote in favour of the Bill, forming an alliance with Tasmanian Independent Brian Harradine.   Page 1.   --   Tax advisers have predicted a swing back to negative gearing and non-cash remuneration, such as cars, payment of school fees and other costs, as high income earners attempt to avoid the Federal Government's new superannuation contribution surcharge.   The surcharge is set to apply to people with taxable income of more than A$70,000.   Page 1.   --   In a bid to save A$100 million-plus a year, the Australian Defence Force has come up with a 10-year plan to reduce the number of regular Army forces by between 2000 and 3000 and boost the number of General Reserve troops by 5000.   The plan also proposes the scrapping of the Army's existing two divisions, to be replaced by smaller and highly mobile joint taskforces.   Page 1.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   According to superannuation consultant Grant Abbott, a new policy contained in the Budget, which will include super savings in the means test for social security payments, will force unemployed people over the age of 55 to use their superannuation savings to live on, unable to claim the job search allowance.   Page 1.   --   High income earners affected by the 15 per cent tax surcharge on any tax-deductible super contributions will be forced to quit superannuation schemes and turn to gearing into property or shares, according to analysts.   The surcharge announced in the Budget will be phased in over the annual income range of A$70,000 to A$85,000.   Page 1.   --   According to industry sources, the surcharge on superannuation contributions will cause major administrative problems for superannuation funds, replacing the former uniform system.   The plan announced in Tuesday's Budget will force those earning more than A$85,000 to pay a 15 per cent surcharge on superannuation contributions and those earning more than A$70,000 will face a phased-in surcharge.   Page 1.   --   Researchers believe a poison secreted by a South American tree frog could replace conventional painkillers and may even be a safe alternative to the nicotine in cigarettes.   The poison is 200 to 500 times more active than morphine and does not have the side effects of other painkillers.   Page 3.   --   THE AGE   Rating the Budget as a "seven or eight out of 10" for keeping election commitments, Prime Minister John Howard yesterday defended allegations by welfare groups that the A$1.8 billion cuts unfairly targeted the poor, claiming the Budget was economically reponsible even though it would do nothing to tackle Australia's high jobless rate.   Page A1.   --   Earlier denying a deal had been done in return for Government support for Senator Mal Colston's Senate Presidential nomination, Prime Minister John Howard last night confirmed the chances of a double dissolution over the Telstra sale legislation had been educed by Colston's defection from the Australian Labor Party.   Page A1.   --   Brian Woinarski, QC, from the office of the Victorian director of public prosecutions, will today address the Supreme Court on yesterday's ruling by Justice Frank Vincent in the trial of businessman John Elliott and others over the alleged theft of A$66.5million from Elders IXL.   The ruling cannot be reported for legal reasons.   Page A1.   --   The only company to increase its business disconnections between April and June this year, United Energy, has received a warning from regulator-general Robin Davey to reduce its residential and business power disconnections or face lower and redistributed profits as a result of a reduction in the cost of electricity.   Page A1.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373 1800 
952 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   A wide-ranging Federal Government review will examine the effectiveness of business and other tax concessions worth almost A$18 billion.   To be conducted in time for the next Budget in May 1997, the review will also examine the overall efficiency of the tax system and is expected to result in tax concessions being changed into direct Budget outlays programs.   Page 1.   --   Tax experts warned yesterday that a major expansion in the capital gains tax net announced in the Budget would be costly for large listed companies.   Under the changes, companies will have to search their share registers and identify their ultimate owners on September 20 to show that their ownership has not changed since September 1985.   Page 3.   --   After posting a disappointing net profit of A$233.6 million for the 12 months to June 30, food and discount retailer Woolworths Ltd yesterday announced plans to move into petrol retailing and "category killers".   Woolworths blamed the increase in the corprate tax rate for the flat net profit.   Page 15.   --   In a bid to secure higher returns away from the stagnant Australian market, Pioneer International Ltd chief executive Dr John Schubert said yesterday the company could invest more than A$1 billion in the next two years.   According to Schubert, the company is aggressively pursuing concrete and quarrying acquisitions in Europe and the United States.   Page 16.   --   Cost-cutting gains from its merger with Ampol have offset thin petroleum refining margins to give Caltex Australia Ltd a large rise in earnings in the first half.   The company recorded a net profit of A$30.3 million in the six months to Junh A$11.9 million in the first half of last year.   Page 16.   --   Claiming an expert's report deemed the offer to be "fair and reasonable", Futuris Corporation Ltd managing director Alan Newman has dismissed speculation that the company will increase its unconditional A$250 million offer for Elders Australia Ltd.   Page 1.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   Tax groups and superannuation funds are angry over the Budget decision to axe a 10-year-old tax bonus, which will add millions of dollars to the tax compliance burden for public companies and superannuation funds.   Tax groups have warned that the minor chnge to the capital gains tax will hit business with significant compliance costs and super funds said the decision to double the superannuation tax on high-income earners will lead to higher costs on all fund members.   Page 23.   --   After reporting a virtually unchanged A$233.6 million net profit for 1995-96, Woolworths Ltd managing director Reg Clairs warned of a continuation of the tough trading environment, but hoped that an aggressive expansion program, including moves into petrol retailing and electronics superstores, would set Woolworths on a strong growth pattern.   Page 23.   --   Although Treasurer Peter Costello has made it clear the Government expects the business community to support its Budget, business leaders have warned the Coalition that unless labour market impediments are rapidly removed, infrastructure upgraded and sovereign risk issues made clearer, the expected wave of new investment will not occur.   Page 23.   --   Prompted by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's decision to block Wattyl Ltd's bid for Taubmans Industries Ltd, allowing South African conglomerate Barlow Ltd to purchase the paint manufacturer, the Business Council of Australia has again called for an overhaul of the mergers test under the Trade Practices Act.   Page 23.   --   The Federal Government's decision to save A$1.255 billion over the next four years by reducing the top research and development tax concession rate has sparked criticism from industry leaders, including BHP managing director John Prescott, who warned that the reduction will mean some important future projects may not go ahead in Australia.   Page 24.   --   The AMP Society is leading the charge from life offices to introduce retirement savings accounts after the Federal Government supported the new superannuation product in Tuesday's Budget.   AMP is thought to be close to launching an account, while other life offices, including Norwich, Prudential and National Mutual, have confirmed they are examining retirement accounts.   Page 24.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Commonwealth Bank shares struck a six-month high yesterday, following the announcement of the Bank's 14 per cent increase in annual net profit to A$1.12 billion.   CBA's managing director David Murray described the result as robust, but warned that further growth in earnings is unlikely in the coming year due to flat trading conditions.   Page 27   --   Woolworths has introduced a swag of new initiatives in a bid to offset the weak retailing environment and set the company on a strong growth pattern, including moves into petrol retailing and electronics superstores.   Page 27   --   The Federal Budget has received a positive response from market economists, but some of them along with many of Australia's corporate chiefs, are concerned that the harsh spending cuts may slow economic activity in the short term.   Westpac's general manage of economic strategy and planning Bill Evans claims the A$7.2 billion in savings will dampen economic activity by 0.5 per cent this financial year.   Page 27   --   Caltex Australia has posted a strong rise in interim profit due to its A$3 billion oil merger with Ampol last year, but warned yesterday that further growth from efficiency gains may be slowed by tough competition in the petrol industry.   For the six-month to June, Caltex's net profit was A$30.3 million.   Page 29.   --   Pioneer International has escaped a tough year to June with a modest rise in net profit to A$252 million.   Falling income from building materials in Australia, Europe and the United States was offset by A$70 million from Pioneer's Ampol Petroleum and buoyant Asian operations.   Page 29   --   According to a report by Moody's Investors Service, Telstra's leading market position will enable it to withstand competitive pressures.   The report said Moody's Aa2 rating for Telstra was based on the company's position in the local telecommunications market, its financial strength and Australia's supportive regulatory environment.   Page 29   --   Woolworths has unveiled its diversification plans as it reported a 0.04 per cent rise in net profit to A$233.6 million for the year to June 23.   New initiatives in diversification, outlined as part of an aggressive expansion program, including moves into petrol retailing and electronics superstores, are set Woolworths on strong growth pattern.   Page 29   --   THE AGE   Tax experts claim that an overlooked Budget measure will hit almost every listed Australian company, adding millions to their future tax liabilities and significantly increasing compliance costs.   Listed companies, more than 50 per cent of whose shares have changed hands since 20 September 1985, will no longer be exempt from capital gains tax.   Page B1.   --   Commonwealth Bank has delivered a 14 per cent rise in profit to A$1.12 billion, but warned that further growth in earnings is unlikely in the coming year.   CBA's managing director David Murray described the result as robust, with cost controls assisting in offsetting the effects of intense competition in the financial services sector.   Page B1.   --   Australis Media's share price more than doubled yesterday after trading resumed following the announcement that a consortium including Kerry Packer' Publishing and Broadcasting will inject A$132 million of equity into the troubled pay TV group.   The share jumped to a high of 34 cents before closing at 25 cents with more than 4.6 million shares traded.   Page B1   --   The sale of a A$23 million parcel of shares in Mount Leyshon Gold Mines yesterday could clear the way for it to be later absorbed into Robert de Crespigny's merged Normandy group.   Broker Hartley Poynton specialled a line of 6.62 million Mount Leyshon shars at A$3.42 each on a cum-dividend basis, which represents an 8.5 per cent stake in the gold miner.   Page B3   --   Following reporting a virtually unchanged A$233.6 million net profit for 1995-96, Woolworths Ltd managing director Reg Clairs warned of a continuation of the tough trading environment but hoped that an aggressive expansion program, including moves into petrol retailing and electronics superstores, will offset the weak retailing environment.   Page B3.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
953 !GCAT  NEW ZEALAND HERALD   Front Page - Glue-sniff death brings ban plea    - Brains befuddled by solvents    - Winebox harsh on Islands, says Cooks PM   Editorial - Too little too late?   (Australian budget)    Business - BIL able to quit forestry holding in three   years    - Gas Reserves data sought    - Steel and Tube slips 8pc    Sport  - Coach forced to dump Natal players, South-African   paper claims     - All Blacks sparkle on storm-hit park    - Broken jaw KO's Friend's career   THE DOMINION   Front page - Nats lose as teacher register bill passed    - Life TV cover suggested by House committee    - Barlow family looks at Privy Council appeal   Editorial - Budget reform gets it right    - The unfairly high cost of being female    Business - FCL consolidates forestry assets    - Industrial gas sales help lift NGC profit    - The Warehouse to sell appliances    Sport  - All Black greatness will come straight from the   Hart    - Boks facing embarrassment    - Robson in no rush for contract   THE PRESS   Front page - Labour promises heart unit for Chch    - Staff levels limit police time off    - Court disruption predicted in strike   Editorial - Bobbies on the beat    Business - Fletcher plans sales to fund Forestry Corp   purchase    - Forest sale may end Nov 2006 bond issues    - Steel and Tube expects better from Rbt Stone    Sport  - All Blacks electric in water rampage    - Bok great fears NZ whitewash    - Wise eases into 100m semi-final 
954 !GCAT !GCRIM  Australian police in the state of Queensland said they were still concerned for the safety of three missing Irish backpackers, despite a telephone message on Wednesday that the three were looking for work.   "We still have concerns as we do not know who left the message," a police spokesman told Reuters, adding that one of the backpacker's bank accounts was accessed on Wednesday.   Sandra Mahon, Stuart Gamble and Neil Hewson, all aged 25, were last seen in Cairns on Queensland's far north coast on Saturday.   Police said they were initially concerned for the tourists' safety as Mahon was in a "distressed and upset state" when she contacted her father in Ireland on Saturday.   Mahon told her father she had been attacked and the telephone line then went dead, police said.   On Wednesday police in Cairns said a small withdrawal had been made from Mahon's bank account from a bank in Mission Beach, 100 km (62 miles) south of Cairns.   A message on her father's answering service also said the three were heading for Inkermann, 550 km (342 miles) west of Cairns, to look for work. 
955 !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Primie Minister John Howard repeated that he did not want a double dissolution of both houses of parliament but declined to rule out the option altogether.   "I've never really wanted a double dissolution," Howard said in television interview when asked if such an event was now less likely.   When pressed again on whether it was less likely that he would now have a double dissolution, Howard replied, "Oh, I hope it is."    "The Australian people don't want a double dissolution, they want us to govern, they expect us to get our legislation through," he said.   "I suspect that they believe that the minor parties should be reasonably co-operative and not obstructionist," Howard said.   The government can dissolve both the upper and lower houses of parliament and call fresh elections before its current term expires if the Senate, the upper house, fails to pass the same bill or bills on two separate occasions.   It can then force the blocked legislation through a combined sitting of both houses.    The government does not have a majority in the Senate and requires the votes of two of the independent or minor party senators to carry its legislation.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
956 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Australian Finance Minster John Fahey said on Thursday the government has given little thought to the possiblity of a double dissolution early election.   "On the question of double dissolution, I can assure you it is not something we give much thought to," Fahey told a business breakfast.   "It really isn't." 
957 !E14 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Here are economists' initial reactions to the June quarter Labour Cost Index published on Thursday by Statistics New Zealand.   The index, measuring salary and wage rates, rose 0.3 percent in the quarter and 1.9 percent for the year, compared with mean forecasts of 0.53 percent and 2.2 percent respectively in a Reuters poll of economists.   BANKERS TRUST ECONOMIST DAVID PLANK   "It was a bit weaker than was expected.   The fact that it has stopped going up will be of some comfort to people.   Even though the labour markets remain fairly tight, there has been no acceleration in wages above that 2.0 percent level, so that's a good sign, but it's difficult to interpret compared to the quarterly employment survey.   Because it was below the market's expectations it's probably mildly positive, but it's not going to have a big impact.   It may cause a one or two point rally in the short end."   DOYLE PATERSON BROWN ECONOMIST STEPHEN TOPLIS   "It's slightly lower than everyone expected.   Last week's employment number always lags growth and we have only just started in the March and June quarters to see a significant slowdown in employment growth.   "It will be mildly positive for the Reserve Bank.   They are still interested to see what's happening to average hourly earnings figures.   "There is some debate as to how useful this index is.   It's certainly not negative but it's nothing to get too excited because there is enough uncertainty about there in the Reserve Bank's minds about what's happening to inflation.    "If you get a whole swag of these numbers coming in below expectations then you are going to see the Reserve Bank bring forward the easing (rather) than put it back.   "There have been a significant number of bits of information that are now suggesting the economy is slowing down more than people may have anticipated.   The problem is we are still getting the odd statistic out there which is showing a slightly different picture, one being last week's employment number.   The housing numbers from yesterday, seasonally adjusted they were down from June to July but they sure as hell were up a long way from where they were last year...    "There is enough uncertainty out there to keep them (the Reserve Bank) on tenterhooks." 
958 !C12 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Utilicorp New Zealand said on Thursday it had filed a High Court action alleging Mercury Energy breached the copyright act by copying its takeover offer and attached deed poll and proposed shareholding deed for local authorities' holdings of Power New Zealand shares.   "We are seeking an injunction to prevent Mercury using the documents and orders requiring all copies to be delivered for destruction," Utilicorp NZ Managing Director Steve Ash said in a statement.    Ash said Mercury's documents were identical word for word with documents prepared by Utilicorp last month.   The dispute is over rival Mercury and Utilicorp offers to Valley local authorities for their holdings in Power NZ.   Mercury, engaged in a drawn-out hostile bid, holds 31.8 percent of Power NZ.   Cornerstone shareholder Utilicorp, which is 80 percent owned by Utilicorp United Inc, holds 28 percent of Power NZ in its own right.   It said this week it may have a relevant interest as high as 42.76 percent if its first right of refusal arrangement with the councils for their shares is taken into    account.   Mercury, for its part, has challenged the legality of Utilicorp's arrangement with the councils, and a High Court hearing is due on September 9.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
959 !E14 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  New Zealand's Labour Cost Index rose by 0.3 percent in the June quarter and by 1.9 percent in the year to June, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday.   Economists on average had expected rises of 0.53 percent and 2.2 percent respectively.   The 1.9 percent annual rise in salary and wage rates matches that for the years to December 1995 and March 1996.    Base salary and ordinary time wage rates in all sectors were on average 2.0 percent higher than in June 1995.   This was the same as the rise in the year to March but slightly higher than the rise of 1.9 percent for the year to December 1995.   Overtime wage rates rose 0.2 percent in the June quarter and 1.3 percent on an annual basis.   This compared with a 0.5 percent rise in the March quarter and 1.2 percent in the March year.    Industry group rises in salary and wage rates for the year ranged from 0.9 percent for forestry and logging up to 2.5 percent for manufacturing industry sub-groups, machinery and metal products, and non-metallic mineral products.   Manufacturing as a whole increased by 2.1 percent and the increase for construction, at 2.2 percent, was slightly lower than the 2.3 percent rises for the years to December 1995 and March 1996.   Increases were recorded in the year to June for all nine major occupational groups.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
960 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian government comments that the defection of a Labor opposition politician may boost its chances for selling part of telecoms carrier Telstra Corp may be wrong, a key independent politician said on Thursday.   "Maybe they're barking up the wrong tree," independent senator Brian Harradine told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.    Labor Senator Mal Colston quit the party earlier this week and is now no longer bound by party policy, sitting as an independent until his term expires in 1999.   The conservative Liberal-National government has said this increases its chances of pushing key reforms through the Senate, where it does not have a majority and needs the support of at least two non-government senators.   Finance Minister John Fahey said on Thursday Colston's move could allow the government to succeed in getting Senate approval to its plans to sell one-third of Telstra.    "Perhaps the events in the Senate this week in terms of one particular Labor member may assist ultimately that going through," he told a business breakfast in Sydney.   The Labor opposition and other minor parties in have pledged to vote against the Telstra sale in the Senate.   Harradine said he still had several concerns about the planned partial privatisation, which would raise an estimated A$8 billion.   "There may be other ways of getting the money out of Telstra," he said, adding he was awaiting the finding of a Senate committee inquiry into the sale, due to report soon.    -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
961 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Finance Minister John Fahey said non government parties would reverse downard interest rate pressure if they combined in the Senate to obstruct the 1996/97 budget.   "If they combine to emaciate the savings in this budget then effectively they will be voting to reverse the downward pressure on interest rates," Fahey told a business breakfast.    Treausurer Peter Costello said last week that if the Senate obstructed part of the Budget, then the July 31 monetary policy easing might have to be reversed.   The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates by 50 basis points to 7.0 percent at the end of July, the first rate change since December 1994.   The 1996/97 Budget was handed down on Tuesday night, with the opposition parties closely looking at the plans to offload one third of telecommunications carrier Telstra Corp and some of its revisions to labour market programmes.   The government does not have a majority in the Senate which will consider the budget legislation.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
962 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Finance Minister John Fahey said on Thursday the resignation of an opposition Labor Party senator could let the government sell one-third of telecommunications carrier Telstra Corp.   "Perhaps the events in the Senate this week in terms of one particular Labor member may assist ultimately that going through," Fahey told a business breakfast.    The government plans to raise about A$8 billion from the partial privatisation of Telstra.   But the sale plan has been opposed by the opposition Labor Party and minority parties in the Senate, where the conservative government of Prime Minister John Howard does not have a majority and needs two more votes.   The defection of one Labor senator, Queensland's Mal Colston, to the cross benches earlier this week makes the government's chances of passing legislation in the Senate a touch easier.   -- Sydney Newsroom 16-2 373-1800 
963 !C42 !CCAT !E13 !E131 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday wages growth was the only risk for inflation.   Asked about inflation prospects, Costello said, "I would say to you I don't see any great risk in inflation other than in relation to wages."   "I don't believe there are conditions there for wages to grow faster than we have allowed for," he told a business dinner.    In its budget for the year to June 1997, announced on Tuesday, the government forecast year-average inflation at 2.0 percent for 1996/97 after 4.2 percent in 1995/96.   The forecast for average earnings growth was 5.0 percent for the current year after 4.4 percent for 1995/96.   -- Sydney newsroom +61-2-9373-1800 
964 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Australian Prime Minister John Howard said he would not break up his industrial relations (IR) reform package, and said the "moment of truth" was approaching.   Speaking in a television interview, Howard said that he would not separate the unfair dismissal law from other labour market reforms, although Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot had said that measure could have already been passed by the Senate.   "She knows as well as I do that that takes away some of the pressure on the minor parties to pass the rest of the industrial relations legislation," Howard said.    Howard said all components of the reform were important, and he wanted to deliver them all.   The legislation was referred to a Senate committee in May.   "The moment of truth on the IR legislation approaches, because the Senate report will be in in a few weeks time, and everyone has to stand up and be counted on the industrial relations legislation, including the Labor Party," he said.   Kernot's left-leaning minority Democrats has said it opposed many aspects of the IR reforms proposed by the government aimed at replacing laws passed by the former Labor government.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
965 !GCAT  NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN   A circuit resale business will be started in the cellular phone market next January, industry sources said.   The new business will purchase circuits in bulk from cellular phone service companies and retail them to corporate subscribers.   Japan Communication Inc, a Tokyo-based telecom-related venture company, has reached an agreement with DDI Corp group firms on purchasing cell phone circuits.   ----    The world's largest non-bank, GE Capital Service Inc, plans to purchase 80 percent of shares of Marubeni Car System, a car lease subsidiary of Marubeni Corp, for 25 billion to 30 billion yen.   ----   Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd is expected to increase its parent current profit by 11 percent from a year earlier to 185 billion yen in the year to next March 31, about 10 billion yen more than earlier forecast.   ----    Nikken Chemicals Co Ltd plans to triple production of artificial sweetener erythritol to 7,000 tonnes by the end of 1997 to meet growing demand for low-calorie foods.   Ajinomoto Co Inc also plans to boost production of aspartame sweetner by five percent.   ----   Asia Internet Holding, a Tokyo-based Internet access provider, plans to set up a joint company in South Korea to offer international access services for providers there from late September.   The new company, AIH Korea, will be capitalised at 54 million yen.   ---- 
966 !GCAT !GDIP  China said on Wednesday it was voicing its concern to Ukraine over a visit by Vice President Lien Chan of Taiwan.   "The Chinese government is now in the process of making representations with the Ukrainian government," a Foreign Ministry spokesman told Reuters.   "China firmly opposes any country with diplomatic ties with it developing any official relations or having any official contacts with Taiwan," the spokesman said.   Lien's recent trip to Ukraine to accept an honorary degree from the University of Kiev was made with ulterior, political motives, according to the spokesman.   Lien emerged in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission, raising the prospect of diplomatic sparks between Ukraine and communist China.   Taiwan Television showed Lien with his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing at the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree.   State-funded television said Lien's secretive visit had been arranged by the university, indicating it was unofficial, but said Lien had met Ukrainian officials and was awaiting a possible meeting with President Leonid Kuchma.   The spokesman said Ukraine's acceptance of Lien's visit has constituted a grave violation of its commitment made on the question of Taiwan in the communique on the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ukraine.   Ukraine, a former Soviet republic, recognises the communist government in Beijing -- not Taiwan's exiled Republic of China.   But it has made clear its desire for improved relations with Taiwan, one of Asia's economic powerhouses.   China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province and has sought to isolate the island diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   Any attempt by the Taiwan authorities to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" is doomed to failure, the spokesman said.   "Two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" are euphemisms for Taiwan's Nationalist government abandoning its avowed goal of reunification and seeking independence.   Ukraine's embassy in Beijing declined to comment.    The delegation, headed by a member of China's powerful State Council, was to have visited Ukraine from August 21 to 26.   Meetings with President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko were planned.   A foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said China was voicing its concern to Ukraine over a visit by Lien of Taiwan, who arrived in Kiev on Tuesday.   China regards Nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province and has sought to isolate the island diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   The Chinese spokesman said Lien's trip to Ukraine to accept an honorary degree from the University of Kiev was made with political motives.   In Kiev, the diplomat said China's ambassador to Ukraine had protested to the foreign ministry about Lien's visit and informed it the trip had been cancelled.   Ukrainian officials could not be immediately contacted for reaction.   They have insisted that Lien's visit was a private one and that the Ukrainian government had nothing to do with his presence in the country. 
967 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Military authorities in Burma announced on Wednesday they had arrested a group of plotters, including two members of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, who were conspiring to create political unrest.   The anti-government group was collaborating with exiled members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) based on the Burma-India border, state-run television announced.   "Action was taken according to the law against 19 people, including two NLD members .... who were collaborating with exiled groups in India," the television said.   "The NLD exile group based in India made contacts with some NLD members in the country and made plans to disrupt peace and stability of the state and create unrest," it said.   The two NLD members arrested were identified as Doe Daung, from Sagaing Division in northwestern Burma, and Khun Myint Tun, from Mon state in southern Burma.   The television said the group conspired to send members for training in political defiance with their exiled colleagues in India led by Tint Swe.   They distributed propaganda leaflets attacking military-organised constitutional talks and had made plans to open a secret office in the town of Monywa.   Thousands of democracy activists fled from Burma in the wake of the crushing of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and later crackdowns by the military government.   The exiled anti-government dissidents have made little, if any, headway in their campaign to restore democracy while their colleagues inside the country, led by the 1991 Nobel Peace prize winner Suu Kyi, have been virtually muzzled by sweeping security laws.   Earlier on Wednesday, in a separate case, NLD sources in Rangoon said a total of 11 democracy activists had been sentenced to seven-year prison terms under security laws.   The military government never announces sentences imposed on dissidents, but reports that three activists had been sentenced to prison terms, including Suu Kyi's personal assistant Win Htein, filtered out earlier this week.   The NLD sources said on Wednesday that eight other activists were sentenced to prison terms at the same time.   "There were a total of 11 sentenced," an NLD source at Suu Kyi's house told Reuters.   The source said all 11 were sentenced last week and were being held at Insein prison.   Win Htein and two of the others NLD members were charged with "taking part in a video conspiracy fabricating the poor situation of the farmers", NLD sources said on Tuesday.   The 11 were among more than 250 NLD members arrested by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in a crackdown on democracy politicians ahead of a May 26 party congress at Suu Kyi's house.   Most of the NLD politicians arrested by the SLORC were released after the May 26-28 party meeting took place.   The government said at the time the arrests were made to prevent anarchy arising as a result of the meeting. 
968 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL !GVOTE  More than 70 percent of Okinawa residents intend to vote at a referendum on the status of U.S. military bases on the Japanese island, according to poll results released on Wednesday.   The government of Okinawa, Japan's southernmost prefecture, is holding a referendum on September 8 to test public opinion on the heavy concentration of U.S. military bases on the island.   It surveyed 2,000 residents over the telephone between August 1 and 7.   Some 71.2 percent said they would cast their vote, 4.1 percent said they would not and the remainder said they were unsure.   The referendum comes a year after the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen.   The attack sparked angry protests against the U.S. military presence on the island, 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo.   The referendum comes several weeks before Japan-U.S. defence talks which follow an agreement to trim U.S. bases on Okinawa, home to about 75 percent of all land used by the U.S. military in Japan.   Some 47,000 U.S. military personnel are serving in Japan. 
969 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan said on Wednesday Vice-Premier Hsu Li-teh will meet President Nelson Mandela during his upcoming visit to South Africa.   "Vice-premier Hsu will meet with President Mandela shortly after his arrival in South Africa and they will have a lunch together," the island's Foreign Minister John Chang told a news conference.   Hsu is scheduled to leave for South Africa on Sunday to review investment projects and seek new business opportunities.   Hsu will visit Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg before returning to Taipei on September 3.   South Africa is the biggest of Taipei's 30 diplomatic allies.   The number of states recognising Taiwan fell by one on Monday to 30 as impoverished Niger, which split with Beijing to recognise Taipei in 1992, switched back to Beijing.   Chang described relations with South Africa as "solid" and "stable".   "The most difficult time was in March, but we have gone through the difficult period," Chang said, referring to a high-profile visit to Beijing by South African Foreign Minister Alfred Nzo.   South Africa has openly expressed willingness to establish diplomatic ties with China.   Beijing maintains that countries seeking formal ties with China must first sever relations with what it regards as a renegade Republic of China government, which took refuge on the island after losing a civil war to the communists in 1949.   South African trade ties with China have soared in recent years, fuelling pressure for formal recognition. 
970 !C13 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  China's Ministry of Communications has introduced rules in a bid to curb imports of foreign waste, the Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.   The new regulations, which went into effect on Tuesday, were aimed at complementing a crackdown on illegal shipments of hazardous garbage from abroad.   Imports of foreign garbage have rankled China since it found earlier this year what it said was hazardous waste in shipments from the United States originally listed as recyclable material.   The new rules require shippers to get a waste import licence from the State Environmental Protection Agency and obtain a certificate of approval for the waste from a state-approved inspection agency.   Shippers would also have to show a copy of the trade contract for the waste and give the detailed name and address of the receiver, it said.   Shippers who failed to meet the requirements would be forced to bear all the costs of transporting the waste back, it said. 
971 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  Chinese airlines are landing hard on passengers who make off with inflight safety equipment, a newspaper said on Wednesday.   Airline officials have introduced fines to deter the thefts, the Guangming Daily said.   "Lifesaving equipment on our nation's airliners is often carried off on the sly by some passengers," the newspaper said.   It gave no details of the scale of the losses or what was the common choice of article.   Offenders would face unspecified fines and possible criminal proceedings under the new regulations, which also covered passengers who used a false identity to buy tickets, smoked in restricted areas or got into fights on board, it said. 
972 !GCAT !GCRIM  A court in China sentenced two people to jail for forcing a mentally ill man to sell his blood and then taking his money, the Economic Daily said on Wednesday.   A People's Court in Zhumadian city in the central province of Henan meted out jail terms of 15 and 10 years to 41-year-old Zheng Zhendong and his 38-year-old girlfriend Hou Jianhui for forcing the man to give blood.   From early February to mid-March, they forced Lei Douliang to give blood repeatedly, in one case causing him to faint, and threatened to beat him if he resisted, it said.   The newspaper said the two took advantage of Lei, who was in good physical health but unable to understand that his blood was being sold.   The two kept the money and that constituted robbery, the court said. 
973 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Burma's military government has sentenced a total of 11 democracy activists to seven-year prison terms, sources in Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Wednesday.   The military government never announces sentences imposed on dissidents but reports that three activists had been sentenced to prison terms, including Suu Kyi's personal assistant Win Htein, filtered out earlier this week.   The NLD sources said on Wednesday that eight other activists were sentenced to prison terms at the same time.   As well as Win Htein, the 11 comprised one Buddhist monk, a woman and eight other men.   "There were a total of 11 sentenced," an NLD source at Suu Kyi's house told Reuters.   The source said all 11 were sentenced last week and were being held at Insein prison.   Win Htein and two of the others NLD members were charged with "taking part in a video conspiracy fabricating the poor situation of the farmers", NLD sources said on Tuesday.   Apart from Win Htein the names of the others were not immediately available nor was it known under what laws they were sentenced, but NLD sources said it was likely under a sweeping Emergency Powers Act.   "They say they violated section 5G.   If they want to act mean it's always 5G," the NLD official at Suu Kyi's house said.   The 11 were among more than 250 NLD members arrested by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in a crackdown on democracy politicians ahead of a May 26 party congress at Suu Kyi's house.   Aye Win, a relative and personal assistant to NLD leader Suu Kyi, was arrested in the crackdown.   His family told Reuters on Tuesday he had not yet been sentenced.   Most of the NLD politicians arrested by the SLORC were released after the May 26-28 party meeting took place.   The government said at the time the arrests were made to prevent anarchy arising as a result of the meeting. 
974 !GCAT !GDIS !GHEA  An outbreak of cholera in Mongolia has claimed one more life, bringing the death toll to nine since the disease was first diagnosed two weeks ago, officials said on Wednesday.   The disease had infected 117 people and there were 33 more cases of suspected cholera, a health ministry spokesman said.   A total of 2,058 people around the remote north Asian nation were in quarantine and the northern regions sealed off for the second week, the spokesman said.   The southern town of Zamiin Uud on the Mongolian-Chinese border was closed off on Wednesday afternoon after laboratory tests confirmed that a 23-year-old man had died of cholera on Friday, town officials said.   "He was a construction worker working at the hospital building," mayor Dashtsoo told Reuters.   "Laboratory tests confirmed he had cholera," he said.   Dashtsoo said another man who had been in close contact with the worker had contracted cholera and was in critical condition in a local hospital, where another person was suspected of having the disease.   More than 70 people who had been in contact with the victims had been quarantined and the town isolated since Wednesday afternoon, Dashtsoo said.   Border traffic would continue through the town but no local residents would be allowed in or out, he said.   Trains between Moscow, Ulan Bator and Beijing have been allowed to make non-stop trips through quarantined northern regions.   International flights from the capital have continued as scheduled.   Officials had sealed off the northern cities of Erdenet and Darkhan, all of Selenge province and parts of Central province after an outbreak in Selenge's Khoetol county on August 8.   Local trains from Ulan Bator to the isolated northern regions resumed service on Tuesday but no people from quarantined areas have been allowed out.   In Khoetol county, where the bacteria had been traced back to a military unit after it had been spread by contaminated food, 81 people had been infected and 13 more were suspected of having the disease, health officials said.   Newspapers in Ulan Bator said many people had slipped out of sealed areas by traversing vast, unpatrolled grasslands and avoiding guarded roads.   Health officials in Ulan Bator said the epidemic had spread to another county in Central province that surrounds the capital.   In Batsumber county, 65 km (40 miles) north of Ulan Bator, one person was sick with cholera and 51 people were in quarantine.   In the capital, 706 people had been quarantined and there were at least 11 cholera patients in the Hospital for Infectious Diseases.   Three more people were suspected of having cholera. 
975 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  China warned its provinces on Wednesday that severe flooding that has killed thousands of people since June was just the start of seasonal deluges.   "The autumn flooding has just begun," the Xinhua Daily Telegraph quoted the State Anti-Flood and Drought Headquarters as saying on Wednesday.   "The flood-fighting situation we are now facing is still very grim."   The headquarters warned that river banks in inundated areas had been weakened by recent storms and floods, raising the danger of heavier flooding in the future.   Storms and floods across much of southwestern, central and northeastern China have killed at least 2,700 people, injured more than 32,200 and caused more than 52.4 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in damage.   "Water levels in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its tributaries are still above alert levels; flood waters in the Yellow River have still not emptied into the sea," the headquarters said.   The group said northeastern provinces were particularly vulnerable.   "There is still the possibility of huge floods along the Songhua and Liao rivers in the northeast," the newspaper said. 
976 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan met on Wednesday with Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma, Taiwan state radio reported.   "Vice-President Lien met Ukraine President Kuchma today," the broadcast said without giving further details.   It did not identify the source of the information.    Taiwan Foreign Minister John Chang, meeting reporters in Taipei, refused to comment on Lien's highly secretive visit to Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that recognises the communist Chinese government in Beijing, not Taiwan.   China said on Wednesday it would voice its concern to Kiev about Lien's presence in Ukraine.   Later, a senior Chinese diplomat said Beijing had cancelled a trip by a high-ranking government delegation to Ukraine.   Lien dropped from sight during a transit stop in New York on Sunday after visiting the Dominican Republic and turned up in Ukraine on Tuesday after a quiet change of planes in Vienna.   Taiwan, estranged from China since a civil war split them in 1949, has been pressing for "international living space" and new diplomatic allies.   Only 30 states now recognise Taiwan's exiled Republic of China government.   Taipei severed ties with Niger earlier this week after the West African nation renewed ties with Beijing. 
977 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan launched its latest drive for a United Nations seat on Wednesday, a move likely to further anger China after Taipei secretly sent its vice-president to Beijing's diplomatic partner Ukraine.   "Our purpose is to seek the basic rights of 21.3 million people in the Taiwan region and an appropriate representation in the United Nations," the foreign ministry said in a statement entitled "The Republic of China on Taiwan and the U.N".   The statement was being distributed in eight languages to Taiwan's overseas offices to lobby for support before the U.N. General Assembly session in September.   "We do not want to challenge communist China's existing U.N. seat," the statement said.   "International society should face the issue seriously and act to support...this legitimate proposal."   Taiwan launched similar U.N. bids in 1993, 1994 and 1995 but China, with veto power as one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, has easily shot them down.   Communist China and Nationalist Taiwan have been bitter rivals since the two split after a civil war in 1949.   Beijing strongly opposes Taiwan's efforts to win diplomatic allies and a U.N. seat, regarding Taiwan as a renegade province unqualified for sovereign foreign ties.   Beijing took China's U.N. seat from Taipei in 1971 and has intensified its drive to isolate Taiwan's government.   Beijing on Monday won the latest round in Taiwan's struggle for recognition, wooing the impoverished African country of Niger back four years after it switched recognition to Taipei.   Since Niger's switch, only 30 states recognise Taiwan's exiled Republic of China rather than the Beijing government.   Taiwan has pledged to carry on its drive for a higher international profile and strives to strengthen unofficial ties with countries where it has no formal relations.   Beijing said on Wednesday it was voicing concern to Kiev over Vice-President Lien Chan's surprise visit to Ukraine, which one Taipei newspaper called an "unexpected happy surprise".   Lien made a secret detour to Ukraine after making an official visit to the Dominican Republic.   Vice Premier Hsu Li-teh was scheduled to visit South Africa, Taiwan's biggest diplomatic ally, on August 25.   Foreign minister John Chang returned recently from Haiti and Paraguay, countries that recognise Taiwan. 
978 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Sumitomo group company presidents did not discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding Sumitomo Corp's massive losses in the copper market during their informal monthly meeting, Sumitomo Bank Ltd president Toshio Morikawa said on Wednesday.   This was in marked contrast to the July Hakusui-kai gathering, when Sumitomo Corp chairman Tomiichi Akiyama told the meeting of 20 presidents that he believed investigations would make it clear the company was not involved in the unauthorised copper trades.   At a news conference after the July meeting, Morikawa revealed that his bank had recently provided small additional loans to Sumitomo Corp and that Hakusui-kai participants agreed jointly to study ways of improving risk management.   On June 13 Sumitomo Corp announced it amassed an estimated $1.8 billion in losses from unauthorised copper trading.   The Hakusui-kai has been a Sumitomo group tradition since 1951, following the post-war break-up by allied forces of the so-called "zaibatsu" conglomerates, which included Mitsui and Mitsubishi as well as Sumitomo. 
979 !GCAT !GDIP  China said on Wednesday it was voicing its concern to Ukraine over a visit there by Vice President Lien Chan of Taiwan.   "The Chinese government is now in the process of making representations with the Ukrainian government," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said by telephone.    "China firmly opposes any country with diplomatic ties with it developing any official relations or having any official contacts with Taiwan," the spokesman said.   Lien's recent trip to Ukraine to accept an honorary degree from the University of Kiev was obviously made with ulterior, political motives, according to the spokesman.   Lien emerged in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission, raising the prospect of diplomatic sparks between Ukraine and communist China.   Taiwan Television showed Lien with his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing at the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree. 
980 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Israel asked Washington on Wednesday to pass a message to Syria that it wanted peace and was ready without preconditions to begin negotiations.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio in an interview.   Levy, who said he gave the message to U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk, blasted Syrian rhetoric that he said was raising tensions.   Levy said Israel expected Syria to prove it wanted peace by answering Israel's call for talks.   "The voices coming out of Damascus are bad, not good.   The media...are full of expressions and declarations that must be worrying...this artificial atmosphere is very dangerous because those who spread it could become its prisoners," Levy said.   "We expect from Syria, if its face is to peace, that it will answer Israel's message to enter peace negotiations because that is our goal," he said.   "We do not want a war, God forbid.   No one benefits from wars.   In the end they pay a very heavy price and in the end they sit to talk.   We must talk and prevent the heavy price that no one should pay."   Levy, asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements on a tour of a Lebanon occupation zone earlier this week had not also contributed to tensions, said they were "not a threat in any way certainly to Syria."   Israel's Channel Two television later said Damascus via "secret channels" had sent a "calming signal".   It gave no source for the report.   Netanyahu and Levy's spokesmen said they could not confirm the report.   A senior Israeli legislator said on Wednesday that Israeli intelligence agencies were increasingly concerned that Syria may opt for war to break a deadlock in peace talks.   Levy also criticised Syria for its rejection of an Israeli proposal to withdraw from its south Lebanon occupation zone.   Syria, main power broker in Lebanon, views the proposal as an Israel ploy to avoid returning the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.   He said Syria thought "that we in essence by a ploy are trying to escape negotiations with it for peace.   That is not Israel's intention.   We want, side by side, to talk on two tracks which are one in our eyes."   Tension has mounted since Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the strategic heights.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan since 1991 despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Legislator Hagai Merom, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee under the last Labour-led government, said he could not accept Netanyahu's attempts to play down recent tensions with Syria.   "I have heard recently that all Israeli intelligence elements are very carefully examining Syria through a magnifying glass and listening to every noise sounded there," he said.   "From the way things look and sound, the possibility that a war option is being considered (by Syria) as realistic has deepened."   In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Merom said: "Assessments are growing within Military Intelligence that there is a possibility of war with Syria."   "We must not wake up one morning to a new Yom Kippur," Merom said, referring to surprise Egyptian and Syrian attacks that began the 1973 Middle East war on the Jewish Day of Atonement.   Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai later issued a statement calling Merom's comments were "not authorised, accurate nor responsible".   Mordechai said Israel had no interest in escalation and would continue the search for peace.   Syria's Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi ended on Tuesday a four-day visit to Iran during which he met President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said the two countries must strengthen ties to face the United States and Israel.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli Channel Two television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile. 
981 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  More than 100 passengers escaped unhurt from an EgyptAir plane that caught fire after overshooting the runway at Istanbul airport on Wednesday.   The plane hit a taxi and skipped across the road before sliding into a railway line in a landing the pilot blamed on bad information from the control tower.   Anatolian news agency said that 20 people were injured in the landing, which took place at around 1700 local time (1400 GMT).   Three of them suffered heart attacks.   It was unclear whether the injured were passengers or bystanders but earlier Anatolian reported that three people of the 120 passengers aboard the plane had been hurt.   "We are pleased there is no loss of life," Istanbul police chief Kemal Yazicioglu Yazicioglu said.   The pilot of the Boeing-707 from Cairo blamed Turkish airport staff for misleading him.   The landing took place after a rainstorm.   "Its not an accident.   It's very wet.   The brake action is very poor and the tower said it's medium.   That's wrong," the pilot told private Ihlas news agency in English.   Private ATV television said the taxi driver was one of the injured.   Reuters television showed the plane, its landing gear broken off and its wings damaged, lying on its belly by the road.   The last flames were being put out by firemen as passengers walked away from the plane.   Dazed-looking passengers climbed out from above the wings and walked towards the airport, stepping under the barbed wire fencing that tripped the plane.   A similar crash happened two years ago in the same spot, when a Turkish Airlines plane skidded across the road and stopped just short of the railway line after overshooting the runway while trying to land from a domestic flight. 
982 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel asked Washington on Wednesday to pass a message to Syria that it wanted peace and was ready without preconditions to begin negotiations.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio in an interview.   Levy, who said he gave the message to U.S. Ambassador Martin Indyk, blasted Syrian rhetoric that he said was raising tensions.   Levy said Israel expected Syria to prove it wanted peace by answering Israel's call for talks.   "The voices coming out of Damascus are bad, not good.   The media...are full of expressions and declarations that must be worrying...this artificial atmosphere is very dangerous because those who spread it could become its prisoners," Levy said.   "We expect from Syria, if its face is to peace, that it will answer Israel's message to enter peace negotiations because that is our goal," he said.   "We do not want a war, God forbid.   No one benefits from wars.   In the end they pay a very heavy price and in the end they sit to talk.   We must talk and prevent the heavy price that no one should pay."   Levy, asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statements on a tour of a Lebanon occupation zone earlier this week had not also contributed to tensions, said they were "not a threat in any way certainly to Syria."   A senior Israeli legislator said on Wednesday that Israeli intelligence agencies were increasingly concerned that Syria may opt for war to break a deadlock in peace talks.   Levy also criticised Syria for its rejection of an Israeli proposal to withdraw from its south Lebanon occupation zone.   Syria, main power broker in Lebanon, views the proposal as an Israel ploy to avoid returning the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967.   He said Syria thought "that we in essence by a ploy are trying to escape negotiations with it for peace.   That is not Israel's intention.   We want, side by side, to talk on two tracks which are one in our eyes."   Tension has mounted since Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the strategic heights.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan since 1991 despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Legislator Hagai Merom, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee under the last Labour-led government, said he could not accept Netanyahu's attempts to play down recent tensions with Syria.   "I have heard recently that all Israeli intelligence elements are very carefully examining Syria through a magnifying glass and listening to every noise sounded there," he said.   "From the way things look and sound, the possibility that a war option is being considered (by Syria) as realistic has deepened."   In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Merom said: "Assessments are growing within Military Intelligence that there is a possibility of war with Syria."   "We must not wake up one morning to a new Yom Kippur," Merom said, referring to surprise Egyptian and Syrian attacks that began the 1973 Middle East war on the Jewish Day of Atonement.   Syria's Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi ended on Tuesday a four-day visit to Iran during which he met President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said the two countries must strengthen ties to face the United States and Israel.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli Channel Two television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile.   Netanyahu said Syria had been arming itself for years with Scuds and there was no change in the strategic balance, which military analysts consider to be in Israel's favour.   Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of beating the drums of war in the Middle East and warned Netanyahu that he would be defeated in any military confrontation with Arabs. 
983 !GCAT !GVIO  An Iraqi Kurdish rebel group on Wednesday accused Iran of killing or wounding around 100 people in daily artillery attacks this week on its positions in a northern Iraqi enclave protected by Western allies.   "They have been shelling the border area," Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Ankara representative Safeen Dizayee said.   "It started on about (August) 18th," he told Reuters.   The KDP said in a statement that a four-hour Iranian bombardment of the Iraqi Kurdish village of Qasrey on Tuesday caused around 100 casualties.   "The Iranian Islamic regime has entered the war on behalf of its (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) PUK quisling," the KDP of veteran warlord Massoud Barzani said in a statement.   The PUK was not immediately available for comment.   Barzani's group said Iranian forces had been firing heavy artillery shells and Katyusha rockets into northern Iraq from inside Iran every day since last weekend.   Fighting between the two Kurdish groups broke out at the weekend, shattering a ceasefire brokered by the United States early last year.   The KDP called on the Western allies to halt the shelling.   "We appeal to member governments of Operation Provide Comfort protecting the Kurds to deter Iranian intervention in the Kurdish enclave of northern Iraq," it said.   A U.S., British and French air force, known as Provide Comfort, has been patrolling the skies of northern Iraq to prevent any attack from Baghdad since shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War.   "This Iranian aggression has caused the death and injury of nearly 100 people and the displacement of tens of families," the group said.   A small number of Iranian troops briefly entered northern Iraq last month and killed around 20 members of an Iranian Kurdish group based there.   The mountainous region has been split into rival Iraqi Kurdish zones since fighting broke out between the two groups in 1994.   Around 3,000 people died until the ceasefire last March.   The KDP, which controls the northern sector of the Kurdish-held territory in Iraq, said 25 of its fighters died and nearly 75 guerrillas and civilians were injured in Tuesday's bombardment at Qasrey.   The group abandoned its positions there to fighters from Jalal Talabani's PUK, the statement said. 
984 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  An EgyptAir plane on Wednesday caught on fire when it overshot the runway on landing at Istanbul airport, skipping across a road and hitting a taxi before halting in front of a railway line, Anatolian news agency said.   The agency said three passengers were injured but all 120 passengers were safely evacuated from the Boeing-707 aircraft, which broke its wings and lost its landing gear in the landing.   The fire was put out. 
985 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel and Syria have accused each other of raising tensions to a dangerous pitch but both sides are trying to calm the other's war fears.   Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   But it slammed Damascus for creating what it called a dangerous atmosphere.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli television reported that Damascus had recently test fired a missile.   It said its arms purchases were for defensive purposes.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio in an interview.   Tension has mounted since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the Golan Heights Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan since 1991 despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Peace talks between the two sides were last held in February.   "The voices coming out of Damascus are bad, not good.   The media...are full of expressions and declarations that must be worrying...this artificial atmosphere is very dangerous because those who spread it could become its prisoners," Levy said.   "We expect from Syria, if its face is to peace, that it will answer Israel's message to enter peace negotiations because that is our goal," he said.   "We do not want a war, God forbid.   No one benefits from wars."   Israel's Channel Two television said Damascus had sent a "calming signal" to Israel.   It gave no source for the report.   Netanyahu and Levy's spokesmen said they could not confirm it.   The television also said that Netanyahu had sent messages to reassure Syria via Cairo, the United States and Moscow.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israel's Channel Two reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile.   "Suddenly a hysterical campaign is launched against Syria and its defence capabilities with the participation of Netanyahu, his generals and his media networks," the ruling party al-Baath newspaper said.   It said Netanyahu was "using any pretext to escalate tension in the region to the maximum".   The official daily Tishreen said Israel should have its nuclear installations inspected because they were a threat to regional security.   "The failure of taking serious and effective measures against Israel's nuclear armament will encourage large scale armament in the Middle East because Israel cannot grant itself this advantage and raise hell if an Arab country dares buy defensive weapons," Tishreen said.   Israeli opposition Labour party legislator Hagai Merom said on Wednesday Israeli intelligence agencies were concerned that Syria may opt for war to break a deadlock in peace talks.   Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai later issued a statement saying Merom's comments were "not authorised, accurate nor responsible".   Mordechai said Israel had no interest in escalation and would continue the search for peace. 
986 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday that a Shin Bet secret police officer had denied he told an Israel newspaper he crushed the skulls of two Arab bus hijackers while they were in his custody.   Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest daily, replied that it stood behind its published interview with Shin Bet's Ehud Yatom.   The police killing of the two captured hijackers in 1984 led to a major scandal and a crisis in Shin Bet when a cover-up failed.   The graphic description which Yedioth attributed to Yatom last month shocked Israelis and angered agency officials.   The prime minister's office, under which Shin Bet operates, issued a statement on Wednesday saying agency head Ami Ayalon had reprimanded Yatom for giving the interview without the service's approval.   It added Ayalon accepted Yatom's denial that he had told Yedioth that he crushed the hijackers' skulls.   Israel's B'Tselem human rights group called on foreign countries to arrest and try Yatom if he should ever be in their territory since a presidential pardon granted years ago meant he could not be tried in Israel.   The families of the two hijackers said they would seek compensation after publication of the Yatom interview.   Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Yatom as saying: "We put them in our van and then I received instructions from (Shin Bet chief) Avraham Shalom to kill them, so I killed them with a big stone.   I crushed their skulls."   The newspaper said censors initially banned publication of his account.   Israeli commandos raided a bus in April 1984 after four Palestinians hijacked it and threatened to kill the passengers.   Two of the hijackers were killed in the raid along with an Israeli woman passenger.   Israeli officials said at the time the other two hijackers, in their late teens, died in custody of their wounds but newspapers published photographs of the two being taken from the scene unhurt, prompting an internal inquiry.   The affair took a turn when Shin Bet officials conspired to frame top army officer Yitzhak Mordechai -- now Israel's defence minister -- for the killings.   When the coverup became known two years later, Shalom and three other top officials resigned from the agency.   They received presidential pardons along with seven other agents involved in the affair, including Yatom.   "The war against terrorists is aimed at preventing the death of innocent people and it involves actions that aren't consistent with perfect morals," the newspaper quoted Yatom as saying.   Yatom, whose brother Danny Yatom heads Israel's Mossad spy service, told the newspaper he was "one of the few people who emerged emotionally fit from the affair," and said he was proud of his actions. 
987 !GCAT !GCRIM  An Iranian court has sentenced the head of an investment fund to death for defrauding depositors of $4 million in a pyramid scheme, a newspaper said on Wednesday.   The daily Kayhan said the court in Tehran sentenced Eslam Kordlor, head of the Sahar va Elika investment firm, to death after convicting him of defrauding 11,000 depositors by running a pyramid scheme during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and "jeopardising sound investment in the country."   The ruling said the firm, which promised returns of 48 percent a year, owed depositors 12.1 billion rials ($4 million) after the court paid back part of the deposits by selling off Kordlor's properties, the newspaper reported.   Kordlor has appealed the sentence handed down after the court found him a "corrupter on earth", a conviction that often carries the death penalty under Iran's Islamic law.   The pyramid scheme was one of many set up in the past few years in Iran which paid large returns for a short time to attract customers before collapsing.   ($1=3,000 rials) 
988 !GCAT !GDIP  Iran's health minister held talks with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad on Wednesday in a rare meeting between senior officials from the former war foes.   Iran's official news agency IRNA said Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Madhat Mubarak briefed Iran's Alireza Marandi about the health situation in Iraq and called on Tehran to assist his country in easing medical problems caused by six years of international sanctions against Baghdad.   Marandi said Iran was ready to provide medical expertise, help Iraq overcome its medicine shortages and cooperate in fighting contagious diseases, particularly in border areas, the agency said.   It did not say when Marandi arrived in Iraq.   "He (Marandi) condemned the unjust pressures which were exerted on Iraqi citizens and called on Mubarak to inspect Iran's medicare facilities upon his visit to Iran," IRNA added.   Iran has criticised the United Nations sanctions imposed against Iraq since its 1990 occupation of Kuwait but said it abides by them.   The rare meeting follows an exchange last week of the remains of 465 soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.   It was was the second such exchange in two months.   Accounting for soldiers missing in action and prisoners of war are among the thorniest issues hindering efforts to improve ties between Tehran and Baghdad.   Iraq denies holding any Iranians and says more than 20,000 Iraqis are held in Iran.   Tehran denies the Iraqi claims and says Baghdad is still holding 5,000 to 10,000 Iranian prisoners. 
989 !GCAT !GPOL  Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has decided to rein in security forces following the death of two West Bank Palestinians in separate incidents this month, officials said on Wednesday.   They said the Palestinian cabinet decided at a meeting in Gaza last week attended by Arafat to set up guidelines that would curtail the powers of security forces and probe those suspected of financial and moral corruption.   The decisions were based on the recommendations of a ministerial committee that probed the death of an inmate by torture in a Nablus prison and a demonstrator during a riot in Tulkarm.   The recommendations, obtained by Reuters, were only revealed on Wednesday.   One recommendation read: "Studying the conditions of the security forces to uncover elements who are financially and morally corrupt and those whose nationalist loyalty is in doubt in order to preserve the integrity of the (Palestinian) Authority and the reputation of the (security) forces."   The recommendations also included defining the powers of security forces, enhancing coordination between various security bodies and enforcing laws that ban human rights abuses.   The cabinet also decided to review the cases of hundreds of inmates held by the Palestinian Authority and free those who had not been charged.   "We have begun to see these decisions implemented on the ground," said Public Works Minister Azzam al-Ahmed during a meeting of the Palestinian Legislative Council in the West Bank town of Ramallah.   "The Authority is truly trying to carry out its duties," he said.   Ahmed said about 120 of the more than 700 prisoners detained without trial in February and March following a wave of suicide bombings by the militant Islamic Hamas group in Israel that killed 59 people had already been freed.   Local Government Minister Saeb Erekat said: "The Authority is exerting real efforts to handle serious issues that could destroy our homeland."   Human rights groups have accused PLO security forces of systematic torture and charged that the Palestinian Authority was not doing enough to end the abuses.   Arafat has said he would not tolerate torture.   A Palestinian military court this month tried and sentenced three naval police officers to prison terms of between 10 and 15 years after they were convicted of torturing prisoner Mahmoud Jumayal who subsequently died of injuries.   Several Palestinian lawmakers, usually critical of the Palestinian Authority, hailed the decisions as a sign that the cabinet was serious.   "We welcome the decisions of the cabinet because they mirror those of the Legislative Council," said council member Salah al-Taamari. 
990 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  The human rights group Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an investigation into the death of a suspected Moslem militant at Egyptian police offices and said it feared for the lives of five other detainees.   "Amnesty International has received alarming reports that Ahmed Mohamed Abdelazim Higazi died last week in the headquarters of the State Security Investigations Department (SSI) in Cairo allegedly as a result of torture," it said in a statement.   "The news of his death heightens fears for the other five people who are believed to be still held in the SSI headquarters and who have also allegedly been tortured... (Amnesty) has repeatedly urged the government to set up prompt and thorough investigations into all allegations of torture," the group added.   It named the five men as Sayed Abbas Sayed, Taha Mansour, Saeed Taghour, Hisham Mohammed Abdu and Abdel Hamid Qutb Khalil.   Interior Ministry officials could not immediately say if the men were being detained at the SSI.   They declined to comment on Amnesty's allegations and did not confirm or deny that Higazi had died in custody.   Amnesty said it believed torture used included "beatings, electric shocks, suspension in contorted positions and the extinguishing of cigarettes on their bodies."   On Monday, the militant Islamist group Vanguards of Conquest said Higazi was one of 44 detained in the second half of July and had been tortured to death by the Interior Ministry.   The group, one of several fighting to overthrow the government and turn Egypt into a strict Islamic state, is a revival of the organisation that gunned down president Anwar Sadat in 1981.   Human rights groups say at least 26 Egyptian detainees died in custody last year and that torture or maltreatment contributed to most of those deaths.   The state says it investigates complaints of torture and punishes officers found guilty of abuses. 
991 !GCAT !GVIO  The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel group has denied charges by Turkish security officials that it killed three civilians in an attack in central Turkey this week, a Kurdish news agency said on Wednesday.   The DEM news agency quoted the press office of the PKK's military wing, the ARGK, as accusing Turkish security forces of carrying out the attack in Sivas province on Monday night.   "The ARGK press office said its guerrilla forces had nothing to do with the incident," the agency said.   Two woman and a two-year-old child died when assailants opened fire on two cars on a lonely road in Sivas.   "The state forces carried out the killings," DEM quoted the rebels as saying.   More than 20,000 people have died in a 12-year-old conflict between security forces and the guerrillas, fighting for autonomy or independence in the mainly Kurdish southeast.   Sivas has only a small Kurdish population and is not one of the ten southeastern provinces under emergency rule where the rebels are most active.   PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan warned last week that his rebels would stage attacks on the periphery of the mainly Kurdish southeast to stretch security forces. 
992 !GCAT !GPOL  A Palestinian lawmaker said on Wednesday that the Palestinian Ministry of Information and Culture had banned books written by prominent scholar Edward Said, a known critic of the PLO.   Ziad Abu Amr said he had obtained a ministry order directing the withdrawal of books written by Said, a professor at New York City's Columbia University, from West Bank and Gaza Strip markets.   Said, a U.S. citizen of Palestinian origin, has been an ardent critic of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's self-rule deals with Israel and Arafat is said to have been angry at Said.   "I am going to raise this issue at the council meeting," Abu Amr said.   No ministry officials were immediately available to comment.   But one bookshop in the West Bank town of Ramallah confirmed that police about a month ago confiscated several copies of two of Said's books on the Israel-PLO self-rule deals.   The bookshop owner, who declined to be identified, said police also seized copies held by the main distributor in the city.   The distributor was not immediately available to comment.   Said has written on a range of topics, including literature, cultural criticism and Middle East affairs. 
993 !GCAT !GPOL !GPRO  Israel's former prime minister Shimon Peres will start a purely private visit to Morocco next Sunday, a senior official said on Wednesday.   "Mr Shimon Peres, accompanied with his wife and his grandson, will arrive in Morocco on August 25, for a purely private and family visit," the official told Reuters.   "His Majesty King Hassan who has known Mr Peres for more than a decade, told him (Peres) in July that he would be welcomed in Morocco," the official MAP news agency, quoting a brief royal palace statement, said.   "This family visit has no links with the internal political situation in Israel," the statement said.   Earlier this month press reports in Israel said the Moroccan royal palace "declined twice" to welcome Peres's right wing successor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rabat.   Asked by Reuters, a palace senior official said "these rumours are baseless." 
994 !GCAT !GDEF  Coalition troops enforcing a "no-fly zone" over southern Iraq from Saudi Arabia have relocated their headquarters to a new, more secure base south of the capital Riyadh, a U.S. Air Force official said on Wednesday.   "The movement of the headquarters of the Joint Task Force Southwest Asia to Eskan Village from Riyadh is finished," U.S. Air Force spokesman Major James Stratford said, adding that the move involved 170 U.S., British, French and Saudi personnel.   The relocation is part of last month's joint Saudi-U.S. plan to shift U.S. troops to new locations in the kingdom to improve security for American forces there after two deadly bomb attacks targeting them in the oil-rich state in the past year.   A huge fuel truck bomb ripped through a U.S. housing complex in Dhahran in June killing 19 American airmen.   In November a bomb at a U.S.-run military training centre in Riyadh killed five Americans and two Indians.   More threats against Americans in the kingdom have been received since the last attack.   Stratford said preparations for the relocation of most of the U.S. troops in the kingdom had started.   The U.S.-Saudi plan allows for the relocation of 4,000- 5,000 troops from Dhahran and Riyadh to the more remote Prince Sultan Air Base at al-Kharj 100 km (60 miles) southeast of the capital.   The Pentagon has said the new protection plan will cost about $200 million to be shared equally by the two countries.   Around 40,000 Americans live and work in the oil-rich kingdom.   The State Department has said "several hundred" Americans were involved in official duties in Saudi Arabia as well as the troops.   Operation Southern Watch is designed to prevent a repeat of Iraq's strikes on Shi'ite Moslem dissidents that followed Baghdad's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, or a buildup of Iraqi ground forces close to its southern border with Kuwait. 
995 !GCAT !GVIO  Suspected Moslem militants shot dead two Coptic Christian brothers and wounded another man in southern Egypt on Wednesday, security sources said.   They said the gunmen escaped after shooting farmer Redha Wahib Ayoub, 35, and brother Ayoub, 25, while they were on their way home from the fields in Qalandul village near Mallawi, about 260 km (160 miles) south of Cairo.   In another village, gunmen also shot and critically wounded farmer Mukthar Hana Mikhail earlier on Wednesday.   The sources said the gunmen, suspected members of the militant al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), thought the three men were police informers.   The Gama'a is the largest militant group fighting since 1992 to overthrow the government and set up a strict Islamic state in Egypt.   They have targetted Christians, tourists and police officers during their armed campaign.   Mallawi, in the Minya province, has been the centre of most of the political violence in Egypt for the past two years.   Nearly 1,000 people, mainly police and militants, have been killed in the four-year-old violence.   Armed civilians are now allowed to participate in patrols with the security forces in southern provinces to fight against militants, the sources said. 
996 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Radical Palestinian groups said on Wednesday that riots in Jordan over higher bread prices were also against Jordan's peace deal with Israel.   The 10-member alliance, which opposes peace moves with Israel, in a statement also expressed support to Jordanians and urged the government to abandon the peace deal which it signed with Israel in 1994.   "The slogans of this (Jordanian) uprising not only expressed the people's opposition to hiking prices of goods but also to all of the regime's policies...," the statement said.   "The policies (are those) which were embodied in implementing the Araba (peace) deal and normalisation with the Zionist enemy."   Riots flared last week in the southern Jordanian town of Karak and spread to nearby towns after the Jordanian government increased bread prices under IMF-agreed economic reforms.   "The Palestinian Alliance expresses solidarity and support with the Jordanians in their just struggle to cancel the government's measure of raising bread prices and other basic goods, and to wreck the Araba deal which failed to put an end to Jordan's economic crisis as the Jordanian regime promised since signing it," the alliance statement said.   "The only way for Jordan to get out of its economic crisis is to abandon its loyality to the Zionist alliance and return to the Arab solidarity," it added.   The Palestinian Alliance, which vows to wreck the PLO-Israeli peace deal, includes the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and the Islamic movements Hamas and Jihad which claimed several suicide attacks in Israel. 
997 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  A drug typically used for asthma can dramatically reduce the number of times a sleeping heart patient temporarily stops breathing, according to a study released on Wednesday.   A research team from the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Cincinnati followed the cases of 15 volunteers with heart disease whose breathing rhythm paused an average of 47 times per hour.   When those 15 took the asthma drug theophylline, the number of long-lasting pauses dropped to about 18 per hour.   The study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, suggests a better way to deal with one form of sleep apnea, a cessation in the nighttime breathing pattern where inhalation stops for at least 10 seconds.   Unlike conventional sleep apnea, where an obstruction in the upper airways temporarily blocks breathing and often wakes the sleeper, the form of apnea in this study is known as "central apnea," where the muscles bringing air into the lungs are reluctant to work.   Central apnea is found in an about 45 percent of people with heart disease.   Apnea, by disrupting sleep, leaves some sufferers feeling extraordinarily tired in the morning.   The research team, led by Dr. S. Javaheri, found that theophylline treatments did not seem to influence the stages of sleep a person experienced or the number of times the patient woke up.   There are other treatments for sleep apnea.   Heart patients might benefit from hooking themselves up to a machine that forces air into their lungs, or by breathing oxygen at night.   But patients may be reluctant to wear the apparatus, or it may fall off during the night.   "On the basis of our findings," the Javaheri team said, "theophylline may be a reasonable alternative approach."   The drug is made by several manufacturers. 
998 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GSCI  A study of 1,229 men showed that terazosin was far more effective than another prostate drug, finasteride, in relieving urination difficulties caused by an enlarged prostate.   The study in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine said the men suffered from benign prostatic hyperplasia, which occurs when the walnut-size prostate expands to constrict the neck of the bladder and make urination difficult.   It said this was a troublesome, but not always dangerous, condition.   In their comparison of the two drugs, a team from several Veterans Affairs hospitals led by Dr. Herbert Lepor of the V.A. Medical Centre in New York, gave a placebo, terazosin, finasteride or a combination of the two drugs to men who were having trouble urinating.   Recipients of terazosin, marketed under the brand name Hytrin by Abbott Laboratories, showed the biggest improvement.   Men who got finasteride, sold as Proscar by Merck & Co., showed little significant change compared to the placebo recipients.   Volunteers who received both drugs had just as much improvement as those who got terazosin alone.   But finasteride may not be as ineffective as the new study suggests.   In an editorial in the Journal, Dr. Patrick Walsh of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore said previous studies, using men whose prostates felt enlarged, showed that finasteride worked well.   The new study involved men who had urinary problems, no matter how big their prostates felt to examining physicians.   It used men whose prostates averaged 37 millilitres in volume, while the typical prostate in the two earlier experiments was at least 27 percent larger.   Walsh said the new findings suggested that finasteride could be useful if the prostate felt enlarged.   If it did not, terazosin was likely the best option.   If the symptoms were severe, he added, "Surgery may be the best approach." 
999 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF  The U.S. Army said on Wednesday it had charged a 20-year-old computer specialist with espionage and computer crimes in a case that the soldier's parents said involved a Chinese national.   Pfc.   Eric Jenott of the 50th Signal Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was formally charged on June 28 and is in a Marine Corps jail in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, awaiting court-martial, the army said.   "The case involves classified information and matters pertaining to national security," a three-paragraph statement from Fort Bragg, home of the Army's 18th Airborne Corps, said.   It said many of the case's details were too sensitive to disclose.   Jenott has been charged with giving "secret computer passwords relating to the national defense" to a Mr. Lee, "a citizen of a foreign nation," his lawyer said, reading from the charge sheet.   He also faces charges of destruction of government property and larceny.   The charge sheet alleged Jenott disclosed the passwords between April and June "with the intent or reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation."   It said the passwords "directly concerned communications intelligence," among the most closely guarded U.S. secrets.   Jenott is facing a general court-martial, the most serious kind, and a possible life sentence if convicted, his lawyer, Timothy Dunn, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, said in a telephone interview.   He said his client was "not a criminal" but had broken into a supposedly impenetrable system after advising his superiors of defects in the security system.   Dunn declined to discuss the system because of what he called the case's sensitive nature and national security implications.   John Jenott said his son, a fluent Chinese speaker whom he described as a "computer genius" with a longstanding interest in China, had given a young Chinese friend what the son described as an unclassified computer code.   He said his son knew the person to whom he gave the code from one of several trips he had made to China.   His son, "not your average kid-out-on-a-skateboard-type guy," could read and write Chinese and lived with a Chinese family in Vancouver, Canada, for about a year when he was in high school, the father added.   He said his son told him that before giving away the code, he had been trying to show his superiors a security flaw in a sensitive communication system and eventually demonstrated he could get secret data without authorization.   "He was trying to say we have a weakness," John Jenott said in a telephone interview from his home in Graham, Washington.   "This stuff about being a spy -- it's ridiculous."   His stepmother, Kelly Jenott, said, "They're blowing this way out of proportion."   His father said an Army major at Fort Bragg, whom he declined to name, had urged him to persuade his son to sign a confession, so prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.   Jenott said his son had told him, "Dad, I'd rather die than sign that."   "He said it's not true.   He said, 'I'm not a spy.   I didn't commit espionage.   And I'm not going to sign something that says I did,'" Jenott said. 
1000 !GCAT !GCRIM  Three people, including a 5-year-boy and his mother, were killed Wednesday during an early-morning gun battle inside a home in the rural Alabama community of Aurora, police said.   Two men also were wounded in the assault and rushed to a nearby hospital, where they underwent emergency surgery.   They were not identified but hospital officials said one remained in critical condition.   Etowah County Chief Sheriff's Deputy Kirby Johnston said a woman was taken into custody as a possible suspect but had not been charged.   One of the wounded men also was suspected of involvement, he said.   "It's unusual when you have three people killed and two shot.   There's nothing even been close to anything of this magnitude in Aurora," Johnston said.   More than a dozen shots were fired in the melee.   Afterwards police found three handguns inside the house.   The shootings took place sometime before 6:30 a.m.   EDT when a neighbour, roused from sleep by one of the wounded men, phoned the local 911 emergency hotline.   The dead were identified as 34-year-old Kenneth Holmes, his 25-year-old sister Belinda Jeanette Holmes and her 5-year-old son Christopher.   Aurora is located outside the city of Gadsden, 75 miles northeast of Birmingham. 
1001 !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL !GVOTE !GWELF  By Alan Elsner, U.S. Political Correspondent   President Bill Clinton signed a popular health reform bill on Wednesday in his latest move to blunt Republican Bob Dole's rise in public opinion polls.   Two new polls, by Louis Harris and Associates and by American Viewpoint, both showed Clinton leading Dole by 10 percentage points.   Harris had the president ahead 49 percent to 39 percent among registered voters.   Independent Ross Perot had the support of 8 percent of respondents in the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.   American Viewpoint, conducted by Republican pollster Linda DiVall, showed Clinton at 46 percent, Dole at 36 percent and Perot at 10 percent.   In a quiet day in the campaign leading up to the Nov. 5 general election, Clinton signed the second of three bills he will make law this week, putting his signature to a measure that will help millions keep their medical insurance.   He signed a bill raising the minimum wage on Tuesday and will sign a welfare reform measure on Thursday.   "With this bill, we take a long step toward the kind of health care reform our nation needs," said Clinton, who was thwarted two years ago in his effort to achieve a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system.   The law guarantees access to insurance for people who change jobs if their new employer offers coverage and forces insurance companies to end a practice of excluding people with pre-existing medical problems.   "No longer will you live in fear of losing your health insurance because of the state of your health," Clinton said.   Dole was quick to claim credit for the achievement.   "This bill includes many of the important health insurance reforms I've promoted for years and should end once and for all the Clinton prescription of big-government health care," he said in a statement.   Clinton aides said the president would follow up on Friday by announcing that he accepts a Food and Drug Administration recommendation that tobacco be regulated as a drug.   Such a declaration might hurt Clinton in tobacco-growing states like Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas but could be popular elsewhere.   Vice President Al Gore was in Kentucky speaking to a conference of Veterans of Foreign Wars, a group addressed by Dole on Tuesday and to be addressed by Perot on Thursday.   The political arm of the 2 million-strong group has already endorsed Dole, but that did not stop Gore from attacking the Republican candidate.   He said Dole's proposed tax cuts would inevitably lead to cuts in veterans' benefits.   "Look behind the rhetoric and look at the facts," Gore said.   Dole campaign spokesman Nelson Warfield asked the 50-year-old Clinton to follow the 73-year-old Dole's example by releasing all his medical records.   "Clinton aides are often credited with staging events to demonstrate Bill Clinton's youth and vigour," Warfield said.   "Those campaign tactics ... carry a whiff of hypocrisy when Bill Clinton refuses to meet the same standards for full disclosure that every other president has followed in recent years," he said.   In Texas, Reform Party presidential nominee Perot listed James Campbell, his former boss, as a "stand-in" vice presidential candidate on forms filed with the Federal Election Commission.   But the Perot campaign said Campbell would not be his eventual running mate.   Perot's spokeswoman declined to say when he would name a vice presidential choice.   There were reports that at least two prominent members of Congress had already turned him down.   The Federal Communications Commission gave television networks the green light to offer the major presidential candidates free air time.   The agency ruled that proposals for free time made by Fox, ABC and the Public Broadcasting Service did not violate "equal time" provisions of federal communications law. 
1002 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  President Bill Clinton appealed to Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Wednesday to end violence in Chechnya and promote a peaceful dialogue.   "This cycle of violence must come to an end because prolonged fighting is only going to endanger civilians," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters.   Russian forces have been pounding the rebel-held Chechnyan city of Grozny in an effort to crush the guerrilla resistance in the breakaway region.   McCurry said Clinton's letter to Yeltsin was sent overnight and there had not been a response.   He said the United States was encouraged that Russian security chief Alexander Lebed was in Chechnya trying to lift the threat of bombardment of Grozny.   Truce talks are planned for Thursday.   "The humanitarian situation there is very difficult and we continue to call upon all the parties to minimise the conflict, to return to the kinds of discussions that could bring the conflict to an end," McCurry told reporters.   Asked about Yeltsin's health in the wake of rumours that the Russian leader is seriously ill, McCurry said Washington had no indication that Yeltsin was doing anything but taking a long vacation after his strenuous re-election campaign.   Time magazine reported this week that, according to an official Kremlin medical advisory it had obtained, the president needed round-the-clock monitoring and the Kremlin was considering transferring him to a Swiss clinic for a bypass operation.   "Our assessment," said McCurry, "is based on the information that we have available that has been communicated publicly by the Russian Federation.   He has indicated a desire to take some vacation time after a strenuous campaign period.   That doesn't seem to be too unusual."   McCurry, asked if there was some concern about the balance of power in Russia and Yeltsin's grip on power, said: "It is not my position here to comment on internal political workings of the Russian government."   He continued: "We maintain proper routine diplomatic contact at a variety of levels with the Russian Federation.   We are in regular contact at high levels through our embassy in Moscow." 
1003 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission gave television networks the green light on Wednesday to offer the major presidential candidates free air time during the autumn general election.   The approval ensured that TV stations will give President Bill Clinton and Republican Bob Dole -- and quite possibly Reform Party candidate Ross Perot -- free access to the airwaves to make unfiltered pitches for why they should be president.   The FCC said the proposals made by Fox, ABC, and the Public Broadcasting Service did not violate the "equal time" provisions of federal communications law.   The agency also said the proposals represented "on-the-spot coverage of 'bona fide' news events," and so are exempt from the requirement that TV stations give equal opportunity to all legally qualified candidates.   The approval also placed added pressure on the networks to accept a proposal from a bipartisan group that wants to establish a standardised format for free broadcasts.   "The last hurdle is the major commercial networks and the big cable-TV operators," said Paul Taylor, chief advocate for the Free TV for Straight Talk Coalition.   Taylor said the FCC decision "clears away any regulatory underbrush" that could have thwarted the group's proposal for candidates to deliver 10 made-for-TV mini speeches 2-1/2 minutes in length during the last month of the campaign.   Clinton and Dole generally accepted the proposal, which was similar to the PBS plan.   But ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CNN did not agree to set aside the uniform blocks of time required, instead opting to push their own formats.   "I hope this ruling will encourage our commercial television colleagues to join us in broadcasting these appearances at the same time each weeknight," said PBS President Ervin Duggan.   Sens. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Bill Bradley, a New Jersey Democrat, have invited network executives to meet with the Free TV/Straight Talk coalition and work out a standard format.   A meeting was scheduled for Sept. 10.   Network representatives were expected to attend.   Rupert Murdoch was the first to ask the FCC for permission to allow his Fox network to provide free time to "major" candidates without giving minor or fringe candidates the same opportunity.   Campaign-reform advocates supported the free-time concept, charging that attack ads and 10-second sound bites on the evening news were superficial and poisoned the political process.   The FCC said it was relying on broadcasters' discretion and good faith news judgments, stressing that the proposals must include reasonable safeguards against broadcaster favouritism.   The Fox proposal was for a one-hour programme on the eve of the Nov. 5 election, in which time would be split evenly among candidates selected for inclusion by an independent panel.   Fox also proposed 10 60-second slots devoted to election issues.   ABC proposed a one-hour prime-time programme in the last week of the campaign, with the candidates appearing together without interruptions from a third party. 
1004 !GCAT !GENT !GODD  Alicia Machado, the Miss Universe reported to have become chubby, resurfaced on Wednesday but kept quiet about whether she had been ordered to lose weight fast or risk losing her crown.   Wearing a strapless light-green evening gown slit high on one thigh, Machado attended a full-dress rehearsal for the 1996 Miss Teen USA pageant, to take place Wednesday night in the New Mexico resort of Las Cruces.   While clearly heavier than the younger beauty queens onstage, the 19-year-old blonde Venezuelan, who won the Miss Universe title in May, looked well and seemed relaxed.   She signed autographs for some young girls and chatted easily with reigning Miss USA Ali Landry and friends.   Most people in the audience said a few extra pounds had not hurt her.   "Well, she is bigger than the other girls out there, but she still looks great," local resident Ann Gardner said.   "She's a really fabulous girl."   The beauty pageant world was jolted on Monday when officials of the Miss Venezuela Organisation said Machado had been given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to shed 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk having her title taken away.   But Martin Brooks, president of Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc., said on Wednesday the claim was "totally untrue" and he had no idea where it came from.   Brooks spoke with Machado to assure her that organisers were not putting pressure on her and said she was well used to close public scrutiny in Venezuela, which takes its reputation as the world's beauty queen capital very seriously.   "She's fine with it.   She wished, as we all did, that it hadn't happened, but she's spiritually and mentally terrific.   There's no problem whatsoever," he told Reuters.   At 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall, Machado weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) in Las Vegas when she became the fourth Venezuelan to be named Miss Universe.   People close to her said she had gained some weight after the pageant by indulging a passion for pasta and cake, but it was still not clear on Wednesday how many pounds she had put on.   Most people who saw her said she was still far from fat.   When news of Machado's alleged weight problem broke, reporters from around the United States and Latin America scrambled to get to Las Cruces and track her down.   Security was beefed up, with police officers deployed at the plush hotel where she and the teen pageant contestants were staying, and organisers blocked all access to Machado.   They said on Wednesday they were trying to protect her from the publicity blaze but added that she had spoken to her family in Venezuela and so was aware of the fuss.   Although she had escaped from the public light for over 24 hours, Machado and her waistline were the talk of the town.   "It's her body, her deal.   She won the crown and they shouldn't take it away from her just for putting on a few pounds," said Autumn Smith, the reigning Miss Alabama USA and a contestant for Miss USA next year.   "But, at the same time, if I'd won Miss Universe, I'd want to look the best I possibly could for that one year," the tall, 21-year-old brunette added.   Brooks said he had received calls from a couple of fans angered at what they believed were efforts to force Machado onto a radical diet.   Organisers have always denied claims from some quarters that beauty pageants are glorified meat markets by stressing the importance of personality and "inner beauty."   Teen pageant officials reassured the 51 contestants in Las Cruces no ultimatum had been given to Machado and personality and friendly disposition were as valued as ever in beauty pageants.   "They told us it was all totally not true," Jodi Webb, 18 years old and the reigning Miss Teen Utah, said.   The 1996 Miss Teen USA Pageant was to take place Wednesday night at New Mexico State University.   CBS television planned to broadcast the event nationwide. 
1005 !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Dr. Jack Kevorkian attended the suicide of a terminally ill Texas woman on Tuedsay night while controversy continued over the death of a nonterminal patient last week.   Louise Siebens, 76, of McKinney, Texas, suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and died in the presence of Kevorkian, her daughter Ginny and her son-in-law Jerry Burnett, Kevorkian's lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, said.   Siebens, a former church typist, was diagnosed with the fatal muscular disease in 1995 and was confined to a wheelchair, Fieger said.   Hours before Siebens died, Fieger defended his client's role in helping to end the life of Judith Curren, a 42-year-old registered nurse from Pembroke, Massachusetts, who suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome and muscular pain.   Curren died on Aug. 15 from a lethal injection.   Fieger acknowledged that Curren's illnesses were not terminal but said her suffering, which frequently included AIDS-like symptoms, was intolerable.   He disputed a coroner's statement on Monday that an autopsy of Curren's body had shown no evidence of disease.   "This was her decision.   It was unwavering.   It was immutable and based on solid medical evidence," he said.   The Boston Herald printed excerpts on Wednesday from Curren's medical records, obtained from her husband, Franklin Curren, which showed that doctors believed she suffered from a painful, debilitating disease but could offer no cure.   "I do not know what to suggest for her," wrote Dr. Stephen Lipson, an orthopedic surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, who saw her in January.   "Clearly she suffers from a complex abnormality."   At about 10:11 p.m.   EDT Tuesday (0311 GMT Wednesday), Kevorkian brought Siebens' body into the emergency room of Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital.   The 68-year-old retired pathologist briefly provided some information about Siebens, then left, Dr. Robert Aranosian, the hospital's emergency room director, said.   "This is the usual routine -- he arrives, he's here briefly, then he leaves," Aranosian said.   Siebens' death is the 36th Kevorkian has acknowledged attending since he began his crusade for doctor-assisted suicide in 1990.   It was the eighth since he was acquitted of assisted-suicide charges for a third time in May.   Fieger denied on Wednesday that Kevorkian, who has not faced new charges since his last acquittal, was stepping up his assisted-suicide activity.   He said Kevorkian was exercising restraint in helping end patients' suffering.   "He's treated hundreds and hundreds of people," Fieger said.   "Most of them go on to die naturally." 
1006 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  A Wyoming state senator won a nine-way race Tuesday for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Alan Simpson.   Mike Enzi, former mayor of the northeastern town of Gillette, gained 32 percent of the vote to edge second-place finisher John Barrasso, an orthopedic surgeon who won 30 percent.   Seven other candidates trailed.   Enzi will face Democrat Kathy Karpan, who won 85 percent of the vote to defeat Mickey Kalinay, a University of Wyoming student.   Kalinay said he entered the race to promote his idea to build a 22,000-mile high tower in space.   Karpan, a popular former two-term secretary of state, lost a gubernatorial bid when Republicans swept all state offices in 1994.   Wyoming has not had a Democratic U.S. senator since Gale McGee lost his contest for a fourth term in 1976.   The popular Simpson is retiring after three terms on Capitol Hill. 
1007 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  Americans from Thursday will be prohibited from receiving or giving money to so-called rogue states Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria and Sudan which might be used to fund violent acts, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.   Stemming from a U.S. anti-terrorism law passed in April, the rules are designed to block U.S. and foreign organizations from being able to raise money for extremist purposes by governments on Washington's list of rogue states.   The rules, announced by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday, do not target legitimate business deals in Syria and Sudan, U.S. officials said.   Unlike the other countries listed, Syria and Sudan are not already subject to other broader U.S. trade or investment sanctions.   The rules "prohibit United States persons from receiving unlicensed donations and from engaging in financial transactions with respect to which the United States person knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the financial transaction poses a risk of furthering terrorist acts in the United States."   U.S. companies had raised concern that the anti-terrorism law might stymie their businesses in Syria and Sudan, but the new rules provide blanket permission for any deals that do not funnel money toward extremist organizations.   However, a Treasury Department spokesman said that even companies that are sure their transactions are legal should be aware "that they could be asked for supporting documentation at a later date" to prove they had no reason to believe their money would be diverted.   Organizations breaking the law would be subject to criminal penalties. 
1008 !GCAT !GODD  A nine-foot (2.7-meter) Burmese python bit a pregnant woman in a San Diego hotel room on Wednesday, then wrapped itself around her and her husband before rescuers beheaded the family pet, police said.   The incident began on Wednesday morning when the English couple allowed the 3-year-old python -- their family pet for the past two months -- to slither onto the hotel bed.   "For some inexplicable reason, the python bit the woman on the thumb and on the butt and then wrapped itself around her," said San Diego police spokesman Bill Robinson.   With the couple's two young children looking on, the man stabbed the python with a pen-knife in an attempt to free his wife, who was eight months pregnant, and the snake then coiled itself around his arm, Robinson said.   The man managed to call police, and when fire department paramedics arrived, they used a small hacksaw to cut off the python's head.   The woman did not require medical attention.   Police said the python had been fed a large guinea-pig two days ago, so it was probably not looking for food when it attacked the woman. 
1009 !GCAT !GDIP  The United States on Wednesday urged rival Kurdish parties in northern Iraq to stop fighting and accept a U.S. invitation to peace talks in London.   Fighting between the two Kurdish groups broke out at the weekend, shattering a ceasefire brokered by the United States early last year.   "Prior to the outbreak of the fighting we invited the Kurdish leaders to meet with us in London to pursue the reconciliation process under our auspices," State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said.   "We therefore call upon the leaders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and of the Kurdistan Democratic Party to exercise maximum restraint, end offensive actions immediately, and participate in these talks with us."   Davies said continued fighting could "create opportunities for outside players whose agendas have nothing to do with the best interests of the citizens of northern Iraq."   He said he was referring to Iran, whose forces were accused by the KDP on Wednesday of shelling its positions in the Western-protected Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq.   Davies said there had been no agreement so far by the Kurdish parties to attend the proposed London talks, which would be attended by Robert Deutch, the State Department official who chaired previous talks in Ireland.   The mountainous region of northern Iraq has been split into rival Iraqi Kurdish zones since fighting broke out between the two groups in 1994.   Around 3,000 people died until the ceasefire last March. 
1010 !C33 !C331 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The United States has made no decision on a proposed sale of F-16 fighters to Indonesia, amid serious concerns over human rights problems there, the State Department said on Wednesday.   The nine jet fighters at issue were from a batch of 28 originally sold to, and paid for by, Pakistan.   A U.S. congressional amendment blocked their delivery to Pakistan over Islamabad's nuclear policy.   "There's been no decision made on those aircraft.   We are still seeking to carry out President Clinton's commitment to find an alternative buyer for the F-16s," said State Department spokesman Glyn Davies.   The proceeds of a sale would be used to reimburse Pakistan.   The New York Times said on Wednesday the Clinton administration was debating whether to delay or cancel the sale in response to a major crackdown on political dissent in Indonesia.   Without directly confirming the report, Davies said: "We're seriously concerned about the events that have occurred in Indonesia and we will be monitoring the situation there and considering carefully how to proceed in light of events."   Riots erupted in Jakarta July 27 after police raided the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno.   Davies said F-16s did not fall into the category of items that could be used to stifle internal dissent, such as crowd control equipment and small arms, whose sale would be prohibited under U.S. policy.   The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Shalikashvili, said during a visit to Jakarta in May that he hoped the sale of the F-16s to Indonesia would be approved soon after some legal issues had been resolved. 
1011 !GCAT !GCRIM  An 11-year-old Florida boy who blasted his cousin with a shotgun when she teased him and pulled down his pants pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday and wept when he learned he would not be going home for years.   The child was committed to a residential treatment centre for youth offenders after agreeing to the manslaughter charge and use of a firearm during a felony.   Prosecutors said he was one of the youngest people convicted of a killing in Dade County.   The boy, dressed in a blue detention uniform, sobbed when he was told he would be placed in a treatment programme three hours away from his Miami home and would not be allowed to return for several years.   "I know you've had a tough life for an 11-year-old.   You've had it rough," said Dade County Juvenile Court Judge Jerald Bagley.   "No 11-year-old should be appearing before me."   The boy, whose name cannot be publicised, killed his 9-year-old cousin, Khadejah Bolden, in May with a shotgun he found in his home, investigators said.   The girl's grandfather, John Bolden, was charged with culpable negligence for allegedly leaving the loaded weapon within the boy's reach.   The child was arrested on a charge of second degree murder and prosecutors gave him a choice of pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter or being tried as an adult on the murder charge.   In a 30-minute hearing, Bagley outlined his options to the boy before accepting the plea agreement.   "Do you understand that when you plead guilty to these charges, you give up your right to what we call a trial?   You give up your right to an appeal, do you understand that?"   Bagley questioned the child.   "Yes, sir," the boy replied in a small voice.   Public defender Marie Osborne said the boy came from a broken home and was taken from his addict mother when he was a baby.   The mother died and he was placed in the care of an aunt and uncle.   The aunt, Mary Bolden, told the court the boy had been "badgered" into accepting the plea deal.   In the treatment programme, the boy will be educated, given psychological counselling and character training based on honesty and responsibility, authorities said.   The court has jurisdiction over the child until he is 19, but the length of his stay in the programme was uncertain and would be decided by meetings with counsellors and lawyers.   Osborne said the boy loved his cousin and was "sincerely repentent" for the killing. 
1012 !GCAT !GPOL  A newly discovered document in the U.S. National Archives says Hitler's Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop rushed 15 tons of gold out of Berlin before it fell in 1945, but most of it disappeared.   The document, a 1948 letter from a key prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal to U.S. military occupation officials, raises the possibility that more than half of what was called "the Ribbentrop Gold Fund" disappeared while allegedly in U.S. and British hands.   The letter was written by Deputy Chief Nuremberg War Crimes prosecutor Robert Kempner, who warned of the danger to the Allies if underground Nazis had control of all or part of the gold bullion, which would be worth about $250 milliion today.   Kempner said, "a large amount of uncontrolled gold constitutes a force of evil and mischief in the hands of unscrupulous opportunists working closely together and located in many countries all over the world."   The letter was found by World Jewish Congress researchers examining the question of looted Jewish assets moved by the Nazis into Swiss banks during the war.   It was in an archive relating to "Project Safehaven," the U.S. intelligence effort after the war to locate Nazi assets.   The WJC said the document was found in the last few weeks.   Drexel Sprecher, a prosecutor who worked closely with Kempner during the trials, said he had never heard of the "Gold Fund" nor did he recall Kempner ever mentioning the subject.   Von Ribbentrop, Hitler's foreign minister from 1938 to   1945, was hanged in 1946 (Deletes month)   after being found guilty of war crimes.   He was the highest ranking Nazi to be executed.   In his letter, Kempner said that 6.5 tons of the gold was sent to von Ribbentrop's castle in Fuschl, Austria, where most of it was allegedly turned over to American troops there.   Meanwhile, two tons were sent to Schleswig-Holstein and allegedly handed over to British troops.   But a WJC spokesman said there was no record of U.S. troops receiving the gold in Fuschl.   He added that a preliminary check by British authorities could also find no reference to the gold in Schleswig-Holstein.   Kempner said that another three tons were sent to the German side of Lake Constance (Corrects name of lake),   where part of it was then ferried to Berne, Switzerland.   The remaining gold in the "Ribbentrop Fund" was sent to Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Portugal in the last two years of the war, according to his letter.   Some of the gold that went to Lake Constantine was recovered by U.S. troops but the other four tons was feared to have fallen into Nazi hands.   The gold in the "Ribbentrop Fund" came from bullion looted in Belgium and from concentration camp victims, according to other documents.   Previous documents from Project Safehaven show that the Germans sent $4 billion in gold by today's prices to Switzerland during the course of the war.   The documents also allege a close working relationship between the Nazis and Swiss banking officials.   On Dec. 10, 1941, the British Embassy in Washington warned the U.S. Treasury Department "that every leading member of the governing groups in all the Axis countries have funds in Switzerland.   Some of the leaders have fortunes.   ..."   One document identifies an account held for Hitler in Switzerland, apparently a repository for royalities for his book "Mein Kampf." 
1013 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A U.S. District Court judge in Cleveland on Wednesday ordered that a 13.5 property tax mill operating levy be placed on the November ballot for the Cleveland schools.   The judge's order came after the Ohio Department of Education, which took control of the schools in March 1995, filed a motion asking the court to override the Cleveland School Board's decision Monday rejecting a referendum to increase the levy.   In his order, Judge George W. White ordered the state superintendent of schools to certify the levy request with the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections before Thursday's deadline for inclusion on the November ballot.   Steve Puckett, an assistant state superintendent of education, said the levy was needed to improve services at the schools and to start paying off the district's operating debt.   According to Bryan Christman, the schools interim chief financial officer and treasurer, the district has about $87 million of operating debt that is due to mature in December and next June.   In addition, the school system also faces a a $23 million deficit in its $500 million general fund budget, he added.   Christman said the levy would raise about $67.5 million a year.   Puckett said the state pushed for the levy request because it was Cleveland's turn to start supporting its schools.   "The state's position is the community needs to come to the plate and supply local revenues," he said, adding that the last levy passed for the Cleveland schools was in 1983.   Puckett said without the levy increase, the school system would face a budget gap of $150 million next year.   He added the levy request was supported by the state and the plaintiffs in an ongoing federal desegregation case involving the Cleveland schools.   A 1994 consent decree provided for the placement of an operating levy before voters each year, unless all parties -- the state, the district and the plaintiffs -- agreed that such a move would be counterproductive.   Meanwhile, the Cleveland school face the possibility of a teachers' strike shortly after school starts on Aug. 28, Christman said.   --Karen Pierog, 312-408-8647 
1014 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GSCI  Job cuts at Florida's Kennedy Space Center will not be as deep as a federal report indicated earlier this week, Florida Today reported Wednesday.   Rather than trimming the space center's federal payroll from the current 2,200 to 1,135 workers, agency plans now call for a civil service work force of at least 1,445 at the turn of the century, the newspaper said.   The space agency will not turn over as much work as initially expected to United Space Alliance, a joint venture partnership that will take over day-to-day shuttle operations beginning Oct 1.   Additionally, the sapce agency has opened two new offices at the Kennedy center, offsetting some cuts.   A report released Monday by the General Accounting Office indicated the space agency's federal workforce at Kennedy would be halved as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at eliminating a $5 billion budget shortfall by 2000.   But Kennedy Space Center deputy director Gene Thomas said the workforce projection for 2000 had since been raised to 1,445.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1015 !GCAT !GENT !GODD !GPRO  Wedding plans for the world's most tattooed, pierced, dyed, cross-dressing basketball star fell through on Wednesday.   Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman, despite his predictions, did not get married in a midday ceremony at New York City's landmark Rockefeller Centre.   What he did do was appear in a floor-length white wedding dress, attract a screaming throng of fans and sign copies of his book "Bad As I Wanna Be" at Fifth Avenue's Barnes & Noble store.   "It's him and his dress.   That was it," said a bookstore spokeswoman.   "It was all a publicity stunt."   Rodman, whose penchant for dying his hair, tattooing his body and speaking his mind has brought perhaps as much attention as his athletic prowess -- he's the National Basketball Association's top rebounder -- had been threatening to wed stripper Stacy Yarborough.   He announced his wedding plans to talk show host David Letterman on Tuesday night.   But on Wednesday, Yarborough was nowhere to be found.   Bride-less, basketball's bad boy nonetheless played the role to the hilt.   He arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by four tuxedo-clad female attendants.   He wore an orange wig, elbow-length gloves and two earrings in his nose.   Hundreds of fans, many of whom waited more than an hour in light rain in a line that stretched well around the block, burst into wild applause.   Inside, Rodman was demure, fluttering his false eyelashes and complying with fans' requests for signatures, handshakes and photographs.   Asked why all the regalia, he replied, "What better place to be the bride than New York?"   and returned to the business of selling books.   However, he did say, perhaps in jest, that he still planned to tie the knot.   Outside, the news of the non-nuptials delighted Grace Kim, a fan from Basking Ridge, New Jersey.   "I told my friends if he meets me, he'll marry me," the 18-year-old said, clutching a bag of books she hoped he would sign.   "It means I still have a chance," she said happily. 
1016 !GCAT  U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley said Wednesday about 6,000 more schools will be needed to accommodate a record 54.6 million children that will reach school age in the next 10 years.   The finding is part of a special back-to-school report prepared by the the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics on what demographers call the "Baby Boom Echo," the children of the baby-boom generation who are now in school.   "Obviously, these increases are placing a serious demand on schools and the communities that invest in them," Riley said, noting that a record 51.7 million students will enter the nation's classrooms this fall.   "California, for example, can expect to add some half- million students to its high schools over the next decade, a 33 percent increase in enrollment in a state that already has one of the highest average class sizes in the country," Riley said in a press statement.   Michael Decker, vice president for policy analysis at the Public Securities Association, predicted that localities will continue to look to the new issue tax-exempt bond market to help finance the 6,000 new schools.   Obviously, the demographics will "put pressure on communities" searching for ways to pay back debt, Decker said.   "But going back many decades, schools have traditionally been built by bonds and I think they will continue to be."   That is because a growing population also signals a stable or growing economy, which translates into more tax revenue to fund schools, Decker said.   According to the report, in addition to California, states where enrollment is expected to jump by more than 10 percent by 2006 are Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon and Washington.   In all, 33 states will have rising enrollments, mostly in the far West and Southeast, the report says.   Seventeen states and the District of Columbia can expect a decrease, the report says.   "Unlike the 1960s when the end of the enrollment boom was soon in sight, this current increase is a long, slow, rising wave," said Riley.   "And, we see no immediate fall off.   We are only at the midpoint and we have 10 more years of growth ahead," he said, siting the trend among baby boomer offspring to delay marriage and childbearing as one reason for the steady rise.   Riley said, "Portable classrooms or double sessions are not realistic answers to a long-term persistent growth in the number of students."   He sited as an example Clark County School District in Nevada, where enrollments have nearly doubled over the past 10 years and where 15 new schools will open their doors in the next two years.   Riley said high school enrollment will jump by 15 percent nationwide over the next decade and the number of college students will grow by about two million, to 16.4 million by 2006.   Meanwhile, the ratio of workers to retirees will continue to drop, he said, from about five to one in 1970 to around 2.6 to one in 2030, when an influx of new workers is expected to stabilize the ratio, according to the report.   The report is available on the department's homepage at http://www.ed.gov/NCES/pugs/.   --Vicky Stamas, 202-898-8314 
1017 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  The Clinton administration has put out feelers to Nigeria in an attempt to engage the country's military rulers in a discussion on human rights and democracy, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.   They said Rep. Bill Richardson, who has undertaken similar missions to other countries in the past, visited the West African state on Aug. 18-20 as a White House envoy.   During his stay, the New Mexico Democrat spent two hours on Monday night with army ruler Gen. Sani Abacha, Richardson's press secretary Stu Nagurka said.   First indications were that Richardson made little headway in persuading Nigeria's leaders to clean up their human rights record.   Asked what had come of the trip, Nagurka said: "Nothing, right now."   But the decision to send the congressman appeared to reflect U.S. hopes of building on faint signs of progress towards democracy in Africa's most populous state.   Richardson's officially sanctioned trip also contrasted with a heavily criticized private visit by Illinois Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, who denied at a news conference on Tuesday that her chief of staff had quit over the affair.   State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said the administration had not been advised of her trip to Nigeria or asked to brief or assist her.   "We wish we'd had an opportunity to talk to her before she went, but we didn't," he said.   "Had she made some time and come and talked to us before she went, we could have explained to her what our policy is toward the Abacha regime and toward Nigeria," Davies told a news briefing.   "It's always better if senior people from the government, regardless of branch, speak with one voice."   Richardson, by contrast, "was delivering the message that we've delivered to Abacha and his cronies since they came to power ... that they must cease what they're doing on the human rights front, which is a complete lack of respect for human rights," Davies said.   "The Nigerian government has shown some slight signs of an interest in a dialogue with the United States and so we thought it was important to have somebody go out," he added.   Another official said Richardson's mission was "to explore the possibilities for starting a meaningful dialogue with Nigeria.   The Nigerians claim to be serious about human rights.   We're trying to see how serious they are."   The official, who asked not to be identified, said Nigeria had released some detainees and was moving toward a transition to democracy.   "They've taken some good first steps but there's a lot still to be done," he said.   Officials said Richardson, whose office said he was visiting Peru on Wednesday, had not yet formally briefed the administration on his Nigeria trip.   Abacha, who seized power after a presidential election was annulled in 1993, has set out a timetable to restore democracy by late 1998.   But Nigeria became a pariah after nine activists of the Ogoni people, led by poet Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed for murder last November, provoking international protests and the country's suspension from the Commonwealth.   The Abacha government has been condemned by black American organizations including the influential Transafrica lobbying group.   The Clinton administration has imposed some sanctions on Nigeria but has held back from a ban on oil imports.   Richardson has acted on several previous occasions as an envoy to countries with which Washington has strained or non-existent relations, including North Korea and Iraq. 
1018 !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL !GWELF  President Bill Clinton signed into law on Wednesday limited health reform that will help millions of Americans keep their medical insurance.   The action immediatedly brought election-year charges from Republicans that the law was three years overdue.   At a colourful South Lawn ceremony complete with a Marine Corps band playing patriotic songs, Clinton put his name on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 as key members of Congress and others looked over his shoulder.   "With this bill, we take a long step toward the kind of health care reform our nation needs," said Clinton, who was thwarted two years ago when he sought a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system.   The law guarantees access to insurance for people who change jobs if their new employer offers coverage and forces insurance companies to end a practice of excluding people with pre-existing medical problems.   "Today we declare a victory for millions of Americans and their families.   No longer will you live in fear of losing your health insurance because of the state of your health," Clinton said.   It lets self-employed people take a bigger tax break on health coverage they buy for themselves.   It also authorises a pilot programme of 750,000 so-called Medical Savings Accounts to replace conventional health insurance policies for employees of small companies or self-employed people.   The ink was hardly dry on the law before fax machines were rolling out reams of reaction statements from Republicans trying to claim their share of credit for the law, since they control Congress.   "This bill includes many of the important health insurance reforms I've promoted for years and should end once and for all the Clinton prescription of big-government health care," Republican candidate Bob Dole said.   Party chairman Haley Barbour charged at a news conference that Clinton was taking credit for "another accomplishment of the common-sense Republican Congress."   He said the law could have been passed three years ago "were it not for the Clintons' wrongheaded scheme to create a government-run health care system."   The law emerged from a joint effort by Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts to bring about modest health care reform after the death of Clinton's own sweeping shakeup, denounced by Republicans as a government takeover of health care.   That effort was spearheaded by Clinton's wife, Hillary, and at the signing ceremony, the president singled her out for praise as she watched from the front row.   "I believe, Hillary, that this justifies all those days on the road and all those nights you stayed up reading the incomprehensibly complex issues of heatlh care," he said to applause.   Clinton, who signed an increase in the national minimum wage on Tuesday and is to sign welfare reform legislation on Thursday, said there was more work to do on health care reform.   Currently about 40 million Americans lack medical insurance.   Clinton gave credit to members of both parties for the legislation.   A White House fact sheet, however, said that if it Clinton had not exerted pressure, the bill would not have been brought to a vote. 
1019 !GCAT !GPOL  Anyone who has something to say to the Democrats at their convention next week can say it over the Internet, convention organisers said Wednesday.   The Democrats' address is http://www.dncc96.org.   In a test of the convention's elaborate multi-media communications system, Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler welcomed state party chairmen to an Internet "chat room," where he started the dialogue with a message that they would be renominating President Clinton for a second term.   Fowler toured the United Centre convention site, stopping off at the Democratic News Service nerve centre where radio interviews and television images can be beamed to hundreds of stations that cannot be there.   He also tested an electronic voting system that will tally votes of the 5,000 delegates.   But the state-by-state verbal roll call will be preserved for old time's sake, Fowler said.   "We've tested for that and people like the roll call vote."   The electronic voting system, which works by touching a television screen, also can connect delegates to the Internet.   A spokesman for AT&T., Stan Gorski, said 25,000 telephones were installed at the convention site and "miles" of fiber optic and copper cable was laid.   The company anticipated one million "hits" per day on the convention's web site. 
1020 !GCAT !GDIS  Firefighters gained ground on Wednesday on some of the largest wildfires sweeping the western United States, but officials warned new blazes could ignite as lightning storms build in the parched region.   Cooler temperatures in recent days have helped thousands of firefighters and soldiers gain ground on the worst blazes in California, while crews in central Oregon said they were containing that state's most vicious fire.   The National Interagency Fire Centre on Wednesday reported six new large fires in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming for a total of 29 major fires scorching 349,364 acres (139,745 hectares).   The latest fire count was down sharply from Sunday, when the fire centre reported a total of 46 large fires on 502,970 acres (201,188 hectares).   "But we're now starting to go back to hot and dry weather, and as dry thunderstorms return to the region we can expect more fires to start," warned Renee Snyder, a spokeswoman for the fire centre in Boise, Idaho.   "The thunderstorms will bring lightning and the lightning will bring fires."   On Wednesday, more than 20,166 personnel were assigned to the fires, supported by 164 helicopters and 38 airtankers.   Faced with a shortage of crews, authorities put soldiers, prison inmates and firefighters from the East on the lines.   In northern California, thousands of firefighters and more than 600 soldiers continued to gain ground on the so-called Fork fire about 100 miles (160 km) north of San Francisco.   It shrank slightly overnight to 73,600 acres (29,440 hectares) from 77,000 acres (31,160 hectares), allowing residents evacuated from the Long and Spring valley areas to return.   In San Luis Obispo County, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a wildfire has now consumed 90,000 acres (36,000 hectares), up from 69,000 acres (27,600 hectares) on Monday.   The fire has increased in size because firefighters were igniting unburned vegetation inside the control lines.   Officials expect to contain the blaze fully on Thursday.   In Utah, authorities said they hoped to get the upper hand soon on a 9,300 acre (3,720 hectare) blaze in the southwestern part of the state, north of Cedar City.   In southwestern Colorado, some 479 firefighters battled a 4,700 acre (1,880 hectare) blaze in Mesa Verde National Park.   Fire information officer Bob Irvine said the fire was now 30 percent contained but there were fears it would be whipped up if the humidity dropped.   Tourists in Colorado to see the treasured cliff dwellings of the Anasazi people were still not allowed in the park, Irvine said.   Park officials said they believed the cliff dwellings were safe because they were not surrounded by trees, but Irvine said officials will not know for sure until they can go back into the park and examine the ruins.   In Oregon, authorities said they had contained the largest of the active fires in the central part of the state.   The Simnasho fire on the Warm Springs Indian reservation stood at over 109,000 acres (43,600 hectares) but was fully contained.   "The crisis is over," said Terry Virgin of the Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch.   "But we're extremely dry.   If we get (lightning) strikes, we're going to have other fires." 
1021 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GHEA !GJOB !GPOL  The health reform bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Wednesday will make health insurance more accessible for at least a portion of the roughly 40 million Americans without coverage.   Here are some of its key provisions, most of which become effective after June 30, 1997.   -- Portability.   The law makes it easier for people to keep insurance if they switch jobs, assuming the new employer offers coverage.   Workers who had coverage at their old job cannot be excluded from an insurance plan at the new one because of pre-existing health problems.   Generally, those whose prior coverage lapsed briefly -- for less than 63 days -- could not be barred from the new policy for more than one year for those health problems treated or diagnosed in the prior six months.   -- Guaranteed Issue.   People who get sick cannot get dropped from an insurance plan and small businesses have to be able to buy policies, even if one employee has a health problem.   People who lose their job, or who do not get insurance on the job, would be able to buy their own policies even if they had past, present or anticipated future health problems.   This "guaranteed issue" of individual policies would apply only to people who had been insured for the previous year-and-a-half.   The bill does not set price limits on these individual policies or guarantee that the premiums are affordable.   -- Medical Savings Accounts.   People who work at small businesses or who are self-employed will be able to buy a high-deductible catastrophic health insurance policy and put other pre-tax dollars in a bank account for health care expenses or long-term care.   Money withdrawn for other purposes would be taxable.   This was a politically controversial aspect of the legislation, and in a compromise, this law launches a pilot project that allows 750,000 such accounts to be set up nationwide.   -- Self-employed.   Under current law, people who are self-employed can deduct from their taxes 30 percent of the cost of the health insurance premiums they purchase.   That would be raised over several years to 80 percent.   -- Long-term care.   The cost of long-term care, such as nursing homes, and long-term care health policies would be treated for tax purposes just like other medical expenses.   Spending above 7.5 percent of annual gross adjusted income could be deducted from income taxes.   The law also sets up some consumer protection for long-term care.   These provisions go into effect next Jan. 1.   -- Accelerated death benefits.   People who have chronic or terminal illnesses would be able to sell or surrender their life insurance without having to pay taxes and use the proceeds to pay for their care.   This practice, known as viatical settlement, has grown with the AIDS epidemic, but will now be more common for people with other ailments.   -- Fraud.   The law tightens penalties for fraud and related crimes and infractions in both government medical programmes like Medicare as well as in the private sector. 
1022 !GCAT !GCRIM  Rodney King, the black motorist whose videotaped beating by white police officers ultimately led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail for hit-and-run driving.   King, 31, was allowed to remain free on bail while appealing his misdemeanor conviction, which stemmed from a fight he had with his estranged wife in July 1995.   Passing sentence, Municipal Court Judge Michael Kanner called King's actions "reprehensible" and accused him of leaving his wife "flopping around in the street like a sack of potatoes."   Prosecutors alleged during King's trial that his wife, Crystal, got out of their car during an argument and that when she reached back through the passenger window for her purse, King drove off, dragging her and sending her tumbling to the ground.   A jury last month found King guilty on one count of hit-and-run driving -- fleeing the scene of an accident -- but acquitted him of the more serious charges of spousal abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.   The judge sentenced King on Wednesday to 90 days in the Los Angeles County Jail, placed him on two years' probation, fined him $100 and ordered him to pay his wife's medical bills.   King showed no emotion when the sentence was read, but outside court he told reporters: "It's not over yet.   It just sounds funny when a guy is a victim of his wife.   No one wants to believe him.   I've got a bear for a woman."   During the sentencing hearing in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, King's defence attorney, Edi Faal, told the judge King's wife had been "acting recklessly" and was to blame for her own injuries.   He said King did not deserve jail time and should instead be fined no more than $1,000.   But prosecutor Donna Wills had asked that King receive the maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine because he had shown no remorse.   "He laughed or made a sarcastic grin as he left the scene (of the crime)," she told the judge.   Crystal King, who injured her arm and suffered a head wound that required stitches, testified reluctantly against her husband during his trial.   King first entered the public spotlight in March 1991, when white police officers were captured on videotape beating and kicking him after a high-speed chase.   The April 1992 state court acquittals of four officers touched off rioting in Los Angeles that left more than 50 people dead and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage.   Two of the officers were convicted in federal court in 1994 of violating King's civil rights and served 30-month prison sentences.   A federal jury later awarded King $3.8 million in damages for his injuries. 
1023 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF !GDIP  The Army has charged a 20-year-old computer specialist with spying, apparently for China, after he demonstrated a flaw in a military computer network and gave a computer code to a Chinese friend, the soldier's parents said on Wednesday.   Pfc.   Eric Jenott of the 50th Airborne Signal Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has been under arrest since late June, his father, John Jenott, said.   The Army said Jenott was being held in a "pre-trial confinement facility" at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, while an investigation continued, but declined comment on any charges.   John Jenott said his son, a fluent Chinese speaker whom he described as a "computer genius" with a longstanding interest in China, had given a young Chinese friend what the son described as an unclassified computer code.   "Just a young guy -- one of his friends.   And he said he gave him some computer code pass number that was not even classified.   He said he didn't get any money for it.   He just kind of did it as a friendly gesture," the father said.   He said his son knew the person to whom he gave the code from one of several trips he had made to China.   His son, "not your average kid-out-on-a-skateboard-type guy," could read and write Chinese and lived with a Chinese family in Vancouver, Canada, for about a year when he was in high school, he added.   He said his son told him that before giving away the code, he had been trying to show his superiors a security flaw in a sensitive communication system and eventually demonstrated that he could get secret data without authorisation.   "He was trying to say we have a weakness," John Jenott said in a telephone interview from his home in Graham, Washington.   "This stuff about being a spy -- it's ridiculous."   "They're blowing this way out of proportion," added the soldier's stepmother, Kelly Jenott.   Jenott's court-martial is currently scheduled to begin Sept. 24 but likely will be delayed, perhaps until October or November, his father said.   He said an Army major at Fort Bragg, whom he declined to name, had tried to enlist his help in getting his son to sign a confession so prosecutors would not seek the death penalty.   Jenott said his son had told him: "'Dad, I'd rather die than sign that.'   He said it's not true.   He said 'I'm not a spy.   I didn't commit espionage.   And I'm not going to sign something that says I did.'"   Jenott's civilian attorney, Timothy Dunn of Fayetteville, North Carolina, did not return a call seeking comment.   The Fayetteville Observer Times, which broke the story of Jenott's arrest on Wednesday, quoted Army documents as saying he had given "secret computer passwords relating to the national defence" to a foreign national. 
1024 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  President Bill Clinton, opting for modest health care changes after failing to achieve sweeping reforms, on Wednesday signed a bill making it easier for workers to take their health insurance with them when they change jobs.   The bill also allows a pilot programme for 750,000 so-called Medical Savings Accounts to replace conventional health insurance policies for employees of small companies or self-employed people.   In addition, it gives the self-employed a bigger tax break on health coverage they buy for themselves.    At a White House signing ceremony, Clinton said: "With this bill we take a long step towards the kind of health care reform our nation needs.   It seals the cracks that swallow as many as 25 million Americans who can't get insurance or who fear they'll lose it."   He said: "This bill is a clear boost to our values as Americans.   It offers opportunity by allowing people to take their health insurance from job to job.   It rewards responsibility by helping people to work who desperately want to work."   Clinton's drive for universal health insurance, championed by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, collapsed in 1994.   After Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, both Congress and the Clinton administration turned to more modest steps to reform the system.   The new law, sponsored by Republican Senator Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, generally protects those who change jobs or become ill from losing their medical benefits. 
1025 !C17 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  The U.S. Energy Department agreed on Wednesday to provide $500,000 towards research on turning corn fiber into feedstock for industrial chemicals that could be used to make a wide range of products.   The agreement was with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado and the National Corn Growers Association, which contributed $250,000 to the project.   If the research is successful, the United States would be able to help farmers and at the same time trim its dependence on imported oil, by reducing the need for petrochemicals derived from oil, the Energy Department said.   "If we crack just 20 percent of this market, it'll consume up to 100 million bushels of corn a year," said Russell Williams, an Illinois farmer who is chairman of the corn association's research committee.   The United States annually produces more than 10 billion pounds of corn fiber, most of which is mixed into animal feed largely sold in Europe, according to the Energy Department. 
1026 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  A group of 12 California electricity organizations, including the state's largest investor-owned utilities, is proposing changes to the way money is set aside for California energy efficiency programs.   Under the plan, money now set aside voluntarily to fund research into ways to save energy would be regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), representatives told a telephone news conference Wednesday.   "The proposal gives us a way to keep on providing those services in a restructured electricity market," said Bill Miller, director of demand-side management policy and evaluation for Pacific Gas and Electric Co (PG&E).   About $240 million is now authorized by PG&E, Edison International subsidiary Southern California Edison, and Enova Corp subsidiary San Diego Gas and Electric Co for energy efficiency projects.   The proposal, to be reviewed by the CPUC over the next several months, would see the use of a "public goods charge" on electricity distribution which would underwrite efficiency investments, electricity groups told the news conference.   The goods charge would be roughly equal to current spending levels, and would not add to electricity bills.   -- Chris Reese, New York Power Desk 212-859-1627 
1027 !GCAT !GDEF  The Navy said on Wednesday it was investigating the severing of electrical wires aboard a nuclear submarine.   "The Navy is looking into the possible deliberate, wrongful destruction of government property aboard the fast attack submarine U.S.S. San Juan," Lt. John Wallach, a public information officer at the New London Naval Base, said.   He said several wires in a supply cabinet aboard the 360-foot (120-metre) submarine were found to have been cut during a routine inspection on June 12.   "There was never any danger to the nuclear reactor, never any danger to the safety of the crew.   Repairs were effected pretty quickly and she got back to business," he said.   Federal agents from the Navy Criminal Investigation Service were conducting the probe, begun when a watch commander spotted a non-functioning indicator light.   Upon examination, it was discovered that several wires in the supply cabinet behind the panel had been cut, Wallach said.   He played down a suggestion that it was sabotage.   "First, that assumes falsely that a human being did this and number two, a sinister motive.   The investigation is still going on."   The U.S.S. San Juan and its crew of 130 is based at New London but is currently at sea, Wallach said, adding: "She has been out to sea several times since the incident." 
1028 !GCAT !GDIP  President Bill Clinton sent a letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Wednesday urging an end to the violence in Chechnya.   "This cycle of violence must come to an end because prolonged fighting is only going to endanger civilians," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters.    Russian forces have been pounding the rebel-held Chechnyan city of Grozny in an effort to crush the guerrilla resistance in the breakaway region.   McCurry said Clinton's letter to Yeltsin was sent overnight and there had not been a response.   He said the United States was encouraged that Russian security chief Alexander Lebed was in Chechnya trying to lift the threat of bombardment of Grozny.   "The humanitarian situation there is very difficult and we continue to call upon all the parties to minimize the conflict, to return to the kinds of discussions that could bring the conflict to an end," McCurry told reporters.   Asked about Yeltsin's health in the wake of rumors that the Russian leader is seriously ill, McCurry said Washington had no indication that Yeltsin was doing anything but taking a long vacation after his strenuous re-election campaign. 
1029 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Chesapeake, Va., City Council rejected a referendum on a proposal to limit housing development in areas where public facilities are inadequate, the Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday.   The council voted 5-3 against putting the proposal on the Nov 5 ballot, defeating the growth control proposal for the second consecutive year.   The meevelopment in areas where public schools, roads, and water and sewer facilities were deemed inadequate.   The newspaper said the majority of council members agreed with business leaders who said enough has already been done to control growth in Virginia's fastest-growing city and that real estate and commercial interests would suffer if further restrictions were added.   In 1989, the city adopted a requirement that developers pay up to $6,000 per unit to offset the impact of their projects on local services.   The council also adopted a policy last year that automatically denies rezonings if nearby roads, sewers and schools are beyond capacity limits.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1030 !GCAT !GCRIM  Rodney King, the black motorist beaten by white police officers in a videotaped incident that ultimately led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail for hit-and-run driving.   King was also placed on two years' probation for his misdemeanor conviction, which stemmed from a fight he had with his estranged wife last year.    Passing sentence, Municipal Court Judge Michael Kanner called King's actions "reprehensible."   Prosecutors alleged during King's trial that his wife Crystal got out of their car during an argument and when she reached back in the passenger window for her purse, King drove off, dragging her and sending her tumbling to the ground.   A jury last month found King guilty on one count of hit-and-run driving but acquitted him of the more serious charges of spousal abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.   The prosecution had asked that King receive the maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.   But the judge sentenced him to 90 days in the Los Angeles County jail, fined him $100 and ordered him to pay his wife's medical bills.   King first entered the public spotlight in March 1991 when white police officers were captured on videotape beating and kicking him after a high-speed chase.   The April 1992 state court acquittals of four officers touched off rioting in Los Angeles that left more than 50 people dead and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage. 
1031 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV !GWEA  Seven crew members were rescued from a 110-foot tugboat after it became disabled in the Bay of Campeche in the path of tropical depression Dolly, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday.   The crew of the tugboat Thor, disabled by a jammed rudder, was rescued by the Liberian-flagged Lockness, which was operating in the area and volunteered to steam toward the disabled boat, the Coast Guard said.   "The call came in Tuesday, and they picked them off the tug at 2 a.m. this morning (0700 GMT)," Coast Guard Petty Officer Renee Gordon said.   The crew was being taken to port in Houston in shipping lanes well out of the path of the storm.   Dolly, downgraded to a tropical depression on Wednesday, was churning its way across the Yucatan Penninsula about 35 miles south-southwest of Campeche, Mexico.   Dolly, the Atlantic hurricane season's fourth named storm, was expected to strengthen after emerging into the warm waters of the Bay of Campeche and eventually make landfall along the coast of northern Mexico or south Texas. 
1032 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Phelps Dodge Corp said it has revised its pay offer to employees at its Chino copper mine in New Mexico but that the union initial response was not encouraging.   Protracted labor talks between the company and the United Steelworkers of America broke up without agreement on July 23.   The previous three-year labor deal expired at the end of June.   Bargaining resumed Tuesday when Phelps presented its revised offer, a Phelps spokeswoman said.   The mine is operating normally.   A union representative was not available for comment. 
1033 !GCAT !GODD  Alicia Machado, the reigning Miss Universe beauty queen hit by allegations she was getting chubby, was in hiding on Wednesday as officials denied ordering her to lose weight or risk losing her crown.   Machado, a 19-year-old Venezuelan who won the title in May, was in a New Mexico hotel room and pageant organisers said she would stay out of sight until Wednesday night, when she was to make an official appearance at the televised 1996 Miss Teen USA event.   Security was beefed up with police deployed to a hotel in the resort town of Las Cruces where the pageant was being held.   No one was allowed onto the fifth floor where the teenage contestants and, presumably, Machado had their rooms.   Although she was nowhere to be seen, Machado and her waistline were the talk of the town.   "It's her body, her deal.   She won the crown and they shouldn't take it away from her just for putting on a few pounds," said Autumn Smith, the reigning Miss Alabama USA.   "But, at the same time, if I'd won Miss Universe, I'd want to look the best I possibly could for that one year," the tall, 21-year-old brunette added.   The pageant world was jolted on Monday when officials of the Miss Venezuela Organisation said Machado had been given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to shed 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk having her title taken away.   At 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 metres), she weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) in May when she became the fourth Venezuelan to win the world's top beauty title.   Immediately after winning, she told reporters she planned to do "something I haven't been able to do in three weeks: eat, eat, eat and sleep."   People close to her said she succumbed to a passion for pasta and cake.   News of the alleged ultimatum sent reporters from around the United States and Latin America scrambling to get to Las Cruces and track down Machado.   It also brought criticism of Miss Universe organisers, who have traditionally denied claims that pageants are glorified meat markets by stressing the importance of personality and "inner beauty."   They responded by saying no threats were ever made against Machado and that they were "distressed" by the reports.   "A weight requirement is not part of our titleholder employment contract," said Martin Brooks, president of Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc.   He said the organisation was "extremely happy with Alicia and feel she fulfils her obligations as Miss Universe 1996 exceptionally well."   Venezuelan pageant organisers also backed away from their earlier comments.   "She obviously has a weight problem which affects her swimsuit contracts but this does not mean she will be stripped of her crown," one official said on Tuesday.   Teen pageant officials reassured the 51 contestants that reports of an ultimatum to Machado were false and that personality and friendly disposition were as valued as ever.   "They told us it was all totally not true," said Jodi Webb, 18, the reigning Miss Teen Utah.   David Regalado, a New Mexico policeman on guard duty at the hotel, said he had not seen Machado in person but did see her on television and was impressed.   "She sure is beautiful.   They say she got fat but she looks just fine to me," he said.   News of Machado's weight gain made front-page news in her home country.   Venezuela takes its reputation as the world's beauty queen capital very seriously. 
1034 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS  The Air Force combat command said on Wednesday it has cancelled most air operations on Friday for a Safety Day review after four crashes including one of President Bill Clinton's support planes.   The Air Combat Command, which has 980 fighter planes, bombers and other combat planes in the United States, Panama, Iceland and Portugal, said all routine operations have been cancelled for the day.   Although most Air Force cargo planes are not involved in the stand-down, the combat command operates a number of C-130 cargo planes including the Clinton support plane that crashed after take off from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Saturday.   All nine people aboard were killed.   The plane was carrying a Secret Service communications van from Jackson Hole where the Clintons were on vacation.   "We must step back from the day-to-day pressures of the mission and spend a day identifying and quantifying the risks associated with everything that we do, then devising practical ways to mitigate those risks," the command's chief, Gen. Richard Hawley, said in a statement.   He said units will spend the day examining every part of their operations including the way they plan missions, brief crews on them and fly them. 
1035 !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Dolly weakened as it passed over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Wednesday, but forecasters at National Hurricane Center said the storm was likely to strengthen again and threaten Mexico's northern coast.   At 1100 EDT/1500 GMT, tropical depression Dolly was 35 miles south-southwest of Campeche, Mexico, or at latitude 19.3 north and longitude 90.7 west.   The depression was moving west at 9 mph (15 kmh), with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (60 kmh).   Tuesday, Dolly graduated to a hurricane for several hours when its maximum winds rose to minimal hurricane strength of 75 mph (120 kmh).    "We anticipate Dolly will move a bit more toward the north once it gets over the open water of the Gulf of Mexico," said hurricane center forecaster Jack Beven.   "The most likely threatened area will be somewhere on the Mexico coast north of Veracruz but it could still turn a little north and threaten Texas."   The combination of warm ocean water and upper air pressure were likely to make Dolly a tropical storm by Thursday, and possibly a hurricane by Friday, Beven said.   A tropical storm has maximum sustained winds of between 39 and 74 mph (65 and 125 kmh).   A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its maximum winds top 74 mph.   --Miami news bureau, 305-374-5013 
1036 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  A Bonn parliamentary commission is to examine the failure of Germany's BND intelligence service to prevent the export of chemical weapons-making technology to Libya, the commission chairman said on Wednesday.   Authorities this week revealed that 3.2 million marks' ($2.15 million) worth of state-of-the-art equipment to mix poison gases was sent to Libya from Germany between 1990 and 1993 in defiance of German arms control laws.   The influential Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported that authorities were also weighing probes of other companies that may have helped Libya develop its arms programme.   "The BND has given relevant German authorities results of its foreign reconnaissance from Libya that suggest German companies supplied products for Libya's armament programme in other cases as well, for example to build missiles," it said.   It gave no source for the report, which was released ahead of publication on Thursday.   The BND has conceded that it interviewed one of the suspects in the poison-gas case four years ago without discovering the deals.   It denied reports that the man, Lebanese-born businessman Berge Balanian, had worked as a BND informer.   Parliamentary control commission chairman Wilfried Penner of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) told German Radio the commission would "examine this matter intensively, probably next week".   He said there was no evidence the government had acted wrongly in the matter.   But Manfred Such, the opposition Greens member of the control commission, said the BND's version of events was implausible.   "The BND's account that it had for years been speaking to Balanian about Libya in general but failed to find out about the poison gas deal...is hard to imagine.   "And if the BND really had no idea about a deal of this importance, this would again call into question the quality of its insight and the value of the BND," Such said in a statement. 
1037 !GCAT !GVIO  Two relief workers kidnapped in Chechnya 26 days ago were released on Wednesday, their Paris-based charity Action against Hunger (ACF) said.   Briton Michael Penrose, 23, and Frenchman Frederic Malardeau, 35, were freed, apparently in good health, with the help of the International Red Cross Committee, an ACF spokeswoman said.   She said they were resting at an undisclosed place in Chechnya which was not Grozny, the rebel-held capital of the embattled breakaway republic.   She said there had not been any ransom demand for their release and she had no information on who the kidnappers were.   The Russian Interfax news agency has said Chechen separatist fighters had denied responsibility but a man who telephoned journalists in Chechnya from the southern Russian town of Krasnodar shortly after the kidnappings had demanded a ransom of $500,000. 
1038 !GCAT !GCRIM  A grieving nation prepared on Wednesday to bury two eight-year-old victims of a paedophile gang as Belgian police, under attack for past bungling, continued their search for other missing girls.   Belgium has been in a state of shock since the weekend when convicted child sex offender Marc Dutroux, 39, led police to the bodies of Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune in the garden of a house he owned near Charleroi, southern Belgium.   The girls, abducted in June 1995, starved to death early this year.   They will be buried on Thursday after a televised public memorial service in their eastern Belgian home town of Liege at which police expect up to 100,000 people.   Dutroux, who served time between 1989 and 1992, also told police of two other abducted girls -- Laetitia Delhez, 14, and Sabine Dardenne, 12.   They were found alive in a makeshift dungeon in another of his houses.   Both had been sexually abused.   Dutroux's wife has been implicated in the case.   The whereabouts of An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks -- abducted by Dutroux a year ago -- remains a mystery.   Parents and the public prosecutor in charge of the case are optimistic they will be found alive.   Media here have likened the outpouring of grief over Russo and Lejeune's fate to the unprecedented display of mourning that followed the death of much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   Mountains of flowers covered the lawns at the girls' homes.   Hundreds of weeping mourners have been filing past white coffins with the bodies of the two friends from morning till night for the past three days.   The government called for one minute's silence at 11 a.m (0900 GMT) on Thursday, the start of the memorial service.   Of the 100,000 people expected to attend the service in Liege's Saint Martin basilica, about one thousand will be accommodated inside the church.   The others will be able to follow the mass on a large outside video screen.   Police meanwhile continued their investigation into Belgium's worst child-sex scandal, focussing on finding Marchal and Lambrecks.   Thirty detectives were added to the team which has widened its searches to other countries, including Britain.   In Johannesburg South African police said on Wednesday there could be a link between the Belgian child sex scandal and the disappearance of five girls in Pretoria up to eight years ago.   British Detective Superintendent John Bennett, who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" murders in Gloucester, western England, arrived on Wednesday to offer advice.   The hidden bodies of Fred and Rosemary West's victims were recovered with the aid of hi-tech heat-seeking and radar equipment, which Belgium has asked to Britain to supply.   Belgian police said more bodies could be found.   "We always expect it is possible to find more bodies.   There are still people missing," Major Jean-Marie Boudin of the gendarmerie's missing children squad said.   In Belgium and the Netherlands police have re-opened cases of missing girls in the wake of the scandal.   In Belgium at least 15 children vanished in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead.   Six are missing.   Only two have been rescued.   Belgian media have accused the police of incompetence in the 14-month search for Julie and Melissa, citing leaked police papers with tipoffs on Dutroux.   Belgian radio said police in Liege had authenticated the documents but denied they ever reached the investigators searching for the two.   Justice Minister De Clerck has promised that a judge from Liege will look into the matter. 
1039 !GCAT !GCRIM  Anger blazed in Belgium on Wednesday as leaked documents showed a catalogue of past incompetence, bungling and missed opportunities by Belgian police searching for missing children.   Victor Hissel, the lawyer representing the parents of two kidnapped eight-year-olds, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, who were found dead last weekend, said he was lodging a legal demand for access to police files.   "We have to try to find out why Julie and Melissa were not found by police...Why police didn't investigate," he said.   The documents, extracts of which were widely published, indicate a failure by regional police forces to communicate with each other or, when they did, to act on the information.   Belgian radio said police in Julie and Melissa's home town of Liege had authenticated the documents but denied that they had ever reached the investigators searching for the two girls.   The reports concern convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux who has admitted abducting young girls and on whose property the two dead girls were found as well as makeshift cells.   The extracts said police were told at the end of 1993 that Dutroux was constructing cells in one of his houses to hold kidnapped children prior to sending them overseas.   No action was taken.   Dutroux, charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children, plunged the nation into shock at the weekend when he led police to the bodies of Julie and Melissa at a house near the southern city of Charleroi.   The two had been abducted in June 1995 and held for nine months before dying of starvation early this year.   Police twice visited the house where the two girls were being held, but failed to find them.   The documents also show that in July 1995 -- a month after the abduction -- police interviewed Dutroux and took him at his word when he said the building work in the cellar of his house was refurbishment.   He was in fact constructing cells.   In early August last year police were told by an informant that Dutroux had tried to recruit him to kidnap children, explaining that it was simply a matter of putting a hand over their mouths and bundling them into a car.   The price per child, the document extracts quote the informer as saying, was between 100,000 and 150,000 francs ($30,000 to $45,000).   Later that month teenagers An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks disappeared in Ostend.   Police failed to launch a hunt for 10 days in the belief the girls were runaways, despite their parents' insistence that this was not the case.   Dutroux admitted last weekend to having abducted them.   They are still missing.   At the end of August 1995, with Julie and Melissa still held prisoner and An and Eefje now added to the missing persons' list, police searched Dutroux's houses again but found nothing.   In December they carried out more searches with the same result.   Some newspapers have reported that police investigating a theft heard childrens' voices in the house as they interviewed Dutroux, but accepted his explanation that they were his.   Belgian television speculated that the only explanations for the litany of mistakes could be either failure to communicate between the regional police forces, failure to understand the importance of the information or inter-force rivalry.   There is also some puzzlement over why closer attention was not paid to a convicted child abuser who had no visible means of support yet managed to maintain six houses. 
1040 !GCAT !GPOL  African immigrants fighting expulsion vowed on Wednesday to continue their 48-day-old hunger strike despite a government promise to have their cases reviewed by France's highest administrative court.   Representatives of the protesters said Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre told them during a one-hour meeting that he could not accept their demand that all 300 protesters, 10 of whom are fasting, be allowed to stay in France.   "The hunger strike goes on.   At this time, we don't consider there is a concession," a spokeswoman named as Madiguene said.   In a conciliatory move, Prime Minister Alain Juppe earlier called ministers to an emergency meeting and asked the Council of State to review the enforcement of controversial immigration laws.   "The enforcement of these laws naturally takes account of individual cases in a humane way to which the government has always given importance," a statement from his office said.   But it ruled out redrafting the 1993 laws and insisted: "Clandestine immigration must be combated with the greatest firmness because it is a violation of the law."   A few thousand people marched through Paris to the church on Wednesday evening in a demonstration of support for the protesters called by left-wing parties, trade unions and human rights groups.   Debre received a delegation of the protesters and told them the government would favourably review the most tragic cases and he hoped the hunger strike would end.   "I don't think it can go on if these people are sensible and have humanitarian motives.   If their motives were political, it would be another thing," he told Radio France Info.   The hunger strike has put the conservative government in a quandary.   The protesters, who are mostly from Mali and include 110 children, are holed up in the Saint-Bernard church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district with a human shield of hundreds of sympathisers preventing police from seizing them.   The first opinion poll on the dispute, to be published on Thursday in the daily Le Parisien, said most French voters sympathised with the protesters but that most opposed giving them all an automatic right to stay.   The far-right, anti-immigration National Front has demanded that they be expelled.   The protesters say many of them who had enjoyed residence rights were plunged into illegality by the "Pasqua laws" pushed through by hardline former interior minister Charles Pasqua.   Officials admit a legal kink means some immigrants can be neither expelled nor granted residence permits.   Aides said Juppe, who cut short his summer holidays to tackle the embarrassing dispute, had consulted the speakers of both houses of parliament, leaders of the two parties in the ruling centre-right coalition, and Xavier Emmanuelli, junior minister for emergency humanitarian action.   Bruno Gollnisch, a leader of the National Front, was turned away from the interior ministry as Debre was having his first encounter with representatives of the protesters.   "I wanted to express the French people's exasperation.   The law must be enforced, " Gollnisch told reporters.   "I note that the minister gives priority to people who are delinquents."   One of the 10 hunger strikers was taken to hospital with stomach pains on Tuesday night but his life was said to be in no danger.   Doctors monitoring the health of the hunger strikers at the church, where they have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins, said two others were in serious condition. 
1041 !GCAT !GENT !GREL  Dresden's Baroque Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) hosted its first service since it was destroyed in a 1945 bombing raid with the inauguration of its restored crypt on Wednesday.   Once the centrepiece of the Baroque centre that earned Dresden the name "Florence on the Elbe", the Frauenkirche was bombed on February 13, 1945, in a British and U.S. air assault that killed some 35,000 civilians.   The church tower stood, a smoking shell, for days after the raid before collapsing.   "This is a moving moment," said the Bishop of Saxony, Volker Kress, who led the service attended by about 300 clerics, regional and city officials.   "From now on, services will take place here to call out to God from the depths."   Kress said the ceremony was the high point so far in efforts to rebuild the church.   "The number of donors is breathtaking.   The church has found a global community," he said.   Kress has said he hoped the vaulted crypt, reconstructed from photographs, would inspire more donations.   Restoration could cost a total of 250 million marks ($165 million) and take another 10 to 15 years.   But only 25 million marks have been raised so far, he said in a recent interview.   Guests at the ceremony included the premier of the regional state of Saxony, Kurt Biedenkopf, and other dignitaries who have supported the project, which got under way in 1993.   Britain's "Dresden Trust" and a U.S.-based foundation are also helping raise money for the project.   The inauguration marked the end of 50 years of debate over whether Dresden's famous Italianate church, which was completed in 1743, should be allowed to rise out of the ashes or be left as a permanent reminder of the futility of war.   "For Dresdeners the Frauenkirche will remain a symbol for peace and reconciliation," said Matthias Oelke, a spokesman for the church.   "Once again the Frauenkirche will be the spiritual centre of Dresden," he said. 
1042 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  French Prime Minister Alain Juppe played a conciliatory card on Wednesday to try to end a 48-day-old hunger strike by African immigrants fighting an expulsion order, delaying its enforcement by seeking a court review.   Officials said after Juppe chaired an emergency ministerial meeting that the centre-right government had asked the highest administrative court to review "as fast as possible" the enforcement of controversial immigration laws.   "The Interior Minister (Jean-Louis Debre) has appealed to the Council of State to demand an opinion so as to have all the information at his disposal," a Juppe statement said.   It was a concession to 300 protesters holed up in a Paris church supporting nine hunger strikers there and another in hospital.   "The enforcement of these laws naturally takes account of individual cases in a humane way to which the government has always given importance," the statement said.   But it ruled out redrafting the 1993 laws and insisted: "Clandestine immigration must be combated with the greatest firmness because it is a violation of the law."   In another sign of a new conciliatory stance, Debre received three representatives of the protesters in their first meeting since the hunger strike began.   The nine Africans fasting at the Saint-Bernard church had earlier pledged to continue their hunger strike after a 10th protester was taken to hospital with stomach pains.   An official said that the court review would also focus on a legal kink which means some immigrants can be neither expelled nor granted residence permits.   Aides said Juppe, who cut short his summer holidays on Tuesday, had consulted the speakers of both houses of parliament, leaders of the two parties in the ruling centre-right coalition, and Xavier Emmanuelli, junior minister for emergency humanitarian action.   Bruno Gollnisch, a senior member of the far-right and anti-immigrant National Front, turned up unannounced at the interior ministry demanding to see Debre but was turned away.   "I wanted to express the French people's exasperation.   The law must be enforced, " Gollnisch told reporters.   "I note that the minister gives priority to people who are delinquents."   At the church, a spokesman for the protesters said 29-year-old Moussa Keita, taken to hospital on Tuesday, was in no danger.   "He is tired but his condition is not worrying.   He has not been put on a drip," Keita told reporters.   "The fact that one of the hunger strikers was taken to hospital shows that this is a real hunger strike and that they are determined to continue until the end."   Doctors monitoring the health of the hunger strikers at the church, where they have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins, said two others were in serious condition.   Around the church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, protesters including 110 children are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers ready to attempt to prevent police seizing them by chaining themselves together.   In eastern Paris, demonstrators who heeded a call from left-wing parties, human rights associations and trade unions gathered for a march through the capital to the church to show support for the immigrants. 
1043 !GCAT !GCRIM  Tens of thousands of grief-stricken Belgians will attend the funeral on Thursday of two eight-year-old children starved to death by a paedophile gang which abducted at least four other girls.   The outpouring of grief since the bodies of Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune were unearthed last weekend revived memories of the display of mourning that followed the death of Belgium's much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   The government has called for one minute's silence at 11 a.m (0900 GMT) on Thursday, the start of the memorial service which will also be broadcast on television.   Of the 100,000 people expected to attend the service in Liege's Saint Martin basilica, only about 1,000 can be accommodated inside the church.   The others will be able to follow the mass on a large outside video screen.   Thousands of weeping mourners have filed past the white coffins with the bodies of the two close friends over the past three days.   Mountains of flowers covered the lawns at the girls' homes.   Most of the bouquets were laid by mothers with young children, some of whom left behind their favourite toy.   Black ribbons or banners were put on cars and some bars displayed a picture of the dead girls next to a lit candle.   In Liege, a number of factories and shops were due to close temporarily on Thursday to allow workers to attend the funeral.   Belgium has been in a state of shock since the weekend when convicted child sex offender Marc Dutroux, 39, led police to the girls' bodies in the garden of a house he owned near Charleroi, southern Belgium.   The girls, abducted in June 1995, starved to death early this year.   Dutroux, who served time between 1989 and 1992, also told police of two other abducted girls -- Laetitia Delhez, 14, and Sabine Dardenne, 12.   They were found alive in a makeshift dungeon in another of his houses.   Both had been sexually abused.   The whereabouts of An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks -- kidnapped by Dutroux and his accomplices a year ago -- remains a mystery.   Parents and the public prosecutor in charge of the case are hopeful they can be found alive.   Three other people, including Dutroux' second wife, have been charged in the case, Belgium's worst-ever child-sex scandal.   Police continued their investigation into the scandal, focussing on finding Marchal and Lambrecks.   Thirty detectives have been added to the team which has widened its searches to other countries, including Britain.   British Detective Superintendent John Bennett, who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" murders in Gloucester, western England, arrived on Wednesday to offer advice.   Public prosecutor Michel Bourlet said after a meeting with Bennett and investigators he would hold a news conference on Thursday but added there was no news on the case.   At least 15 children have vanished in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead.   Six are missing.   Only two have been rescued.   Police said more bodies could be found. 
1044 !GCAT !GDIP  Ten African immigrants fighting expulsion went into the 48th day of a hunger strike in a Paris church on Thursday, buoyed by government concessions and bent on winning more.   In a marked softening, Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre said he would put to France's highest administrative court the problem of the 300 immigrants holed up with the hunger strikers.   But the hunger strikers, boosted by a support march towards the Saint-Bernard church which attracted 5,000 demonstrators, reaffirmed their determination to fast until winning residence permits for all of the 300.   "The hunger strike goes on...We reject bids to divide us, we are united," their spokeswoman Madiguene Cisse told reporters.   There was a distinct feeling among the protesters that victory was at hand after Prime Minister Alain Juppe cut short his holiday for an emergency ministerial meeting and Debre received their representatives for the first time.   "This is a turning point," one of them said.   Debre went on radio and television to explain that the government would review distressing cases favourably.   "The government is holding out its hand...I believe reason will prevail.   I believe all this is going to end," he said.   But he said there was no legal way of allowing all the protesters to stay in France, including those whose requests for political asylum had been turned down.   The protesters say they are all entitled to stay.   They say many of them enjoyed residence rights until they were plunged into ilegallity by 1993 laws tightening residence and citizenship regulations to drastically curb immigration.   Debre ruled out redrafting the laws and insisted: "Clandestine immigration must be combated with the greatest firmness because it is a violation of the law."   The hunger strike has divided the ruling centre-right coalition between those who favour strictly enforcing he law and those who call for concessions.   The government risks a public relations disaster if one of the hunger strikers dies, or if it tries to evict the protesters.   One of the hunger strikers returned to the church after being treated in hospital.   Doctors say two others were in serious condition.   The church, in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, Juppe's former constituency, is surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers, including media celebrities, determined to prevent a police bid to seize the protesters.   The first opinion poll on the dispute, published on Thursday in the daily Le Parisien, said most French voters sympathised with the protesters but most opposed giving them all an automatic right to stay.   The opposition Socialists welcomed the government's call to the Council of State but said it was insufficient and tantamount to an admission that the "Pasqua laws" had led to an intolerable legal imbroglio.   The laws were pushed by former interior minister Charles Pasqua in the wake of the Socialists' 1993 election rout.   Officials admit a legal kink means some immigrants can be neither expelled nor granted residence permits.   Former Socialist culture minister Jack Lang said the Council of State could not consider every individual case.   He asked Juppe to declare a moratorium on expulsions and appoint an independent mediator to look into each of the protesters' legal status. 
1045 !GCAT !GCRIM  Austrian narcotics officials arrested a husband and wife suspected of smuggling 200 kg (440 lb) of heroin across Europe over the past three years, police said on Wednesday.   The two suspects, who have Austrian citizenship but originally came from Yugoslavia, were arrested with an alleged courier in Vienna on July 7, a police spokesman said.   It was not immediately clear why news of the arrests was not released until Wednesday.   Police seized 20 kg (44 lb) of heroin worth an estimated $4.5 million.   "We were able to prove that the group smuggled a total of 193 kg (424 lb) of heroin over the past three years," a police statement said.   "The bulk of the narcotics originated in Turkey and were transported via the Balkan route to Hungary, and passed on to Italy via Budapest and Vienna."   Police identified the three only as husband Milaim I., 48, wife Katarina I., 45, and the alleged courier as Bogosav T., 49. 
1046 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Corsican separatists said on Wednesday they were ending a shaky seven-month truce, accusing the Paris government of reneging on secret commitments.   The truce had already been broken by 10 bombings over the past week on the French Mediterranean holiday island.   "The end of a peace process", was the headline of an article in Ribombou, the newspaper of the nationalist movement Cuncolta Naziunalista which is regarded as the political arm of outlawed Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) separatist guerrillas.   "The government has betrayed all its commitments, made in negotiations with the FLNC," Cuncolta leader Francois Santoni wrote.   It has been widely reported that the government held secret talk with the FLNC since the ceasefire began but the government has never confirmed it and the outcome has not been disclosed.   Prime Minister Alain Juppe, visiting the island last month after judges on the island complained the state was too lax on guerrilla violence, announced a policy of economic aid twinned with toughness to restore law and order.   Santoni accused Juppe of despising Corsicans and dismissed the promised economic aid as charity.   "Threats against outlawed groups have no effect on the determination to continue a fight which began more than 20 years ago," he said.   A crackdown on the guerrillas would fail and "could even hasten (Juppe's) political demise," Santoni said.   Ten bombs have exploded on the island in the past week, mostly targetting public buildings in an apparent resumption of two-decade-old separatist violence.   The Justice Ministry said last week it was "determined to seek out and and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts".   In a new escalation, suspected separatists planted a bomb on Monday on the Ajaccio doorstep of former French industry minister Jose Rossi, who heads Corsica's elected council.   Police defused the bomb, but Rossi warned that Corsica was headed for new violence which could spread to the French mainland.   He said the flare-up may stem from confusion after secret talks and urged both the government and the separatists to clearly say what they wanted. 
1047 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Italy on Wednesday said it was deeply worried about the situation in breakaway Chechnya and urged dialogue between Russia and Chechen rebels to end the fighting.   "Italy is deeply convinced that there are no alternatives to dialogue and that only negotiations between the parties...can find an acceptable solution to the crisis in Chechnya," a foreign ministry said in a statement.   "The ministry hopes for the immediate and total cessation of fighting and official contacts for the establishment of a lasting ceasefire," it said. 
1048 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Most French people sympathise with African hunger strikers protesting at French immigration laws, but oppose demands for all to be automatically granted residence permits, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.   The CSA survey, for the Parisien daily, showed 50 percent of those asked supported or sympathised with the 300 protesters, 10 of whom have been fasting for 48 days in the Saint Bernard church in central Paris.   Thirty percent opposed their action.   By a margin of 56 to 36 percent, those polled wanted the government to open talks with the protesters, who say that a 1993 tightening of immigration laws has outlawed many foreigners previously living legally in France.   Among those favouring negotiations, 85 percent wanted the case of each protester re-examined individually, with just 12 percent going along with the protesters' demands that all should automatically get residence permits.   The poll was taken on August 20 and 21 among 1,005 people, before Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre announced that he had asked France's highest administrative court to review the enforcement of immigration laws in a bid to end the protest.   The protesters dismissed the concession as inadequate and said that the hunger strike would continue. 
1049 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Forty five African immigrants deported to Guinea-Bissau have begun a hunger strike to press for their return to Spain, a human rights official said on Wednesday.   "Their deportation from Spain was illegal.   They want to go back to Spain," Leopoldo Amado, a spokesman for the Guinea-Bissau League for Human Rights, said in a telephone interview from the West African state.   He said the ejection of the Africans by Spain in June was illegal because some of them had filled in papers at a centre for immigrants in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in north Africa requesting travel to Spain before they were deported.   One hunger striker, a Nigerian called Azeez Mohammed, told Reuters authorities in Melilla had handcuffed the group and later put them on military planes where they were served with drinking water containing sedatives.   Spain's decision to sedate the Africans expelled from Melilla was criticised this month by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso.   Azeez said the planes had flown to Senegal and Cameroon where authorities had turned them away before Guinea Bissau, a former Portuguese colony, accepted them on June 22.   Amado said Spanish authorities had bribed the Guinea Bissau government to take them.   The Africans were presently housed in a cramped police prison in the capital Bissau, sleeping on the floor and served just two meals a day, Azeez said.   The hunger strikers could leave the prison by bribing the guards, he added, speaking from the human rights office.   "The hunger strikers want to be transferred to a hotel in Bissau from the prison.   They are not criminals," Amado said.   He added that the hunger strikers were demanding medical treatment during their stay in Bissau.   Guinea Bissau officials have said they planned to send the immigrants back to their countries of origin -- Nigeria, Liberia, Cameroon, Togo, Central African Republic and Rwanda.   The Africans had ended an earlier hunger strike lasting four days this month after Guinea-Bissau Interior Minister Amaro Correia assured them he would mediate a solution with Spain.   But when Bissau officials later changed their position and said they would repatriate the men, the Africans decided on Tuesday to start an indefinite hunger strike.   "They are taking nothing -- no water or salt," Amado said.   Guinea-Bissau authorities had already repatriated five of the original group of 50 to neighbouring Guinea, he said.   The group are among hundreds of Africans who try to cross the narrow Strait of Gibraltar into Spain from north Africa every year in search of a better life in Europe. 
1050 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !G158 !GCAT  The United States and European Commission are due to meet in mid-September to pursue negotiations on a veterinary and phytosanitary equivalency agreement, U.S. and Commission officials said.   They said that following agreement on a basic framework, both sides will try to settle detailed technical annexes for live animals, fresh and processed meat, plants, plant products pet food and other categories by the end of 1996.   The agreement, which involves mutual recognition of animal and plant health standards, will cover around $4 to $5 billion annual trade, a U.S. farm official said.   The European Commission is negotiating similar agreements with Canada, Latin America -- notably Argentina and Uruguay -- Australia, New Zealand and eastern Europe.   --Brussels newsroom +322 287 6830 
1051 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Germany's federal court said on Wednesday it would investigate the nuclear power plant at Kruemmel to see if it was in any way responsible for the large number of cases of leukemia in the area.   The Mainz children's cancer register shows that the incidence of leukemia among children is up to 70 times higher around the Kruemmel plant than in the rest of the country.   The move by the federal court in Berlin overturns a previous decision by the Schleswig adminstrative court from 1994, which rejected a claim that there was a link between the power plant and a series of leukemia cases in the locality.   The chairwoman of the environmental organisation BUND, Renate Backhaus, took the Finance and Energy ministries of Schleswig-Holstein to court after the plant's operators Hamburg Elektrizitaets-Werke introduced a new kind of combustion element at the plant in 1991.   The introduction of the new combustion element was approved by the authorities at the time.   The federal court said the initial decision by the Schleswig court was reached without investigating the possibility of a link to the leukemia cases.   The case has been referred back to the Schleswig court, with instructions to carry out a full security investigation into the plant before a decision is reached.   HEW said the decision would not affect the operation of Kruemmel.   It remained convinced there was no connection between the operation of the power plant and leukemia among children in the area.   The decision to investigate the Kruemmel plant has been widely welcomed by environmentalists in Germany.   The Green party in Schleswig-Holstein said it was a small step on the way to closing the Kruemmel plant.   Other German energy companies also said the Kruemmel decision would not affect the operation of their nuclear power plants.   "The decision doesn't affect us," a spokesman for the Bavarian power company Bayernwerk said in Munich.   A spokesman for RWE Energie in Duesseldorf said the Kruemmel case was a very specialised individual case which did not affect its power plants. 
1052 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  A Bonn parliamentary commission will examine the failure of Germany's BND intelligence service to prevent the export of chemical weapons-making technology to Libya, the commission chairman said on Wednesday.   Authorities this week revealed that 3.2 million marks' ($2.15 million) worth of state-of-the-art equipment to mix poison gases was sent to Libya from Germany between 1990 and 1993 in defiance of German arms control laws.   The BND conceded on Tuesday that it interviewed one of the suspects at length four years ago without discovering the deals.   It denied reports that the man, Lebanese-born businessman Berge Balanian, had worked as a BND informer.   Parliamentary control commission chairman Wilfried Penner of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) told German Radio the commission would "examine this matter intensively, probably next week".   He said there was no evidence the government had acted wrongly in the matter.   But Manfred Such, the opposition Greens member of the control commission, said the BND's version of events was implausible.   "The BND's account that it had for years been speaking to Balanian about Libya in general but failed to find out about the poison gas deal...is hard to imagine.   "And if the BND really had no idea about a deal of this importance, this would again call into question the quality of its insight and the value of the BND," Such said in a statement.   The BND has recently had to battle allegations of incompetence on several fronts.   In particular, it was accused of luring smugglers into bringing highly radioactive plutonium to Germany from Russia in 1994, and was forced to investigate its own staff for pocketing money intended to buy the services of Russian officers.   The Libyan affair is also embarrassing for the government, which clamped down on the arms trade after German firms in the 1980s equipped a plant at Rabta in Libya suspected of making chemical weapons.   Prosecutors believe Balanian also tried to supply equipment for Rabta, which burned down in 1990.   SPD arms control expert Herbert Bachmaier said it was possible his party would try to call a special parliamentary inquiry into the Libyan affair, similar to one currently examining the plutonium smuggling incident. 
1053 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has pulled its mission out of Grozny, said on Wednesday developments in Chechnya were giving rise to serious concern.   The OSCE chairman-in-office, Swiss Foreign Minister Flavio Cotti, urged those involved in the conflict not to resort to violence but to observe the ceasefire and seek a peaceful settlement.   "The developments in the last two days have given rise to very serious concerns in view of the danger of a major military confrontation in Grozny which would cause significant loss of life and suffering, in particular among the civilian population," Cotti said in a statement issued from OSCE headquarters in Vienna.   A spokesman for the European security forum confirmed an earlier statement from a Swiss diplomat in Moscow who said the OSCE had withdrawn its mission from the Chechen capital.   "The mission has moved out for the time being and set up in neighbouring Ingushetia," the spokesman said, adding that the mission would continue its work.   Russia's acting commander of forces in Chechnya threatened on Monday to bomb Grozny if rebels, who captured most of the city on August 6, did not withdraw in 48 hours.   But Russian President Boris Yeltsin's security chief Alexander Lebed, who is intent on resolving the Chechnya conflict peacefully, said the issue of the Russian military's ultimatum to bomb rebels in Grozny would be resolved by Thursday morning, Itar-Tass news agency reported. 
1054 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Belgian national airline Sabena SA on Wednesday launched a crucial round of talks with trade unions aimed at bringing the company back in profit from 1998.   Sabena spokesman Erik Sclep said the talks are due to be finalised by the end of October.   Both management and unions had agreed not to comment in the meantime.   Chief executive Paul Reutlinger said in June Sabena needed to make extra savings of 4.7 billion francs ($154 million).   "We will not abandon (that target), 4.7 billion have to be found by 1998," Sclep said.   These include two billion francs in labour-related cost reductions.   The remainder will come from improved income and cost reductions based on proposals from management.   Talks will also focus on Reutlinger's proposal to sell Sabena's catering division and hire out cargo capacity.   Reutlinger said in June Sabena cargo could be integrated in the cargo division of Swissair, which owns 49.5 percent of Sabena.   The rest is held by the Belgian state.   -- Bert Lauwers, Brussels Newsroom +32 2 287 6815, Fax +32 2 230 7710 
1055 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  African immigrants on a hunger strike to try avoid expulsion from France vowed on Wednesday to continue their fast, calling a conciliatory move by the government insufficient.   "The hunger strike goes on," a spokeswoman for the protesters, named as Madiguene, told reporters after meeting Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre.    Prime Minister Alain Juppe earlier asked the Council of State, the highest administrative court, to review the enforcement of controversial immigration laws in a bid to end the protest by some 300 Africans, 10 of them on a 48-day-old hunger strike.   The protesters' spokesman Abubakar Diop said Debre told them some of the protesters could not be allowed to stay under 1993 laws on immigration.   "Whatever the Council of State's ruling is, some people will not be given residence permits," he said.   The hunger strike has turned into a quandary for the government.   The protesters, holed up in a Paris church, are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers determined to prevent police from seizing them. 
1056 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !G158 !GCAT  The United States and the European Commission are due to meet in mid-September to pursue negotiations on veterinary and phytosanitary equivalency agreements, U.S. and Commission officials said this week.   They said that following agreement on a basic framework, both sides will try to settle detailed technical annexes by the end of 1996.   The agreement, which involves mutual recognition of animal and plant health standards, will cover around $4 to $5 billion annual trade, the U.S. farm official said.   Agreements will cover trade in sectors such as live animals, fresh and processed meat, plants, plant products and pet food.   A Commission official said that one outstanding problem was that the United States had not yet implemented a regionalisation provision of the 1994 Uruguay Round of world trade talks.   The provision allows for the placing of trade curbs to deal with animal and plant diseases on a regional basis instead of on the whole EU.   The European Commission is negotiating similar agreements with Canada, Latin America -- notably Argentina and Uruguay -- Australia, New Zealand and eastern Europe. 
1057 !GCAT !GCRIM  Paul and Betty Marchal have lived a nightmare since their eldest daughter An disappeared along with a female friend exactly one year ago.   "You wonder whether they are still alive, where they are, what happened to them..." An's father Paul Marchal told Reuters in an interview.   Part of the mystery was solved when convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux confessed last weekend that he had kidnapped An, then aged 19, and her friend Eefje Lambrecks, 17, in Ostend on August 21, 1995.   But the nightmare continues as the fate of the girls remains unknown.   Dutroux had earlier led police to the bodies of two eight-year-old girls after two other children were rescued from one of his houses.   Both had been sexually abused.   "We discussed every possibility of what could have happened (to An)," Betty Marchal told Reuters.   "But we never expected this.   This is totally inhuman," husband Paul added.   The arrest of Dutroux and his accomplices and the discovery of the four other girls rekindled hopes in recent days that An and Eefje could be found.   "The prosecutor says there is a possibility (of finding them) and if he says so he must have some facts to prove this... I just hope it will not be a matter of weeks any more," Paul said.   Media reports the girls were in the Czech Republic or the Netherlands fuelled hopes for an early breakthrough.   But Michel Bourlet, the public prosecutor in charge of the case, said on Tuesday there was no real news.   Asked whether the tension now had become unbearable, he said: "I've always suppressed my feelings.   I have hardly had any time to let my feelings out."   "There is not so much anger because we didn't have the time to absorb it all.   This is not a man but a monster," he said of Dutroux.   He also appealed to anyone holding the girls to let them go.   "If they do something more horrible, if they kill them, it will more difficult for (the abductors) too.  .   bring them back please," he said.   Marchal was bitter about the lack of cooperation from police after his daughter went missing.   "Police always said the girls had just run off.   It took police 10 days to react," he said.   He also attacked the lack of information.   "Sometimes we were without news for several months and even then we had to call them, to hear there was no news," he said.   The Marchals, who have four children, have quietly endured the barrage of media interest in the case, Belgium's worst child-sex scandal.   Their telephone and door bells ring almost constantly, but An's 16-year-old sister Karen and brothers Kris, 14, and Gert, 12, are undeterred.   "The only thing they complain about is that we can give them so little attention now," Paul said.   He admitted he was more worried about the three than before An's abduction.   "They have to stick to strict arrangements...but you cannot lock them up, can you?   That's what we tried to do at first but they let us know that was out of the question."   The centrepiece of the living room is a big poster with An and Eefje's picture and the word "missing" in six languages.   Stacks of newspapers and leaflets on the missing girls fill tables. 
1058 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !M14 !M143 !MCAT  Western diplomats at the United Nations said Wednesday that the administrative arrangements necessary before first Iraqi oil can flow under the recent "oil-for-food" deal remain about two weeks away.   Four overseers, independent experts from the United States, France, Russia and Norway, who will approve oil sales contracts on a day-to-day basis are expected to be in place at the U.N. this week, said one diplomat on the U.N.'s Iraqi sanctions committee.    Once in place, Baghdad must submit its pricing mechanism, a step which is expected to take place next week.   This will consist of a pricing formula to be used for term contract sales based on three regional benchmark crudes - North Sea Brent for Europe, West Texas Intermediate for the Americas and Dubai for the Middle and Far East.   Iraq will also be permitted to sell its oil on the spot market, subject to sanctions committee approval, at market prices rather than formula prices, diplomats said.    Diplomats said the process to complete the accord, reached on May 20 accord, is on schedule but would take more time and continue into September.   "We're waiting for contracts to sign on the goods inspectors, and to put the oil monitors in place," said a Western diplomat.   "It's at least two, maybe three weeks (from completion)," the diplomat said.   The United Nations named the four overseers on August 8, the date the sanctions committee adopted procedures for oil sales and aid purchases.    Since procedures were adopted, U.N. officials have worked to finalize the last bits of the oil-for-food scheme.   The plan allows Iraq to sell $2 billion worth of crude over six months on a renewable basis to ease effects of sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990.   U.N. Under-Secretary-General Chinmaya Gharekhan said last week that the United Nations wanted as many "indispensible" people on the ground in Iraq as possible before the secretary-general's report is finalized.    This set of monitors would be recruited individually by the U.N. secretariat.   Another 32 independent inspection agents would be recruited through another company to monitor the import of humanitarian aid, a step later in the process.   Distribution of goods in the northern Kurdish regions of the country would remain under U.N. control.   The initial six-month period begins the day after Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali submits his report to the U.N. Security Council.   The Dutch company Saybolt has been signed to field 14 independent inspection agents to monitor the oil exports from Iraq.   Before oil sales can start, the U.N. must also hire 150 monitors to observe the distribution of supplies in central and southern Iraq, to ensure they reached all sections of the population and to report on the adequacy of supplies.   -Patrick Connole, +1 212 859 1828 
1059 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre asked France's highest administrative court on Wednesday to review the enforcement of immigration laws in a move to end a 48-day hunger strike by African immigrants, officials said.   A spokesman for Prime Minister Alain Juppe said after a ministerial meeting that Debre had apealed to the Council of State over the protest by some 300 immigrants, 10 of them on hunger strike, who are defying expulsion orders.    "The interior minister has appealed to the Council of State to demand an opinion so as to have all the information at his disposal," a spokesman for Juppe said.   In another sign of a new conciliatory stance by the government, representatives of the protesters met Debre at his ministry in their first encounter since the hunger strike began.   The hunger strikers have pledged to continue their fast and are flanked by about 300 other protesters occupying the Saint-Bernard church in Paris' heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district.   Hundreds of sympathisers have been surrounding the church since last week, ready to prevent police seizing the protesters. 
1060 !C13 !C17 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT  Irish Farm Minister Ivan Yates will meet EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler in early September to discuss a rescue package for the European beef industry.   An Irish spokesman in Brussels said on Wednesday that the meeting would take place in Brussels ahead of an EU Farm Council on September 16-17 and an informal meeting in Killarney, Ireland, on September 22-24 when beef will be the main agenda item.   Fischler proposed accepting male cattle of between seven and nine months into intervention stores, raising 1996 and 1997 tonnage ceilings and reducing eligibility to the male special beef premium.   A calf slaughter scheme in Britain and Portugal would be extended to all member states and extra incentives offered for extensive beef production.   The Irish Times reported on Wednesday that Irish farmers are unhappy with proposals presented by Fischler in July to aid beef producers hit by a sharp drop in demand due to the mad cow crisis.   They have complained that up to 50 percent of Irish beef cattle would be excluded from intervention because they exceed the weight limits said.   They wanted special intervention rules in Ireland.   Irish farmers have also criticised the proposal for slaughering calves under 10 days of age, demanding aid instead for culling older cows, the newspaper said. 
1061 !GCAT !GPRO  Mother Teresa, who founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in India's most populous city, is being treated for heart problems in a nursing home, authorities said on Thursday.   Police in the eastern city of Calcutta said Mother Teresa, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who will be 86 on Tuesday, was admitted to the intensive care unit of the nursing home on Wednesday evening with "cardiac problems".   A spokesman for Woodlands Nursing Home said Mother Teresa had been admitted with fever and was being treated for some heart problems.   "Right now she is resting," the spokesman said.   Mother Teresa's Roman Catholic religious order, the Missionaries of Charity, said it could give no information on her condition.   The health of the woman regarded by many as a living saint began to deteriorate in 1989, when she was fitted with a heart pacemaker.   In 1991, Mother Teresa was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In May 1993, she fell in Rome and broke three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive yet another award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   The wrinkled nun of Albanian descent founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1949.   The religious order now has nearly 3,000 people ministering to the needy, dying and orphaned in the slums of 200 cities.   The work includes the care of nearly 7,000 children in 120 homes and arranging 1,500 adoptions each year.   In 1988 nearly four million sick people were treated at her 629 mobile clinics. 
1062 !GCAT !GVIO  Indian troops seized huge quantities of explosives in a major raid on a militant hideout just a fortnight ahead of state elections in troubled Jammu and Kashmir, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Wednesday.   It quoted defence officials as saying the troops seized nearly 900 kgs (1,980 lb) of dangerous material to make explosives and another 140 kgs (310 lb) of ready-made explosives during the raid.   The police arrested two members of the militant Harkat-ul-Ansar group in connection with the seizure.   Authorities have tightened security in Kashmir valley where dozens of militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule.   The main separatist group, the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, has said it is not supporting next month's elections which are being held after a gap of nine years.   The polls, staggered over four days, begin on September 7. 
1063 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Bangladeshi opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament on Wednesday in protest against police raids on Dhaka University residential halls where violence erupted between student groups, parliamentary sources said.   Members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami staged the walkout after they were refused permission to open an unscheduled debate on the campus clashes, the sources said.   Home Minister Rafiqul Islam told the house in a statement later there was a "sinister design" to create chaos in the country and destabilise the new government.   Police denied any firing on the campus but said they had used teargas after violence broke out between the Chhatra League, the student wing of ruling Awami League, and Jatyatabadi Chhatradal (JCD) of the BNP.   Islam said police resorted to action only after JCD activists attacked them with guns.   He said the JCD protesters were preventing students from attending class.   The JCD called a strike on campus after their supporters were driven out by rivals from a residential hall on Tuesday.   Hospital sources said Shahiduddin Chowdhury Ani, the president of JCD, was injured and admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.   The JCD supporters, angered by the incident, set fire to the office of the provost of a university hall.   Police said they then raided university dormitories to flush out fighting students and found four guns.   Two JCD students had been arrested, they said.   Nearly 20 students and one policeman had been injured since Monday in sporadic clashes between the rival student groups, police said. 
1064 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in Wednesday's Pakistani newspapers.   DAWN   - Iran and Pakistan have agreed to conduct a feasibility study for laying of 1,600 km gas pipeline for the supply of 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day to Pakistan.   - Pakistan petroleum dealers association has increased the rates of petrol with immediate effect.   - Pak-Afghan traders group has alleged that their trade goods were being stolen during transit at various railway stations in the country.   - The fastest growing industry in the developing world is the leasing industry in which investments reached $40 billion in 1994, says an International Finance Corporation report.   - Malaysian delegation headed by Mezan Mahatir has agreed to invest in six different communication projects in Pakistan relating to logistics and transportation of goods.   - The next Islamic summit conference will be held in Islamabad on March 23, 1997, says Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.   BUSINESS RECORDER   - The government has announced an increase of 1.5 to 6.6 percent in different categories of petroleum products.   - Shaheen Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SETDCO of Indonesia and Dutch PTT Telecom to join hands for bidding for strategic 26 percent shares of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd.   - Azerbaijan Airlines has decided to suspend its Baku-Karachi-Baku flights from September 1 following a dispute with their General Sales Agent in Pakistan.   FINANCIAL POST   - Sugar prices surged by 50 rupees per 100 kg bag due to short supply.   -- Islamabad newsroom 9251-274757 
1065 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indian business and political stories in leading newspapers on Wednesday prepared for Reuters by Business News and Information Services Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.   Telephone: 11-3324842, 11-3761233; Fax: 91-11-3351006   Internet: biznis.  news@forums.  sprintrpg.  sprint.  com    -------oo0oo-------    TOP STORIES   The Hindustan Times   INDIA VETOES TEST BAN TREATY   India vetoed the draft text of the controversial Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), thus posing hurdles in sending the pact to the UN General Assembly.   Indian envoy Arundhati Ghose said the draft CTBT did not serve the purpose of promoting the realisation of universal disarmament goals.   The US and its allies reacted sharply to India's action and vowed to bring the pact to the UN General Assembly for signature somehow.   Pakistani envoy Munir Akram condemned the Indian veto and expressed concern about what he called New Delhi's nuclear ambitions.   ----   The Times Of India   EXPELLED BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY LEADER LAUNCHES NEW PARTY   Expelled) leader Shankarsinh Vaghela of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has formed a new party, the Rashtriya Janata Party (RJP).   The other new party formed by the BJP rebels, the Gujarat Janata Party, has declared its merger with Vaghela's RJP.   The United Front coalition, meanwhile, continued parleys with Vaghela with a view to forming a non-BJP government in Gujarat with the Congress party's support.   ----   Indian Express   SCRAP TELECOMMUNICATION LICENCES: COMMUNIST LEADER   Communist Party of India-Marxist Parliament member Ashok Mitra urged the Prime Minister to suspend all licences for basic and cellular telecommunications services issued in 1995.   The demand followed recent raids on the residence of former Communications Minister Sukh Ram by the Central Bureau of Investigation which led to the recovery of about 36.6 million rupees.   Mitra asked the Prime Minister to institute an inquiry into the procedure adopted for issuing the licences.   ----   The Economic Times   PLAN TO ABOLISH APPROVAL FOR POWER PROJECTS UP TO 250 MW   The Indian government plans to abolish the need for approval by the Central Electricity Authority of power projects of up to 250 megawatt capacity or investments of up to 10 billion rupees.   Techno-economic clearance of the Central Electricity Authority would not be any more mandatory for such projects, junior power minister S. Venugopalachari said.   The power ministry is preparing a comprehensive energy policy to this effect in consultation with the ministries of finance, power, petroleum and coal.   There are plans to provide single window clearance for all power projects to speed up implementation of projects in this sector, the minister said.   ----   GRASIM CAN PLACE UP TO 51 PCT EQUITY WITH FOREIGN INVESTORS   The Finance Ministry has allowed Grasim to place up to 51 percent of its paid-up capital with foreign institutional investors (FIIs).   Granting approval to its $125 million global depository receipt (GDR) issue, the government clarified that FII investment in the company should not cross the 51 percent limit.   Sources said the company would become yet another blue chip whose majority stake might be owned by foreigners in the event of its GDRs being converted.   ----   CENTRAL BANK TO TIGHTEN ACCOUNTING GUIDELINES FOR BANKS   Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the central bank, is working on fresh guidelines to tighten the accounting and provisioning norms of commercial banks.   It is also working on uniform guidelines to calculate the non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks.   Although a relook at the provisioning and accounting norms was expected this year, recent irregularities in Indian Bank and Vijaya Bank prompted the RBI to step up its momentum, sources said.   ----    Financial Express   MAJOR REVAMP AT DCM-DAEWOO ON THE ANVIL   South Korea-based Daewoo plans to restructure DCM-Daewoo Motors Ltd once it is allowed to increase its stake in the joint venture (JV) to 75 percent.   Daewoo's Indian partner DCM recently agreed to divest a chunk of its stake in the JV in favour of the former.   Daewoo plans to revamp the JV's board of directors by easing out the DCM nominees.   All DCM nominees along with the nominee of Toyota Motor Corp, another stake holder, may now resign from the board.   The word DCM may also be dropped from the name of the company as well as the car.   ----   JAPAN EXIM BANK TO FUND HINDUJAS' POWER PLANT   The Japan Exim Bank and the Export Credit Agency of the UK have agreed to finance 75 percent of the 31.5 billion rupee debt component for the Hinduja National Power Corporation's power project.   The rest of the fund for 1040 MW coal based thermal power station at Visakhapatnam is to be raised from financial institutions - the Industrial Development Bank of India and SBI Capital Markets Ltd.   ----   Business Standard   INVESTMENT NORMS TO BE RECAST FOR PROVIDENT FUNDS   The Union finance ministry may recast the investment norms of provident funds.   The new norms are expected to facilitate release of about 100 billion rupees for investment in top-rated debt instruments of financial institutions, banks and public sector undertakings.   The ministry's move is aimed at imparting greater flexibility in fund management to provident funds and, thereby ensure better returns to the trusts that manage them.   The proposed changes are expected to enhance the returns from the funds to about 14-15 percent from the current rate of 11 percent, sources said.   ----   The Observer   SMALL INVESTORS TO GET DISCOUNT ON SHARE SELL-OFF   The government plans to sell shares of public sector units (PSUs) this September at discounted prices to domestic small investors in the first tranche of disinvestment in the current fiscal.   The finance ministry is waiting for book builders for to fix the final prices for the PSU shares.   The move to offer discount to domestic small investors is aimed at creating a wider market for the PSU shares instead of banking on foreign and domestic institutional investors.   ----   COMMITTEE TO DRAFT NORMS FOR POWER PRODUCERS   The power ministry has set up a committee of financial institutions (FIs) to lay down new norms for payment guarantee to independent power producers.   The committee is planning to make it mandatory for the state electricity boards, as buyers of power, to operate escrow accounts with payments from consumers.   This is being contemplated following the decision not to offer sovereign counter-gaurantees to any more private power projects.   ----   Business Line   RUPEE LOAN FOR DABHOL POWER PROJECT MAY COST MORE   A consortium of Indian lenders to Enron's Dabhol power project is ready to revalidate the rupee loan agreement provided the disbursements are made at the highest end of the prevailing interest rate band.   This means the earlier interest rate of 17.5 percent on the rupee loans, worked out in 1994, will now be over 20 percent.   Bankers said this was in line with the interest rate being charged by the lenders for all term loans sanctioned to new projects in the last several months.   ---- 
1066 !GCAT !GPRO  Mother Teresa, who founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in India's most populous city, is being treated for heart problems in a nursing home, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Wednesday.   The news agency said Mother Teresa, a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who will be 86 on Tuesday, had been admitted to a nursing home in Calcutta with a fever, but was now being treated for cardiac problems.   PTI quoted a spokesman for the nursing home as saying she had some cardiac problems earlier in the day "which the doctors are attending to on an emergency basis".   The health of the woman regarded by many as a living saint began to deteriorate in 1989, when she was fitted with a heart pacemaker.   In 1991, Mother Teresa was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In May 1993, she fell in Rome and broke three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive yet another award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   The wrinkled nun of Albanian descent founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1949.   The Roman Catholic religious order now has nearly 3,000 people ministering to the needy, dying and orphaned in the slums of 200 cities.   The work includes the care of nearly 7,000 children in 120 homes and arranging 1,500 adoptions each year.   In 1988 nearly four million sick people were treated at her 629 mobile clinics.   PTI said Mother Teresa was now resting but gave no further details. 
1067 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GENV  India and the United States signed an agreement on Wednesday to work jointly on various projects in the energy sector which could translate into huge American investments in India, officials said.   The agreement, signed after two days of talks between officials of both countries, includes plans to jointly develop policies for private investments in power projects in India's mainly state-controlled energy sector.   "We focussed on certain suggestions made by our private sector," Dirk Forrister, assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Energy, leader of the American delegation, told Reuters after a news conference.   The agreement was signed barely a month after India finally cleared a $2.1 billion power project planned by Enron Corporation after a year-long dispute.   Forrister said India has promised the United States faster clearances of power projects to facilitate investments in India's energy sector.   "We will speed up clearances and lay down relevant policies," India's power secretary P. Abraham told reporters.   Energy officials say India's current installed capacity is 87,000 megawatts per year and it will rise to 142,000 mega watts by 2007.   Abraham said both countries would jointly lay down policies for greater private participation in hydro-electric projects and chalk out procedures to finance small and medium-sized power projects.   A joint advisory group on coal will be formed to accelerate utilisation of coal fly ash, Abraham said.   Officials of both countries will also jointly work on projects related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and reduction of green house gas emissions.   Forrister said the agreement would make it easier for international investors to set up power units in India.   "I think its a very very exciting time.   There are so many (potential projects) floating around there.   They are all exciting in terms of size and scale," he said.   "The power sector is the story of the 90's with respect to Indo-U.S. relations," Forrister had said on Tuesday.   --Arindam Nag, New Delhi newsroom +91-11-301 2024 
1068 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to overturn a lower court order summoning former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to appear as a co-accused in a cheating case.   But the court told Rao's lawyer that the former prime minister could ask another lower court magistrate to take up the case and reconsider the summons, which has cast a shadow over his future as head of the embattled Congress party.   The Supreme Court's decision appeared to be a partial setback to Rao's hopes of having the summons quashed, legal experts said.   The court left open the possibility that Rao would manage to have the summons rescinded by a lower court.   Rao, who did not appear during two days of hearings before the Supreme Court, has been exempted from appearing personally at the lower court trial until the Supreme Court decides whether the magistrate was justified in ordering him to testify as a co-accused.   The two-judge bench said it was "not going to upset the order of the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Prem Kumar summoning Mr Rao at this state.   But the former prime minister is not without remedy".   The United News of India said Kumar, the magistrate who last month summoned Rao to appear as co-accused, had since been promoted, raising the possibility that the former prime minister could approach another magistrate.   The Supreme Court said it would take a final decision after hearing from Rao's counsel, Kapil Sibal, on Thursday morning.   Sibal said he would consult Rao about the suggestion that he ask another lower court magistrate to take over the case.   At issue was a case filed by expatriate Indian businessman Lakhubhai Pathak, who alleged Rao and a Hindu guru conspired to cheat him of $100,000 in 1983.   Pathak says he paid the money to guru Chandraswami in a failed attempt to secure a state newsprint contract after Rao, then foreign minister, assured him at a meeting in a New York hotel that his "work would be done".   Rao says he is innocent of the charge of criminal conspiracy to cheat, and has denied he was in New York on the dates mentioned by Pathak.   Analysts say Rao would probably be forced to relinquish leadership of the demoralised and squabbling Congress party if the court rejected his appeal and he was forced to testify.   The battered Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in April-May general elections, but is still the second largest party in parliament.   Its support is crucial to the survival of Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's 13-party coalition.   Rao's lawyers have argued that their client cannot be named as a co-accused if he was not mentioned in the initial police report. 
1069 !C24 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh returned home on Wednesday after signing a deal with Pakistan for a $1.2 billion refinery, but leaving a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline plan threatened by U.S. sanctions in the doldrums.   Pakistani officials said Aghazadeh and Pakistani Production Minister Mohammad Asghar signed the long delayed refinery agreement on Tuesday night after several years of talks.   But the two sides seemed to be considering alternative ways to escape the U.S. sanctions that could hit the $3.5 billion to $4 billion project to lay a pipeline to bring Iranian gas to Pakistan and then on to India.   Pakistani officials said Iran and Pakistan would equally share the cost of the 120,000 barrels per day refinery, which is to be set up at Hub, in Baluchistan province, near the southern port city of Karachi.   They declined to give further details.   State-run Tehran Radio said the refinery was estimated to cost $1.2 billion, "75 percent of which will be met by international sources and the rest will be paid jointly by the two countries."   The radio said Iran's equity share in the project would be met by providing technical services and equipment for the refinery which will process Iranian crude.   The deal follows a controversial $23 billion accord last week with Turkey to supply it with Iranian natural gas to the year 2020.   On the gas pipeline, Aghazadeh and Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Anwar Saifullah agreed on Tuesday to "facilitate the undertaking of a detailed feasibility...on fast track approach basis," a Pakistani government statement said.   They discussed "various options available to implement this mega-project in the shortest possible time" and stressed the need to finalise details speedily so the work could start without any further loss of time, it said.   U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a law early this month to penalise non-U.S. firms that invest $40 million or more a year in the oil and gas sectors of either Iran or Libya.   The Pakistani statement quoted Saifullah as saying a joint working committee had done "excellent work" on an alternative proposal, which seemed designed to beat the U.S. sanctions.   He said the proposal envisaged delivery of the Iranian gas at the Iran-Pakistan border "under the exclusive arrangements of the Iranian government."   Pakistan would buy gas "from the point of delivery and make arrangements for its upcountry transmission and sale under its exclusive arrangements."   Saifullah said Islamabad's "preference was to have the project completed on build, operate and own basis" but it would readily explore all possibilities to make it a reality.   Pakistan and Iran earlier decided to invite bids in July for the pipeline project, but have not done so.   The 1,600-km (1,000-mile) pipeline would carry 1.6 billion cubic feet per day of Iranian gas to Pakistan and India.   U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato, an architect of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act signed by Clinton on August 5, has warned foreign firms against getting involved in the project.   Washington accuses Tehran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear arms.   Iran denies the charges.   Several Western powers and other nations have strongly criticised the unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran. 
1070 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India's Asian neighbours criticised New Delhi's decision to block a global treaty banning nuclear tests and called its stance unrealistic.   "It is highly regrettable that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was not adopted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva because of opposition from some countries, including India," Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda said.   On Tuesday India, which led opposition to the treaty, prevented the adoption of the pact at the disarmament negotiations and pledged to try to block it being forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly.   New Delhi said it had two main objections to the treaty.   It said the pact would allow the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to retain their nuclear arsenals while the nuclear "have-nots" would be barred from obtaining the weapons.   India also opposed a provision that would require New Delhi, along with the five declared powers and the two other "threshold" states, Israel and Pakistan, to sign the agreement before it could become international law.   But U.S. disarmament negotiator Stephen Ledogar said India was shielding its real motive.   "The real reason is that the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option," Ledogar said in Geneva on Tuesday.   India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 but says it has not built the bomb.   However, the government's longstanding strategic doctrine has been to retain the option to equip itself with nuclear weapons if threatened.   New Zealand said India's professed goal of forcing the nuclear powers to commit to a disarmament timetable was unrealistic.   Most countries believe the Geneva talks were never meant to be sweeping negotiations but rather a stepping stone towards eventual disarmament.   "We certainly want to see progress to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons," a New Zealand foreign ministry official said in Wellington.   "So we share the same goal, but to seek in this treaty, which is about banning tests, a commitment to a timetable to achieve everything else, is unrealistic."   The New Zealand official said India's stand-alone stance threatened to scuttle 2-1/2 years of negotiations.   "By trying to get everything at once, you put at risk what has been achieved, the progress that's been made," he said.   New Zealand said it was working with other countries to try to forward the treaty to the U.N. General Assembly where it could be approved by a majority.   At the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, agreement requires a consensus.   "The point has been reached where negotiations won't achieve anything more in Geneva," the New Zealand official said.   Indonesia joined in the generally muted criticism of India, saying it regretted New Delhi's stance.   "We regret it because Indonesia is already in line with the concept of nuclear neutrality in this (Asia) region.   Indonesia supports the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty," a foreign ministry official in Jakarta said.   India's arch-foe Pakistan did not mince words, saying India's veto had exposed its "nefarious designs" to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile plans.   Pakistani disarmament ambassador Munir Akram said in a speech in Geneva: "Today, the mask of the 'Smiling Buddha' has been torn off revealing the face of the Goddess of War."   Akram was referring to India's only nuclear blast in 1974, which was followed by the coded message "the Buddha has smiled". 
1071 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Pakistan must grant India Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status before a free trade zone can be created in South Asia, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday.   "Let Pakistan take a decision on MFN, then we can go forward," Chidambaram told reporters, adding that all other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) were keen to move forward towards a free trade zone.   In January, trade ministers of the seven-nation SAARC agreed to accelerate measures to create a regional free trade zone by cutting tariffs across the board.   Chidambaram, who was then India's trade minister, had said that Pakistan had indicated that it would shortly resolve the issue of granting MFN status to India.   Set up a decade ago, SAARC comprises India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.   Chidambaram said at SAARC meetings India had offered a wide variety of initiatives to move towards the objective of SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Association).   "The pre-requisite for this is Pakistan giving us MFN," Chidambaram said.   Chidambaram said Pakistan had refused to offer India MFN, which is an undertaking by two countries to give each other the maximum tariff concessions on their mutual trade which they already grant to other countries.   "We are open.   They (Pakistan) are closed.   We offer them MFN.   They have not yet offered us MFN," Chidambaram said.   Sidestepping decades of political friction between its two largest members, India and Pakistan, SAARC launched a preferential trading accord last December with a goal of creating a free trade zone by the year 2000.   It granted mutual tariff cuts on 226 items, but members agreed it was not enough.   Chidambaram had in January proposed applying zero or near zero tariffs on primary commodities, which comprise 64 per cent of intra-SAARC trade.   India is SAARC's largest member.   The seven-nation region is home to 1.2 billion people and has a combined gross domestic product of $300 billion.   SAARC countries' share of total world trade is not even 1.0 percent.   Intra-SAARC trade, at 3.0 percent of its total foreign trade, is low compared with other regional groups, officials said. 
1072 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India on Wednesday dismissed international criticism of its decision to block a nuclear test ban treaty and vowed to resist pressure to sign the pact.   "There is no question of a change in our stand," Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda told reporters at an atomic research centre near Bombay.   "There is no question of yielding to pressure."   On Tuesday, India singlehandedly prevented the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) from being adopted at talks in Geneva.   New Delhi's stance, which effectively blocked 2-1/2 years of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament, drew widespread but generally muted foreign criticism.   Japan called India's decision highly regrettable, while New Zealand said New Delhi's professed goal of global nuclear disarmament at the current Geneva talks was unrealistic.   Long-time foe Pakistan had the sharpest words, saying New Delhi had exposed "nefarious designs" to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile plans.   India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 but says it has never built the bomb.   However, the South Asian nation's longstanding strategic doctrine, reiterated by the new centre-left government, is to keep the option to build nuclear weapons if threatened.   New Delhi said it opposed the CTBT because it would not commit the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to a timetable for dismantling their arsenals.   India said the nuclear powers would be able to fine-tune their weapons using laboratory techniques, not banned under the pact, while the nuclear "have-nots" would be permanently barred from obtaining the weapons.   Indian political parties quickly rallied behind the government's stance, which polls show was backed by a public that is wary of China and Pakistan's designs.   "We cannot afford to subscribe to any goal that is discriminatory, unfair and inimical to national interests," Deve Gowda said at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of Apsara, India's first nuclear reactor at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) near Bombay.   But U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar accused India of insincerity in its arguments against the draft treaty.   "The real reason is that the current government in New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option," he said.   In Singapore, Indian Foreign Minister Inder Kumar Gujral shrugged off the U.S. criticism.   "I am not going to respond to that," Gujral told a Foreign Correspondents Association lunch in Singapore.   "If we start questioning each other's motives, it may be a very dirty scene.   I don't want that."   Gujral denied India was likely to resume testing its Agni intermediate-range missile after a two-year gap.   Indian officials said they did not think New Delhi's stand-alone stance at the Geneva talks would damage fledgling business ties with the rest of the world which have blossomed since the country launched free-market reforms five years ago.   "I have been assured we don't expect any economic fallout and hope there would not be any economic fallout," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in the Indian capital.   The treaty, which supporters would like to forward to the United Nations General Assembly over India's objections, includes a clause providing for eventual, unspecified measures to encourage countries to ratify the pact.   India has expressed concern that the measures could involve punitive sanctions aimed at forcing it to approve the treaty. 
1073 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Trading on the Bombay sugar market came to a halt after workers went on a wild cat strike following an assualt on a labour leader, dealers said.   They said loading and unloading of sugar had stopped completely.   Dealers said a local labour leader had been attacked by some unknown assailants on Tuesday.   Sugar prices fell 5/10 rupees per quintal in dull trade on the previous day.   Dealers said market sentiment was firm in anticipation of a spurt in demand during a Hindu festival season beginning this month.   -Bombay Commodities +91-22-265 9000 
1074 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Wednesday reaffirmed the country's commitment to nuclear disarmament, vowing not to be a party to any "discriminatory" goals along the way.   "We believe nuclear disarmament is vital for the future of humanity and would like to work towards this goal.   However, till the goal is accepted by all, we cannot afford to subscribe to any goal that is discriminatory, unfair and inimical to national security interests," Deve Gowda told a gathering of scientists.    India has vetoed the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) being negotiated in Geneva and pledged to oppose any effort to send the treaty to the United Nations General Assembly.   New Delhi says the treaty is discriminatory because it fails to spell out a timetable for nuclear disarmament for the five declared nuclear powers and allows them to refine arsenals through computerised testing while barring other nations from tests.   Deve Gowda was speaking to a gathering of scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of India's first nuclear reactor, Apsara.   "We believe the power of atom should be used for peace and not for nuclear weapons," Gowda told the meeting. 
1075 !GCAT !GVIO  Marriage offers from soldiers are flying thick and fast for young Tamils in Sri Lanka's war-torn north, and Tamil Tiger rebels on Wednesday described the courting as harassment.   "In a Machiavellian move to break Tamil peoples' resistance to Sri Lankan army occupation of Jaffna peninsula, soldiers stationed (there) are harassing Tamil girls with offers of marriage," rebel radio said.   The clandestine radio station run by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) also said female soldiers in the mainly Sinhalese army were chasing Tamil boys with marriage offers.   But a military spokesman denied the charge: "We do not have the time to run behind girls," he said.   "Also, if it were true, it exposes the racism of the LTTE," he added.   "It shows they are not interested in intermarriage, which is good for the country and would help solve the ethnic problem."   The government, which gained control of the Jaffna peninsula in April, says more than 50,000 people have died in the civil war, now in its 14th year.   The LTTE is fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils in the Indian Ocean island's north and east. 
1076 !GCAT !GVIO  Rival student groups trying to establish their authority in residential halls at Dhaka University clashed overnight, injuring several people, police said on Wednesday.   "The situation in the campus is very tense.   The authorities may have to shut the university if the students are not calmed down," said one police officer.   Hundreds of helmeted police on Wednesday guarded the campus to prevent further fighting between the Chhatra League, the student wing of the country's ruling Awami League party, and the Jatyatabadi Chhatra Dal of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.   Police said nearly 20 students and one policeman had been injured since Monday in sporadic campus violence. 
1077 !C12 !C13 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  A communist lawmaker said on Wednesday that he has asked the Indian government to suspend all telecommunications licences awarded to private firms.   Ashok Mitra of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) told Reuters that he had written to Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda asking that the licences be suspended in view of an investigation into former communications minister Sukh Ram.   The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a corruption case against Sukh Ram, who oversaw India's ambitious telephone privatisation programme until the Congress party was defeated in April/May general elections.   Last week CBI agents recovered more than $1 million in cash during a raid on two of Sukh Ram's homes.   A senior Department of Telecommunications civil servant has been arrested in the corruption case.   Sukh Ram remained untraced on Wednesday, five days after the CBI launched the raid on his homes.   Newspapers said Indian authorities had asked the nation's diplomatic missions in Britain and the United States to help find Sukh Ram.   While the CBI has filed a corruption case against the former minister, no charges have been brought.   News reports said Sukh Ram may have gone to France or Belgium.   Mitra said his letter asking Deve Gowda to suspend the telecommunications licences was backed by the CPI-M.   Under the privatisation programme, the government has awarded licences to dozens of private joint ventures, involving both Indian and foreign companies, to operate both cellular and basic services.   A fourth round of bidding to grant basic services licences in the remaining zones has not yet been scheduled.   - New Delhi newsroom +91-11 301 2024 
1078 !GCAT !GCRIM  The detective who led the investigation into Britain's "House of Horrors" serial murders will on Wednesday meet Belgian police investigating their country's worst child sex scandal, British police said.   Superintendent John Bennett travelled to Belgium to discuss the case as an international hunt widened for two teenage girls abducted a year ago by convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux.   "At the request of the Belgian police, Superintendent John Bennett of the Goucestershire constabulary will attend a meeting in Belgium on Wednesday," said a police spokesman in Gloucester in the west of England where Bennett is based.   Police could give no further details of the meeting.   Belgian detectives on Tuesday asked Bennett, who dealt with the 19-month investigation into serial killers Rosemary and Fred West, for advice in their search for further possible victims of an organised paedophile ring.   The sight of Belgian police digging for bodies at the weekend evoked memories of scenes at the house of the Wests, where British detectives excavated the remains of the couple's dismembered victims.   The Belgian investigation went international on Tuesday as Belgium grappled with revelations of deaths, abductions and imprisonment of children by paedophile kidnappers.   Belgian police have spoken to a number of countries in their efforts to find two teenage girls who were abducted a year ago.   News reports have highlighted the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and France.   Dutch police have now reopened a number of dormant dossiers on missing children.   The West case shares many characteristics the Belgian child-sex scandal in which two children have been found dead, two are missing and two have been rescued.   (Corrects numbers of dead, missing and rescued children)   Fred and Rosemary West sexually abused and killed young girls and women who were then chopped up and buried beneath the cellar, bathroom and garden of a house labelled Britain's "House of Horrors".   Police became suspicious when they could not trace the Wests' daughter Heather and they dug up the garden in Cromwell Street in Gloucester in 1994.   In similar scenes, Belgian police at the weekend discovered the corpses of two eight-year-old girls thought to have been victims of an organised paedophilia ring who had been buried in a garden.   Convicted paedophile Dutroux and associate Michel Lelievre led police to the corpses on Saturday.   The two men were charged on Friday after police rescued two abducted young girls from a house owned by Dutroux.   Both girls had been sexually abused.   The murdered eight-year-olds had also been sexually abused, but starved to death and were buried in a garden after being kidnapped in June 1995.   Dutroux has denied responsibility for the deaths on the grounds that he was serving a four-month jail sentence for theft at the time.   He has admitted killing accomplice Bernard Weinstein for letting the girls die.   Dutroux has now admitted kidnapping two other teenage girls but their subsequent fate is a mystery.   Against stern warnings from the prosecutor involved and his own mother, Dutroux was released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for multiple rape and child abuse.   Rosemary West continues to protest her innocence.   She was found guilty in November 1995 of murdering 10 women.   Fred confessed to killing 12 women and girls but hanged himself in prison before he could face trial. 
1079 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   EVENING STANDARD   THREAT OF NEW TUBE STRIKES   Services on the Tube could be disrupted yet again as it is expected the RMT union will reject London Underground's latest pay and conditions deal.   If this is the case, two 24-hour strikes that were suspended during balloting will go ahead.   The other major union, Aslef, is expected to accept the deal.   --   CURRENCIES FOCUS ON RUSSIA AND GERMANY   Concerns over the health of President Yeltsin have caused anxiety amongst foreign exchange dealers, who are already keeping a wary eye on Germany.   The Russian jitters have had a negative effect on the Mark, which is expected to come under pressure this week for a possible cut in Repo rates.   --   IRISH BUYER SET TO WIN TILCON FOR 180 MILLION STG   The Irish building materials group CRH is about to buy Tilcon, BTR's American crushed stone and concrete business.   Bosses from both companies are in America this week to discuss the deal, which will give CRH a good position in the U.S. building materials sector and refocus BTR's operations.   --   ORANGE EYES PEOPLES   Mobile phone company Orange has got its eye on Peoples Phone, considered to be one of the industry's largest independent mobile service providers.   Orange declined to comment on the bid rumour, which would set Orange back around 150 million stg.   -- BMC +44 171 377 1742 
1080 !GCAT !GPOL  Prime Minister John Major sparked a political row on Wednesday by making Maurice Saatchi, the advertising genius who has helped Britain's Conservative Party to win four successive general elections, a Lord.   The opposition Labour Party was furious because 50-year-old Saatchi is the man behind a controversial poster featuring a picture of its leader Tony Blair with demonic red eyes.   Its anger was increased by the fact that another of the six people Major nominated to sit as Conservatives in the upper House of Lords was a public relations expert who has also advised on this campaign, Peter Selwyn Gummer.   Gummer, brother of Environment Secretary John Gummer, is chairman of a public relations company.   "I think it is quite extraordinary," Labour's environment spokesman Frank Dobson told BBC radio.   "Right in the middle of a row over what everybody...says is the dirtiest election campaign in history the government choose to give peerages to the two people who are putting this dirty, lying campaign together."   "The only problem these two people have got when they get to the House of Lords is an argument as to which of them is going to take the title Lord of the Lies," he added.   But defence secretary Michael Portillo accused Dobson of a "disgraceful attack", saying the two had produced wealth for Britain by running highly successful companies.   He said political parties had for years nominated people to replenish their strength in the House of Lords.   "But never as far as I can remember before has one party sought to denigrate the people who have been elevated to this position."   Saatchi and Gummer were among 14 people - six Conservatives, six Labour members and two others -- whom Queen Elizabeth formally announced on Wednesday she planned to make life peers.   The list followed nominations made by party leaders.   Saatchi and his elder brother Charles helped Margaret Thatcher to win power in 1979 when their Saatchi and Saatchi agency produced a poster showing a huge queue of people at an employment exchange under the slogan "Labour isn't working".   Their "Labour's Tax Bombshell" poster at the 1992 general election was widely credited with scaring enough middle-income voters away from the opposition party to give Major a majority of 21 seats in the lower House of Commons.   Maurice Saatchi was ousted from Saatchi and Saatchi in a shareholder revolt in 1994, and set up his own agency, M&C Saatchi, which the Conservatives almost immediately switched to.   It is now working on a "New Labour, New Danger" campaign designed to convince voters that despite their dropping of traditional socialist dogma, the Conservatives' principal opponents cannot be trusted.   One poster in this campaign shows a picture of Blair with red eyes which critics say portrays him as a demon.   After heavy criticism from church leaders and opposition parties, the Conservatives withdrew this poster, now under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority watchdog, but reserved the right to use it again.   Nominations for honours have sparked political controversy in Britain for years. 
1081 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   -- BSKYB READY FOR 200 NEW CHANNELS   Satellite broadcaster BSkyB which today announced record profits of 257.4 million stg, has revealed that it is on target to launch between 200 and 300 new TV channels in Britain before the end of 1997.   During the year the company signed up 900,000 new customers, bringing its total to 5.5 million in Britain and Ireland.   For the first the company saw revenue exceed one billion stg.   The company believes it has created a foundation from which it will be able to develop digital TV services in Britain.   -- BANKS NEAR ACCORD TO CUT CROSS-BORDER CREDIT RISKS   It is reported that British banks and their Japanese counterparts are close to announcing a deal that will govern the risks accepted by parties involved in the cross-border deposit market.   Any such accord as well as helping to reduce costs borne by banks operating in the sector would also help to reinforce the position of London as an international financial centre.   It would also help restore confidence in the Japanese market, where doubts have been voiced about the stability of the country's financial system.   -- HALIFAX MARKET SHARE SHRINKS   The Halifax Building Society has revealed that during the first half of the year it saw its share of the UK's mortgage market contract to 3.1 percent from a figure of 12.1 percent in the same period in 1995.   Increased competition in the sector was blamed for the decline.   During the six months the society achieved pre-tax profits of 649.1 million stg, down on the figure of 656 million stg for the same six months a year earlier.   -- MAURICE SAATCHI AMONG 14 NEW WORKING PEERS   The advertising tycoon behind the 'demonic eyes' poster campaign targeting New Labour, Maurice Saatchi, has been awarded a peerage by John Major, in a move that will cause a fresh storm over the ethics of political patronage and negative electioneering.   Further angering the opposition, the Prime Minister has given a second 'working peerage' to another key Tory insider and brother of Environment Secretary Peter Gummer.   However, it has also emerged that a key corporate donor to the Labour party, Swraj Paul, chairman of the engineering group Caparo, is also to become a lord.   -- UNIONS ARE 'LOSING APPEAL' FOR YOUNG WORKERS   A survey of attitudes carried out by the independent research institute Global Futures has found that many younger workers are losing their faith in the need for trade union membership, seeing them as marginal to their workplace interests.   The poll found that workers were three times more likely to approach a manager with work problems than a trade union representative.   The institute has noted that mass industrial action such as took place in Britain in the late 1970's is unlikely to reoccur.   -- FOREIGN BANKS WARN UK OVER OPT-OUT ON SINGLE CURRENCY   Writing to the Treasury, the Foreign Banks and Securities Houses Association has warned that the country's financial sector is being damaged by the continuing equivocal stance being adopted by the government over the planned single European currency.   Representing some 180 firms, the association notes that preparations for the advent of the euro are being set back by uncertainty over whether or not the country will opt-out.   -- ROAD BUILDERS DEMAND COMPENSATION   A number of construction companies in Britain are reported to be seeking compensation from the government after road building programs worth some 110 million stg were cancelled only days before tenders were due to be submitted.   The Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors is asking for 3 million stg in compensation to be paid to six companies involved and has expressed dismay at the timing of the decision.   A similar dispute arose two years ago when a number of major roads projects were also cancelled at the last moment.   -- SCOTTISH COUNCIL SET TO REJECT POWERGEN SCHEME   It appears likely that Scottish officials with North Lanarkshire council will reject an application by PowerGen to develop the region's first gas-fired power station.   Such a decision would lead to a public inquiry into the project being established, further delaying the company's plans.   Local politicians are concerned that the plant, to be located at Gartoch near Glasgow, would lead to the loss of jobs in the coal mining sector.   -- DELAY IN ELECTRICITY REFORMS ATTACKED   An annual report from the Electricity Consumers Committees, representing consumers in the UK, has called on the government, industry and regulator, to ensure that the 1998 target for the introduction of full competition in the electricity sector is met.   The call comes in the wake of a report from the industry which suggested that change be introduced gradually, prompting concern that a delay of 18 months could ensue.   The industry is reported to be concerned about the costs involved in preparing for greater competition.   -- HOPES RISE FOR BUNDESBANK RATE CUT   It is reported that in advance of a meeting of the policy-making council of the Bundesbank there are increased hopes that there will be a cut in the country's securities repurchase (repo) rate.   Any such reduction would have the effect of easing the pressure under which the French franc has been labouring of late.   Interest rate cut hopes have been bolstered by the latest money supply figures from Germany which indicate that there was a slowing in growth during July.   For a full range of news monitoring services, phone BMC +44-171-377-1742 
1082 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   DAILY TELEGRAPH   -- BA PLAYS DOWN RISK OF 'OPEN SKIES' RIFT   British Airways remain confident of gaining regulatory clearance for a tie-up with American Airlines despite a rift between the British and American governments on an 'open skies' agreement.   Chief executive of British Airways, Robert Ayling told a National Aviation Press Club lunch in Sydney that he was optimistic about the two governments settling differences.   Shares in BA dropped 8p to 530p yesterday amid fears that the link-up with American could collapse.   -- THISTLE TO BEAR FRUITS FOR PEEL   The chief executive of Thistle Hotels, Robert Peel, is expected to make a profit of several millions pounds from exercising options granted after his Mount Charlotte hotel group was taken over six years ago by Brierley Investments.   Thistle Hotels which formally unveiled its plans for an October flotation yesterday, is likely to be valued at between 1.0 and 1.5 billion stg.   -- TAKARE TRIMS NEW BUILDING TO FOCUS ON NURSING CARE   Britain's largest nursing home group, Takare, is to concentrate on premium-priced residential care, which it hopes to buy from other operators.   This is an about-turn for Takare, whose previous strategy was to build low cost purpose-built nursing homes, and follows recurrent crises in local authority funding of residential care and a period of prolonged weakness in Takare's share price.   THE TIMES   -- INCENTIVES COST HALIFAX 300 MILLION POUNDS   Two years of discounted home loans and cash-back offers to attract borrowers has cost the Halifax Building Society nearly 300 million stg.   They reported half year profits of 649.1 million stg, basically unchanged from the previous half year.   Britain's largest mortgage lender said that although it had chosen not to compete aggressively in the housing market this year, special deals had taken 81 million stg off its bottom-line profits.   -- BSKYB HITS NEW HEIGHTS WITH PROFITS LEAP OF 66 PERCENT   The satellite television company, British Sky Broadcasting Group, reported a record 66 percent increase in full-year profits to 257 million stg yesterday.   With total subscribers to BSkyB up 16 percent to 5.5 million and overall turnover increased 30 percent to just over one billion stg.   -- ORANGE STAYS BUOYANT DESPITE PLUNGING DEEPER INTO THE RED   Despite reporting first-half losses of 125 million stg, Orange, the mobile phone company, insisted yesterday that its industry remains in robust health.   Confusion over complex pricing tariffs was blamed for the apparent slowdown in the rate of growth of the mobile phone industry.    THE GUARDIAN   -- LIFFE MAN IS BORROWED TO FOIL COPPER SCANDAL   The London Metal Exchange, has hired John Foyle, deputy chief executive of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), to help it through the next six months.   His secondment will coincide with an investigation by the Securities and Investments board after the Exchange was shaken by scandals in the copper market.   The investigation may propose wide ranging reforms of the world's premier metal market and should be completed by Christmas.   -- BRITONS STRESSED FROM OVERWORK   Britons are being afflicted at work by extra hours, heavier workloads and greater responsibilities, without any extra pay.   A survey published yesterday by Global Futures in London entitled Working Lives in the 1990s, suggests that stress, the complaint most often associated with the 1990s, is no more than a mask for more traditional problems.   -- CHINA OUSTS JAPAN AS US DEFICIT FOE   The American trade deficit with China last month surpassed the traditional deficit with Japan.   This benchmark has been hailed over the past year as evidence that President Clinton's market-opening policy was working, but the White House was immediately confronted with a new problem with China, whose trade surpluses show little sign of slowing their breakneck growth.   THE INDEPENDENT   -- SHARES SOAR AS LENDERS SIGNAL HOUSE MARKET BOOM   Share prices soared yesterday to another record high.   By the end of trade yesterday the FT-SE 100 index closed 19.5 points, or 0.5 percent higher, at 3883.2.   Traders believe the increase was based on high hopes for a continuing housing market boom and the regular monthly survey from the Building Societies Association showed that net mortgage lending in July was up 7.0 percent on the previous month at 1.2 billion stg.   -- CONSUMERS CALL FOR POWER INVESTIGATION   A full-scale investigation into the operation of the power generation market by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission was called for yesterday by Electricity consumers' groups.   The prices levied by generators was attacked by the Chairman's Group of Electricity Consumers' Committees, who also said National Power and PowerGen, should be broken up, as they are not passing on lower costs to consumers.   -- ACTIVE IMAGING'S SHARES PLUMMET BELOW PLACING   The high tech group, Active Imaging, who were floated on the Alternative Investment Market in April, warned yesterday that results would be short of market expectations and then saw its shares dive below the placing price.   The resignation of its managing director was also announced.   The price fell 18p to 110p, which compares with the 112p flotation.   --For a full range of news monitoring services, phone BMC   +44-171-377-1742 
1083 !GCAT !GPOL  Maurice Saatchi, the advertising guru who has helped Britain's Conservative Party to win four successive general elections, is to be made a Lord on Prime Minister John Major's recommendation.   The granting of a life peerage to 50-year-old Saatchi just weeks after he produced a controversial poster featuring a picture of opposition Labour Party leader Tony Blair with demonic red eyes, looked set to cause a political storm.   Saatchi was among 14 people -- six Conservatives, six Labour members and two members of minority parties -- who Queen Elizabeth formally announced on Wednesday she planned to make members of the House of Lords.   Political sources said the list followed the nominations made by party leaders and was designed to replenish their forces in the unelected upper house of parliament.   Saatchi and his elder brother Charles helped Margaret Thatcher to win power in 1979 when their Saatchi and Saatchi agency produced a poster showing a huge queue of people at an employment exchange under the slogan "Labour isn't working".   Their "Labour's Tax Bombshell" poster at the 1992 general election was widely credited with scaring enough middle-income voters away from the opposition party to give Major a wafer-thin majority of 21 seats in the lower House of Commons.   Maurice Saatchi was ousted from Saatchi and Saatchi in a shareholder revolt in 1994, and set up his own agency, M&C Saatchi, which the Conservatives almost immediately switched to.   It is now working on a "New Labour, New Danger" campaign designed to convince voters that despite their dropping of traditional socialist dogma, the Conservatives' principal opponents cannot be trusted.   One poster in this campaign shows a picture of Blair with red eyes which critics have said makes him look like a devil.   After heavy criticism, the Conservatives withdrew this poster, now under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority watchdog, but reserved the right to use it again.   Major also ennobled Peter Selwyn Gummer, another adviser to the Conservatives on brightening up their image.   Gummer, brother of Environment Secretary John Gummer, is chairman of the Shandwick public relations company.   Labour's environment spokesman Frank Dobson said: "Awarding peerages to Peter Gummer and Maurice Saatchi takes the Tory party and the peerage system to new depths."   Nominations for peerages have sparked political controversy in Britain for years.   Labour's Harold Wilson raised eyebrows when he made his private secretary Marcia Falkender a life peer on his retirement as prime minister in 1976.   David Lloyd George, a Liberal who headed a mainly-Conservative administration after World War One was prepared to sell peerages to almost anyone prepared to pay. 
1084 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Members of the Aslef rail union have voted for a pay and hours deal proposed by the London underground railway management, the domestic news agency, the Press Association, said on Wednesday.   It said the vote was 60 percent in favour of the deal.    Aslef officials were not immediately available for comment.   Earlier on Wednesday, members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) turned the deal down, and the RMT said it would go ahead with one-day strikes planned for Friday, August 23 and Tuesday, August 27.   The RMT said its scheduled strikes would go ahead even if Aslef members voted for the package and called off their dispute. 
1085 !GCAT !GENT !GPRO  As Queen Elizabeth ponders changes to Britain's 1,000-year old monarchy including renunciation of state subsidies in exchange for a return of ancient estates, the spotlight is focused on the royal family's complicated finances.   Confusion has always surrounded the wealth of Britain's 70-year-old queen, one of the world's richest women, who is worth an estimated 158 million pounds ($244 million) according to Business Age Books.   But a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the figure, modest by some estimates, is still grossly exaggerated.   "As far as the queen's private monies are concerned an estimate is never given.   People like Business Age tend to include inalienable items -- palaces and jewels -- which are not the queen's to sell," she said.   Last year the queen received 8.6 million pounds ($13.4 million) in state subidies from the Civil List to meet her expenses as monarch and to cover the allowances of other family members.   In addition she received a grant-in-aid for the upkeep of the royal palaces totalling 20.5 million pounds ($31.7 million).   Travel costs and maintenance of the royal yacht and aircraft of the Queen's Flight boosted the overall public cost of keeping the royal family to at least 60 million pounds a year.   As private income, she also netted an additional 5.3 million pounds from The Privy Purse which gets its funding from the Duchy of Lancaster, an estate owned by the queen which has 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) of land and commercial property in London, as well as an investment portfolio.   Since 1992, to placate critics of her wealth and the high-spending habits of some members of the royal family, the queen has paid tax on her personal income -- the revenue fromn the Duchy of Lancaster and from other assets.   Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the queen, Prince Charles and other royal family members are part of a strategic committee looking at ways of updating and improving the monarchy, tarnished by series of royal scandals and divorces.   One option they are reported to be considering is scrapping the Civil List and instead allowing the monarch income from the Crown Estate.   The estate, comprising land in England, Scotland, Wales and lucrative areas of London, was surrendered to the government by George III in 1760 in exchange for a fixed annual income.   With profits of the Crown Estate at 94.6 million pounds last year, the queen stands to profit from the deal and would no longer be at the mercy of members of parliament who must approve the Civil List each year.   But Phillip Hall, an expert on royal finances and author of "Royal Fortune: Tax, Money and the Monarchy", said the queen has no right to the revenues of the Crown Estate.   "It is unthinkable that any government will restore the Crown Estate to the queen or her successor," he said in a recent commentary.   If the queen and her family are sincere about improving their image and saving money, Hall suggested there are better ways to do it.   "The most straightforward method is to spend less money," he said.   "Each of the monarchies on the continent costs well under half of the deluxe British version...they have fewer relatives living in publicly-funded palaces, less extravagant transport and fewer flunkies." 
1086 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Britain said on Wednesday that heavy fighting between two Kurdish factions in the Western- protected enclave in Northern Iraq was putting international humanitarian aid to the area at risk.   The Foreign Office (ministry) issued a statement expressing concern at reports of renewed clashes between the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).   "Conflict...puts at risk the substantial international humanitarian aid programme in the area," the statement said.   "We urge both sides to refrain from further fighting."   Britain has provided some 70 million pounds ($108 million) in aid, either directly or via contributions to European Union projects, to northern Iraq since 1991 when the Gulf War between Iraq and Western nations ended.   On Monday Turkish Cypriot radio, monitored by the BBC, reported United Nations officials as saying that at least 10 people had been killed and more than 40 had been wounded in the most intense fighting between the two groups for two years.   Britain's Times newspaper reported on Tuesday that the clashes had taken place in remote mountains near the town of Rawanduz close to the Iranian border.   It said the PUK had accused the KDP of collusion with the forces of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, while the KDP had claimed its rival was using heavy weapons supplied by Iran.   ($1=.6460 Pound) 
1087 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  The opposition UK Labour party, thrust on the political defensive by recent economic figures suggesting a return of the feelgood factor, fought back on Wednesday by publishing statistics showing unemployment is still a major problem.   Ian McCartney, Labour's chief employment spokesman, said 3.2 million or 18 percent of Britain's 17.7 million households with adults of working age had no one in paid employment.   McCartney said the figures, compiled by the House of Commons library from the government's own Labour Force Survey, showed why job insecurity continued to plague every area of Britain.    "Even if you yourself have a job, there is a one in five chance that no one at all is working next door," he said.   McCartney said in a statement the statistics exposed what he called the "dreadful reality of mass unemployment" that ministers were trying to hide.   "For so many households to have no adult in a job is not only a tragedy for the families concerned, it puts a massive burden on the taxpayer and has worrying long-term consequences for society at large.   "These figures show that Tory policies are cutting off entire families from the world of work.   The UK cannot afford the economic and social costs of allowing unemployment to become an inherited way of life," McCartney said.   Another Labour spokesman, Alistair Darling, said a 0.6 percent drop in July retail sales reported on Wednesday also showed that the Conservatives were unjustified in claiming a return of the feelgood factor.   "These figures show there is no room for complacency on the economy and bear out people's misgivings over the strength of the recovery," darling, who was promoted last month to the post of shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7767 
1088 !C18 !C182 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  Britain's Department of Social Security said on Wednesday it had shortlisted six consortia out of 28 that expressed interest in its plans to transfer its extensive property holdings to the private sector.   The six groups, which will be whittled down to three by the end of October, are headed by Goldman Sachs International, Nationsbank, Nomura International Plc, Prime Property Services Ltd, Pro Vita and UBS/Natwest Markets.   The DSS has 1.7 million square metres of office space in more than 700 properties.   It pays 160 million stg in rental charges alone each year, and the purpose of the initiative is to reduce these running costs while securing adequate space for the next 20 years.   The DSS hopes to select a single preferred bidder by next spring and expects to exchange contracts next autumn.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7767 
1089 !GCAT !GENV  The British government on Wednesday unveiled what it called the first comprehensive national air quality strategy in Europe with the aim of eliminating smog by the year 2005.   Under the new measures, authorities could close off parts of cities and stop cars if pollution gets too high.   Environment Secretary John Gummer announced targets for major cuts in the level of eight key pollutants ranging from benzene to ozone, which a consultation paper drawn up by his department blames for hundreds of premature deaths every year.   "My aim is that in the first decade of the next century, children will begin to say to their parents "what was smog?'  ," he told a news conference.   "If we can do that, then we have made a major improvement to the environment and to the nation."   Speaking during a week in which record high temperatures have sent pollution levels soaring in London, Gummer insisted that British air quality had improved greatly from the 1950s and 1960s when heavy industry belched out smoke from factories across the land.   Improvements to industrial processes and to vehicle emissions already under way and the adoption of new European Union standards would bring further improvements -- but in many cases not enough to achieve the targets he now proposes.   So the government was planning a further crackdown on vehicle and industrial emissions, and was considering giving local councils radical new powers.   These could include the authority to close parts of cities temporarily to vehicles where pollution levels were too high, and to stop cars and trucks suspected of exceeding emission norms.   "If we can deal with the 10-20 percent of cars that represent the worst cases of pollution, we can cut vehicle emissions out of all proportion," Gummer said.   He said the government did not plan to force people to give up their cars.   But he wanted to see towns planned so that people could choose to have no car, or to reduce the number of cars in their household, without making a major sacrifice.   His plans were given a cautious welcome by environmental groups, but political opponents said the recognition of the need to change planning and transport policies came after 17 years in which the ruling Conservatives had supported the car culture.   "The UK is now the most car-dependent country in Europe," the opposition Labour Party said in a statement.   "This document, which has been trailed as evidence of new government concern about our environment, is in fact a remarkable admission of failure."   Two reports published on Tuesday warned of the dangers to Britons from pollution agents for which motor vehicles are largely responsible.   The British Lung Foundation published research showing even healthy people were in danger of suffering inflammation of the airways when exposed to the levels of low-level ozone common in summer in traffic-clogged streets.   The minority Liberal Democrat party released a research paper showing asthma has increased four-fold in the past 30 years and blaming the rise on increased traffic. 
1090 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said on Wednesday only matters of detail were preventing settlement of the London Underground drivers dispute.   Earlier, it announced its members had rejected a pay and hours package proposed by management by almost four to one.   "Despite this overwhelming rejection..., in RMT's view the framework of a reasonable settlement is now in place and, given the opportunity to negotiate on the detail, the dispute can still be resolved quickly," assistant general secretary Bob Crow said.   Management has agreed to cut the working week to 35 hours by September 1998 from 38.5 hours now.   But it wants drivers to accept pay rises that are two percentage points below the inflation rate in 1997 and 1998.   Crow said the below-inflation rises were "the main sticking point", but future productivity measures were also of concern.   The main drivers union, Aslef, is due to announce the results of its ballot on the dispute at 1300 GMT.   RMT plans to go ahead with strikes on Friday and next Tuesday, whatever the outcome of the Aslef ballot.   -- London Newsroom +171 542 7717 
1091 !GCAT !GCRIM  The British government overrode misgivings of civil liberties groups on Wednesday and gave the go-ahead for the nation's traditionally unarmed police to carry CS spray to defend themselves against violent attackers.   Home Secretary Michael Howard, the interior minister, said the spray, which temporarily causes an assailant's eyes and nose to stream and creates breathing difficulties, had proved a success in trials since March involving 4,000 officers.   Introduction of CS spray, which is dispensed from a hand-held aerosol canister as a liquid stream, is the latest addition to the still modest defensive arsenal of the unarmed British police.   Side-handled batons have replaced traditional wooden truncheons and rigid handcuffs, which make it easier to restrain violent suspects, are used in place of standard handcuffs.   Stab-resistant vests are also available to many forces.   "CS is effective and safe, and promises to be an excellent addition to the means which police officers have of defending themselves," Howard said in a statement.   France, he noted, had used CS spray for 18 years.   An interim report last week pointed to a 6.8 percent fall in serious assaults on police during CS trials in Britian.   But John Wadham, director of civil rights organisation Liberty, was unconvinced and said the long-term effects of the use of CS spray had not been established.   "We know that police officers have abused CS gas spray in breach of the guidelines and the evidence doesn't even suggest that it has reduced assaults on police officers," he told BBC radio. 
1092 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) have voted by a majority of four to one against a pay and hours deal proposed by management, the union said on Wednesday.   The ballot result means that a one-day strike by RMT drivers scheduled for Friday and next Tuesday will still go ahead.    Aslef, the other union involved in the dispute that has paralysed the London underground railway system with a series of 24-hour strikes in recent months, has also balloted its members, and the results should be known shortly.   RMT officials said 354 members had rejected the deal and 102 had acceptred it.   Fifty-one percent of the drivers had voted.   RMT leaders had urged the 900 drivers in their union to reject the deal.   Aslef is the bigger of the two unions amongst the tube drivers.   The deal would give drivers a 35-hour week in 1998, down from 38.5 hours now, but it would be paid for by an effective cut in pay, with annual wage rises below the rate of inflation over three years.    The RMT union said its scheduled strikes would go ahead whatever Aslef decides.   "What Aslef decides to do is an independent decision by them," RMT assistant general secretary Bob Crow told reporters.   Aslef said it would announce the results of its ballot at about 1300 GMT. 
1093 !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The European Union (EU) is expected to award up to 50,000 tonnes of current series white sugar at its weekly tender on Wednesday, the third of the new series for the 1996/97 crop, traders said.   This week's maximum authorised tonnage was forecast in a wide range extending from 30,000 to 50,000 tonnes, they said.   The EU awarded 33,000 tonnes in its last tender on August 14, all won by traders in France and Germany.   The maximum restitution for licences was estimated at 43.032 Ecus (European Currency Units) per 100 kg of sugar, after the 43.484 Ecus awarded last week.   Licences for exports from the EU's 1996/97 crop are currently valid from October to January.   -- Jeremy Smith, London Newsroom +44 171 542 8064 
1094 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Seven British train operating companies are set to be hit by 24-hour strikes on Friday, August 23 and Tuesday, August 27, either side of a holiday weekend, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said on Wednesday.   The seven are CrossCountry Trains, Merseyrail Electrics, Regional Railways North East, North West Regional Railways, North London Railways, ScotRail and South Wales and West.   The disputes are over productivity pay and meal breaks.   "Talks are going on but at this stage it looks as though the strikes will go ahead," a union spokesman said.   Strikes at two other companies -- Thames Trains and recently-privatised InterCity East Coast -- were called off, after the companies met some of the union demands.   A separate dispute involving drivers on the London Underground system could be settled today if members belonging to the RMT and Aslef unions vote to accept a deal offered by management.   The results of both unions' ballots should be known around 1100 GMT.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717 
1095 !GCAT !GENV  The British government was announcing plans on Wednesday to give local councils sweeping powers temporarily to close town and city centres to traffic if new pollution norms are exceeded.   Environment Secretary John Gummer called a news conference to launch a so-called new National Air Quality strategy.   BBC Television, which had obtained advance details, said in a programme on Monday evening that Gummer will acknowledge traffic pollution as a major health risk and set pollution limits which are currently exceeded regularly in major cities.   For instance, it said, the 50 microgrammes per cubic metre maximum for particulates, which come from diesel engines, was surpassed on 43 days in London last year and on 51 days in the northwest England city of Liverpool.   The government will leave it to local councils to police the limits, allowing them to close whole areas of cities to traffic where they are exceeded, the BBC said.   The Environment Department declined to comment on Gummer's proposals until he had officially launched them.   Two reports published on Tuesday warned of the dangers from pollution agents largely caused by vehicles.   The British Lung Foundation reported research showing even healthy people were in danger of suffering inflammation of the airways when exposed to the levels of low-level ozone common in summer in traffic-clogged streets.   The minority Liberal Democrats called a news conference to publicise a research paper showing asthma has increased fourfold in 30 years and blaming the rise on increased traffic. 
1096 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  British financial markets' regulator the Securities and Futures Authority (SFA) said on Wednesday it had expelled three people and reprimanded and fined another in four unrelated cases.   The SFA, which regulates all the organised markets in London, said it had expelled Robin Sim Jenkins, a former financial controller at the head office of Barclays Stockbrokers Limited in Glasgow, from its register of managers.   The SFA said Jenkins had caused 176,525 stg to be paid by the company into his own accounts and said he was "no longer fit and proper to be SFA registered."    Jenkins was also required to pay 1,000 stg towards costs.   It said it also expelled former Bear Stearns International employee Karim Robert Tabet from its register of traders and Simon James Burch form its register of directors.   The SFA said Tabet had entered fictitious trades to conceal losses incurred through unauthorised trading along with other trading irregularities.   He was required to pay 3,000 stg towards costs.   It claimed Burch had attempted to deceive a potential employer through tampering with a dismissal letter on his home computer to conceal the reasons for his departure.   Burch was required to pay 6,500 stg towards costs.   The SFA further reprimanded John Paul Ludlam for irregularities over trading in Belgian shares while he was employed by Salomons between October 1994 and February 16, 1995.   He was fined 5,000 stg and required to pay costs of 4,000 stg.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717 
1097 !GCAT !GCRIM  The British detective who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" serial murders will meet Belgian police investigating their country's worst child sex scandal on Wednesday, British police said.   Superintendent John Bennett will meet Belgian officers in Belgium to discuss the case as an international hunt widens for two teenage girls abducted a year ago by convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux.    "At the request of the Belgian police, Superintendent John Bennett of the Goucestershire constabulary will attend a meeting in Belgium on Wednesday," said a police spokesman in Gloucester in the west of England where Bennett is based.   Police could give no further details.   Belgian police asked Bennett, who dealt with the investigation into serial killers Rosemary and Fred West, for advice on Tuesday in their search for further possible victims of an organised paedophile ring.   The sight of Belgian police digging for bodies at the weekend evoked memories of scenes at the house of the Wests, where British detectives excavated the remains of the couple's dismembered victims.   The Wests killed up to 12 young women and girls after sexually abusing them.   Fred committed suicide in his prison cell before he came to trial, while Rose, who was convicted on 10 of the murders, still protests her innocence from jail. 
1098 !G15 !G155 !GCAT !GPOL  European Union leaders charting the way forward for the bloc are in danger of agreeing a "fudge" by adopting the catch-all concept of "flexibility", a leading British think-tank warned on Wednesday.   But the term means different things to the EU's political leaders, and cannot be used for long to cover up fundamental differences on the future for the 15-nation grouping, Frank Vibert, director of the European Policy Forum, said.   The EU has begun an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) to review its institutions and pave the way for the admission of new members, including East European countries.   "In the initial stages of the IGC, "flexibility', often under the more positive sounding label of "cooperation renforce' (reinforced cooperation) has appeared as the big idea in the discussions," Vibert wrote in a pamphlet.   But he said the terms masked a division between member states wanting a more decentralised Europe and those believing flexibility would enable an inner core of countries to pioneer new ways of extending the powers of community institutions.   "(French) President (Jacques) Chirac, (German) Chancellor (Helmut) Kohl and (British) Prime Minister (John) Major each support "flexibility'.   Each means something different," he wrote.   Major has claimed credit in Britain for negotiating the country's right to opt out of two key EU policies -- the "social chapter' which is designed to lay down basic employment rights, and the planned common EU currency.   France and Germany are members of the so-called Schengen group linking 10 of the EU's member states which is designed to promote freedom of movement by abolishing border controls.   However, said Vibert, the two countries disagree over control of the EU, with Germany seeing the bloc's executive Commission developing into a government of Europe but France wanting power to remain with meetings of member state ministers.   "The limitation of concepts such as flexibility and cooperation renforce is that they may lead to agreements between governments which are simply viewed as fudge," Vibert said.   He said parliaments and public opinion might not accept political fudges on matters of great importance to them.   "It is an illusion to think that great differences about the shape of European political union can be contained for much longer."   Vibert said flexibility might be used to allow certain member states to cooperate in new areas, for instance the tackling of crime.   But in each instance, hard questions must be faced about about whether EU finance should be committed and whether the bloc's institutions should become involved. 
1099 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in two London-based Arabic-language newspapers on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-HAYAT   - The head of Yemen's parliament says he is confident of good Saudi-Yemeni relations.   - Jordan asks Syria to complete the construction of a dam between the two countries.   - Japanese team in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss economic cooperation.   - Australia expects to export meat to Arab countries worth $31 million in 1996.   ASHARQ AL-AWSAT   - Libyan sources deny that Libyan leader Gaddafi is sick.   - Qatar Airways Chairman Sheikh Hamad says agents, employees made huge profit from Gulf Air, which had a $160 million loss in 1995.   - Japan donates $9.6 million to Syria to finance a training centre.   - Arab power sectors need foreign financing facilities to carry out future expansion. 
1100 !GCAT !GODD  More than 1,000 of some of the most intelligent people from around the world gathered in London this week to mark the 50th anniversary and update the public image of the high-IQ society Mensa.   A three-year old boy, 90-year old pensioner and Oscar- winning actress Geena Davis may seem to have little in common but they are the youngest, oldest and arguably the most famous members of the international organisation.   The private club, which admits only people with intelligence quotas at the genius level of 148 or above, is hosting a series of lectures, tours, trips and a gala dinner to celebrate its founding in Oxford, home of the prestigious British university, a half century ago.   Apart from the week-long festivities in London and the northern city of Manchester, the group will also be trying to show that its members are just ordinary people and not a club of eccentric, stodgy and bespectacled intellectuals.   "It is important that we do show ourselves in the real light," said Mensa member Bronagh Miskelly who is organising the celebrations.   "Lots of people have pre-conceived ideas that Mensa is about middle-aged men in anoraks sitting around talking about obscure mathematical problems.   Mensa isn't about that at all.   It is about ordinary people who have joined either to prove something to themselves...or because have discovered they can do the puzzle in the paper."   The puzzle published in newspapers and magazines was the initial introduction for many of the group's 110,000 members in countries ranging from Britain and the United States, which have the largest memberships, to Hungary, Argentina and the Philippines.   Only after solving it and passing two rigorous IQ tests were they invited to join the group whose members' intelligence is in the top two percent of the general population.   For a 30 pound ($46) annual fee members receive a monthly newsletter listing the group's activities and events.   Miskelly likened Mensa (the Latin word for table) to clubs where people share common interests or talents.   "In this case it is people who are good at IQ tests," she said, disputing claims that the group is elitist.   "One in 50 people is that really elitist?   I can't play tennis so a tennis club to me is fairly elitist."   When Briton Dr Lancelot Lionel Ware, who at 81 is still a member, and Australian Roland Berrill formed Mensa in 1946 to promote contact with people of similar intelligence they had no idea it would grow into an international organisation spanning the globe.   "I found that I got on well with people with high intelligence and I wanted (to start) a club with an objective criteria," Ware said, adding that Mensa now has members in 100 countries.   "We are a lot of human beings who have something in common."   Mansa's detractors have described it as a singles club for nerds and a society of eggheads.   "It is a sad place, designed for people with good minds who do not know how to use them," said a report in Britain's Independent newspaper, adding that "most clever people are clever enough not to need such a club."   The group weathered a storm of criticism last year after its Los Angeles chapter published a newsletter which appeared to support a master race and suggested that the "mentally infirm" should be "humanely dispatched" and said homeless people "should be done away with, like abandoned kittens."   The editor of the newsletter was ousted following pressure from American Mensa after members expressed outrage, but not before the group became the butt of jokes on American talk shows.   "Like all organisations it has growing pains and isn't perfect yet," Ware said.   There have also been complaints that IQ tests which form the basis for Mensa membership measure nothing more than a person's ability to do intelligence tests, a fact that Miskelly and Ware both acknowledged.   "Having a high IQ does not make you a kind or a very competent person nor does having a Rolls Royce engine in your car make you a good driver," Ware said.   Geena Davis, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 1989 for her performance in "The Accidental Tourist", said she took the Mensa test on a whim.   Benjamin Woods, at three Mensa's youngest member, already reads bedtime stories to his parents.   Both, Mensa says, show the cross-section of its membership.   "We've got to do a lot more to show what Mensa is all about," said Miskelly.   "I think the celebrations help because they enchance the reputation of Mensa.   It's about people getting together." 
1101 !GCAT  The following are top headlines from selected Canadian newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE GLOBE AND MAIL:   - Take charge, provinces urged: 'We can and we will' shape new national standards on social policy, Ontario Premier Mike Harris says.   Alberta Premier Ralph Klein wants to go beyond merely stripping the federal government of control over medicare, suggesting an end to the enforcement of national standards altogether.   - Doctors tiptoe toward reforms.   After an impassioned warning from their president that support from doctors for private medicine would help the government destroy medicare, delegates at the Canadian Medical Association conference yesterday took a few cautious steps toward a two-tiered health system.   - Lebed attacks Kremlin; security chief questions decree.   In a bizarre new attack on his political enemies, Russian security czar Alexander Lebed has alleged that the Kremlin is controlled by a clique of faceless officials who write their own presidential decrees and sign them with Boris Yeltsin's name.   - Canadian Chief of Defence General Jean Boyle blames his subordinates: 'They lacked moral fibre,' general says of officers who altered Somalia files.   - Blame me for blood scandal, former federal health minister Monique Begin says; appears to waive immunity in letter to the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada.   Report on Business Section:   - Talisman Energy bets on North Sea: Calgary company pays over C$100-million for controlling stakes in three offshore oil fields.   - AGF, Citibank team up to offer bank products: Fund's trust unit, bank expected to unveil new service today.   - Belzberg crows about deals: Harrowston's purchases biggest step since First City's fall.   - CAW alters strike plan as battle with GM looms.   THE FINANCIAL POST:   - CIBC to revisit real estate.   The bank was burned badly by property deals in the recession, but CIBC Wood Gundy comes back to test the strength of the office market in a C$200 million fund set up with Oxford Properties.   - Canada a hot prospect for foreign water firms.   Water companies from Britain, the U.S. and France are streaming into Canada in the hope of benefitting from the fiscal problems of local municipalities.   -- Reuters Toronto Bureau 416 941-8100 
1102 !C21 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Temperatures dipped overnight in the foothills of Alberta but key grain growing regions in the Canadian Prairies remained frost free, an Environment Canada meteorologist said.   Phil Wright, of Environment Canada, said temperatures dipped to one to two degrees Celsius (at chest level) in the Alberta foothills around Jasper.   "That was the real cool spot last night.   Everywhere else was way above freezing," Wright said, noting key grain growing areas in the Canadian Prairies had minimum temperatures of at least seven degrees Celsius.   Temperatures at chest level are normally around four degrees higher than at ground level, although Wright said dew on the ground may have prevented the ground from freezing last night in Alberta.   Wright also said there was little chance of a frost early Thursday in key grain areas.   Environment Canada issued a forecast on Tuesday indicating there was a slight risk of frost along the border of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.   Wright, however, said he thought it now appeared there was little, if any, danger of frost.   --Chicago newsdesk 312-408 8720 
1103 !GCAT !GVIO  An Iraqi Kurdish militia group said on Wednesday that Iranian artillery units have pounded its positions in northern Iraq in support of a rival Kurdish group, killing or wounding around 100 people.   "The Iranian Islamic regime has entered the war on behalf of its (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) PUK quisling," the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said in a statement.   Fighting between the two Kurdish groups broke out last weekend, shattering a ceasefire brokered by the United States early last year.   "This Iranian aggression has caused the death and injury of nearly 100 people and the displacement of tens of families," the group said.   Its statement was faxed to Reuters in Ankara.   The PUK was not immediately availaible for comment.   The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, said Iranian forces had been firing heavy artillery and Katyusha rockets into northern Iraq from inside Iran every day since August 18.   It called on the Western allies who shield northern Iraq's Kurds against any attack by Baghdad to halt the shelling.   "We appeal to member governments of Operation Provide Comfort protecting the Kurds to deter Iranian intervention in the Kurdish enclave of northern Iraq," it said.   A U.S., British and French air force, known as Provide Comfort, has been patrolling the skies of northern Iraq since shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War.   A small number of Iranian troops briefly entered northern Iraq last month and killed around 20 members of an Iranian Kurdish group based there.   The KDP, which controls the northern sector of the Kurdish-held territory in Iraq, said the heaviest Iranian shelling was on Tuesday at the village of Qasrey.   It said 25 KDP fighters died and nearly 75 guerrillas and civilians were injured in a four-hour bombardment.   The KDP abandoned its positions there to oncoming fighters from the rival group, the statement said. 
1104 !GCAT !GDIP  Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan on Wednesday defended a $23-billion natural gas deal with Iran that has hindered U.S. attempts to isolate Tehran through sanctions.   "What could be more natural than us getting such cheap, abundant natural gas from right next door?"   Erbakan, an Islamist who heads a coalition with a conservative party, told a news conference on return from a 10-day official trip abroad.   "The American administration has shown understanding but certain circles in America are assessing (the deal) negatively," he said.   Washington said earlier this month it would slap sanctions on companies investing more than $40 million in energy projects in Iran and Libya, calling them "two supporters of terrorism."   Already, the the United States has condemned the Turkey-Iran deal but said last week it was too early to decide whether to punish NATO ally Turkey.   Erbakan, the first Islamic leader in Turkey, a secular state with an overwhelmingly Moslem population, was in Iran at the start of his trip when the two countries signed the deal.   "We want to improve all kinds of relations with both the East and the West," he said.   "This sincere desire was openly expressed on our visit."   He also visited Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia and Indonesia.   Under the gas deal, a pipeline is to be built from the Iranian city of Tabriz to Ankara beginning in 1999.   Turkey, facing an energy shortage, will buy a total of 190 billion cubic metres by the year 2022.   Erbakan's visit to predominantly Moslem countries fulfilled a pledge after coming to power late in June to strengthen ties with Turkey's Moslem neighbours, who he said have been neglected in the past at the expense of relations with the West.   Trade agreements signed during the tour, many of them linked to defence projects, will be worth a potential $9 billion and will contribute towards correcting the country's sizeable trade deficit, he said.   Since coming to power, Erbakan has sought to maintain good relations with Turkey's NATO and European allies, easing earlier radical Islamist statements.   The West also persuaded him to give his backing to the extension of a U.S.-led air force operation based in southern Turkey protecting Kurds in northern Iraq from attack by Baghdad.   A fresh challenge to Turkey's northern Iraq policy confronted Erbakan on his return after reports of contacts between an Iraqi Kurdish group and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).   Turkish officials say PKK rebels use northern Iraq as a base to launch attacks on southern Turkey.   Erbakan said Turkey was ready to work with all its neighbours to eradicate rebel activities.   He said agreement had been reached with Tehran during his visit to prevent PKK border incursions from Iran. 
1105 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Wednesday rejected any linkage between an Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank city of Hebron and stopping PLO activity in Arab East Jerusalem.   Israel said on Tuesday it would not redeploy the troops until the Palestinian Authority closed PLO offices in Jerusalem.   An Israeli official quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as telling a closed-door session of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that there would be no progress until the offices were closed.   "He (Netanyahu) has to abide by what was agreed on, and not add new conditions," Arafat told reporters in Tunis following talks with President Zine al-Abidine Bin Ali.   "I briefed President Ben Ali on our suffering from Israel's non-commitment to the (peace) deal and on the dangers of the (Jewish) settlement policy," Arafat said.   Arafat, who left Tunis on Wednesday, also urged Arab states to join efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbours.   "I insisted on the importance of action (to overcome the hurdles), not only by the Palestinians alone, but by all the Arabs," he added.   Senior PLO official Mahmoud Abbas known as Abu Mazen was also quoted as saying on Wednesday: "This logic is unacceptable to us.   In fact we reject it completely because the obligations must be fulfilled in time."   Under a peace accord with the PLO, Israel was due to have redeployed its troops by the end of March in Hebron, the last major Arab West Bank city still under Israeli control.   Israel delayed the redeployment in Hebron after Moslem militants killed 59 people in Israel in a spate of suicide bombings in February and March.   Abu Mazen said the two sides had made preparations to revive the activities of a joint economic committee, including naming heads of the two delegations.   "There is hope to complete other circles.   I mean to revive the higher committee and hold summit meetings between Arafat and Netanyahu," Abu Mazen, secretary of the PLO's executive committee, was quoted as saying by the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat.   But he said the situation was still difficult and uncertain.   "What I am sure about is that we are not going to allow things to go backwards," Abu Mazen said.   Netanyahu's government this month cancelled a new settlement building freeze imposed by the previous Labour Israeli government which made peace deals with the Palestinians.   Israel's Housing Ministry on Tuesday said it was drafting a plan to approve construction of 5,000 new homes in the Palestinian occupied West Bank.   In Algiers, PLO official Farouq Kaddoumi discussed with President Liamine Zeroual the troubled peace process and the "dangers wrought by the latest developments following the Israeli elections," the official Algerian News Agency APS said.   APS said President Zeroual pledged to Kaddoumi that his North African country would throw its weight behind the Palestinians and rally worldwide support for their cause.   "President Zeroual underlined that Algeria intends not only to support the Palestinian cause but it is also ready to do its utmost in order to mobilise all the countries to back the Palestinians in their just cause", APS added.   Kaddoumi, who arrived in Algiers on Monday, said Netanyahu's "proposals have no meaning and convey no wish to make peace." 
1106 !GCAT !GDIP  Israeli intelligence agencies are increasingly concerned that Syria may opt for war to break a deadlock in peace talks, a senior legislator said on Wednesday.   Hagai Merom of the opposition Labour party told Israel Radio he planned to ask for an urgent special session of parliament to discuss what he called a "grave and worrisome" situation.   In an apparent sign of U.S. concern, Ambassador Martin Indyk held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy.   Israel Radio said Levy asked Indyk that the United States convey a message to Syria that "Israel is interested in calm and in advancing the peace process".   A ministry spokesman confirmed the meeting took place but gave no details of the discussion.   Merom, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee under the last Labour-led government, said he could not accept Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to play down recent tensions with Syria.   "I have heard recently that all Israeli intelligence elements are very carefully examining Syria through a magnifying glass and listening to every noise sounded there," he said.   "From the way things look and sound, the possibility that a war option is being considered (by Syria) as realistic has deepened."   In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Merom said: "Assessments are growing within Military Intelligence that there is a possibility of war with Syria."   "We must not wake up one morning to a new Yom Kippur," Merom said, referring to the surprise Egyptian and Syrian attacks that launched the 1973 Middle East war on the Jewish Day of Atonement.   Tension has mounted between Israel and Syria since Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the occupied Golan Heights.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan issue since 1991.   Netanyahu's predecessor Shimon Peres, while giving no firm commitment to quit all of the Golan, said he could not envisage Syria making peace without regaining the territory.   "We must open our eyes.   This diplomatic deadlock is very dangerous.   Syria and Iran already have a new approach and Iran has taken a much more central role than when the Labour government was pushing the peace process forward," Merom said.   Syria's Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi ended on Tuesday a four-day visit to Iran during which he met President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said the two countries must strengthen ties to face the United States and Israel.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli Channel Two television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile.   Netanyahu said Syria had been arming itself for years with Scuds and there was no change in the strategic balance, which military analysts consider to be in Israel's favour.   "I view with gravity the attempts of officials in the opposition to create a campaign of fear as if Israel is in some sort of immediate, terrible danger -- as if something has changed in some sweeping way," Netanyahu said on Tuesday.   Syria on Tuesday accused Israel of beating the drums of war in the Middle East and warned Netanyahu that he would be defeated in any military confrontation with Arabs.   "Israel is no longer interested in making peace.   It has retracted from all its peace process commitments and guarantees and returned to its traditional course of escalating tension, beating the drums of war and waving flagrant threats against Syria and Lebanon," the ruling party newspaper al-Baath said.   "There is no doubt that Israel, after killing the peace process, will try to set off new wars in the region and exert pressures on Arabs who have rejected its plans," it said. 
1107 !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  Israeli security forces on Wednesday raided two PLO offices in West Bank villages and Palestinians protested this was against self-rule accords.   But Israeli army spokesman said the offices belonged to Palestinian security forces operating in the area in violation of Israeli-PLO self-rule deals.   "Security forces this morning raided offices that were used by the Palestinian security forces in the villages of Aizariyeh and Abu Dis in Area B..  .  that were operating in contravention to the agreement," an army spokesman said.   The Palestinian governor of Abu Dis and Aizariyeh, Jamil Othman Nasser, said the Israelis actually raided civilian complaints offices attached to the Palestinian Authority.   Nasser said Israelis searching the offices did not find any weapons or military personnel but seized some files and a computer diskette found in an employee's briefcase.   "The Israelis are in control of overall security in this area.   These offices had nothing to do with security.   They were simply there to receive complaints that would be handed to us," Nasser told reporters at his office.   Israel handed over its civil administration headquarters in Abu Dis in January to the Palestinians under the 1995 deal that expanded Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank.   The accord gave Palestinians control of civilian affairs in rural areas such as Aizariyeh and Abu Dis but left security responsibility in Israeli hands.   "We consider this a violation of the agreement," Nasser said. 
1108 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  There were fresh diplomatic efforts to damp down explosive tensions in the divided island of Cyprus on Wednesday with Iran (corrects from Iraq) asked to mediate in the long-standing dispute and Turkey calling for dialogue.   Tehran radio reported that visiting Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos asked Iran to mediate.   It said Pangalos made the request during talks in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati who said Iran was ready to help ease tensions between feuding NATO members Greece and Turkey.   In Ankara, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Omer Akbel told a news briefing:"The latest incidents in Cyprus show once more that dialogue is necessary between the two sides."   The potential dangers of the 22-year-old Cyprus problem were underlined last week when Turks beat to death a Greek Cypriot protester inside the U.N. buffer zone dividing the island into Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot areas.   Three days later a Greek Cypriot trying to tear down a Turkish flag was shot dead.   Iran's Velayati said during a news conference that "solving the Cyprus problem is on the agenda in talks between Iran and Greece and Iran supports the idea of mediating in order to resolve this dispute," the radio added.   Iran has recently improved its ties with its neighbour Turkey since the new Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan came to power.   He visited Tehran earlier this month.   Iran and Greece have good ties.   They have cooperated to mediate between Bosnia's Moslem-led government and Bosnian Serbs who have close ties with fellow Christian Orthodox Greece.   Turkey's Akbel said the basic condition for a just and lasting solution in Cyprus was creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence between the Greek and Turkish sides on the island.   Akbel blamed the Greek side for provoking unrest on the island and said Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides was refusing to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.   He said the basic condition for a just and lasting solution in Cyprus was creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence between the Greek and Turkish sides on the island.   "You cannot expect agreement between two communities whose leaders do not meet," Akbel said.   Cyprus party leaders were reported split over whether Clerides should make a joint statement with Denktash after a five-hour meeting of the National Council on Tuesday.   Cyprus has been divided since Turkish troops invaded in 1974 following a coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece.   Only Ankara recognises the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus created in 1983. 
1109 !GCAT !GVIO  An Iraqi Kurdish militia group said on Wednesday that Iranian artillery units have pounded its positions in northern Iraq in support of a rival Kurdish group, killing or wounding around 100 people.   "The Iranian Islamic regime has entered the war on behalf of its (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) PUK quisling," the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said in a statement.    "This Iranian aggression has caused the death and injury of nearly 100 people and the displacement of tens of families," the group said.   Its statement was faxed to Reuters in Ankara.   The PUK was not immediately available for comment.   Fighting between the two Kurdish groups broke out last weekend, shattering a ceasefire brokered by the United States early last year.   The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, said Iranian forces had been shelling northern Iraq from inside Iran since August 18.   It appealed to the Western allies, who protect northern Iraq's Kurds against any attack by Baghdad, to halt the shelling.   A small number of Iranian troops briefly entered northern Iraq last month and killed around 20 members of an Iranian Kurdish group based there. 
1110 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel on Wednesday asked the United States to pass a message to Syria that the Jewish state wanted peace and was ready at any time without preconditions to begin negotiations, Foreign Minister David Levy said.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Levy told Israel Radio.    Levy said he gave the message to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk.   He said it was "a message clarifying Israel's positions, that its face is toward peace, that all this wave (or rhetoric) coming today from Damascus is bringing an atmosphere that doesn't match the desire for peace".   "The great victory of Israel in all periods and in this period is to prevent war," Levy said.   Tension has mounted between Israel and Syria since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the occupied Golan Heights.   Even under the previous dovish government, Israeli-Syrian peace talks, begun in 1991, were deadlocked over the Golan issue. 
1111 !GCAT !GVIO  Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan on Wednesday compared Turkey's Kurdish conflict with the Vietnam war but said the Turkish army was avoiding the fate of U.S. troops defeated by Vietnamese guerrillas forces.   "In Vietnam, America lost a war against terrorism, or what we call guerrilla warfare.   The mountainous regions of tiny Vietnam are not as great as ours.   (The United States) lost, it couldn't succeed.   But thankfully our army has prevented that happening," Erbakan told a news conference.   Turkish forces have been fighting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas for 12 years in a bitter campaign in the mountains of southeast Turkey.   More than 20,000 people have died in the insurgency, with no end in sight.   "Our heroic army has for years had great success against terrorism, a success not seen anywhere else in the world," Erbakan said.   The PKK, fighting for Kurdish autonomy or independence, has defied frequent predictions by government and military officials that it was close to defeat.   It has used a power vaccum in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq to establish forces there in recent years.   Erbakan, an Islamist, said that attacks from PKK units in neighbouring countries were standing in the way of the security forces finishing off the rebels.   "Terrorism is not finished here because our borders are leaky," he said.   Ankara accuses Syria of sponsoring the rebels and military officials have said the guerrillas often strike from across the rugged Iranian border.   Erbakan efectively killed off a peace bid by one of his Welfare Party MPs and an Islamist writer earlier this month when he ruled out direct talks with the PKK.   The military and Erbakan's conservative coalition partners strongly oppose negotiations to end the fighting. 
1112 !GCAT !GDIP  Yemen said on Wednesday Saudi Arabian Defence Minister Prince Sultan will visit Yemen, a sign of improving ties between the two neighbours after years of tension and brief border clashes.   Upon his return from a visit to the kingdom, Yemeni parliamentary speaker Sheikh Abdullah al-Ahmar told Saba news agency that Prince Sultan would come to Sanaa on August 28.   The visit would be the first by a senior official and a key member of the Saudi royal family since ties soured in 1990 when Cuba and Yemen, then members of the United Nations Security Council, were the only two of 15 states to vote against the use of force in the 1990-91 Gulf crisis.   Prince Sultan is one of King Fahd's six full brothers and is also second deputy prime minister.   Wealthy Saudi Arabia, once a crucial financial and political supporter of impoversihed Yemen, cut off all financial aid to Sanaa and expelled hundreds of thousands of Yemeni workers during the crisis over Iraq's occupation of Kuwait.   Tension rose again when Saudi Arabia and some Arab states appeared to back a bid to revive the southern Yemeni state which Sanaa crushed in the 1994 Yemeni civil war.   After months of minor border clashes, Saudi Arabia and Yemen signed a memorandum of understanding in 1995 to settle a 60-year -old dispute over border areas potentially rich in oil and gas.   Ties have been steadily improving since and the two states in July signed a security accord to combat crime, drug smuggling and allow the extradition of suspects. 
1113 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The Moslem world's largest organisation urged Moscow on Wednesday to refrain from the use of force in Chechnya and called on it to seek a political agreement to settle the crisis.   A statement by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said the group's Secretary-General Hamid Algabid "expressed serious concern and anguish over the ultimatum issued by the Russian military authorities followed by a threat to use all possible means against...Grozny."   The OIC statement was issued shortly before Itar-Tass news agency quoted Russian Defence Minister Igor Rodionov as saying that the acting army commander in Chechnya had acted solely on his own initiative in threatening to bomb Grozny and had been "given a dressing down".   Algabid "has appealed to the Russian leadership to refrain from the use of force for settling the dispute and to reach a negotiated political agreement of the crisis in Chechnya," said the statement.   He also reiterated an offer by the 51-member OIC, which is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to mediate between Moscow and the Chechen leadership to reach a political settlement. 
1114 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  An Israeli military court jailed a Palestinian for 22 years on Wednesday for his part in the 1994 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Nachshon Waxman, Israel Radio said.   The court in the central Israeli town of Lod convicted Zakariya Lutfi Najib, 40, of providing support to the Islamic militants who abducted the 19-year-old soldier, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen.   The radio said Najib had rented a house in the occupied West Bank where the kidnappers held Waxman and brought them food.   Members of the Islamic Hamas group dressed as religious Jews snatched Waxman from a soldiers' hitchhiking station in October 1994, took him to the hideout and demanded Israel free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his release.   Waxman was killed when Israeli soldiers stormed the hideout days after the kidnapping in a failed rescue attempt.   Three of the kidnappers and another Israeli soldier were also killed in the raid.   Najib's lawyer said he would appeal against what he described as a severe sentence. 
1115 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Visiting Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos on Wednesday asked Iran to mediate in the Cyprus crisis to reduce tensions between Greece and Turkey, Tehran radio reported.   It said Pangalos made the request during talks in Tehran with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati who said Iran was ready to help ease tensions between Greece and Turkey.   Velayati also said during a news conference that "solving the Cyprus problem is on the agenda in talks between Iran and Greece and Iran supports the idea of mediating in order to resolve this dispute," the radio added.   Tension between Greece and Turkey has mounted after two Greek Cypriots were killed on the island last week during protests against Turkey's 22-year military presence in northern Cyprus.   Iran has recently improved its ties with its neighbour Turkey since the new Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan came to power.   He visited Tehran earlier this month.   Iran and Greece have good ties.   They have cooperated to mediate between Bosnia's Moslem-led government and Bosnian Serbs who have close ties with fellow Christian Orthodox Greece.   Pangalos, who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, also proposed a meeting between Iran, Greece, Bosnia and Serbia to establish peace and stability in the Balkan region, the radio said.   Velayati agreed that contacts between the four countries had been positive, the radio added.   In Ankara a Turkish foreign ministry spokesman called for dialogue on Cyprus to calm renewed tension on the island.   "The latest incidents in Cyprus show once more that dialogue is necessary between the two sides," spokesman Omer Akbel told a news briefing.   He said the basic condition for a just and lasting solution in Cyprus was creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence between the Greek and Turkish sides on the island.   Akbel blamed the Greek side for provoking unrest on the island and said Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides was refusing to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. 
1116 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Turkey called for dialogue on Cyprus on Wednesday to calm renewed tension over the killing of two Greek Cypriots during protests against the 22-year-old division of the island.   "The latest incidents in Cyprus show once more that dialogue is necessary between the two sides," foreign ministery spokesman Omer Akbel told a news briefing.   He said the basic condition for a just and lasting solution in Cyprus was creating an atmosphere of mutual confidence between the Greek and Turkish sides on the island.   Two Greek Cypriot men were killed during last week's protests in the U.N-policed buffer zone separating the two communities.   Akbel blamed the Greek side for provoking unrest on the island and said Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides was refusing to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.   "You cannot expect agreement between two communities whose leaders do not meet," Akbel said.   Cyprus has been divided since Turkish troops invaded in 1974 following a coup engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece. 
1117 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan on Wednesday defended a $23-billion natural gas deal with Iran which has angered the United States.   "What could be more natural than us getting such cheap, abundant natural gas from right next door?"   Erbakan told a news conference.    Washington said earlier this month it would slap sanctions on companies investing more than $40 million in energy projects in Iran and Libya, calling them "two supporters of terrorism."   But the United States has fallen short of threatening to punish NATO ally Turkey for its Iran deal.   "The American administration has shown understanding but certain circles in America are assessing (the deal) negatively," Erbakan said.   Erbakan, Turkey's first Islamist leader, was speaking hours after returning from a 10-day foreign tour that included a stop in Iran where the gas agreement was signed last week.   "We want to improve all kinds of relations with both the East and the West," he said.   "This sincere desire was openly expressed on our visit."   He also visited Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia and Indonesia. 
1118 !GCAT !GVIO  Israeli intelligence agencies are increasingly concerned that Syria may opt for war to break a deadlock in peace talks, a senior legislator said on Wednesday.   Hagai Merom of the opposition Labour party told Israel Radio he planned to ask for an urgent special session of parliament to discuss what he called a "grave and worrisome" situation.   Merom, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee under the last Labour-led government, said he could not accept Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to play down recent tensions with Syria.   "I have heard recently that all Israeli intelligence elements are very carefully examining Syria through a magnifying glass and listening to every noise sounded there," he said.   "From the way things look and sound, the possibility that a war option is being considered (by Syria) as realistic has deepened."   In an interview with Israeli Army Radio, Merom said: "Assessments are growing within Military Intelligence that there is a possibility of war with Syria."   "We must not wake up one morning to a new Yom Kippur," Merom said, referring to the surprise Egyptian and Syrian attacks that launched the 1973 Middle East war on the Jewish Day of Atonement.   Tension has mounted between Israel and Syria since Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the occupied Golan Heights.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan issue since 1991.   Netanyahu's predecessor Shimon Peres, while giving no firm commitment to quit all of the Golan, said he could not envisage Syria making peace without regaining the territory.   "We must open our eyes.   This diplomatic deadlock is very dangerous.   Syria and Iran already have a new approach and Iran has taken a much more central role than when the Labour government was pushing the peace process forward," Merom said.   Syria's Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi ended on Tuesday a four-day visit to Iran during which he met President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said the two countries must strengthen ties to face the United States and Israel.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli Channel Two television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile.   Netanyahu said Syria had been arming itself for years with Scuds and there was no change in the strategic balance, which military analysts consider to be in Israel's favour.   "I view with gravity the attempts of officials in the opposition to create a campaign of fear as if Israel is in some sort of immediate, terrible danger -- as if something has changed in some sweeping way," Netanyahu said on Tuesday. 
1119 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Cyprus's top U.N. official said on Wednesday he had received several threats from outraged Greek Cypriots after the death of two protesters during demonstrations against Turkey's occupation of the island's north.   Gustave Feissel, the United Nations secretary-general's permanent representative in the divided island, said the threats were aimed at his personal safety and ..."were not invitations to a birthday party".   Asked if he took the threats seriously, Feissel told Reuters: "You never know.   We have taken extra precautionary security measures at (U.N.) headquarters, some posts along the (green) line and private personal protection for myself."   He said emotions were "understandably" running high after the death of the two Greek Cypriot protesters last week during demonstrations inside the U.N.-controlled buffer zone.   But Feissel said "flamboyant statements and ridiculous accusations" in the Greek Cypriot press led people into making wrong conclusions.   "People were fed various things in newspapers which were inaccurate about what was said, what the U.N. did or did not do," he said.   The Greek Cypriot press highlighted a statement by Feissel in which he blamed the Cypriot police for allowing demonstrators into the buffer zone on August 11, triggering clashes with troops and counter demonstrators on the Turkish Cypriot side.   The press also charged U.N. peacekeepers with standing by while a Greek Cypriot protester -- Tasos Isaac -- was clubbed to death during that protest at Dherinia.   Feissel said the press "took out one sentence" of his statement and ignored his critical comments of the Turkish Cypriot side.   He said a U.N. investigation proved his men "were not standing around looking at the moon but actively involved in trying to save him (Isaac)."   On August 14, a Greek Cypriot man -- Isaac's second cousin -- was shot dead by security forces on the Turkish Cypriot side when trying to take down a Turkish flag.   The buffer zone clashes were the most serious since Turkish forces occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 after a coup in Nicosia engineered by the military then ruling Greece.   Turkish Cypriots later proclaimed their own republic, recognised only by Turkey. 
1120 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it and said its arms purchase were only for defensive purposes.   The ruling party newspaper al-Baath also said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was escalating tension against Syria to force it to drop its demand for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured in the 1967 Middle East war.   "Suddenly a hysterical campaign is launched against Syria and its defence capabilities with the participation of Netanyahu, his generals and his media networks," al-Baath said.   Israeli channel two television on Monday said Syria had tested weeks ago a long-range scud missile able to hit targets in Israeli cities with the aim of "verifying the Syrian army's ability to perform an operational launch."   Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Syria on Tuesday that missile tests were no way to signal a desire for peace.   "If Syria wants peace, the tone and style is not with missiles or weapons like that," Levy told reporters.   Tension between Syria and Israel mounted after the Likud leader, elected in May, vowed not to relinquish the Golan.   Al-Baath said the sudden Israeli accusations against Syria's defence capabilities were only an attempt to undermine Damascus' role in the peace process and its strategic option to exchange land for peace.   "Netanyahu, who shut the door to peace efforts and led the peace process to a dead end because of his extremist and arrogant policies, could not find a way out but to resort to the policy of force and threats and therefore is using any pretext to escalate tension in the region to the maximum."   "These crazy Israeli campaigns cannot affect the Syrian position...and are rejected as a whole," al-Baath said.   The official daily Tishreen hit back by saying Israel should have its nuclear installations inspected because they were a threat to regional security before judging other countries.   "The failure of taking serious and effective measures against Israel's nuclear armament will encourage large scale armament in the Middle East because Israel cannot grant itself this advantage and raise hell if an Arab country dares buy defensive weapons," Tishreen said. 
1121 !GCAT !GVIO  Jordan's army further eased a curfew on Karak on Wednesday allowing free passage into the riot-hit southern town for the first time in four days.   Armoured vehicles continued to patrol Karak, the centre of weekend unrest that shook the kingdom after the government doubled bread prices, and security forces were still rounding up pro-Iraqi activists and other suspects, residents said.   Some government departments and private sector enterprises opened their doors with skeleton staff as life returned to a semblance of normality.   "They told us today we can move freely from seven (0400 GMT) until two (1100 GMT) and we will be given more time in the afternoon," said Hana Salam, a school teacher from Karak.   "We cannot wait until they end it."   The curfew, imposed late on Saturday after King Hussein vowed an "iron fist" policy to face unrest and sent in army units, allowed people up to four hours to buy food.   "For the first time in three or four days I could come to my work," said hotel receptionist Mohammad Ramzi who lives near Karak.   "Officers at the army checkpoint on the entrance asked me for identity papers, but did not search the car."   Officials said they will continue a gradual lifting of the curfew before removing it after ensuring law and order.   Karak residents have said the government failed to address their severe economic harship and its heavy-handed use of force could precipitate more trouble once the army leaves.   "We really have to be assured before the curfew is lifted," one official told Reuters.   "So far, citizens have been cooperating and we are responding by relaxing the curfew."   He said security forces had detained 190 people, including over 100 in Karak, since Friday.   Many were released while others will be sent to court for trial, he said.   Karak residents said 300 people had been detained but many had already been freed.   They said some were tortured.   An official said arrests included a local reporter, Fouad Hussein, on charges of "direct involvement in the unrest" and three journalists in a pro-Iraqi weekly for violating press and publication laws by "carrying inaccurate and misleading reports" on the riots.   King Hussein has blamed the Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party, a pro-Iraqi organisation, for the riots.   But the party, which has one deputy in the 80-seat lower house, denied any involvement in unrest it blames on rising poverty.   King Hussein, seeking to show his authority, invited deputies and royally appointed senators from the south to his palace on Wednesday for talks and demanded a meeting with all parliament members on Thursday to help contain the crisis.   He angered many Jordanains on Saturday when he suspended the summer session of parliament, where a majority of deputies opposed the bread price rises and were angered when Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti ignored their views.   Some 23 deputies, including those of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the single largest party in parliament, have vowed to oust Kabariti.   They refused to attend a meeting at the prime ministry with other southern deputies and senators on Tuesday.   Riots began in Karak, famed for its towering Crusader castle, and quickly spread to nearby centres after main noon Moslem prayers.   By Saturday night there were clashes in Amman.   The violence was the most serious in Jordan since 1989 when price rises also sparked off riots.   The king responded then by sacking his prime minister and starting democratic reforms. 
1122 !GCAT !GCRIM !GREL  A Kuwaiti convert to Christianity who said he feared for his life after an Islamic court declared him an apostate has gone to the United States despite Kuwaiti guarantees of his safety, residents said on Wednesday.   "I am in the Unted States, in a place of safety," Robert Hussein said in a recent telephone call to Reuters in Kuwait from what he said was a location in the United States.   Hussein declined to elaborate on why he had gone to America or say whether he would return to try to overturn the declaration in an appeal due to be heard in September.   Residents in Kuwait on Wednesday confirmed Hussein had left Kuwait on Friday evening and had arrived in the United States.   A Shi'ite Family Court, ruling on a private civil suit brought against Hussein by three Islamist lawyers, declared Hussein an apostate on May 29 in the first such finding by a court in the conservative Gulf Arab state.   Public abandonment is rare in the Arab world.   Hussein, who annnounced his conversion to newspapers a year ago, said the court ruling could be interpreted by Moslems as permission to kill him.   Hussein's interpretation has been greeted with incredulity by officials and lawyers and also by several expatriate Christians who say he is grossly exaggerating the situation.   The Kuwaiti government issued a statement in July guaranteeing Hussein's safety.   Hussein said his old Kuwaiti passport was "confiscated" after his conversion but residents said he had just lost it.   He has been issued with a new one.   Kuwaitis say Hussein appears bent on fanning prejudice and misunderstanding among Western commentators unfamiliar with the variety of expatriate religious practice in Gulf Ara states.   Unlike neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Kuwait allows Christians to worship publicly in a variety of churches and its constitution guarantees freedom of religious belief.   Kuwait also has a small and long-established Kuwaiti Christian community. 
1123 !C21 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly will not threaten U.S. Gulf offshore oil and natural gas production if it continues to churn westward, meteorologists said.   Downgraded to a tropical storm as it ground its way across the Yucatan Penninsula Wednesday, Dolly is expected to strengthen as it moves over warm waters of the Bay of Campeche, meteorologists said.   But a ridge of high pressure along the Gulf coast should continue to steer the storm westward, keeping damaging winds, rain and storm surge well south of platforms in the U.S. Gulf.    "I don't think it's going to be a problem.   If it did get back over the Bay of Campeche, the high pressure system over the Gulf is still there (and) it would keep it well to the south," said Blake Wright, who is tracking the storm for Offshore Data Services.   Any named storm in the warm Gulf waters raises concerns, and producers were warned to keep a close eye on Dolly until it makes landfall, meteorologists said.   "Right now we don't see anything turning it northward, but it's really too early to tell," said Jill Springer, meteorologist with Houston's Weather Research Center.   Shell Oil Co yesterday pulled non-essential workers off its Auger platform as a precaution, but widespread evacuations were not expected unless the storm changes direction.   "As far as full-out evacuations I think we dodged this one," Wright said. 
1124 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Big Smith Brands Inc said Wednesday the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois granted a summary judgment in favor of Caterpillar Inc .   The court found that Caterpillar was entitled to terminate Big Smith's license on the basis that it did not provide Caterpillar with signed manufacturer's agreements, Big Smith said.    Big Smith also said the court denied its motion for a preliminary injunction against Caterpillar's termination of its license.   "The court's ruling was surprising to us," Peter Lebowitz, Big Smith chief executive officer, said in a statement.   "We are currently engaging Caterpillar in discussions to resolve the remaining issues in this dispute amicably."   In July, Big Smith said Caterpillar filed suit to stop Big Smith from using Caterpillar trademarks.   Big Smith said Caterpillar's suit alleged trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising and breach of contract.   Big Smith makes specialty apparel, including overalls, jeans and jackets.   Reuters Chicago Newsdesk - 312-408-8787 
1125 !C11 !C24 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Texfi Industries Inc said Wednesday it had begun making changes at one of its divisions to compensate for its poor second quarter, such as cutting personnel and closing and consolidating sewing facilities.    Texfi, which makes and markets textiles and apparel, said it would also make changes in the senior management of its Kingstree Knits Apparel division as well as improving productivity and emphasizing one-time delivery of product to its customers.   It said it nevertheless expected the division to operate at a loss throughout its fiscal year until sales volume rose to levels equal to its manufacturing capacity.   "Operating losses at the company's Kingstree Knits Apparel Division will continue to more than offset improvemnets in operating performance at the Blends and Narrow Fabrics divisions," it said.   However, Texfi also said it foresaw its Blends division reporting record sales for the entire fiscal year.   -- New York Newsdesk 212 859-1610 
1126 !GCAT !GWEA  Typhoon Niki is moving westward about 12 mph across the South China Sea, and has top winds near 85 mph.   Niki is expected to intensify to 105 mph while turning a little more to the west northwest.   Niki is expected to hit Hainan, China, in 36 hours, producing damaging winds and flooding rains.   The storm will also be a major threat to any shipping along its path.    Tropical Storm Dolly, with 45 mph winds, is over the Yucatan Peninsula about 100 miles south southeast of Merida, moving west northwest at 10 mph.   Dolly will continue to cross over the Yucatan and into the waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico today, where it will begin to intensify again.   Rainfall amounts of 5-10 inches are expected along the path of the storm, bringing flooding to the Yucatan Peninsula.   The current forecast track shows Dolly reaching the upper east coast of Mexico within 48 hours as at least a minimal hurricane.    There are no further statements at this time. 
1127 !GCAT !GENV  Santa Clara County, Calif., supervisors on Tuesday approved the purchase of a $2.5 million property, the first installment of the largest land deal in the history of the county park system.   The county will pay $2.5 million for a 711-acre ranch that has been used for cattle grazing north of Gilroy, California.   The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the purchase.   In the coming months, the county was expected to reach agreements on adjacent properties.   In all, Santa Clara County officials expect to buy 6,187 acres above the Gilroy and Morgan Hill areas in a deal worth as much as $20 million.   The county said it would use money from the parks charter fund, a property tax approved by voters, to pay for the land. 
1128 !GCAT !GDIS  A key state panel approved new revisions on Tuesday to the proposed $10.5 billion California Earthquake Authority.   The California state Senate Judiciary Committee approved the revisions by a vote of 6-to-1, sending the bill to the full Senate for consideration.   The Senate was expected to take up the bill later this week.   Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer, D-Hayward, said his revisions would make the authority more consumer friendly.   Lockyer said the bill provides more equitable rates for the San Francisco Bay area.   It also requires the insurance industry to retain its $3 billion contingent liability for 12 years.   In July, the proposed earthquake authority could only muster 21 votes in the state Senate, six short of what was needed to pass the legislation.   "We're pleased that progress has been made," said Richard Wiebe, deputy state insurance commissioner.   The authority was proposed as part of a plan to help solve the state's homeowners insurance crisis. 
1129 !GCAT !GHEA !GODD  The husband of a Massachusetts woman who committed suicide in the presence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian disputed on Tuesday a Michigan medical examiner's autopsy, calling him "insensitive" and accusing the examiner of pursuing "his own agenda."   Psychiatrist Franklin Curren, the husband of Judith Curren, said at an impromptu news conference on his front lawn that the coroner was "insensitive and does a disservice.   He's got his own agenda.   Some people are, highly illogically, trying to deal with the issue by saying my wife wasn't sick."   Oakland County, Michigan, medical examiner Dr. Ljubisa Dragovic, a longtime Kevorkian critic, said on Monday an autopsy on Judith Curren showed she was overweight and depressed, but showed no signs of chronic fatigue syndrome or other significant disease process.   The medical examiner's conclusions and police reports showing that Franklin Curren allegedly assaulted his wife raised troubling questions about Kevorkian and renewed debate over assisted suicide.   Curren said Dragovic's suggestion his wife's judgment was jarred by painkillers and she took her life because she was overweight belittled people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome.   "How can he diagnose depression on a cadaver?"   he asked reporters.   "The premise behind that is that anyone who takes medication is irrational or drug-addicted.   She was not incompetent because she took medication."   Curren said his wife suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue for 20 years and in recent years was unable to read, watch television or even spend more than 20 minutes a day with their daughters, aged 10 and 7.   In Southfield, Michigan, meanwhile, Kevorkian's attorney Geoffrey Fieger Tuesday produced medical records, some of Judith Curren's handwritten letters and a new eyewitness to her final moments.   A statement from Dr. David Bell of Harvard University, one of the medical records Fieger produced, said, "I do not feel that mental illness is the cause of her activity limitation or her symptom pattern.   I would rather see this as a complication of chronic fatigue syndrome."   Fieger said Curren called him almost daily for a year begging him to refer her to Kevorkian.   In a letter after making contact, Curren told the retired pathologist: "For that one evening you put a happy smile on my face because I felt secure in knowledge you would help me die.   On that night I was confident in the belief that you would assist me to reach the goal I have prayed for, longed for and been too incapacitated to accomplish on my own."   Janet Good, a longtime Kevorkian supporter who was present at Curren's death on Aug. 15, said Curren kissed her husband, Franklin, goodbye before she died.   Good said Curren's last words were, "Thank you, Dr. Kevorkian."   Last week the Currens flew from Pembroke to Detroit, where Judith Curren, a 42-year-old registered nurse, became the 35th person to die in Kevorkian's presence.   She weighed 260 pounds and was 5 feet 1 inch tall.   Curren said his wife first told him she planned to commit suicide four years ago, and his refusal to help her led to arguments, particularly during emotional phases of her illness.   She filed domestic assault charges against him in late July and sought a restraining order against him three years ago, according to police reports.   News reports said police responded to at least eight 911 calls from Judith Curren asking for help or from neighbours who complained of fighting at their earlier residence in Winchester, Massachusetts, from 1989 to 1994.   Curren was facing a court hearing on Oct. 5 on the assault charges, according to Boston media reports.   "The stress of the family situation was that I wasn't going along with the decision to take her life ... It wasn't family stress leading her to not want to be here," he said.   "Every time she made these accusations she retracted them and never went to court."   Curren said he finally agreed to honour her decision to die in March when she said she would divorce him, if necessary, to keep him from interfering.   "As time went on, she would say to me, 'Frank, why are you making me suffer?'   And I would say, 'I'm not, I'm your husband, I'm trying to help you.'   She said, 'Don't you realise that by keeping me alive, you're making me suffer.   There's no help available.   And I can't stand my life of lying in bed,'" Curren said   Curren said on rare occasions, once every six to 12 months, he would prescribe drugs for her in accordance with medical treatments supervised by "one of the world's pre-eminent psychopharmacologists" in New York.   He declined to name the New York doctor.   He said he met Tuesday for about two hours with members of the state medical board, who questioned him about doctors' allegations he improperly prescribed narcotics with other patients. 
1130 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  New York City's economy lost a seasonally adjusted 5,200 jobs in July due to job losses in the public sector, city Comptroller Alan Hevesi said Wednesday.   This is the first loss in six months.   The private sector, however, continued to generate jobs, adding 2,600 in July, the city comptroller reported in his release of employment data provided by the Department of Labor, which the city comptroller's office seasonally adjusts.   After a small gain in June, government lost a large amount of jobs, down a seasonally adjusted 7,800.   Local government, which includes city government and agencies such as Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority, lost 7,200 jobs, while the state and federal government lost a combined 600 jobs.   Sectors showing job losses in July were wholesale and retail trade, down a seasonally adjsuted 300, finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE), down 600, and health services, down 2,100.   The job loss data for July reflect a large loss in the health services sector, which experienced mild gains in the spring and none in May or June.   The city began laying off some employees from its hospital system as it continues to look to streamline and privatize and sell the hospital system.   The gains in the private sector were concentrated in manufacturing, which added 2,300 jobs -- the first gains made by that sector after five months of losses.   The securities industry was constant, with no gains or losses, the city comptroller reported.   --U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650 
1131 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Warmer-than-normal weather in the U.S. Midwest should be replaced Friday by normal to below normal temperatures that will extend through much of next week, forecasters said.   However, the northern Plains should continue to have normal to above normal temperatures, they said.   Current weather maps suggest mostly dry weather for the Midwest through next week, but Tropical Storm Dolly in the Gulf of Mexico could change that by forcing rain into the Midwest, said Fred Gesser, Weather Express Inc. meteorologist.    "By late Friday or Saturday it (Dolly) could bring rain to the southern half of Indiana and southern two-thirds of Ohio," said Gesser.   Also, rains from Dolly could disrupt any remaining corn harvest in eastern Texas, Louisana and Arkansas, he said.   High temperatures for the Midwest should slide from the 80s and 90s (degrees Fahrenheit) Wednesday and Thursday to the 70s and low 80s by Friday and then into the 70s next week, said Gesser.   Lows may dip into the mid-40s in northeast Iowa and southern Minnesota next week and low 50s elsewhere, he said.   Gerald Hartling, a Weather Services Corp meteorologist, also was forecasting lower temperatures next week in the Midwest.   However, the spring wheat areas of the Dakotas may have normal to above-normal temperatures next week, he said.   Also, the Dakotas should be mostly dry, which should allow for advances in the spring wheat harvest.   --Chicago newsdesk 312-408-8720-- 
1132 !GCAT !GCRIM  A polygraph expert who declared Richard Jewell innocent of the Olympic park bombing once used a lie detector to defend a man later convicted of ordering his wife's murder, an Atlanta newspaper said on Wednesday.   Richard Rackleff, a former FBI agent, told a news conference on Tuesday that Jewell had passed a lie detector test in which he denied any involvement in the bomb attack on the Centennial Olympic Games.   The polygrapher was hired by Jewell attorneys as part of a public campaign to clear the security guard's name of suspicion.   The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Rackleff in 1992 gave a similar lie detector test to a prominent lawyer accused of murdering his wife and said he was convinced of the man's innocence.   But the lawyer was later convicted of racketeering for hiring a business associate to carry out the murder.   The newspaper said Rackleff also used a polygraph test to defend a man who later admitted to being a child molester.   Rackleff, a retired 27-year FBI veteran, was not immediately available for comment.   Two people died and more than 100 were injured on July 27 when a homemade pipe bomb exploded at an outdoor concert in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park.   Jewell, 33, a security guard at a nearby pavilion, was initially hailed as a hero for finding the green knapsack that carried the bomb and helping to clear crowds from the area.   But days later he became the only named suspect in a federal investigation and has remained under FBI and media surveillance, although he has not been charged with any crime.   Jewell has steadfastly maintained his innocence.   Using the polygraph results provided by Rackleff, his lawyers have demanded that the FBI either arrest him or apologise to him. 
1133 !GCAT !GPOL  A Tallahassee advisory committee recommended that voters in Florida's capital be allowed to elect their own mayor.   Currently, city commissioners choose a mayor from among themselves to serve a one-year term.   If the City Commission approves the committee's recomendation at a Sept 11 meeting, the proposal will go on the Nov 5 ballot.   The advisory committee is made up of 10 civic leaders appointed by commissioners.   The panel recommended Tuesday that mayors be elected to four-year terms, and said the proposal should carry a sunset provision allowing voters to decide after eight years whether to keep or eliminate mayoral elections.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1134 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  President Clinton's lead over Republican Bob Dole in California was halved to 10 points following the Republican convention, according to an opinion poll published Wednesday.   The poll by the independent Field Institute found that the Democratic ticket of Clinton and Vice President Al Gore led the Republican ticket of Dole and his running mate Jack Kemp 45 percent to 35 percent in a four-way presidential match-up.   The match-up also included Texas billionaire Ross Perot, who is running for his new Reform Party, and Ralph Nader of the Green Party.   The Field Institute poll was completed August 19, following last week's Republican convention in San Diego.   In July, the division of likely voter sentiment in California was 48 percent for Clinton vs. 28 percent for Dole, the Field Institute said.   California, with 54 electoral votes, is regarded as essential to Clinton's re-election chances in the Nov. 5 election.   Clinton has underscored the importance of the state with numerous visits throughout his presidency.   In the current survey, Clinton captured 77 percent of the votes from the state's rank-and-file Democrats while Dole won 70 percent of Republican votes, the poll found.   The survey was conducted August 14 to 19 among 707 registered voters in California, of whom 531 were deemed more likely to vote in the November election.   The margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. 
1135 !GCAT !GCRIM  The Los Angeles Times newspaper said on Wednesday that Guards in a California prison arranged "cockfights" between inmates, betting on the men and shooting several of them.   The newspaper, citing prison officials, said California's toughest maximum-security jail, Corcoran State Prison, ranked highest in the United States for inmate killings with routine reports of torture and cover-ups by prison guards.   "It was common practice, they say, for guards to pair off rival inmates like roosters in a cockfight, complete with spectators and wagering, then sometimes shoot those who wouldn't stop fighting," the newspaper said.   There was no immediate comment from the state Department of Corrections.   The Los Angeles Times said its director declined to be interviewed, citing pending lawsuits.   Located in the San Joaquin Valley, the high-tech prison houses convicted killers Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan, who murdered presidential candidate Robert Kennedy in 1968.   The Los Angeles Times said the accusations of brutality came not from inmates or prisoner rights groups but from "Corcoran's captains, lieutenants and guards who said they no longer could stay quiet about abuses their brethren inflicted on prisoners".   The newspaper said the accounts by several officers were bolstered by internal memos and confidential documents.   It said that since the prison was built eight years ago seven inmates have been shot dead by guards and more than 50 have been wounded -- the most killings of any U.S. prison.   While the state Department of Corrections routinely cleared officers of wrongdoing in the killings, the newspaper said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a federal grand jury are investigating the shootings.   The former warden George Smith, who retired in July, was quoted in the article as saying some of his staff "have gone crazy".   "But it was only a few who screwed up.   We've got 1,700 good employees".   The newspaper said the troubles began in 1989 when guards shackled a prisoner who had put up a fight, took his trousers off and fired a stun gun into his genitals.   Despite a "wall of silence" from guards, the officers in the incident were later convicted when one supervisor helped prosecutors.   Still, the brutality escalated, including the placing of rival gangs in small yards where fights erupted on which guards bet, according to one official quoted in the article. 
1136 !GCAT  Ten powerful high-tech companies are investing in a venture fund to support startups developing Internet software using Java as a programming language, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.   International Business Machines Corp, Tele-Communications Inc, Sun Microsystems Inc, Compaq Computer Corp, U S West Communications Group, Netscape Communications Corp and Oracle Corp are among the investors in the $100 million Java Fund.   It will be administered by venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers.   The widespread endorsement for the Java Fund, which also includes investments from Cisco Systems Inc, Comcast Corp and Japan's Itochu Corp, marks an unprecedented rate of adoption for a single technology across a wide range of high-tech industries.   The newspaper also reported:   * V. John Goodwin has quit as National Steel Corp's president and chief operating officer less than a week after the company's majority shareholder, NKK Corp, took away his chief executive's title.   * Britain and France have told the European Commission that a joint missiles venture between British Aerospace Plc and France's Lagardere SCA affects both countries' security interests and that they oppose an EU investigation of the deal.   * Arizona and Kansas join parade of states suing the tobacco industry to recoup health care costs, and Michigan announces it plans to become the 13th state to do so.   * Slower growth, higher costs put CompuServe Corp deeply in the red.   * United Auto Workers walk out of contract talks over Chrysler Corp's Latin American plans.   * Champion Enterprises Inc to buy Redman Industries Inc in a stock swap valued at about $367.6 million.   * Huntsman Corp drops bid to acquire Rexene Corp.   * Netscape Communications Corp asks the Justice Department to investigate Microsoft Corp for anti-trust violations.   * Shares in British Airways fall after a report that "open sky" talks between Britain and the United States were stalled.   * Consumer Reports magazine says two sport utility vehicles, Isuzu Motors Ltd's Trooper and Acura SLX, can overturn during quick turns at low speed and demands a recall.   * Federal Reserve leaves interest rates unchanged.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average rises 21.82 to 5,721.26.   The Nasdaq composite index falls 6.24 to 1,124.67.   * Sprint Corp will start offering Internet services to its customers.   * Leading retailers report gains in profits.   * U.S. trade deficit shrinks in June, but gap with China surges.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1137 !GCAT !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly will begin to intensify again as it moves into the waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, private forecaster Weather Services Corporation said on Wednesday.   Current forecasts showed Dolly reaching the upper east coast of Mexico within 48 hours as at least a minimal hurricane.   The storm, with 45 mph winds, was currently over the Yucatan Peninsula about 100 miles south southeast of Merida, moving west northwest at 10 mph.   Rainfall of 5-10 inches was expected along the path of the storm, bringing floods to the Yucatan Peninsula. 
1138 !GCAT !GWEA  Typhoon Niki, moving westwards across the South China Sea with top winds near 85 mph, is expected to intensify to 105 mph, private forecaster Weather Services Corporation (WSC) said.   Niki is expected to hit Hainan, China, in 36 hours, producing damaging winds and flooding rains. 
1139 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  No significant cold is in sight in Brazil's coffee growing regions, private forecaster Weather Services Corporation said.   The outlook is for mostly fair to partly cloudy weather, with very little change from Friday to Sunday. 
1140 !GCAT !GCRIM  A man who murdered a rural farm couple and then abandoned their decomposing bodies in the trunk of a car was executed on Wednesday by the state of Missouri, a spokesman said.   Tim Kniest, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said Richard Oxford was injected with a lethal combination of drugs and was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m.   CDT (0506 GMT) at the Potosi Correctional Centre.   Oxford, 39, was convicted of the 1986 murders of Howard and Melba Wampler, a southwest Missouri farm couple who had seven children.   The Wamplers' bodies were discovered a few weeks after Oxford escaped from an Oklahoma prison.   Oxford was originally scheduled to die in June, but the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted the execution while it considered the case of a Georgia death row inmate.   The court subsequently cleared the way for the execution to proceed.   Oxford's final words were marked with a penitent tone.   "I feel remorse for what I did to the victims' family," Kniest quoted Oxford as having said.   "I love my wife and children and I'll see them on the other side."   Oxford was the fifth person to be executed in Missouri in 1996 and the 22nd since the state resumed executions in 1989.   Kniest said a crowd of 14 death penalty supporters and 10 opponents had demonstrated quietly outside the correctional centre in the hours leading up to Oxford's death. 
1141 !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Dr. Jack Kevorkian attended his 36th suicide late on Tuesday night, hospital officials said, even as controversy continued to rage over the death of his previous patient last week.   Kevorkian brought the body of Louise Siebens, 76, of McKiney, Texas, into the emergency room at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital at 10:11 p.m.   Tuesday night (0311 GMT Wednesday), said Dr. Robert Aranosian, the hospital's emergency room director.   He told doctors there that Siebens had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, which is considered to be terminal.   The 68-year-old retired pathologist briefly provided some information about Siebens, then left.   "This is the usual routine -- he arrives, he's here briefly, then he leaves," Aranosian said.   Kevorkian's attorney, Geoffrey Fieger, could not be reached for comment early Wednesday morning.   The death of Kevorkian's last patient, Judith Curren, a 42-year-old registered nurse from Pembroke, Mass., has stirred controversy because she allegedly suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, which is not considered a fatal disease.   The Oakland County coroner said Monday that an autopsy produced no evidence of disease, leading Kevorkian's critics to raise questions about his methods and standards in helping patients commit suicide.   Curren had filed an assault charge against her husband, Franklin, a psychologist, but he has denied ever assaulting her, and maintains that she filed the charge because he had refused to take her to see Kevorkian.   Siebens' death is the 36th that Kevorkian has acknowledged attending since he began his crusade for doctor-assisted suicide in 1990, and the eighth since he was acquitted of assisted suicide charges for a third time in May. 
1142 !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  President Clinton, who promised health insurance for everyone when he campaigned for the White House in 1992, on Wednesday signs a bill into law that will help people who have health insurance to keep it.   Sponsored by Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, the bill generally protects those who change jobs or become ill from losing their medical benefits.   The bill also sets up 750,000 Medical Savings Accounts to replace current conventional health insurance policies for employees of small companies or self-employed people.   It also gives the self-employed a bigger tax break on health care costs.   Clinton will sign the measure at a White House ceremony attended by health care professionals, members of Congress and ordinary citizens whom the bill will help.   While the ceremony will cast the president in a favourable light by doing something about a widely-felt domestic problem, it will also be a vivid reminder of the collapse of his drive for universal health care coverage in 1994.   More than 37 million Americans currently lack insurance.   Asked if Clinton considered the bill a partial payoff on his campaign promise of four years ago, White House spokesman Mike McCurry said yes, "but there is more that must be done."   "The Kassebaum-Kennedy measure, by expanding portability, by really instituting some controls and some new procedures on health care administrative costs, does take a very important incremental step," the spokesman said.   But McCurry acknowledged that the bill does not address the question of the uninsured, and said health care reform will be a "very important part" of Clinton's second-term agenda.   He said Clinton, who faces a challenge from Republican Bob Dole and independent Ross Perot in the Nov. 5 presidential election, would lay out more specifics of his agenda when he accepts renomination at the Democratic convention next week.   Clinton plans to campaign on a three-day whistlestop train trip to the Chicago convention. 
1143 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following stories on its front page on Wednesday:   * India vetoes pact to forbid testing of nuclear arms.   * China has become chief contributor to U.S. trade deficit.   * Russian national security adviser Alexander Lebed disputes orders over Chechnya.   * Populist New Alliance Party says it will back billionaire presidential candidate Ross Perot.   * New Jersey officials say organized crime has infiltrated the health-care industry.   * Republican presidential candidate attacks President Bill Clinton as weak on defense and defends his own tax plan.   * One-time Clinton business partner is sentenced to two years in a Whitewater-related fraud case.   * New York officers arrest suspect in police shooting.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1144 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following stories on its front page on August 21:   ---   WASHINGTON - Teenage drug use has doubled since 1992, according to a federal survey that Republicans seized upon to bolster their claims that President Bill Clinton has presided over a return to permissiveness.   ---   WASHINGTON - Washington DC's elected officials have stood nearly mute in the face of a continuing crisis in the public school system over the past three weeks.   ---   MOSCOW - Russian troops prepared to launch a risky new offensive against Chechen separatists in Grozny even as a high-stakes Kremlin power struggle escalated among top aides of an absent President Boris Yeltsin.   ---   WASHINGTON - The homicide rate in Prince George County, Maryland, the area's most crime-ridden suburb, has fallen nearly 25 percent so far this year.   ---   MORRISTOWN, N. J. - The pastoral communities of central New Jersey that were the prime beneficiaries of the great flight from cities are today laboratories where the old suburban ideal is adapting to downsizing and the new economy. 
1145 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following business stories on August 21:   ---   WASHINGTON - ValuJet Airlines will not get approval to resume flying by Friday, its target date, and may have to wait until at least early September to restart operations.   ---   WASHINGTON - Some analysts are concerned about the vagueness and credibility of the tax plan offered by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole.   ---   WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve opted to make no change in short-term interest rates, suggesting officials are satisfied the economy is growing at a sustainable rate.   ---   WASHINGTON - Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, asked the government to order a recall of some Acura SLXs and Isuzu Troopers which it said were prone to rolllover.   --- 
1146 !GCAT !GENT  Nobody can accuse glass artist Dale Chihuly of thinking small.   Since he discovered the art of glassblowing as a student in the 1960s, Chihuly has helped propel the medium to the forefront of the modern art world with enormous, undulating, platter-like creations and whimsical glass sculptures assembled by 10-person teams.   Now the Seattle-based craftsman is in the final stages of his biggest project yet, the installation of some 15 towering "chandeliers" and dozens of smaller works in Venice, where he first learned the mysterious art of manipulating molten glass.   Chihuly, 54, who took teams of glass blowers to three countries for the production of "Chihuly Over Venice," will arrive in Italy on Aug. 26 to oversee the installation of works weighing up to a tonne or more in time for the city's first Biennale of Glass, which opens on Sept. 12.   While he has done large installations in restaurants, museums, galleries and even aboard a ship, he said he had never tried anything as difficult logistically as Venice.   "Italy is difficult to begin with and Venice is much more complicated than most cities," he told Reuters in the former boat factory on Lake Union that serves as his home and studio.   Chihuly, a striking figure with a black eyepatch and mane of wild curls, has spent more than $1 million on the Venice project involving some 300 people, probably more than has been spent for any single artistic enterprise since the conceptual artist Christo wrapped Berlin's Reichstag in cloth last year.   Chihuly's assistants designed special four-legged frames to suspend the 15-foot (five-metre-) high chandeliers without damaging historic buildings and they consulted with Boeing Co. engineers for insight into possible wind hazards in the city's narrow waterways.   Chihuly himself sat through a seemingly endless series of meetings with Venetian authorities to win approval for his plans to install the giant glass assemblages over the city's famous canals and in palaces, courtyards and gardens.   Smaller works will be tossed from bridges and floated along the waterways as homage to the ancient glassmaking centre that he fell in love with as a Fulbright fellow studying at the famed Venini Factory in the late 1960s.   "It is kind of a full circle, going back there after almost 30 years," he said.   "It is my favourite city -- along with about half the rest of the world's."   After learning at the hands of Venetian masters, the Tacoma native returned to the Pacific Northwest and in 1971 co-founded the Pilchuk Glass School north of Seattle, which has helped make the region an international centre for the studio glass movement.   Chihuly, who has not blown glass himself since losing his left eye in a 1976 automobile accident, has assembled a staff of some 80 artisans and assistants who turn out pieces seven days a week in the boathouse "hot shop."   His frequent exhibits are hugely popular and his work is represented in permanent collections of the world's most prestigious museums including the Louvre in Paris and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.   Current prices range from $3,000 for a small "basket" to $300,000 or more for a large chandelier or ceiling installation.   "He's one of the most successful artists in terms of both critical esteem and commercial success," said Donald Kuspit, author of a forthcoming study of his work.   Chihuly has ruffled feathers along the way in the staid art world, where until recently glass-blowing was considered a mere craft.   And he is aware that his self-titled Venice project could irritate some in the canal city, which has been a glass-making centre for hundreds of years.   But Chihuly brushes aside any criticism of his brashly self-promotional style.   "For everyone who didn't like that there would probably be another 10 who would say that what Chihuly has done has really helped bring up the rest of us."   He said he hoped that attitude would prevail among the glass masters of Venice as well.   "I think when you have a big glass event it can't help but be good for the glass scene in Venice, and I think they will probably realise that," he said. 
1147 !GCAT  Presidential politics may be a horse race but they can also be a brisk sunrise walk.   An exhibit called "Flexing the Nation's Muscle: Presidents, Physical Fitness and Sports in the American Century" traces the athletic ventures of U.S. presidents and the ways they promoted an image of strength and vigour.   "That's probably always been a part of American politics," said Clay Bauske, curator at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, who helped put together the summertime exhibit at the White House Visitors Centre.   "But it probably got more important with television.   Before that presidents kept fit to keep fit."   Many of the mementos are familiar -- George Bush's horseshoes, ostrich cowboy boots Ronald Reagan wore astride his horse, photos of John Kennedy sailing with his young family, President Bill Clinton's "Razorback Hoops" T-shirt and his New Balance running shoes.   Other images have fallen into oblivion.   "Hooverball," involving a 10-pound (4.5 kg) medicine ball heaved over a volleyball net, never quite caught on despite Herbert Hoover's endorsement that "it requires less skill than tennis."   Some presidents were true athletes and outdoorsmen.   Teddy Roosevelt, for instance, personifed "vigor and fitness" at the start of the 20th century, said Bauske, who was unable to get his curatorial hands on any big game trophies or other "TR" relics for this display.   The most outstanding athlete among modern presidents was probably Gerald Ford, despite his popular image as a bumbler, fed by his unfortunate habit of hitting spectators with golf balls at celebrity tournaments.   A University of Michigan football star, Ford was still running three or four miles a day -- and sometimes up to 12 miles -- well into his 60s.   For some presidents, sports ceased to be pure pleasure and became part of a struggle for physical survival.   Known for his intellect more than his sportsmanship, Woodrow Wilson was a reasonably fit man who played golf and took walks until his stroke in 1919.   After that, on those occasions when he could walk at all, he needed a walking stick, shown in the exhibit.   Franklin Roosevelt, a one-time country club golf champion, was stricken by polio as a young man.   Although he tried to hide the extent of the damage from voters, the leg braces on display are a poignant reminder of his atrophied limbs.   But not even polio stopped him from fishing and swimming.   "I have been swimming three times a week -- first in the Astor pool and lately in the pond on our place," he wrote a friend in 1923.   "The legs work wonderfully in the water and I need nothing artificial to keep myself afloat."   Dwight Eisenhower, enough of an athlete to get his picture in Sports Illustrated, relished his time on the golf course and was even known to wear golf shoes in the Oval Office, where he left cleat marks on the wooden floor.   But he had a heart attack, so he fitted a shoe with a 12-pound (5 kg) weight to do leg exercises in his office while he recuperated.   For some presidents, physical regimens or outdoor hobbies became part of their image, almost an extension of their personality.   Bush, who learned tennis at age five, was known for hyper-competitiveness and hyper-speed as he rushed from one sport to another.   Harry Truman's brisk early morning walks, one to two miles (.6 to 1.2 km) a day at a military gait of 120 paces per minute, came to symbolise his no-nonsense management style.   He was also an avid swimmer, if a stubborn one, insisting on keeping his head above water so he could wear his glasses.   For Jimmy Carter, who made a virtue out of his common man modesty, good old-fashioned softball was the game of choice -- like touch football for the Kennedys.   Carter often joined impromptu games with his family, staff, even reporters, and his display is brimming with baseball paraphernalia such as engraved "his and hers" bats for him and wife Rosalynn and a softball given to daughter Amy by the "Purple Panda Girls" team at an elementary school in Ohio.   Not every winning politician is a jock.   Richard Nixon's space is virtually empty, although there is a photograph of him playing golf.   "When he was Eisenhower's vice president, I'm not sure if he had any choice in the matter," Bauske said.   But Nixon was still a step ahead of Hoover.   An ardent football fan, Hoover managed the team while a student at Stanford.   He went down in history for remembering to organise the ticket sales but forgetting to buy the ball.   The exhibit is on through Sept. 7 at the Visitors Centre, just southwest of the White House, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.   Admission is free. 
1148 !GCAT !GENT  Organisers of the Miss Universe pageant on Tuesday denied they had ordered their reigning beauty queen, Venezuela's Alicia Machado, to shed pounds or else give up her title.   "We are distressed about the recent reports that the Miss Universe organisation has put Alicia Machado on notice that she must lose weight in order to retain her title as Miss Universe," said Martin Brooks, president of Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc.   Brooks, in a statement released in the resort town of Las Cruces where Machado is attending the Miss Teen USA beauty pageant, said Miss Universe officials were "extremely happy with Alicia and feel she fulfils her obligations ... exceptionally well."   In an unusual development, officials of the Miss Venezuela Organisation said on Monday in Caracas that the 19-year-old Machado had been given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to lose 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk losing the title.   At 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall, Machado weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) in Las Vegas in May when she became the fourth Venezuelan to win the crown.   She gained weight after the pageant because of what people close to her described as difficulty sticking to her diet and a weakness for pasta and cake.   In Venezuela -- a country proud of its reputation as the world's beauty queen capital -- reports that Machado's weight gain could endanger her crown made front-page news.   But on Tuesday Venezuelan pageant officials backed away from their earlier comments, with one official telling Reuters: "She obviously has a weight problem which affects her swimsuit contracts but this does not mean she will be stripped of her crown."   Brooks emphasised on Tuesday that "a weight requirement is not part of our titleholder employment contract."   Machado was scheduled to make a public appearance during the 1996 Miss Teen USA Pageant, which was to be held on Wednesday night at New Mexico State University and broadcast nationwide by CBS television.   Teen pageant officials maintained that Machado was there as the pageant's special guest, not to shed pounds.   Machado appeared with Las Cruces Mayor Ruben Smith on a morning talk show on local television station KVIA, but the subject of her weight did not come up.   "Being with her this morning for a couple of hours I can tell you she looked in beautiful shape to me," Smith later told Reuters.   Asked if Machado was overweight, Wendy Schwartz, a Miss Universe publicist accompanying the beauty queen, said, "I suggest people tune in to the show tomorrow night and they can decide for themselves."   After she was awarded the title in May, Machado told reporters in Las Vegas she planned to do "something I haven't been able to do in three weeks: eat, eat, eat and sleep."   As word of Machado's weight problem spread, journalists from around the United States and Latin America descended on Las Cruces and swamped the teen pageant's public relations office with requests to cover the event. 
1149 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Miami man avoided a possible death sentence on Tuesday by agreeing to serve life in prison for the 1993 shotgun murder of a German tourist during a highway robbery.   Recondall Wiggins, 22, who was convicted of first-degree murder, agreed to a deal worked out by prosecutors and defence attorneys just before a jury was to hear testimony on whether he get life in prison or death in Florida's electric chair.   He agreed to a life term with no possibility of parole for 25 years for the slaying and 50 years on unrelated charges.   Wiggins was convicted in the Sept. 8, 1993 death of Uwe-Wilhelm Rakebrand, 33, of Adendorf, Germany, who was fatally shot as he and his pregnant wife tried to flee robbers who bumped their rental car with a truck on a highway between Miami International Airport and Miami Beach.   When Rakebrand refused to pull off the highway, the assailants fired at his rented Toyota Corolla, killing him.   Two other defendants in the case, Patsy Jones -- known by the nickname "Gangsta Bitch" -- and Alvan Hundson, pleaded guilty to murder charges under an agreement that spared their lives.   The killing was one of several highly publicised attacks on foreign visitors that sent shockwaves through Florida's $31 billion-a-year tourism industry.   The state has since removed identifying markings from rental cars, improved highway signs in resort areas and deployed special tourism police to safeguard visitors.   Prosecutor Michael Band said Rakebrand's widow had been consulted and was satisfied with the sentence.   "Germany does not have a death penalty.   We discussed that with her," Band said.   "She is very satisfied that this thing now will be closed." 
1150 !GCAT !GCRIM  A man who robbed a Girl Scout and her mother of money and a box of cookies was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison.   Circuit Court Judge Bob Mitcham handed Cleveland Johnson, 29, a life sentence as a habitual offender and gave his accomplice, John Pellicer, 20, an 8 1/2 year term.   The two robbed 8-year-old Lisa Ranon at gunpoint outside a Tampa supermarket on March 22, stealing less than $100 and a box of cookies.   While Pellicer had only a single misdemeanor on his record, Johnson had a long criminal record and had served prison time before, said assistant state attorney Melvin Luntz said.   He said that changes in Florida law now mean that inmates must serve at least 80 percent of their sentences.   "Mr. Johnson will spend most of his life in prison," Luntz said.   The two men apologised in court for the robbery, which Mitcham called "despicable."   Johnson's lawyer said his client is mentally retarded and needed help. 
1151 !GCAT !GDIS  A fire gutted a hotel in central France early on Wednesday, killing four people and injuring 14 others, officials said.   Flames spread rapidly up a lift shaft in the small and cheap Le Savoy hotel in Clermont-Ferrand, trapping many guests in their rooms on the upper floors.   The cause of the fire, which began around 2 a.m. (midnight GMT), was unknown.   The victims were mostly students or workers, all apparently French citizens.   Two of those injured were in a serious condition.   Police said the blaze spread upwards from the ground floor and rescuers took more than an hour to bring it under control.   Five people were evacuated via the fire brigade's ladders and seven others battled their way down the stairs and through the flames.   One fireman said the hotel had no emergency exit and there was no night porter. 
1152 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  French Prime Minister Alain Juppe summoned nine ministers on Wednesday to try to break out of a damaging impasse as African immigrants fighting expulsion orders vowed to continue a 48-day hunger strike.   A day after one of the fasters was taken to hospital, the government hinted at a more conciliatory line and Juppe called round-table talks attended by heads of the justice, foreign, interior, and social affairs ministries.   The nine remaining hunger strikers pledged to continue their fast after one was taken to hospital on Tuesday night with stomach pains.   They are flanked by about 300 other protesters occupying the Saint-Bernard church in Paris.   An official said the government would as part of a solution ask the highest administrative court, the Council of State, to review the enforcement of immigration laws, and a kink which means some immigrants cannot be expelled nor granted permits.   Aides said the premier, who returned early from his summer holidays on Tuesday, had consulted the speakers of both houses of parliament, leaders of the two parties in the ruling centre-right coalition, and Xavier Emmanuelli, junior minister for emergency humanitarian action.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre, in a letter to actress Marina Vlady who is among protesters, said he shared her concern at the expulsion of illegal immigrants with children legally in France, and pledged not to separate mothers from their children.   "I believe it is essential that the necessary enforcement of republican law takes the human aspect into consideration," Debre wrote.   His conciliatory tone contrasted with earlier vows to strictly apply the law.   At the church, a spokesman for the protesters said 29-year-old Moussa Keita, taken to hospital on Tuesday, was in no danger.   "He is tired but his condition is not worrying.   He has not been put on a drip," he told reporters.   "The fact that one of the hunger strikers was taken to hospital shows that this is a real hunger strike and that they are determined to continue until the end," he said.   Doctors monitoring the health of the hunger strikers at the church, where they have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins, said two others were in serious condition.   Around the church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, protesters including 110 children are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers ready to prevent police seizing them by chaining themselves together if necessary.   Personalities who have called at the church include Danielle Mitterrand, widow of President Francois Mitterrand, anti-poverty campaigner Abbe Pierre, and sacked bishop Jacques Gaillot.   Film star Emanuelle Beart has spent several nights sleeping there.   Short of achieving their main aim, the hunger strikers have managed to divide the ruling coalition, and to unite the fractious left several weeks into their protest.   "The right is on the verge of a nervous breakdown," headlined the left-leaning newspaper Liberation.   Left-wing parties, human rights associations and trade unions have called a march from Republique Square in eastern Paris to the church for later in the day (1600 GMT) to show support for the immigrants. 
1153 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  French Prime Minister Alain Juppe held talks on Wednesday about a 48-day hunger strike by African immigrants fighting expulsion orders as the government hinted at a more conciliatory line.   The hunger strikers pledged to continue their fast after one of the 10 was taken to hospital on Tuesday night complaining of stomach pains.   The hunger strikers are flanked by about 300 other protesters occupying a Paris church.   Juppe, who returned early from his summer holidays on Tuesday, met Xavier Emmanuelli, junior minister for emergency humanitarian action, on Wednesday morning for almost an hour as he took charge of efforts to break the deadlock.   Neither commented on the talks.   Supporters of the hunger strikers said Emmanuelli had earlier promised to intervene on their behalf.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre, in a letter to actress Marina Vlady who is supporting the fasters, said he shared her concern at the expulsion of illegal immigrants with children legally in France, and pledged not to separate mothers from their children.   "I believe it is essential that the necessary enforcement of republican law takes the human aspect into consideration," Debre wrote in the letter released by his office.   Its conciliatory tone contrasted with earlier vows to strictly apply the law.   The daily Le Monde said that President Jacques Chirac had asked Juppe to ask France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'Etat, to review the implementation of French immigration laws as part of a solution to the crisis.   A spokesman for the fasters said that 29-year-old Moussa Keita, taken to hospital on Tuesday, was in no danger.   "He is tired but his condition is not worrying.   He has not been put on a drip," the spokesman told reporters as the Malian rested at the nearby Lariboisiere hospital.   "The fact that one of the hunger strikers was taken to hospital shows that this is a real hunger strike and that they are determined to continue until the end," he said.   Doctors monitoring the health of the hunger strikers at the Saint-Bernard church, where they have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins, said two others were in serious condition.   Around the church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, protesters including 110 children are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers committed to preventing police seizing them by chaining themselves together if necessary.   Personalities who have called at the church include Danielle Mitterrand, widow of President Francois Mitterrand, anti-poverty campaigner Abbe Pierre, and sacked bishop Jacques Gaillot.   Film star Emanuelle Beart has spent several nights sleeping there.   Short of achieving their main aim, the hunger strikers have managed to divide the ruling centre-right coalition as it struggles to find a way out of the impasse, and to unite the fractious left several weeks into their protest.   "The right is on the verge of a nervous breakdown," headlined the left-leaning newspaper Liberation.   Left-wing parties, human rights associations and trade unions have called a march from Republique Square in eastern Paris to the church for later in the day (1600 GMT) to show support for the immigrants. 
1154 !GCAT !GODD  A Swiss doctor used a Swiss army knife to stab himself to death on a plane after it landed at Geneva airport, police sources said on Wednesday.   They said the man, in his 30s, plunged the knife several times into his heart in front of other passengers shortly after the British Airways plane landed, and died minutes later.   "The plane had landed and was taxiing toward the stand when crew became aware that there was blood on this gentleman," said an airline spokesman in London.   The doctor, who has not been named, was on his way back from a visit to the United States, where he was said to have suffered psychological problems.   The doctor's wife and a psychologist were waiting for him at the airport, the police sources said.   They confirmed a report in the daily Tribune de Geneve which said cabin crew, warned of the man's state, had been keeping an eye on him during British Airways flight BA 730 from London on Monday evening.   He stabbed himself after the seat belt sign was turned off.   There was said to be no panic among other passengers, many of whom had disembarked.   "Police came on board to interview the crew and were said to be satisfied that no one else was involved in the incident," the airline spokesman said.   "There was no breach of security whatsoever in terms of a knife being aboard.   It was a penknife which was well within permitted length limits." 
1155 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  African immigrants on the 48th day of a hunger strike to fight French expulsion orders pledged to continue their protest on Wednesday as the government refused to back down, even though one of them was rushed to hospital.   A spokesman for the fasters, who are flanked by 300 supporters occupying a Paris church, said Malian Moussa Keita, 29, was in no danger after complaining of severe stomach pains late on Tuesday.   "He is tired but his condition is not worrying.   He has not been put on a drip," the spokesman told reporters as Keita rested at the Lariboisiere hospital in the capital.   "The fact that one of the hunger strikers was taken to hospital shows that this is a real hunger strike and that they are determined to continue until the end," he said.   Doctors monitoring the health of the hunger strikers at the Saint-Bernard church, where they have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins, said two were in serious condition.   Around the church in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, protesters including 110 children are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers committed to preventing police seizing them by chaining themselves together if necessary.   Personalities who have called at the church include Danielle Mitterrand, widow of President Francois Mitterrand, anti-poverty campaigner Abbe Pierre, and sacked bishop Jacques Gaillot.   French film star Emanuelle Beart has spent several nights sleeping in the church.   Short of achieving their main aim, the hunger strikers have managed to divide the ruling centre-right coalition as it struggles to find a way out of the impasse, and to unite the fractious left several weeks into their protest.   Prime Minister Alain Juppe's first move on his return from a holiday he had cut short was to receive late on Tuesday centrist parliamentarian Gilles de Robien, who broke with the official line to meet representatives of the hunger strikers earlier.   Officials said Juppe met Xavier Emmanuelli, junior minister for emergency humanitarian action, on Wednesday morning.   "The right is on the verge of a nervous breakdown," headlined the left-leaning newspaper Liberation.   "For a long time the affair was left in the clumsy hands of the interior minister," it said in an editorial.   "He has succeeded in turning a simple police case into a national issue," it said.   The centrist UDF, junior coalition partner, is in two minds on an attempt by its National Assembly floor leader de Robien to launch negotiations between the protesters and the government.   Agriculture Minister Philippe Vasseur gave the initiative of his UDF colleague the thumbs-down.   "My friend's move was untimely, not sufficiently concerted or thought out," he said.   Several left-wing leaders have urged President Jacques Chirac to intervene, and Juppe is due to stay with him at the presidential retreat of Bregancon on the Riviera this weekend.   Both Juppe and Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre, anxious not to lose face in the eyes of supporters of the far-right and anti-immigrant National Front, have repeatedly ruled out any compromise.   Left-wing parties, human rights associations and trade unions have called a march from Republique Square in eastern Paris to the church for Wednesday afternoon (1600 GMT) to show support for the immigrants. 
1156 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GENT  The French people are losing faith in television's ability to keep them informed and teach them good citizenship, according to a public opinion poll released on Wednesday.   The CSA poll, conducted for the Roman Catholic weekly La Vie, found that 58 percent of adults believed television was doing a good job of keeping them in touch with world events, compared with 74 percent two years ago.   Just 21 percent thought television was performing well in teaching them to be good citizens, down from 30 percent two years ago.   "The French broadcaster increasingly sees viewers as consumers rather than as citizens," the magazine concluded.   The poll was based on interviews conducted in late July with 1,003 adults aged 18 and over. 
1157 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Russia on Wednesday to extend an ultimatum for civilians to quit Grozny, warning that the 48-hour deadline set on Monday did not give people time enough to leave.   The ICRC said in a statement that an estimated 60,000 people fled the Chechen capital late last week and a further 70,000 fled on Tuesday.   But about 120,000 remained.   The ICRC said it "strongly urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to extend the deadline imposed on Grozny's civilian population, which has been instructed to leave the city by 22 August, when fighting may intensify".   "The ICRC is extremely concerned about the tragic turn of events in Grozny and the plight of civilians who will remain trapped as the 48-hour deadline is too short to allow them to leave," it added.   Russia's acting commander in Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky, issued the 48-hour ultimatum on Monday and threatened to use "all the forces and means available" after its expiry.   He never specified exactly when his ultimatum started, but the Russian media appeared to assume that it runs out at midnight (2000 GMT on Wednesday).   The ICRC also called for the parties to the conflict to create "humanitarian corridors" so that civilians can be evacuated rapidly and their safety guaranteed. 
1158 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  The U.N. tribunals trying war crimes suspects from ex-Yugoslavia and Rwanda have at least raised public awarness of the atrocities committed even if the goal of meting out justice quickly has been thwarted, the top prosecutor for both was quoted on Wednesday as saying.   Chief Prosecutor Richard Goldstone, who is stepping down next month, told the German weekly Die Zeit that the court for former Yugoslavia in The Hague remained hamstrung by the NATO-led IFOR peacekeping force's reluctance to arrest indicted war criminals.   But the South African judge gave an optimistic assessment of the court's achievements in the past two years.   "An important result for both tribunals is without doubt the educational effect on the international level," he said in an interview released ahead of publication on Thursday.   "Newspapers in many countries, above all in Europe and North America, write about war crimes almost daily in a way that would have been inconceivable a few years ago.   I believe this has a deterrent effect on certain political and military leaders."   He criticised the IFOR force for not apprehending Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, General Ratko Mladic, under arrest warrants issued by the tribunal.   "This is highly unsatisfactory.   The two may well never be arrested if this goes on.   The latest IFOR inspection in the Republika Srpska (Serb entity in Bosnia) made clear that IFOR did not want to cross Mladic's path," he said.   He was referring to an incident this month when a lightly armed IFOR inspection team decided not to try to arrest Mladic when he offered to escort them through a site in Bosnia.   To date the tribunal in The Hague has indicted 75 suspects: 54 Serbs, 18 Croats and three Moslems.   But all but a handful remain at large.   Goldstone said the Bosnian government was cooperating fully with the tribunal, but Croatia was not helping as he would like.   "We know that indicted suspects are moving about freely in Croatia without being arrested," he said.   Cooperation with rump Yugoslavia is minimal, he added, and limited by Belgrade's demand that any witnesses the tribunal finds must be questioned in the presence of a Serb judge.   The tribunal for Rwanda is based in Arusha, Tanzania. 
1159 !G15 !G158 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The European Union, reacting to India's veto of a global treaty banning nuclear tests, said on Wednesday that urgent efforts were needed to get the document adopted and ready for signature.   Ireland, the current EU president, issued a statement in Dublin on behalf of the 15-nation bloc recalling an August 7 EU declaration urging all states to accept and adopt a draft treaty outlawing nuclear bomb tests.   "The draft treaty text represents the outcome of 2-1/2 years of intensive negotiations and embodies a large number of delicate and balanced compromises," Wednesday's EU statement said.   "In the EU view, it offers an historic opportunity to have a treaty which bans all nuclear test explosions for all time."   The statement was issued a few hours after the Indian government prevented the adoption of the pact at disarmament negotiations and pledged to try to stop it being forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly.   India says the pact would allow the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to retain their nuclear arsenals while the nuclear "have-nots" would be barred from obtaining such weapons.   India also opposed a provision that would require New Delhi, along with the five declared powers and the two other "threshold" states, Israel and Pakistan, to sign the agreement before it could become international law.   India exploded a nuclear device in 1974 but says it does not have a nuclear bomb.   It is regarded as a threshold state and says it retains the right to develop such arms if threatened.   The EU said members of the European Free Trade Association, Central and East European countries associated with the EU and associate states Cyprus and Malta backed its stance. 
1160 !GCAT !GDIP  France, voicing concern at Israel's delay in redeploying troops in Hebron and plans to develop West Bank settlements, warned the Jewish state on Wednesday against breaching its peace accord with Palestinians.   Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves Doutriaux said the French government was closely monitoring developments.   "We hope that no step contrary to the Israeli-Palestinian accord will be carried out," he told a regular news briefing.   "There is no alternative to the peace process...and respecting the accords which have been signed is a necessary condition to the region's stability, to which we are particularly attached," he said.   Doutriaux said the development of settlements, the closure of borders with Palestinian-controlled territories and failure to redeploy troops in the West Bank city of Hebron raised tension and caused problems for the Palestinian Authority.   Israel's housing ministry is drafting a plan to build 5,000 new homes in the West Bank.   Israel has said it would not redeploy its troops in Hebron, the last major Arab West Bank city still under Israeli control, until the Palestinian Authority closed its offices in Arab East Jerusalem.   Under the peace accord the troops were due to have been redeployed at the end of March. 
1161 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT !GDIP  The European Union said on Wednesday it would appeal to the World Trade Organisation if the United States punished European firms doing business with Iran and Libya.   "The EU does not believe that this legislation is an appropriate or an effective means of combatting international terrorism,"said a statement issued by Ireland on behalf of the 15-nation EU.   It said the law could damage the system of world trade and urged the U.S. to work with its partners to promote an open international trading environment.   "The Union reaffirms its determination to act in the appropriate international fora, including the World Trade Organisation, in defence of...the interests of member state companies if these are affected by the legislation,"it said.   The bill, recently signed into law by President Bill Clinton, allows sanctions on companies making new investments of over $40 million in oil or gas projects in Iran or Libya, which Washington calls the world's leading state sponsors of terrorism.   The EU had already threatened to retaliate against the Helms-Burton Act, which gives U.S. citizens the right to sue foreign firms operating in Cuba over assets expropriated by Fidel Castro's government.   Clinton has waived implementation of contentious sections of that law for at least six months.   Ireland currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency.   REUTER 
1162 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Major powers may ask Australia to bypass India's veto on a draft nuclear test ban treaty by putting the pact before the U.N. General Assembly, diplomats said on Wednesday.   "Australia has the credibility, the tradition in disarmament and the ability to talk to both sides," said one diplomat.   On Tuesday, India prevented the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) from being adopted at talks in Geneva.   Diplomats said the five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- considered Australia best placed to present the draft treaty to the assembly in the form of a resolution calling for a swift signing ceremony.   Asked about the possibility, Australian disarmament ambassador Richard Starr said nothing would be decided before a Conference on Disarmament meeting on Thursday due to wrap up the Geneva talks.   "Three years of hard and patient work have gone into that text and many years of expectation before that.   It cannot just be left to die," Starr told Reuters.   "But we have certainly taken no decisions."   The General Assembly asked the conference last year to conclude a pact so that it could be signed in late September when heads of state and government meet in New York at the outset of the assembly's next session.   That resolution, and previous disarmament resolutions, were co-sponsored by Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.   Unlike the General Assembly, the Geneva conference takes its decsions by consensus.   India, one of three nuclear "threshold states" along with Pakistan and Israel, confirmed on Tuesday that it was vetoing a draft that most conference participants accept.   New Delhi says it has to reject the text because it does not contain a commitment by the five nuclear powers to dispose of their nuclear arsenals and it preserves the nuclear divide.   After Tuesday's meeting, U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar accused the Indian government of wanting to maintain its nuclear weapon option and said Washington would work to have the treaty adopted despite India's veto.   Ledogar outlined two options, which he termed the "single hijack scenario" and the "double hijack scenario".   The first involves simply presenting the spurned treaty to the current session of the General Assembly as a resolution that would need only a majority vote to pass, although it could be opened up to a flood of amendments that could kill it.   The "double hijack scenario" would entail bypassing the United Nations altogether and convening an international conference to have the treaty signed.   Diplomats said on Thursday that the second option had not garnered any support among U.S. allies and the debate was focusing on who would present the resolution in New York.   The five nuclear powers, who all now back the draft treaty, consider it would be counter-productive to co-sponsor the resolution themselves.   Another alternative would be to have a geographically balanced group of co-sponsors.   But diplomats said there was growing agreement that having a single sponsor -- Australia has strong anti-nuclear credentials -- would be the most risk-free course.   Mexico, which has reservations about the treaty, and New Zealand are both said to be wary about joining Australia.   Success for the draft in New York would depend on the support of the large number of non-aligned countries.   Diplomats say influential non-aligned states such as Indonesia and Egypt would have to be fully behind the proposed pact to swing wavering voters.   "I think Australia has reason to be concerned at the situation in the CD (Conference on Disarmament)," Starr said.   "We've worked as hard as anyone for this text." 
1163 !GCAT !GENT  Paris' flagship Bastille opera house has a new embarrassment to add to the litany of troubles since it opened seven years ago -- the facade of the building is starting to crumble.   Nets have been strung over parts of the white front of the opera house as a crude safety precaution to catch any falling masonry from the high-tech building that cost three billion francs ($590 million).   "The netting has been put up wherever there's a risk.   Nothing has fallen off yet," an opera official said on Wednesday.   "We've ordered a study of the problem to see what can be done."   Part of the steel tubing running down glass panels set into the facade has buckled, but the official said there was no threat to the audience.   Managers of the opera said in March they hoped the opera had finally shaken off a jinx that saw it plagued by labour disputes, financial losses and artists' rows since it opened in 1989 to mark the 200th anniversary of the French revolution.   Critics' reaction at its opening was mixed, with many feeling the cavernous auditorium sterilised vocal performances despite all the high-tech wizardry built into the monolith. 
1164 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  France on Wednesday urged Russian forces and rebels in the breakaway region of Chechnya to stop fighting and seek a negotiated solution to their conflict.   "We urge all parties in the conflict to stop fighting.   There will be no military solution to the Chechnya conflict," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yves Doutriaux said in a statement.   He said France was "extremely concerned" by the fighting and urged both sides to start talks based on existing ceasefire accords and promises of peace.   Russian forces pounded the Chechen capital Grozny on Wednesday, seeking to drive out separatists who captured the city two weeks ago.   Much of Grozny is in ruins from Russian raids at the start of Moscow's 20-month military campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   In Strasbourg, the president of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, which seeks to uphold democracy and human rights, urged all parties to set up a planned commission to supervise a ceasefire.   "The current fighting scuttles all efforts to bring about a ceasefire," Leni Fischer said in a statement.   She reminded Moscow that Russia was allowed to join the 39-member Council in February partly because it had pledged to avoid violence in settling the Chechen conflict. 
1165 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT !GDIP  The European Union said on Wednesday it would appeal to the World Trade Organisation if the United States punished European firms doing business with Iran and Libya.   "The EU does not believe that this legislation is an appropriate or an effective means of combatting international terrorism,"said a statement issued by Ireland on behalf of the 15-nation EU.   It said the law could damage the system of world trade and urged the U.S. to work with its partners to promote an open international trading environment.   "The Union reaffirms its determination to act in the appropriate international fora, including the World Trade Organisation, in defence of...the interests of member state companies if these are affected by the legislation,"it said.   The bill, recently signed into law by President Bill Clinton, allows sanctions on companies making new investments of over $40 million in oil or gas projects in Iran or Libya, which Washington calls the world's leading state sponsors of terrorism.   The EU has already threatened to retaliate against the Helms-Burton Act, which gives U.S. citizens the right to sue foreign firms operating in Cuba over assets expropriated by Fidel Castro's government.   Clinton has waived implementation of contentious sections of that law for at least six months.   Ireland currently holds the EU's six-month rotating presidency. 
1166 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  Millions of ballot papers for Bosnia's first post-war election have been printed in Vienna and are ready to go to Sarajevo and scores of other polling stations nationwide, the body organising the vote said on Wednesday.   "Roughly 20 to 25 million ballot papers have been printed for the five elections which will be taking place on September 14," a spokesman for the the Vienna-based Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said.   Around 3.2 million ballots will also be sent off to 55 countries where arrangements are in place for hundreds of thousands of Bosnian refugees to vote.   The OSCE was charged under the Dayton peace accords on Bosnia to coordinate and supervise the nationwide polls.   "All the ballot papers have already been packaged here in Vienna and should leave by the end of August, beginning of September," the spokesman said.   The exact date of departure is confidential for security reasons.   The papers were scheduled to leave in trucks and will be given a military escort by soldiers of the NATO-led international peace implementation force (IFOR) at the Croatian border.   Ballot boxes and election information in several languages have also been prepared.   The ballots were printed by the Austrian state printing company which had to keep its presses running round the clock on some days to meet the deadline, the spokesman said.   OSCE officials were reluctant to disclose where the ballot papers will be stored in Bosnia before distribution to the 4,400 polling stations across the country.   The polls were logistically the most complex in history with an unprecedented 50 percent of eligible voters either displaced from their homes or living abroad as refugees, the OSCE said.   "We expected around 200,000 to 400,000 refugees registering to vote.   But the returns are beyond wildest expectations at 641,010 so far," the OSCE spokesman said.   Ballots for refugees should be received no later than August 28 and returned to Vienna by September 3.   Votes for the nationwide elections such as the Bosnian presidency and the Bosnia-Herzegovina House of Representatives will be sent to Sarajevo for counting.   Elections will also be held for a Bosnian Moslem-Croat federation assembly and an assembly for Bosnian Serb territory.   Votes received in Vienna for municipal and cantonal elections will be despatched to local centres for the count by September 14 or 15, the OSCE said.   U.S. envoy Robert Frowick, who heads the OSCE election mission in Bosnia, briefed ambassadors of the forum's permanent council in Vienna on Wednesday on the current state of play in the election campaign.   Frowick told reporters the OSCE was under no illusions over the difficulties ahead of the election and the potential arguments over the poll following the results.   Frowick said OSCE staff had problems in nine municipalities across Bosnia and had taken action against clear irregularities.   "In Doboj (in Bosnian Serb territory) for example, there was an effort to tell individual voters that if they didn't register to vote as the authorities wished they would be denied humanitarian aid," Frowick said.   The OSCE demanded an end to the practice and got a public apology from the local Serb Democratic Party, which was also fined $25,000, he added.   The fine will be deducted from the cash the OSCE is making available to all parties for campaigning. 
1167 !GCAT !GCRIM  The gun-running trial of two sons of Algerian fundamentalist opposition leader Abassi Madani was put off on Wednesday because two interpreters did not turn up on time, court officials said.   The trial was rescheduled to open on Thursday.   Salim and Ikbal Abassi, aged 29 and 25, and two other Algerians, Nasr-Eddine Layachi Hemaz, 30, and Mahmoud Logbi, 25, are to go on trial on accusations of smuggling arms and explosives from Germany to anti-government forces in Algeria.   The four Algerians, who all deny involvement, could face up to five years in prison if convicted on formal charges of belonging to an illegal organisation.   They have been in custody for over a year since the authorities cracked down on Algerian fundamentalists using southern and western Germany as a base to support an armed conflict against Algeria's military rulers. 
1168 !GCAT !GCRIM !GODD  A wheel clamp proved no obstacle to an angry Israeli tourist who drove his car 15 km (10 miles) with it attached before Dutch police stopped him on a motorway outside Amsterdam.   The 31-year-old man, who had just lost all his money in a gambling session, became even more upset when he found the yellow clamp on his car on Tuesday, Amsterdam police said.   "When the wheel clamp attendant did not arrive instantly he thought "shove it' and took off," a police spokesman said.   The wheel was mangled, but the clamp was still in perfect condition, he added. 
1169 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  A senior German diplomat visited Moscow on Wednesday to press home Bonn's growing alarm about the situation in breakaway Chechnya and urge Russia to halt its military campaign there, the German foreign ministry said.   Wolfgang Ischinger, the foreign ministry's political director, made clear to Russian government officials Bonn's desire for a peaceful settlement in Chechnya under the aegis of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).   "In his talks in Moscow, the political director stressed our great concern about current developments," a ministry statement said.   "He stressed the necessity of a peaceful solution that involves the OSCE and underscored our call to refrain from further military action."   Ischinger insisted in talks with Russia's National Security Council that security chief Alexander Lebed quickly hold talks with the leader of the OSCE mission in Chechnya.   Ischinger was told the request would be passed on to Lebed immediately.   The OSCE mission has withdrawn from the Chechen capital of Grozny in the light of Russian forces' threat on Monday to bomb Grozny if rebels, who captured most of the city on August 6, did not withdraw. 
1170 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE !MCAT  Greek Premier Costas Simitis is set to call early elections this week aiming to focus more closely on European economic and monetary union with a new mandate, officials said on Wednesday.   Financial markets have welcomed the elections talk.   "It is better to hold elections now rather than later because political cost will weigh less in economic and foreign affairs decision-making," said Panos Panayiotopoulos, chief money market dealer at private Alpha Credit Bank.   "The reaction of the markets has been positive so far judging from the behaviour of the stock market, the drachma and interbank rates," he added.   He forecast a fall in interest rates based on a receding political risk premium.   Markets were bound to discount a fall in inflation and an improvement in the budget deficit.   The Athens bourse climbed 2.3 percent on Tuesday when the hint of elections came from the government.   Trading resumed firmer on Wednesday with stocks gaining a further 0.96 percent.   A cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday was moved up to Thursday when Simitis was expected to make the official announcement for early polls.   Officials said the prime minister could choose to make the announcement on Friday after a joint meeting of his PASOK socialist party parliamentary group and central committee.   The constitution requires that polls must be held within a month after they are announced and the most probable dates are September 22 or 29.   Elections are now scheduled for October next year.   "The market prefers a compressed pre-election period rather than a prolonged one, as planning in the public and private sectors will not have to deal with a short 12-month horizon but look longer term," said broker Dimitris Paparistidis at Kappa Securities.   A decision to go to the polls early would end a period of uncertainty that has led Athens's battered bourse to very low levels.   The benchmark index had turned south, below 900 points, with a negative year-to-date performance.   "The run-up in equities is starting from very low levels.   Couple this with improved macroeconomic indicators as we get closer to the implementation phase of key infrastructure projects and you have three reasons for the rise," Paparistidis said.   This echoes well with other market watchers as well.   Senior dealers at foreign banks are bullish on early elections since a renewed mandate will make it easier for the government to take tough economic measures.   Simitis and his Finance Minister Alexandros Papadopoulos are in the final stages of putting together next year's budget which includes cuts of $1.2 billion in state spending and the restructuring of public companies to boost growth.   "I think elections is the best solution.   It will help clear up the political front ahead of tough economic decision making," said fund manager Alexandros Sarrigeorgiou at Allianz Mutual Funds.   "What is the most positive is the fact that it is the first time that no matter which party wins the elections in Greece, it will be a one-way street in terms of economic policy," he added. 
1171 !GCAT !GCRIM  Anger blazed in Belgium on Wednesday as leaked documents showed a catalogue of past incompetence, bungling and missed opportunities by Belgian police searching for missing children.   Victor Hissel, the lawyer representing the parents of two kidnapped eight-year-olds, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, who were found dead last weekend, said he was lodging a legal demand for access to police files.   "We have to try to find out why Julie and Melissa were not found by police...Why police didn't investigate," he said.   The documents, extracts of which were published in several newspapers, indicate a failure by regional police forces to communicate properly with each other or, when they did, to act on the information received.   The reports concern convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux who has admitted abducting young girls and on whose property the two dead girls were found as well as makeshift cells.   Police were told at the end of 1993 that Dutroux was constructing cells in one of his houses to hold kidnapped children prior to sending them overseas, the extracts stated.   No action was taken.   Dutroux, charged on Friday with abduction and illegal imprisonment of children, plunged the nation into shock at the weekend when he led police to the bodies of Julie and Melissa at a house near the southern city of Charleroi.   The two had been abducted in June 1995 and held for nine months before dying of starvation early this year.   Police twice visited the house where the two girls were being held, but failed to find them.   The documents also show that in July 1995 -- a month after the abduction -- police interviewed Dutroux and took him at his word when he said the building work in the cellar of his house was refurbishment.   He was in fact constructing cells.   In early August last year police were told by an informant that Dutroux had tried to recruit him to kidnap children, explaining that it was simply a matter of putting a hand over their mouths and bundling them into the car.   The price per child, the document extracts quote the informer as saying, was between 100,000 and 150,000 francs ($30,000 to $45,000).   Later that month teenagers An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks disappeared in Ostend.   Police failed to launch a hunt for 10 days in the belief the girls were runaways, despite their parents' insistence that this was not the case.   Dutroux admitted last weekend to having abducted them.   They are still missing.   At the end of August 1995, with Julie and Melissa still held prisoner and An and Eefje now added to the missing persons' list, police searched Dutroux's houses again but found nothing.   In December they carried out more searches with the same result.   Some newspapers have reported that police investigating a theft heard childrens' voices in the house as they interviewed Dutroux, but accepted his explanation that they were his.   Belgian television speculated that the only explanations for the litany of mistakes could be either failure to communicate between the regional police forces, failure to understand the importance of the information or inter-force rivalry.   There is also some puzzlement over why closer attention was not paid to a convicted child abuser who had no visible means of support yet managed to maintain six houses. 
1172 !GCAT !GCRIM  Police working on Belgium's worst child-sex scandal were to meet on Wednesday with a British detective who specialises in finding buried bodies, but hopes flickered that two abducted Belgian girls could be found alive.   Superintendent John Bennett, who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" serial murders in Gloucester, western England, came to Belgium following contacts between the two countries' police forces, Belgian police said.   "We always expect it is possible to find more bodies.   There are still people missing, so it is always a possibility," Major Boudin, a spokesman for the gendarmerie's missing children squad, told Reuters.   He declined to say where the meeting with Bennett would take place or how long he would stay in the country.   The sight of Belgian police digging for bodies at properties owned by chief suspect Marc Dutroux evoked memories of scenes at the Gloucester house where British detectives excavated the remains of Rosemary and Fred West's dismembered victims.   The Wests' victims were buried beneath a cellar, bathroom and in the garden of the house.   The whereabouts of the missing girls, An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, remains a mystery.   Dutroux, a convicted child sex abuser who served time in prison between 1989 and 1992, has admitted kidnapping the pair in the port of Ostend last August.   Dutroux, arrested last week, stunned the nation by leading police to the bodies of two eight-year-olds, Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo, buried in the garden of a house he owns near Charleroi in southern Belgium.   The girls, abducted in June 1995, starved to death early this year while Dutroux was in prison for theft and violence.   Dutroux also told police of two other abducted girls -- Laetitia Delhez, 14, and Sabine Dardenne, 12 -- who were subsequently found alive in a makeshift concrete dungeon in another of his houses.   Both had been sexually abused.   Some newspapers likened the outpouring of public grief over Russo and Lejeune's deaths to the national display of mourning after the death of the much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   Mountains of flowers carpeted the lawns at the girls' homes.   Thousands have signed condolence registers around the country.   At a local funeral home the bodies of the two friends lay side by side in white coffins with brass plaques inscribed simply "Julie" and "Melissa".   Weeping mourners have been filing past from morning till night at a rate of 500 an hour.   The two girls are to be buried in a private ceremony on Thursday, to be followed by a televised public memorial service in Liege at which police expect up to 100,000 people.   Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck and Public Services Minister Andre Flahaut are to represent the government at the funeral.   Meanwhile, in renewed efforts to find Marchal and Lambrecks, 30 more detectives are to join the team which has widened its searches to a number of other countries, including Britain.   Neufchateau public prosecutor Michel Bourlet told a news conference on Tuesday that there were indications that the girls might still be alive.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have been rescued.   Dutroux was sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1989 for multiple rape and child abuse, only to be released 10 years early in 1992 despite stern warnings from the prosecutor involved and from his own mother.   Belgian media have accused the judicial authorities of incompetence in handling the investigation, citing a lack of cooperation between the authorities involved and adding that investigators had ignored warnings about Dutroux's practices.   Justice Minister De Clerck has promised that a judge from Liege will look into whether mistakes were made. 
1173 !GCAT !GPRO !GREL  Pope John Paul, who underwent a hospital checkup last week after complaining of abdominal pain, appeared in good form at his weekly Vatican audience on Wednesday.   The spiritual leader of the world's 960 million Catholics presided at the 75-minute audience without any signs of fatigue or discomfort as he read greetings in more than 10 languages to some 10,000 people in the Vatican's modern audience hall.   This was in marked contrast with some of his public appearances last week, when he had looked tired and in pain.   At the end of the audience the 76-year-old Polish Pontiff chatted with pilgrims and smiled as he greeted sick Ukrainian children.   Concern for the Pope, who has had a spate of health problems in recent years, was raised last week when abdominal pains forced him to skip morning mass at his summer residence south of Rome and enter hospital for a checkup.   The Vatican said a CAT (Computed Axial Tomography) scan showed nothing seriously out of order, particularly in relation to a 1992 operation to remove an intestinal tumour that was starting to turn malignant.   The Pope has been taking antibiotics for the unspecified abdominal problem, characterised as a mild infection, which also caused him to suffer a mild fever last week, officials said.   The Vatican has said Papal visits to Hungary and France in September would go ahead as planned. 
1174 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Maltese press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE TIMES   - Planning permission delays hit construction industry.   Contractors have complained that a shrinking labour supply and planning permission delays are having an adverse effect on the construction industry.   - Finance minister urged to reconsider stand on VAT.   The call was made by the chamber of commerce, the federation of industry and the association of retailers after the VAT office requested importers to list to whom they sold their products, for VAT verification purposes.   The minister is insisting the VAT office request is legal and aimed at cutting down on tax evasion.   IN-NAZZJON   - Court orders seizure of alleged drug trafficker's property and cash.   The case involves Meinrad Calleja, who is also accused of masterminding a plot to kill the prime minister's assistant.   L-ORIZZONT   - Italian army instructors help Maltese army in rescue techniques. 
1175 !GCAT !GPOL  Thousands of people are rushing to beat a Friday immigration deadline and long queues have formed at Spanish police stations while more people head for Spain's southern coast in makeshift boats.   Immigrants who have temporary residence and in some cases work permits have until late on Friday to claim papers allowing them and relatives and dependents to stay in Spain legally.   Although this applies only to those who arrived in Spain before January 1, 1996, hundreds of North Africans are risking life and limb crossing the narrow Strait of Gibraltar in makeshift boats in the belief they too can profit from it.   They head for Spain's south coast in groups as small as four or as large as 30, lured by false promises of guaranteed work and residence permits from ruthless middlemen out to line their own pockets, immigration associations say.   Coastal police say it is customary to see a sharp increase in the number attempting the crossing in the summer, when weather conditions are optimal, but this year numbers are even higher than usual.   More than 380 illegal immigrants have been plucked from the seas near Gibraltar since the beginning of August, according to police officials in Algeciras.   Around 1,100 have been caught trying to cross the Strait so far this year, compared with a total of 1,563 in 1992.   For many, their only time on Spanish soil will be in police stations where they face a swift return to their country of origin with a probable prison sentence on arrival.   They also lose the black market fare for the crossing, which can run up to 150,000 pesetas ($1,200).   There are currently 461,000 foreigners legally living in Spain, 82,600 of them Africans, the Interior Ministry said.   This year's scheme attracted 13,090 applications between its launch in April and early July.   Moroccans were the largest group applying for legalisation, closely followed by Latin Americans, in particular from Peru, the Dominican Republic and Argentina.   On Wednesday morning, the queues stretched around the block at a Madrid police station charged with handling applications.   But unions say that many of those entitled to documents will miss out, while experts warn that illegal immigrants will keep arriving even after the Friday's deadline expires.   "Unfortunately, this will not end on August 23," said Rafael Lara, spokesman for the Cadiz Solidarity Platform, an organisation which helps immigrants.   "There are very powerful mafia interests which are earning a lot of money, the government of Morocco is blatantly turning a blind eye and is thus encouraging the poorest people to have false illusions," Lara told state television.   Spain's unions have asked for the deadline to be extended, saying the scheme's conditions are too strict and many people will miss out because they do not fufill one of them.   Francisco Soriano, immigration secretary at Workers' Commissions, says up to 50,000 foreigners who have lost their work permits in the last few years are eligible but up to 70 percent could be rejected.   Other unions said the scheme should extend to those working in the black economy, who are often scared of declaring themselves to authorities for fear their situation will get worse, not better. 
1176 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Umberto Bossi, firebrand leader of the separatist Northern League, on Wednesday hit back at magistrates who want to probe him for violating political ethics, saying he does not answer to judges of "colonial Italy".   Magistrates in three northern cities sent documents to parliament on Tuesday seeking a green light to continue probes that could lead to Bossi being tried on charges of making threatening comments against political adversaries.   Bossi, who on September 15 is set to lead a big demonstration at which the League has threatened to declare an independent northern "state", said the action by the judges was part of a plot to stop the movement.   "I don't give a damn.   We know what the magistrature is.   This is just a manoeuvre by colonial Italy," he told the Turin newspaper La Stampa in an interview.   The magistrates want a parliamentary commission to decide if remarks Bossi made at rallies in 1995 are punishable as a crime or whether he has protection as a member of parliament under Italy's constitution.   The commission is due to rule next month.   Bossi said on Wednesday he was willing to make "a grand gesture" and give up his immunity as an MP, but according to parliamentary rules only the commission can decide.   Magistrates have accused Bossi of inciting people to commit crimes when he told supporters at two political rallies last year "to go from house to house" to find people who voted for the far-right National Alliance party.   Ironically, the latest moves against Bossi -- who has hurled invectives against nearly everybody in the political spectrum -- came from magistrates in the north, his political stronghold.   The cigar-smoking Bossi was not intimidated by the latest judicial moves against him.   "It's clear by now that there is a war of nerves between Rome and Padania," Bossi told an interviewer, referring to the name the League would give to an independent north.   "Either Padania wins or Rome and Italian colonialism wins.   It will be a very tough battle because they have the police and the magistrates on their side."   he said.   "We are Padanians.   We prefer to die rather than live without freedom," he said.   In another irony, Bossi is being probed in connection with a law that forbids the reconstitution of the Fascist party.   Provisions of that law forbid "anti-democratic" methods or threats of violence as means to a political end.   Commentators said it was the wrong way to stop Bossi.   "Evidently, there is no limit to the ridiculous in Italy," Piero Ostellino wrote in Milan's Corriere della Sera.   Bossi's supporters immediately attacked the magistrature.   "These initiatives smack of pure fascism because they try to limit freedom of expression and thought," said Roberto Maroni, a former interior minister and leading member of the League.   The League took root in the 1980s as a protest movement against the excesses of Rome central government and was instrumental in helping bring about the collapse of the old, corrupt political guard at the start of the 1990s.   Its support has grown steadily and at the April election it polled 10 percent of the vote nationwide and over 30 percent in parts of the rich north of Italy.   Since the vote, Bossi has dropped his calls for a federalist state, saying the only way forward was outright secession. 
1177 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GVIO  Former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr will testify in a heavily-guarded German courtroom on Thursday that a 1992 gangland-style killing of Kurd opposition leaders was backed by the Iranian government.   Banisadr was expected to repeat before the Berlin court accusations made in June that Iran's president and religious leader knew of and blessed the assassination of three Iranian Kurdish leaders and their translator at a Berlin restaurant.   Tehran has denied the allegations.   Banisadr, 63, has warned the German authorities that two teams of Iranian-backed assassins were planning to pursue him in Germany, Parvis Dastmalchi, a survivor of the 1992 attack, told Berlin television station B1 on Tuesday evening.   "I talked with Banisadr on the telephone and he told me that...two teams of assassins are on the way," Dastmalchi said in the interview.   "One is a five-man team from Tehran and the second team consists of non-Iranians and they will be coming to Germany via Sweden.   Their aim is clear.   They want to frighten Banisadr."   Banisadr will be the prosecution's star witness in the court on Thursday and Friday when he elaborates on his allegations that Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's religious leader, backed the attack.   His testimony looks certain to be the high point of the 33-month trial that has been full of cloak-and-dagger revelations and characterised by secret service involvement.   Two masked men armed with machine guns burst into the Mykonos restaurant on September 17, 1992 and fired at dozens of Iranian dissidents seated at a table.   Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK-I) and their translator were killed in a hail of bullets.   One Iranian, Kazem Darabi, and four Lebanese nationals are standing trial on charges of murdering the dissidents.   The case has strained relations between Bonn and Tehran, particularly after prosecutors issued an arrest warrant in March for Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahiyan, accusing him of masterminding the attack.   Tehran has denied his involvement and said there was no evidence the Iranian defendant and his four suspected accomplices on trial were acting as its henchmen.   Tehran has also cast doubt on the credibility of Banisadr's remarks, saying that he is a fierce opponent of Iran's Islamic fundamentalist government and that 14 years have passed since his government was toppled and his ties to Iran severed.   Banisadr also alleged in a pre-trial interview in Paris in June that the Iranian defendant Darabi was a confidant of Fallahiyan.   Security at the Berlin criminal court has been extremely tight during the trial, where the defendants are sealed off behind bullet-proof glass and the judges and attorneys are provided with bodyguards. 
1178 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  Cargill BV, the Dutch arm of U.S. trade house Cargill, said on Wednesday tighter environment laws imposed by the local government of North Holland threatened the existence of its soybean plant in Amsterdam.   The local government said it had imposed stricter controls to be in place by the year 2000 on Cargill's crushing plant as part of its operating licence review and in preparation for plans to build homes in the industrial area around the plant.   "This is too close to put houses and would put pressure on all factories there.   It could force plants to move out and look elsewhere -- that's our view," a Cargill spokesman told Reuters.   The plant is Cargill's second biggest in the country -- next to Rotterdam -- and processes over a million tonnes of soybeans a year into oil for food makers and meal for feed compounders.   It is in Houthavens, a dock-side industrial area west of Amsterdam, targeted by the province for its "compact city" urban policy which aims to integrate working and living spaces.   "We want to keep the possibility of building houses there open, Cargill has objected to this and we see this as something of a test case," a spokesman of for the province said.   A Cargill spokesman said measures demanded were technical and declined to specify how much they would cost to be met.   "This is not an abnormal situation, you should do as much as possible to reduce the impact on the environment," he said.   But Cargill fears that a population living too close to its plant raised the possibility of future protests, particularly over smells generated as part of the crushing process.   "We are having a dialogue with Cargill over this and we hope to reach a sensible compromise," the province spokesman said.   --Amsterdam newsroom +31 20 504 5000 
1179 !G15 !GCAT  Following are highlights of the midday briefing by the European Commission on Wednesday:   Commission spokesman Thierry Daman said the Commission had no news or documents to release.   There were no questions. 
1180 !E11 !E13 !E131 !E41 !E411 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  In its latest survey French Banque Indosuez on Wednesday upped its expectations for Denmark's 1996 GDP (gross domestic product) growth to 2.2 percent from 1.9 percent in its May forecast.   At the same time left its forecast for inflation unchanged at 2.2 percent, raising its estimate for the current account surplus to 19.0 from 14.6 billion crowns.   The latest Danish Economy Ministry forecast in May foresaw 1.8 percent GDP growth, 2.1 percent inflation, 9.2 percent unemployment and a current account surplus of 8.3 billion crowns for this year.   The following estimates were made by 10 leading local and international organisations.    (pct) GDP inflation unemployment c/a (bln crns)   Indosuez (8/96) 2.2 2.2  8.9  19.0   Chase (8/96)  1.4 1.9  -- 8.0   Goldman Sachs(8/96)1.6 2.0  9.3  10.5   Nykredit (8/96) 1.4 2.0  9.0  10.0   Jyske Bank (8/96) 2.0 2.1  9.0  6.0   BG Bank (7/96) 2.0 2.0  9.0  6.0   Barclays (7/96) 1.5 2.0  9.2  6.0   Svenska HB (7/96) 1.5 2.2  9.0  10.0   Codan Bank (7/96) 1.3 2.0  8.9  7.5   J.P. Morgan (7/96) 1.6 2.1   J.P. Morgan (7/96) 1.6 2.1 
1181 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A Hamburg court will deliver its verdict on Thursday on U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck, accused of running a worldwide propaganda network which has pumped extremist material into Germany for two decades.   Lauck, dubbed the "farm-belt Fuehrer" by U.S. Nazi watchers, has maintained a defiant silence during the three-month trial.   He left his lawyer to argue that the court has no right to try him and that his extradition to Germany last year was illegal.   But the attorney held out little hope of an acquittal.   "I assume the court will convict him because it has rejected several objections I have raised during the trial and that is the only explanation for the judges' actions," defence lawyer Hans-Otto Sieg told Reuters.   Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Sieg insists Lauck broke no laws in the United States and prosecutors have not proved he was deliberately smuggling material into Germany.   Prosecutors have demanded five years' jail for the 43-year-old from Lincoln, Nebraska, who heads the National Socialist German Workers' Party Foreign Organisation (NSDAP-AO) -- a name derived from the full German title of Hitler's Nazi party.   Lauck is charged with inciting racial hatred by producing anti-Semitic and rightist publications and propaganda including posters, badges and stickers, and distributing them to Germany and the rest of the world from his home in the United States.   Investigators say Lauck, who sports a thick Hitleresque moustache, was the main source of neo-Nazi material in Germany for about 20 years.   But prosecutors have concentrated on the last few years in a bid to secure a quick conviction.   Lauck's only remarks to the court came on the opening day of his trial in May, when he gave flippant answers in fluent German to a judge's questions about his personal details.   He said he was "not sure" if he was still married and, when asked if he had any children, he replied: "Not as far as I know.   I have a dog and two cats."   Lauck's conviction would be a major coup for Nazi-busting prosecutors, who have been trying to get him extradited to Germany for trial for years.   Their chance finally came when the U.S. citizen visited Denmark in March last year.   Police detained him there on an international arrest warrant and the courts decided he could be extradited as, although neo-Nazi propaganda is not illegal there, his material was so extreme it violated Denmark's racial hatred laws.   Lauck is also accused of portraying violence and disseminating insignia and propaganda of anti-constitutional organisations in his publications produced in ten languages. 
1182 !GCAT  These are leading stories in Wednesday's afternoon daily Le Monde, dated Aug 22.   FRONT PAGE   -- Prime Minister Alain Juppe steps up efforts to defuse problem of migrant African hunger strikers in Paris church as doctors say strike now entering critical phase.   Conservative RPR party organising parliamentary support for firm stand against hunger strikers.   -- Socialist ex-justice minister Robert Badinter warns government not to use violence against hunger strikers.   BUSINESS PAGES   -- Non-pharmaceutical corporations post disappointing first half sales -- only groups with aggressive takeover or innovation strategies make headway.   -- Generale des Eaux subsidiary CGEA signs 15-year contract to manage its second British railway network, SouthEastern Train Co.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 42 21 53 81 
1183 !G15 !G151 !GCAT !GDIP  Italy hopes to become a full member of the European Union's Schengen accord by March 1997, Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said in an interview with newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore published on Wednesday.   Italy has signed the Schengen accord, which aims to remove border controls and enable the passport-free movement of people, but has not yet organised all the practical arrangements.   "There can be no doubt about the need for Italy to become a full member of Schengen," Dini told the Milan financial daily.   "Government and parliament must work together in tandem to make sure we respect the projected date for Italy to (join Schengen) -- that is March 1997," he added.   Italy originally wanted to join the border pact by the end of June 1996, but parliament still needs to introduce certain key legislation demanded by the Schengen treaty, including a law covering protection of computerised personal data.   France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Germany are all full Schengen members.   Greece and Austria have also signed the accord but like Italy have yet to put the required legislation in place. 
1184 !GCAT !GREL !GVIO  Dresden's Baroque Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was set to host its first service since it was destroyed in a 1945 bombing raid with the inauguration of its restored crypt on Wednesday.   Once the centrepiece of the Baroque centre that earned Dresden the name "Florence on the Elbe", the Frauenkirche was bombed on February 13, 1945, in a British and U.S. air assault that killed some 35,000 civilians.   The church tower stood, a smoking shell, for days after the raid before collapsing.   "The inauguration (of the crypt) should spur efforts to complete reconstruction on the whole church," said the Bishop of Saxony, Volker Kress, who was due to lead the service attended by about 300 clerics, regional and city officials.   Kress said he hoped the vaulted crypt, reconstructed from photographs, would inspire more donations.   Restoration could cost a total of 250 million marks ($165 million) and take another 10 to 15 years.   But only 25 million marks have been raised so far, he said in a recent interview.   Guests at the ceremony included the premier of the regional state of Saxony, Kurt Biedenkopf, and other dignitaries who have supported the project, which got under way in 1993.   Britain's "Dresden Trust" and a U.S.-based foundation are also helping raise money for the project.   The inauguration marked the end of 50 years of debate over whether Dresden's famous Italianate church, which was completed in 1743, should be allowed to rise out of the ashes or be left as a permanent reminder of the futility of war.   "For Dresdeners the Frauenkirche will remain a symbol for peace and reconciliation," said Matthias Oelke, a spokesman for the church.   "Once again the Frauenkirche will be the spiritual centre of Dresden," he said.   The ruins always had symbolic significance.   They became a meeting place for the then-East German peace movement that arose in the 1980s to oppose the Communist regime.   Protesters also gathered every year on February 13 to remember one of the most brutal air raids of the war and to demonstrate against the arms race.   The tradition remained after German unification in 1990.   Tens of thousands carrying candles come to the church every year to call for peace and to listen to church bells that chime the hour the first bombs fell at 9:45 p.m.   Dresden, previously untouched by the allied bombing campaign, was bombed for several days, by American aircraft at night and British by day. 
1185 !C18 !C181 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Wednesday it had started a routine review of plans by a unit of German publisher von Holtzbrinck to acquire joint control of German language news television programme n-tv.   It said in Official Journal no C 241 that the deal apparently fell within the scope of the EU's merger regulation, under which it vets corporate deals to see whether they may affect competition.   It has one month to clear the deal or start a detailed four-month investigation.   Most deals are cleared after the initial phase.   Under the deal, GWF Gesselschaft fur Wirtschaftsfernsehen mbH, belonging to von Holtzbrinck, acquires joint control of n-tv Nachrichtenfernsehen GmbH and n-tv Nachrichtenfernsehen Beteiligungs GmbH by purchasing shares.   Other owners are Time Warner Entertainment Germany GmbH, a unit of Time Warner, and CNN Germany Inc, belonging to Turner Broadcasting System Inc. 
1186 !GCAT !GPOL  Umberto Bossi, firebrand leader of the separatist Northern League, on Wednesday hit back at magistrates who want to probe him for violating political ethics, saying he does not answer to judges of "colonial Italy".   Magistrates in three northern cities sent documents to parliament on Tuesday seeking a green light to continue probes that could lead to Bossi being tried on charges of making threatening comments against political adversaries.   Bossi, who on September 15 is set to lead a big demonstration at which the League has threatened to declare an independent northern "state", said the action by the judges was part of a plot to stop the movement.   "I don't give a damn.   We know what the magistrature is.   This is just a manoeuvre by colonial Italy," he told the Turin newspaper La Stampa in an interview.   The magistrates want a parliamentary commission to decide if remarks Bossi made at rallies in 1995 are punishable as a crime or whether he has protection as a member of parliament under Italy's constitution.   The commission is due to rule next month.   They have accused Bossi of inciting people to commit crimes and making threatening remarks at political rallies last year, where he threatened that League members would seek out and punish those who voted for the far-right National Alliance.   Ironically, the latest moves against Bossi -- who has hurled invectives against nearly everybody in the political spectrum -- came from magistrates in the north, his political stronghold.   The cigar-smoking Bossi was not intimidated by the latest judicial moves against him.   "It's clear by now that there is a war of nerves between Rome and Padania," Bossi told an interviewer, referring to the name the League would give to an independent north.   "Either Padania wins or Rome and Italian colonialism wins.   It will be a very tough battle because they have the police and the magistrates on their side."   he said.   "We are Padanians.   We prefer to die rather than live without freedom," he said.   In another irony, Bossi is being probed in connection with a law that forbids the reconstitution of the Fascist party.   Provisions of that law forbid "anti-democratic" methods or threats of violence as means to a political end.   Commentators said it was the wrong way to stop Bossi.   "Evidently, there is no limit to the ridiculous in Italy," Piero Ostellino wrote in Milan's Corriere della Sera.   Bossi's supporters immediately attacked the magistrature.   "These initiatives smack of pure fascism because they try to limit freedom of expression and thought," said Roberto Maroni, a former interior minister and leading member of the League.   For most of an otherwise politically quiet August, Italians have been treated to a string of Bossi's outbursts.   He accused the secret services of plotting to discredit him, branded the speaker of parliament a fascist and called for supporters to destroy relay stations of state broadcaster RAI.   The League took root in the 1980s as a protest movement against the excesses of Rome central government and was instrumental in helping bring about the collapse of the old, corrupt political guard at the start of the 1990s.   Its support has grown steadily and at the April election it polled 10 percent of the vote nationwide and over 30 percent in parts of the rich north of Italy.   Since the vote, Bossi has dropped his calls for a federalist state, saying the only way forward was outright secession. 
1187 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in Norwegian papers this morning:   AFTENPOSTEN   -Energy Minister Jens Stoltenberg has asked companies and households to save electricity.   The risk of a lack of power next winter and higher imports has led to very high spot electricity prices.   At the same time demand has grown.   Stoltenberg hopes that restrictions on consumption will not be necessary.   -So far in 1996, new shares worth 3.7 billion crowns have been issued on the Oslo Bourse, the highest figure among the Nordic stock exchanges.   -Swedish telecommunications company Telia and Dutch-owned computer group Cinet are establishing a telecommunications and data network in competition with Norway's state-owned Telenor.   Telenor's monopoly on a full range of telecommunications services will end in 1998.   DAGENS NAERINGSLIV   -High power prices could force Norwegian metals producer Elkem ASA to shut down production in Norway and move to the U.S. "We are not going to buy power at these high prices," Ole Enger, Elkem Managing Director, says.   On Tuesday Elkem booked a 33 percent rise in pre-tax profits in the first half of 1996 but said it expected a decline in most of its markets in the latter half of the year.   -Four of the biggest Norwegian savings banks will take on a common name, profile, marketing policy and technology in the second half of the year.   The banks will still have separate boards of directors, but will operate as a common unit. 
1188 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  A fire gutted a hotel in central France on Wednesday morning, killing four people and injuring about a dozen others, officials said.   Flames spread rapidly up a lift shaft in the small Le Savoy hotel in Clermont-Ferrand, trapping many guests in their rooms on the upper floors.   The cause of the fire, which began around 2 a.m. (midnight GMT), was unknown.   The victims were mostly students or workers, all apparently French citizens. 
1189 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Algerian press on Wednesday as reported by the official Algerian news agency APS.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   L'OPINION   - Two sons of Abassi Madani, leader of the banned Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), stand trial on Wednesday before a German court on terrorism charges.   They face up to five years in jail if they are convicted.   LIBERTE   - Algiers court postpones La Tribune newspaper trial to September 3.   The authorities suspended early in July the paper blaming it for undermining the nation's flag.   L'AUTHENTIQUE   - Presidency and political parties representatives in the joint committees set up to study political reforms are close to winding up their work. 
1190 !C11 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !G15 !G152 !G155 !GCAT  The European Commission said on Wednesday it had started a routine review of plans by Germany's Schering AG and Gehe AG to acquire joint control of pharmaceuticals firm Jenapharm GmbH.   The European Union executive said in Official Journal no C 241 that the deal apparently fell within the scope of the EU merger regulation, under which its vets mergers and other corporate deals to see whether they may harm competitition.   It has one month to clear the deal or start a detailed four-month investigation.   Most cases are cleared after the initial review. 
1191 !GCAT !GCRIM  Hopes that three Irish tourists feared missing in Australia were alive and well rose when a friend in Ireland said he had received a telephone call from one of them, Irish national broadcaster, RTE, said on Wednesday.   Sandra Mahon, Stuart Gamble and Neil Hewson, all aged 25, who were on a working holiday in Australia, were last seen in Cairns on the state's far north coast on Saturday.   Concerns for the safety of the three backpackers mounted when Sandra Mahon called her father in a "distressed and upset state" in Ireland last Saturday and the line went dead.   A friend of Sandra Mahon said Sandra called him at her old workplace in Ireland on Tuesday night and he was satisfied it was her, the RTE report said.   A cash withdrawal on Sandra Mahon's bankcard took place at a bank machine at 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday at Mission Beach south of Cairns in Queensland.   Local witnesses said someone matching Mahon's description was seen in the vicinity of Mission Beach and Australian police said it would concentrate its search in that area, the RTE report said.   Australian police told RTE that although it was strange that the three had not contacted the authorities to say they were safe it was possible they were not listening to the radio. 
1192 !GCAT !GPOL  Senator Mal Colston's resignation from the Labor Party on Monday makes the Senate much more fluid than one would imagine.   One of the powerful, yet rarely mentioned, dynamics of the Senate is the Democrats' urgent need to keep the limelight.   The Democrats can exist only while their leader, Cheryl Kernot, continues to appear in the media as a powerbroker, "keeping the bastards honest", as their slogan goes.   The Democrats are players in the Senate or they are nothing.   Looking like players was not hard in the last parliament, where the Labor government had to get the votes of all but one of the 11 balance-of-power senators: the eight Democrats, the two Greens and Independent Brian Harradine.   So the Democrats were always involved.   (And so were the Greens for that matter, but they really do not chase publicity in their Senate tactics, believe it or not.)   But the Liberal-National government needs just two of the new Senate's 10 balance-of-power senators to get legislation through.   The Democrats can supply those two votes, and be seen gaining concessions from the government, but so can the two Greens or either of the Greens plus Harradine.   To remain relevant the Democrats must back a government bill before the Greens.   If the Greens supply the two votes, it is their concession that the government grants.   This has been a more fluid situation than the in previous Senate, but only to the extent that the Greens might cave in on something before the Democrats -- which would happen only occasionally.   Now, with Colston in play, there is a second and far, far more likely source of two votes: Colston plus Harradine, who is conservative but unpredictable.   Imagine a budget bill coming before the Senate in these circumstances.   The government talks to the Greens (probably getting nowhere), and to the Democrats and to each of the Independents.   If the Independents back the bill, the Democrats become as sidelined as the Labor Party and risk being seen, as electoral analyst Malcolm Mackerras says, part of a Laborcrats Party.   So Kernot must give ground, so the public see the government meeting Democrats concessions.   Now that is a much more fluid situation.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1193 !GCAT !GDIS  Australian police in the state of Queensland said they were still concerned for the safety of three missing Irish backpackers, despite a telephone message on Wednesday that the three were looking for work.   "We still have concerns as we do not know who left the message," a police spokesman told Reuters, adding that one of the backpacker's bank accounts was accessed on Wednesday.   Sandra Mahon, Stuart Gamble and Neil Hewson, all aged 25, were last seen in Cairns on Queensland's far north coast on Saturday.   Police said they were initially concerned for the tourists' safety as Mahon was in a "distressed and upset state" when she contacted her father in Ireland on Saturday.   Mahon told her father she had been attacked and the telephone line then went dead, police said.   On Wednesday police in Cairns said a small withdrawal had been made from Mahon's bank account from a bank in Mission Beach, 100 km (62 miles) south of Cairns.   A message on her father's answering service also said the three were heading for Inkermann, 550 km (342 miles) west of Cairns, to look for work. 
1194 !C24 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Pacific Coal Pty Ltd will operate its Blair Athol coal mine in Queensland at the maximum rate of about 250,000 tonnes a week to clear a backlog of ships waiting to be loaded off the port of Mackay, a mine official said.   The backlog resulted from a six week strike at the mine that caused the loss of 1.2 million tonnes of production, valued at A$50 million, Rod Bates, general manager of operations said.   He said it would not be possible to make up the lost output.   "That production is lost forever," he told Reuters.   Pacific Coal is an RTZ Corp Plc-CRA Ltd unit.    Eight vessels bound for Europe, Hong Kong and Japan are waiting to be loaded with coal, he said.   The mine currently holds a stockpile of about 350,000 tonnes, less than needed to fill the ships, Bates said.   The 180 striking miners, members of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, returned to work at 7.00 a.m. (2100 GMT Tuesday) on Wednesday, the company said.   The miners walked off the job in protest of the company using non-union personnel to provide training on new equipment.   The matter is now before the government's Industrial Relations Commission.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
1195 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday the government's workers' retirement savings plan should be approved by parliament as a package and not be changed by the Senate.   "My argument to the Senate is that this is a balanced package, this is an economically responsible package, this ought to go ahead as a package and that you will in fact unbalance it if you start changing it in this area or the other area and there could be knock on effects all over," Costello told the National Press Club in Canberra.    "Of course ... there are going to be consequences if the Senate mucks around with this," Costello said.   The five-month-old Liberal-National government said on Tuesday it would review how to contribute money to employee's retirement savings (superannuation).   Costello said on Wednesday it did not need to cut the money to achieve its fiscal plans.   "The co-payment is budgeted for in ... the forward estimates, they are ready to be spent, and if it were spent in full we would still be producing surplus in 1998 and a larger one in 1999/2000," Costello said.    "So it's there we don't need to touch a dollar of that to produce our bottom line."   Costello said an announcement would be made later this year about whether the current arrangements were the best way to pay for the plan -- a public contribution equal to three percent of each employee's earnings.   The 1996/97 budget papers, issued on Tuesday, show the programme costing A$1.1 billion in 1998/99 and A$2.4 billion in the following year.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1196 !GCAT !GENV  Australian wildlife officials made repeated attempts on Wednesday to prevent up to 300 long-finned pilot whales from beaching themselves on a remote part of Australia's west coast.   About 200 of the whales were discovered on a beach by residents of Dunsborough, 200 km (124 miles) south of Perth, late on Tuesday night, officials said.   "The animals were thrashing around and the water was red with blood.   It was rather a horrible sight," Western Australia state wildlife official Charlie Broadbent told reporters.   "They were definitely in distress.   They were thrashing around and throwing themselves on the rocks, causing cuts and bruises, which led to extensive bleeding," Broadbent said.   Wildlife services and up to 500 volunteers worked overnight after a local radio station appealed for help to rescue the stranded mammals, which are a bit bigger in size than humans.   Fourteen of the whales died on the beach but the remainder were successfully moved into deeper water.   About 50 whales later returned to the beach and again had to be led out to sea.   Another large part of the pod was later seen near the shoreline several kilometres east of Dunsborough.   Broadbent said the position of the pod was being monitored because there were fears all 300-odd whales might attempt to beach themselves.   "We are trying to guide them into deeper water, where they are more comfortable," he said. 
1197 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GWELF  Australian assistant Treasurer Senator Jim Short said on Wednesday the government expected a heavy response to its plan to allow low-income earners to cash out their superannuation savings before retirement.   Up to about 80 percent of people eligible for the so-called "opt-out" measure, announced in the 1996/97 (July/June) budget on Tuesday, could choose to cash out the superannuation payments required to be made on their behalf by their employers, he said.   -- Canberra bureau 616-273-2730 
1198 !GCAT !GENV  coast   Australian wildlife officials on Wednesday made repeated attempts to rescue up to 300 long-finned pilot whales after about 200 of the mammals beached themselves on a remote part of Australia's west coast.   Fourteen of the pod of over 300 whales died after the beaching was discovered by residents at Dunsborough, 200 km (124 miles) south of Perth, late on Tuesday night, officials said.   Wildlife services and up to 500 volunteers worked overnight after a local radio station appealed for help to rescue the stranded mammals.   "The animals were thrashing around and the water was red with blood.   It was rather a horrible sight," Western Australia state wildlife official Charlie Broadbent told reporters.   "They were definitely in distress.   They were thrashing around and throwing themselves on the rocks, causing cuts and bruises, which led to extensive bleeding," Broadbent said.   Officials and volunteers successfully moved the stranded whales into deeper water after the initial discovery was made.   About 50 of the whales later returned to the beach and again had to be led out to sea.   Another large part of the pod was later seen near the shoreline several kilometres east of Dunsborough.   Broadbent said the position of the pod was being monitored because there were fears all 300-odd whales might attempt to beach themselves.   "We are trying to guide them into deeper water, where they are more comfortable," he said.   -- Sydney newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
1199 !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  The world's first voluntary euthanasia law faced a new challenge on Wednesday when a motion to repeal legal assisted suicide was introduced in Australia's Northern Territory parliament.   The 25 members of the Northern Territory's Legislative Assembly began debating the "Right to Human Life" bill, with opinion divided on whether the euthanasia law would be repealed.   The territory's assisted suicide law, allowing terminally-ill patients to end their life by lethal injection or pill if they meet strict conditions, came into force on July 1 but has not yet been used.   Opposition backbencher Neil Bell said he expected his bill to be debated well into Wednesday night in a marathon session and said the assembly was evenly divided on the issue.   "I can be no more definite than saying it is line ball," Bell told Reuters by telephone from the territory's capital Darwin.   "I think it could go either way."   Eric Poole, the territory's Asian Relations and Industry Minister, has proposed amendments to the euthanasia law to shore up support.   Poole hoped to have euthanasia disallowed in public hospitals and health clinics to allay fears and misconceptions about the existing law among remote area Aborigines.   Recent government research showed aboriginal opposition to euthanasia was widespread and had resulted in people not seeking medical treatment because of fears they may be killed.   The Northern Territory Supreme Court last month rejected a challenge brought by a coalition of doctors, church and aboriginal leaders, ruling the law was within the territorial parliament's power.   A challenge was expected in Australia's peak court, the High Court, with euthanasia opponents asking for a ruling on its constitutional validity, legal sources have said.   Euthanasia is illegal in Australia's six states and one other territory, but doctors admit it occurs unofficially. 
1200 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GWELF  Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said on Wednesday there was no reason to believe the government could not meet in full the former administration's pledge to contribute toward workers' retirement savings.    "There is no reason to believe they can't be delivered in full and they will be delivered fairly," Costello said of the former Labor government's A$4.5 billion commitment to contribute the equivalent of three percent of each workers' salary.   "We have funded it," he told the National Press Club here, referring to the budget forward estimates for 1997/98 and 1998/99.   "It's there.   We are going to deliver it."    Under the Superannuation Guarantee system, a potential 15 percent of workers' salaries would be required to be paid toward their retirement, the three percent contribution from government coffers.   -- Canberra bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1201 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian opposition treasury spokesman Gareth Evans said the opposition in the senate will seek only marginal changes to the 1996/97 budget.   "I don't want to be taken for a moment to suggest the budget will survive intact," Evans told Reuters Financial Television (RFTV) in an interview.   "I am saying it is a reasonable anticipation that the overall shape of the budget and its general flavour will remain intact."    Evans said the changes sought by the Opposition would amount to "a few hundred million dollars" and would focus on cuts to higher education, labour market programs and aboriginal funding.   Evans said the fact that most of the contentious items in the budget were spending rather than revenue measures made it difficult for the opposition to force changes.   "We'll be trying hard to get a reconsideration, but we're not holding our breath in terms of actual outcomes," he said.   The Labor Opposition, combined with minor parties and independents, has the numbers to frustrate government legislation in the Senate.    In 1993, the then Labor government's budget was delayed in the upper house, leading to a major sell-off in the Australian dollar.   -- Canberra Newsroom 61-6 273-2730 
1202 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GWELF  Opposition New Zealand First leader Winston Peters on Wednesday pledged to launch a state-sponsored "home-equity" scheme to help superannuitants fund their retirement.   Releasing his party's senior citizens policy, Peters said the scheme would allow superannuitants who were reliant on New Zealand superannuation and without additional assets or income to raise money from their homes for personal use.    He said the state would organise and run the scheme and would allow, for example, superannuitants to borrow up to 20 percent of the value of their homes up to a maximum limit so they could upgrade their car, repair their houses or take a holiday.   Loans would not need to be repaid immediately but could be "parked" against the home until it was sold.   Interest payments would be flexible depending on circumstance and could also be "parked" against the loan, Peters said.    He said Housing New Zealand would administer the scheme which would be fiscally neutral for the government, although New Zealand First would put aside $150 million in its first term in government to support it.   He said New Zealand First would give a "categorical assurance" family trust legislation would stay in place.   Inland Revenue and Social Welfare were looking at ways to wind back family trust law, Peters said.   His party would not re-introduce estate, death or capital gains taxes, he said.    Peters reiterated New Zealand First would abolish the superannuation surcharge, inflation-index superannuation six monthly, compared with annually now, and introduce a compulsory savings scheme from July 1, 1997 initially at three percent of income above $5000 and rising to eight percent.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 473-4746 
1203 !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Prime Minister john Howard said on Wednesday he does not want a double dissolution and wants to serve his full three year term.   "I don't want a double dissolution," Howard said in an interview on radio 2GB.   "People have been writing that I'm spoiling for a double (dissolution).   We won the election, I want to govern for three years," Howard said.   Howard's Liberal-National Coalition was elected in March, ending 13 years of Labor rule.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1204 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Australian Prime Minster John Howard said on Wednesday his government's assumptions on unemployment were conservative.   "From the point of view of the budget, we have made conservative assumptions about unemployment," Howard told Sydney radio.   "And that means that if it is better than we have forecast in the budget, then the budget will actually be in a stronger position." 
1205 !GCAT !GCRIM  Hugh Barlow, brother of convicted double murderer John Barlow, said on Wednesday John Barlow is likely to take the case to the Privy Council, after the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against his convictions.   Former Wellington businessman John Barlow is serving a life sentence with a minimum non-parole period of 14 years for murdering Eugene and Gene Thomas in February 1994.   A third court trial following two hung juries found him guilty of killing the father and son in their offices on The Terrace in central Wellington.    --Wellington Newsroom (64 4) 4734746 
1206 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Hong Kong's main pro-democracy party on Wednesday faced mounting pressure to compromise and support Beijing's efforts to set up transitional political institutions for the British colony's 1997 handover to China.   Half of Hong Kong wants the popular Democratic Party to end its boycott of a China-controlled body that will pick a leader and a provisional legislature, Hong Kong government radio said.   The findings were in an opinion poll conducted by the party to ask the public whether party members should try to join a Selection Committee being formed by China to appoint a post-colonial leader and legislature.   The radio quoted Democratic Party secretary-general Lo Chi-kwong as saying the survey showed about 50 percent of those polled wanted party members to join the 400-member panel.   Lo declined to give further details of the poll, saying the findings were meant for internal use by the party.   The poll was originally intended to be secret but word leaked out.   China hinted last week that it would tolerate having the democrats on the transition body, if they would accept plans to appoint a provisional legislature.   But party leader Martin Lee has flatly rejected the idea, saying the provisional body has no legal base in the Sino-British treaties that govern Hong Kong's conversion next July 1 into a Special Administrative Region of China.   He has said China's dismantling of the present, fully elected Legislative Council will be anti-democratic.   Lee's party, a vocal critic of Beijing's communist rulers, is under mounting pressure from public opinion, however, to moderate its stand.   Analysts have predicted the issue could split the democratic movement.   Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the Beijing-appointed Preparatory Committee, said it was strange that the Democratic Party was ignoring public sentiment on the issue.   "I'm surprised that they do not follow public opinion," Tam said.   "All along, the Democrats say they place importance on public opinion," Tam told Reuters.   "I think they are not interested in making arrangements for the Special Administrative Region," he said.   Another committee member, university professor Lau Siu-kai, said the Democrats had "no alternative" but to refuse to join.   "Public opinion may change after it decides to join the Selection Committee, when the party comes under attack from the pro-democracy camp and pro-China politicans for bending its principles," Lau said.   "The party may also face a split."   Lo defended his party's decision not to sit on the Selection Committee.   "There are other issues when we do not follow the opinion poll, like the death penalty, like the cancelling of the first port of asylum for Hong Kong," Lo told the radio.   "The most important thing is, what should be our principle," he said.   "The reason we are doing the poll is not that we want to do the poll so that we can follow public opinion.   "What we are trying to do is to understand what's behind, and what sort of people answer 'yes' and what sort of people answer 'no,'" Lo said.   The independent Ming Pao newspaper last week also published opinion poll results that suggested there was considerable public demand for a compromise by the Democratic Party.   That poll, quizzing 525 respondents, found 64.6 percent believed the Democrats should join the committee. 
1207 !GCAT  Newspaper headlines   CHINA TIMES - Vice President Lien Chan may hold unofficial meeting with Ukraine president today (August 21).   Ministry of Transportation and Communications says it welcomes communist China's rules governing direct links, but adds it is only for semidirect links.   UNITED DAILY NEWS - Communist China allows ships involving Taiwanese or Chinese shipping companies to sail across Taiwan strait.   Lien Chan receives honorary degree at University of Keiv.   COMMERCIAL TIMES - Communist China opens ports at Xiamen and Fuzhou to be first for direct links with Taiwan.   Taiwan's diplomatic allies face tough choice on whether to retain their representative offices in Hong Kong.   ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS - Taiwan's balance of payments shows surplus of US$3.656 billion in second quarter of 1996.   Taiwan shipping companies expect direct Taiwan-China shipping links to take place as early as end of year.   -- Taipei Newsroom (2-5080815) 
1208 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indonesian political and business stories in leading newspapers, prepared by Reuters in Jakarta.   Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy.   Telephone: (6221) 384-6364.   Fax: (6221) 344-8404.   - - - -   KOMPAS   The Indonesian government said it would not interfere in an investigation by the official National Comission of Human Rights' into the July 27 riots in Jakarta in which at least four people were died.   - - - -   JAKARTA POST   The three sanctioned political parties contesting next year's general election vowed to make the event a success and promised not to launch maneuvers which would harm each other.   Indonesia allows the ruling Golkar party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) to take part in the polls every five years.   Indonesian and Turkey have agreed to look into establishing closer cooperation in trade, investment and strategic industries, especially in the aerospace sector.   - - - -   REPUBLIKA   The Attorney General's office allowed the parents of Budiman Sudjatmiko, leader of the leftist People's Democratic Party (PRD) to visit him after one week in detention.   The paper said Sudjatmiko was in a good condition.   The government blames the PRD for being behind the July 27 riots.   - - - -   MEDIA INDONESIA   A Catholic priest accused of publicly insulting President Suharto was questioned by the police on Tuesday.   Father Ignatius Sandyawan is also accused of harbouring Budiman Sudjatmiko and two other activists from the PRD. 
1209 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said on Wednesday a small tanker carrying 350 kilolitres of marine fuel oil (mfo) sunk near Matak island in South China Sea on Saturday.   "The Batamas III tanker carrying 350 kilolitres of mfo sunk near Matak island due to bad weather.   The mfo was for oil field operations in that area," a Pertamina official, who asked not to be named, said.   "Pertamina and other related institutions are now cleaning the spill.   Certainly the spill has caused some environment problems but they are only small," the official said.   "No one died in the accident," he added, giving no further details.   The Kompas daily said on Wednesday the 500 dead weight tonnes Batamas III was owned by an Indonesian company, PT Budi Segara, but flew under a Belize flag.   -- Jakarta newsroom +6221 384-6364 
1210 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India stood adamantly by its decision to block a nuclear test ban treaty on Wednesday, denouncing the proposed pact as not even fulfilling its United Nations mandate.   Foreign Minister Inder Kumar Gujral also shrugged off forthright U.S. criticism of India over its veto of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in Geneva.   U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that the real reason India vetoed the pact, which 44 nations had spent months negotiating, was to keep its own nuclear option open.   Gujral refused a direct response, but said strongly that India wanted a test ban treaty.   "I am not going to respond to that," Gujral told a Foreign Correspondents Association lunch in Singapore.   "If we start questioning each other's motives, it may be a very dirty scene.   I don't want that."   "We are in favour of a genuine, honest test ban treaty, but we feel that the treaty, as presently drafted and presented in Geneva, falls short of this," he added.   "It does not even meet the mandate given to it by the United Nations General Assembly."   Indian officials said another reason Gujral did not want to get into a slanging match with Washington was that New Delhi did not wish the dispute to turn into a bilateral U.S.-India issue.   "It's a matter of principle, not bilateral relations," said one.   In Bombay, Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda reaffirmed India's commitment to nuclear disarmament, vowing not to be a party to any "discriminatory" goals along the way.   "We believe nuclear disarmament is vital for the future of humanity and would like to work towards this goal.   However, till the goal is accepted by all, we cannot afford to subscribe to any goal that is discriminatory, unfair and inimical to national security interests," Deve Gowda told a gathering of scientists.   India vetoed the treaty, saying the draft merely froze the status quo, did not commit the nuclear powers to disarmament and allowed them high-technology ways of improving their arsenals.   New Delhi set off a nuclear explosion in 1974 but insists it has never produced a nuclear weapon, although it is widely believed to be capable of assembling one at short notice.   It has produced missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads, but Gujral denied India was likely to resume testing its Agni long-range missile after a two-year gap.   The International Herald Tribune said on Wednesday he had suggested that in an interview.   "What I said quite clearly several times was that this was not on the cards, but that we keep our options open," Gujral told reporters at the lunch.   India last tested the Agni, designed to hit targets 2,500 km (1,500 miles) away, in 1994, three years after launching radical market reforms to its tightly-controlled economy that included a search for foreign, especially U.S., investment.   The United States had urged New Delhi to halt missile testing permanently, fearing a major arms race between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.   U.S. officials say Washington fears that another war between the two old enemies could turn nuclear with Pakistan, like India, believed capable of assembling a nuclear warhead quickly.   India never admitted that its suspension of missile tests followed U.S. pressure or the search for U.S. investment, but diplomats in Delhi say they believe those were the reasons.   Gujral would not say when, or if, missile testing might resume.   "It is not on the agenda," he told Reuters Television. 
1211 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !G15 !G153 !G158 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Commerce Minister Chucheep Hansawat rejected on Wednesday a private sector request to review the government portion of a 21,455-tonne rice export quota which Thailand obtains from the European Union (EU).   Chucheep said 60 percent of the fourth quarter EU quota for Thailand would be given to the state-run Warehouse Organisation with the remaining 40 percent shared by about 40 private exporters.   The Rice Exporters' Association has protested to the ministry, saying that the Warehouse Organisation does not stock its own rice for export and it may profit from the quota by selling it to private exporters.   The association said the organisation stood to gain at least 64 million baht from selling its allocated October/December quota.   However, Chucheep said the state enterprise could help shore up seasonally low domestic rice prices in November by buying rice for export to the EU.   He said the association's protest was led by major exporters seeking a bigger share of the EU quota.   Harvesting of Thailand's main annual paddy (unhusked rice) crop starts to reach the local market in early November. 
1212 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  A major Taiwan shipper, saying Beijing's new rules on direct Taiwan-China shipping would enable it to grab China shipping business away from Hong Kong, forged an alliance on Wednesday to do just that.   Yang Ming Marine Corp said it signed a slot-exchange pact with Japan's Kawasaki Kisen and the mainland's China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co covering global container shipments, including those originating in China and Taiwan.   Yang Ming said the alliance aimed to benefit from Chinese regulations, unveiled on Tuesday in Beijing, governing direct Taiwan-China shipping links -- even though such links are still technically banned by Taipei.   China's rules allow ships from wholly Chinese-owned or Taiwan-owned shipping firms or joint ventures involving Chinese or Taiwan shipowners to sail between the two sides.   "All of Taiwan's major container shippers are gearing up to take a share in China's trade shipments," Yang Ming spokesman Richard Yu told Reuters by telephone.   Yu said Beijing's new rules, coupled with Taiwan's excellent ports and container facilities, would enable the island to wrest China trade shipments away from Hong Kong.   Yu sketched out a scenario in which Chinese shipments would cross the Taiwan strait to Taiwan for loading onto larger ships that China's ports cannot yet accommodate.   "Taiwan has deeper ports and better facilities that can handle larger container ships than China's," Yu said.   "Taiwan could become a transshipment centre for mainland trade."   Hong Kong's container port, the world's busiest, has been the main conduit for cross-strait trade since a political thaw in the late 1980s made semi-direct business between China and Taiwan possible.   China views Taiwan as a renegade province.   Taipei, too, has been exploring ways to ease a 47-year-old ban on direct links without compromising the sovereignty of Taiwan's exiled Republic of China by recognising China's communist government -- an essential concern.   Under a plan to set up "offshore transshipment centres" at major Taiwan ports, cargoes could be transshipped between China and third countries without passing through Taiwan customs.   Taiwan cargoes could not be shipped from the centres to China.   Taiwan says its ports can offer significant savings over Hong Kong for shipments between China and overseas markets due to high efficiency, closer proximity and quicker turnaround.   "Transshipments shipped directly through Taiwan would save 40 percent in costs than those shipped through Hong Kong," transport vice minister Mao Chi-kuo told reporters.   What remains to be seen is whether Beijing and Taipei will both allow the evolving semi-direct shipping scheme to fly.   Because China's rules lump Taiwan under "domestic" shipping, Taipei cannot allow Taiwan-flagged ships to participate.   But Chinese- and Taiwan-owned vessels flying third-country flags should have a chance, Yang Ming's spokesman said.   "Taiwan's rules ban all direct shipping links across the strait except by ships with third-country flags," Yu said.   Under another variation, parts shipped from China could be processed inside Taiwan's offshore transshipment zones for re-export to other countries without ever "entering" Taiwan.   Taiwan has banned direct air and sea links with China since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists lost the civil war to the Chinese communists and took refuge on the island in 1949. 
1213 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said on Wednesday a small tanker carrying 350 kilolitres of marine fuel oil (MFO) sank near Matak island in the South China Sea on Saturday.   "The Batamas III tanker carrying 350 kilolitres of MFO sank near Matak island due to bad weather.   The MFO was for oilfield operations in that area," a Pertamina official, who asked not to be named, said.   "Pertamina and other related institutions are now cleaning the spill.   Certainly the spill has caused some environmental problems but they are only small," the official said.   "No one died in the accident," he added, giving no further details.   The Kompas daily said on Wednesday that the 500 dwt Batamas III was owned by an Indonesian company, PT Budi Segara, but operated under a Belize flag. 
1214 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Indian Foreign Minister Inder Kumar Gujral said on Wednesday a resumption of testing of the long-range Agni missile was not on the cards, although New Delhi was keeping its options open.   Gujral, in Singapore on a visit, was speaking the day after India vetoed a draft nuclear test ban treaty and said it would block its transmission to the United Nations.   Asked about remarks he made in a newspaper interview that indicated India was likely to resume missile testing after a halt of more than two years despite pressure from the United States for a permanent cessation, Gujral said:   "What I said quite clearly several times was that this was not on the cards but that we keep our options open."   He was speaking at a press luncheon.   Gujral told the International Herald Tribune that India had developed its own cryogenic rocket engines, which Western experts fear could be used to power ballistic missiles.   "We are now trying to test it (engine)," Gujral told the newspaper, adding: "It is not for a missile.   It is for a spacecraft."   The United States, concerned over tensions in South Asia, has urged India to scrap the Agni as well as the short-range Prithvi, but India has said sophisticated weapons in neighbouring Pakistan and China require it to remain on guard.   The United States is worried that such missiles could be used to carry nuclear warheads.   On Tuesday in Geneva, U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar said India had blocked the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) because "New Delhi wants to maintain the Indian nuclear weapon option".   The Indian Defence Ministry said in an annual report on Monday that global pressures had mounted on India to scrap its missile programmes and abandon its option to build a nuclear bomb.   The ministry said it would keep a constant watch on the development and stockpiling of missile weapons systems in the region.   "India will continue with its indigenous missile development programmes and also keep its options open on their deployment as warranted by our national security interests," it said.   India, along with Pakistan and Israel, is a nuclear threshold state that has the capability to build nuclear weapons swiftly.   New Delhi exploded a nuclear device in 1974, but has not undertaken any nuclear tests since then.   India has said it wants the test ban treaty to include a time-bound commitment by the five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia -- for total nuclear disarmament. 
1215 !GCAT !GDIS  Hundreds of residents evacuated their flooded homes in Hanoi on Wednesday as waters on Vietnam's Red River rose to their most dangerous levels in years.   In districts bordering the river, entire neighbourhoods were submerged beneath several metres of swirling red-brown water washed down from flooded areas further upstream.   Rafts made from bamboo, wood, packing cases or anything that could float were being used to ferry families and their belongings away from the river to the relative safety of the city's main protective dike.   Boats and barges navigated city streets normally used by motorbikes and cars, cashing in on a lucrative waterborne removals and taxi business.   Residents were being charged around 40,000 dong ($3.60) a trip.   As waters continued to rise, local authorities ordered access points on the centuries old main Hanoi dike sealed as an emergency measure to protect the city of 2.2 million people from widespread damage.   The threat to Hanoi -- the worst since 1971 -- follows a series of devastating storms across northern Vietnam over the past 10 days.   In provinces southeast of the capital, efforts were continuing to account for hundreds of missing people after a whirlwind storm tore through fishing fleets and coastal areas a week ago.   In mountain provinces in Vietnam's remote northwest thousands of families were said to be without sufficient food supplies after flooding and landslides caused by torrential rains at the weekend.   Vietnam's Red Cross issued figures on Wednesday saying 153 people had been killed, 293 were missing and nearly seventy thousand families had been affected across the north over the past week.   The figures differed from those given in a newspaper interview a day earlier by Agriculture Minister Nguyen Cong Tan, who said 635 people were still unaccounted for.   While an accurate casualty toll may not be known for some time, it is already clear the damage to northern Vietnam -- one of the poorest areas of the country -- is some of the worst in years.   According to preliminary estimates, more than 105,000 hectares (259,457 acres) of rice fields have been flooded.   Damage to property was put at $68.72 million and the figure was expected to rise over the next few days.   Officials at the Central Weather Bureau were quoted by the English-language Vietnam News on Wednesday as saying tropical storm Niki, packing winds of up to 120 kph (75 mph), was expected to strike land in Vietnam before the end of the week.   The party mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper said Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet had issued instructions calling on local authorities and the armed forces to be ready to help protect sea-walls and dikes against further damage. 
1216 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  South Korean President Kim Young-sam on Wednesday accused radical students of waging urban guerrilla warfare in support of Pyongyang and vowed to sternly punish North Korean supporters.   Kim was addressing the heads of 292 colleges a day after riot police stormed Seoul's Yonsei University to end a seven-day occupation by students calling for reunification with North Korea and the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the South.   "This is a violent anti-government revolution that supports North Korea and can be considered as urban guerrilla warfare," a presidential statement quoted him as saying.   "The violent forces that challenge government authorities will not be forgiven under any circumstances," Kim said.   "The government will never accept violent students who believe in communism and (will) thoroughly punish anachronistic pro-North Korean forces," he said.   About 3,225 students were arrested after riot police stormed a teaching block at Yonsei, smashing through burning barricades of desks and chairs and lobbing stun grenades to dislodge mostly female undergraduates.   "The government will deal with all violent pro-North Korean demonstrations strictly by law," said Kim.   It was the harshest denunciation so far of the student demonstrators, whose leaders have been branded by authorities as Pyongyang stooges intent on using the issue of Korean unification to destabilise the government.   The campus violence was the worst since Kim, a former dissident under the military-backed government, took office in 1993.   Students were armed with iron bars and petrol bombs, and hundreds of riot police, as well as dozens of students, were injured.   More than 5,500 students were arrested in more than one week of unrest at Yonsei.   Authorities have sought to distinguish between what they described as naive students caught up in the protests and the ringleaders who meticulously planned the violence.   Most of the arrested students were expected to get off lightly, but the masterminds face prosecution, possibly under national security laws designed to protect South Korea against North Korea.   The two Koreas have been technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce.   South Korean newspaper editorials also advocated stern punishment for the student leaders.   "The masterminds and those behind the violence must be shown that the law will be strictly enforced," said the Dong-Ah Ilbo.   The public, once supportive of student demonstrators fighting for democracy in the 1980s, have now turned hostile.   Police say they suspect the Yonsei protests were led by Namchongnyon, a federation of student university councils based in southern Cholla province.   North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Fatherland on Tuesday denounced the South for the crackdown.   "While calling for dialogue with the North, the Kim Young-sam group are suppressing activists for reunification.   If they truly want to negotiate with the North, they must stop the suppression and ensure free discussion of reunification," it said in comments carried by the Korean Central News Agency and monitored in Tokyo. 
1217 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Japan on Wednesday expressed regret over India's decision to veto a nuclear test ban treaty but pledged to continue to seek global nuclear disarmament.   "It is highly regrettable that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was not adopted at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva because of opposition from some countries, including India," Japan's Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda said in a statement on Wednesday.   India told the conference on Tuesday that it could still not accept a draft treaty, preventing its formal adoption in Geneva after more than two years of negotiations.   India, one of three nuclear "threshold states", wanted the treaty to include a time-bound commitment by the five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia -- for total nuclear disarmament.   India's decision came only two weeks after Japan renewed its vows to fight the spread of atomic weaponry.   On August 8, Japan commemorated the 51st anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city of Hiroshima in southern Japan, where Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto pledged he would make utmost efforts to seek early agreement of the CTBT.   Ikeda stressed the importance of the proposed CTBT in global disarmament and urged the international community to come up with a way to adopt the treaty at some other venue at the earliest possible date.   "Japan will continue to cooperate with nations working to realise the CTBT...and urge nations which oppose the treaty to reconsider their positions," Ikeda said in the statement.   Ikeda was in Cairo on Wednesday on a tour of the Middle East that includes Syria, Jordan and Israel. 
1218 !GCAT !GCRIM  A suspected killer who climbed a coconut tree to evade capture died when angry villagers cut it down with a chainsaw, police in the southern Philippines said on Wednesday.   Police said Elmer Sinarillos, suspected of hacking two women and two children to death with a machete, tried to evade arrest by climbing up the tree in Sangay Daku village on Tuesday.   Sinarillos, 28, refused to come down and after two hours of negotiations villagers felled the tree with a chainsaw, chief inspector Edgardo Martinez said.   Sinarillos, clinging to the tree trunk, died in the fall after breaking his spine, police said.   The dead man's parents denied their son had killed the women and the children, aged one and two, all of whom were relatives of the Sinarillos family.   Sangay Daku is on the outskirts of the city of Ozamis, 780 km (490 miles) south of Manila. 
1219 !GCAT !GENV  China is to launch a campaign to clean up a polluted river that is threatening residents' health and poisoning crops, the China Daily said on Wednesday.   Sewage treatment plants would be built along the northeastern Liao river valley and factories would be ordered to cut pollution or close down under the campaign to clean up the river by 2005, the newspaper said.   "The people in this valley, half of them engaged in agriculture, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry, have had their health affected (by pollution)," it quoted Song Jian, chairman of the National Environmental Protection Committee, as saying.   The river valley, which runs through northeastern China and is home to around 30 million people, was so polluted that some crops in the area contained poisonous substances, the newspaper said but gave no details.   Pollution had aggravated water shortages along the river, which flows through the industrial provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Hebei from Inner Mongolia, it said.   Industrial firms that discharged about one billion tonnes of waste water each year would be required to treat their waste water within one to three years or face being shut down, Song said.   Dyeing mills, small paper mills and other high-pollution factories should also be closed, he said.   Liaoning province on the river's lower reaches was responsible for 90 percent of its pollution, but areas inland would be expected to help with the clean-up, he said.   Pollutants from the river had badly affected sea water in Liaodong Bay, damaging ocean resources and aquatic husbandry, the China Daily said.   Official statistics show that nine billion tonnes of untreated waste water a year flowed into the seas around China, carrying 1.46 million tonnes of pollutants including organic compounds and petroleum. 
1220 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GDEF !GPOL  South Korea President Kim Young-sam on Wednesday ordered a 12 percent increase in the state defence budget in 1997 from a 10.7 percent rise this year.    A presidential statement said President Kim stressed the importance of modernising the nation's defence power and encouraging the South Korean military force due to the uncertainity surrounding the Korean peninsula.   A finance and economy ministry official said the defense budget would total 14.26 trillion won next year from a projected 12.74 trillion won this year.   South Korea's largest single budgetary component would remain defence, which takes more than 20 percent of all expenditures. 
1221 !GCAT !GDIP  China on Wednesday accused Japan of trying to twist international law to gain ownership of a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea which Beijing claims has been part of its territory for centuries.   A row between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, which the Japanese call the Senkakus, erupted last month when members of a Japanese right-wing group built a makeshift lighthouse on one of them.   The basis of Japanese claims to sovereignty over the islands "has not been universally accepted in international law and cannot justify Japan's aggression of Chinese territory", the official China Daily said.   The newspaper said the islands appeared in Chinese records dating to the 16th century and that Japan gained control over the islands only after defeating China in a war that ended in 1895.   The Senkakus are small uninhabited islands about 300 km (190 miles) west of Okinawa and 200 km (125 miles) east of Taiwan.   The islands are also claimed by Taiwan.   "It is obvious that Japan is trying to use its long-term control of the Diaoyu Islands to finally acquire their ownership," the newspaper said.   The newspaper said the islands should have been returned to Chinese control after the end of World War Two in 1945 and that they were still part of China despite regular Japanese patrols in the area. 
1222 !GCAT  China plans to set up a public library in every county by 2010 as part of efforts to fight illiteracy, the China Daily said on Wednesday.   The Ministry of Culture also plans to build children's libraries in every district of major and medium-sized cities, the newspaper said.   By 1995, China had 2,615 public libraries, holding more than 300 million books and documents, it said.   However, about 200 counties and most towns in China did not have a library and there were only 70 children's libraries nationally, concentrated in major cities, it said.   China's illiteracy rate at the end of 1995 was 12.01 percent.   This means about 145 million people out of a population of more than 1.2 billion can neither read nor write. 
1223 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Indonesia's three sanctioned political parties pledged to support President Suharto and avoid criticism of each other in the run-up to next year's general elections, the official Antara news agency said on Wednesday.   The ruling Golkar party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) will contest 425 of the 500 seats in parliament.   The remaining 75 will be allocated to non-voting representatives of the armed forces.   Antara said Golkar chairman Harmoko, PDI chairman Surjadi and PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum signed a statement at a ceremony held at the National Election Institute on Tuesday, in which they expressed support for Suharto and said they would avoid manouevres against each other.   They later shook hands and embraced.   Antara gave no other details.   A notable absentee was ousted PDI leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, who had become a figurehead for dissent in Indonesia until a government crackdown following riots in Jakarta on July 27.   Megawati, the daughter of late founding president Sukarno, was ousted by Surjadi's government-backed faction in June.   The riots, the worst violence in Jakarta for over two decades, broke out after police raided the PDI headquarters in the capital and evicted Megawati's supporters entrenched within.   Political analysts have said the government backed the move to depose Megawati because it feared she could cut into Golkar's votes in the elections and perhaps stand against Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections.   Only the three recognised political parties are eligible to contest the elections and lists of candidates, which are finalised by party chiefs, have to be approved by the military.   The 500 representatives of parliament will join 500 nominated members to form the People's Consultative Assembly, which forms the electoral body for the presidential elections.   Suharto, one of the longest-ruling leaders in the world, has won six five-year terms as president unopposed.   He has not said if he will stand in 1998, but analysts say it is likely.   The Jakarta Post newspaper quoted Harmoko as denying the statement was prepared because the contestants feared the conflict within the PDI might render the election legally defective.   Meanwhile, a long-dormant group of former government and military officials critical of Suharto issued a statement blaming the PDI imbroglio on the nation's rigid political system.   "The first and primary step to be taken should be to change and revise the laws on the national political system," said the statement by the Petisi 50 group issued on Tuesday.   "In this context, there needs to be a law on the presidency, which includes a limit on the presidential term." 
1224 !GCAT !GENT  In Hollywood, a car chase, high-tech stunts and a bit of romance may be the formula for a hit film.   But in China, Deng Xiaoping is tough to beat.   The diminutive politician stands head and shoulders above some of the more popular subjects in the West.   The latest addition to China's silver screen -- called "Battles for Glory over the Taihang Mountains" -- depicts the nation's paramount leader as a young man in the guerrilla war against Japanese invaders in the late 1930s and early 1940s.   "I think Deng Xiaoping is cute," says Qin Yan, the film's director.   "I really like him.   He has made a great contribution to modern history."   In more recent years, Deng's image has been tarnished, particularly by the bloody crackdown on political reform in 1989.   But his policies of economic pragmatism, embracing capitalist style policies, have endeared him to many Chinese, particularly those old enough to remember the fanatical leftist days under Mao Zedong.   The economic reforms have raised living standards dramatically and Deng can rightfully claim much of the credit.   "We are treating him as a person.   We want people to feel closer to this man," says Qin.   That, however, is getting harder and harder to do.   In real life, Deng -- who turns 92 on Thursday -- has not been seen in public since early 1994.   When last viewed he appeared to be in frail health.   Deng had long shunned the "cult of personality" that revolutionary leader Mao Zedong embraced.   But in his twilight years, authors, film makers and the official media have been making up for lost time, serving up a steady stream of material to ensure Deng's place in history remains intact.   For the ruling Communist Party, challenged by the collapse of most of its Marxist allies, there is a need for larger than life heroes, and Deng is one of the few it has.   For the movie makers, it also doesn't hurt.   The People's Liberation Army (PLA) helped the production, providing extras, trucks and even a few armoured cars.   The occupying Japanese troops in the movie are actually PLA soldiers off the screen.   But depicting one of Beijing's heroes has its drawbacks.   The ruling Communist Party has its own view of history and does not take kindly to tinkering.   Beijing's "leading figures" film group, which pays special attention to movies about the communist pantheon, had its say in this film as in others.   "There were lots of revisions," said Qin, a writer and former actress.   "There were lots of different opinions."   The Deng family also was consulted.   They were said to be generally pleased with the outcome if less than thrilled with certain love scenes.   Those scenes were cut.   The movie took six months and only 9 million yuan ($1.1 million) to make.   Shi Xin, the 23-year-old actor who portrays Deng as a young man, received a modest 10,000 yuan ($1,200) for the role, his first ever as the Chinese leader.   "It was my first time playing Deng and he is not an ordinary man," said Shi.   "I was not that satisfied with my performance."   The modest budget reflects other changes in the industry in recent years.   In the old days, there was plenty of money for movies that pleased Communist Party leaders.   Now, motion pictures may have party help, but they are also likely to be commercial ventures with investors taking a stake in the project in return for a share of profits.   "I had to run around to help find investors and raise money," says Qin.   In an ironic footnote, that reflects the market reforms spurred by none other than Deng Xiaoping. 
1225 !GCAT  With 314 days to go before the British colony reverts to China, the Hong Kong media focused on Taiwan and China relations in the wake of China's announcement on direct shipping ties.   The Beijing-funded TA KUNG PAO said China had long supported the establishment of direct shipping, postal, civil aviation and trading links, but Taiwan had never responded positively.   The paper said many people believed that if direct shipping links between Hong Kong, China and Taiwan were not realised after the Hong Kong handover, Taiwan's economy would suffer.   It said direct shipping ties were an inevitable trend and the Taiwan authorities had no choice but to follow the wishes of the people across the Strait.   The middle of the road MING PAO said Taiwan's policy towards the mainland had toughened recently.   Beijing believed that while Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui avoided talking about the "one China" principle, he was not sincere in giving up Taiwan's independence.   The Chinese language daily said the cold war had come to an end throughout most of the world and it would be sad for all Chinese if a new cold war started across the Strait.   The English language SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST said international trade was not a zero sum game in which one city's gain must always result in another's loss.   Cross-strait links would boost the economies of Taiwan and the neighbouring mainland province of Fujian.   This would be beneficial to all of China and to Hong Kong.   -- Hong Kong Newsroom (852) 2843-6441 
1226 !C12 !C15 !C152 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Green Cross Corp shares were ask-only in early trade on Wednesday after prosecutors raided the offices of the drug maker accused of spreading HIV infection through unheated blood products, brokers said.   A company spokesman said he believed the raids were underway and television footage showed prosecutors entering the building, but there was no immediate comment from prosecutors.   The shares were ask-only at 508 yen at 0101 GMT after closing at 538 yen on Tuesday. 
1227 !GCAT !GENT  It's not easy to instil revolutionary values when your target generation regards the landlord bogeyman of communist idealism as a reasonable businessman looking for his rightful profit.   But with the 20th anniversary of the death of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong approaching and the reviving of spiritual values topping the agenda of the ruling Communist Party, propaganda officials are trying to do just that.   The latest tool is the model opera, "The White-Haired Girl" -- one of only eight operas that were permitted by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, to be performed during the 10 chaotic years of the ultra-leftist Cultural Revolution.   The Shanghai Ballet Theatre this month revived the 1940s propaganda tale of the trials of a peasant girl whose hair turns white after she escapes from the clutches of an evil landlord who bought her when after her father, a tenant farmer, fails to pay his rent.   The Beijing revival has been a sellout.   Responses more mixed.   Thirty years ago -- even 20 years ago -- Chinese audiences broke down in tears over scenes such as the mistreatment of the White-Haired Girl by the landlord's ageing mother.   The tale provoked such emotion that when the story was first staged in the 1940s at the late Chairman's Mao Zedong's resistance base in remote western Yanan, one soldier leapt from his seat, took out his gun and tried to shoot the landlord.   Today, the appearance of the landlord raises titters.   One of the main sponsors of the revival, the China Work Committee for Nurturing the Next Generation, said its aim was to educate young people in traditional revolutionary values.   "We want to give teenagers a traditional education and enrich their cultural life," a committee official said.   "The White-Haired Girl is a story with a historical background and political content.   We want children to know what life was like in the past."   The official acknowledged that the mix of traditional values in a society racing to modernise may be confusing.   "Many children ask why debtors today are not so respectful to their creditors.   This is not right," he said.   "We cannot use a historical story to explain a current social phenomenon."   It is a muddle echoed in the audience.   Wang Lizhu, 41, was given free tickets by a friend and wanted his 12-year-old daughter to see a ballet, but not necessarily a work of revolutionary propaganda.   "As for children these days, they don't know anything about exploition by the landlords or the oppression before Liberation," he said, referring to the official name for the 1949 communist victory.   "Some think that the White-Haired Girl's father must pay because he owed money to the landlord," he said.   "So you can see this play can't have any political function, it's rather out of date."   Ballet critic Ou Jianping agreed.   "The characters that are supposed to be ugly and vicious are no longer hateful but laughable," Ou said.   "The audience laughs at them nowadays."   That wasn't quite what the sponsors, or the propaganda tsars who actually approved the performance, had in mind.   Spiritual civilisation -- communist jargon for values -- has been selected as the watchword of party policy this year.   The theme will dominate the annual party plenum next month and has held sway throughout the party-controlled media for months.   Newspaper front pages have fielded paeans to a model army officer who searches for water in the deserts of Inner Mongolia, a bureaucrat killed in a car crash after years of harsh living in remote and backward Tibet, and a party secretary who set up factories and donated a fortune to his poverty-ridden village.   "We are using these examples of real heroes to teach people of today to have better values," said one senior government official.   An array of opportunities to make money, often at the expense of others, has opened up with paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's market reforms.   One consequence has been the rapid -- and to communist leaders alarming -- erosion of the spirit of altruism espoused by Mao.   Such dramas as the White-Haired Girl ballet offer a propaganda pill more palatable to the average Chinese.   "It was very beautiful," said one middle-aged woman, who said she saw the opera many times as a child during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution.   "I felt very nostalgic for those times."   Her daughter, not born until after the tumultuous movement when ideology was paramount, admitted she barely understood the storyline but enjoyed the dance.   Ballet critic Ou was slightly disappointed.   "The ballet has lost its revolutionary spirit," he said.   "You don't feel that you are watching workers, peasants and soldiers fighting for the revolution, but just pretty dancers.   "The strong fists of the past have been replaced by soft, graceful hands," he said.   "It's just a ballet.   It has lost the realistic power, the dynamism it had in the past." 
1228 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Prosecutors raided offices of Green Cross Corp, one of the drug makers accused of spreading HIV infection through unheated blood products, on Wednesday morning in connection with the death of a patient from AIDS, Japanese media said.   Jiji news service said that prosecutors had launched raids on the company's Osaka headquarters.   A company spokesman said he believed the raids were underway and television footage showed prosecutors entering the building, but there was no immediate comment from prosecutors.    The Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Wednesday that the family of a patient who died of AIDS after being treated with HIV-tainted blood products has brought a suit against Green Cross's former president Renzo Matsushita, accusing him of murder. 
1229 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Moroccan press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LE MATIN DU SAHARA   - King Hassan announces referendum over split of parliament into two chambers.   - Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore on private visit to Morocco.   LE QUOTIDIEN DU MAROC   - King Hassan pardons 592 prisoners on day marking the 43th anniversary of the revolution of the king and the people.   - Fish exports registered strong progression in last decade.   ALMAGHRIB   - Moroccan coastguards arrest 17 illegal immigrants trying to reach Spain aboard makeshift boats. 
1230 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Tunisian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LA PRESSE   -President Ben Ali discusses road infrastructure projects with Equipment and Housing Minister Ali Chaouch.   LE TEMPS   - Tomato production sets a record with 540,000 tonnes this year. 
1231 !GCAT !GDIS  Two brothers drowned off Egypt's Mediterranean coast after saving the younger man's wife from the stormy sea, the government daily al-Gomhuria said on Wednesday.   It said Sayed Gorani, 35, and his brother Ahmed, 40, had rushed into the sea to rescue Sayed's wife.   They succeeded in pushing her towards the shore but were themselves engulfed by the waves, the newspaper added. 
1232 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Operations at Saudi Arabia's second largest export refinery at Jubail returned to normal early on Wednesday after a small fire over the weekend at the refinery's hydro-cracking unit, a company official said.   "We are resuming operations in the hydro-cracker.   It is being handed over into operation right now," the official said, adding, "The problems are behind us."   Exports were not affected by the small fire on Saturday as stocks were used to meet them, he said.   Jubail is jointly operated by Saudi Aramco and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. 
1233 !GCAT !GPOL  The PLO rejects any linkage between an Israeli troop redeployment in the West Bank city of Hebron and stopping PLO activity in Arab East Jerusalem, a Palestinian official said in an interview published on Wednesday.   Israel said on Tuesday it would not redeploy the troops until the Palestinian Authority closed PLO offices in Jerusalem.   "This logic is unacceptable to us.   In fact we reject it completely because the obligations must be fulfilled in time," Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), secretary of the PLO's executive committee, told the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat.   An Israeli official quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as telling a closed-door session of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee that there would be no progress until the offices were closed.   Under a peace accord with the PLO, Israel was due to have redeployed its troops by the end of March in Hebron, the last major Arab West Bank city still under Israeli control.   Israel delayed the redeployment in Hebron after Moslem militants killed 59 people in Israel in a spate of suicide bombings in February and March.   Abu Mazen said the two sides had made preparations to revive the activities of a joint economic committee, including naming heads of the two delegations.   "There is hope to complete other circles.   I mean to revive the higher committee and hold summit meetings between (Palestinian President Yasser) Arafat and Netanyahu," he added.   But he said the situation was still difficult and uncertain.   "What I am sure about is that we are not going to allow things to go backwards," Abu Mazen said. 
1234 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in Greek Cypriot newspapers on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   CHARAVGHI   - Marathon talks of the National Council for the evaluation of last week's events and the reply of President Clerides to the U.N. secretary general regarding the joint statement.   - Demands of Cyprus Airways engineers go beyond the capabilities of the airline and cannot therefore be satisfied, Minister of Finance Christodoulou says.   PHILELEFTHEROS   - United States plans drastic intervention in the Cyprus problem.   High-level mission of the State Department is being prepared.   SIMERINI   - Ministry Council will put forward parliamentary bill for giving 18-year-olds the right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections.   - Midnight meeting between President Celrides and N. Democracy Greek party leader Evert.   ALITHIA   -Police efforts aimed at cocaine drug dealers. 
1235 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Saudi Arabian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-RIYADH   - Saudi committee sends relief to Somali refugees in Kenya.   - Saudi Agricultural Bank provided 3,822 loans worth 670 million riyals in a year.   - Saudi British bank opens investment centre in Dammam.   ARAB NEWS   - Saudi Arabia joining the World Trade Organisation will boost employment opportunities.   It would lead to increase in production of petrochemicals and petroleum derivatives.   - The Saline Water Conversion Corporation targets massive expansion to boost desalinated water in the kingdom.   - Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency senior official rules out currency note change. 
1236 !C13 !C33 !C331 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  Kuwait's parliament has given its public funds watchdog investigatory powers to probe a planned purchase of British naval missiles after officials rejected a cheaper French offer, an official said on Wednesday.   "The public funds committee has been given the power of an investigation commitee to look into the missiles deal," an official at the national assembly said by telephone.   "MPs complained about lack of cooperation from defence ministry officials," said the official, who declined to be indentified.   Investigatory powers will enable its public funds protection committee, which normally has a monitoring function, to summon defence officials for questioning, political analysts say.   The opposition-dominated house in July gave the committee two weeks to report on the government's choice of British Aerospace Sea Skua missiles over French MM-15 missiles made by Aerospatiale.   Kuwaiti newspapers have said the British missiles would cost 27 million dinars ($90 million) and French missiles about 22 million dinars.   MPs say that in view of the price discrepancy they want to ensure the planned deal involves no impropriety.   The committee says it has not completed its report because it has not been able to contact Colonel Marzouk al-Bader, a key figure in the affair who headed a defence ministry committee that selected the French missile.   The panel's decision was later overruled and the government chose the British missile.   The defence ministry says Bader is away on an unspecified overseas assignment.   The government says the British missile was selected simply because it was better than the French.   The missiles are due to be installed on eight fast patrol boats worth $500 million sold to Kuwait by France in 1995.   ($1 = 0.299 dinars) 
1237 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the official Iraqi press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   JUMHOURIYA   - Canadian businessmen to arrive in Baghdad on Thursday.   - Iraq refutes Iranian allegations that it is not implementing an agreement between the two sides on prisoners of war and remains of soldiers killed in the Iraq-Iran 1980-88 war.   - A Greek trade delegation to arrive in Baghdad on Friday.   - Culture and information minister meets ultra-nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.   IRAQ   - Chairman of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce says trade exchange with Iraq will increase by the end of this year to pre- Gulf War level.   - Iraq's health minister meets in Baghdad his Iranian counterpart. 
1238 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Jordanian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   JORDAN TIMES   - King, visiting Ramtha, urges citizens to remain united and steadfast.   "We should push forward on path of dialogue, democracy and respect for human rights and reject chaos."   - Curfew on Karak town is relaxed.   - Democratic framework will govern re-evaluation process, government says.   Politicians agree on need for opening objective and balanced dialogue.   - King meets senators and deputies from south on Wednesday.   Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti exchanges views with southern parliamentarians on recent events, reaffirms no one will face injustice.   - Trade relations with Iraq are unlikely to suffer, officials say.   AL RAI   - King calls for more cohesion and development.   - Karabiti meets senators and deputies from south.   Meeting condemns acts of sabotage against government and private-owned buildings.   AD DUSTOUR   - Ramtha experiences national day of happiness after meeting King Hussein.   - King vows to protect gains of every Jordanian.   Ramtha citizens pledge loyalty to king and vow to protect homeland. 
1239 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   SABAH   - Isin Celebi is to stand as a candidate against the Motherland party (ANAP) chairman Mesut Yilmaz at the ANAP annual conference this weekend.   - State Minister Soylemez says reports by the credit rating agency Moody's and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) prove that no economic crisis is likely in Turkey soon.   MILLIYET   - Islamist premier Erbakan is criticised by opposition parties for saying during his visit to Indonesia that there is no brain power in Turkey.   - Police arrest Faysal Akcan, who pulled down the Turkish flag at the pro-Kurdish HADEP party's congress.   HURRIYET   - The Directorate of Religious Affairs says that a women infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion will be a martyr if she dies.   CUMHURIYET   - Celebi, the rival candidate for the chairmanship of the Motherland party vows to revive the party in the spirit of the party's founder Turgut Ozal.   YENI YUZYIL   - The narcotics squad chief says Turkey has gone beyond being a transit country in the drugs trade to becoming a trading centre.   DUNYA   - Treasury bonds are the favourite investment of companies.   ZAMAN   - The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) kills 13 civilians in Sivas, central Turkey, which is turning into a PKK base. 
1240 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Bahraini press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AYAM   - Health minister inspects a new health centre in Arad, to be inaugurated late in September.   AKHBAR AL-KHALEEJ   - Video and electronic shops closed for violating laws.   - Plan to develop training centre at the Electricity and Water Ministry in Sitra.   GULF DAILY NEWS   - Tough new green law comes into force to protect Bahrain's environment.   It ensures better monitoring and control of pollution.   - Setting up a skin bank in the Gulf will be among issues to be discussed by plastic surgeons in Bahrain next year. 
1241 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Egyptian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AHRAM   - Palestinian President Yasser Arafat asks Egypt's President Mubarak to help stop construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.   - Japanese Foreign Minister Ikeda in Cairo to discuss economic cooperation and latest developments in the Middle East.   He will also meet Mubarak during his three-day visit.   - French daily "Liberation" lauds Mubarak's economic policy and dealings with the International Monetary Fund, says Egypt has gained from the experiences of other countries and not raised prices of basic goods.   - Egypt's Interior Ministry, to support Egypt's economic progress, will help set up a specialised company to ferry banks deposits and will deploy expert security personnel to protect financial institutions.   AL-AKHBAR   - Labour Minister Ahmed el-Amawi says United Nations fund approved $492 million to compensate Egyptian workers affected by the Gulf War.   Amawi also told reporters there are too many civil servants, too little job opportunities and that the private sector is now the place to find jobs.   - Egypt to spend up to four billion pounds this year to subsidise bread and other foodstuffs.   AL-GOMHURIA   - Education minister says private universities will not lessen education opportunities for the income-impaired. 
1242 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the official Syrian press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   SYRIA TIMES   - Israelis reinforce positions in south Lebanon.   - Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah voices support for Syria and Lebanon stances in peace.   TISHREEN   - After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's threats to lebanon, Israeli minister says: "It is in the interest of Israel to destroy the peace process and prolong negotiations."   - Russian Foreign Minitser Yevgeny Primakov to visit the Middle East in October.   AL-THAWRA   - Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Zu'bi ended his visit to Iran and signed cooperation agreements.   Zu'bi said: "We achieved important steps on the way of cooperation.   We have signed six deals in the fields of transport, health, trade, education and agriculture."   - Arab League report says: "Israel improved its nuclear programmes in a way that contradicts the peace atmosphere in the region."   AL-BAATH   - Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda set off a tour to the Middle East, seeking to restart peace process.   - Israel shelled civilians in south Lebanon. 
1243 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Kuwaiti press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   AL-QABAS   - Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah says Israel's proposal to have peace with Lebanon first is meant to weaken the position of Arab states.   - Kuwait's imports for the first quarter of 1996 amount to 596.4 million dinars ($1.994 billion), according to official figures.   AL-WATAN   - Banks lead active trade at Kuwait Stock Exchange.   - Parliament recomends that government should halt the forced dismantling of farms that have been established by Kuwaitis in violation of the law.   MPs who received complaints from farmers want to debate the removals with the government.   ARAB TIMES   - Parliament agreed to give its watchdog public funds protection committee investigatory powers to probe a proposed purchase of up to $100 million of naval missiles from Britain.   Opposition MPs say they suspect irreguliarities may have occurred in the deal and say the government has not satifactorily explained why it turned down the offer of a cheaper French missile. 
1244 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Beirut press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AN-NAHAR   -The appeals against parliamentary elections in Mount Lebanon held last Sunday begin tomorrow.   -Israel reveals it had abducted four Lebanese citizens.   -Parliament Speaker Berri: Israel prepares for war against Syria and Lebanon.   AS-SAFIR   -Prime Minister Hariri: Hizbollah rejects the logic of state.   -Kuwaiti Crown Prince before leaving Beirut: We support the Lebanese and Syrian rejection of the "Lebanon First" proposal.   AL-ANWAR   -One Israeli soldier was killed and another seriously wounded when a group of Israeli soldiers fired on another group by mistake in south Lebanon.   -Troops buildup in the south Lebanon occupation zone.   AD-DIYAR   -Fransabank: Lebanon's economic activity stagnated due to a 17-day Israeli blitz in April that caused $300 million in damage.   NIDA'A AL-WATAN   -Hizbollah reviews its alliances after the defeat of the group's candidate in Baabda. 
1245 !GCAT !GDIP  Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan arrived back in Turkey overnight after a 10-day tour which took him mainly to Moslem countries, the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Wednesay.   Erbakan was met shortly after midnight at Ankara airport by government ministers and other leading officials on his return from Indonesia.   The trip, his first foreign tour since becoming the country's first Islamist prime minister late in June, also included visits to Iran, Pakistan, Singapore and Malaysia. 
1246 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in Israeli newspapers on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   HAARETZ   - "We are not threatening Syria," Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says.   - Arrow 2 makes first successful intercept of missile.   - Givati brigade soldier killed by comrades' fire in Lebanon.   - U.N. coordinator Larsen warns of financial collapse of Palestinian Authority within weeks.   YEDIOTH AHRONOTH   - Israeli soldier killed in Lebanon by comrades' fire.   - Israel calms Syria: We want peace -- not war.   MAARIV   - Tragedy in Lebanon: Israeli soldier shot to death by comrades.   - Arrow 2 -- successful test.   - Israel has no intention of attacking Syria.   - Netanyahu's office trying to arrange a meeting with Moroccan king.   GLOBES   - Africa-Israel board expected to fire managing director.   - Revised estimate: Q2 GDP up 0.6 percent.   - State-owned companies' profits, excluding retirement payments, increased to 594 million shekels in 1995.   - First International Bank of Israel profits drop 8.5 percent in 1995.   JERUSALEM POST   - Soldier killed in friendly fire mishap in Lebanon.   - Arrow intercepts target.   - Netanyahu: Syrian missile test poses no new threat.   - U.N. coordinator: Palestinian Authority near financial collapse. 
1247 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the United Arab Emirates press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-ITTIHAD   - UAE President Skeikh Zaid, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat discuss Middle East peace efforts in a Geneva meeting; Zaid reaffirms UAE support for the Palestinian people.   - Huge turn out for subscription in Abu Dhabi's newly established Al-Khazna Insurance Company, five-fold over-subscription expected.   AL-KHALEEJ   - Dubai hotels post revenues of 452.8 million dirhams in first quarter of 1996.   - UAE Central Bank's foreign reserves steady at 27.5 billion dirhams in July.   GULF NEWS   - UAE gets tough with piracy; Computer salesman caught selling pirated floppy disk may face court action.   KHALEEJ TIMES   - Dubai Chamber of Commerce planning to hold exhibition for Palestinian products in March.   - Customs officials to tour GCC countries in November to study freeing movement of goods.   - Abu Dhabi's ADMA-OPCO undertakes major maintenance in its gas gathering platform. 
1248 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  King Hassan of Morocco on Tuesday called on the country to vote "yes" in a referendum on constitutional reform to split the existing 333-seat parliament into two chambers.   The referendum would be held on September 13, he said.   In a 45-minute live televised speech, the Moroccan monarch said the reforms aimed for decentralisation, regionalisation and local democracy as well as the split-up of the assembly.   "I call on you dear people to vote "yes' in favour of this new step in Morocco's democratic experience," the king said.   The speech came on a national holiday to commemorate his father King Mohamed V's temporary removal from the throne by French colonial authorities in 1953.   Hassan, 67, said the constitutional amendment would split the Majlis Anuwab (Chamber of Representatives) into two chambers to strengthen regional representation in a new, lower house.   The new chamber would be named the Majlis al-Mustacharin (Consultative Chamber) but would have "a decision-making power", he said.   "It will have the power to pass a vote of no confidence against the government."   The king said local councils, chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture would be represented in the lower house.   It would be elected through indirect suffrage, while the Chamber of Representatives will be elected by direct vote.   He said the lower house would "play a key role in responding to youth demands for jobs".   An estimated 300,000 young Moroccans enter the job market each year but jobs are scarce and wages are low.   Unemployment is officially said to be 16 percent but opposition trade unions estimate it at 23 percent of Morocco's 10-million workforce.   The king gave no details of the number of deputies or structure of the future bicameral parliament.   He said he expected the existing parliament to be dissolved a few months after the referendum and general elections to take place before April 1997.   The referendum and elections would be held in the disputed Western Sahara, under Moroccan administration since 1976.   The desert territory, whose independence is sought by the Polisario Front, has a dozen deputies in the present parliament, which was elected in 1993. 
1249 !GCAT  Headlines from major national newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   EL PAIS   - Prosecutor asks for 10 year jail sentence for coolonel Juan Alberto Perote   EL MUNDO   - Former prime minister Felipe Gonzalez forms permanent electoral department   DIARIO 16   - United Left launches offensive against Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar over secret service papers   ABC   - Spain moves closer to Maastricht - sharp fall in deficit   LA VANGUARDIA   - Exodus from Grozny and mystery over Boris Yeltsin's health   CINCO DIAS   - The state got rich in July   EXPANSION   - Laboratories protect themselves from cut in health spending   GACETA DE LOS NEGOCIOS   - Norwegian firm Anfi invests nine billion pesetas in two tourist centres in Canary Islands 
1250 !GCAT !GCRIM  Belgian media on Wednesday accused judicial authorities of incompetence in handling the country's child sex scandal as the search widened for two young girls abducted by a convicted child rapist.   The whereabouts of An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks were still a mystery after they were kidnapped in the port of Ostend last August by Marc Dutroux, a child sex abuser who served time in prison between 1989 and 1992.   Belgian newspapers lambasted the lack of cooperation between public prosecutor's offices and investigating judges, adding that investigators had ignored warnings about Dutroux's practices.   Several papers cited reports by an unnamed informer who said he told the public prosecutor's office in the southeastern town of Liege repeatedly between mid-1993 and August 1995 that Dutroux kidnapped children for money -- 100,000 to 150,000 francs ($30,000 to $45,000) -- and sexual abuse.   Two other girls -- eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo -- were snatched in June 1995 and handed to him.   They died of starvation early this year while Dutroux was in prison on charges of theft and violence.   The papers said the informer also told the authorities Dutroux was building underground cells in his houses - reportedly some 10 - to hold child kidnap victims prior to their transfer abroad.   A police report of the informer's allegations was sent to police in Lejeune and Russo's home town of Grace-Hollogne, but they did not appear to have taken it into account during searches in the case or others involving Dutroux, the newspaper reports said.   Investigators searched two locations while probing a case of theft but found nothing suspicious.   When asked about the underground construction in the houses, Dutroux reportedly said he was redesigning the cellars.   Two other girls -- a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old -- were rescued last Friday from a makeshift concrete dungeon in a house owned by Dutroux in Charleroi.   Judicial authorities in Neufchateau -- responsible for orchestrating the rescue -- won praise for their swift and coordinated actions.   But authorities from the districts where Lejeune and Russo, and Marchal and Lambrecks lived came under fire.   Dutch-language newspaper De Standaard said the legal system had been slow, lethargic and insensitive.   It had not taken the investigation seriously; it had told Lejeune and Russo's parents to accept the death of their missing children while they were still alive; it had failed to monitor a convicted child rapist after his release, the paper charged.   Dutroux was released 10 years early in 1992 from a 13-year sentence for multiple rape and child abuse despite stern warnings from the prosecutor involved and his own mother.   In a bid to find Marchal and Lambrecks, an extra 30 investigators are being added to the team which widened its searches to a number of other countries, including the Netherlands and Britain.   Neufchateau public prosecutor Michel Bourlet told a news conference on Tuesday that there were elements in the dossier allowing him to believe the girls were still alive.   At least 15 children have disappeared in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have been rescued.   Lejeune and Russo's horrible deaths from hunger have shocked Belgians who have been signing condolence registers, offering floral tributes and filing past the girls' coffins.   Between 50,000 and 100,000 are expected to attend Thursday's memorial service for the two friends in Liege, which will be broadcast live on Belgian television. 
1251 !GCAT  The following are leading domestic stories in Portuguese newspapers.   DIARIO ECONOMICO   - Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said he was confident that parliament would pass the 1997 budget due to be presented by his minority government in the autumn.   - Hardwood pulp prices will rise up to 9.5 percent (7,720 escudos per tonne) by the end of 1996, analysts say.   - Former journalist Paulo Portas will stand as a candidate for parliamentary leader of the rightwing opposition Popular Party (PP).   DIARIO DE NOTICIAS   - Left wing trade union group CGTP rejects the so-called Mateus Plan, named after Economy Minister Augusto Mateus, to aid companies in financial difficulties.   CGTP says the plan does not respect the rights of workers.   PUBLICO   - Tomorrow's cabinet meeting is not expected to decide on the winner of bidding in the privatisation of Banco de Fomento e Exterior.   - Authorities will try to boost numbers of tourists from lower and middle income groups.   -- Lisbon bureau 3511-3538254 
1252 !GCAT  Here are the highlights of stories in the Danish press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   BERLINGSKE TIDENDE   --- British carrier Debonair is to operate a new scheduled air route between London and Copenhagen starting on October 1 with two daily flights.   --- A 51-year-old Danish citizen suspected of having sex with under-age boys has been imprisoned for two months in Nepal while the local authorities consider what action to take.   --- New statistics show there are advanced computers in 43 percent of all Danish homes.   POLITIKEN   --- The number of Danish publishers has more than trebled within the last six years from 329 firms in 1990 to 1,069 in 1996.   JYLLANDS-POSTEN   --- One out of five Danish retail stores employ children and/or youngsters in illegal jobs after hours according to a new survey by local work authorities based on random visits to shops.   --- Danish construction group Comet has won a contract to build part of the new underground railway system in Copenhagen.   The construction of the new subway will create 2,000 new jobs.   BORSEN   --- Danisco Ingredients, a unit of Danish sugar group Danisco, will be one of the first Danish companies to open up in Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) in September following the end of of the United Nations' trade boycott. 
1253 !GCAT  The following are some of the top headlines in leading Italian newspapers.   ---------------   TOP POLITICAL STORIES   *Three magistrates from Mantova, Bergamo and Tolmezzo have asked for authorisation to prosecute Northern League party leader Umberto Bossi on charges ranging from slander to reconstitution of the Fascist party, instigation to criminal behavior and outrage against the head of State.   Bossi attacked Luciano Violante, speaker of the House of Representatives, saying "he is a fascist".  (all).   *Minister for Public Works Antonio Di Pietro blames Ciriaco De Mita, former Christian Democrat secretary general, for not assuming his responsabilities in Tangentopoli (Bribesville): "Even last time I saw him he asked me a favour".   De Mita said Di Pietro is "a liar" (all).   * "The government is optimistic over Stet privatisation.   Dialogue with communist leader Fausto Bertinotti is open" says undersecretary to the Prime Minister Enrico Micheli (La Stampa, L'Unita').   TOP BUSINESS STORIES   *Inflation heads towards another slowdown, after Istat released lower June PPI, down 0,2 per cent, and wholesale prices, down 0,4 per cent.   Innocenzo Cipolletta, general director of Confindustria, says: "Now, the last problem is the renewal of contracts" (Corriere).   * Trade union CGIL says Public Employment Minister Franco Bassanini should go ahead with his proposal to check whether any public sector employees are holding down two jobs (all).   ----------   Reuter has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.   --- Milan bureau +392 66129450 
1254 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  French doctors said on Wednesday that the first African taken to hospital after fasting along with nine other immigrants for 47 days to fight an expulsion order was in no danger.   Moussa Keita, a Malian man among 10 hunger strikers who are backed by 300 protesters occupying a Paris church, was driven away in an ambulance on Tuesday night, severely drained by his fast and complaining of pains in his stomach.   "There is no diagnosis yet because tests have to be carried out.   But the doctor at the (Lariboisiere) hospital told us that he was not in danger," Michel Brugiere, of the medical charity Medecins du Monde, told Europe 1 radio.   Doctors however expressed concern that two of the other nine fasters at the Saint-Bernard church were in serious condition as the hunger strike entered its 48th day.   The hunger strikers have been drinking sugared tea and eating vitamins.   Several human rights associations and trade unions have called a march through Paris to the church for Wednesday afternoon to show support for the protest.   Prime Minister Alain Juppe, cutting short a holiday, returned to the capital on Tuesday as the stand-off took an increasingly political turn, with senior politicians urging an apparently inflexible government to compromise.   He met Gilles de Robien of the centre-right UDF, junior coalition partner, who broke with the official line by meeting representatives of the protesters and suggesting negotiations with the government and deputies of all parties.   The protesters, who include 110 children, are surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers committed to preventing police seizing them. 
1255 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Wednesday morning's German newspapers:   FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG   - Christian Democrats (CDU) calls for assessment tests for students and teachers in colleges and university.   - The businessman, wanted as third suspect for importing to Libya high-tech equipment capable of manufacturing poison gas, was an informant of Germany's BND intelligence agency.   - Difficulties in repatriatating Vietnamese citizens according to bilateral agreement between Vietnam and Germany.   - Opposition Social Democrats' parliamentary group leader Rudolf Scharping 40 percent to be top tax category.   - OeTV public sector workers' union prepares for battle over sick pay.   - Tame pay talks with railway workers and retail sector workers.   HANDELSBLATT   - Growth of money supply gives no clear signal for a rate cut.   - HBV banking and retail union breaks off talks over pay.   - Premier of Lower Saxony Gerhard Schroeder urges more jobs in the service industry.   - IG Metall metalworkers' union chides Bonn.   - German prosecutor's office has Bremen newspaper offices searched.   - Charges soon expected over export of poison gas high-tech equipment.   - Deutsche Bank said it thought Wedag could incur losses back in 1995.   - German DGB trade union federation expects a new gap of billions following cuts in ABM training places.   SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG   - BND German intelligence admits contacts with prime suspect in poison gas affair.   But BND denies knowledge of delivery plans.   German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel fears the scandal could damage Germany's image.   - Witness Abdolhassan Banisadr, ex-Iranian minister, testifies in Berlin court under top security.   - Bavarian agricultural minister Reinhold Bocklet urges an open debate about German agricultural policy.   - Growth of money supply in July slows down.   DIE WELT   - The coalition's row over tax intensifies.   - Charges are soon expected in poison gas affair.   Did the BND German intelligence service know about the smuggling scam?   - Applause for Bavaria's tax proposal to tax investment income on life insurance policies.   - At Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD) it looks like the auditors may have covered up losses as well.   - DGB German trade union federation says that cutting 100,000 ABM job creation schemes would mean a loss of 2.4 billion marks.   -- Bonn Newsroom +49 228 2609760 
1256 !C15 !C151 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  CS Holding said 80 percent of the increase in staff expenses in the first half of 1996 was due to bonus-related payments linked to good earnings performance.   CS Holding's staff costs rose 498 million Swiss francs to 2.9 billion francs in the first half with around 400 million of the rise accounted for by higher performance-related compensation accruals, it said in a six-month statement.   CS Holding's operating expenses rose 17 percent to 3.93 billion francs in the first half, while gross profit before taxes rose 24 percent to 2.5 billion.   Trading income also rose 24 percent to 1.9 billion.   At CS Holding's investment banking unit CS First Boston trading results were very strong for both fixed-income and equity paper and net income was the highest in the company's history.   While CSFB's first half revenue rose 37 percent, it said it continued to focus on cost controls.   Expenses in the first half of 1996 rose 33 percent, but excluding incentive compensation accruals, operating expenses in the first half were two percent lower than in the first half of last year, CSFB said.   -- Zurich Editorial +41 1 631 7340 
1257 !GCAT !GVIO  Three blasts damaged public buildings and a villa in Corsica early on Wednesday but caused no injuries, taking to seven the number of bombings of state targets in just over a week, police said.   No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Corsican separatists seeking greater autonomy from mainland France have regularly targeted government buildings in a guerrilla campaign that has been going on for two decades.   The first bomb was thrown at 4.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) at a schoolteacher's house in Ville de Pietrabugno near Bastia in the north of the French Mediterranean island.   The blast shattered the windows of the villa and other neighbouring homes.   A second blast an hour later damaged offices of the SNCM company in Porto-Vecchio in the south of the island which runs ferry services between Corsica and the mainland.   Four minutes later another bomb caused minor damage at offices of the equipment ministry in the same town.   A senior Corsican politician, fresh from escaping a bomb attack, said on Tuesday the island was headed for a new flare-up of separatist violence which could spread to the mainland.   Former French industry minister Jose Rossi, who heads the elected council of southern Corsica, spoke hours after police defused a bomb on his Ajaccio doorstep. 
1258 !GCAT  The folowing are some of the leading stories in Finnish papers this morning.   HELSINGIN SANOMAT   - Waiting lines to state-subsidised student apartments have doubled in two years.   Demand oupaces available flats also on the open market.   - One of twenty mentally ill out-patients with record of violent begaviour but not sentenced due to illness commits a new violent crime, most aim to kill their victim, Finnish doctor says.   - Too many passenger ferries compete in the English channel, says Silja CEO Jukka Suominen, who also criticises Eurotunnel.   Silja's Sally UK unit, operating in the channel, runs at a loss.   - Opposition Centre Party leader Esko Aho expects regional differences to grow.   Party opposes government plan to reduce number of provinces.   - Ministries fight over how to use about 2.5 billion markka income from state's sale of Valmet shares, no decision yet.   - Greenpeace activists, chaining themselves to harvesters and trees, halted logging by Enso in Russian Carelia.   Enso said logging did not take place in environmentally protected area.   KAUPPALEHTI   - Finnish cooperative banking group management and regional medium-sized banks in dispute as many smaller banks unwilling to join new association and be forced to help pay losses of co-op banks in capital area.   - Decision on who wins concession to operate fourth national TV-channel expected in the near future.   - We do not want to mislead investors, Neste vice-president, soon-to-be CEO Jukka Viinanen said in response to share analysts expressing surprise that Neste so openly told of crude oil trading losses.   DEMARI   - King of Sweden Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria to visit Finland next week.   AAMULEHTI   - Last year's syphilis epidemic showed that young docotors did not recognise the symptoms of syphilis, which already had almost disappeared from Finland.   -- Paivi Mattila, Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 292 
1259 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Wednesday morning's Austrian newspapers.   DIE PRESSE   - Johannes Ditz, finance chief of the national postal system, said he doubted the 1999 deadline for privatisation could be met.   He said it was only possible "under optimal conditions".   - Austria has the fourth highest wage costs world-wide.   - Austria's industry is not expected to pick up until 1997, chamber of economy expert Joachim Lamel said.   - OMV is investing seven billion schillings in a new expansion drive this year, almost twice as much as last year.   The company plans to build 100 petrol stations abroad by 1998 and cut the number of stations in Austria.   DER STANDARD   - Tyre-maker Semperit AG will be split into two limited liability companies directly subordinate to the German group Continental.   The two units will handle sales and production seperately.   KURIER   - Finance Minister Viktor Klima said the state would have to consider a tax reform in 1999 or 2000 "at the latest".   He said loopholes would be eliminated and tax rates cut.   - Raiffeisen Zentralbank said it was expanding its eastern European activities, moving into investment banking in Croatia and Russia.   The company expects both sectors to break even within two years. 
1260 !GCAT  Following are highlights of stories in the Irish press on Wednesday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   IRISH INDEPENDENT   - Police in Queensland are searching for four Irish people missing in Australia.   - Ireland's olympic triple gold medallist Michelle Smith has rejected the advances of Hollywood and turned down an initial approach from film moguls worth millions.   - Ireland's Kerry Group on Tuesday announced a better-than-expected jump in half-year profits to just under 20 million Irish pounds, a rise of over 21 per cent.    - Unilever Ireland is to send a circular to minority shareholders in Lyons Irish Holdings later on Wednesday, following the notification to the Stock Exchange this morning of how many of those shareholders accepted the company's 323p per share offer for their shock.   IRISH TIMES   - It is easier to get into a college in Ireland in 1996, but more difficult than ever to secure a place on high-points courses such as medicine, physiotherapy and computing according to the first round of offers from the Central Applications Office.   - The annual cost to Irish-owned manufacturers of financing over-due credit payments is 79 million Irish pounds, according to a study commissioned by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME).   --Dublin Newsroom +353 1 6603377 
1261 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in the Swedish papers this morning.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAGENS NYHETER   - A parliamentary working hours committee proposes liberalisation of legislation governing holidays.   At present, the fifth statutory holiday week may only be saved for five years after which the employer buys out the holiday time from the employee.   - Two rail workers were killed on Stockholm's underground system on Tuesday when they were hit by a southbound train.   It is as yet unclear why all of the safety systems failed.   - More than half of naval shipyard Kockums' 900 employees in the southern city of Malmo are to lose their jobs in a thorough restructuring of the Celsius-owned unit.   SVENSKA DAGBLADET   - A decision on the fate of Sweden's state pension system will be delayed for at least a year.   The government will not have time to deal with the issue during the autumn, and the social affairs ministry is not prepared to promise a new system before next year.   DAGENS INDUSTRI   - Saab Aircraft must improve 48 points of its quality assurance system if it is to qualify as a sub-contractor to U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing, even though Saab is certified under the ISO 9000 quality standard.   - Nine small power producers have accused market leaders such as Vattenfall of manipulating electricity prices.   The nine say the giants on the market keep prices high by refusing to deliver power to the new Nordic electricity bourse.   - Anders Scharp, chairman of Wallenberg-sphere companies such as SKF, Electrolux, Incentive and Scania, says he expects to recruit more bosses from abroad.   However, foreign managers would not be expected to move to Sweden's disadvantageous tax and meterological climates.   -- Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1017 
1262 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in Dutch newspapers today.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   HET FINANCIEELE DAGBLAD   - Manufacturing output was 4.7 percent higher in June than in the year-earlier period.   (p1)   - Shipping and storage concern Pakhoed forecasts clear profit increase in second half.   (p1)   - Dutch railways NS books higher profit with lower government subsidy.   (p1)   - Lower tax revenue as company profits rise stronger than wages - finance ministry research.   (p1)   - Unlisted securities market is to be converted into a low threshold stock exchange for new companies.   (p1)   - Transport and tank storage company Van Ommeren's H1 net up 15 pct due to tank storage.   (p3)   - Food and detergent group Unilever's bid for Lyons Irish Holdings forces the Irish tea company's board to resign.   (p3)   - Office quipment supplier Ahrend targets fast growth of its German activities.   (p3)   DE VOLKSKRANT   - Labour shortage will force up wages in 1997, according to Central Planning Bureau.   (p1)   - Green investors start shareholders lobby group VBDO.   (p2)   DE TELEGRAAF   - Korea's industrial giant Samsung in ultimate attempt to takeover bankrupt aircraft maker Fokker.   (p1)   - Amsterdam to build houses in port area despite U.S. company Cargill's fierce opposition.   (p9)   - Steel concern Hoogovens is to start a European works council.   (p21)   - Realty investment company Pay-Bas Property Fund first half results up to Dfl 8.2 million from Dfl 3.9 million.   (p21)   TROUW   - Work-to-rule strike threatens at Royal Dutch Airlines/ KLM.   (p7)   ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD   - Internet providers and companies giving staff access to the internet are punishable in case of misuse, says justice minister.   (p1)   - Agriculture minister persists in his refusal to allow waste disposal ovens AVR to destroy British BSE cows.   (p13)   -- Amsterdam Newsdesk +31-20-504-5000 (FAX 31-20-504-5040) 
1263 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Russia's ambassador Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday thanked the United Nations for its efforts to secure the release of seven Russian airmen, who escaped last week after a year's captivity in Afghanistan.   Lavrov, according to a U.N. statement, thanked U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali "for the steps taken in the interest in freeing the Russian airmen detained by the Afghan Taleban movement."   U.N. officials said their staff in Afghanistan held negotiations with the Islamic militia, which captured the airmen a year ago.   But the United Nations did not take credit for the airmen's escape in their own plane last Friday from the southern Afghan town of Kandahar.   The new U.N. special representative in Afghanistan, Norbert Holl of Germany, who took up his post last month, had visited the airmen in captivity, German sources said.   The Taleban, which controls about half of Afghanistan, says it forced down the Russians' plane last August because it was carrying ammunition, claiming this was proof that Moscow backed the Kabul government.   Soviet troops supported a communist government in Afghanistan from 1979 until their withdrawal in 1989.   Islamic and other factions overthrew the communist government three years later but have battled each other since then.   The airmen, who flew on Friday to the United Arab Emirates in their own Ilyushin-76 cargo plane, returned home on Monday.   In Moscow, Russia's deputy prime minister, Vitaly Igatenko, said several countries had helped to free the airmen, including the United States, Pakistan, India and Morocco. 
1264 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  China said on Thursday it was hopeful a global nuclear test ban treaty could be approved by the U.N. General Assembly before the end of 1996, despite India's move this week to block the pact.   "China hopes that the treaty could be open for signature by the end of the year and that there would be universal accession to and compliance with it by all countries," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.   The spokesman declined to comment directly on India's decision on Tuesday to block the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.   New Delhi's stance, which was seen as effectively blocking 2-1/2 years of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament, drew widespread but generally muted criticism.   India has also pledged to oppose any forwarding of the draft treaty to the General Assembly.   China has pledged support for the pact.   "The draft of the CTBT basically reflects the objective way the negotiations were conducted and although there are still some places in the draft which are unsatisfactory, its overall content is balanced in general," the spokesman said.   "China can agree that the conference adopt this draft and submit it to the U.N. General Assembly for consideration," he said.   On July 29 China held what it said would be its last nuclear test before a self-imposed moratorium that took effect the following day.   China was the last declared nuclear power to announce a halt to testing.   "The conclusion of the CTBT will be conducive to nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation," the spokesman said. 
1265 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan, responding to reports that a Japanese right-wing group has planted a monument and a Japanese flag on a disputed South China Sea island, urged Tokyo on Thursday to exercise self-control to avoid conflicts.   The foreign ministry had expressed its concern to the Japanese government and urged Tokyo not to violate Taipei's sovereignty on the Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, which are claimed by Tokyo, Beijing and Taipei, the state-funded Central News Agency said.   A row over the Diaoyus erupted in July when a Japanese right-wing group built a makeshift aluminium lighthouse there.   Hundreds of Taiwanese fishermen cancelled a protest voyage to the Diaoyus earlier in August after Typhoon Herb roared across Taiwan, damaging fishing boats.   Japan sent fishery officials to Taiwan for talks on the simmering dispute and the Japanese group has reportedly backed away from plans to assert Tokyo's claim to the islands.   Taiwanese media reported on Thursday that another Japanese right-wing group planted a war monument and a Japanese flag on the Diaoyus, a group of uninhabited islands about 300 km (190 miles) west of Okinawa and 200 km (125 miles) east of Taiwan.   "The Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) government has expressed time and again that the Diaoyu Islands are part of its territory and it has sovereignty over the islands," the agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.   "We believe we have made our position very clear to the Japanese government," the official was quoted as saying.   The lighthouse, monument and Japanese flag were seen as an attempt to assert symbolic Japanese control over the Diaoyus.   China, which has viewed Taiwan as a renegade province since a civil war split them in 1949, on Wednesday accused Japan of twisting international law to gain ownership of the Diaoyus.   The basis of Japanese claims to sovereignty over the islands "has not been universally accepted in international law and cannot justify Japan's aggression of Chinese territory", the official China Daily said. 
1266 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  The Cambodian government plans to ask the national assembly to scrap a 1994 law banning the Maoist Khmer Rouge guerrilla faction, First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said on Thursday.   "We will ask the national assembly to cancel the law soon," the prince told reporters.   The move was aimed at furthering national reconciliation in the wake of a major Khmer Rouge split, he said.   He did not specify when debate on the proposal would take place but the assembly was expected to hold a special session next month.   The national assembly in July 1994 passed legislation outlawing the Khmer Rouge, which had signed a peace treaty in 1991 but later reneged on the pact and boycotted the U.N.-run elections in 1993 that brought in the coalition government.   The guerrillas have been waging a low-level insurgency against the government since the polls.   Ranariddh said he had signed a declaration, along with Second Prime Minister Hun Sen, saying King Norodom Sihanouk had the sole right to grant an amnesty to the rebel leaders convicted in absentia of atrocities in the 1970s.   More than one million people were executed or died of hunger or disease during the Khmer Rouge's brutal 1975-79 rule.   Sihanouk broke his silence on a recent split in the Khmer Rouge on Thursday and said it was up to the people to decide whether to pardon dissident leader Ieng Sary, according to a palace release.   The king, in an interview with his monthly bulletin, said he personally would continue "to support those who propose to set up an international tribunal to try the Khmer Rouge that have committed crimes against humanity and the Cambodian people."   Ieng Sary, who in 1979 was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the deaths during the Khmer Rouge regime, broke from hardliners loyal to paramount leader Pol Pot earlier this month .   Pol Pot's supporters have since called for Ieng Sary's execution.   Senior guerrilla commanders loyal to Ieng Sary, a former Khmer Rouge foreign minister and deputy premier, have been negotiating peace with the royal coalition government from bases along the northwest border with Thailand.   According to the palace transcript of Sihanouk's bulletin, the king said he would demand the views of the government and the people when asked to rule on granting amnesty to Ieng Sary.   "For me, only the Cambodian people have the right to tell me if such and such criminals responsible for the national genocide ...should be amnestied or not."   He said if co-Premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen wished to pardon Ieng Sary they should tell him in writing, and if over two thirds of the nation's 120 parliamentary ministers favoured an amnesty they should also do the same.   The two premiers had earlier publicly disagreed over how to handle Ieng Sary, with Hun Sen saying his past misdeeds should be put aside and he should be protected and credited for trying to work for national reconciliation.   Ranariddh, who said the national assembly should decide whether to allow Ieng Sary back into the national fold, reiterated on Thursday that he personally could not accept pardons for Ieng Sary and Khmer Rouge supremo Pol Pot.   Sihanouk, Ranariddh and Hun Sen once worked with the Khmer Rouge and the king is said to have developed an intense dislike for Ieng Sary, "whom he found rigid, dogmatic and personally offensive," according to a biography of the king. 
1267 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Indonesian opposition figure Megawati Sukarnoputri refused comment on Thursday about her lawsuit against the government as the two sides discussed an out-of-court settlement.   "I don't have any comment at the moment.   I have given everything to my lawyers," Megawati told Reuters at her home in south Jakarta.   Party sources said Megawati would meet her lawyers and political advisers later in the day to be briefed on the court proceedings, but it was unlikely they would have any announcement on future strategy.   Earlier on Thursday, Chief Judge I Gde Ketut Suarta postponed the hearing until August 29, saying the two sides were working on an out-of-court settlement.   There were no immediate word on what the settlement might entail.   But Megawati's chief lawyer, R.O. Tambunan, said at the court: "The offer for an out-of-court settlement is the best.   We will do it if the defendants share our perceptions."   Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno, filed the suit against the military and the government for backing a rival faction that deposed her in June as head of the Indonesian Democratic Party. 
1268 !GCAT !GCRIM  Thailand has launched a manhunt for an Australian who escaped from a high security prison in Bangkok while awaiting trial on drug possession charges, officials said on Thursday.   Daniel Westlake, 46, from Victoria, made the first sucessful escape from Klongprem prison in the northern outskirts of the capital on Sunday night.   He was believed by prison officials to still be in Thailand.   "We have ordered a massive hunt for him and I am quite confident we will get him soon," Vivit Chatuparisut, deputy director general of the Correction Department, told Reuters.   Westlake, arrested in December 1993 and charged with heroin trafficking, sawed the iron grill off his cell window and climbed down the prison's five-metre (15-foot) wall on a rope made from bed sheets, Vivit said.   The corrections department was probing the escape and had ordered all foreign inmates chained to prevent more breakouts.   There are 266 Westerners, including six Australians, in the prison, most awaiting trial on drugs charges.   There also are about 5,000 Thai inmates in Klongprem, a prison official said. 
1269 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Indonesia will restrict the number of dwellings in any particular areas and regulate the size of houses owned by foreigners under new regulations to be issued, the Jakarta Post newspaper said on Thursday.   The newspaper quoted Housing Minister Akbar Tanjung as saying on Wednesday after meeting President Suharto that foreign-owned houses would be limited to 40 percent in any given area to prevent any negative impact on the local people.   "The limitation is important so that a residential area or an apartment complex will not be dominated by foreigners," he said.   Recent government regulations allowed foreigners residing in Indonesia to own one house or one apartment unit built on state land covered by the right-to-use license and on other land acquired through transactions with the owners under a land title.   The house or apartment ownership right is valid for 25 years and is extendable for another 25 years.   Tanjung said there would also be restrictions on buying small houses.   Foreigners would only be allowed to own houses with a minimum size of 70 square metres built on a plot of land between 200 and 2,000 square metres, he said.   Construction value of the houses should exceed 500,000 rupiah ($213) per square metre or for an apartment should be above 54 square metres, with a minimum construction value between 600,000 and 700,000 rupiah per square metre.   -- Jakarta newsroom +6221 384-6364   ($1 = 2,343 rupiah) 
1270 !GCAT !GVIO  South Korean authorities stepped up their battle against campus activism on Thursday, warning they would break up rallies and track down student leaders.   Separately, a riot policeman died from head injuries he received when police stormed a university on Tuesday to end an occupation by students demanding reunification with communist North Korea.   It was the first death resulting from the Yonsei University violence which injured hundreds of police officers and students and shocked the nation.   A cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung decided to crack down on student demonstrations, a spokesman at the prime minister's office said.   He said the government had decided to take an aggressive attitude towards student protests and would hunt down student leaders.   Students will in future need to obtain permission to demonstrate from owners of sites where protests are planned.   Authorities will take steps to block the rallies without such permission, or if owners ask for protection.   Riot policeman Kim Jong-hee, 20, died on Wednesday night after being hit on the head by a rock.   "He was unconscious when rushed to the hospital on Tuesday.   He underwent surgery but it didn't help.   He died last night," said a police official.   Hundreds of riot police were injured during a pitched battle with students armed with iron bars and Molotov cocktails.   A total of 3,499 students were detained after riot police stormed a teaching block at Yonsei, smashing through burning barricades of desks and chairs and lobbing stun grenades to dislodge mostly female undergraduates.   Justice Minister Ahn Woo-mahn told the cabinet meeting that 369 students had so far been formally arrested.   North Korea, which has used the crackdown as a platform to attack Seoul, said two visiting South Korean students had started an indefinite hunger strike on the border to demand the release of detained students.   The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), monitored in Tokyo, identified the students as Ryu Se Hong and To Jong Hwa, who were in North Korea to attend functions there for the reunification of the two Koreas.   It said they started their hunger strike on Wednesday night on the North Korean side of the border town of Panmunjom.   "They noted they would start a hunger strike for an indefinite period, unable to repress their resentment and rancour at the attitude of the authorities and the reptile press," KCNA said.   South Korean President Kim Young-sam on Wednesday accused the students of waging urban guerrilla warfare in support of Pyongyang and vowed to punish North Korean sympathisers sternly.   The violence was orchestrated by leaders of the Namchongnyon, a federation of student university councils, who prepared an arsenal of crude but lethal weapons, including chemicals and gas cylinders seized from college science laboratories.   It has been condemned by both ruling and opposition parties, and has cost radical students much of the popular support and respect they gained by spearheading the battle for democracy in the late 1980s. 
1271 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  The Cambodian government has decided to ask the national assembly to scrap a 1994 law that banned the Maoist Khmer Rouge guerrilla faction, First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said on Thursday.   "We will ask the national assembly to cancel the law soon," the prince told reporters.   He said the move was aimed at furthering national reconciliation in the wake of a major Khmer Rouge split, he said.    He did not specify when debate on the proposal would take place but the assembly is expected to hold a special session next month.   The national assembly in July 1994 passed the legislation outlawing the Khmer Rouge, which had signed a peace treaty in 1991 but later reneged on the pact and boycotted the U.N.-run elections of 1993 that brought the coalition government to power.   The guerrillas have been waging a low-level insurgency against the government since the polls.   Ranariddh said he and Second Prime Minister Hun Sen had also signed a declaration saying King Norodom Sihanouk had the sole right to grant an amnesty to the rebel leaders convicted in absentia of atrocities in the 1970s.   More than one million people were executed or died of hunger or disease during the group's brutal 1975-1979 rule. 
1272 !C11 !C24 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Sanyo Special Steel Co Ltd said on Thursday it plans to reduce its work force of 2,400 by about 30 percent as part of restructuring measures aimed at cutting operating costs by 12 billion yen by the end of fiscal 1998/99.   As result of the measures, the company expects dividend payments to rise to six yen per share in fiscal 1998/99 from four yen in the year which ended in March.   Under a three-year management plan, the company expects sales in 1998/99 to reach 110 billion yen, compared with 99.7 billion yen in fiscal 1995/96. 
1273 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !GCAT !GTOUR  Hong Kong can expect tourist numbers to swell by at least 10 percent in 1997 as people flock to witness the historic transfer of sovereignty to China, Tourist Association chief Lo Yuk-sui said on Thursday.   He told the government radio station that thousands of visitors would pour in daily in June and July.   Hong Kong will revert to China at midnight on June 30, ending a century and a half of colonial rule.   Lo said Hong Kong would have 12 million visitors in 1997, a rise of 10 percent from this year, and hotel occupancy would reach 90 percent. 
1274 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  North Korea said two South Korean students started an "indefinite" hunger strike on the border between the two nations to demand the release of students detained in Seoul for supporting reunification with North Korea.   The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), monitored in Tokyo, identified the students as Ryu Se Hong and To Jong Hwa, who were in North Korea to attend functions there for the reunification of the two Koreas.   It said they started their hunger strike on Wednesday night on the North Korean side of the border town of Panmunjom.   Earlier this week, riot police stormed Seoul's Yonsei University to end a seven-day occupation by students calling for reunification with North Korea and the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in the South.   About 3,225 students were arrested after riot police stormed a teaching block at Yonsei University, smashing through burning barricades of desks and chairs and lobbing stun grenades to dislodge mostly female undergraduates.   Food was also earlier cut off to the students in a bid to end their occupation.   KCNA said that at a news conference prior to starting their hunger strike, the two students denounced South Korean authorities' actions in breaking up the rally for reunification and press coverage of the incident.   "They (the two students) noted they would start a hunger strike for an indefinite period, unable to repress their resentment and rancour at the attitude of the authorities and the reptile press," KCNA said.   KCNA said the students demanded South Korean authorities "immediately release the students who fought a righteous fight, compensate them for damages and apologise to Yonsei university and all people." 
1275 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Malaysia has banned the use of nitrofuran, an antibiotic, in chicken feed and veterinary applications because it believes the drug could cause cancer, the health ministry said on Thursday.   "It is hoped that livestock breeders and feedmillers will abide by the laws and respect the cabinet decision in the interest of consumer safety," Health Minister Chua Jui Meng was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency.   Chua said offenders could face a two-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of 5,000 ringgit ($2000).   "The ban takes effect immediately," he added. 
1276 !GCAT !GDIP  Hong Kong's main democratic grouping said on Thursday it planned to make a senior-level visit to Taiwan in the near future but no date had been set.   James To, a senior official of the Democratic Party, told Reuters the party did not recognise Taiwan's government as a rival to Beijing but still felt contacts with it could be beneficial.   An offer by China this month to improve relations with Hong Kong's democratic movement had not pushed the party into abandoning a plan for its leader Martin Lee to visit Taiwan, To said.   "A visit was planned several months ago for some time this summer, but we don't know the exact timing and we therefore don't know who will be available from the party to go," To said.   "It's not a question of changing plans because of what China's deputy premier said," To said.   Vice-Premier Qian Qichen said in Beijing this month that people with divergent views on democracy could be brought on board the China-controlled panel that will pick Hong Kong's future political leadership after Britain withdraws next year.   Qian's remark was widely taken as an olive branch to the Democratic Party, which often upsets China with its support for mainland dissidents and its accusations that Beijing plans to snuff out democracy in Hong Kong.   "We don't think a visit to Taiwan or a meeting with Taiwan officials would be wrong or would represent a change in our stand," To said.   "Our party platform clearly recognises only one China.   But a discussion with Taiwan could be extremely useful at this time."   "This should not disturb the recent atmosphere in favour of a build-up of dialogue and cooperation (between China and the Democrats)."   Hong Kong reverts to China after a century and a half of British colonial rule on next July 1.   The handover is the first step in reintegrating formerly Chinese-ruled territories which the communist People's Republic failed to incorporate when it was founded in 1949.   Until now China has kept the Democrats out of preparatory work on the sovereignty transfer.   The Democrats have opposed China's plan to dissolve the territory's elected legislature and put an appointed one in its place.   Taiwan became the last refuge for the Nationalist regime that the communists defeated in China's civil war in 1949.   Beijing regards the island as a renegade province and usually interprets official contacts with Taipei by third parties as actions aimed at creating "two Chinas". 
1277 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Indonesian opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri may reach a settlement with the government over her ouster from the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), a court official said.   Chief Judge I Gde Ketut Suarta, who was hearing a suit filed by Megawati against her ouster, postponed the hearing until August 29 saying the two sides were working on reaching an out-of-court settlement.    There were no immediate details on what a settlement would entail but Megawati's chief lawyer R.O. Tambunan said: "The offer for an out-of-court settlement is the best.   We will do it if the defendants share our perceptions."   Lawyers from both sides quickly left the court complex after the adjournement, while over 100 supporters of Megawati chanted slogans outside.   Riot police and armed troops posted to prevent any outbreak of violence made no move to intervene.   Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno, had filed the lawsuit against the military and the government for backing a rival PDI faction which deposed her as party chief.   Her ouster led to protests unparalleled in the three-decade rule of President Suharto and riots broke out in Jakarta on July 27 after police cleared the PDI headquarters in Jakarta of her supporters. 
1278 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF  The U.S. Navy said on Thursday it had apologised and paid $25,000 compensation to a Japanese woman who was robbed and nearly killed last month in a knife attack in the southwestern prefecture of Nagasaki.   Captain Lee Champagne, commander of U.S. naval forces at the Sasebo naval base, on Wednesday apologised to Nagasaki Governor Isamu Takada for the attack, for which a 20-year-old sailor is awaiting trial for robbery and attempted murder.   Champagne promised the U.S. military would strengthen curfews and off-base restrictions and increase patrols around bases to curb crimes involving U.S. servicemen in Japan.   Opposition to U.S. military bases in Japan escalated last year after three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl on the southern island of Okinawa.   The three serviceman were jailed earlier this year, but the high-profile case has strained U.S.-Japan security ties and embroiled the Tokyo government in a tense legal and political battle with Okinawa over land occupied by U.S. bases.   Okinawan officials have said President Bill Clinton's offer to cut by 20 percent the area on Okinawa U.S. forces occupy does not go far enough to meet demands on the island, which is home to about half the 47,000 U.S. military personnel based in Japan and 70 percent of the U.S. bases in the country.   On July 20, Seaman Terrence Michael Swanson, from Anoka, Minnesota, was arrested by Japanese police and accused of attacking Kaori Tanigawa, 20, in Sasebo, a port city 920 km (570 miles) south of Tokyo.   Swanson, who had served on the guided missile frigate McClusky since November 1994, was charged with robbery and attempted murder.   The women was cut in the throat and had her handbag stolen while walking in a park on July 16, police said. 
1279 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Some 100 demonstrators shouted slogans as a case filed by Indonesia's opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri against the government resumed in a Jakarta district court on Thursday.   Riot police and armed troops stood by but made no move to intervene as demonstrators shouting "Mega Will Win" thronged the entry to the court complex.   Two armoured cars were parked near the court in central Jakarta and troops could be seen on tall buildings alongside.   Megawati, the daughter of late founding president Sukarno, was not seen at the hearing.   Her lawyers had to battle through the crowd to enter the court but proceedings began on schedule at about 10:15 a.m. (0315 GMT), witnesses said.   Megawati is suing Armed Forces Chief General Feisal Tanjung, Interior Minister Yogie Suardi Memet and rival party leaders for her ouster as the chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in June.   The ouster led to protests unparalleled in Indonesia since President Suharto took power in the mid-1960s. Riots erupted in Jakarta on July 27 after police evicted Megawati's supporters from the PDI headquarters in the capital.   The government has come down hard on dissent since then and a forced calm has returned to the city, but political analysts have said Thursday's court hearing could signal the start of The analysts have said the government backed the rival PDI faction because it feared Megawati could take votes from the ruling Golkar party in next year's parliamentary elections, and perhaps challenge Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set ablaze in the riots, the worst violence in the city for over two decades.   The case previously came up on August 1 and was adjourned because the head judge had a toothache.   Police have taken more than 200 people into custody in the aftermath of the riots and charged some of them with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   The military has said it has ordered troops to shoot on sight anyone disturbing law and order. 
1280 !C21 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  A Japanese professor recently back from North Korea was told one-fifth of the communist nation's farming land had been damaged by floods this year, a newspaper reported on Thursday.   The Daily Yomiuri said Professor Yasuhiko Yoshida learned that food shortages have forced North Korea to halve rice rations to a population already suffering from the effects of flooding in 1995.   Yoshida, a professor of international relations at Saitama University near Tokyo, returned from North Korea last week after a six-day tour including meetings with top North Korean officials.   The Yomiuri said Jong Yun Hyon, director of external relations for North Korea's National Flood Disaster Control Committee, told Yoshida that North Korea's rice reserves were running low and the country needed aid.   "Nationwide, 290,000 hectares (725,000 acres) -- one-fifth of North Korea's farmland -- were damaged by flooding this year," the newspaper said.   "It looked like a river was running through one paddy, but it was in fact floodwaters left on the field," Yoshida told the newspaper.   One woman told Yoshida that rice rations had been cut in half and deliveries were about one month behind schedule, the newspaper said.   Yoshida said North Korean officials were still studying a U.S.-South Korea proposal for talks with them and China on working out new peace arrangements on the Korean Peninsula.   "He said one high-ranking North Korean official told him that Pyongyang is considering making a counterproposal that the talks be limited to the two Koreas and the United States," the newspaper said.   "The North Koreans have finally begun to realise that it is extremely difficult to exclude South Korea and negotiate bilaterally with the United States," Yoshida said.   The Daily Yomiuri is the English-language sister paper of the vernacular Yomiuri Shimbun. 
1281 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  PCI Bank said on Thursday the Philippine Supreme Court had issued a temporary restraining order preventing the bank from holding its annual stockholders' meeting on Friday.    A PCI Bank official said the restraining order was issued pending the resolution of a legal dispute over the ownership of sequestered PCI Bank shares.   The PCI Bank shares in question involve one seat on the 11-member board.   The Lopez family, which has interests in electricity generating and broadcasting, is trying to recover the shares that were taken over by members of the Romualdez family.   Imelda Marcos, wife of the late president Ferdinand Marcos, is a member of the Romualdez family.   The government sequestered the disputed shares after the Marcoses were overthrown in a popular revolt in 1986.   Scores of legal disputes involving companies linked to the Marcoses and their associates are still pending before Philippine courts.   Trans-Middle East Corp, which represents the Romualdez family, had asked the Supreme Court for the order halting PCI Bank's annual meeting.   This is the fourth straight year that Romualdez family interests have been able to block the PCI Bank, one of the country's largest, from holding its shareholders' meeting.   PCI Bank is controlled by the Lopez and Gokongwei families.    On the agenda for the annual meeting was a proposal to raise the bank's foreign ownership limit to 40 percent from the current 30, which has already been reached.   Shareholders were also to have voted on raising the bank's authorised capital stock to 4.5 billion pesos from 2.6 billion pesos.   A PCI Bank official said the bank has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the order.   -- Manila newsroom (632) 841-8937 
1282 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Authorities tightened security in Jakarta on Thursday as a court hearing of a lawsuit filed by ousted Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) leader Megawati Sukarnoputri was scheduled to resume.   Around 200 police and troops were stationed outside the court in central Jakarta but there were no signs that demonstrators would gather, witnesses said.   Megawati, the daughter of late founding president Sukarno, is suing Armed Forces Chief General Feisal Tanjung, Interior Minister Yogie Suardi Memet and rival party leaders for her ouster as the PDI chief in June.   The act led to protests unparalleled in Indonesia since President Suharto took power in the mid-1960s and riots erupted in Jakarta on July 27 after police evicted Megawati's supporters from the PDI headquarters in the capital.   The government has come down hard on dissent since then and a forced calm has returned to the city but political analysts have said Thursday's court hearing could signal the start of The analysts have said the government backed the rival PDI faction because it feared Megawati could take votes from the ruling Golkar party in next year's parliamentary elections and perhaps challenge Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set ablaze in the riots, the worst violence in the city for over two decades.   The case, which previously came up on August 1, was adjourned when court officials said the hearing had to be postponed because the head judge had a toothache.   Authorities have taken more than 200 people into custody in the aftermath of the riots and charged some of them with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   The military has said it has ordered troops to shoot on sight anyone disturbing law and order. 
1283 !GCAT !GCRIM  It is a hot, steamy Asian night and a young girl waits seductively in the doorway.   The image is commonly found in leaflets selling sex tours in third world countries.   The other half of that image appears in court.   Last month, 44-year-old Steven Roy Mitchell of Walton-on-Thames, England was pictured in newspapers clasping a Bible as he went to jail for 17 years.   Mitchell was convicted by a Manila court of having sex with two brothers, aged eight and four.   Mitchell's conviction is one of a couple of recent cases that have stunned the Philippines' sex industry, which thrived by telling customers there was no fear of reprisals.   "May this decision be a warning to all foreign tourists who come to the Philippines that this country can no longer be made their 'playground' for illegal activities, like paedophilia and child abuse," the judgement on the Mitchell case said.   The government's recent crackdown against paedophiles has gained international support, with London's Scotland Yard sending two experts to train the Philippine police.   The two-week course held last month taught detectives how to investigate a case in a way that would secure a conviction.   "I investigated no less than 50 cases (of paedophilia) since 1982 of which only 10 went to court, and they are all pending there," said Mamerto Espartero, the Philippines' National Bureau of Investigation's senior agent for Metro Manila.   Espartero, who took part in the Scotland Yard course, said that until recently most paedophilia cases got bogged down because the evidence was insufficient.   "Often child victims do not want to testify because usually the violators are relatives or neighbours," he said.   Poverty, the reason why many children turn to prostitution, also hampers investigation as often parents are paid for their silence, he said.   The new drive against paedophiles is bringing various government departments together.   At the Scotland Yard course, detectives trained along with prosecutors, immigration officials and doctors.   "Working together like this is going to be our biggest advantage in our fight against paedophiles," said Bernadette Madrid, head of the Child Protection Unit at the Philippine General Hospital.   A joint effort would mean doctors providing crucial evidence like X-rays of damage to the genitals.   Prosecutors would advise police on flaws in the evidence-building and immigration officials would watch for offenders trying to run away.   Mitchell's imprisonment was the second case involving a foreigner convicted of a paedophilia crime in the Philippines.   In May, Australian businessman Keith Fitzgerald was jailed for up to 17 years for paying a 12-year-old girl to have sex with him.   "(But) you must not just be looking for the paedophile being a foreigner," was the advice given by detective Sharon Stimpson, one of the trainers at the course.   "It could be people who are living here who are in positions of trust.   The best way of combating it is to believe what the child says even if it's somebody very surprising who the finger is being pointed at," she said.   Stimpson said the Philippines' drive against sexual abuse of children would mean law enforcement would get "proactive," that they would go out and look for paedophiles rather than wait for victims to come and complain.   Philippine police say an active hunt for child abusers is definitely on the cards now that the government has approved the formation of a special cell to fight paedophiles.   If that happens, the results could be surprising.   End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), an organisation fighting paedophilia, says the crime is more widespread than is known.   It has published a book that says the popular image of a child sex abuser as a nasty character is far from the mark.   "Most long-term, persistently offending paedophiles are men who have been regarded as model citizens, somewhat conservative in their dress, their religion and their politics," it said. 
1284 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Planned strikes on London's underground railway were called off on Thursday after a union representing train drivers agreed to a pay and hours deal.   Although London commuters will now be spared 24-hour strikes that had been scheduled for Friday and next Tuesday, the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) was still planning to stage a 24-hour walkout on Friday against seven train companies up and down Britain.   The stoppage was expected to cripple train services at the start of a busy three-day holiday weekend.   The main union representing London's underground drivers, Aslef, had already accepted the pay and hours package.   Separately on Thursday, Britain's postal delivery workers staged the sixth in a series of one-day strikes in protest at new working arrangements drawn up by the Royal Mail.   However, hopes of a settlement rose after the Communication Workers Union (CWU) sent a letter to managers asking for more talks.   The Royal Mail has declined previous offers of talks after the CWU executive threw out a deal accepted by its own negotiators, but a spokeswoman said it was considering the latest request.   Industrial unrest has been on the rise in Britain in recent months after several years of relative calm.   The number of working days lost to strikes in June was 228,000, the highest figure in six years but still a far cry from the 2.4 million days lost in the summer of 1989 in a series of rail and docks strikes.   During the 1984 miners' strike, three million working days were lost in one month.   Alan Johnson, general secretary of the CWU, blamed the new rash of strikes on growing job insecurity in both the public and private sectors.   "People feel insecure.   Many of them are on short-term contracts and performance-based pay -- all ideas that were introduced during the 1980s and they have led to a situation where people do not feel tranquil in their employment.   And that leads to all kinds of tensions," he told Channel Four news. 
1285 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Oklahoma on Thursday became the 14th state to sue the tobacco industry, seeking to recover more than $1 billion in state Medicaid funds spent to treat smoking-related illnesses.   Attorney General Drew Edmondson, a Democrat who has accepted campaign contributions from the industry, said the suit alleged tobacco makers misled consumers about the health risks of smoking and manipulated nicotine levels to keep smokers hooked on cigarettes.   "Tobacco manufacturers have deliberately misled the public for years about the devastating impact their product has on the health of our people," he said.   "In the name of profits they have secretly manipulated nicotine levels."   Edmondson said conservative figures indicate Oklahoma spent about $70 million a year in Medicaid contributions since 1980 treating patients with smoking-related illnesses.   "In terms of Medicaid losses, it's worth $1 billion in Medicaid losses alone," he said of the lawsuit.   Edmondson accepted about $32,000 in campaign contributions from tobacco interests in his most recent run for office, and said he expected to come under fire for his decision to sue the politically powerful tobacco lobby.   "I expect to be attacked personally.   I expect to be called anti-business," he said.   "I know they pumped a lot of money into my campaign, so I know their power."   The suit was filed in a state court in Cleveland County against the nation's largest tobacco manufacturers, trade groups, public relations and law firms.   The suit named tobacco manufacturers Philip Morris Cos.   Inc.; RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; B.A.T Industries Plc's Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and The American Tobacco Co.; Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco Co.   Inc.; Brooke Group Ltd.'s Liggett Group Inc.; and, American Brands Inc..   The suit also named trade groups The Council for Tobacco Research USA and The Tobacco Institute, along with publicists Hill & Knowlton and law firms Shook, Hardy and Bacon of Kansas City, Mo., Jacob, Medinger and Finnegan of New York and Chadbourne and Parke of New York.   The Oklahoma suit joins similar litigation filed against the industry this week in Kansas, Arizona and Michigan.   New Jersey, Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas are also said to be preparing suits against the industry. 
1286 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Greek Socialist Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Thursday called snap general elections for September 22, saying he sought a mandate to bolster the country's defences against rival Turkey and revive the economy.   "I will visit tomorrow the president of the republic to request the parliament's dissolution and ask for elections to be held on Sunday, September 22," Simitis told reporters after chairing a special cabinet meeting.   Elections were originally scheduled for October next year but Simitis said he needed a public mandate to push Greece closer to its European Union partners and to strengthen national defence to deal with any Turkish threats on Greek territory.   "Our country must take all necessary measures and decisions so it does not become marginalised in the European Union's political and economic integration," Simitis said.   "The strengthening of Greece is a necessary prerequisite for effective diplomacy and defence against Turkish designs," he added.   Simitis said snap elections were vital to allow the new government to deal with the problems facing Greece without the distraction of an extended campaign period ahead of a 1997 poll.   "We don't need small steps but leaps ahead," he said.   "I consider that only a government with a public mandate can deal effectively with challenges of the 21st century."   Simitis, 60, took over as premier from the dying socialist PASOK party founder Andreas Papandreou in January and then won the PASOK presidency in June after Papandreou's death.   The conservative opposition New Democracy party accused Simitis on Thursday of lying to the Greek people because he had stated during the congress that he would not call an early poll.   Analysts said Simitis had felt that, if elections were held as scheduled next year, he would pay the political cost of unpopular measures such as spending cuts in public services and below-inflation pay rises.   His finance minister, Alexandros Papadopoulos, is in the final stages of putting together next year's budget, which includes cuts of $1.2 billion in state spending and the restructuring of public companies to boost growth.   Papadopoulos has warned Greeks the country is still a long way from meeting the criteria needed to join European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999 and that in the next two years they must make sacrifices to slash inflation and a towering public debt.   Inflation was running at a rate of 8.6 percent year-on-year in June -- the highest by far in the European Union -- and the public debt was still well over 100 per cent of Greek GDP.   The EMU target is to slash the debt to 60 percent of GDP and inflation to about two points above the average inflation of the three best performing EU members.   "Papadopoulos and Economy Minister Yannos Papandoniou were the ones who pushed the hardest for early elections," a government official told Reuters.   Simitis may also feel forced to resort to foreign borrowing or to imposing new taxes to fund a $10 billion weapons purchase in the next five years so that Greece can deter any Turkish territorial designs.   Opinion polls due to appear in Athens newspapers next week are expected to show PASOK with a slight lead over New Democracy. 
1287 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent   Former talk show host Morton Downey, Jr. who has contracted lung cancer, is planning to sue the tobacco industry and the Kansas City, Mo., law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, his lawyer said Thursday.   Steven Kramer, Downey's New York City lawyer, told Reuters that the suit will be filed next month in New Jersey where Downey had lived and his show was produced.   Downey now lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif.   "He wants to speak out to stop young people from smoking," Kramer said.   "He's very angry at the tobacco companies for not telling the truth about nicotine."   The television personality's planned suit is the latest in a host of legal attacks on the tobacco industry.   On Thursday alone, a key smoker's case is expected to go to an Indianapolis jury and Oklahoma became the 14th state to sue the industry to recoup health care costs.   On Friday, the White House plans to announce its endorsement of Food and Drug Administration regulations aimed at keeping cigarettes away from children.   Downey underwent surgery in July at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, where doctors removed an inch-and-a-half diameter tumour from the upper lobe of Downey's right lung.   Downey, 63, who used to be a strong advocate of smokers' rights, announced last month that his lung cancer was the result of 50 years of smoking.   He recently made an anti-smoking public service announcement on behalf of the American Lung Association.   Downey was dubbed "The Mouth" for his sometimes confrontational style, in which he often jabbed a cigarette in the faces of audience and guests on his popular syndicated TV show in the late 1980s.   A former board member of the National Smokers Alliance, Downey resigned in January.   "I realised that the major tobacco companies were lying when they said they weren't adding dangerous levels of nicotine to cigarette tobacco.   They're nothing but tobacco terrorists," he had said.   Kramer said the Downey suit will be filed in Newark, N.J. federal court and will be brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act.   Last week Kramer filed two other RICO actions against the tobacco industry in New York and New Jersey and will be filing a third Friday in Newark, N.J., federal court.   He said he believes that the cases were the first to name Shook Hardy as a defendant.   One suit was brought Aug. 12 in Newark federal court by Judy Mantel, a 61-year-old New Jersey resident who had smoked for 45 years and has been diagnosed with lung cancer.   The other suit was filed Aug. 13 in the New York Supreme Court in Queens County by four plaintiffs one of whom wrote advertising copy about Kent cigarettes.   The complaints alleged that the tobacco industry has lied about its knowledge of the addictive nature of nicotine.   The suits also alleged that the defendants have controlled the amount of nicotine "with the effect of creating and sustaining the addiction of plaintiffs."   To support the racketeering claims, the plaintiffs cite internal industry documents and testimony by tobacco companies' chief executives in 1994 congressional hearings at which they denied that nicotine is addictive.   The lawsuits also alleged that the Shook Hardy firm designated certain documents as confidential by wrongfully claiming that they were protected by attorney client privilege. 
1288 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin put on a show of taking command in the Kremlin on Thursday, appearing on television looking alert and apparently keen to counter the policy drift of recent days that left Russia looking rudderless.   Back at work after a two-day break that fuelled rumours he was ill, the 65-year-old leader chided his envoy to Chechnya, Alexander Lebed, reviving the spectre of Kremlin in-fighting.   But only hours after Yeltsin complained of Lebed's slow progress, the national security adviser announced a far-reaching peace deal with the separatist rebels in Chechnya a day after he had thwarted Russian army plans to bomb the capital Grozny.   Yeltsin looked rather stiff and spoke slowly but clearly.   He seemed in better shape during his five-minute televised conversation with Russian journalists than in his last public appearance, the inauguration of his second term on August 9.   "I am not completely satisfied with Lebed's performance in Chechnya," he said.   "He always promised to solve the Chechnya problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   But unfortunately the results of his work are not yet obvious."   The reproach seemed hasty.   The war began 20 months ago.   Lebed, the Kremlin security adviser, was only charged with ending it 10 days ago after the army was humiliated when separatists seized control of Grozny on August 6.   Shortly after Yeltsin's remarks were broadcast, Lebed said he and separatist chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov had signed what looked like the most ambitious peace plan of the conflict.   In a departure from previous ceasefires -- and many have come and gone in Chechnya -- the two men agreed to set up joint control of key areas, including demilitarising Grozny.   Lebed pledged to start withdrawing Russian troops from some districts immediately and to return in two days to sign a pact on the political status of Chechnya.   It was not clear what that might be.   The Kremlin has always refused to countenance the rebels' demands for secession.   Lebed, a former paratroop general brought in to the administration just two months ago, has won the Chechens' trust with a conciliatory approach to their political aspirations.   But they and he know he has made plenty of enemies in Moscow.   It remains to be seen whether Lebed can make the new peace plan stick in the Kremlin.   Only late on Wednesday, he had to block a threat by Russian generals to bomb Grozny on Thursday morning.   The ultimatum drew protests from world leaders.   Lebed called it a "bad joke".   That episode, along with Lebed's call last week for the interior minister to quit and his charge that officials might by going behind Yeltsin's back to wreck peace efforts, had created an impression of disarry in the Kremlin over Chechen policy.   Yeltsin had earlier called the conflict a "bleeding wound on the body of Russia" in a statement marking the fifth anniversary of the defeat of the hardline communist coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.   His role in thwarting the plot helped propel him to the Kremlin.   Television also showed him chatting to one of a handful of government ministers named on Thursday -- health minister Tatyana Dmitrieva, the only woman in the new cabinet.   Among the others appointed was Siberian communist Aman Tuleyev, who briefly ran against Yeltsin in the June presidential election before stepping down in favour of communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, the eventual runner-up.   Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, confirmed in office this month by a parliament where communists are the biggest bloc, had pledged to broaden his administration.   The government held its first meeting on Thursday.   Ministers approved a tight draft budget for 1997, which new Finance Minister Alexander Livshits said was needed to ensure some slight growth in the economy.   Yeltsin assured Russians better times were on the way after the economic hardships of the past half decade. 
1289 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the state sued the tobacco industry Thursday, seeking to recover costs of treating smoking-related illnesses paid by the state.   Oklahoma, which becomes the 14th state to file suit against the industry, is seeking unspecified damages in a civil suit filed in a Cleveland County court against tobacco companies, trade groups, public relations and law firms, he said.   "Conservative figures indicate Oklahoma is due hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds for treatment of smoking-related illnesses since 1980," a spokesman said.   Three other states, Kansas, Arizona and Michigan, also filed lawsuits this week. 
1290 !GCAT !GDIP  China and Taiwan restated their desire on Thursday to resume talks stalled a year ago over the estranged island's drive to wriggle free of political isolation enforced by its huge communist rival.   But China's fury over a secretive mission by Taiwan's vice-president ito Ukraine chilled hopes for a breakthrough.   "Now is the time for the sides (China and Taiwan) to engage in political talks... to end the state of hostility," China's top negotiator, Tang Shubei, was quoted by state media as saying.   Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang, in a subsequent interview in Beijing, sounded less enthusiastic, repeating Beijing's line that Taipei was holding up talks.   "The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities," Shen told Reuters.   Taiwan issued a positive, though noncommittal, response.   "We have never ruled out talks on political issues with the mainland," said Kao Koong-lian of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council.   "The most urgent thing now is to resume negotiations."   Analysts were quick to note that previous calls for talks had come to naught, though they pointed out that China's earlier expressions had called for a "timetable for talks" while Tang's latest comment said the time for talks had come.   The mutual calls coincided with Beijing's furious censure of the former Soviet republic Ukraine, which offended China by allowing a private visit by Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan.   Taiwan media said Lien won agreement to swap unofficial representative offices with Ukraine during a meeting with President Leonid Kuchma.   Kuchma aides denied that any meeting took place, though Ukraine Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko later took a shot at Beijing, calling its official protest "out of proportion".   Lien, on his return to Taipei, coyly declined to confirm or deny meeting Kuchma but said: "I met the people I wanted to meet and discussed the things I wanted to discuss".   Lien said Kiev understood the importance of representative offices and that "subsequent development" could be expected, adding that he had agreed not to reveal details of his visit.   Beijing has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since a civil war split them in 1949, pushing it into isolation and reserving the right to use force to bring it under China's red flag.   China on Monday won the latest round in its diplomatic tug-of-war with Taiwan, restoring ties with Niger four years after it switched recognition to Taipei.   Only 30 states now recognise Taiwan's exiled Republic of China.   The next day, Beijing launched a separate effort to woo Taiwan back to the fold, publishing rules governing direct shipping across the Taiwan Strait, despite Taiwan's 47-year-old ban on direct investment, transport and communications.   The rules buoyed Taiwan investors, who have poured some $20 billion into China and clamour for cheaper direct links.   It remained to be seen whether either side would allow vessels flying third-country flags to pioneer direct routes.   After decades of cross-straits enmity, an economic thaw in the late 1980s heralded historic quasi-official talks in 1993, which evolved into increasingly productive contacts.   But relations crashed in mid-1995 after Washington allowed Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to make a private U.S. visit.   Beijing assailed Lee's journey as a breach of Washington's "one-China" policy, the cornerstone of U.S.-China ties.   It also punished Taiwan by freezing the talks and mounting a campaign of intimidating war games and missile tests in waters near the island that peaked just before Taiwan's first-ever direct presidential election on March 23 this year. 
1291 !C13 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G152 !GCAT !GHEA  The European Commission said on Thursday it disagreed with German advice to consumers to shun British lamb until scientists determine whether mad cow disease can be transmitted to sheep.   Germany's representative to the European Union's veterinary committee Werner Zwingmann said on Wednesday consumers should buy sheepmeat from countries other than Britain until the scientific advice was clearer.   "We don't support any such recommendation because we don't see any grounds for it," the Commission's chief spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told a news briefing.   He said further scientific study was required and if it was found that action was needed it should be taken by the European Union.   He said a proposal last month by EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler to ban sheep brains, spleens and spinal cords from the human and animal food chains was a highly specific and precautionary move to protect human health.   Fischler proposed EU-wide measures after reports from Britain and France that under laboratory conditions sheep could contract Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) -- mad cow disease.   But Fischler agreed to review his proposal after the EU's standing veterinary committee, mational animal health officials, questioned if such action was justified as there was only a slight risk to human health.   Spanish Farm Minister Loyola de Palacio had earlier accused Fischler at an EU farm ministers' meeting of causing unjustified alarm through "dangerous generalisation."  .   Only France and Britain backed Fischler's proposal.   The EU's scientific veterinary and multidisciplinary committees are due to re-examine the issue early next month and make recommendations to the senior veterinary officials.   Sheep have long been known to contract scrapie, a brain-wasting disease similar to BSE which is believed to have been transferred to cattle through feed containing animal waste.   British farmers denied on Thursday there was any danger to human health from their sheep, but expressed concern that German government advice to consumers to avoid British lamb might influence consumers across Europe.   "What we have to be extremely careful of is how other countries are going to take Germany's lead," Welsh National Farmers' Union (NFU) chairman John Lloyd Jones said on BBC radio.   Bonn has led efforts to protect public health after consumer confidence collapsed in March after a British report suggested humans could contract an illness similar to mad cow disease by eating contaminated beef.   Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports. 
1292 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Greece's ruling socialist (PASOK) party gave Prime Minister Costas Simitis the green light on Thursday to hold snap elections in September and the exact date will be announced later after a cabinet meeting.   "PASOK's executive bureau agreed unanimously with a proposal by the prime minister for an (early) election," PASOK general secretary Costas Skandalidis told reporters.   "Mr Simitis will make statements after the cabinet meeting."   Government officials said that the most probable dates for the snap poll were September 22 or 29 and that Simitis would cite as reasons the economy and tense relations with Turkey.   Elections are not due until October 1997 but Simitis, one of Greece's most popular politicians, wants a new four-year term to push through tough economic decisions aimed at bringing Greece in line with its European Union partners.   An election win would also give him a free hand to deal with neighbour Turkey on wrangles over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea which brought the two countries close to war earlier this year.   Simitis, 60, took over as premier from late socialist party founder Andreas Papandreou in January and was then elected PASOK president at a party congress in June.   The conservative opposition New Democracy party accused Simitis of lying to the Greek people because he had stated during the congress that he would not call an early poll.   "He lied to the Greek people and to his own party," New Democracy deputy Dora Bakoyanni said.   "His failure to deal with the economy and PASOK's internal problems are forcing him to call the election but he will get a good lesson from the electorate."   Analysts said Simitis felt that, if elections were held as scheduled next year, he would pay the political cost of unpopular measures such as spending cuts in public services and below-inflation pay rises.   His finance minister, Alexandros Papadopoulos, is in the final stages of putting together next year's budget, which includes cuts of $1.2 billion in state spending and the restructuring of public companies to boost growth.   Papadopoulos has warned Greeks the country is still a long way from meeting the criteria needed to join European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999 and that in the next two years they must make sacrifices to slash inflation and a towering public debt.   Inflation was running at a rate of 8.6 percent year-on-year in June -- the highest by far in the European Union -- and the public debt was still well over 100 per cent of Greek GDP.   The EMU target is to slash the debt to 60 percent of GDP and inflation to about two points above the average inflation of the three best performing EU members.   "Papadopoulos and Economy Minister Yannos Papandoniou were the ones who pushed the hardest for early elections," a government official told Reuters.   "They must take some tough decisions next year which can't be taken if elections take place as scheduled."   Simitis may also be forced to resort to foreign borrowing or to imposing new taxes to fund a $10 billion weapons purchase in the next five years so that Greece will be able to deter any Turkish moves in the Aegean or on the divided island of Cyprus.   Opinion polls due to appear in Athens newspapers next week are expected to show PASOK with a slight lead over New Democracy. 
1293 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  An Australian court acquitted former corporate high-flier John Elliott on Thursday of defrauding his old business empire of A$66.5 million (US$53 million), making him a rare survivor of the free-wheeling 1980s.   Elliott, once head of one of Australia's biggest companies and rumoured to have been a prime ministerial hopeful, flashed his trademark larrikin grin and hugged his family after the Supreme Court found him not guilty.   "I have today been totally vindicated," Elliott said as he left the courtroom here, in stark contrast to the case of fellow 1980s high-flier Alan Bond, who was jailed for fraud this week.   The court acquitted Elliott and his two co-accused of defrauding the brewing, finance and pastoral group Elders IXL after the prosecution withdrew its case.   An earlier court ruling meant much of the evidence against Elliott and his fellow Elders' executives, Peter Scanlon and Ken Biggins, was inadmissable, the prosecution told the court.   The prosecution said later it would appeal that ruling.   "It is impossible to quantify the damage," Elliott said, adding the allegations of theft and conspiracy to defraud had dogged him for six years, ruining his business ambitions and perhaps, said his wife, his political ambitions as well.   "Six years is a long time to be hamstrung by this sort of thing.   I now look forward to the future with great optimism."   Buoyed by Judge Frank Vincent's finding that official investigators acted unlawfully in preparing its case, Elliott accused the National Crime Authority (NCA) outside the court of conducting a "witch-hunt" against him to blacken his name.   Elliott left Elders in 1992 when the group was close to collapse after running up losses of more than A$3.2 billion.   Elders' mountain of debt has since been slashed by asset sales aimed at focusing the company, now the Foster's Brewing Group Ltd, on its core brewing business.   The NCA probe into Elliott's business affairs surfaced in the 1990 general election, when he was president of the now-ruling Liberal Party and one of Australia's most influential businessmen.   In 1994, the NCA finally charged Elliott and his co-accused, alleging they used sham currency deals to pay a New Zealand businessman a A$66.5 million fee for helping Elders defend The Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd (BHP) against a takeover bid from the late Robert Holmes a Court in 1986.   Elders owned 20 percent of BHP at the time.   "We were charged with theft, although no money was stolen," Elliott told a packed news conference after his acquittal.   He estimated the allegations against him had cost Elders shareholders billions of dollars and said potential deals fell through once bankers discovered he was under investigation.   "The cost is just enormous," Elliott said.   Asked if he would return to the public-company arena, he added: "No".   Victoria state's conservative Liberal premier, Jeff Kennett, supported Elliott's criticism of the NCA and said Elliott was "hard, tough, shrewd, but not dishonest".   (A$1 = US$0.79) 
1294 !GCAT !GPOL !GPRO  Russian President Boris Yeltsin has returned to Moscow after a two-day break in northwestern Russia, his press office said.   "The president returned late last night and is expected to work in the Kremlin today," a spokesman said.   "He will be working with documents and is also expected to meet some of the candidates to the still-vacant posts in the government."   Ekho Moskvy radio said the president's limousine had arrived at the Kremlin at around 9.30 a.m. (0530 GMT).   Yeltsin, 65, has been seen in public just once in seven weeks, at his August 9 inauguration for a second term in the Kremlin.   But he looked tired and spoke in a flat, wooden voice, leading to speculation that he was ill.   Aides denied the speculation and dismissed a string of reports in Russian and Western media that Yeltsin had suffered a recurrence of heart problems which put him in hospital twice last year.   They have said the president is simply tired after a gruelling campaign for reelection.   Yeltsin left for a two-day trip to the Valdai lakelands of northwestern Russia on Tuesday and aides said he would decide during the visit whether to take a longer vacation there.   His absence coincided with a Russian military threat to launch an all-out assault on the separatist-held Chechen capital Grozny, raising questions about who was in charge of Russian policy there. 
1295 !GCAT !GDIP  China has summoned Ukraine's ambassador in Beijing Anatoly Plyushko to lodge a protest over a visit to Kiev by Taiwan's Vice President Lien Chan, an embassy spokesman said on Thursday.   "The Chinese expressed displeasure over this action in Ukraine that this person from Taiwan has got permission to visit the country," the spokesman said.   Chinese State Councillor Li Tieying, a member of the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party, has also postponed a visit to Ukraine, the spokesman said.   Beijing has regarded Taiwan as a rebel province since the end of a civil war in 1949 and has sought to push the island into diplomatic isolation.   The former Soviet republic of Ukraine recognises China and not Taiwan.   Taiwan's state radio reported that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met Lien on Wednesday, but a spokesman for Kuchma and the embassy spokesman denied this.   "No official in Ukraine ever met Lien Chan.   No official even intended to," the embassy spokesman said.   "The actions were done by private firms and institutions.   It was a private voyage," he said.   Lien surfaced in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission.   He made a secret detour to Ukraine after making a state visit to the Dominican Republic.   Taiwan state television showed Lien with his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing at the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree.   Lien and Kuchma signed an agreement on Wedneday to exchange representative offices, Taiwan newspapers said on Thursday. 
1296 !C11 !C12 !C13 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge conferred with his law clerks into the night on Wednesday, preparing a ruling in a lawsuit that could decide the future of the Lloyd's of London insurance market.   U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne was to issue his ruling in a suit challenging the proposed reorganization of Lloyd's, which American investors argued did not disclose adequate financial information to assess the settlement.   "The court will enter its ruling just as soon as possible," a clerk for the judge said on Wednesday, declining further comment.   The judge said after two days of testimony which ended Tuesday that he would issue his order on Thursday afternoon.   Lawyers for the sides also declined to comment.   The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to block the plan.   Their lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex recovery plan that would use their own investment to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   They claim Lloyd's should have to comply with U.S. federal or state securities laws, which enforces strict disclosure rules.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   Lloyd's is asking Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.95 billion) to offset this cost and to end litigation.   "The Names, or investors, believe they were misled by Lloyd's when they were recruited as Names because it was not disclosed to them what they believe Lloyd's already knew to be incredible liabilities," said Ken Schrad of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates insurance companies.   Lawyers for Lloyds and its Chief Executive Ronald Sandler, told the court that, without a settlement, the market's solvency was in doubt.   Industry sources in London, meanwhile, said the judge might be considering a compromise that would grant the U.S. Names some type of relief, but not stop the recovery plan worldwide.   Lloyd's is up against an Aug. 28 deadline for Names to accept or reject the plan.   Lloyd's has for several years faced a raft of litigation in the United States, but the timing of this latest challenge has caused it a serious headache.   Industry sources noted that while Payne might seek to grant some sort of relief to the U.S. Names he said Tuesday it was not his intention to stop the Lloyd's recovery plan worldwide.   It is possible that, apart from dismissing the case as Lloyd's has requested, Payne may be considering a compromise.   He could, for example, issue an order that Lloyd's provide Names with more information and that funds be held in escrow allowing Names more time to accept or reject the recovery plan.   It is unclear how Lloyd's would respond to a ruling like this.   But the insurance market has already said it would appeal any decision which it felt was a setback. 
1297 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge conferred with his law clerks into the night on Wednesday, preparing a ruling in a lawsuit that could decide the future of the Lloyd's of London insurance market.   U.S. District Court Judge Robert Payne was to issue his ruling in a suit challenging the proposed reorganization of Lloyd's, which American investors argued did not disclose adequate financial information to assess the settlement.   "The court will enter its ruling just as soon as possible," a clerk for the judge said on Wednesday, declining further comment.   The judge said after two days of testimony which ended Tuesday that he would issue his order on Thursday afternoon.   Lawyers for the sides also declined to comment.   The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to block the plan.   Their lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex recovery plan that would use their own investment to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   They claim Lloyd's should have to comply with U.S. federal or state securities laws, which enforces strict disclosure rules.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestosis-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   Lloyd's is asking Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.95 billion) to offset this cost and to end litigation.   "The Names, or investors, believe they were misled by Lloyd's when they were recruited as Names because it was not disclosed to them what they believe Lloyd's already knew to be incredible liabilities," said Ken Schrad of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, which regulates insurance companies.   Lawyers for Lloyds and its Chief Executive Ronald Sandler, told the court that, without a settlement, the market's solvency was in doubt.   Industry sources in London, meanwhile, said the judge might be considering a compromise that would grant the U.S. Names some type of relief, but not stop the recovery plan worldwide.   Lloyd's is up against an Aug. 28 deadline for Names to accept or reject the plan.   Lloyd's has for several years faced a raft of litigation in the United States, but the timing of this latest challenge has caused it a serious headache.   Industry sources noted that while Payne might seek to grant some sort of relief to the U.S. Names he said Tuesday it was not his intention to stop the Lloyd's recovery plan worldwide.   It is possible that, apart from dismissing the case as Lloyd's has requested, Payne may be considering a compromise.   He could, for example, issue an order that Lloyd's provide Names with more information and that funds be held in escrow allowing Names more time to accept or reject the recovery plan.   It is unclear how Lloyd's would respond to a ruling like this.   But the insurance market has already said it would appeal any decision which it felt was a setback. 
1298 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  British luxury department store Harrods issued a writ on Thursday to stop people "hijacking" its name on the Internet in a case which was described as a legal first in England.   The store, based in Knightsbridge in London, issued the writ against Michael Lawrie of UK Network Services Ltd and a number of other companies in a bid to stop the use of the name "harrods.  com" as an Internet address.   Harrods' lawyers Herbert Smith said: "...So far as we are aware, this is the first English case," referring to protection of a name on the Internet.   Harrods has already taken action in the United States which led to a suspension of the use of the name.   The current injunction is seeking to force Lawrie and other parties to release the name for exclusive use by Harrods.   A spokesman for the store, which has always acted with vigour to protect its brand name, said: "We are taking this action to protect our name and reputation and our customers who might mistakenly believe that Mr Lawrie and his associates have a legitimate connection with the store, which they have not." 
1299 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !G15 !G152 !GCAT  Britain's corporate and consumer affairs minister John Taylor rejected a beer ruling by the European Commission on Thursday in a letter to pubs operator Whitbread.   Earlier this month, the Commission deemed a rule allowing guest beers in British pubs as a restriction on trade and a contravention of the Treaty of Rome.   "The Commission's concern is that the provision indirectly discriminates in favour of UK brewers, contrary to Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome.   The UK does not accept this," said Taylor's letter to Stewart Miller, managing director of Whitbread pubs.   The British rule, known as the guest beer provision, dates back to 1989 and is meant to allow pub tenants tied to national brewers to buy any cask-conditioned beer of their choice.   In effect, it allows pubs to deal with smaller, independent suppliers of specialist beers alongside the big brewers, with their nationally distributed products, to whom they are tied.   However, as most European brewers outside Britain produce lager rather than cask-conditioned beer, the EC ruled the provision to be discriminatory.   Taylor says that if the Commission refers the case to the European Court of Justice it can be expected to take up to two years before the court takes a decision on whether the guest beer provision contravenes the Treaty of Rome.   Taylor also added that he did not see any circumstances whereby the provision would be extended to include all beers.   Britain's brewers launched an outspoken attack on the EC decision, condemning it as an afront to the tradition of so-called "real ale" drinking and denying drinkers a choice. 
1300 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Thousands of Zimbabwean civil servants on Thursday pressed on with a strike that has badly hit critical social services despite pledges by the government to discuss their wage rise demands of up to 60 percent.   Economic analysts warned that such hikes would be unhealthy for the southern African state's economy and would fuel inflation which the government has vowed to bring down considerably in the current financial year.   Some public servants heeded a late Wednesday night call by their union leaders to end the crippling three-day strike but thousands others, especially in the capital Harare, refused to return to their jobs.   Some 5,000 workers milled in a central city park on Thursday morning and others were scattered throughout the city, saying they were waiting for their leaders to address them.   The civil servants said they suspected their Public Service Association (PSA) union leaders were bullied into calling off the strike which has hurt government services countrywide.   The PSA executives were unavailable for comment, but on Wednesday night they appealed to their members to go back to work after squeezing firm promises from Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro that she would open talks with them on their salary demands.   The workers have rejected salary increases of up to eight percent awarded by the government as "an unacceptable insult" and have further been incensed by unconfirmed reports that newly wed President Robert Mugabe went on a honeymoon with his former presidential secretary Grace Marufu at the start of the strike.   Economist John Robertson said although the civil servants deserved decent wages, their number at around 180,000 made their demands difficult to meet.   "If they are met in whole, the government can forget about its targets on inflation.   The health of the whole economy, including efforts to get interest rates down, will be at stake," he said.   The government -- facing accusations of spending nearly 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) on financing a political patronage system aimed at securing Mugabe's power -- hopes to lower annual inflation to 16 percent by next June when the current financial year ends from 22 percent in July.   Robertson said the government should cut the size of its public service and pay a smaller "and hopefully efficient" body better wages.   Another bank economist also urged the government to find ways of rationalising the civil service, saying that was the only way to point the national economy onto a healthy path. 
1301 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin said he was not "fully happy" with the performance of his security supremo Alexander Lebed, whom he has ordered to restore peace in rebel Chechnya, RIA news agency said on Thursday.   "One should remember that he (Lebed) constantly promised to solve the Chechnya problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   Unfortunately no results can yet be seen as far as Chechnya is concerned," RIA quoted Yeltsin as saying in an interview with the agency.   It did not say when the interview was conducted.    Lebed, who is now holding talks with rebel leaders in Chechnya, has cancelled a threat by Russian commanders to launch an all-out bombing of the regional capital and was said on Thursday to be making good progress in talks with separatist fighters on a permanent ceasefire.   The latest upsurge of fighting in the 20-month conflict that has killed tens of thousands people took place after the rebels seized most of Grozny on August 6.   Yeltsin has ordered Lebed to restore Russian control over Grozny before the end of the month.   Lebed argued later that a major military operation in the city would lead to bloodshed and a burst of resentment at home and abroad.   Yeltsin told RIA that he receives daily all information about the conflict.   "We should not despair," RIA quoted him as saying. 
1302 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Former Australian corporate high-flier John Elliott was acquitted on Thursday of defrauding his old business empire of A$66.5 million (US$53 million), emerging as one of the few survivors of the 1980s debt binge.   Victoria Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent ordered the acquittal after the prosecution withdrew its case, noting an earlier court ruling that much of the evidence was inadmissable.   "In consequence a verdict of not guilty should be entered into the record," Vincent said in handing down his ruling.   Elliott, the former head of the brewing, finance and pastoral group Elders IXL, now known as Foster's Brewing Group, said after leaving the courtroom that he felt relieved and totally vindicated.   "Obviously we are very relieved and happy.   I've had this matter running for six years...I have today been totally vindicated," said a smiling Elliott, surrounded by close friends and suppporters, who hugged him and yelled "Sham".   In stark contrast to Elliott's acquittal, this week an Australian court jailed another 1980s corporate giant, Alan Bond, for three years for fraud involving the French impressionist painting La Promenade.   Allegations of conspiracy to defraud Elders of A$66.5 million, using sham foreign exchange transactions, were brought against Elliott and three other former Elders colleagues on Christmas Eve 1993.   Judge Vincent on Wednesday said that the National Crime Authority (NCA), which launched the case, had acted unlawfully in its investigation of the case.   "The NCA accepts Justice Vincent's ruling, but does not agree that it acted unlawfully in conducting an investigation into these matters," the NCA said in a statement on Thursday.   The prosecution said immediately after the acquittals that it would appeal the decision.   "We welcome the announcement by the office of public prosecutions that it will challenge the judge's ruling in the court of appeal," the NCA said. 
1303 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Thursday he would visit Indonesia and Japan in September to reaffirm his new government's commitment to Asia and discuss trade and other regional issues, officials said.   Howard is to visit Jakarta for talks with President Suharto from September 16-18, then fly to Tokyo to meet Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto during a September 18-21 visit.   Japan is Australia's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in fiscal 1994/95 (July-June) totalling A$29.1 billion (US$23 billion).   Indonesia is Australia's 12th largest trade partner and one of its fastest growing markets, with bilateral trade worth more than A$3.3 billion in 1994/95.   But ties with Indonesia remain strained over Canberra's decision in June to nominate an envoy to Jakarta reportedly critical of Suharto, and recent charges that Indonesian troops killed six Australia-based journalists in East Timor in 1975.   Howard had planned to visit Japan and Indonesia this month, but cancelled when his wife, Janette, needed a major operation.   Howard's first foreign visit since ousting the 13-year-old Labor government in a March election will be in September to the Marshall Islands for the South Pacific Forum.   The Forum groups 16 South Pacific nations, including Australia and New Zealand. 
1304 !GCAT !GDIP  China said on Thursday that Taiwan had spoiled the atmosphere for bilateral talks and urged the island to abandon its bid to break out of diplomatic isolation.   (Corrects to remove reference to visit to Ukraine by Taiwan Vice President).   Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang told Reuters: "The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has (all along) been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities.   "The Taiwan authorities should in the first place put an end to their activities of trying to create 'Two Chinas' or 'One China, One Taiwan,'" Shen said, using Beijing's code words for the island seeking independence.   Commenting on an offer by China's top negotiator with Taipei, Tang Shubei, for political talks, Shen said: "Taiwan should enter into these kinds of talks under the principle of one China."   (Corrects to make clear that foreign ministry spokesman was referring only to general atmosphere of Taiwan-China relations and not specifically to Ukraine visit.)   Thursday's overseas edition of the People's Daily quoted Tang as saying: "Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks...to end the state of hostility."   The foreign ministry's Shen told Reuters in an interview he had read reports of Tang's comments but gave no details of why the negotiator had considered the time right for talks with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.   China, which has long opposed all Taipei efforts to gain greater international recognition, was infuriated by a visit to Ukraine this week by Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan. 
1305 !GCAT !GDIP  China and Taiwan are grappling for the upper hand in their longtime rivalry, olive branch in one fist and cudgel in the other, as Hong Kong's looming return to Chinese rule roils the political balance.   Since Monday, the Chinas' 47-year-old war of nerves has flared on three far-flung fronts -- impoverished Niger in Africa, the former Soviet republic of Ukraine and the political front lines of Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong.   China made the first move, trumpeting on Monday that Niger was restoring diplomatic ties with Beijing four years after switching recognition to Taipei.   That trimmed to just 30 the states recognising Taiwan's exiled Republic of China instead of Beijing's communist People's Republic of China.   Taiwan countered on Tuesday as Vice-President Lien Chan, who had vanished on a secret diplomatic journey, surfaced in Kiev, sparking howls of protest from Beijing.   China strives to isolate Taiwan as a renegade province not qualified for sovereign ties and scorns even friendly countries that give political quarter to the island's leaders.   Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party newspaper, the Central Daily News, said Lien scored two diplomatic coups -- a meeting with President Leonid Kuchma and a deal to exchange unofficial representative offices with Ukraine.   Cash-flush Taiwan has pushed since the Soviet breakup to win friends in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, appealing to their hunger for investment as well as their anti-communist sentiment.   On the home front, China has halted the military bluster it had wielded against Taiwan since mid-1995 and adopted a softer approach, seeking to woo Taiwan back to the fold with visions of direct sea and air links with the island.   On Thursday, China called for a resumption of quasi-official political talks that it froze in June 1995 to punish Taiwan for sending President Lee Teng-hui on a private U.S. visit.   Analysts said Beijing appeared to be stepping up pressure on Taiwan so as to extract the most political leverage out of Hong Kong's July 1, 1997, handover by Britain to China.   Taiwan depends heavily on Hong Kong for access to China's markets, where thousands of Taiwan firms have invested more than US$20 billion despite Taiwan's ban on direct investment.   China hopes Taiwan's business circles will persuade Taipei to accept Beijing's terms for direct shipping links now for fear that China will force a harder bargain once Hong Kong is under its control, analysts said.   Taiwan hopes to protect itself by limiting its reliance on China's huge market, a model actively promoted by President Lee and other senior officials.   "The most important thing for Taiwan to do is to try to diversify our export market through upgrading our technological capability and to adopt proper regulatory guidelines over direct investment toward China," said economic analyst Chung Chin.   Taipei has yet to act on China's direct shipping scheme and gave a noncommittal response on new talks, saying Taiwan had never ruled them out and that negotiations were "the most important thing right now".   Taiwan analysts, noting that earlier calls for talks had come to nothing, suspected Beijing was trying harder to put Taiwan on the defensive and win points with the West than to find a way to sit down with the Taiwanese.   Chiou Chao-lin, an expert on U.S.-China-Taiwan relations at Taiwan's Academia Sinica, said it would be difficult for Taipei to accept China's terms for direct shipping and other contacts.   "China is hoping to halt U.S. arms sales to Taiwan by posing a smiling face to Taiwan," Chiou said.   "These offers (of talks and shipping links) are to show Washington that China has the sincerity to talk to Taiwan.   The problem is Taiwan cannot accept its conditions," she said.   "In the end it will be Taiwan, not China, who does not want to talk." 
1306 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP !GPOL  Indonesia on Thursday criticised a New York Times report which said the United States was reconsidering the proposed sale of F-16 fighters to Jakarta because of human rights issues.   "I have nothing to say on such reports that do not specify their source," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Ghaffar Fadyl told Reuters.   The New York Times quoted unnamed government sources on Wednesday as saying the Clinton administration was debating whether to delay or cancel the sale of nine F-16s in response to a crackdown on political dissent in Indonesia.   "I hope the government will not be influenced by reports that are unclear and sometimes could be classified as disinformation that might affect the relations between the two countries," Fadyl said.   "If it does reflect the government's views, why didn't the governmnent's spokesman say so?"   The nine jet fighters at issue were from a batch of 28 originally sold to Pakistan, but a U.S. congressional amendment blocked their delivery over Islamabad's nuclear policy.   "There's been no decision made on those aircraft.   We are still seeking to carry out President Clinton's commitment to find an alternative buyer for the F-16s," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said on Wednesday.   The proceeds of a sale would be used to reimburse Pakistan.   Without directly confirming the report, Davies said: "We're seriously concerned about the events that have occurred in Indonesia and we will be monitoring the situation there and considering carefully how to proceed in light of events."   Riots erupted in Jakarta on July 27 after police raided the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst in the city in more than 20 years.   The government has since cracked down on dissent and taken more than 200 people into custody, charging some with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   Davies said F-16s did not fall into the category of items that could be used to stifle internal dissent, such as crowd control equipment and small arms, whose sale would be prohibited under U.S. policy.   The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, said during a visit to Jakarta in May that he hoped the sale of the F-16s to Indonesia would be approved soon after some legal issues had been resolved. 
1307 !E11 !E13 !E131 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  South Korea's finance minister said on Thursday that high wages, financing and distribution costs were hurting the economy, a ministry statement said.   He told economic ministers, labour leaders and academics that structural problems were widening the current account deficit and adding to inflationary pressures.   Han said high wage increases were eroding industrial competitiveness.   Wage hikes in manufacturing averaged 10.4 percent between 1987 and 1994, Han said.   This compared with 1.4 percent in Japan and 7.1 percent in Taiwan over the same period.   "The high wage growth is contributing to deteriorating competiveness and threathens inflation," Han said.   Financing costs to sales ratio by South Korean companies averaged 5.6 percent from 1990 to 1995 compared with 1.6 percent in Japan and 1.7 percent in Taiwan.   The debt to equity ratio of South Korean companies averaged 286.8 percent in 1995 against 209.3 percent in Japan and 87.2 percent in Taiwan in 1994.   Han said the government should expand investment in infrastructure and encourage private participation in roads, harbours and railroads. 
1308 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan and China restated their willingness on Thursday to resume talks stalled a year ago over the Nationalist island's drive to wriggle free of political isolation enforced by its huge communist neighbour.   "Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks...to end the state of hostility," China's top negotiator, Tang Shubei, was quoted by mainland state media as saying.   "China wants peaceful reunification.   ... Political disputes should be resolved through political talks," Tang said.   Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang, in a subsequent interview in Beijing, was less enthusiastic, repeating Beijing's line that Taipei was holding up talks.   "The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities," Shen told Reuters.   Taiwan issued a positive, though noncommittal, response.   "We have never ruled out talks on political issues with the mainland," said Kao Koong-lian of Taiwan's policymaking Mainland Affairs Council.   "The most urgent thing right now is to resume negotiations."   Kao indicated the top agenda item should be Taiwan's ties with Hong Kong during the British colony's return to Chinese sovereignty in mid-1997.   Analysts were quick to note that previous calls for talks had come to naught, although they pointed out that China's earlier expressions had called for a "timetable for talks" while Tang's latest comment said the time for talks had come.   The mutual calls coincided with Beijing's furious censure of the former Soviet republic Ukraine, which offended China by allowing a private visit by Taiwan Vice President Lien Chan.   Taiwan media said Lien won agreement to swap unofficial representative offices with Ukraine during an "unofficial" meeting with President Leonid Kuchma.   Kuchma aides in Kiev -- acknowledging China's fury -- denied that any such meeting took place.   Taiwan's government said there would be no comment before Lien returned to Taipei late on Thursday.   Beijing has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since a civil war split them in 1949, pushing it into isolation and reserving the right to use force to bring it under China's red flag.   China on Monday won the latest round in its diplomatic tug-of-war with Taiwan, restoring ties with Niger four years after it switched recognition to Taipei.   Only 30 states now recognise Taiwan's exiled Republic of China.   China on Tuesday launched a separate effort to woo Taiwan back to the fold, publishing rules governing direct shipping links across the Taiwan Strait despite Taiwan's 47-year-old ban on direct investment, transport and communications.   The rules fuelled new hopes among many Taiwan investors, who have poured at least $20 billion into China and clamour for the huge cost savings that direct links would provide.   It remained to be seen whether Taipei or Beijing would allow vessels flying third-country flags to pioneer direct routes.   After decades of cross-straits enmity, an economic thaw began in the late 1980s and heralded historic quasi-official talks in Singapore in 1993, which evolved in turn into increasingly productive contacts.   But relations crashed in mid-1995 after Washington allowed Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to make a private U.S. visit.   Beijing assailed Lee's journey as a breach of Washington's "one China" policy, the cornerstone of U.S.-China ties.   It also punished Taiwan by freezing the talks and mounting a campaign of intimidating war games and missile tests in waters near the island that peaked just before Taiwan's unprecedented popular presidential election on March 23. 
1309 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Taiwan plans to build seven more missile bases on the island with the help of the United States, which recognises Beijing instead of Taipei, Taiwanese television reported on Thursday.   "Under the assistance of the United States, the military plans to increase its anti-air missile bases to 20 from 13," state-funded Chinese Television System said.   "The range of anti-air defence will cover from (northeastern) Ilan to (southern) Pingtong," it said without giving the source of the information.   China, which has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province since the civil war split them in 1949, strongly objects to Taiwan having military links with foreign countries.   However, Washington announced in 1993 that Taiwan planned a private purchase from U.S. defence giant Raytheon Co of a Patriot-based "Modified Air Defence System" for an estimated $175 million.   "The Patriot missiles will be assembled in Taiwan starting in February 1997 and should enter service in the second half of 1998," the television said.   "To prepare for communist China's missile threats from time to time, our national troops have increased anti-air defence ability overall," the television said.   Beijing held several missile tests in waters near Taiwan after President Lee Teng-hui visited the United States in June 1995.   It also warned Taiwan not to drop its pledge for reunification.   In addition to 500 domestically made surface-to-air Sky Bow missles in six batteries, Taiwan planned to buy 75 batteries of French Mistral missiles and 74 batteries of U.S. anti-aircraft Avenger missiles, the broadscast said.   Washington said recently it was processing a request for Taiwan to purchasee the Avenger.   Taiwan developed the Sky Bows in the late 1980s after having trouble buying advanced weapons from the West under pressure from China.   China threatens to recover Taiwan by force if it seeks independence.   Taiwan says it wants reunification, but only after China becomes democratic. 
1310 !E51 !E511 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday welcomed the Philippines' peace deal with Moslem rebels, saying this could spur foreign investment in the south of the country.   Anwar, on a visit to the Philippines, said he had conveyed to President Fidel Ramos Kuala Lumpur's support for the peace accord aimed at ending a 24-year Moslem rebellion in the Mindanao region.   "We consider this to be a major move...in the settlement of hostility in the Philippines," Anwar told reporters.   He said this would benefit Southeast Asia as a whole and he expected countries in the area to help in the reconstruction of the Philippine provinces affected by the conflict.   "I would certainly appeal to the Malaysian investors also to come ... and I think we would certainly see a more aggressive flow of investments and tourism into the region," Anwar added.   Ramos said Anwar told him the Malaysian cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday "lauded the peace efforts of the (Philippine) government and that Malaysia is pooling support (for) our initiatives".   He said Anwar expected more Malaysian investments would go into Mindanao where Malaysian businessmen are already involved in tourism, energy and steel projects.   An interim peace accord between Manila and the Moro National Liberation Front calls for the setting up of a rebel-led administrative council which will supervise development projects in 14 southern provinces.   Officials say they expect a final peace agreement to be signed in Jakarta by the end of this month with a ceremonial signing to be held in Manila in the first week of September.   Indonesia heads an Islamic panel that is mediating the talks. 
1311 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan media on Thursday revealed the prize that Vice-President Lien Chan snared during a mystery Ukraine mission that has incensed China -- an exchange of representative offices.   The Central Daily News, the ruling Nationalist Party's mouthpiece, said on its front page that Lien and Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma reached the agreement in a meeting on Wednesday.   Ukraine, already bearing the brunt of China's scorn over the Lien's visit, has flatly denied that the two leaders met.   The Central Daily News and other papers said the two leaders also agreed to bolster cultural and technology exchanges between Taiwan and Ukraine, which do not have diplomatic ties.   Taiwan and Ukraine were expected to set up economic and cultural representative offices in each other's territory within six months, the independent Liberty Times reported.   None of the reports identified the sources of their information.   Ukraine recognises Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province since a civil war split them in 1949.   Beijing says Taiwan is a Chinese province not entitled to foreign ties and has scorned even allies who it sees as giving political or diplomatic quarter to the island's leaders.   Furious over the welcome Kiev accorded Lien, Beijing angrily scrapped a high-level visit to the former Soviet republic that was to have begun on Wednesday.   On Wednesday China's Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's ambassador to express Beijing's displeasure at Ukraine's decision to allow Lien's visit.   The Taiwan government said Lien would hold a news conference on his return to Taipei on Thursday evening. 
1312 !E12 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Israeli Finance Minister Dan Meridor and Palestinian Minister of Economy and Trade Maher al-Masri will meet on Tuesday in Jerusalem, the Israeli ministry said.   This will be Meridor's first meeting with a Palestinian minister since he took office in June.   Meridor is a key member of the right-wing Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.   The Treasury said the purpose of the meeting was to decide on ways to cooperate as well as to establish a framework for further discussions on various economic issues. 
1313 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Thursday that lack of progress in Middle East peace talks would jeopardise a regional economic conference planned for Cairo in November.   "I've told the Israelis that no progress in the peace process will hit the Middle East economic summit because not many countries will attend," Mubarak told a gathering of academics in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.    Mubarak said the world had given new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more than two months to act on peace and could not wait much longer.   "We are worried that the length of time could affect the peace process.   If there's no clear progress in the peace process and in implementing the agreements and entering negotiations, I believe that many countries will not come," he said.   "For that reason we call on Israel to commit itself quickly and begin to make progress in this period.   Otherwise the economic summit will be irrelevant," he added.   The remarks were the strongest sign yet that Egypt is having second thoughts about organising the economic summit, which would aim to promote economic integration between Israel and its Arab neighbours. 
1314 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Oklahoma Attorney General Gerald Adams has set a news conference for 12:30 EDT Thursday regarding tobacco litigation.   Sources involved with other attorneys general who have sued the tobacco industry to recoup health care costs of treating smokers say Adams plans to announce that he has filed a similar case.   If Oklahoma sues the industry, it will become the 14th state to take such an action.   Three other states, Kansas, Arizona and Michigan, also filed lawsuits this week. 
1315 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A U.S. district judge will delay until possibly Friday a decision on a lawsuit filed by a group of U.S. investors seeking to block a Lloyd's of London recovery plan, the court said on Thursday.   U.S. District Judge Robert Payne had been expected to issue a ruling on the case Thursday afternoon.   "There will be no decision issued today," an assistant to Judge Payne said.   A decision is now expected on Friday afternoon.   The investors, known as Names, are seeking an injunction to block the plan designed to keep Lloyd's solvent.   The judge was to issue his ruling in a suit challenging the proposed reorganization of Lloyd's, which American investors argued did not disclose adequate financial information to assess the settlement.   The judge had said after two days of testimony, which ended on Tuesday that he would issue his order on Thursday afternoon.   The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to block the plan.   Their lawyers had argued that the plaintiffs needed more information before agreeing to the complex recovery plan that would use their own investment to settle nearly $5 billion in insurance losses.   They claim Lloyd's should have to comply with U.S. federal or state securities laws, which enforces strict disclosure rules.   Tens of thousands of investors in Lloyd's worldwide -- known as Names -- were anxiously awaiting the outcome of the Virginia case.   Under the rescue proposal, Lloyd's was to reinsure billions of dollars in liabilities, including pollution and asbestos-related claims in the United States, into a new company called Equitas.   Lloyd's is asking Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.95 billion) to offset this cost and to end litigation.   Lawyers for Lloyds and its Chief Executive Ronald Sandler, have told the court that, without a settlement, the market's solvency was in doubt. 
1316 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The number of Americans filing first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 last week, climbing for the third consecutive week, the Labour Department said on Thursday.   New filings rose to 327,000 in the week ended Aug. 17 from 321,000 in the prior week.   Wall Street economists had forecast initial claims of 331,000.   The four-week moving average, which levels out the more-volatile weekly figures, totalled 314,000, up 1,500 from the previous week.   The average is considered a more accurate measurement of employment trends.   Although the four-week average still hovers near seven-year lows, the marginal increase for the week ended Aug. 17 halted a four-week slide in average claims.   The total for those receiving ongoing benefits rose 55,000 to 2.521 million in the week ended Aug. 10, the latest period for which those figures are available.   That compared with 2.466 million in the prior week.   The department said three states reported increases in initial claims exceeding 1,000 on an unadjusted basis in the week ended Aug. 10, the latest period for which the data are available.   They were California, with 1,918 additional new filings; Alabama, with 1,250; and Arkansas, with 1,129.   Alabama reported more layoffs in the textile industry.   California and Arkansas had no comment.   Labour said two states reported decreases in initial claims exceeding 1,000, unadjusted, in the Aug. 10 week.   They were Missouri, with 3,049 fewer new filings; and Ohio, with 1,145.   Missouri cited fewer layoffs in the transportation industry.   Ohio had no comment. 
1317 !GCAT !GODD  London dog-lovers who let their pets foul the streets are being targeted by a cinema advertisement campaign showing a man defecating on the pavement.   The inner-London borough of Islington said on Thursday it planned to run an advertisement showing a middle-aged man dressed in pyjamas squatting down and fouling the pavement.   "You wouldn't.   Don't let your dog" is the message, as the man's neighbour slips on the mess.   Around 17,500 dogs -- one for every 10 humans -- live in Islington, where local authorities reckon they fork out 32,000 pounds ($49,500) a year to clear up their mess.   "We've tried the soft approach, but there are some people it clearly isn't getting through to," said Islington's director of leisure Ivan Loftman.   The ad is made by Saatchi & Saatchi, the firm behind four winning election campaigns for the Conservative Party and now at the centre of controversy over a poster showing the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Tony Blair, with demonic red eyes. 
1318 !C12 !C15 !C152 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Shares in Czech cigarette maker Tabak a.s., majority-owned by Philip Morris Inc Cos, should not be affected by a spate of events that have hit hard tobacco issues in other markets, analysts said on Thursday.   U.S. President Bill Clinton is expected to announce on Friday a series of restrictions to try to curb the growing use of tobacco by young people ranging from banning cigarette vending machines to limiting cigarette sponsorship of sporting and entertainment events.   The timing of the White House announcement could hardly be worse for the industry, which is still reeling from a surprise $750,000 damage award earlier this month to a Florida man who smoked for 44 years before he was stricken with lung cancer.   Since the decision, a growing list of states seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars for the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses have filed law suits against tobacco companies.   Shares of Philip Morris, which holds 77.4 percent of Tabak, and other firms such as RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp , owner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, have fallen steadily since the case, but analysts said they do not expect the same to happen here.   "It is unlikely that there will be a negative reaction by domestic investors (over the court case) with regard to Tabak," said Leos Jirman of BH Securities in Prague.   Tabak shares traded unchanged on the Prague Stock Exchange on Thursday at 6,700 crowns, where they have hovered for most of the past month.   Analysts said the firm's dominant position on the expanding domestic market should help ensure it maintains its position as one of the Czech Republic's most-profitable companies.   Tabak is estimated to hold a 75 percent market share in the country.   "With its position on the domestic market, export potential technology and extra capacity, we still recommend buying Tabak shares," Alexander Marcek told Reuters on Thursday.   Tabak posted a net profit of 1.805 billion crowns last year, up 93.7 percent from 1994 while the company's gross profit rose 70.7 percent in 1995 to 3.077 billion crowns.   The firm also set a record with its 1995 gross dividend payment of 656 crowns, the largest ever in the Czech Republic.   -- Prague Newsroom, 42-2-2423-0003 
1319 !GCAT !GENV  The number of people in Germany aged 65 and over will go on rising dramatically until well into the next century, the Federal Statistics Office said on Thursday.   An annual official "microcensus" founded that this age group increased by one million to 13.2 million between 1991 and 1995 while the number of under-20s rose by just 138,000.   "Projections to the year 2040 show a dramatic rise in the number of old people," Marianne Jaeger, an official of the statistics office, told a news conference.   The rise has sparked calls for a radical overhaul of the state pension system.   Politicians say it will be unable to provide adequate old-age cover in future.   The microcensus, an annual survey of one percent of households, reflects fundamental changes in German society as the nation struggles to remain competitive in the global market.   It also highlights divergent demographic trends in east and west Germany six years after unification.   "Most experts believe that the global competition which Germany faces as a production location will continue to cause change in society and the economy here," Statistics Office President Johann Hahlen told a news conference.   The Office said that the population of east Germany had shrunk by 0.4 million or 2.7 percent to 15.5 million from between 1991 and 1995 while west Germany's population grew by 2.2 million or 3.4 percent to 66.1 million.   Overall, the population grew to 81.6 million from 79.8 million, due mainly to immigration, the Office said.   The number of foreigners grew 26 percent to 7.1 million in the period amid a wave of immigration of ethnic Germans from eastern Europe and of refugees from the war in Yugoslavia.   That boosted the foreign share of the population to nine percent from seven percent.   The overwhelming majority of foreigners, or 96 percent, were in western Germany.   Turks account for about a third of the foreign population, while European Union nationals account for about a quarter and 16 percent come from the former Yugoslavia. 
1320 !C18 !C181 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission has stopped its competition review of plans by retailer Blokker BV to buy the Dutch subsidiary of U.S. toy retailer Toys R US, a European Union source said on Thursday.   The source said the Commission had concluded it was too early to continue the investigation and to assess the impact of the planned takeover on competition as the parties had not yet finalised the deal.   "They (the companies) were still talking about the agreement," he said, adding that the Commission had sent a letter earlier this month to Dutch authorities telling them of the decision.   Because the operation affects mainly the Netherlands and does not reach the required European Union turnover thresholds, the Commission has no automatic jurisdiction over it.   But the Commission said in late July it had started a review after the Dutch authorities, concerned about the high market shares involved in the deal, had asked it to.   Even if the Commission has decided to stop its investigation, the source said the Dutch authorities could return and make a second request once the deal had been concluded.   The Netherlands has no legislation to deal with mergers and acquisitions but a draft law is in preparation.   -- Brussels newsroom +32 2 287 68 11 
1321 !C17 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission and Germany will seek on Friday to defuse a heated row over public aid for Volkswagen AG which has spurred anti-European Union sentiment in the bloc's largest member state.   German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt, who just returned to work after a 10-week bout of malaria, is due in Brussels to meet European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert.   Van Miert has warned that the move of the ex-communist eastern German state of Saxony to pay 91 million marks ($61.3 million) in unauthorised support to VW could touch off an EU "subsidy war" if left unchallenged.   He threatened in a recent German magazine interview that Brussels could raise the stakes by blocking other aid to Europe's largest carmaker or excluding it from public tenders.   "The Commission prepares all the actions which are necessary in order to get back to legality and that will be the main objective of the meeting tomorrow," Commission spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told reporters on Thursday.   "You know the position we've taken on the WV case, that's absolutely clear," he said.   Van der Pas noted that Bonn accepts Saxony's arguments that the payouts are justified but that it believes the state went too far by defying the order from Brussels.   The dispute erupted last month when Saxony state premier Kurt Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, overrode Commission objections to the size of a proposed aid package for VW and paid out extra funds.   He warned that the state stood to lose thousands of jobs in the towns of Mosel and Chemnitz if it didn't pay.   VW, which this month reported a 45 percent jump in six-month group income, had suspended plans to develop plants in the two towns after the EU executive in June rejected 240.7 million marks of the total promised aid package of 780 million marks.   In deciding to trim the amount of aid, the Commission took the view that VW's production at the plants would increase capacity in an industry already suffering from overcapacity.   Saxony has filed a lawsuit against the Commission to block the ruling reducing the amount of aid while Van Miert has threatened to go to the European Court of Justice if the carmaker spends the extra money.   "I think Saxony has some good arguments, VW has some good arguments and the Commission as well," one car industry insider said.   According to Brussels, Saxony paid out 142 million marks to VW after the Commission's June decision.   Of this amount, it says 91 million was unauthorised.   In total, Volkswagen has received at least 522 million marks from Saxony, which struggles with a jobless rate of more than 15 percent despite rapid economic growth.   One EU source said he did not believe that the Commission, which vets state aid to see whether it may harm competition, was now taking a stricter line on aid in ex-communist east Germany.   "What one can say is that the Commission is now examining all state aid cases in east Germany like any other state aid case in the Community," he said.   ($ = 1.484 German Marks) 
1322 !E12 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT  The conservative cabinet convenes on Friday to resume debate on its first real test -- a 1997 budget which will determine Spain's chances of joining Europe's planned single currency.   The aim, crucial if Spain is to meet the target for monetary union, is to save some 1.2 trillion pesetas ($9.5 billion) by a combination of spending cuts and income-boosting measures without enraging the population in the process.   Ministers had to submit their 1997 spending plans this week and all are likely to face cuts when the full draft budget is presented at the end of September.   "This is the biggest budget adjustment that has been made in recent years," says Economy Minister Rodrigo Rato.   Analysts say the government's repeated warnings of severe belt-tightening ahead are designed to soften the blow.   "This is a way of preparing the ground to minimise the social impact of the measures they take," said Credit Lyonnais economist Valentin Fernandez.   Spending is set to rise only 2.6 percent, in line with the inflation forecast, which means a freeze in real terms.   Rato predicts revenues will grow 6.0 percent.   Further privatisations will bring in some extra cash, but the rest will have to come from new or higher indirect taxes.   Direct taxes cannot rise if Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party (PP) is to maintain its credibility.   Its campaign for the March 3 general election promised income-tax cuts as soon as the deficit was on target.   The government, which was sworn in in May, has taken some of the sting out of the budget by announcing at the end of July steeper taxes on tobacco and alcohol to cover a 721 billion peseta "hole" it says it inherited from the Socialists.   It is playing with various other options such as raising water charges or extending motorway tolls to more trunk roads.   Both are favoured by the PP's Catalan nationalist allies, on whose parliamentary backing the PP depends to muster a majority and pass the budget.   Increasing petrol tax is another option, as is curbing health-service costs by charging for prescriptions (now free for the country's seven million pensioners) and introducing modest charges for doctor's appointments and hospital treatment.   On the spending side, the government could save a considerable amount by cutting subsidies to state-owned companies and freezing civil servants' pay.   A pay freeze alone for the 2.5 million civil servants would save around 200 billion pesetas, economists calculate.   The government also hopes to attract private investment for infrastructure projects as a means of compensating for lower investment by the state.   Friday's cabinet meeting is likely to tackle the income side and look at which taxes can be increased, another economist said, adding that few surprises were likely.   Credit Lyonnais's Fernandez said the government would probably opt to release the bad news gradually and could for instance announce a new road tax on Friday, leaving more sensitive issues like prescription charges for later.   "I'm sure they'll do it bit by bit," he added.   "They must be studying the political impact of every measure to see who it will affect and make sure it's not a majority."   Unions are very wary of any threat to the social security and pension systems and favour rises in direct instead of indirect taxes.   "September will be a month of uncertainty and complicated from the social point of view," Fernandez said.   $ = 126 pesetas   -- Madrid newsroom + 34 1 585 2151 
1323 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Finland would decide soon whether to link the markka to the European Union's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen was quoted as saying on Wednesday.   He also said a further strengthening of the markka was not desirable.   The ERM decision would be made "in the fairly near future", Lipponen said according to Thursday's edition of daily Helsingin Sanomat.   "I can not say anything more specific about the timing.   The government analyses an ERM link together with the Bank of Finland."   Speaking at the Social Democratic Party's executive committee meeting in Kuopio in central Finland, Lipponen did not say whether a decision would be made before or after Finland's October 20 local and European parliament elections.   "The markka has strengthened and I doubt it would be desirable that it would strengthen terribly much more.   It is not realistic considering our economy compared to other countries," he was quoted as saying by the Finnish news agency (STT).   The government has said that a decision for or against joining ERM would have to be made this autumn, last repeated by Finance Minister Sauli Niinisto two weeks ago.   Since early May, the markka has strenghened almost five percent against the mark, over five percent compared the the ECU basket and eight percent against the dollar.   -- Helsinki newsroom +358-0-6805 0245 
1324 !GCAT  AUSTRIA   DIE PRESSE   - Finance Minister Viktor Klima said in an interview his tax reform plans included closing loopholes and lowering tax rates.   He said he wanted the state to save more and cut the budget deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP by the year 2000.   - Business is picking up at Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air thanks to a slew of late bookings.   DER STANDARD   - In contrast to Finance Minister Viktor Klima, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said in an interview he did not foresee a general tax reform in the near future.   - A survey showed 26 percent of Viennese planned to vote for the far right Freedom Party in city council elections on October 13.   The Social Democrats have 41 percent backing.   The conservative People's Party has 16 percent support.   KURIER   - The new owner of VA Bergtechnik mining, Tampella, will expand the Styrian firm's production and create a new research centre focusing on the coal sector.   Tampella confirmed a three-year employment guarantee for VA Bergtechnik's entire workforce.   SALZBURGER NACHRICHTEN   - The state prosecutor's office of Klagenfurt, Carinthia, said it would initiate legal proceedings against Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider for alleged defamation of character in a case involving Interior Minister Caspar Einem.   BULGARIA   24 CHASA   -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the weakening of the Bulgarian lev which reflects unsufficient financial discipline, the IMF mission leader Anne MgGuirk said on arrival in Sofia.   The IMF mission is in Bulgaria to review the progress of its reform programme within a funging agreement approved last month.   -- Bulgaria is expected to become a member of the World Trade Organisation by the end of the year, deputy trade minister Petar Stefanov said.   -- Bulgaria's state-run transport companies posted 2.854 billion levs loss in the first half of 1996, the transport ministry said.   -- Bulgaria's central bank (BNB) could cut 10 points off its record high main interest rate of 108 percent in September if the lev steadies against the dollar on the local forex market and commercial banks meet the targets set in their stabilisation programmes, central bank officials said.   -- Bulgaria's private Slavyani bank is in merger talks with several other private credit institutions in a bid to meet new central bank minimum capital requirements, Slavyani board chairman Borislav Tsonev said.   The BNB last week that banks should raise their capital to 1.4 billion levs or 2.2 billion levs by March 31, 1997 for a domestic and a full licence respectively.   STANDART   -- Bulgaria's air traffic controllers at the airports in Sofia, Varna and Bourgas threatened a strike from August 29 if the transport ministry fails to meet their demand for a $1,200 monthly salary by that date.   -- The main opposition Union of Democratic Forces said it would ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether Socialist foreign minister Georgi Pirinski, whose Bulgarian citizenship has been disputed, can be a cabinet member.   The U.S. born Pirinski is also the candidate of the ruling Socialist Party for the country's presidential elections due on October 27.   PARI   -- Bulgaria is expected to import some 100,000 tonnes of grain worth $25 million from the United States to replenish its state reserves, trade minister Atanas Paparizov said.   -- Some twelve debt-ridden state firms, slated for liquidation, could be restructured, stabilised or privatised, trade union leader Krastyo Petkov said, adding that he would raise the issue in talks with the visiting IMF mission.   TROUD   -- Bulgaria's national carrier Balkan Airlines posted 1.8 billion levs loss for the first half of 1996, transport ministry said.   -- The trade ministry imposed new minimum export prices on pork, chicken meat and cheese in a move to prevent exports at artificially low prices, trade minister Atanas Papariziv said.   CZECH REPUBLIC   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - According to the Czech National Bank, 22 percent, or 219 billion crowns, of the 980 billion crowns in total loans at banks will likely have to be written off.   - The Czech Republic posted a trade surplus to the countries of the CEFTA, comprised of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.   Exports to these countries totalled 6.113 billion crowns, while imports from these countries totalled 3.751 billion crowns.   - According to the German Institute for Economic Research, trade between the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is predicted to increase by 250 percent in the next few years.   - EuroTel GSM telephones can be used in Germany in spite of the fact that EuroTel has no existing contract with any German operators.   Calls placed in Germany on EuroTel GSM phones are free.   - Anheuser Busch Int.  's actions on the German market have been described by the director of Budejovicky Budvar n.p. as a classic case of a parasite.   The American company has been marketing it's Anheuser-Busch B beer on the German market with advertisements featuring the name Budweiser, which is a trademark owned by Budvar in Germany, the third-most imported beer in Germany.   - The National Property Fund, which owns 22 percent of Cukrovar Prosenice, wants to know the reasons why the supra-national Eastern Sugar company, which owns 55 percent, has decided to close the refinery, though the NPF admits that they will not be able to influence the situation.   PRAVO - CEZ is continuing to supply six regional companies with energy in spite of the fact that they owe a total of two billion crowns to the company.   - Anheuser Busch has offered its proposal for the privitisation of Budejovicky Budvar to the Minstry of Agriculture, which is to decide on the method of Budvar's privatisation at the beginning of September.   MLADA FRONTA DNES - The flow of direct investment from foreign countries on the Czech market is expected to reach $420 million or 11.2 billion crowns in the first half of 1996, 2.5 billion crowns behind last year's record high.   SLOVAKIA   HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - Slavomir Hatina, director of oil refiner Slovnaft, said the company was still negotiating on $250 million syndicated loan with Citibank which should cover a major part of investment for its EFPA modernisation programme.   - Slovnaft said it would sign the last contracts for EFPA by the first half of September at the latest.   - One of the world's leading producers of plastic fibres, Rhone-Poulenc of France, plans to aqcuire by the end of this year 100-percent control of major plastic materials producer Chemlon Humenne.   The french firm already holds 56.8 percent of Chemlon.   - Some 42.5 percent out of 5,737 companies posted a profit in 1995, totalling about 72 billion crowns.   Overall losses at unprofitbale firms totalled 29 billion crowns.   - Production of coal is expected to total around 3.8 million tonnes this year, slightly up from 3.6 million tonnes in 1995.   NARODNA OBRODA - Economics Minister Jan Ducky said a bank specialised in supporting exporters could begin operation at the beginning of next year.   Ducky said the bank would be state-owned with contributions from exporting firms.   - Slovak ambassador to Vatican, Alexander Neuwirth, has not yet returned to Vatican, some four months after he was recalled to Bratislava for "consultation with foreign ministry."   - One of the leading construction firms, Hydrostav, wholly- owned by a manager-employee joint-stock company, posted a gross profit of 95 million crowns in first half, an increase of 30 percent over the same period in 1995.   - Brigita Schmognerova, an economics analyst with the opposition Party of Democratic Left (SDL), said VSZ steel's acquisition of a 43.7 percent stake in bank IRB violated the banking law, as the purchase was not approved by the central bank and finance minsitry.   - Schmognerova warned that VSZ's entry into financial institutions, which also include Dopravna Banka, could be a serious danger for these banks due to the company's extensive debts.   - Schmognerova said the Slovak banking sector has entered a similar stage of decline of financial institutions as the Czech banking sector witnessed over the recent past.   PRAVDA - Shell said it would build about 10 petrol stations in Slovakia within next two years.   Shell said about 70 percent of motor fuels it sells in Slovakia are supplied by Slovnaft.   SLOVENIA   DELO   - Slovenian ombudsman of human rights Ivo Bizjak said delays in court procedures in the country were too long, as many cases take more than four years.   - 80 employees of machine producer Litostroj ended their strike on Wednesday after receiving the delayed part of June salaries.   DNEVNIK   - Slovenia's accountancy court will decide whether the planned 16.5 kilometre trunk of a highway between Vransko and Blagovica would have to be changed because of high costs as the route includes five tunnels. 
1325 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The Greek socialist party's executive bureau gave the green light to Prime Minister Costas Simitis to call snap elections, its general secretary Costas Skandalidis told reporters.    Prime Minister Costas Simitis is going to make an official announcement after a cabinet meeting later on Thursday, said Skandalidis.   --Dimitris Kontogiannis, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4 
1326 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis was expected to call early elections on Thursday to be held on September 22 or 29 citing problems in the country's economy and tense relations with Turkey, officials said.   "The decision for early elections has been taken," a government official told Reuters.   "The prime minister is expected to anounce it in a cabinet meeting this afternnon and the most probable dates are September 22 or a week later."   Elections are now scheduled for October next year but Simitis, one of Greece's most popular politicians, wants a four-year term to push with tough economic decisions aimed to bring Greece in line with its European Union partners.   An election win will also give him a free hand to deal with neighbouring rival Turkey on differences over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea which brought the two countries close to war earlier this year.   Simitis, 60, took over as premier from late socialist party founder Andreas Papandreou in January and was then elected president of the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in a party congress in June.   "What he needs is a public mandate so that he can take the necessary decisions to reform the country.   The next two years are the most crucial for Greece's convergence with the EU," the official said.   Analysts said Simitis wants to avoid the political cost in the remainder of his term where he plans to impose unpopular measures like spending cuts in public services and below inflation pay rises.   His Finance Minister, Alexandros Papadopoulos, is in the final stages of putting together next year's budget, which includes cuts of $1.2 billion in state spending and the restructuring of public companies to boost growth.   Papadopoulos has warned that Greece is still a long way from meeting the criteria necessary to join European Monetary Union (EMU) in 1999 and that in the next two years Greeks must make sacrifices to slash inflation and a towering public debt.   Inflation was running at a rate of 8.6 percent year-on-year in June -- the highest by far in the European Union -- and the public debt was still well over 100 per cent of the country's GDP.   The EMU target is for the debt to drop to 60 percent of GDP and inflation to be slashed to about two points above the average inflation of the three best performing EU members.   "Papadopoulos and Economy Minister Yannos Papandoniou were the ones who pushed the hardest for early elections," the official said.   "They must take some tough decisions next year which can't be taken if elections take place as scheduled."   Simitis may also be forced to resort to foreign borrowing or impose new taxes to fund a $10 billion weapons purchase in the next five years so that Greece will be able to deter any Turkish moves in the Aegean or on the divided island of Cyprus.   Opinion polls will be published in Athens newspapers throughout next week and PASOK was expected to come out slightly ahead of the conservative opposition New Democracy party. 
1327 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on Thursday declined to expand on his own remarks made on Wednesday about the strength of the markka and the timetable for a decision whether to link it to Europe's exchange rate mechanism.   Approached by a Reuters reporter at the Helsinki-Vantaa airport as he arrived from the city of Kuopio in central Finland where the Social Democratic Party' executive committee had met, Lipponen said: "I have nothing to say."   Asked whether he wanted to elaborate on his remarks on Wednesday, Lipponen said: "I have nothing to say."   Asked to explain why he thought a further strengthening of the markka was not justified, Lipponen said: "I have nothing to say."   And asked about reports he had said an ERM decision would be made in a fairly near future, he said: "I have nothing to say."   Earlier on Thursday, an advisor to Lipponen told Reuters the premier had said on Wednesday evening that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified.   "He said that a further strengthening is not justified when one looks at purchase power parities," the advisor said by telephone from Kuopio.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
1328 !GCAT  Leading stories in the Greek financial press:   FINANCIAL KATHEMERINI   -- Reduction of seven percent in Public Power Corporation's (DEH) electricity bills.   The first pre-election bonus to one million small-and-medium sized companies from the government   -- Euphoria continues at the Athens bourse   KERDOS   -- The hard drachma is the winner of early elections.   Agreement among political parties on foreign exchange policy   -- State telecommunications organisation (OTE): On the eve of a decision about the supply of digital switches from Siemens and Intracom   IMERISIA   -- The economy is at the centre of the pre-election campaign   -- Calmness in the interbank market.   The central bank monitors developments   EXPRESS   -- After delays of two years.   101 billion drachmas from Community Support Framework funds for small-and-medium sized firms are being unblocked   -- The euphoria caused by elections continues at the Athens stock exchange   NAFTEMBORIKI   -- Positive first-half corporate results from listed firms   -- Flexibility in foreign exchange policy, capital inflows and continuous fall in interest rates.   Rational reaction by the money markets --Dimitris Kontogiannis, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4 
1329 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party (SDP) chairman Paavo Lipponen spoke on Wednesday evening without a prepared speech, SDP said in a statement on Thursday.   Responding to a Reuters request to obtain a copy of Lipponen's speech in connection with the party executive committee meeting in Kuopio in central Finland, SDP said Lipponen spoke without a written speech.   Finnish media quoted Lipponen as saying a decision whether to link the markka to ERM would be made in a fairly near future, and a further strengthening of the markka was not desirable.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
1330 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Finland would decide in the near future whether to link the markka to the European Union's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen was quoted as saying on Wednesday.   He also said a further strengthening of the markka was not desirable.   The ERM decision would be made "in a fairly near future," Lipponen said according to Thursday's edition of daily Helsingin Sanomat.   "I can not say anything more specific about the timing.   The government analyses an ERM link together with the Bank of Finland," Lipponen said.   Lipponen, speaking at the Social Democratic Party's executive committee meeting in Kuopio in central Finland, did not say whether a decision would be made before or after Finland's October 20 local and European parliament elections.   "The markka has strengthened and I doubt it would be desirable that it would strengthen terribly much more.   It is not realistic considering our economy compared to other countries," Lipponen said according to the Finnish news agency (STT).   The government has said earlier that a decision for or against joining ERM would have to be made this autumn, last repeated by Finance Minister Sauli Niinisto two weeks ago.   Since early May, the markka has strenghened almost five percent against the German mark, over five percent compared the the ECU basket and eight percent against the dollar.   -- Helsinki newsroom +358-0-6805 0245 
1331 !GCAT !GENT  London's new Globe Theatre, a replica of the 20-sided arena where Shakespeare's finest works were performed, opened to an enthusiastic audience on Wednesday.   Critics were less kind on Thursday.   The first night of the Globe's "prologue season" was a sellout.   Theatregoers -- many standing under open skies like their predecessors 400 years ago -- rewarded the performance of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" with cheers, encores and a standing ovation.   "It was live, it was brilliant, human and passionate.   It wasn't stilted in any way," said New Yorker Shauna Kanter.   But in contrast to the new building's faithful replication of the 16th-century Globe, the play was set in modern Italy and the cast wore sharp suits and wrap-around sunglasses.   "It was perverse that last night's performance was done in modern costume," wrote the Daily Telegraph's critic.   "If this approach is to be continued, the coachloads of tourists searching for "an authentic Shakespeare experience', who will be its financial mainstay, will be flabbergasted."   Critics were equally scathing about the choice of "Two Gentlemen of Verona".   "Hardly one of Shakespeare's best-known works," said the Independent.   Artistic Director Mark Rylance had done little to win over the critics, asking them to pay for tickets.   But the theatregoers were mostly happy.   They heckled the actors amiably, as their forebears had done.   They had picnics in the pit at the foot of the stage.   And none of them threw rotten fruit.   "I'm giddy!   It felt like being 400 years back in time," said Rebecca Jones, a schoolteacher from Richmond, Virginia.   "When you were in there, you felt like you were part of what was going on.   The actors and the audience were working together," said actor Gary Taylor.   "It was so exciting."   It is 350 years since England's puritan rulers demolished the Globe, on the south bank of the Thames.   The replica, built about 100 yards (metres) from the site of the original, is made of oak and plastered with lime mixed with goat hair.   It has a thatched roof above its 20 sides, but those with cheap tickets stand under open skies in front of the stage.   The official opening night will take place on Saturday and a gala opening is 10 months away.   Sam Wanamaker, the American actor-director whose dream it was to rebuild the Globe, died of cancer in 1993 just as the wood-and-thatch framework was being put in place.   He believed the theatre should recreate the conditions that Shakespeare's actors worked under in the 16th and 17th centuries.   That was not quite possible -- the theatre lies directly under the flight path of planes heading for London's Heathrow airport.   But the noise of jets overhead failed, just, to dampen the actors' delivery.   The first performance also had good weather.   Rain and thunderstorms -- the theatre sells raincoats for those in the open -- were forecast but failed to materialise.   But bad luck hit a dress rehearsal on the eve of the performance.   Actor George Innes landed awkwardly as he climbed down a rope ladder and broke a leg. 
1332 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   EVENING STANDARD   LOTS OF "As' BUT CAN THEY READ?   Today GCSE results were released, this years figures show record figures for passed examinations.   Doubts have been expressed about the rigour of examinations and how well they prepare youngsters for the employment.   Employers today warned that school leavers are unable to read, write, do simple arithmetic or even speak properly.   --   BRITISH GAS MAY SUE RIVALS ON BILL ERRORS   British Gas may sue its domestic market competitors for giving so called "inaccurate information' when customers change to rival suppliers.   British Gas has been accused of sending wrong final bills when they switch to a rival company and could be forced to pay compensation for doing so.   British Gas blames information from new suppliers who read the meters and pass information to TransCo who in turn provides it to British Gas supply arm which compiles the final bill.   --   WHY ANOTHER DRUGS DEAL IS ON THE CARDS   Major pharmaceutical companies have spent more than 30 billion stg buying each other up during the past two years, the world of drugs is rife with speculation of another big deal in the pipeline.   Yesterday rumours led people to believe Roche of Switzerland was set to merge with or bid for Smithkline Beecham.   Zeneca was also said to be in Roche's sights.   -- BMC +44 171 377 1742 
1333 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Company   -- GO!   DISCS HEAD QUITS FOLLOWING POLYGRAM DEAL   The news that PolyGram, controlled by Philips Electronics, has taken over Go!   Discs, one of Britain's leading independent record labels, has led to the resignation of the company's founder Andy Macdonald, who described the deal as "oppressive".   PolyGram expressed regret at the decision.   The two companies have had links since 1987 when PolyGram took a 49 percent stake in Go!  .   Renewal of the agreement resulted in the Dutch entertainment group taking control in a deal, the value of which neither party would discuss.   -- BRITISH GAS FEARS JOB LOSSES OVER PRICE CUTS   Details have been released by the gas industry regulator Ofgas concerning price restrictions it is proposing for Transco, the pipeline division of British Gas.   Initially the regulator would like Transco to reduce prices by 20 percent, with further cuts of 2.5 percent per annum for the next four years.   The restrictions planned are not as severe as some in the industry had feared.   However, British Gas has continued with its assertion that the cuts will not be in the interests of either consumers or shareholders and could lead to job losses.   -- USAIR SEEKS TO FIGHT BA ON ATLANTIC ROUTES   USAir, angered by a planned alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, has asked U.S. authorities for permission to begin services direct to London that will be in direct competition with BA.   While BA holds a stake of 24.6 percent in USAir, its erstwhile partner has been attempting to have the alliance dissolved in reaction to the American Airlines deal.   Efforts aimed at reaching some compromise have been hampered by BA's insistence that USAir first drop litigation.   -- NETSCAPE URGES LEGAL ACTION OVER MICROSOFT   The Internet technology specialist Netscape Communications has called on the U.S. Justice Department to take action against Microsoft, claiming the U.S. software giant which has recently targeted this market has been involved in anti-competitive behaviour.   Both companies are currently engaged in a battle to establish their own Internet browsers as the industry standard.   The arrival of Microsoft on the scene has led to a number of setbacks for Netscape, which has seen its share price decline.   -- FALL IN RETAIL SALES SETS BACK RECOVERY   Figures for July indicate that UK retail sales suffered their largest fall of the year, setting back hopes of a consumer-led general economic recovery.   The figures, worse than had been anticipated, are expected to be taken by the Chancellor as vindication for a further reduction in UK interest rates.   Observers, however, believe that sales will pick gradually during the balance of the year.   A forthcoming report from the Confederation of British Industry is expected to indicate that the economy is on course to meet the government's inflation targets.   -- GUMMER REJECTS CALL FOR 'DRACONIAN' CAR CURBS   Detailing the government's plans for major improvements in the quality of the country's air, the environment secretary has rejected criticism of the lack of action being taken to deal directly with usage of motor vehicles.   The government has accepted that cars play a major role in urban atmospheric pollution, but believes that direct action to reduce their use would prove ineffective.   Instead individual drivers are being urged to change their habits, making greater use of alternative forms of transport.   -- BT CUTS COST OF BUSINESS LINK TO SUPERHIGHWAY   British Telecom has announced reductions in charges to small companies for access to high-speed ISDN lines, one channel to the information superhighway.   In the past the company has been criticised by the industry regulator Oftel over the high costs of such data transfer services.   This has led to Britain being left behind by other European competitor nations in use of the technology.   At present ISDN services are a major growth sector with the volume of BT's business in the field doubling each year.   -- LLOYD'S HOPEFUL PLAN WILL SURVIVE US BLOW   Lloyd's of London is reported to be optimistic that its recovery strategy for the market will survive a US court challenge by rebel investors.   The judge involved in the case has let it be known that he will not seek to prevent the market reaching out-of-court settlements with loss-making Names.   The challenge comes less than a week before a deadline by which investors must decide whether or not to accept the 3.2 billion stg settlement proposal.   -- STOCK EXCHANGE TRADES IN PHONES   The London Stock Exchange plans to introduce on schedule this week its Sequence 6 electronic trading system.   The move will result in the end of telephone-based trading on markets such as the AIM and Seats.   Instead orders will be placed via computer and processed by a central exchange.   Member firms on the Stock Exchange will also be obliged to produce reports on trades in electronic form.   The changes are expected to result in lower administrative costs for those involved in the sector.   For a full range of news monitoring services, phone BMC +44-171-377-1742 
1334 !GCAT  Prepared for Reuters by The Broadcast Monitoring Co   DAILY TELEGRAPH   -- MERSEY DOCKS TO CLOSE CROSS-CHANNEL SERVICE   Mersey Docks & Harbour Co is to close its Eurolink Sheerness to Vlissinger cross-Channel passenger service.   The company has incurred losses of 4.5 million stg in the six months to June 30.   The company is still seeking to sell its Eurolink freight operations as a going concern, but will close it if no buyer can be found.   -- BRITISH NUCLEAR WINS CLEAN-UP CONTRACT   British Nuclear Fuels has won a 10 percent share of a contract to clean up one of the biggest nuclear sites in America.   The 3.8 billion stg contract to clean up the Savannah River complex is for five years and has gone to a consortium led by Westinghouse and includes Bechtel and Babcock & Wilcox as well as the British company.   British Nuclear brings expertise in waste management technology to the consortium and will have a key role in the massive clean-up programme.   -- USAIR IN NEW MOVE AGAINST BA TIE-UP   USAir opened another avenue in its attempt to disrupt the British Airways and American Airlines alliance yesterday by making applications to operate on four routes into Heathrow.   The application, filed with the US authorities is to fly on routes from Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.   The company, 24.6 percent owned by BA has already irritated BA by filing a lawsuit seeking damages for alleged breach of the existing shareholding agreement and claiming that the alliance with American Airlines is anti-competitive.   THE TIMES   -- BRITISH GAS REJECTS OFGAS COMPROMISE   British Gas yesterday rejected proposals by the gas regulator of a price control compromise for TransCo, its pipelines business.   British Gas's rejection comes after a substantial modification of pricing proposals announced in May.   The proposals would cut revenues by 650 million stg next year and the bill reductions for domestic users would scale up to 55 stg per household by 2001.   The two sides are now set on course for a Monopolies and Mergers Commission inquiry.   -- SALE OF COMPONENTS DIVISION HELPS MARLEY TO 63.2 MLN STG PROFIT   Marley, the building materials group, yesterday reported a first half fall in underlying profits.   In the six months ended June 30 the company made an underlying pre-tax profit of 20.6 million stg, down on the 24.1 million stg made a year ago.   Results were helped by an exceptional gain of 42.6 million stg from the sale of its automotive components division.   The company said that while overseas markets have been recovering the UK market has been disappointing.   -- IRISH TEA GOES COLD ON UNILEVER   The minority shareholders in Lyons Irish Holdings are holding out against a bid from Unilever.   By Tuesday, the first closing date of the offer, Unilever Ireland had only won acceptances from 79,000 of the outstanding 7.5 million shares.   Chairman of Lyons Irish, who have 60 percent of the Irish Republic's tea market, Pierce Butler, said the result was a resounding rejection of the Unilever offer.   THE GUARDIAN   -- HIGH STREET TAKES A KNOCK   The Government last night dismissed a surprise fall in high street spending, arguing that an international antiques fair was one of several exceptional factors masking a strong upward trend in consumer activity.   Retail sales fell by 0.6 percent in July, leading to fears of a return to a consumer boom.   The annual and three-monthly comparisons, however, showed spending was rising.   -- FOUR EXPELLED FROM CITY AS SFA CRACKS THE WHIP   Robert Sim Jenkins, former financial controller of Barclays Stockbrokers, has been expelled from the City by the SFA for an embezzlement he is currently serving a prison term for.   Three other former members have also been struck off and a fourth censured in a continuing crackdown by the SFA on illegal activity.   -- CORRUPTION RISING IN THE BOARDROOM   Department of Trade and Industry figures released yesterday showed an 83 percent rise in the number of directors disqualified for unfit conduct in the second quarter of 1996 compared with the same period last year.   The DTI Insolvency Service barred 203 individuals from holding directorships compared with 111 previously.   THE INDEPENDENT   -- FRENCH FIRM MAY BUY THIRD RAIL FRANCHISE   CGEA, the French-owned transport company, yesterday announced a successful bid for South Eastern Trains.   Operating under the name Connex, the company now has control of two of the three main companies making up the old Southern Region, Britain's largest commuting area.   One of the companies senior executives said that Connex could gain control of the whole former Southern Region of British Rail.   Connex will receive 125.4 million stg in subsidy to run South Eastern.   -- MILK WHOLESALER AGREES TO OFT PRICES SHAKE-UP   The milk industry's wholesaling body gave assurances to the Office of Fair Trading yesterday that it would modify its milk- selling system.   The main dairy companies such as Unigate and Northern Foods have complained about the existing Milk Marque pricing structure, as they believe it fails to reflect supply and demand, resulting in higher prices for consumers.   John Bridgeman, the director general of Fair Trading said he would not now refer the supply of milk to the Monopolies and mergers Commission, but would continue to monitor the situation.   -- NEW LOOK PLANS TO OPEN 200 STORES   The womenswear retailer, New Look, which abandoned its stock market flotation two years ago, has plans to open 200 more stores over the next five years to add to the 333 it has at present.   The rapid expansion programme would make New Look one of the largest fashion chains in Britain.   -- For a full range of news monitoring services, phone BMC +44-171-377-1742 
1335 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GSCI  It may not come as a surprise to chocolate junkies, but scientists in California said on Wednesday they had found another chemical in chocolate that could explain its addictive properties.   The chemical mimics the effects of cannabis, Daniele Piomelli and colleagues at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego said.   They looked at the molecule, anandamide, because it is a brain lipid, or fat -- and of course chocolate is high in fat.   They said it could act as a neurotransmitter, a chemical that carries signals between brain cells.   Writing in the science journal Nature, they said tests showed chocolate contained varying amounts of anandamide while white chocolate, made of milk and cocoa butter, and coffee did not.   Chocolate contains three different versions of anandamide, which could activate receptors in brain cells that are known to react to chemicals in cannabis.   They said further experiments were needed to see if the chemicals would have this effect in a living animal.   "Canniboid drugs are known to heighten sensitivity and produce euphoria.   A possible effect of elevated brain anandamide levels could be to intensify the sensory properties of chocolate thought to be essential to craving," they wrote.   Previous efforts to explain chocolate's appeal have focused on phenylethylamine, a molecule closely related to amphetamines.   These drugs raise blood pressure and blood sugar levels, making people feel more alert and sometimes creating a sense of well-being.   Some studies have also said the chemical is secreted when people fall in love.   Chocolate also contains caffeine, which is addictive, and a very similar chemical known as theobromine.   And cocoa butter melts just at body temperature -- meaning pure chocolate literally melts in the mouth, providing a very pleasant sensation.   Some researchers say bingeing on chocolate could be a form of self-medication.   Britons spend three billion pounds a year ($5 billion) on the confection, while Americans spent $11 billion.   In Switzerland enough is sold for each citizen to eat 21 pounds (9.5 kg) a year. 
1336 !GCAT !GPOL  The British government unveiled a new national identity card on Thursday and ran straight into a major row over whether it should carry Britain's red, white and blue flag.   The voluntary cards, which can also serve as driving licences, were attacked by Welsh, Scottish and Irish nationalists as well as by Britons opposed to closer links with the European Union.   The cards were announced by Home Secretary Michael Howard, Britain's interior minister, and will incorporate the coat of arms of Britain's royal family, the British flag and the European Union flag.   Nationalists in Scotland and Wales immediately demanded that the Cross of St Andrew and the Red Dragon, symbols of their respective countries, should replace the British flag on cards issued in their areas.   In Northern Ireland nationalist politicians who want the province to become part of the Irish Republic also attacked the use of the British flag.   Howard made a concession by allowing Northern Ireland to keep existing driver's licences, which feature no national symbols, until 2001.   Anti-Europeans were annoyed that the twelve stars of the EU flag, a symbol of the power of Brussels, should appear on documents issued by Britain.   Britons, unlike the citizens of many other countries, do not have to carry an identity document.   The voluntary new cards are intended to act as a convenient means of identification and the government has denied they will eventually become compulsory.   Howard told a news conference that objectors to the use of the British flag were a very small minority.   "We do not need to explain or justify the use of a national flag on a document of this kind," he said.   But Mike Russell, chief executive of the Scottish National Party, which advocates independence for Scotland, disagreed.   "I think there will be a huge reaction against an identity card which imposes the (British) flag on people," he told Reuters.   In Northern Ireland, Eddie McGrady of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party welcomed the driver's licence concession, but added: "An identity card for Northern Ireland should not have a symbol on it at all." 
1337 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  A one-day strike on the London underground on Friday looked certain to go ahead after the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) failed to show up for a meeting with management.   The union, which represents some 900 "tube" drivers, said it wanted first to meet officials from the conciliation service, ACAS, before sitting down again with managers.   A second union, Aslef, has accepted a pay and hours deal and its drivers will not be on strike.   A spokeswoman for the underground system said it hoped to run between 60 and 70 percent of its normal weekday service.   -- London Newsroom, +44 171 542 7950 
1338 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  London underground rail managers called union leaders to a meeting on Thursday in a last-minute effort to avert another 24-hour strike by drivers on Friday, a management spokesman said.   One of the unions, Aslef, on Wednesday accepted a pay and hours package offered by management, but the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) voted to reject the deal and its members will go ahead with strikes planned for Friday and next Tuesday.   The management spokesman said that, in contrast to previous strike days in the currrent dispute when the "tube" network has been paralysed, some trains would run on these two days.   "We're looking at running approximately two-thirds of our normal trains," he said.   Aslef is the main drivers union, but the RMT represents 900 of the 2,200 drivers and passengers could experience long delays if all the RMT members heed the strike call.   The RMT ballot came out almost four to one against the pay package, but only half the drivers voted.   Separately on Thursday, Britain's postal delivery workers staged the sixth in a series of one-day strikes in protest at new working arrangements drawn up by the Royal Mail.   However, hopes of a settlement rose after the Communication Workers Union (CWU) sent a letter to managers asking for more talks.   The Royal Mail has declined previous offers after the CWU executive threw out a deal accepted by its own negotiators, but a spokeswoman said it was considering the latest request. 
1339 !C12 !C13 !C15 !C152 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Shares in B.A.T Industries Plc were down 17p to 429p by 0720 GMT after tobacco stocks took a hammering in New York overnight as another U.S. state filed a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against tobacco companies.   Trepidation ahead of the outcome of a wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. and fears that President Clinton will announce proposals for further restrictions on the sales of tobacco products also hit sentiment, dealers and analysts said.   "There's been a flow of bad news and it certainly hasn't helped sentiment but there really isn't much new in it," said Richard Workman, analyst at broker James Capel.    Workman noted U.S. proposals to bar cigarette billboard advertising near schools and eliminate mail-order sales, vending machines and sales of fewer than 20 cigarettes had already been proposed about a year ago.   Analysts said tobacco stocks started tumbling in the U.S. on concerns that a U.S. jury could decide that cigarette makers can be held liable for a smoker's addiction that allegedly led to his death.   A jury in the state of Indiana begins its deliberations on the issue later today.   "If the jury decides the (tobacco) companies are liable we could see a bloodbath in tobacco stocks," one senior dealer said.    Meanwhile, Michigan became the 13th state to sue the industry Wednesday, seeking $14 billion in damages.   -- Dale Faulken, London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717 
1340 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in two London-based Arabic-language newspapers on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-HAYAT   - Syria expects an Israeli military operation in south Lebanon.   - Riots in Jordan delay meeting between King Hussein and Egyptian President Mubarak.   - Egypt rejects resumption of talks with Israel over gas pipeline, receives European bids.   - Saudi Petromin sources expect the formation of a company in December to operate gold mines in Saudi Arabia.   ASHARQ AL-AWSAT   - PLO official Mahmoud Abbas says Iran, radical groups plan to undermine Arafat's authority.   - Yemen sends memorandum to the Security Council on disputed island with Eritrea.   - Kuwait allocates $1.414 billion for construction projects in the 1996/1997 fiscal year.   - An Egyptian-Kuwaiti airline raises paid-in capital to $50 million from $40 million, plans to buy a new Airbus 320. 
1341 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Canada's Prairies on Thursday were forecast to see mainly sunny skies and normal high temperatures, Environment Canada said.   Alberta should be mainly sunny except in the north where there is a 40 percent probability of precipitation with highs between 17 and 25 Celsius.   Saskatchewan should be party cloudy with highs of 18 to 26 Celsius.   Manitoba should see mainly sunny skies and highs of 24 Celsius.   -- Gilbert Le Gras 204 947 3548 
1342 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Canada's Prairies saw little chance of frost early Thursday in the few areas where overnight temperatures were low, Environment Canada said.   "Val Marie, Saskatchewan, was between 6.0 and 5.0 Celsius (41.0 F) most of the night and fell to 3.0 Celsius (37.4 F) half an hour after sunrise so there's not much chance of frost," meteorologist Phil Wright told Reuters.   Temperatures of 3.0 C (37.4 F) at chest level could see ground level temperatures at or below freezing while temperatures between 4.0 and 5.0 C (41.0 F) may be borderline.   Alberta's Peace River Valley saw overnight lows of 4.0 to 5.0 C (41.0 F), Wright said.   The temperature at Val Marie, south of Swift Current and about 10 miles north of the Montana border, was 3.0 C (37.4 F) at 0700 CDT/1200 GMT, he said.   Riding Mountain National Park in western Manitoba reported an overnight low of 5.0 C (41.0 F) while the rest of western Manitoba reported lows of 7.0 to 8.0 C, Wright said.   -- Gilbert Le Gras 204 947 3548 
1343 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  King Hussein invited members of the lower house of parliament to his palace on Thursday after Jordan's worst unrest in seven years following a doubling of bread prices.   The king antagonised many Jordanians on Saturday when he suspended the summer session of parliament, where a majority of deputies opposed the price rise, and vowed an "iron fist" against unrest.   The king's action had increased anger at Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti, who ignored parliament's views and pushed ahead with his bread decision last Tuesday.   Parliamentary officials said the full 80-seat lower house had been invited to the palace for lunch.   Those attending included 23 opposition deputies who had threatened to boycott parliament until the government reversed the price rise.   Some from the riot-striken south had boycotted a meeting with Kabariti on Tuesday.   The king blamed Iraq for the trouble, while critics said unrest reflected economic hardship.   But since containing the riots he has begun rebuilding his links with society and staging displays of unity.   He has held a series of meetings with popular representatives and dignitaries since Sunday.   "The king is personally intervening to calm things down and put the pieces together by going down to the street and meeting as many popular representatives as possible," said a deputy who supported the government bread policy.   "From a security point of view, unrest has been contained," he added.   "Now he has to work on economic measures to ease the burden on the people and reassure an agitated public that he is still committed to democracy, parliament and freedoms."   Bread is a staple for the poor majority of Jordan's 4.2 million population, facing falling standards of living, unemployment and still awaiting promised economic dividends from the controversial 1994 peace treaty with Israel.   Kabariti felt he had to raise bread prices to close a gaping budget deficit that threatened to undermine the next stage of an IMF economic reform plan and the vital loans it would bring.   In a show of support, the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday released $60 million for Jordan, the second tranche in a $295 million loan to help finance the plan.   At Thursday's lunch, the opposition group, led by the Islamic Action Front Party (IAF), planned to give the king a petition demanding the release of detainees, an end to the military presence in the southern city of Karak and a reversal of the bread hikes.   But they dropped demands for Kabariti to leave, saying it was futile while the king remained committed to him.   Riots began in Karak, quickly spread to nearby centres after noon Moslem prayers and by Saturday night there were clashes in Amman.   The army has eased the curfew on Karak as normality returns, but over 200 political activists and suspects remain in detention, officials said.   Officials announced the delaying of the start of the academic year for thousands of children across the kingdom by a week because of the riots.   The official said the decision was to allow the ministry "to undertake the necessary maintenance to repair the damage to school buildings in some areas".   But other government officials said the move was a precaution to head off any trouble at schools.   There are nearly 1.3 million students. 
1344 !GCAT !GPOL  Israeli-PLO relations reached crisis point on Thursday, rocked by a flap over a West Bank flight by Yasser Arafat and a planned meeting between the Palestinian president and former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.   Israel angered Arafat by holding up for three hours permission to fly over its territory by helicopter to the West Bank town of Ramallah for a scheduled meeting with Peres.   Palestinians said Arafat cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs in protest and that the Palestinian leader would meet Peres later in the day in self-ruled Gaza.   Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused opposition Labour party leader Peres of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority, of personally barring the flight.   Netanyahu's election last May dismayed Palestinians, who won limited self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza and a promise from the former Labour government to negotiate a final peace.   The right-wing leader opposes trading occupied land for peace and has refused to meet Arafat since taking office.   Netanyahu has accused Nobel peace laureate Peres of "sticking spokes in the wheels of peace" by meeting Arab leaders while in opposition.   David Bar-Illan, Netanyahu's communications director, blasted Peres over the Arafat meeting and suggested the opposition leader retire from politics and accept an "elder statesman's" role if he wanted to continue his peace efforts.   "I think his visit with Arafat is ill-advised and borders on the irresponsible," Bar-Illan told Reuters.   "Arafat will be strengthened or reinforced in his intransigence.   He will not make the sort of concessions we expect him to make so that the process can continue."   Netanyahu has demanded that Arafat close offices in Arab East Jerusalem which the Israeli government has charged carries out work for the Palestinian Authority, which is barred by peace deals from activity in the city.   Yossi Beilin, a former minister in Peres's cabinet, said the Labour party chief had every right to meet Arafat.   "How can someone think he can stop the head of the opposition from meeting Mr. Yasser Arafat?   These are two people who brought about such great changes in the history of the region," Beilin told Israel radio.   Israel's Army radio said Arafat's flight to Ramallah was delayed because Israel had to complete safety checks of his helicopter.   A spokesman for Arafat, citing a heavy schedule, said the visit would take place on Monday.   Palestinian Council Speaker Ahmed Korei said that by delaying the flight, Israel had committed a "flagrant violation" of an agreement allowing Arafat to fly between self-ruled enclaves under PLO control.   Bar-Illan dismissed the accusation, saying technical problems rather than political ones had kept Arafat grounded in Gaza.   Korei said Arafat had previously flown between Gaza and the West Bank in an Egyptian helicopter but that Thursday's flight was to have been the first in a Palestinian aircraft.   "We believe that this is only an attempt to insult the Palestinian people by delaying and obstructing the work of the president," Korei told Reuters. 
1345 !GCAT !GPOL  Palestinians said Israel's right-wing government had barred Yasser Arafat from flying by helicopter to the West Bank on Thursday for a meeting with former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.   "The Palestinian side was informed that Arafat won't be allowed to fly to Ramallah because he was supposed to meet Peres later in the day," a senior Palestinian security source in the West Bank town of Ramallah told Reuters.   Palestinians said that Arafat had cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs in protest but that the Palestinian leader would meet Peres anyway, in self-ruled Gaza.   Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused opposition Labour party leader Peres of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority, of personally barring the flight.   An Israeli army spokesman quoted Herzl Getz, chief of Israel's Security Liaison Committee with the Palestinians, as saying all technical details relating to the flight, which must fly over Israeli territory, had been approved by the military.   "We are still waiting for permission from the political level," the spokesman quoted Getz as saying.   There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office or from Peres.   A Palestinian security source described Palestinian President Arafat as "furious" over the alleged Israeli ban.   Palestinian council speaker Ahmed Korei said the ban was a "flagrant violation" of an agreement allowing Arafat to fly between self-ruled enclaves under PLO control.   He said Arafat had previously flown between Gaza and the West Bank in an Egyptian helicopter but that Thursday's flight was to be the first in a Palestinian aircraft.   Israel Army radio quoted Israeli defence officials as saying Israel had yet to complete safety checks on the Palestinian helicopter.   "We believe that this is only an attempt to insult the Palestinian people by delaying and obstructing the work of the president," Korei told Reuters.   Arafat was also supposed to attend a meeting in Ramallah of the Palestinian legislature.   "Netanyahu behaves as a military governor and not as a political leader," Asfour said.   The prime minister, who opposes trading occupied land for peace, has refused to meet Arafat since taking office in June vowing to pursue peace vigorously.   Netanyahu has accused Nobel peace laureate Peres of "sticking spokes in the wheels of peace" by meeting Arab leaders while in opposition.   Peres and Palestinian architects of the Israeli-PLO peace accords on Tuesday set up a watchdog group to monitor implementation of the deal they said was threatened by Netanyahu's election.   Government officials boycotted the gathering. 
1346 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel's outgoing peace negotiator with Syria described current tensions between the two countries as a storm in a teacup, saying on Thursday it appeared Damascus wanted to talk rather than fight.   But Syria signalled it was in no mood to resume negotiations deadlocked over the Golan Heights unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dropped his opposition to exchanging occupied land for peace.   Itamar Rabinovich, who as Israel's ambassador to Washington held talks with Syria, told Israel Radio: "It appears to me the Syrian priority is still to negotiate.   "The Syrians are confused, they are definitely tense, but the general assessment here in Washington is that this is essentially a storm in a teacup," he said.   Syria has accused Israel of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli television reported Damascus had recently test fired a missile able to hit cities in the Jewish state.   It said its arms purchases were for defensive purposes.   Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   But it slammed Damascus for creating what it called a dangerous atmosphere.   Turning down the offer on Thursday, Syria's official newspaper Tishreen said talks could be based only on an Israeli withdrawal from the strategic Golan.   "Syria will never negotiate for the sake of negotiations and will not be dragged into the trap of talks 'with no preconditions' which simply means holding talks that are not based on any principle and allowing Netanyahu to say the Golan is an Israeli land," Tishreen said.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked since 1991 despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Peace talks between the two sides were last held in February.   Chief negotiator Rabinovich is winding up his term as ambassador.   He will be replaced by Eliahu Ben-Elissar, a former Israeli envoy to Egypt and right-wing Likud party politician.   Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported the tensions with Damascus arose largely from recent "irregular" movement of several Syrian army units from their usual positions in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to Syria itself.   Israel interpreted the move as Syria's response to a public warning by Netanyahu of a strong Israeli military response to attacks by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas against Israeli occupation forces in south Lebanon, the newspaper said.   Sudden troop movements sound alarm bells in Israel, which was caught off-guard by surprise Syrian and Egyptian attacks that started the 1973 Middle East war.   A security source said "nothing out of the ordinary" had happened in the north since the Syrian troop movements at the beginning of the week.   Israel's Channel Two television said Damascus had sent a "calming signal" to Israel.   It gave no source for the report.   Netanyahu and Levy's spokesmen said they could not confirm it.   The television also said that Netanyahu had sent messages to reassure Syria via Cairo, the United States and Moscow. 
1347 !GCAT !GPOL  Palestinians said Israel's right-wing government had barred Yasser Arafat from flying by helicopter to the West Bank on Thursday for a meeting with former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.   "The Palestinian side was informed that Arafat won't be allowed to fly to Ramallah because he was supposed to meet Peres later in the day," a senior Palestinian security source in the West Bank town of Ramallah told Reuters.   Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused opposition Labour party leader Peres of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority, of personally barring the flight.   An Israeli army spokesman quoted Herzl Getz, chief of Israel's Security Liaison Committee with the Palestinians, as saying all technical details relating to the flight, which must fly over Israeli territory, had been approved by the military.   "We are still waiting for permission from the political level," the spokesman quoted Getz as saying.   There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office or from Peres.   A Palestinian security source described Palestinian President Arafat as "furious" over the alleged Israeli ban.   Palestinian council speaker Ahmed Korei said the ban was a "flagrant violation" of an agreement allowing Arafat to fly between self-ruled enclaves under PLO control.   He said Arafat had previously flown between Gaza and the West Bank in an Egyptian helicopter but that Thursday's flight was to be the first in a Palestinian aircraft.   Israel Army radio quoted Israeli defence officials as saying Israel had yet to complete safety checks on the Palestinian helicopter.   "We believe that this is only an attempt to insult the Palestinian people by delaying and obstructing the work of the president," Korei told Reuters.   Arafat was also supposed to attend a meeting in Ramallah of the Palestinian legislature.   "Netanyahu behaves as a military governor and not as a political leader," Asfour said.   The prime minister, who opposes trading occupied land for peace, has refused to meet Arafat since taking office in June vowing to pursue peace vigorously.   Netanyahu has accused Nobel peace laureate Peres of "sticking spokes in the wheels of peace" by meeting Arab leaders while in opposition.   Peres and Palestinian architects of the Israeli-PLO peace accords on Tuesday set up a watchdog group to monitor implementation of the deal they said was threatened by Netanyahu's election.   Government officials boycotted the gathering. 
1348 !GCAT !GDIP  Syria on Thursday turned down an Israeli offer to resume peace talks "with no preconditions", saying negotiations could only be based on an Israeli withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights.   "Syria will never negotiate for the sake of negotiations and will not be dragged into the trap of talks 'with no preconditions' which simply means holding talks that are not based on any principle and allowing (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to say the Golan is an Israeli land," the official newspaper Tishreen said.   Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   The message came after mounting tension between the two countries.   Another official Syrian daily said that the Israeli offer was putting unacceptable conditions that steer the process away from its previously agreed basis of exchanging land for peace.   "Syria does not put preconditions but the government of Netanyahu is the side that puts conditions...when it demanded to give up the basis of the peace process...and that the Israeli occupation remains on the golan," the ruling party newspaper al-Baath said.   "If the government of Netanyahu is really interested in entering peace talks within its framework and on its agreed basis, it should enter from the door which Syria has opened, that is to resume talks from the point of last February, when the talks were suspended," al-Baath added.   Talks between Syria and Israel were suspended following a wave of Moslem suicide attacks in Israel in February and March when Damascus refused to condemn the attacks.   Prospects for the resumption of the talks were dimmed further with the May election of Netanyahu, who has opposed his predecessor's policy of returning conquered Arab land for peace, including the Golan captured in 1967.   Al-Baath warned that if Israel continued to refuse to pull out from the Golan, it would be responsible for the consequences.   "Syria has no condition for peace but to reach the just and comprehensive peace, and if the government of Netanyahu did not enter (talks) from this door, it would carry the responsibility for all the consequences resulting from its policy," it said.   Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said on Wednesday that Israel asked Washington to pass a message to Syria that it wanted peace and was ready to begin negotiations without preconditions.   "If Netanyahu was really interested in peace, he would not have abandoned the basis of the peace process, turned his back to the previous Israeli government's commitments and flared up talks about weapons, power balances, wars and armed struggles," al-Baath said.   Syria and Israel accused each other this week of escalating tension over armament.   Israeli television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile. 
1349 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel's outgoing peace negotiator with Syria said on Thursday current tensions between the two countries appeared to be a storm in a teacup.   Itamar Rabinovich, who as Israel's ambassador to Washington conducted unfruitful negotiations with Syria, told Israel Radio it looked like Damascus wanted to talk rather than fight.   "It appears to me the Syrian priority is still to negotiate.   The Syrians are confused, they are definitely tense, but the general assessment here in Washington is that this is essentially a storm in a teacup," he said.   Rabinovich is winding up his term as ambassador.   He will be replaced by Eliahu Ben-Elissar, a former Israeli envoy to Egypt and right-wing Likud party politician.   Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   But it slammed Damascus for creating what it called a dangerous atmosphere.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio in an interview.   Syria accused Israel on Thursday of putting unacceptable preconditions on resuming the negotiations by backing away from a previously agreed basis of exchanging land for peace.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked since 1991 over the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Peace talks between the two sides were last held in February.   Tension has mounted since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the strategic plateau, captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli television reported that Damascus had recently test fired a missile.   It said its arms purchases were for defensive purposes.   Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported the tensions arose largely from recent "irregular" movement of several Syrian army units from their usual positioins in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to Syria itself.   Israel interpreted the move as Syria's response to a public warning by Netanyahu of a strong Israeli military response to attacks by Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas against Israeli occupation forces in south Lebanon, the newspaper said.   Sudden troop movements sound alarm bells in Israel, which was caught off-guard by surprise Syrian and Egyptian attacks that started the 1973 Middle East war.   A security source said "nothing out of the ordinary" had happened in the north since the Syrian troop movements at the beginning of the week.   Israel's Channel Two television said Damascus had sent a "calming signal" to Israel.   It gave no source for the report.   Netanyahu and Levy's spokesmen said they could not confirm it.   The television also said that Netanyahu had sent messages to reassure Syria via Cairo, the United States and Moscow. 
1350 !GCAT !GDIP  Israel's outgoing peace negotiator with Syria said on Thursday current tensions between the two countries appeared to be a storm in a teacup.   Itamar Rabinovich, who as Israel's ambassador to Washington conducted unfruitful negotiations with Syria, told Israel Radio it looked like Damascus wanted to talk rather than fight.   "It appears to me the Syrian priority is still to negotiate.   The Syrians are confused, they are definitely tense, but the general assessment here in Washington is that this is essentially a storm in a teacup," he said.   Rabinovich is winding up his term as ambassador.   He will be replaced by Eliahu Ben-Elissar, a former Israeli envoy to Egypt and right-wing Likud party politician.   Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   But it slammed Damascus for creating what it called a dangerous atmosphere.   Syria accused Israel on Wednesday of launching a hysterical campaign against it after Israeli television reported that Damascus had recently test fired a missile.   It said its arms purchases were for defensive purposes.   "The message that we sent to (Syrian President Hafez al-) Assad is that Israel is ready at any time without preconditions to enter peace negotiations," Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio in an interview.   Tension has mounted since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in June vowing to retain the Golan Heights Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.   Israeli-Syrian peace talks have been deadlocked over the Golan since 1991 despite the previous government's willingness to make Golan concessions.   Peace talks between the two sides were last held in February.   "The voices coming out of Damascus are bad, not good.   The media...are full of expressions and declarations that must be worrying...this artificial atmosphere is very dangerous because those who spread it could become its prisoners," Levy said.   "We expect from Syria, if its face is to peace, that it will answer Israel's message to enter peace negotiations because that is our goal," he said.   "We do not want a war, God forbid.   No one benefits from wars."   Israel's Channel Two television said Damascus had sent a "calming signal" to Israel.   It gave no source for the report.   Netanyahu and Levy's spokesmen said they could not confirm it.   The television also said that Netanyahu had sent messages to reassure Syria via Cairo, the United States and Moscow. 
1351 !GCAT !GDIP  Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan has used his first overseas trip, to Iran and mainly Moslem Asian states, to give the pursuit of basic Turkish interests a gloss of Islamist solidarity.   The result is a new-look Turkish foreign policy but no real threat -- as feared in Western capitals -- to Ankara's close security and economic ties to its NATO allies.   The trip also marked Ankara's first real foray into the Pacific Rim.   Analysts say headlines about a clash with Washington over a $23 billion gas deal with Iran and dreams of an "Islamic Airbus" consortium have distracted attention from the traditional economic and political goals of Erbakan's 10-day tour.   At the same time, they say, the visit to four Moslem states -- plus Singapore -- has given Turkey's first Islamist prime minister a boost with his Welfare Party faithful, unnerved by recent concessions to Western demands.   "The natural gas deal is important for Turkey," said Dogu Ergil, a leading expert on relations with the Middle East.   "There is nothing ideological about it.   Turkey is facing an energy crisis," Ergil told Reuters, noting that big financial and technical obstacles remained before the project could be realised.   "This deal was in the works for a long time," said Ilnur Cevik, editor of the Turkish Daily News and a confidant of the prime minister.   "It was not Erbakan but the former (secularist) energy minister who warned of an energy crisis.   It has nothing to do with Islam," said Cevik, who accompanied the prime minister.   Western analysts largely agree.   "There are good, sound economic reasons why the Iran gas deal should be signed, but going there first and making it a theme of the whole trip shows a change of emphasis," said one NATO diplomat.   Washington, a close ally, rebuked Turkey for the gas supply deal signed one week after enactment of a U.S. law to penalise companies investing in energy projects in Libya or Iran.   The White House cites both countries as sponsors of terrorism.   However, U.S. condemnation has been tempered by sympathy for Turkey's growing energy shortfalls.   Turkey consumes nearly nine billion cubic metres (318 billion cubic feet) of gas a year, almost all imported from Russia.   The Iranian deal would supply an initial three billion cubic metres (106 billion cubic feet) from 1999.   Energy ministry projections show Turkey will produce about 93 billion kilowatt hours (KWH) of power this year, with consumption set at 97.5 billion KWH.   The shortage will be bridged for now by electric power imports from neighbouring Iran and elsewhere.   "What could be more natural than us getting such cheap, abundant natural gas from right next door?"   Erbakan told reporters on his return.   Likewise, Erbakan played the Islamist card in a bid to increase trade and improve security in what Turkish officials like to refer to as "a rough neighbourhood".   Aides say he made the gas deal contingent on Iran's curtailing support for the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging a bloody insurgency against Turkish forces.   "He was very blunt, very tough," said one participant.   Asian tigers Malaysia and Indonesia were given pride of place on the itinerary to underscore their success in blending Western-style development with traditional Islamic values.   Officials say Erbakan signed export trade deals worth up to $4.5 billion, providing a stimulus to the troubled economy.   Among the deals were accords with Pakistan to begin joint projects in defence and production of transport aircraft.   Turkey will also export heavy farm equipment.   Turkey and Malaysia agreed to cooperate in aviation and the manufacture of armoured combat vehicles, frigates and submarines, while Turkey and Indonesia agreed aviation deals of their own.   Few details have so far emerged.   Whatever the economic benefits, Erbakan won renewed goodwill from his Islamist constituents, some of whom feared he had made too many concessions to the West since taking office in June.   These included dropping his opposition to the U.S.-led air force patrolling northern Iraq from a Turkish base and abandoning efforts to scrap a military training deal with Israel that angered Moslems at home and abroad.   "Welcome Back Great Leader," said Milli Gazete, the Welfare Party daily.   "You have fulfilled the responsibility of fraternity on us all by visiting approximately 500 million Moslems." 
1352 !GCAT !GDIP  Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak met Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Thursday, Japanese officials said.   Egyptian government newspapers said Ikeda would show Mubarak detailed plans for a $140 million road bridge over the Suez Canal.   Egypt says Japan has promised to pay 60 percent of the costs but Japanese officials have been more cautious.   Details of the meeting were not immediately available but a Japanese spokesman was to hold a briefing later.   Ikeda is on the third day of his visit to Egypt, the first stop on a Middle East tour.   He will also visit Syria, Israel, the Palestinian self-rule areas and Saudi Arabia. 
1353 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  Christian opposition candidates, citing heavy intimidation and fraud by the pro-Syrian government, announced on Thursday they will appeal to the courts against their defeat in Lebanon's parliamentary election.   Albert Moukheiber, an anti-Syrian nationalist defeated in Sunday's first round, said he would appeal to the Constitutional Council, a new 10-member court which can cancel the results and order a new poll if it finds the vote was seriously flawed.   Defeated candidates have 30 days to appeal.   The court's creation last year has for the first time given losing candidates the chance to appeal to an independent body.   Appeals in the past were made to the incoming parliament which routinely ignored them.   The Constitutional Council showed its independence last month by striking down part of the election law after opposition deputies appealed against it on grounds of unconstitutionality.   Moukheiber's aides said two colleagues on his seven-member list would appeal with him against the results in the North Metn district where only one on the list was elected.   Other appeals are expected in two more of the six Mount Lebanon districts -- from Ali Ammar, a Shi'ite Moslem of the pro-Iranian Hizbollah (Party of God) in Baabda district and Joseph Abou Sharaf, a Maronite Christian in Keserwan district.   The government crushed opposition hopes by winning 32 of the 35 seats in Mount Lebanon, the Christian heartland, and the press, an independent monitoring group and the opposition have raised an uproar with charges that it used fraud, threats and vote-rigging.   Newspapers have expressed concern that the government, intent on allowing only a few opposition deputies in parliament, will intensify alleged abuses in the next four rounds of voting in different regions on the next four Sundays.   The government and its supporters have so far ignored all charges of electoral abuse.   Interior Minister Michel al-Murr, who organised the vote and easily won a North Metn seat, refused to answer questions when announcing the first round results.   Moukheiber accused the government of failing to guarantee a free and fair vote and of exploiting its authority to the maximum in favour of its supporters.   But he said the opposition must fight on and denounced calls by hardline Christians for an electoral boycott as cowardice.   He drew cheers from his supporters when he said the government, which is backed by 35,000 Syrian troops, was making Lebanese elections like those in Syria.   "The state coordinates with sister Syria on all levels and the turnout in Damascus elections is 99.99 percent.   So this Syrian system has been adopted in Lebanese elections," Moukheiber said.   "The president (Maronite Christian Elias Hrawi) has to resign.   He has taken an oath to preserve the constitution and the independence of Lebanon," Moukheiber added.   Opposition candidates have called repeatedly for Murr's resignation.   Moukheiber said the government "made all the civil and military bodies work for its electoral interests, sometimes through terrorism and sometimes through enticements ... Honourable campaigners were detained illegally on phoney charges the night before the elections."   Other breaches he listed were failure to give the opposition voter lists, lack of curtained booths and secrecy at polling stations, pressures on newly naturalised citizens and removal of their identity documents to allow forgery.   Opposition candidates have also said many polling stations were moved before or during the voting, and some closed without reason and police were present inside polling stations. 
1354 !GCAT !GDIP  Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will visit Kenya soon to boost relations with the African nation, Iranian media reported on Thursday.   Iran's official news agency IRNA said a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Sheikholeslam was in Kenya to prepare for Rafsanjani's trip which would also take him to other African countries.   It did not name the other African countries the Iranian president would visit.   The daily Jomhuri Eslami quoted Sheikholeslam as saying in Nairobi that Rafsanjani would visit Kenya soon.   He did not give a date.   During the delegation's visit, Iran and Kenya agreed to set up joint trade, banking, telecommunications, transport, industrial, cultural and tourism commissions, IRNA added.   Iran has been actively seeking to strengthen its international ties to counter efforts by the United States to isolate it.   Washington earlier this month tightened its sanctions against Tehran when President Bill Clinton signed an Iran-Libya Sanctions Act which would penalise companies that invest $40 million or more a year in oil and gas projects in those states.   Washington accuses Tehran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking to develop nuclear arms.   Iran denies both charges. 
1355 !GCAT !GDIP  A Polish diplomat on Thursday denied a Polish tabloid report this week that Libya was refusing exit visas to 100 Polish nurses trying to return home after working in the North African country.   "This is not true.   Up to today, we have no knowledge of any nurse stranded or kept in Libya without her will, and we have not received any complaint," the Polish embassy's charge d'affaires in Tripoli, Tadeusz Awdankiewicz, told Reuters by telephone.   Poland's labour ministry said this week it would send a team to Libya to investigate, but Awdankiewicz said the probe was prompted by some nurses complaining about their work conditions such as non-payment of their salaries.   He said that there are an estimated 800 Polish nurses working in Libya. 
1356 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  A leading official in Turkey's coalition on Thursday called parliament to an extraordinary meeting to discuss ending emergency rule in the southeast of the country, state-run Anatolian news agency said.   Emergency rule has been in force in 10 mainly Kurdish provinces since 1987 as part of Turkey's strategy to combat Kurdish rebels fighting for independence or autonomy in the southeast.   Over 20,000 people have died in the conflict.   "Drafts on lifting emergency rule...will be discussed at the meeting," True Path Party (DYP) deputy Saffet Arikan Beduk told a news conference.   He said deputies from the DYP and its coalition partner Welfare Party had agreed to call a meeting on August 27 or September 3.   Parliament would consider nine drafts on ending emergency rule in some regions, he said.   He said it would also discuss a draft law on changing a compulsory state saving scheme. 
1357 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Sumed on Thursday denied rumours of an explosion in its oil pipeline, which runs from the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean.   "This is completely wrong.   Nothing has happened and everything is in good shape," engineering manager Mohamed Shazli told Reuters by telephone from Alexandria.   "We are operating normally and tankers are coming and going as usual," he added.   -- Jonathan Wright +20 2 578 3290/1 
1358 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  An Iranian exile group based in Iraq vowed on Thursday to extend support to Iran's Kurdish rebels after they were attacked by Iranian troops deep inside Iraq last month.   A Mujahideen Khalq statement said its leader Massoud Rajavi met in Baghdad the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) Hassan Rastegar on Wednesday and voiced his support to Iran's rebel Kurds.   "Rajavi emphasised that the Iranian Resistance would continue to stand side by side with their Kurdish compatriots and the resistance movement in Iranian Kurdistan," it said.   A spokesman for the group said the meeting "signals a new level of cooperation between Mujahideen Khalq and the Iranian Kurdish oppositions".   Iran heavily bombarded targets in northern Iraq in July in pursuit of KDPI guerrillas based in Iraqi Kurdish areas outside the control of the government in Baghdad.   Iraqi Kurdish areas bordering Iran are under the control of guerrillas of the Iraqi Kurdish Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) group.   PUK and Iraq's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) the two main Iraqi Kurdish factions, have had northern Iraq under their control since Iraqi forces were ousted from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War.   Clashes between the two parties broke out at the weekend in the most serious fighting since a U.S.-sponsored ceasefire last year.   Mujahideen Khalq said Iranian troops had also been shelling KDP positions in Qasri region in Suleimaniya province near the Iranian border over the last two days.   It said about 100 Iraqi Kurds were killed or wounded in the attack.   Both Iran and Turkey mount air and land strikes at targets in northern Iraq in pursuit of their own Kurdish rebels.   A U.S.-led air force in southern Turkey protects Iraqi Kurds from possible attacks by Baghdad troops. 
1359 !GCAT !GVIO  Jordan delayed the start of the academic year for thousands of children across the kingdom by a week because of last weekend's bread riots, officials said on Thursday.   "The Minister of Education has announced on Thursday the delay of the start of the school year in the kingdom to Saturday 31 August from Saturday 24 August," a ministry of education official told Reuters.   The official said the decision was to allow the ministry "to undertake the necessary maintenance to repair the damage to school buildings in some areas".   But other government officials said the move was a precaution to head off any trouble at schools.   There are nearly 1.3 million students.   A few schools and the office of the education ministry for the southern city of Karak and surrounding villages were damaged by demonstrators who rioted after a government decision to double bread prices. 
1360 !GCAT !GVIO  Gunmen thought to be Islamist militants shot dead three men in southern Egypt on Thursday, apparently in the belief that they were police collaborators, security sources said.   The victims were Mahmoud Abdelhakim Abdel Nasser, 68, who previously held the post of local head of the police auxiliaries, and two of his sons -- Marei, a 38-year-old teacher, and Reda, a 33-year-old farmer, they said.   The attack took place in the village of Naway near Mallawi, in the Nile valley about 260 km (160 miles) south of Cairo.   Full details of the attack were not available but the gunmen escaped and police are hunting them.   Police suspect the attack was the work of the militant al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group), the largest organisation fighting to overthrow the government and make Egypt a strict Islamic state.   The Gama'a often kills suspected collaborators.   In the nearby village of Qalandul on Wednesday, gunmen shot dead two Christian brothers, apparently police informers.   Mallawi district, in Minya province, has been the centre of most of the political violence in Egypt for the past two years.   Nearly 1,000 people, mainly police and militants, have been killed in the past four years of violence.   Armed civilians are now allowed to take part in patrols with the security forces in southern provinces to fight against the militants, the sources said. 
1361 !GCAT !GPOL  Israel gave Palestinian President Yasser Arafat permission on Thursday to fly over its territory to the West Bank, ending a brief Israeli-PLO crisis, an Arafat adviser said.   "The problem is over.   The president's aircraft has received permission to pass through Israeli airspace but the president is not expected to travel to the West Bank before Monday," Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters.    Arafat had been scheduled to meet former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Thursday but the venue was changed to Gaza after Israel denied flight clearance to the Palestinian leader's helicopters.   Palestinian officials accused right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to stop the Ramallah meeting by keeping Arafat grounded.   Arafat subsequently cancelled a meeting between Israeli and PLO officials, on civilian affairs, at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank.   Abu Rdainah said Arafat had decided against flying to the West Bank on Thursday, after Israel lifted the ban, because he had a busy schedule in Gaza and would not be free until Monday. 
1362 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  The Sudanese opposition in exile said on Thursday that the Sudanese authorities executed 11 military officers this week on charges of taking part in an alleged conspiracy to attack government targets in Port Sudan.   Mohammed al-Mutasim Hakim, spokesman for the opposition Democratic Unionist Party in Cairo, said in a statement that the officers were shot by firing squad on Sunday.   He named five of them -- two lieutenant-colonels and three majors.   Sudanese officials in Khartoum were not immediately available to comment on the report.   Sudanese government papers have said the authorities arrested 19 civilians and an unstated number of soldiers in connection with the alleged conspiracy.   Armed forces spokesman Lieutenant General Mohamed Sanousi Ahmad said the plan was to attack vital installations in Port Sudan and disrupt the country's foreign trade.   Red Sea governor Badawi al-Khair told the official news agency SUNA on Thursday that the conspirators also planned to assassinate prominent people and use Port Sudan as a base from which to take over other parts of the country.   But Hakim said the authorities fabricated the conspiracy story to cover up a purge of army officers hostile to the Islamist government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.   "Since the military coup of June 30, 1989, the government has announced more than 50 coup attempts but it has not tried anyone and it has not proved the charges against those it has arrested," he added.   "The authorities in Khartoum announce imaginary coups to purge political and military rivals and to intimidate the Sudanese public, which rejects their policies," he said.   Hakim said the executions on Sunday took place under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel Ibrahim Shams al-Din, one of President Bashir's security advisers.   "The government insisted on rushing the executions without a fair trial or allowing the officers the right to defend themselves or charges backed by documents," he added.   Hakim said 56 civilians and military personnel remained in detention in Port Sudan in connection with the alleged plot and their lives were in danger because of torture.   The officers executed were Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Abbas Ali, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed Mahmoud, Major Salah Kandous, Major Salah al-Dardiri and Major Tajessirr Sarbil, he said.   Ali, Kandous and Dardiri were from the Air Defence Corps based in Port Sudan and the other two were from the navy. 
1363 !GCAT !GPOL  Palestinian President Yasser Arafat cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs on Thursday to protest against Israel's decision to prevent him from flying to the West Bank, an official said.   "President Arafat has ordered the cancellation of a meeting between (Palestinian negotiator) Jamil al-Tarifi and (his Israeli counterpart) Oren Shahor," Palestinian legislator Hassan Asfour told Reuters.    Tarifi and Shahor had been scheduled to meet at the Allenby bridge which links the West Bank with Jordan to discuss easing travel arrangements for Palestinians abroad.   Tarifi confirmed that the meeting was cancelled.   Palestinian officials told Reuters Arafat had been angered by what they said was an Israeli decision to prevent him from flying by helicopter from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to meet former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres.   There was no immediate word from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Arafat's cancelled West Bank visit.   Asfour also said the Palestinian Legislative Council decided to adjourn its meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah and move to Gaza where it would resume its session in Arafat's presence. 
1364 !GCAT !GVIO  Kurdish guerrillas have killed five people, including three pro-government militiamen, in a rocket attack in southeast Turkey, Anatolian news agency said on Thursday.   It said Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels fired a rocket at a group of village guards in the province of Hakkari, near the mountainous border with Iraq.   Eleven guards were injured, the agency said.   Officials at the regional governor's office in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir could not immediately confirm the report.   Turkey employs around 60,000 village guards, most of them Kurdish, in its fight against the guerrillas.   More than 20,000 people have been killed in the 12-year-old conflict between security forces and the PKK, fighting for autonomy or independence. 
1365 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Moroccan press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LE MATIN DU SAHARA   - Morocco's plan to split parliament into two chambers paves way for democracy and devolution.   L'OPINION   - Interior ministry announces end of registration on electoral lists.   - Depressed policeman shoots himself in Casablanca.   - Referendum on parliament split to be held on September 13.   ALMAGHRIB   - More than 60 percent of Moroccan businessmen invest in textile sector.   LIBERATION   - King Hassan sets agenda of reforms in TV speech.   AL-ITTIHAD-AL-ISHTIRAKI   - Morocco sells four mines to its largest private conglomerate ONA group.   - Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres expected on private visit to Morocco on Sunday. 
1366 !GCAT !GPOL  Yasser Arafat will meet Shimon Peres in Gaza on Thursday after Palestinians said the right-wing Israeli government had barred the Palestinian leader from flying to the West Bank for talks with the former prime minister.   "The meeting between Peres and Arafat will take place at Erez checkpoint in Gaza and not in Ramallah as planned," Peres' office said.   Palestinian officials said the Israeli government had barred Arafat from overflying Israel in a Palestinian helicopter to the West Bank in an attempt to bar the meeting with Peres.   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused opposition leader Peres, who he defeated in May elections, of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority to conduct peace talks. 
1367 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   SABAH   - EgyptAir Boeing 707 skids off the runway and hits taxi at Istanbul airport.   Only 18 passengers were injured in the accident.   - Energy minister plans visit to Libya -- another country on the U.S. black list -- after recent visit to Iran which angered the United States.   MILLIYET   - Conservative coalition partner True Path Party (DYP) concerned about losing its grassroots support to new party being formed by dissidents who quit the DYP.   HURRIYET   - Energy minister says Turkey proposes equal sharing of water resources between Iraq, Syria and Turkey.   CUMHURIYET   - Petroleum products prices rise by five percent.   YENI YUZYIL   - Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan gearing up to support Islamic Movement Party in Kurdish-held northern Iraq.   DUNYA   - Alarm bells ringing for the thread industry as stock piles up.   ZAMAN   - Erbakan says trade relations with Asia will increase after his ten-day tour there. 
1368 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Three Afghan guards brought to the United Arab Emirates last week by Russian hostages who escaped from the Taleban militia will return to Afghanistan in a few days, the Afghan embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Thursday.   "Our ambassador is in touch with the UAE foreign ministry.   Their return to Afghanistan will take place in two or three days," an embassy official said.   "The embassy is issuing them travel documents for their return to their homeland.   There is no objection to their travel," he added.   The three Islamic Taleban guards were overpowered by seven Russian aircrew who escaped to UAE state Sharjah last Friday on board their own aircraft after a year in the captivity of Taleban militia in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.   The UAE said on Monday it would hand over the three to the International Red Crescent, possibly last Tuesday.   It has since been silent on the issue.   When asked whether the three guards would travel back to Kandahar or the Afghan capital Kabul, the embassy official said: "That has not been decided, but possibly Kandahar."   Kandahar is the headquarters of the opposition Taleban militia.   Kabul is controlled by President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government, which Taleban is fighting to overthrow.   The embassy official said the three men, believed to be in their 20s, were currently in Abu Dhabi.   He did not elaborate.   The Russians, working for the Aerostan firm in the Russian republic of Tatarstan, were taken hostage after a Taleban MiG-19 fighter forced their cargo plane to land in August 1995.   Taleban said its shipment of ammunition from Albania was evidence of Russian military support for Rabbani's government.   Moscow said the crew's nationality was coincidental.   Numerous diplomatic attempts to free the seven failed.   The Russians, who said they overpowered the guards -- two armed with Kalashnikov automatic rifles -- while doing regular maintenance work on their Ilyushin 76 cargo plane last Friday, left the UAE capital Abu Dhabi for home on Sunday. 
1369 !GCAT !GDIP  Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has told visiting Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky that Baghdad wanted to maintain "friendship and cooperation" with Moscow, official Iraqi newspapers said on Thursday.   "President Saddam Hussein stressed during the meeting Iraq's keenness to maintain friendship and cooperation with Russia," the papers said.   They said Zhirinovsky told Saddam before he left Baghdad on Wednesday that his Liberal Democratic party and the Russian Duma (parliament) "are calling for an immediate lifting of the embargo" imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.   Zhirinovsky said on Tuesday he would press the Russian government to help end U.N. trade sanctions on Iraq and blamed Moscow for delaying establishment of good ties with Baghdad.   "Our stand is firm, namely we are calling on (the Russian) government to end the economic embargo on Iraq and resume trade ties between Russia and Iraq," he told reporters.   Zhirinovsky visited Iraq twice in 1995.   Last October he was invited to attend the referendum held on Iraq's presidency, which extended Saddam's term for seven more years. 
1370 !GCAT !GCRIM  The Sheikh of al-Azhar, Egypt's leading authority on Islamic affairs, said in an interview published on Thursday that an Egyptian court was right to divorce a university professor on grounds of apostasy.   The only way back for academic Nasr Abu Zeid was to renounce his writings in public, Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi told the London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat.   The Court of Cassation upheld earlier this month a ruling annulling Abu Zeid's marriage, against the wishes of Abu Zeid and his wife, because of his writings on interpretations of the Moslem holy book the Koran.   The case has become a cause celebre in the ideological battle between Islamic traditionalists and advocates of human rights and intellectual freedom.   "The judiciary in this case followed the rules of Islamic law," the sheikh said.   "The verdict is now binding and the case is closed.   The judiciary has annulled the marriage and the couple must separate.   By this ruling, he has been separated from her and she from him and if one dies, the other cannot inherit," he added.   Asked if Abu Nasr could repent, the sheikh said: "This depends on whether he comes again and declares that he dissociates himself from everything he has written."   It would not be enough for Abu Zeid merely to repeat the Moslem profession of faith if he also made blasphemous remarks on the Koran, the sheikh added.   Abu Zeid and his wife, fellow academic Ibtihal Younis, have taken refuge in the Netherlands and human rights group say their lives could be in danger if they came home to Egypt.   Younis has said that she and her husband will continue to fight against the court's verdict.   The professor, like other liberal Moslems, has upset the traditionalists by analysing the political factors behind the development of orthodox Islam.   He says references in the Koran to some supernatural phenomena should be read as metaphors.   Asked if the ruling would not close the door to new interpretations in Islam, the sheikh said he welcomed innovation where innovation was permissible.   "But if someone came and said that the sun rises in the west rather than the east, we wouldn't call this new interpretation.   There can be innovation only in peripheral matters, not in aspects of religion which are necessarily permanent," he said. 
1371 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Tunisian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LA PRESSE   - President Ben Ali discusses with Palesinian leader Yasser Arafat obstacles facing the Palestinian cause in light of the new Israeli government's hardline policy.   LE TEMPS   - Tunisia names new heads for state-run firms in transports, industry and agriculture.   - President Ben Ali recommends to ease proceedings at ports and airports to facilitate trade exchanges. 
1372 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in remarks published on Thursday Iran was helping radical Palestinian groups in plans to overthrow the Palestinian Authority by military operations and assassinations.   Iranian officials and Palestinian and Islamist militant groups discussed the plans at recent meetings in Tehran, Abbas told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat.   "The Palestinian Authority has recently received information and reports that Iran is planning with extremist Palestinian organisations to carry out military operations and assassination attempts on the Palestinian Authority and its leaders with the aim of deposing it," he added.   The newspaper said Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, declined to say where the information came from.   Abbas, one of the architects of the self-rule agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, said last week that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had already faced several assassination attempts in recent weeks.   Arafat is the head of the Palestinian Authority, the self-rule body which runs Gaza and the West Bank.   "There were several attempts.   Arafat's life is always in danger, from individuals, from organisations against peace, and from countries opposed to the agreement," he told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.   He did not elaborate. 
1373 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Saudi Arabian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-RIYADH   - Education ministry builds seven educational projects worth 56 million riyals.   - Riyad Bank shares lead trading in the Saudi stock market.   ARAB NEWS   - Saudi exports to South Korea rose to $5.43 billion in 1995 from $3.82 billion in 1994.   Saudi imported goods from South Korea worth $1.1 billion in 1995, up from $878 million in 1994.   - Saudi labor law under review.   - Saudi Cement Company receives ISO certificate for quality.   - Saudi banks suspend ATM cards for excessive users. 
1374 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  An Iraqi Kurdish guerrilla group denied on Thursday accusations by a rival militia that Iran was lending it military support in fighting between northern Iraq's Kurds.   "(The allegations) are absolutely unfounded and false.   This is a desperate attempt to confuse the facts of the situation," the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said in a statement.   The rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said on Wednesday that Iranian artillery had killed or wounded about 100 people in daily bombardments of Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq this week in support of the PUK.   Fresh fighting between the Kurdish groups broke out at the weekend, shattering a ceasefire brokered by the United States early last year.   The PUK, led by Jalal Talabani, repeated a charge that the Iraqi government was aiding the KDP in the fighting.   "The KDP's latest escalation of the conflict was achieved with weaponry and military assistance it has received from Saddam Hussein's regime," the statement said.   The clashes are taking place in a Kurdish enclave protected from Baghdad by a U.S.-led air force based in southern Turkey since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War.   Washington on Wednesday urged the rival Kurdish parties to stop fighting and accept a U.S. invitation to peace talks in London.   Northern Iraq has been split into rival Kurdish zones since fighting broke out between the two groups in 1994.   Around 3,000 people died until the ceasefire last March. 
1375 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Jordanian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   JORDAN TIMES   - King urges dialogue, efforts to protect democracy, meets parliamentarians from south, reviews situation after bread price riots.   - Life largely normal in Karak, residents seek end to curfew.   - Government minister Shneikat won't quit cabinet despite disagreement over way government raised bread prices.   - Authorities start releasing detainees arrested in bread riots after questioning.   - King says Jordan depends on its workers to build itself and achieve self-reliance.   AL RAI   - Deputies and senators of southern governates confirm loyalty of residents to Hashemite leadership.   - 208,000 bounced cheques worth 216.7 million dinars.   AD DUSTOUR   - Amman governor denies granting permission to stage "march of one million hungry" called by Islamic Action Front on Friday.   - Prime Minister Kabariti meets trade union council on Thursday.   - Amman prosecutor detains chief editor of Al-Bilad weekly and reporter at magazine.   AL ASWAQ   - Investors expect upward trend in Amman Financial Market to continue.   - Opposition deputies call on government to engage in real dialogue.   - Start of project to set up peace park in Aqaba.   ($=0.7080 dinar) 
1376 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Jordan's King Hussein will meet members of the lower house of parliament on Thursday to help contain the country's worst unrest since 1989, officials said.   The king has vowed an "iron fist" policy to counter unrest and suspended the summer session of parliament, where many deputies opposed the government decision to double bread rises that sparked last week's trouble in the poor southern region of the kingdom.   "We have invited 80 deputies to attend the meeting with his majesty in the royal palace," a parliamentary official told Reuters.   The 23 deputies who threatened to boycott parliamentary sessions until the government withdrew its decision to raise bread prices will also attend, he said.   King Hussein, seeking to show his authority, summoned deputies and senators from the south on Wednesday and told them "scoring points against each other had to stop...and loyalty had to be to this country". 
1377 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Cyprus press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   ALITHIA   - Cyprus Airways says liberalisation of charter flights from Gatwick will be catastrophic for airline.   - Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry votes in favour of liberalisation of interest rates.   CHARAVGHI   - Agriculture minister meeting representative of fishermen's committee on Thursday; urgent need to face up to serious problems of coastal fishing.   - Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs requests direct talks with Greece on Cyprus problem.   CYPRUS MAIL   - Amnesty International calling on U.N. to establish effective commission of inquiry on missing persons.   - Greek foreign minister calls on Iran to mediate in Cyprus problem.   PHILELEFTHEROS   - United Nations, Washington and London insist on meeting between Cyprus President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash.   - Central bank will prepare parliamentary bill on changes in supervision of commercial banking affairs to comply with European Union.   SIMERINI   - United States and Turkey show concern over new miliary equipment ordered for Cyprus. 
1378 !GCAT !GPOL  Palestinians accused Israel's right-wing government of barring Yasser Arafat from flying by helicopter to the West Bank on Thursday for a meeting with former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres.   "The Palestinian side was informed that Arafat won't be allowed to fly to Ramallah because he was supposed to meet Peres later in the day," a senior Palestinian security source in the West Bank town of Ramallah told Reuters.    Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused opposition Labour party leader Peres of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority, of personally barring the flight.   An Israeli army spokesman quoted Herzl Getz, chief of Israel's Security Liaison Committee with the Palestinians, as saying all technical details relating to the flight, which must overfly Israeli territory, had been approved by the military.   "We are still waiting for permission from the political level," the spokesman quoted Getz as saying.   There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office.   A Palestinian security source described Palestinian President Arafat as "furious" over the alleged Israeli ban. 
1379 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the official Iraqi press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THAWRA   - Iraq's President Saddam Hussein meets with chairman of the Russian liberal democratic party Vladimir Zhirinovsky.   - Turkish foreign minister says Turkey will take part in the Baghdad trade fair that will be held in November.   IRAQ   - A shipload of 12 tonnes of rice arrives in Umm Qasr port in the Gulf. 
1380 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Kuwaiti press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   AL-SEYASSAH   - Jordanian information minister says resumption of ties with Kuwait requires a decision by Kuwait.   Kuwait's relations with Jordan went frosty due to Amman's sympathy with Baghdad during its occupation of the Gulf state.   - Deputy Adnan Abdul-Samad says expenses involved in government projects exceeds that of similar private sector projects.   AL-QABAS   - Deputy Jamaan al-Azmi says parliamentary panel is expected to reject a proposed law that would give women the vote.   - Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Comapny reports 17.9 million dinars ($59.8 million) profit in 1994/95 after a loss of 3.8 million dinars in 1993/94.   ARAB TIMES   - Political groupings in Kuwait should discuss their agendas openly to help to develop their role and to help to dilute tribal and sectarian tendencies in the country's political life, member of parliament Ali al-Baghli says. 
1381 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the Bahraini press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AYAM   - More than 8,000 families received social insurance in the first half of 1996.   - Bahrain's gross domestic product rose to $4.36 billion in 1995 from about $4.30 billion in 1994.   AKHBAR AL-KHALEEJ   - Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammad says will develop various ministry installations to provide more security for citizens.   - Construction of a third causeway linking Mina Salman with the proposed new port in Hidd to start next year.   GULF DAILY NEWS   - Health care set for a new era.   Bahrain plans to build two new health centres at a cost of 2.5 million dinars.   - 300 to attend key banking conference in Bahrain on October 27.   - More efforts urged to care for elderly. 
1382 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Egyptian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-AHRAM   - Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri announced that the next cabinet meeting, on the first Wednesday of September, would discuss the new single investment law after it has been studied at all levels.   The aim of the law is to bring together all the laws governing investment activity in one law.   - It has been decided to sell 75 percent of the shares in eight new industrial companies working in the milling, textiles, housing and mining sectors, starting from next month, Public Enterprise Minister Atef Obeid said.   - President Hosni Mubarak meets Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda today and the minister brief him on the plans Egypt and Japan have agreed for a bridge across the Suez Canal, which Japan will finance.   - Presidential adviser Osama el-Baz said the economic conference opening in Cairo on November 12 should convince the Israelis that it is in their interests to meet the Arabs halfway on a basis of justice and equality.  .   He said he hoped that Israeli policy would gradually change.   - 120 passengers survive EgyptAir accident in Istanbul.   AL-AKHBAR   - Foreign Minister Amr Moussa will visit Tunis next week with a letter for Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.   - Transport Minister Suleiman Metwalli said 37 companies had bought the documents on the BOT airport project for Mersa Alam on the Red Sea coast.   The deadline for bids for the project is the end of September.   - It has been decided to carry out an urgent plan to develop the mental hospitals at Abbasiya, Khanka and Helwan.   - An Iraqi trade delegation will visit Egypt in early September to discuss Iraqi requirements for Egyptian medicines.   AL-GOMHURIA   - The ministerial privatisation committee will soon discuss offering eight state companies for sale next month.   The shares on offer would have a value of about 900 million pounds ($290 million), Atef Obeid said.   $1 = 3.40 pounds 
1383 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Beirut press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AN-NAHAR   -Confrontation is escalating between Hizbollah and the government.   -Prime Minister Hariri: Israeli threats do no serve peace.   AS-SAFIR   -Parliament Speaker Berri: Israel is preparing for war against Syria and Lebanon.   -Parliamentary battle in Beirut.  .  The three main lists have been prepared.   AL-ANWAR   -Continued criticism of law violation incidents -- which occurred in the Mount Lebanon elections last Sunday.   AD-DIYAR   -Financial negotiations between Lebanon and Pakistan.   -Hariri to step into the election battle with an incomplete list.   NIDA'A AL-WATAN   -Maronite Patriarch Sfeir expressed sorrow over the violations in Sunday' elections. 
1384 !GCAT !GDIP  Syria accused Israel on Thursday of putting unacceptable preconditions on resuming peace talks that steer the process away from its previously agreed basis of exchanging land for peace.   "Syria does not put preconditions but the government of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is the side that puts conditions...when it demanded to give up the basis of the peace process...and that the Israeli occupation remains on the Golan," the ruling party newspaper al-Baath said.   "If the government of Netanyahu is really interested in entering peace talks within its framework and on its agreed basis, it should enter from the door which Syria has opened, that is to resume talks from the point of last February, when the talks were suspended," al-Baath added.   Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel radio on Wednesday that Israel asked Washington to pass a message to Syria that it wanted peace and was ready to begin negotiations without preconditions.   Talks between Syria and Israel were suspended following a wave of Moslem suicide attacks in Israel in February and March when Damascus refused to condemn the attacks.   Prospects for the resumption of the talks were dimmed further with the May election of Netanyahu, who has publicly opposed his predecessor's policy of returning conquered Arab land for peace. 
1385 !GCAT  These are some of the leading stories in the United Arab Emirates press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   AL-ITTIHAD   - UAE President Sheikh Zaid receives a message from Russian President Boris Yeltsin thanking him for help in returning seven Russian airmen who escaped from captivity in Afghanistan.   - UAE furniture market valued at three billion dirhams this year, 20 percent of it manufactured locally.   AL-KHALEEJ   - Labour Ministry preparing comprehensive plan to employ UAE nationals in private sector.   - Half of Abu Dhabi's newly established Al-Khazna Insurance shares subscribed in only two days.   GULF NEWS   - UAE effort to check credit card fraud pays off; Fraud falls sharply to $200,000 from about $4 million in 1995.   - Dubai's Jebel Ali firm wins major contract to build paint shop for UK's Jaguar.   KHALEEJ TIMES   - Labour Ministry to set up computer network.   - Coalition force in Saudi Arabia relocates headquarters from Riyadh.   - Russia's Don Airline begins Dubai flights. 
1386 !GCAT !GDIP  The Clinton administration has put out feelers to Nigeria in an attempt to engage the country's military rulers in a discussion of human rights and democracy, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.   They said Rep. Bill Richardson, who has undertaken similar missions to other countries, visited the West African state on Aug. 18-20 as a White House envoy.   During his stay, the New Mexico Democrat spent two hours on Monday night with army ruler Gen. Sani Abacha, Richardson's press secretary, Stu Nagurka, said.   Nagurka told Reuters early indications were that progress was slow but said later the congressman had "made headway on human rights issues" and had engaged the Nigerians in "a positive dialogue."   The decision to send Richardson appeared to reflect U.S. hopes of building on faint signs of progress toward democracy in Africa's most populous state.   Richardson's officially sanctioned trip also contrasted with a heavily criticized private visit by Illinois Democratic Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, who denied at a news conference on Tuesday that her chief of staff had quit over the affair.   State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said the administration had not been advised of her trip to Nigeria or asked to brief or assist her.   "We wish we'd had an opportunity to talk to her before she went, but we didn't," he said.   "Had she made some time and come and talked to us before she went, we could have explained to her what our policy is toward the Abacha regime and toward Nigeria," Davies told a news briefing.   "It's always better if senior people from the government, regardless of branch, speak with one voice."   Richardson, by contrast, "was delivering the message that we've delivered to Abacha and his cronies since they came to power ... that they must cease what they're doing on the human rights front, which is a complete lack of respect for human rights," Davies said.   "The Nigerian government has shown some slight signs of an interest in a dialogue with the United States, and so we thought it was important to have somebody go out," he added.   Another official said Richardson's mission was "to explore the possibilities for starting a meaningful dialogue with Nigeria."   "The Nigerians claim to be serious about human rights," the official, who asked not to be identified, said.   "We're trying to see how serious they are."   The official said Nigeria had released some detainees and was moving toward a transition to democracy.   "They've taken some good first steps, but there's a lot still to be done," he said.   Officials said Richardson, whose office said he was visiting Peru on Wednesday, had not yet formally briefed the administration on his Nigeria trip.   Abacha, who seized power after a presidential election was annulled in 1993, has set out a timetable to restore democracy by late 1998.   But Nigeria became a pariah after nine activists of the Ogoni people, led by poet Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed for murder last November, provoking international protests and the country's suspension from the Commonwealth.   The Abacha government has been condemned by black American organizations, including the influential Transafrica lobbying group.   The Clinton administration has imposed some sanctions on Nigeria but has held back from a ban on oil imports.   Richardson acted on several previous occasions as an envoy to countries with which Washington has strained or nonexistent relations, including North Korea and Iraq. 
1387 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  TWA Flight 800 sustained an explosion in the centre fuel tank area, but it was unclear if that was the primary explosion that brought the plane down or a secondary blast, the lead investigator said on Thursday.   Robert Francis, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in an interview on CNN that evidence such as the condition of the seats over the centre tank showed an explosion occurred in that area.   "We've decided we can say that, and how it came about ... whether it was primary or secondary or whatever is part of the remaining puzzle that we haven't put together yet," he said.   The Paris-bound Boeing 747 exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island, New York, on July 17, killing all 230 people on board.   Investigators have said there was no definitive evidence to indicate whether a bomb, missile or mechanical failure caused the fiery crash.   Francis said another body had been found, bringing the total of those recovered to 209.   He said he hoped more bodies would be retrieved as the recovery vessel Grasp was still working over an area that contained a lot of wreckage.   "One hates to be too optimistic and one doesn't want to get peoples' hopes up too much, but I think as long as we're dealing with a major area of wreckage which is still under Grasp, that there's hope we'll find some more," he said.   He said he was uncertain how long it would take the Grasp to bring up the wreckage.   Francis said in a CNN interview on Wednesday that the noise heard on the cockpit voice recorder was unlike the noise detected when Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 or in other aircraft disasters.   Francis said experts in Washington did not expect to learn anything more from the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder. 
1388 !GCAT !GDEF !GHEA !GVIO  A U.S. Defence Department study says American troops might have been exposed to chemical weapons at the start of the 1991 Gulf War, The New York Times reported on Thursday.   The Pentagon report is seen as a likely boost for thousands of ailing veterans who claim they were affected by chemical weapons during the conflict.   The study said chemical weapons were detected up to seven times in the first week of the war near staging areas in northern Saudi Arabia, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops were housed.   The Defence Department said it still had no conclusive evidence that American soldiers were ever exposed to Iraqi chemical weapons.   However, the report said the Pentagon was "further exploring the plausibility" that small amounts of chemical agents passed over American troops after U.S. bombers destroyed Iraqi arms depots and factories north of staging areas near the Saudi city of Hafr al-Batin.   The report pulls together information from intelligence reports and other government studies, some of them made public earlier by the Defence Department.   The Defence Department until recently had insisted it had no evidence that Americans were exposed to chemical weapons.   It was not clear why the Defence Department officials had not compiled the information before in a public report, given the intense interest of thousands of ill Gulf War veterans and the fact that the information has existed in Pentagon records for years, the newspaper said.   Scientists and health officials in the Defence Department acknowledge that little is known about the long-term health effects of exposure to trace amounts of chemical weapons, like those that were detected.   More than 60,000 Gulf War veterans have asked for special government health screenings to determine if they suffer from ailments related to the war. 
1389 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  No significant cold is in sight in Brazil's coffee areas, private forecaster Weather Services Corp. said.   Its forecast is mostly fair to partly cloudy weather with a chance of isolated afternoon thundershowers in a few areas Thursday and Friday.   Temperatures are likely to average above normal with lows in the 50s and 60s, possibly cooler in higher elevations.   Little change is foreseen on Saturday-Monday. 
1390 !C12 !C15 !C151 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  BioWhittaker Inc said a jury found for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co and 3M Diagnostic Systems Inc on all counts in BioWhittaker's suit against 3M.   In a statement late on Wednesday, BioWhittaker said because of the decision the company would take a one-time charge against earnings of about $3.4 million reflecting legal expenses arising from the suit.   BioWhittaker brought suit against 3M alleging that 3M was in breach of the 1991 Asset Purchase Agreement by which 3M sold to the company its clinical diagnostic testing products for the detection of various allergens.   In addition, the company alleged that 3M made certain misrepresentations concerning the existence of a European counterpart to one of the U.S. patents included in the purchased assets.   Further details were not immediately available.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1391 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  Despite his open disdain for some of its elements, President Bill Clinton Thursday signs a welfare reform measure into law that will fundamentally change how poor people are treated in the United States.   Several state governors, members of Congress and some "welfare success stories" -- people who have gotten off public assistance -- are to attend a White House Rose Garden ceremony where Clinton will sign the politically popular legislation.   Known as the Personal Responsibilty and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, the Republican-backed bill ends the 61-year-old federal guarantee of aid to the poor and gives states broad power to design their own welfare programmes.   Clinton, who promised in his 1992 bid for the presidency to "end welfare as we know it," said in July he would sign the bill despite its "serious flaws" because it offered a chance to wean millions of Americans from a cycle of dependency.   Some of his Democratic supporters sharply criticised his decision, arguing that the bill would hurt children and throw hundreds of thousands into poverty.   Many analysts viewed his decision to sign it as the latest in a series of moves toward the political centre before the Nov. 5 presidential election.   In a new book entitled "Between Hope and History: Meeting America's Challenges for the 21st Century," Clinton writes that parts of the bill "are just plain wrong."   Particularly offensive to him are cuts in child nutrition assistance that will hit working families and the cutting off of assistance to legal immigrants.   "We will be refining this reform for some time to come," Clinton says in the book, a 178-page campaign manifesto that reaches stores this week, just in time for the fall campaign.   Aides have said Clinton is likely to call for tax breaks for businesses that hire people off the welfare rolls in a speech to the Deocratic convention in Chicago next week.   Enactment of welfare reform caps a series of bill-signings this week that could help Clinton win re-election.   On Tuesday, Clinton signed a 90-cent raise in the minumum wage, which will increase the pay of 10 million workers.   That was followed Wednesday with his signing of a measure that will help millions of Americans with health insurance hold on to it when they become ill or change jobs. 
1392 !GCAT !GODD !GPRO  Miss Universe Alicia Machado returned to the public spotlight on Wednesday night under intense scrutiny over alleged weight problems but kept silent on whether she was ordered to get back in shape or risk losing her crown.   Dressed in a black strapless evening gown, Machado attended the 1996 Miss Teen USA pageant in the southern New Mexico town of Las Cruces.   While clearly heavier than the other beauty queens on stage, the 19-year-old Venezuelan who won Miss Universe in May looked well and appeared relaxed.   Organisers kept Machado well away from reporters and the general public, but she scored rave reviews from most people attending the pageant and its dress rehearsals.   "Well, she is bigger than the other girls out there but she still looks great," said local resident Ann Gardner.   "She's a really fabulous girl."   Machado came under pressure on Monday when officials of the Miss Venezuela Organisation said she was given an ultimatum by Miss Universe organisers to shed 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk having her title taken away.   But Martin Brooks, president of Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc, said on Wednesday the claim was "totally untrue" and that he had no idea where it came from.   Brooks spoke with Machado to assure her that organisers were not putting pressure on her and said she was well used to close public scrutiny in Venezuela, which takes its reputation as the world's beauty queen capital very seriously.   "She's fine with it.   She wished, as we all did, that it hadn't happened but she's spiritually and mentally terrific.   There's no problem whatsoever," he told Reuters.   At 5 feet 7 inches (1.73 meters) tall, Machado weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) in Las Vegas in May when she became the fourth Venezuelan to win the Miss Universe title.   People close to her said she gained some weight after the pageant by indulging a passion for pasta and cake, but it was still not clear on Wednesday how many pounds she has put on.   Most people who saw her said she was still far from fat.   "It's her body, her deal.   She won the crown and they shouldn't take it away from her just for putting on a few pounds," said Autumn Smith, the reigning Miss Alabama USA and a contestant for Miss USA next year.   The 1996 Miss Teen USA Pageant was broadcast nationwide and was won by Christie Lee Woods, an 18-year-old Texan.   In an ironic twist, most of the advertisements shown during the pageant were for products helping women to lose weight.   Brooks said he had received calls from a couple of fans angered at what they believed were efforts to force Machado onto a radical diet.   Organisers have always denied claims from some quarters that beauty pageants are glorified meat markets by stressing the importance of personality and "inner beauty".   This week's controversy recalled that of Vanessa Williams, who became the first black winner of the Miss America pageant in 1984 but was stripped of the title after nude photos of her with another woman appeared in Penthouse magazine. 
1393 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following front page stories on August 22:   ---   WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton is scheduled to sign an executive order on Friday putting into effect proposals to regulate tobacco products to curb underage smoking.   ---   WASHINGTON - With several key Democratic constituencies furious over his decision to sign the welfare reform bill, Clinton is considering how to soften the measure's impact and soothe party relations at next week's convention.   ---   MOSCOW - Russian national security chief Alexander Lebed promises Chechen leaders that he will stop Russian military commanders who have threatened an all-out attack on Grozny.   ---   WASHINGTON - High school enrollment will rise sharply over the next 10 years as the children of baby boomers reach adolesence and one of the effects could be increased competition to get into college.   ---   WASHINGTON - In the air wars of tomorrow, the Pentagon expects U.S. fighters to remain largely invisible to tracking radar and has embarked on an ambitious overhaul of the nation's air combat force.   ---   JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's last apartheid president Frederik de Klerk aplogised to the nation's truth commission for the "pain and suffering" caused by the system of racial separatism.   ---   AMERICUS, Georgia - Habitat for Humanity has quietly become a major charity and homebuilder, putting up 3,190 homes in the United States in 1995 and 10,155 worldwide. 
1394 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following business stories on Thursday:   * Lloyd's of London is on the brink of getting a new lease on life.   * Yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rises to its highest point in three weeks, boosted by concerns that the Federal Reserve might still raise interest rates this year.   The 30-year bond was down 14/32 to a price of 99 to yield 6.83 percent, up from 6.79 percent on Tuesday.   * Cost-cutting pays off as Kmart Corp reports a profit.   * Corporate bond market is booming.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 31.44 points to 5,689.82.   The Nasdaq composite index closes at 1,126.84, up 2.17 points.   * Study finds that Proscar, a prostate medication made by Merck and Co Inc, is ineffective.   However, Abbott Laboratories Inc's Hytrin significantly eased men's discomfort, the findings showed.   * President Bill Clinton will approve curbs on cigarette marketing to youths.   * Venture capital firm forms $100 million fund to invest in software and related products based on the Java programming language.   * AT&T Corp awards extra responsibilities to Young & Rubicam and True North Communications Inc's CFCB/Leber Katz Partners ad agencies in a decision that could generate billings of at least $100 million.   * British financial executives are worried about what will happen if Britain does not join the European Monetary Union.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1395 !GCAT  The New York Times reported the following stories on its front page on Thursday:   * U.S. Defense Department says it is exploring the "plausibility" that American troops were exposed to Iraqi nerve gas during the Gulf War.   * The man accused of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center defends himself against charges of plotting to blow up U.S. airliners in Asia.   * Kremlin leaders joust with Russian army over Chechnya.   * Late baseball great Mickey Mantle's legend lives on through marketing.   * President Bill Clinton is set to approve curbs on cigarette marketing to youths.   * Oil companies buy an army to tame Colombia's rebels.   * Christians wrestle with question of whether non-believers can be saved.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1396 !GCAT  The Washington Post carried the following business stories on August 22:   ---   NEW YORK - The threat of new federal regulation and more lawsuits sent tobacco stocks down sharply.   ---   WASHINGTON - Mayor Marion Barry's administration is trying to work out a tax deferment agreement with the Bureau of National Affairs Inc. to keep the newsletter publisher from moving to the suburbs.   ---   WASHINGTON - Hechinger Co, the home improvement retailer based in Landover, reported a second-quarter profit of $12.2 million.   ---   BUDAPEST - Hungary's largest fun park, beset by the country's socialist legacy and a new era, is for sale.   ---   WASHINGTON - The International Trade Commission ruled that Japanese and German manufacturers violated trade laws by selling large printing presses to U.S. publishers at below-market prices.   --- 
1397 !GCAT !GODD !GSCI  When Russian cosmonauts leave the Mir station on a spacewalk they tell their U.S. crewmate: "You're in charge, but don't touch the controls."   Astronaut Shannon Lucid, who has spent five months aboard Mir, described being left alone aboard the sprawling Russian space outpost in a recent e-mail to her friends and colleagues at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.   Cosmonauts Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev have made five spacewalks since Lucid arrived on Mir in March.   Before they first ventured outside they joked that while they were away Lucid was in command of the 10-year-old space complex, but they were taking no chances.   "Just before time to enter the hatch, Yuri takes a big piece of red tape and puts it across the communication controls that I am absolutely not to touch while they are outside," wrote Lucid in the letter which was circulated at the space centre here.   Lucid, a veteran of five space shuttle flights and now NASA's most experienced astronaut, said she felt no resentment.   "If I were ... leaving a foreigner in my spacecraft all alone, I would wrap the entire place up in red tape," wrote the 53-year-old mother of three.   However, thanks to a mistake in the station's larder, Lucid got the last laugh.   When the two men finished an exhausting spacewalk in July, she had what she thought was their favourite fruit juice waiting for them.   "(Yuri) eagerly grabbed it with a huge smile of thanks, which immediately turned into a horrible grimace as a glob of catsup squirted into his mouth.   Yes, I had mistakenly gotten the wrong tube.   They all look pretty much alike." 
1398 !GCAT !GCRIM  Kilos of cocaine and packets of marijuana are scattered on tables down the hall from a walk-in closet housing an arsenal with everything from homemade handguns to an anti-tank gun.   The scene is not the nerve centre of a drug trafficking cartel but just the opposite -- the crime lab of the Metro-Dade Police Department.   With Miami ensconced at the top of the FBI's list of most crime-ridden U.S. cities and a leading drug smuggling locale, the 55-member laboratory staff keeps busy with cases that show why southern Florida has been an inspiration for best-selling novels like Carl Hiaasen's "Strip Tease," made into a movie with Demi Moore this summer, and the hit 1980s television series "Miami Vice."   Scientists handle thousands of cases every year, analysing blood, bones and body parts, twisted pieces of metal wreckage, drugs, and bullets, guns and other weapons -- a workload as varied as the region itself, a mecca for retirees, tourists and immigrants and a centre for international finance and trade, both legitimate and illegitimate.   There was the innovative middle-aged woman who set up a lab-on-wheels to produce crack cocaine, drying cocaine in a microwave oven in the back of her van.   And the teenage drug seller who, after being acquitted on a technicality, asked the judge if he could have his pills back.   "He (the judge) just said, 'Get out of here,'" police spokesman Pat Brickman said.   There are new stories like a call to serologists this spring to examine animals allegedly killed by "chupacabras," the "goat sucker," a creature said to suck the blood of its animal victims that was reported in Puerto Rico, Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America before its alleged move to Miami.   The crime lab found the "chupacabras" wounds were inflicted by dogs.   Older stories include the forensic dentist on the staff who helped nail Ted Bundy, the notorious serial killer found guilty in 1979 after preying on young women at a University of Florida sorority house.   The weapons analysis section, where the tables of ballistics experts are stacked with small boxes of cartridges, includes a Finnish-made anti-tank gun taller than most men.   The shoulder-fired device, which is the largest weapon in the lab's collection, was seized about 20 years ago from a Cuban exile organisation whose members were training to invade their Communist-ruled homeland.   The lab handled about 12,000 drug cases in 1995 -- versus only about 1,000 in the early 1970s -- about 80 percent of them involving cocaine, and 80 percent of the cocaine cases involving crack cocaine.   "We are the gateway to the United States for drugs," said Robert DiMarys, an analyst who came to Miami from New York, where his assignments included the celebrated French Connection heroin investigation.   Although analysts now use millions of dollars of high-tech equipment unavailable two decades ago, the crime lab's drug caseload in recent years has reached what Supervisor Barry McCabe termed "pure torture."   "If it (the case load) spikes up again, I don't know what would happen," he said.   Analysts also handled about 9,000 weapons cases last year.   All of the laboratory's technicians are trained to testify in court.   DiMarys spoke matter-of-factly of one experience as he casually handled several packages of cocaine with a street value estimated at some $130,000 each.   "This may look like a lot ... but I once had a case with 208 of these," he said.   But the veteran analyst, standing in his white coat amid the high-tech equipment, noted that even that amount of evidence had not yielded a conviction.   "They threw it (the case) out.   The judge didn't like the arrest," he said. 
1399 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  The explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 occurred in the centre fuel tank area, the lead investigator into the disaster told a television interviewer on Wednesday.   Robert Francis, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, told Cable News Network there was no definitive evidence whether a bomb, missile or mechanical fault caused the Boeing 747 to explode into pieces and crash into the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island July 17, killing all 230 people on board.   "We're certainly saying that there was an explosion in that centre tank area," he said.   "I guess I wouldn't be more specific than that, but clearly there is damage to indicate that now."   Two weeks ago Francis said investigators were most interested in the middle section and engineers would rebuild that part first.   The area stretched from the aft part of the front of the plane to just behind the wings.   The remains of two more victims were recovered from the ocean in the past three days, bringing the total of those retrieved to 208, Francis said.   The flight abruptly ended 11.5 minutes after taking off from New York for Paris.   Francis also said in the CNN interview that the noise heard on the cockpit voice recorder was unlike the noise detected when Pan Am 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 or in other aircraft disasters.   Francis said experts in Washington did not expect to learn anything more from the cockpit voice recorder or the flight data recorder. 
1400 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Mexican immigrant convicted of killing a Houston police officer 14 years ago has left death row for a county jail and is awaiting a new trial after his conviction was thrown out, his lawyer said on Wednesday.   Attorney Scott Atlas said Ricardo Aldape Guerra had pleaded not guilty to the charge that he shot officer James Harris in 1982 when Harris stopped the car in which he was riding for speeding.   Aldape was moved to Harris County Jail on Wednesday when an order to hold a new trial from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans became official.   A new trial date has been set for Dec. 2, but prosecutors have not said if they will retry the case.   The court upheld last month a 1994 ruling by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt that Aldape's conviction should be overturned.   Aldape, for his part, remains a suspect and is still charged with the crime.   The judge has not set bond and Atlas said he was unlikely to do so amid fears that the Mexican would skip bail and flee across the border.   Hoyt said police and prosecutors manipulated evidence and intimidated witnesses to get a conviction without regard for the facts.   He said they became "merchants of chaos."   Aldape has said from the beginning that Harris was gunned down by Roberto Carrasco Flores, who was in the car with him.   Evidence at the scene appeared to support Aldape's story, but he was convicted and sentenced to death.   Carrasco died in a shootout with police.   Aldape became a cause celebre in Mexico where the government lobbied on his behalf and books, songs and movies chronicled his story.   Aldape, now 34, is from Monterrey, Mexico, but came to the United States illegally to find work before he ran afoul of the law. 
1401 !GCAT !GCRIM  Murderer Luis Mata was put to death by lethal injection early on Thursday for slashing the throat of a young Phoenix woman in 1977, prison officials said.   Mata, 45, had spent the last 19 years on death row for raping, beating and killing 21-year-old Debra Lee Lopez.   Her nearly decapitated body was left in a roadside ditch.   Officials said an apparently remorseful Mata died at 12:51 a.m. local time (0751 GMT) after receiving the fatal injection at the state prison complex.   Witnesses said the 45-year-old said "Tell everyone I'm sorry," before being administered the mixture of sodium pentothal, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.   He died 55 seconds later.   Mata's case was thrust into the public eye last year, when Arizona Gov. Fife Symington lashed out at the court system for allowing such cases to drag on.   With the murdered woman's parents at his side, the governor called on prison officials to start a hard labour programme that would punish death-row inmates like Mata.   Mata escaped death this week, when the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco stayed his execution on Tuesday.   But the decision was overturned by the U.S Supreme Court Wednesday.   He was the sixth person to be put to death since 1992, when Arizona resumed capital punishment after a 29-year absence. 
1402 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GENV  The Canadian Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favor of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd in dismissing an appeal from the environmental group Greenpeace, which had tried to stop logging on British Columbia's Clayoquot Sound.   Greenpeace challenged the use of sweeping injunctions banning unnamed persons from blocking roads that loggers were using, but the court ruled that the injunctions were acceptable.   The injunctions have expired, and Clayoquot Sound is now quiet, but experts said the case was relevant for possible future clashes between environmentalists and loggers.    "I conclude that the British Columbia Supreme Court has jurisdiction to make orders enjoining unknown persons from violating court orders," Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 9-0 decision.   "Such orders are enforceable on the long-standing principle that persons who are not parties to the action, but who violate an order of the court, may be found guilty of contempt for interfering with justice."   Between 1991 and 1993, more than 1,000 people were charged with criminal contempt of court and fined or sent to jail for trying to stop MacMillan Bloedel's clear-cutting on Clayoquot.    Clayoquot Sound is the site of an old-growth rain forest on Vancouver Island, and MacMillan Bloedel had government authority to log there despite concerns by groups such as Greenpeace about environmental damage.   "We believe the Canadian public will be surprised to find that they don't have the right to protect the public's forest," Greenpeace forest campaigner Tamara Stark said.   "We are disappointed the court has decided to protect private interests at the expense of the interests of the public."   She said Greenpeace would continue to campaign to end the logging of pristine rain forests, although she said there were no immediate plans to blockade roads.   -- Randall Palmer, Reuters Ottawa Bureau (613) 235-6745 
1403 !GCAT  The following are top headlines from selected Canadian newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE GLOBE AND MAIL:   - Premiers kill Ontario's plan: Smaller provinces balk at seeking end to federal role in social programs.   Canada's premiers dropped a controversial proposal calling for Ottawa to get out of social programs from their conference agenda yesterday after smaller provinces banded together to fight it.   - Charest makes tax cut a priority: Move could help unite Tories.   Progressive Conservative Leader Jean Charest is backing the idea of tax cuts -- a move that could take the edge off an economic-policy debate that had threatened to divide the rebuilding Tory ranks.   - Indians don't have rights to sell catch, court rules: Onus put on natives to prove history of commercial fishing.   - Lebed calls for ceasefire: Grozny ultimatum 'a bad joke'.   - Man who changed China just fading away.   Ailing recluse: Deng Xiaoping turns 92 today, but master reformer is largely forgotten.   Report on Business Section:   - Canadians offered slew of debt: Ottawa cutting reliance on foreign investors; financial institutions wary of competition.   - Consumers Distributing Inc to begin huge liquidation sale: Firm clearing out 129 stores set to close.   - Canadian Press to survive: Canada's largest newspapers will stay with news agency.   - Westcoast Energy Inc to lay off 300 in B.C., Alberta: Cites deregulation, rivalry, price cuts.   THE FINANCIAL POST:   - U.S. tries to undo dairy ruling: Washington won't take no for an answer after a NAFTA panel ruled against it in July and said Canada's high tarriffs on dairy and poulty imports are legal.   - Daewoo Corp to drive into crowded Canadian market.   -- Reuters Toronto Bureau 416 941-8100 
1404 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Maritrans Inc said Thursday it has filed suit against the United States government for taking 37 tank barges, citing the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which specifically prohibits the taking of private property for public use without just compensation.   Maritrans said it is seeking over $200 million in compensation.   The company said the vessels were taken with the passage of Section 4115 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90).    Section 4115 prohibits all existing single-hull tank barges from operating in U.S. waters unless the vessels are retrofitted with double hulls according to a retirement schedule which began January 1, 1995.   Martrans said that under this retirement schedule, its single-hulled tank barges will be forced from service starting January 1, 2003, with a significant portion of their economic lives remaining or required to be retrofitted.   A company spokesman told Reuters that no vessels have been physically taken.   He said that the value of the vessels have been "taken," in the sense that useful lives have been reduced to 10 years from 50 to 60 years.   In a press release, the company said that the Section 4115 mandate contrasts "greatly" with the useful lives it expected these vessels would have when the company made its investment in the fleet in 1987 and arranged for its financing. 
1405 !GCAT !GDEF  High-technology military incinerators began destroying nerve gas rockets at Tooele, Utah, on Thursday under a program to eliminate the entire U.S. chemical weapons arsenal by 2004.   The first M-55 GB nerve gas rocket was burned virtually to nothing at about 10 a.m.   EDT (1400 GMT), a defense official said.    He said the incinerators at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility might burn as many as 60 of the rockets during the day.   Tooele is the first of eight sites in the United States that are to join in destroying the entire U.S. arsenal of about 3.6 million chemical weapons by 2004.   Incinerators on the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific has been destroying them at a low rate since 1993 but Tooele and other sites on the mainland will destroy them in huge volumes, defense officials said. 
1406 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc said Thursday that a jury has rejected a number of shareholders' claims of securities fraud involving its drug, Virazole.   The federal jury in New York rejected seven allegations brought in connection with public statements made in 1986 and 1987.   On the remaining six claims, the jury was unable to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared, the company said.   The lawsuit alleged the company made misleading or false statements concerning the safety and efficacy of the drug.    The lawsuit sought $300 million in damages, but none was awarded, a spokesman for the company said.   Virazole is used to treat infants hospitalized with severe respiratory tract infections caused by respiratory syncytial virus.   Arnold Burns, defendants' chief trial counsel and a senior partner at Proskauer Rose Goetz & Mendelsohn LLP, said, they are are confident that they will ultimately prevail on all the remaining claims if plaintiffs choose to pursue them. 
1407 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Tosco Corp said Thursday that the crude unit at its 230,000 barrel per day (bpd) Bayway, New Jersey refinery was hardly damaged by a small fire there on Wednesday.   The plant, which added an SDA (solvent deasphalter) unit 10 days ago, experienced a small amount of damage to some measuring instruments, according to Dwight Wiggins, president of Tosco Refining.   "A guy was putting a pressure gauge on a small bleeder to do a pressure survey.   It started spewing hyrdocarbon and it was hot enough to catch fire," said Wiggins.    "The guy was kind of red in the face but it was less than first degree, he said.   The refinery has capacity to process between 240,000 and 250,000 barrels a day of crude oil and Wiggins noted that it recently added the 20,000 barrels a day SDA, which converts heavy no.   6 oil into feedstock for the catalytic cracker.   "We're real excited about it," said Wiggins.   The addition of the SDA unit means that only about 5,000 barrels a day of no.   6 oil is produced, which sells at a discount of more than $4 a barrel to crude, while an additional 15,000 barrels of more valuable feed for the cat cracker unit is produced.    The unit's cat cracker has capacity to process 140,000 to 145,000 barrels a day.   There is also a 30,000 bpd reformer unit and a 15,000 bpd alkylation section.   -- Tony McAuley, New York Energy Desk + 1 212 859 1620 
1408 !C17 !C24 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Nearly two-thirds of the voters in Florida's Dade County oppose the use of tax money to build a $165 million basketball arena for the Miami Heat, according to a Miami Herald poll published Thursday.   The poll of 613 registered Dade County voters showed 62.1 percent opposed the arena plan, 24.6 percent supported it and 13.2 percent were undecided.   The poll was conducted for the newspaper and NBC television Aug 15-18 and has an error margin of four percent.   The arena plan does not require voter approval, but Miami attorney Dan Paul is leading a petition drive to collect the 36,000 signatures needed to force a public referendum.   The facility would be financed with bonds issued by Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority.   The Heat agreed to pay $50 million and another $20 million would come from a sales tax rebate.   The remaining debt service would be paid from hotel bed tax revenues.   Knight-Ridder Chairman Tonny Ridder, who helped draft the arena plan, said the poll results were flawed because of the way the question was worded.   Respondents were told the arena plan would use public money from a tax on tourists and asked, "Do you support using public money or oppose using public money?"   "If people think that money is money that could be going for police protection or schools or some other purpose, then they might think they would rather have the money go to schools or whatever," Ridder said.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1409 !C13 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday it had reached agreement with the Food and Drug Administration on trial design and will launch three Phase II/III clinical trials for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma with Targretin, a retinoid subtype receptor selective agonist.   Ligand said that during meetings with the FDA in August, agreement was reached on the design and endpoints for two Phase II/III trials to evaluate orally administered Targretin capsules, and one Phase III trial to study Targretin gel for the topical treatment of CTCL. 
1410 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Rochester Gas and Electric Corp's 470 megawatt (MW) Ginna 1 nuclear unit is operating at full power following Tuesday's automatic shutdown, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said Thursday.   The unit, located in Ontario, N.Y., automatically tripped off line Tuesday afternoon when a feedwater valve failed to close, resulting in low water levels in a steam generator.   Rochester told Reuters on Wednesday that they expected to bring the plant back up by Thursday morning.   Ginna typically produces about half of the utility's power output.   -- New York Power Desk +212-859-1628 
1411 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Federal regulators are preparing to require changes in the flight controls systems of Boeing Co's 737, one of the world's most widely used airliners, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.   The Federal Aviation Administration plans to publish a series of new requirements for the airliner.   It became the focus of concern following unexplained crashes in Colorado and Pennsylvania.   A USAir 737 crash near Pittsburgh in 1994 killed 132 people and a United Airlines crash in Colorado Springs, Colo., killed 25.   Investigaors have been unable to determine the cause of either crash.   Weather may have been a factor in the first and there has been speculation about rudder control problems on the plans.   A five-month investigation last year into the control design of the twin-jet found no flaws that could be blamed on the accidents, the FAA said.   The study produced several recommendations for changes, though none was considered urgent.   Details of the changes were not immediately available.   A Transportation Department sources told the newspaper said as many as nine notices of proposed rule-making may be announced.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1412 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Campbell Soup Co has told employees that it plans staff cuts amid a sweeping review of the company's U.S. operations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.   The warning came in a recent internal newsletter reporting on the progress of the review, called "Resources for Growth."   The document said, "As work is eliminated as a result of this examination, there will be a need for fewer people."   It also said, "Currently, the Resources for Growth Team is carefully analyzing how we work and where functions should be eliminated."   The newsletter did not discuss the size of any cuts but said recommendations would be reviewed with staff heads this month.   Decisions will be made in September about staffing and other changes, the newsletter said.   A company spokesman confirmed the contents of the newsletter, which was obtained by the newspaper.   But he declined to comment on the possible timing or scope of any restructuring effort.   Campbell has been surrounded for weeks by speculation that it is preparing a major reorganization that analysts estimate could cost the firm about $100 million in restructuring charges. 
1413 !GCAT  Campbell Soup Co has told employees that it plans staff cuts amid a sweeping review of the company's U.S. operations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.   The warning came in a recent internal newsletter reporting on the progress of the review, called "Resources for Growth."   The document said, "As work is eliminated as a result of this examination, there will be a need for fewer people."   The newsletter did not discuss the size of any cuts but said recommendations would be reviewed with staff heads this month.   The newspaper also reported:   * Chateau Properties Inc says it has received another unsolicited offer to merge, this time a stock swap worth $150 million from Sun Communities Inc.   * The U.S. federal government's budget deficit widened to $27.1 billion in July.   * Merrill Lynch and Co Inc wants fund companies to pay more in its "supermarket" of no-load mutual funds.   * President Bill Clinton signs legislation designed to improve access to health insurance.   * Federal regulators are preparing to require changes in the flight control systems of the Boeing 737 airliner.   * Cost-cutting pays off as Kmart Corp reports a profit.   * The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 31.44 points to 5,689.82.   The Nasdaq composite index closes at 1,126.84, up 2.17 points.   * President Bill Clinton will approve curbs on cigarette marketing to youths.   * Rents for commercial office space jump 10 percent in first half of 1996.   * Economist Geoffrey Moore, a well-known business forecaster who was fired by Columbia University this year, is suing the university for more than $23 million.   * International Monetary Fund agrees to release $330 million for Russia.   * Fluor Corp's third-quarter earnings rise 13 percent on higher revenues.   -- New York newsroom, (212) 859-1610 
1414 !GCAT !GWEA  The center of Typhoon Niki has moved westward across southern Hainan, China, and is now in the Gulf of Tonkin.   Niki produced very heavy rain and damaging winds on Hainan, and is expected to bring similar conditions to northern Vietnam.   Landfall on the upper coast of Vietnam is expected in 12-18 hours.   Top winds, now near 95 mph, should be near 105 mph at the time of landfall.   Niki will also be a major threat to shipping from Hainan through the Gulf of Tonkin to Vietnam during this period.   Once Niki moves inland, it will rapidly weaken but heavy rainfall will likely produce flooding    Tropical Storm Dolly is centered about 80 miles west of Campeche, over water in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.   Top winds have increased to 40 mph and further strengthening will continue during today as Dolly continues to track west northwestward about 8 to 10 mph.   Dolly will be a threat to shipping, then the threat to land will increase as the storm heads for the upper coast of eastern Mexico.   Landfall is expected late Friday on the coast north of Tampico, Mexico.   Winds should be between 80 and 90 mph at the time of landfall.    Tropical Depression 19W, in the western Pacific northwest of the Mariana Islands, is drifting to the north and is expected to continue this motion during the next 36 hours.   Top winds, now 35 mph, may reach 45 mph as the system becomes a tropical storm during this period.   The threat to shipping is moderate.   Tropical Depression 5, 440 miles west southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, will likely intensify to a tropical storm during the next 12-18 hours as it tracks west northwestward.   This system remains a threat only to shipping at this time. 
1415 !C24 !CCAT !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  A proposal for a $200-million-plus, state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex in downtown Los Angeles has won the support of two key city council members, city officials said Wednesday.   "We are pleased to report that we are very enthusiastic about the concept of an arena at the Los Angeles Convention Center site and believe it will provide significant benefits to the city," Council President John Ferraro and Council member Rita Walters said in a letter to other councilmembers.   Under the proposal, Los Angeles would issue municipal bonds in the form of certificates of participation, lease revenue bonds or similar securities subject to annual appropriations.   The city would provide up to $70.5 million in bond proceeds to acquire properties and clear the site.   The city also would seek to structure the 27-year bonds as a tax-exempt issuance.   Payment would be supported by the city through annual appropriations.   Ernst & Young LLP estimated that the proposed arena could contribute over $200 million annually to the area economy.   The complex would house the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. 
1416 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Former U.S. Surgeon Gen. Jesse Steinfeld heads a list of health and smoking experts who may be called to testify in the state of Mississippi's landmark lawsuit against the U.S. tobacco industry, legal documents show.   A 40-member list of potential state witnesses obtained by Reuters on Wednesday also included market researchers, cancer specialists, public health experts and analysts capable of estimating the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.   State Attorney General Mike Moore called the list a "who's who" of scientists and doctors from across the country.   "They have volunteered to help us on this case," he said.   The list was turned over to tobacco attorneys last week as part of pre-trial discovery proceedings before Jackson County Chancery Judge William Myers in Pascagoula, Mississippi.   Moore said those listed also would likely testify in suits filed against tobacco companies by 12 other states.   Mississippi is seeking $940 million in damages from the tobacco industry as compensation for state Medicaid funds spent treating poor people for smoking-related illnesses since the 1960s.   The lawsuit contends that tobacco executives knew of smoking's health hazards and the addictiveness of nicotine as early as 1954 but concealed their research.   A trial is set for March 1997.   R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. attorney Daniel Donahue said the witnesses listed have a long history of involvement in tobacco issues but no connnection with any cigarette companies.   A corporate spokeswoman for the RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. tobacco unit described the witnesses as anti-tobacco activists, saying, "This is not an objective group where tobacco issues are concerned."   Steinfeld, who was surgeon general in 1970, marked his term of office with a call for a non-smoker's bill of rights.   Also on the list are:   -- Richard Peto, a medical statistics and epidemiology professor at Britain's Oxford University, who has done extensive studies on the link between smoking and death rates worldwide.   -- Dr. Neal Benowitz, a professor of medicine, psychiatry and pharmacy at the University of California at San Francisco and a recognized expert on nicotine addiction.   He has proposed Food and Drug Administration rules by which tobacco companies would have to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes over several decades.   -- Dr. Lester Breslow, former dean of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Public Health and past president of the American Public Health Association.   -- Dr. David Burns, a University of San Diego medical professor who has testified in previous lawsuits against the tobacco industry.   -- Dr. Donald Davis, director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.   -- Dr. Joseph Roland DiFranza of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, who has published studies linking smoking to miscarriages and linking the much-assailed R.J. Reyonlds cartoon character Joe Camel to smoking among youngsters. 
1417 !GCAT !GCRIM  Tens of thousands of Belgians attended an emotional memorial service on Thursday for two eight-year-old girls starved to death by a paedophile gang in a case that has shaken the country.   The bodies of Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune, accompanied by parents, were borne to Saint Martin basilica in the town of Liege in white coffins.   The cortege was led by fire engines decked with flowers.   As the coffins passed, onlookers crossed themselves and many wept.   There was respectful clapping for the mothers who wore white as a sign of hope and purity.   Postcards were handed to the crowd, saying, "We were eight-year-olds and full of dreams.   We thought life would be beautiful... you grown-ups - make us a better world."   Belgians across the country observed one minute of silence.   Police were led to the bodies of the girls, buried in a garden, by Marc Dutroux, 39, unemployed, and a father of three.   Two other girls held by him in a sealed cellar had been rescued earlier.   Ther girls had been buried along with an accomplice of Dutroux who had allowed the girls to die while in his charge.   Dutroux killed him in retaliation, police said.   Dutroux, in jail at the time for violent theft, is seen as the mastermind behind a kidnapping and child trafficking gang.   The national grief since the bodies were found last weekend surpassed the mourning after the death of the much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   One of the mourners, Anne-Marie Lamory of Bastogne in southern Belgium, told Reuters, "I am here for the poor parents of those martyred children.   The people who did this must be made to suffer...they too should die suffering...they are monsters."   After the service, broadcast live on radio and television across the nation, the girls will be buried privately.   Giant bouquets in pastel shades stood at the entrance of Saint Martin's.   There were wreaths from the Belgian government and King Albert and Queen Paola.   Shops in Liege closed for three hours and work in its large industrial zone came to a standstill.   Flags flew at half-mast.   An estimated 100,000 people attended the mass.   Support for the parents of Lejeune and Russo echoes a widespread campaign mounted to find them after their abduction in June 1995.   The mood was somber, but the anger about the cruel deaths of the girls, starving in a blocked-off cellar, has not abated.   An outraged 14-year-old Liegeoise Marie-Charles Orjet said: "I have not got the words to describe these people."   Eleven-year-old Sophie said: "I know this could happen to me even though I take care."   Two other young girls, An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, whom Dutroux has admitted kidnapping, are still missing.   The search for them has crossed borders.   Their parents and Michel Bourlet, public prosecutor in charge of the case, are hopeful they can be found alive.   An's parents and the mother of Eefje Lambrecks attended the service and were cheered and applauded by the crowd.   "I hope An and Eefje met Julie and Melissa somewhere and told them their parents were looking for them," Betty Marchal to television.   Sophisticated heat-seeking and radar equipment was being used to ensure no further bodies were hidden at Dutroux's various properties.   The machinery was used in the investigation into the "House of Horrors" murders in Gloucester, western England, in which more than a dozen women and girls were killed.   At least 15 children have vanished in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead.   Six are missing.   Only two have been rescued.   Police said more bodies could be found. 
1418 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  France promised on Thursday to re-examine expulsion orders for African protesters entrenched in a Paris church but 10 immigrants kept up their hunger strike for a 49th day bent on winning more concessions.   The centre-right government's conciliatory stance after weeks of firmness, including a police raid to briefly take the fasters to hospital, has failed to sway them or the other 300 or so protesters at the Saint-Bernard church.   Signalling their determination to force the government into a humiliating climbdown, the protesters called a new rally for next Wednesday after a march through Paris drew 5,000 demonstrators on Wednesday.   "There will be no residence permits en masse, there will be no automatic right to stay but the government will study things on a case-by-case basis," Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre told RTL radio.   "Those who have had their demands for (political) asylum rejected will not be granted permits.   That is the law," he added, declining to put a number on how many of the protesters would be allowed to stay.   An estimated 117 of them have been refused asylum, according to their spokesmen.   The hunger strikers, most of them Malians, have said they would break their fast only when all 300 have won residence permits.   They have been drinking sweet tea and taking vitamin pills, but two are said to be in serious condition.   An official at France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, said it would probably release later on Thursday its review of controversial immigration laws -- only a day after the government requested it in an attempt to solve the crisis.   He said the court would issue recommendations on whether to grant residence permits for all possible individual cases.   "We respect the law but in its enforcement we try to have a humane attitude so that we can stretch out a hand to the worst cases," Debre said.   "I have sympathy for those who are struggling and for those who are trying to have humanitarian aspects taken into consideration, but I also have sympathy for those who say the law must be respected," he added.   The first opinion poll on the dispute, in the daily Le Parisien, said most voters sympathised with the protesters but most opposed giving them all an automatic right to stay.   The conservative Le Figaro, shooting a rare barb at the government, took it to task for letting the protest rot and refusing to tackle the enforcement of the immigration laws.   "Politics, like war, is about carrying things out.   People have to remember that, otherwise they have their backs to the wall," it said.   But it said the immigration laws pushed through by hardline then-interior minister Charles Pasqua in 1993 needed clarifying.   The protesters say they are all entitled to stay.   They say many of them enjoyed residence rights until they were plunged into illegality by the laws which tightened residence and citizenship regulations to drastically curb immigration.   The church, in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, is surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers, including celebrities like film star Emmanuelle Beart, determined to prevent any police raid. 
1419 !GCAT !GCRIM  Hundreds of grief-stricken Belgians arrived on Thursday for the funeral of two eight-year- old children starved to death by a paedophile gang which abducted at least four other girls.   The national outpouring of grief since the bodies of Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune were unearthed last weekend revived memories of the display of mourning after the death of Belgium's much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   The government has called for one minute's silence at 11 a.m (0900 GMT) on Thursday, the start of the memorial service which will be televised live.   Of the 100,000 people expected to attend the service in Liege's Saint Martin basilica, only about 1,000 can be accommodated inside.   The others will be able to follow the mass on a large outside video screen.   After the service the two white coffins with the bodies of the two close friends will be buried privately.   Hundreds of people, arriving from all over the country with floral tributes, already lined the streets to the basilica down which the cortege will pass.   Giant bouquets in pastel shades stood at the entrance of Saint Martin's.   There were wreaths from the Belgian government and King Albert and Queen Paola.   Cars carried black ribbons or banners, flags with black ribbons were flown from houses, and some bars displayed a picture of the dead girls next to a lit candle.   Support for the parents of Lejeune and Russo reflects the national, and international, campaign mounted to find them after their abduction in June 1995.   In a letter to the parents on an all-black frontpage below pictures of the girls and the words "Our Children", popular daily La Derniere Heure praised the parents for their dignity in the face of the pain from the loss of their loved ones.   Popular newspaper Vers L'Avenir's frontpage was blank but for two large photos of the girls and the words "Au Revoir".   Belgium has been in a state of shock since the weekend when convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux, 39 and unemployed, led police to the girls' bodies in the garden of a house he owned.   Two other girls held by him had been rescued earlier.   Russo and Lejeune had been buried along with an accomplice of Dutroux who had allowed the girls to die while in his charge.   Dutroux killed him in retalliation, police said.   Dutroux, in jail at the time for violent theft, is seen as the mastermind behind a kidnapping and possibly child trafficking gang which also included his second wife.   Two other young girls, An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks, whom he has admitted kidnapping, are still missing.   The search for them has crossed borders.   Parents and the public prosecutor in charge of the case are hopeful they can be found alive.   British Detective Superintendent John Bennett, who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" murders in Gloucester, western England, arrived on Wednesday to offer advice.   Sophisticated heat-seeking and radar equipment used in the Gloucester inquiry will be used to ensure no further bodies are hidden at Dutroux's various properties.   At least 15 children have vanished in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead.   Six are missing.   Only two have been rescued.   Police said more bodies could be found. 
1420 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A German court jailed U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck for four years on Thursday, finding him guilty of inciting racial hatred by smuggling extreme right-wing propaganda into Germany.   But time spent in custody in Germany and Denmark would be taken into consideration, which is usual in Germany, and it was unlikely he would spend the full term in a German prison.   Prosecutors had demanded a five-year prison term for Lauck, dubbed the "farm-belt Fuehrer" by U.S. Nazi watchers, who say he has been the main source of neo-Nazi propaganda in Germany for two decades.   His defence team had requested an acquittal.   Eager to get the 43-year old Hitler fanatic from Lincoln, Nebraska, behind bars, prosecutors had limited their charges to offences over the past few years to avoid a long and complex trial.   Lauck, who is so obsessed with Nazism that he speaks English with a German accent, heads the National Socialist German Workers' Party Foreign Organisation (NSDAP-AO) -- a group which derives its name from the full German title of Hitler's party.   Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Lauck's lawyer insisted his client had broken no laws in the United States and prosecutors had not proved he was deliberately smuggling material into Germany.   Lauck's worldwide propaganda empire produces anti-Semitic and rightist publications such as the "NS Kampfruf" magazine ("National Socialist Battle Cry") and other propaganda including posters, badges and stickers.   The conviction was a major coup for Nazi-busting prosecutors, who had been trying to get Lauck extradited to Germany for trial for years.   U.S. authorities had said they could not touch him as he had broken no laws in his homeland.   Germany finally got its chance to nab Lauck, a U.S. citizen, when he visited Denmark in March last year.   Police detained him on an international arrest warrant and the courts decided he could be extradited as, although neo-Nazi propaganda is not illegal there, his material was so extreme it violated Denmark's racial hatred laws.   Lauck was also accused of portraying violence and disseminating insignia and propaganda of anti-constitutional organisations in his publications produced in all major European languages.   Lauck maintained a defiant silence during his three-month trial to underline his belief that the court had no right to try him for actions he carried out in the United States and that his extraditon from Denmark contravened international law. 
1421 !GCAT  NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG   - The Swiss Federal Council supports the Swiss Federal Railway's management in its plan to cut employee's wages by 1.5 percent.   If approved in Parliament, the cuts will be limited to three years and will not affect the four lowest wage groups.   - Switzerland's "Big Three" banks - Union Bank of Switzerland, Swiss Bank Corporation and CS Holding posted profit rises of between 20 and 30 percent in the first six months of 1996.   - The six-member Holocaust Commission, created to track down funds of Holocaust victims in Swiss banks, had their first meeting last week.   - Stratec Holding, a medicine technology firm, posted a group profit of 41 percent to 18.3 million Swiss francs in the first-half of the year.   TAGES ANZEIGER   - Bobst Group boosted first-half turnover by 4.6 percent to 524 million Swiss francs.   - UTC International AG in Basel intends to sell its majority stake in Jelmoli Holding AG.   - Sunstar hotel group registered a loss of 570,000 Swiss francs for the 1995/96 fiscal year ending June, after a profit of 1.24 million francs the year before.   JOURNAL DE GENEVE   - The board of directors of Banque Piguet & Cie appointed three new directors.   The bank was taken over by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise at the start of the month. 
1422 !GCAT  Headlines from major national newspapers.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   EL PAIS   - Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar avoids discussing future of party's leader in Catalonia Aleix Vidal-Quadras   EL MUNDO   - Russian "falcons" bombard Grozni implacably   DIARIO 16   - ETA offensive in Galicia with explosive devices in Santiago and Bayona   ABC   - Football down a tube (television coverage deal)   CINCO DIAS   - Heavy buying of Pryca shares in the stock market   EXPANSION   - Revaluation of assets with conservative criteria   GACETA DE LOS NEGOCIOS   - Carrefour invests 30 billion to control 69 percent of Pryca (had 63.8 percent) 
1423 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Iran delayed the Conference on Disarmament from taking a decision on Thursday to wrap up its work on a nuclear test ban treaty, drawing the wrath of Western envoys.   Iran's envoy Sirous Nasseri set off more than two hours of heated procedural debate on whether to accept a proposal by Pakistan merely to send the negotiating committee's final report to the General Assembly.   The conference had been expected to wrap up its work on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on Thursday by adopting the committee's report.   It summarises more than two years of negotiations and states that no consensus was reached.   Although India vetoed formal adoption of the draft pact in the Geneva forum this week, treaty backers nevertheless hope to send the text to the full world body for signature next month.   Poland's envoy Ludwig Dembinski, who currently chairs the 61-member conference, announced consultations were needed and the formal session would resume at five p.m. (1500 GMT).   But Nasseri doubted whether he would be able to get instructions by day-end from Tehran as it was a holiday there.   A campaign by big powers to salvage the treaty won procedural support on Thursday from influential non-aligned states including Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Peru and Chile.   Pakistan's envoy Munir Akram read out his country's simple proposal: "The Conference on Disarmament decides to transmit immediately the report of its ad hoc commitee on the nuclear test ban treaty to the U.N. General Assembly."   But Iran's Nasseri repeatedly objected that Pakistan's proposal was not appropriately formatted and did not respect rules of procedure allowing delegations two weeks to decide.   U.S. ambassador Stephen Ledogar took the floor to warn: "If this report is killed today by unprecedented procedural manoeuvring, it will be dead and with it the national statements it contains.   "This is a matter of good faith," he said in impromptu remarks.   "Time is of the essence because we have accepted the deadline which the international community has set."   Later, in a brief speech, Ledogar said: "I wish to make clear that the United States supports this treaty text as it is.   "We call on those delegations which have not yet done so to join with us in support of this text."   Nearly identical statements were read out by officials from the other four declared nuclear powers: Grigory Berdennikov, Russia's envoy, and China's ambassador Sha Zukang, France's Joelle Bourgois and Britain's Sir Michael Weston.   China's envoy Sha Zukang left the debate, telling reporters: "It is a waste of time.   I am fed up."   Earlier, Sha said in a speech: "China hopes the CTBT will be ready to sign before the end of the year and is convinced efforts will not have been in vain."   Australia's envoy Richard Starr called for salvaging the text, the fruit of years of work and decades of expectations.   "The text is as reasonable a compromise as is possible to achieve.   To hold further negotiations would be to threaten its very existence," Starr said.   "We have a workable treaty and a commitment by the five declared nuclear weapon states to endorse and sign it.   We cannot give up.   The opportunity is there and we must grasp it."   Given this "paralysis", Australia would be looking at ways to work with treaty supporters to bring the shelved text before the General Assembly, according to Starr.   Australia, seen as the country best able to bridge the gap between major powers and the rest of the world, might be asked to take a draft nuclear test ban to the U.N. General Assembly, according to diplomats.   Iran's envoy Sirous Nasseri raised questions about procedure being invoked to push through Pakistan's proposal, which he complained was not in appropriate format.   "While we are not able to agree the text it should not rule out at least having an understanding of what further action is expected at the level of the General Assembly," he said.   Argentina's delegate said at one point: "we are getting the impression we cannot indefinitely turn around in circles without taking a decision on the subject." 
1424 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Algerian political parties have drafted a new law that would ban Islamist parties in an effort to stabilise Algeria, where more than 50,000 people have died in four years of fighting set off when the government cancelled general elections the Islamists were poised to win.   Political sources told Reuters on Thursday that a joint committee set up this month between political parties and government representatives sent the draft law to President Liamine Zeroual after a week of talks.   "The law will de facto ban Islamist parties," said one party representatiuve involved in the talks.   But current legal parties would have a year in which to change their focus or founding principles in order not to run foul of the law, sources said.   In 1992 Algerian authorities cancelled a general election that the radical Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) was poised to win and the party was banned.   The move set off a Moslem guerrilla war in the north African country.   Although FIS was banned, Algeria has two legal Islamist parties, La Nahda and Hamas.   The draft law also tightened rules for party founders and party sources said this could close down 18 small political parties.   Political sources say the new legislation hopes to stabilise the country's political field by cutting back on minor parties.   Zeroual, who is trying to get agreement on political reform through a series of meetings he is holding with political leaders, plans a referundum on an amended constitution this year followed by general elections early in 1997.   A joint committee on changing the consitution this week reached agreement that Islam is the state religion of Algeria.   A national conference, probably in early September, will be the last stage to seal a consensus on Zeroual's reforms before voting the referendum and an elected parliament.   The Main secular opposition party, Socialist Forces Front, walked out this month of Zeroual's talks, from which radical Islamists were excluded. 
1425 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  French police on Thursday evicted demonstrators who had occupied the headquarters of the ruling Gaullist RPR party in support of African immigrants fighting expulsion orders, a party spokesman said.   "The demonstrators have all been taken away by (anti-riot) CRS police," the spokesman said.   Police said 41 people had been taken away about an hour after they first entered the building.    The demonstrators occupied the offices near the National Assembly in central Paris to support some 300 immigrants holed up in a church to fight an expulsion order, 10 of whom are on the 49th day of a hunger strike.   Witnesses said that several reporters and photographers were also taken away by police.   The government earlier promised to re-examine the expulsion orders but the 10 immigrants kept up their fast, bent on winning more concessions. 
1426 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Supporters of African immigrants fighting expulsion orders on Thursday occupied the headquarters of the Gaullist RPR party, senior partner in France's ruling centre-right coalition, a party spokesman said.   The spokesman told Reuters that the demonstrators were on the upper floors of the building and were shouting slogans.    One of the demonstrators at the party offices told Reuters by telephone that the protest was called to support some 300 immigrants holed up in a Paris church to fight an expulsion order, 10 of whom are on the 49th day of a hunger strike.   The RPR spokesman said that police were massed outside the offices near the National Assembly and were apparently preparing to intervene.   The government earlier promised to re-examine the expulsion orders but the 10 immigrants kept up their fast, bent on winning more concessions.   The hunger strikers, most of them Malians, have said they would break their fast only when all 300 have won residence permits.   They have been drinking sweet tea and taking vitamin pills, but two are said to be in serious condition. 
1427 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A Hamburg court jailed U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck for four years on Thursday for pumping banned propaganda material into Germany from his U.S.-based publishing house.   A defiant Lauck, from Lincoln, Nebraska, yelled a tirade of abuse at the court after his conviction for inciting racial hatred.   "The struggle will go on," the 43-year-old shouted in German before being escorted out by security guards.   Lauck's lawyer vowed he would appeal against the court's decision, arguing that his client should have been set free because he had not committed any offence under German law.   The conviction was a major coup for prosecutors, who had been trying for years to scupper Lauck's worldwide network -- the main source of anti-Semitic propaganda material flowing into Germany since the 1970s.   "Lauck possessed a well-oiled propaganda machine, honed during more than 20 years," presiding judge Guenter Bertram told the court.   "He set up a propaganda canon and fired it at Germany."   Eager to put Lauck behind bars quickly and avoid a long and complex trial, prosecutor Bernd Mauruschat limited his charges to offences since 1994.   He had demanded a five-year jail term but said he was satisfied with the court's sentence.   Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Lauck's defence team had argued that U.S freedom of speech laws meant he was free to produce his swastika-covered books, magazines, videos and flags in the United States.   Lauck, dressed in a sober blue suit and sporting his trademark Hitleresque black moustache, showed no sign of emotion as Bertram spent more than an hour reading out the verdict and explaining the court's decision.   But as he was about to be led away, Lauck turned to reporters and blurted out a virtually incomprehensible quick-fire diatribe against the court.   "Neither the National Socialists (Nazis) nor the communists dared to kidnap an American citizen," he shouted, in an oblique reference to his extradition to Germany.   "That's the truth."   His attorney, Hans-Otto Sieg, told reporters outside the courtroom that the judges had failed to address whether a German court could convict someone for producing propaganda on foreign soil and sending it to Germany.   "You can't just say he set up a propaganda canon and fired it at Germany," Sieg said.   "Journalists may be able to write that but it's not a legal point.   I still don't see which German law he is supposed to have broken."   Bertram said Lauck was obsessed by Nazism and devoted his life to his National Socialist German Workers' Party Foreign Organisation (NSDAP-AO), which derives its name from the full German title of Hitler's Nazi party.   The court also rejected Sieg's argument that Lauck's extradition from Denmark, where he was arrested in March last year at the request of German authorities, was illegal.   Lauck will probably be free in around two and a half years as the court ruled that the 15 months he has spent in custody since his arrest should be subtracted from his prison term. 
1428 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Ten Africans who are on hunger strike to fight deportation from France have forced the government to take a deep second look at controversial hardline immigration laws.   Holed up in a church after months of playing cat-and-mouse with police through Paris, the fasters and 300 poor, uneducated fellow immigrant protesters managed what left-wing politicians, lawyers and human rights activists had failed to achieve.   The conservative government has asked the country's highest administrative court for guidelines on the enforcement of the 1993 "Pasqua laws" and Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre said he would re-examine expulsion orders on a case-by-case basis.   Spurred by the rise of the far-right National Front and anti-immigrant feeling fuelled by acute unemployment and mounting insecurity in heavily immigrant suburbs, hardline then-interior minister Charles Pasqua announced in 1993 plans to move towards "zero immigration."   The laws drastically tightening residence and citizenship regulations were hastily steamrollered through parliament, meeting little opposition in the wake of the Left's election rout.   But lawyers soon pointed out loopholes and legal kinks meaning some foreigners could neither be expelled nor win residence permits.   Legal conflicts broke out, with courts often quashing orders to expel illegal residents.   A case in point was a breach of the tradition of granting citizenship to any child born in France.   The 1993 laws say children of foreigners will only become French if they live in France until the age of 16 and then request nationality.   Thus parents of children born before the Pasqua laws may not be expelled.   Parents of children born later may, although their children, as potential French citizens, may not.   "Must they go and leave their children behind?   This is absurd," said human rights lawyer Dominique Noguere.   A crackdown on marriages of convenience has broken up families, with foreign spouses of French citizens or legal residents no longer being automatically entitled to stay.   "The legislators did not foresee all the effects of the laws.   All these cases have to be re-examined," Noguere said.   The African protesters say many of them did enjoy residence rights but were plunged into illegallity by the "Pasqua laws" which Socialist Party spokesman Francois Hollande described as "a factory of illegal immigrants."   There are no official figures for the number of illegal immigrants and estimates vary from 200,000 to one million.   A report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission last April sharply attacked the laws as inspired by "a wave of xenophobia and racism" running counter to France's tradition of integrating foreigners and image as the cradle of human rights.   It recommended making the laws more humane.   Yet a parliamentary committee last June proposed harsher measures, including extending detention of foreigners facing deportation, limiting access to education and health care for illegal aliens.   The report was shelved after an outcry but it shows that anti-immigrant feeling leaves Debre little room for manoeuvre to meet the protesters' blanket demand for 300 residence permits.   He said he would take family situations into account.   But there was no legal way all of them could be allowed to stay, particularly those whose political asylum requests had been rejected, and the law would not be re-drafted.   An opinion poll published by the daily Le Parisien backed his stand.   An overwhelming 85 percent majority of voters called for a case-by-case review of the protesters' legal situation, but only 12 percent favoured a blanket permission to stay. 
1429 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The Greek socialist party's executive bureau gave Prime Minister Costas Simitis its backing if he chooses to call snap elections, its general secretary Costas Skandalidis told reporters on Thursday.    Prime Minister Costas Simitis will make an official announcement after a cabinet meeting later on Thursday, said Skandalidis.   --Dimitris Kontogiannis, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4 
1430 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr told a heavily-guarded Berlin court on Thursday that Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the assassination of opposition Kurd leaders in 1992.   Banisadr told the court that a "council for special operations" supervised by Khameini had ordered and carried out the gangland-style slaying of three Iranian Kurdish leaders and their translator at a Berlin restaurant.   "According to the current (power) structures (in Iran) there can only be one person who ordered this and that is the ruler himself -- Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," Banisadr said in his testimony.   Speaking in his native tongue, Farsi, he told the court through translators that he based his assertions on information he had gathered about the power structures in Iran during his 15 years in exile from sources "within the regime and outside".   Banisadr alleged that the "council for special operations" in Tehran was outside the official political structures and was responsible for determining who would be assassinated and how.   He said that, apart from Khameini, four other men sat on the council including Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahiyan.   German authorities issued an arrest warrant for Fallahiyan in March in connection with the 1992 Kurd dissident killings.   "After this council works out an (assassination) plan and it is approved by Khameini it is handed over to (Iranian President Akbar Hashemi) Rafsanjani," Banisadr said.   Once it is blessed by the Iranian president it goes back to Fallahiyan to be carried out, he told the court.   "There are sources (that back this up) within the regime and outside the regime.   There is a large network of Iranians across the world with different political views who want to see a return to democracy in Iran," he said.   Banisadr, 63, told German authorities he had heard Tehran was sending two squads of hired assassins to intimidate him while he gives evidence in Berlin on Thursday and Friday.   The court in the city's Moabit district was surrounded by a top-security cordon of about 100 police officers, some wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with machineguns.   Police marksmen were posted on surrounding rooftops and traffic was diverted away from the main road where the court is located   In the courtroom itself, ten police officers sat amidst spectators crowding the public gallery.   Banisadr is the star prosecution witness against an Iranian, Kazem Darabi, and four Lebanese who have been on trial for nearly three years on charges of murdering the dissidents.   Two masked men armed with machineguns burst into the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin on September 17, 1992, and fired at dozens of Iranian dissidents seated at a table.   Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK-I) and their translator were killed in the hail of bullets.   The case has strained relations between Bonn and Tehran, particularly after prosecutors issued the warrant for Fallahiyan's arrest, accusing him of masterminding the attack.   Iran has denied Fallahiyan was involved in the killing.   Tehran has also rejected Banisadr's allegations, saying that he is a fierce opponent of its Islamic fundamentalist government and that 14 years have passed since his administration was toppled and his ties with Iran were severed. 
1431 !GCAT !GVIO  The head of an international mediating mission in Chechnya on Thursday described living conditions for civilians holed up in shelters in Grozny as grave, with water, food and medical supplies in short supply.   Swiss diplomat Tim Guldimann, who leads the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) assistance group to the rebel Russian province, told reporters civilians sheltering in blocks of apartments for days were particularly hard hit.   "There is a lack of drinking water, food and medical supplies and there is now almost no hospital functioning in Grozny.   It is very difficult," Guldimann told a news briefing.   Families living in small houses on the outskirts of the city were able to emerge from cellars to collect drinking water following a bout of rainfall in the past few days and pick whatever vegetables were growing in their gardens, he said.   But humanitarian organisations needed to reach civilians sheltering in apartment blocks.   He was unable to say how many injured civilians were in dire need of medical attention in the city.   The Red Cross estimated on Wednesday that about 120,000 civilians remained in Grozny.   A similar number had fled in the last two weeks.   Guldimann was speaking a day after four remaining OSCE staff pulled the mission out of Grozny to rebase in neighbouring Ingushetia following an ultimatum by Russia's acting commander in Chechnya on Monday to bomb Grozny if rebels did not withdraw from the city in 48 hours.   But no all-out assault took place as the deadline passed on Thursday while Russian President Boris Yeltsin's security chief, Alexander Lebed, flew into a Chechen village for talks with rebel leaders.   Lebed said he had halted the attack after last-minute talks with rebel leaders on Wednesday night.   The OSCE assistance group has led sporadic talks over the past year between Chechen separatists and Russian officials on ending the conflict, which has killed more than 30,000 people, mostly civiilans, since Moscow sent troops to the rebellious Caucausus region in December 1994.   Guldimann said, however, that communications between the OSCE mission and Moscow had been difficult over the past two weeks as he and his colleagues had spent most of their time taking cover in a cellar with only a satellite telephone powered by a car battery. 
1432 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in Norwegian papers this morning:   AFTENPOSTEN   - The Norwegian economy is stronger than expected thanks to the high oil prices.   A projected economic growth of 5.5 percent means this year's national budget surplus will probably be 35 billion crowns rather than 24.9 billion as previously thought.   Finance minister Sigbjoern Johnsen however is still advocating a tight fiscal policy.   - Norway has never imported as much power as in June.   Of a total import of 1.5 billion KWh, most came from Denmark and Sweden.   -Sales of herring and mackerel increased by 33 percent in the first six months of 1996.   Export of herring rose by 66 percent.   DAGENS NAERINGSLIV   - Managing Director Rolf Erik Rolfsen in Total Norway rejects allegations that French oil company Total's natural gas pipeline through Burma is being built by slave labour.   - Norwegian energy company Hafslund and Swedish energy company Vattenfall tried to take over Swedish power producer Skandinaviska Elverken this summer but lost the fight on the finish line. 
1433 !G15 !G155 !GCAT  Following are highlights of the midday briefing by the European Commission on Thursday:   Commission spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told reporters of arrangements for Friday's planned meeting between German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt and Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert to discuss a row about illegal state aids for the Volkswagen plant in Saxony.   He said Rexrodt was due in Brussels for the meeting at 1030 (0830 GMT) and predicted a news briefing of some sort at around 1200 (1000 GMT).   On a separate subject, van der Pas said he disagreed with Wednesday's remarks by Germany's representative to the European Union's veterinary committee, Werner Zwingmann, recommending that consumers should buy lamb and mutton from countries other than Britain until scientific advice on possible brain-disease related health risks was clearer.   "We don't support any such recommendation because we don't see any grounds for it," he said.   Van der Pas said details about the outcome of Thursday's Standing Veterinary Committee meeting on foot and mouth disease in Greece should be available from the spokesmen's service at around 1700 (1500 GMT).   - - - -   The Commission released no documents. 
1434 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  An Italian engineer working on an oil pipeline project has been seized by an armed group in Colombia, the Italian foreign ministry said on Thursday.   A ministry spokesman said Lino Chioccioli, who works for the Italian oil and gas exploration company Saipem, was kidnapped on Wednesday after he landed by helicopter at a construction site close to the Caribbean coast.   Chioccioli, 49, is the second Italian to be seized this month in the South American state.   On August 9, Danilo Conta, a restaurateur and longtime Colombia resident, was taken by suspected leftist guerrillas in the centre of the country.   The ministry spokesman said he did not think contact had yet been made with either group of kidnappers.   Another Italian engineer, who was seized by guerrillas in Colombia in March, was freed last month. 
1435 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Austrian state prosecutors said on Thursday they were launching legal action against far-right Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider, accusing him of defaming a senior government minister.   The Klagenfurt prosecutor's office said it would start the proceedings, over comments Haider made last year about Interior Minister Caspar Einem, before the end of the week.   It will be the first time a state prosecutor has initiated legal action against the controversial nationalist politician.   "We will definitely initiate the defamation of character legal proceedings against Joerg Haider," Klagenfurt chief prosecutor Erwin Grimschitz told Reuters.   Klagenfurt, 350 km (215 miles) southwest of Vienna, is in Haider's regional stronghold of Carinthia.   "Haider's comments at a Freedom Party convention pertained to Einem's alleged abuse of office," Grimschitz said.   He did not say what the remarks were.   Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia said the case also concerned allegations by Haider that Einem had spent time in jail because of a drugs offence.   Haider, his spokesman and his lawyer were not immediately available to comment.   "We are responsible for this case because the comments were made at the party convention in the town of Voelkermarkt in Carinthia, which falls into our jurisdiction," Grimschitz said.   Once the prosecutor has started proceedings, a court in Voelkermarkt will set the date for a trial.   "In our experience that takes three to four weeks," Grimschitz said.   "The court will then rule whether Haider is guilty or not of the charge."   If found guilty, the far-right member of parliament could face up to a year in prison.   "Now Herr Haider will have to justify his actions to the court at Voelkermarkt," Grimschitz said.   Members of parliament are normally guaranteed immunity from prosecution.   But in March a special parliamentary committee revoked Haider's immunity in an unprecedented step, the prosecutor said.   The proceedings are the latest in a series of political controversies to plague Haider since he took over as head of the Freedom Party in 1986.   In 1991, he was forced to resign as governor of Carinthia after praising Adolf Hitler's labour policies.   In February 1995 he had to backtrack after referring to Nazi extermination camps as "punishment camps".   In June this year, the Jewish humanitarian organisation B'nai B'rith launched legal proceedings against Haider, accusing him of reviving Nazism.   That action is continuing. 
1436 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen has kicked life into forex market speculation about the timing and level of a link for the markka to Europe's exchange rate mechanism, analysts said on Thursday.   They saw his reported remarks that a further firming of the markka was unjustifed, and an ERM decision would come in the fairly near future,as a clear sign Finland will link the markka.   "What he said increased the likelihood that a link will be made speedily," said Jukka Lepomaki, head of market advisory at Merita Bank.   "It points in the direction that we are going in," he added.   It was no surprise that Finland would, by joining the ERM, try to make sure it will formally meet the exchange rate stability criterion for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), said Ari Aaltonen, chief economist at Postipankki.   "But it was a significant statement for the development of the exchange rate," said Aaltonen, referring to Lipponen's remarks.   "The sentiment changed, the ERM autumn has started," he said.   The markka started to weaken late on Wednesday on reports that Lipponen believed a further strengthening was not justified.   The markka, which has firmed gradually during the summer on strong macro-economic fundamentals, fell sharply to 3.05 to the German mark from Wednesday's 3.018 close.   It eased to 0.684 against the Swedish crown from 0.677.   The central bank on Thursday declined to comment on whether it had intervened to reduce volatility in the markka.   Handelsbanken Markets Finland chief economist Carlo Erakallio said Lipponen's comments "indicate that a change in exchange rate policy is on its way.   We are now in a transition phase, on our way towards a fixed exchange rate regime."   "The ERM fix is drawing near," he added.   Analysts expect the decision to join the ERM to come between late September and November.   "Talking the exchange rate weaker like that just before a decision to go in would be seen as too outrageous manipulation," Lepomaki said.   Aaltonen at Postipanki said Lipponen made sense when he said fundamentals did not support a stronger exchange rate.   He expected the markka to trade in a 3.03-3.05 range per mark in the near term and then move towards a 3.05-3.10 band.   Aaltonen said a fix was "more than 50 percent" likely and its central parity exchange rate would be between 3.05 and 3.10 markka per German mark.   Erakallio said Handelsbanken stood by its earlier forecast that the markka would join the ERM in late October or early November at around 3.04 per mark.   Merita's Lepomaki said the political establishment had been expected to echo recent concerns voiced by industry about the strength of the markka.   Finnish industry fears a stronger markka would undermine its competitiveness, in particular against neighbouring Sweden, which is not expected to link the crown to the ERM.   Lepomaki said Finland might go for a central parity exchange rate as weak as 3.07 -- the average markka/mark level over the past two years -- but was more likely to have to settle for a stronger rate between 3.03 and 3.05.   The markka weakening caused by Lipponen's comments was temporary, he said.   Strong fundamentals and exporting firms' pent-up need to convert foreign currency earnings would strengthen the markka again, he said.   "By linking it (to the ERM), they seek a way to prevent the markka from strengthening too much," he said.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358-0-680 50 245 
1437 !GCAT  These are leading stories in Thursday's afternoon daily Le Monde, dated Aug 23.   FRONT PAGE   -- Africans seeking to renew or obtain work and residence rights say Prime Minister Alain Juppe's proposals are insufficient as hunger strike enters 49th day in Paris church and Wednesday rally attracts 8,000 sympathisers.   -- FLNC Corsican nationalist movement announces end of truce after last night's attacks.   BUSINESS PAGES   -- Shutdown of Bally's French factories points up shoe industry crisis, with French manufacturers undercut by low-wage country competition and failure to keep abreast of trends.   -- Secretary general of the Sud-PTT trade union at France Telecom all the elements are in place for social unrest in the next few weeks.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 42 21 53 81 
1438 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr started to testify on Thursday in a heavily guarded German courtroom where he is expected to say Tehran backed the 1992 machinegun killing of Kurd opposition leaders.   Banisadr said in June that Iran's president and religious leader knew of and blessed the gangland-style shooting of three Iranian Kurdish leaders and their translator in a Berlin restaurant.   Tehran has denied his allegations.   Banisadr, 63, also told German authorities he had heard Tehran was sending two squads of hired assassins to intimidate him while he gives evidence in Berlin on Thursday and Friday.   The court in the city's Moabit district was surrounded by a top-security cordon.   Police marksmen were posted on surrounding roofs and traffic was diverted away from the main road where the court is located.   Banisadr will be the star prosecution witness against an Iranian, Kazem Darabi, and four Lebanese who have been on trial for nearly three years on charges of murdering the dissidents.   Two masked men armed with machineguns burst into the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin on September 17, 1992, and fired at dozens of Iranian dissidents seated at a table.   Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK-I) and their translator were killed in the hail of bullets.   In an interview with German prosecutors in June Banisadr said that the attack would have been impossible without the backing and blessing of Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's religious leader.   The case has strained relations between Bonn and Tehran, particularly after prosecutors issued an arrest warrant in March for Iranian Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahiyan, accusing him of masterminding the attack.   Iran has denied Fallahiyan was involved in the killing.   Tehran has also rejected Banisadr's allegations, saying that he is a fierce opponent of its Islamic fundamentalist government and that 14 years have passed since his administration was toppled and his ties with Iran were severed. 
1439 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Maltese press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   IN-NAZZJON   - Prime minister meets delegations from the general Workers's Union.   The left-leaning union, by far the biggest in Malta, presented a memorandum on what it feels political parties should include in their electoral programmes.   Among other things, it is calling for a referendum on whether Malta should join the EU.   L-ORIZZONT   - Sea Nalta seamen on strike.   The action was ordered by the GWU, which is pressing for better working conditions.   The strike has prevented two container ships from leaving on Mediterranean trips. 
1440 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  A large number of European Union governments will come under close scrutiny in September as they unveil their 1997 budgets, a key step in their attempt to meet the preconditions of a single currency.   Most analysts say the challenge is not so much whether they can bring public deficits exactly in line with the Maastricht treaty's criteria -- a long shot for most.   The more important issue is whether they can get close enough to qualify for EMU and inspire confidence among investors that it will be launched on time.    Between now and mid-October, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Greece are all expected either to announce their 1997 draft budgets or have updates on the state of budget negotiations.   Under the treaty, governments must bring their 1997 budget deficits close to three percent of total output and put their outstanding debt levels on a sustainable path towards 60 percent of GDP.   Nearly all observers agree that discretion will be employed when interpreting the strictness of such targets.    Within the group, analysts say the most closely watched will be France which is expected to announce details of its 1997 budget on either September 18 or 25.   The stakes for Paris are enormous given renewed uncertainty over France's economic outlook and the implications for revenue growth.   While the broad outlines of its plan have already been announced -- France is looking for spending cuts of 60 billion francs ($11.82 billion) and tax cuts of roughly 20 billion -- important details such as growth and revenue estimates remain to be finalised.    "We think the biggest uncertainty is on the receipts side," says Svenja Nehls, economist at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell in Paris.   "It would be very important that (economic) growth expectations are not too high for next year."   Too optimistic a forecast could prompt investors to question the government's ability to bring next year's deficit under 4.0 percent of GDP.   Many reckon an outcome in the range of 3.5 to 4.0 percent might suffice for EMU entry.    Following France, analysts say market attention will turn towards Italy and Spain -- two countries that are unlikely to take part in the single currency in 1999, but want desperately to enter relatively soon thereafter.   For Italy, the more important hurdles appear to be in the political realm with the government seen facing strong opposition from its Communist coalition partners to planned spending cuts.   Details of Rome's 1997 budget are expected in September, with anticipated savings of 32.4 trillion lire ($21.33 billion).    The package is expected to put the deficit at around 4.5 percent of GDP.   "I think it's unlikely Italy will be in the first round," says John Llewellyn, chief economist at Lehman Brothers in London.   "Nonetheless they wish to join EMU and to do so you have to stay with a good budgetary situation."   Under Italy's budget process, parliament must approve next year's plan by year-end.    In Spain, meanwhile, the recent and unfortunate discovery of a budget gap of almost 530 billion pesetas ($4.22 billion) will have no effect on the 1997 budget.   The government has already announced a zero wage rise for public-sector employees, as well as reductions in subsidies to public firms.   Despite these efforts many think it will be quite difficult to see a deficit near 3.0 percent GDP, with most estimates hovering at or around 4.0 percent.   The draft budget must be submitted to parliament by the end of the September.    Regarding other budgets, analysts say investor interest is more muted either because the candidates are more than likely to qualify for EMU in the first round -- Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and possibly Finland -- or are undecided if they want to join -- Britain, Denmark and Sweden.   Ireland already has an exemplary budget performance, Portugal is seen struggling and Greece is considered to have virtually no chance of qualifying for EMU in 1999.   Which leaves Germany, perhaps the linchpin of the entire project.    No important budgetary developments are expected out of Bonn during September.   The major concern at the moment is whether Germany's federal states can assist the government's efforts to bring the overall deficit near 3.0 percent of output.   Since roughly 40 percent of their expenses are tied to wages and salaries, there is little room for maneouvre.   Analysts say developments in this area are likely to unfold before year-end. 
1441 !GCAT !GPOL  Umberto Bossi, Italy's separatist leader who plans to declare an independent northern state next month, was heckled at a performance of a Giuseppe Verdi opera in the northern town of Verona on Wednesday night.   Shouts of "Bossi Go Away" and "Long Live a United Italy" greeted Bossi as he escorted his wife Emmanuele to their 13th row seats in Verona's ancient ampitheatre before the start of Verdi's "Nabucco".   Bossi ignored the hecklers and similar insults flung in his direction as he left the arena when the opera was suspended because of rain in the middle of the third act.   He and his wife went to a nearby restaurant and did not return to hear the end.   "I am an Italian who doesn't want our country to be divided," one of the hecklers, retired Fiat auto worker Luciano Mordenti, told television cameras.   Bossi, for his part, told reporters as he left the arena that he believed the protests had been orchestrated by workers at the arena.   Wednesday night's performance was part of Verona's popular open-air opera season and was attended by many foreign tourists.   Verona is located in the centre of Bossi's so-called "Padania republic".   Bossi has said he will lead a big demonstration on September 15 at which the League has said it will declare an "independent northern state".   Bossi's Northern League is the biggest political party in Verona with 27 percent of the electorate supporting it at the last general election in April.   The League took root in the 1980s as a protest movement against the excesses of Rome central government and was instrumental in helping bring about the collapse of the old, corrupt political guard at the start of the 1990s.   Its support has grown steadily and at the April election it polled 10 percent of the vote nationwide.   Bossi told reporters his decision to attend the Verona opera had special political significance because Verdi came from the town of Busseto which lies within Padania.   "Verdi came from Padania," he said.   "The performance of 'Nabucco' at the Arena of Verona at this moment in Italian history has a particular interest to me, above all else the chorus of Lombardy."   But newspapers said Bossi had got his operas muddled up, pointing out that "the chorus of Lombardy", actually comes from another Verdi work, "Lombardi alla prima Crociata".   They said historians had interpreted the famous chorus in "Nabucco", sung by characters depicting Jews, to mean that Verdi identified with citizens of the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto who were at the time governed by Austria and wanted a unified Italy.   "What a blunder," read the headline above an editorial in the respected Corriere della Sera daily.   "Verdi's music is a slogan for unity."   "Nabucco" premiered in 1842, 19 years before Italian unification in 1861. 
1442 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Supporters of a global nuclear test ban treaty vetoed by India lined up on Thursday to urge that it should not be ditched and that it should be taken to the U.N. General Assembly for further consideration.   Two days after New Delhi finally vetoed the pact at the Conference on Disarmament, a major power campaign to salvage the treaty won procedural support from influential non-aligned states including Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Peru and Chile.    After India's veto of the text on Tuesday, the conference was due on Thursday to examine whether to send its negotiating report -- which clearly states that no consensus has been achieved -- on to New York.   Conference president Ludwik Dembinski said at the start of the meeting that there was not even agreement to do that.   The five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- all want the draft treaty to be taken to the General Assembly for approval and signature next month.   Major non-aligned states lined up to say that the report should be sent to New York.   Their support is seen as vital if the pact is to be salvaged in New York through a resolution at the General Assembly. 
1443 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Algerian press on Thursday as reported by the official Algerian news agency APS.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   LE MATIN   - Morocco releases three Algerians after 20 years of secret detention.   EL MOUDJAHID   - The government prepares for the next academic year as the number of students reaches 7,246,000.   L'AUTHENTIQUE   - The government, unions and business representatives face hard negotiations next week.   AL KHABAR   - Joint committee grouping political parties and presidency representatives submitted report to President Liamine Zeroual over party activity law.   EL WATAN   - Three years after the killing of former prime minister Kasdi Merbi, mystery still shrouds the murder. 
1444 !GCAT  The following are leading domestic stories in Portuguese newspapers.   DIARIO ECONOMICO   - The banking group Banco Comercial Portugues/Banco Portugues do Atlantico (BCP/BPA) plans to offer leasing through just two companies -- Comercial Leasing and Leasing Atlantico.   DIARIO DE NOTICIAS   - Portuguese authorities aim to return 64 African immigrants rounded up in Lisbon yesterday to Spain and France, the paper learned.   - Cofaco, Portugal's biggest canned fish company, is negotiating to buy two Italian companies and plans to raise its capital by two billion escudos to six billion by the end of the year.   PUBLICO   - Police to increase surveillance of Portuguese vineyards this year in order to prevent fraud.   -- Lisbon newsroom +351-1-3538254 
1445 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  Two sons of Algerian fundamentalist opposition leader Abassi Madani went on trial in a high-security court on Thursday accused of smuggling arms and explosives from Germany to anti-government forces in Algeria.   Salim and Ikbal Abassi, aged 29 and 25, and two other Algerians, Nasr-Eddine Layachi Hemaz, 30, and Mahmoud Logbi, 25, face up to five years in prison if convicted on formal charges of belonging to a criminal organisation.   The accused, who all deny involvement, have been in custody for more than a year since authorities cracked down on Algerian fundamentalists using southern and western Germany as a base to support an armed conflict against Algeria's military rulers.   Because of the security risk, the men went on trial in a high-security area of the high court in Duesseldorf where four right-wing youths were convicted last year of a 1993 racist arson murder in Solingen.   The trial was due to open on Wednesday but was postponed because interpreters did not arrive in time.   The 160-page charge sheet in what is likely to be a tortuous case says the men belonged to a gun-running group that worked independently but kept conspiratorial links with other Islamic fundamentalist groups in France, Italy, Belgium and Algeria.   The group is alleged to have shipped around 100 assault rifles, over 30 machine pistols, 20 repeating rifles, 15 hand guns, eight pump guns and assorted ammunition and explosives to Morocco and Algeria between March 1993 and April 1994.   The weapons were allegedly sent to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) and the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), the military wing of the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).   The Abassis' father, Abassi Madani, is co-founder of the FIS, which took up arms against Algeria's military rulers after they intervened in 1992 to scrap a general election the FIS was set to win.   Abassi Madani still lives in Algeria but his wife Saida and sons Ikbal, Salim and Oussama fled to Germany in 1992 and were been allowed to stay as political refugees.   Ikbal and Salim were sentenced to death in absentia in May 1993 by an Algerian court for alleged involvement in a bombing of Algiers airport which killed nine people and wounded 124.   Investigators who raided the brothers' apartment near Aachen in March 1995 found a detonator, passport photographs, material for forging documents, some 20 sets of fake identity papers and about $70,000 in cash.   In addition to the main charge of belonging to a criminal organisation, the brothers are also accused of forgery together with Logbi, and of explosives offences together with Hemaz.   Both Logbi and Hemaz have had asylum requests rejected.   An estimated 50,000 people have been killed in Algeria since Moslem militants took up arms against the government.   Authorities say there are 30 to 50 FIS members and 200 or so sympathisers among the 23,000 Algerians living in Germany.   France, which was the target of a wave of bombings by Algerian militants last year, has put pressure on Bonn to crack down on Algerians in Germany amid fears authorities here were not keeping a close enough watch on them.   The trial is expected to last at least four months. 
1446 !GCAT !GCRIM  Silent crowds began gathering in this eastern Belgian town on Thursday ahead of the funeral of two eight-year-old girls who died while in the hands of a convicted child sex offender.   Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune will be buried after what will be an emotional memorial service in the Saint Martin basilica in their home town of Liege beginning at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) and to be televised live across a shocked nation.   Up to 100,000 people are expected to attend the service which will be held after a private commemorative ceremony for the close relatives of the two friends.   The burial of the two white coffins with the girls' remains will be private too.   Those who will not be able to enter the church can follow the service on a large video screen outside.   Hundreds of people lined the streets to the basilica down which the cortege will pass, having arrived with floral tributes from all over the country and leaving condolence cards in a gradually filling box.   Giant bouquets in pastel shades stood at the entrance of Saint Martin's as the sun was trying to break through the early morning mist.   Police handed out water to the crowds in the warm, humid weather.   There were wreaths from the Belgian government and King Albert and Queen Paolo, the gendarmerie, bus companies, postal workers, the Brussels Metro, private citizens and villages and television companies.   The government will be represented at the service by Justice Minister Stefaan De Clerck and Public Service Minister Andre Flahaut.   The mood was sombre, but the anger about the cruel deaths of the girls -- who died of starvation -- has not abated.   One of the mourners, Anne-Marie Lamory of Bastogne on southern Belgium, told Reuters: "I am here for the poor parents of those martyred children.   The people who did this must be made to suffer...they too should die suffering...they are monsters."   The bodies of the girls were found last weekend, pointed out by Marc Dutroux, 39, and a father of three, in the garden of a house he owned.   Two other girls held by him had been rescued earlier.   Russo and Lejeune had been buried along with an accomplice of Dutroux who had allowed the girls to die while in his charge.   Dutroux killed him in retaliation.   Dutroux, in jail at the time for violent theft, is seen as the mastermind behind a kidnapping and possibly child trafficking gang which also included his second wife.   Two other girls, whom he has admitted kidnapping, are still missing.   The search for them has been extended to other European countries outside Belgium. 
1447 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  Finland would decide soon whether to link the markka to the European Union's Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen was quoted as saying on Wednesday.   He also said a further strengthening of the markka was not desirable.   The ERM decision would be made "in the fairly near future", Lipponen said according to Thursday's edition of daily Helsingin Sanomat.   "I cannot say anything more specific about the timing.   The government analyses an ERM link together with the Bank of Finland."   Speaking at the Social Democratic Party's executive committee meeting in Kuopio in central Finland, Lipponen did not say whether a decision would be made before or after Finland's October 20 local and European parliament elections.   "The markka has strengthened and I doubt it would be desirable that it would strengthen terribly much more.   It is not realistic considering our economy compared to other countries," he was quoted as saying by the Finnish news agency (STT).   The government has said that a decision for or against joining ERM would have to be made this autumn, last repeated by Finance Minister Sauli Niinisto two weeks ago.   Since early May, the markka has strenghened almost five percent against the mark, over five percent compared the the ECU basket and eight percent against the dollar.   On Thursday, an advisor to the Finnish Prime Minister confirmed that Lipponen had said on Wednesday evening that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified.   "He said that a further strengthening is not justified when one looks at purchase power parities," the advisor told Reuters.   The advisor said he did not know exactly what Lipponen had said about the timetable for a decision whether to link the markka to Europe's exchange rate mechanism (ERM).   "He talked, as before, about this autumn," the advisor said.   But the advisor said he had not been right by Lipponen's side all the time, and so could not confirm or deny media reports that the prime minister had said a decision would be made "in a fairly near future."   The Bank of Finland's board of parliamentary supervisors will meet next week to review Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the exchange rate mechanism, supervisory board chairman Ilkka Kanerva said on Thursday.   "We meet next week to take a look at the economy, at EMU and at the ERM issue," Kanerva told Reuters by telephone.   He declined to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on Wednesday evening that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified and that a decision for or against pegging the markka to ERM would be made in a fairly near future.   Kanerva said he personally regarded it as "highly unlikely that any move would be made on this front (ERM) already next week."   The supervisory board meeting starts on Tuesday at 1600/1300 GMT.   "The government has not approached us on this subject, nor have Bank of Finland officials," he said.   According to the Currency Act, a proposal to link the markka -- floating since September 1992 -- to ERM would be given by the central bank's board of management to the board of supervisors, which would pass the proposal to the government. 
1448 !GCAT  Following are some of the leading stories in the Swedish papers this morning.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAGENS NYHETER   - Swedish truck producer Scania said it is to introduce flexible working hours for 10,000 workers from September 1.   Hours will be cut but Scania will have a better chance prevent redundancies.   - Swedish retail sales rose by six percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Swedish Retail and Wholesale Research Institute (HUI).   Radio and television retailers were the big winners.   - Investor AB is searching for a new owner to its Saab Aircraft unit.   SVENSKA DAGBLADET   - Coca-Cola is likely to back down on its decision not to employ workers from Swedish Pripps Ringnes when they move Coca-Cola's soft-drink production from Pripps to a new plant.   - SSAB Tunnplat has brought a lawsuit against insurance company Trygg-Hansa because it says it was not adequately compensated for an accident at its plant in 1993.   - Plans by the Swedish government to extend sick-leave pay from 14 days to 28 days is likely to create chaos in the work market.   DAGENS INDUSTRI   - Stagecoach, the Scottish bus company, views its acquisition of Swedish Swedbus as a platform for its continuing expansion in nothern Europe, according to Stagecoach founder and chairman Brian Souter.   - Swedish defence and technology group Celsius, which is cutting the workforce at its Kockums unit by 600, says these are the last cuts.   -- Paul de Bendern, Stockholm newsroom +46-8-700 1003 
1449 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  In an attempt to force Burundi's leaders to the negotiating table, several Security Council members want to threaten sanctions and promise aid if Burundians resolve their conflict peacefully, diplomats said.   A proposed resolution, initiated by Chile and Botswana, is to be circulated on Thursday in an effort to stop violence between the country's minority Tutsis and majority Hutus and deal with last month's coup by the Tutsi-led army.   So far the council has criticised but not taken any action in response to the July 25 coup that overthrew the government of elected Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya and installed Major Pierre Buyoya .   The proposals follow closed discussions on Wednesday between council members and parliamentarians from Burundi's main political parties in Burundi, the first time a delegation of legislators expressed its views at a semi-formal meeting of the 15-member body.   In a carrot and stick approach, the draft resolution demands an immediate end to fighting and says all parties and factions "without exception" should initiate negotiations with a view to agreeing on "basic components" for a political settlement within 60 days after the resolution is adopted.   It also imposes an immediate arms embargo, although diplomats recognise enforcement would be difficult.   Should the parties fail to make progress within 60 days, the draft threatens "targeted measures" aimed at the government and political leaders who encouraged violence.   Chile's ambassador, Juan Somavia, in an earlier paper, recommended automatic trade sanctions if the negotiations failed but apparently was unable to get enough support.   Instead the draft now calls for measures "in the political, military and diplomatic fields."   Should the talks make progress, the document says the United Nations would hold a conference to raise funds for reconstruction of the country, where more than 150,000 people have died in fighting over the past three years.   Diplomats said some variation of the resolution is expected to be adopted.   But some Western envoys questioned the 60-day target date, saying more preparations would be needed after decades of sporadic fighting and massacres.   Boutros-Ghali, in a report to the Security Council earlier this week, again recommended that countries assemble a force of 50,000, outside of a U.N. command, in case the conflict escalated to widescale genocide.   But he said that of more than 50 countries approached, only four offered troops.   Meanwhile, the Burundian legislators, brought to New York by the Parliamentarians for Global Action, an independent group, gave conflicting views on what the council should do, depending on whether they belonged to the Hutu-dominated FRODEBU party or the Tutsi-run UPRONA party.   Jean-Marie Ngendahavo, a former foreign minister now in exile and a spokesman for the overthrown president, and Jean Minani, the FRODEBU chairman, said they asked the council to support sanctions imposed on Burundi by its neighbours in reaction to the coup.   Ngendahavo told reporters on Wednesday the president wanted any help available.   But he said the army had to be part of any negotiations and be restructured "to serve the people.   But UPRONA spokesmen differed, saying sanctions would be harmful.   Adrien Sibomana, the prime minister in 1987 when Buyoya was last put in office by the military, said that sanctions would not be helpful.   He said that Buyoya was a factor one had to deal with, along with his government, even if the coup was illegal. 
1450 !GCAT  The following are some of the top headlines in leading Italian newspapers.   -------   TOP POLITICAL STORIES   *Northern League party leader Umberto Bossi was booed by theatre audience at A performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco in Verona.   Bossi says he is ready to renounce his parliamentary immunity and face magistrates who want to prosecute him: "To put me on trial is to put Northern Italy on trial" (all).   *Minister for Public Works Antonio Di Pietro says he can prove his accusations against former Christian Democrat secretary general Ciriaco De Mita.   Di Pietro blamed De Mita saying "he keeps asking favours" (all).   Di Pietro is also quoted by friends as saying that after the Prodi government he wants to lead a center political movement (all).   *Communist leader Fausto Bertinotti says "I appreciate the government good will over some of next autumn's big issues such as employment, education...and STET".   (La Stampa).   But Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano says that Bertinotti's recent threats to sink the government over STET privatisation are unacceptable.   (Corriere della Sera).   ------------------------   TOP BUSINESS STORIES   *Inflation data from six sample cities show a sharp slowdown.   A 3.3 pct rate is expected on a year on year basis, the lowest since July 1969.   *Sources from Treasury Ministry said "the inflation slowdown is not due to recession" and that banks are "too slow in reducing interest rates".   Banking association Abi replies "It's up to the Bank of Italy" (Corriere, Stampa, Il Sole 24 Ore).   ---------   Reuter has not verified these stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.   --Milan bureau +392 66129450 
1451 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !GHEA  Germany's Agriculture Ministry suggested on Wednesday that consumers avoid eating meat from British sheep until scientists determine whether mad cow disease can be transmitted to the animals.   "Until this is cleared up by the European Union's scientific panels -- and we have asked this to be done as quickly as possible -- (consumers) should if at all possible give preference to sheepmeat from other countries," ministry official Werner Zwingmann told ZDF television.   "I do not want to say that there is a concrete danger for consumers," he added.   "There are too many holes in what we know, and these must be filled very quickly."   Bonn has led efforts to ensure consumer protection tops the list of priorities in dealing with the mad cow crisis, which erupted in March when Britain acknowledged humans could contract a similar illness by eating contaminated beef.   The European Commission agreed this month to rethink a proposal to ban the use of suspect sheep tissue after some EU veterinary experts questioned whether it was justified.   EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler had proposed banning sheep brains, spleens and spinal cords from the human and animal food chains after reports from Britain and France that under laboratory conditions sheep could contract Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) -- mad cow disease.   But some members of the EU's standing veterinary committee questioned whether the action was necessary given the slight risk to human health.   The question is being studied separately by two EU scientific committees.   Sheep have long been known to contract scrapie, a similar brain-wasting disease to BSE which is believed to have been transferred to cattle through feed containing animal waste.   British officials say sheep meat is perfectly safe to eat.   ZDF said Germany imported 47,600 sheep from Britain last year, nearly half of total imports.   It brought in 4,275 tonnes of British mutton, some 10 percent of overall imports.   After the British government admitted a possible link between mad cow disease and its fatal human equivalent, the EU imposed a worldwide ban on British beef exports.   EU leaders agreed at a summit in June to a progressive lifting of the ban as Britain takes parallel measures to eradicate the disease. 
1452 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  A German court on Thursday convicted U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck on racial hatred charges for exploiting freedom of speech laws in his homeland to pump extreme right-wing propaganda into Germany.   The Hamburg court sentenced Lauck to four years in jail.   Prosecutors had demanded a five-year prison term for Lauck, dubbed the "farm-belt Fuehrer" by U.S. Nazi watchers.   His defence team had requested an acquittal.    The 43-year old from Lincoln, Nebraska, has run the National Socialist German Workers' Party Foreign Organisation (NSDAP-AO) -- a name derived from the full German title of Hitler's Nazi party -- for the past two decades.   Prosecutors said the NSDAP-AO had been the main source of neo-Nazi, including anti-semitic, material in Germany during that time but restricted their charges to offences over the past few years in a bid to secure a quick conviction.   Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Lauck's lawyer insisted his client had broken no laws in the United States and prosecutors had not proved he was deliberately smuggling material into Germany.   Lauck was arrested during a visit to Denmark in March last year and extradited to Germany in September.   His attorney argued the extradition was illegal as the charges he faced in court did not correspond exactly to those on his extradition warrant. 
1453 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  The Bank of Finland's board of parliamentary supervisors will meet next week to review Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the exchange rate mechanism (ERM), supervisory board chairman Ilkka Kanerva said on Thursday.   "We meet next week to take a look at the economy, at EMU and at the ERM issue," Kanerva told Reuters by telephone.   He declined to comment on remarks made by Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on Wednesday evening that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified and that a decision for or against pegging the markka to ERM would be made in a fairly near future.   Kanerva said he personally regarded it as "highly unlikely that any move would be made on this front (ERM) already next week."   The supervisory board meeting starts on Tuesday at 1600/1300 GMT.   "The government has not approached us on this subject, nor have Bank of Finland officials," he said.   According to the Currency Act, a proposal to link the markka -- floating since September 1992 -- to ERM would be given by the central bank's board of management to the board of supervisors, which would pass the proposal to the government.   --Peter Starck, Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
1454 !GCAT !GVIO  Two blasts rocked public buildings in Corsica overnight as separatists announced they were burying a shaky seven-month truce, accusing the Paris government of reneging on secret commitments.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre quickly pledged that police would catch the authors of a series of attacks on state targets on the French Mediterranean island, and accused the perpetrators of sabotaging efforts to pull it out of an impasse.   The two latest bombs on the island in just over a week caused minor damage to tax collection offices in Calvi and welfare offices in Ile Rousse, both in the northeast of the island, police said.   No one was injured.   No one claimed responsibility for the attacks but investigators said they were most probably part of an apparent resumption of two-decade-old separatist violence.   "Police are reacting and will react with the utmost efficiency to arrest the authors of these attacks.   They go against government efforts to find a solution to the real economic problems of Corsica," Debre told RTL radio.   "The French people will not forgive the perpetrators for their attitude and their violence, because this is an unacceptable blow to efforts to pull Corsica out of an impasse," Debre added.   Judges on the island have accused the government of a lax stance on guerrilla violence as Paris, according to unconfirmed media reports, conducted secret talks with separatists over recent months.   Separatists said in a weekly published on Thursday that they were ending a truce already broken by a series of bombings.   "The end of a peace process", was the headline of an article in Ribombou, the newspaper of the nationalist movement Cuncolta Naziunalista seen as the political arm of outlawed Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) separatist guerrillas.   "The government has betrayed all its commitments, made in negotiations with the FLNC," Cuncolta leader Francois Santoni wrote.   It was unclear what commitments were in question.   Santoni accused Prime Minister Alain Juppe of despising Corsicans and dismissed promised economic aid as charity.   "Threats against outlawed groups have no effect on the determination to continue a fight which began more than 20 years ago," he said.   A crackdown on the guerrillas would fail and "could even hasten (Juppe's) political demise," Santoni said. 
1455 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Denmark's economy ministry said on Thursday it expected unemployment of 9.0 percent by the end of 1996.   The forecast, published in the latest ministry economic review, compared with projections last May of a 9.2 percent 1996 jobless rate.   In June 1996 Danish unemployment stood at 8.7 percent on a year-to-year basis, against 1995's average 10.3 percent.   Thursday's survey saw 8.6 percent jobless at the end of 1997, compared to May's forecast of 8.7 percent.   --Chris Follett, Copenhagen newsroom +45-33969652 
1456 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Thursday morning's German newspapers:   FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG   - German parliamentary controll commission discusses export of dual-use goods to Libya in the light of scandal over German firm that exported equipment to Libya that could be used to manufacture poison gas.   Head of the committee denied any wrongdoing on part of German government.   - No definitive ruling from Federal Administrative Court over nuclear power station Kruemmel.   - Deutsche Telekom wants to lure investors by giving away free shares.   Rebate for private investors.   Listings planned in Frankfurt, New York, Tokyo and regional German stock exchanges.   - Construction industry hopes for more orders.   - German DIW economic research institute says that trade with eastern and central Europe helps to create more employment in those countries.   - Signs of hope for the consumer goods industry only on the export side.   HANDELSBLATT   - Deutsche Telekom says it will offer small investors a rebate.   A discount of upto five percent should keep investors who buy Telekom shares in November.   Those who keep the stock until september 1999 receive "loyalty" shares.   - Boom in the worldwide car industry is expected, according to the Essen-based Analysis Institute Marketing Systems.   - Parliamentary control commission discusses Germany's poison gas affair.   - Kloeckner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD) rejects accusations.   - Trial opens for possibly one of Germany's biggest cases of investor fraud.   - Steel creates worries for Krupp-Hoesch.   - Ifo economic institute says the economic climate in July was better   SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG   - Court must examine leukaemia cases in area around Kruemmel nuclear power station.   Federal Administrative court orders new safety examination for the reactor near Hamburg after questions over the links between children there with leukaemia and the atomic power station.   - Bonn demands an explanation from Tripoli.   - Deutsche Telekom lures investors with discounts in share prices.   - Gregor Gysi, the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) -- east Germany's reform communists -- supports his party's involvement in the Bonn government.   DIE WELT   - Row over aid for Volkswagen intensifies.   - Gregor Gysi, the chairman of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) -- east Germany's reform communists -- gets tougher with his critics within the party.   - New ruling called for over Kruemmel nuclear power station and whether there is link between new nuclear rods and high rate of leukaemia in region among children.   KHD manager insists on innocence.   Executive board said it knew nothing about billion marks losses.   -- Bonn Newsroom +49 228 2609760 
1457 !GCAT  Here are the highlights of stories in the Danish press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   BERLINGSKE TIDENDE   --- Danish mobile phone company Sonofon has agreed with the electricity company NESA on using NESA's cable net for telecommunication to compete against the telecommunications group Tele Danmark.   POLITIKEN   --- The Danish Red Cross has established a new department for business sponsors and is already negotiating with a number of large Danish companies on sponsorship deals.   --- Small Danish companies fail to obtain orders because they do not use the Internet says the Director of the Danish IT sector asssociation.   JYLLANDS-POSTEN   --- The Danish public sector deficit is decreasing sooner than expected, but the government still cannot expect to reach its goal of balance on the budget in 1997.   --- Danish poultry firm Danpo in western Denmark has won its fight to produce the first Danish samonella-free chicken.   The new Danpo chicken will be launced in October.   BORSEN   --- Wage increase in companies which are members of The Danish Federation of Industry will be lower than last year, the Federation foresees.   DET FRI AKTUELT   --- Conservativ leader Hans Engell, says his party will not demand a change in the present early retirement rules in the state Budget negotiations later this year. 
1458 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  The Bank of Finland said on Thursday its exchange rate policy was unchanged and the markka was still a floating currency.   "There has been no change in the Bank of Finland's exchange rate policy," central bank head of information Antti Juusela told Reuters by telephone.   "The markka continues to float."   Juusela declined to comment on remarks on Wednesday evening by Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified.   He also declined comment on media reports that Lipponen had said a decision on whether to link the markka to the ERM would be made in the fairly near future.   The markka has been floating since September 1992.   Finnish politicians have said a decision for or against joining the ERM would have to be made this autumn.   --Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
1459 !GCAT  These are leading stories in this morning's Paris newspapers.   LES ECHOS   -- Prime Minister Alain Juppe back from holidays to deal with immigration affair and tax reform.   -- Generale des Eaux interested in backing Walter Butler's bid for SFP television production company.   -- Markets fret over Bank of France Monetary Policy Council meeting today as government hopes for new interest rate cut to stimulate growth and businesses foresee flat second half .   -- Credit Lyonnais denies management failed to provide timely swap cover for bailout financing package.   -- Paris Bourse down on the eve of Thursday Bundesbank meeting.   LA TRIBUNE DESFOSSES   -- German business climate picks up in July.   -- Bank of France would have great difficulty cutting interest rates alone today.   -- World Bank offers to back system of public naming of high-pollution companies.   LE FIGARO   -- Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, may rule on African hunger strikers today after Prime Minister Alain Juppe promises firm but humane enforcement of immigration laws.   LE FIGARO-ECONOMIE   -- Any German or French interest rate cuts today would be modest at best.   -- Concerted action is not the Bundesbank's strongest point.   LIBERATION   -- Juppe softens stand against Africans on hunger strike to renew or obtain work and residence rights.   THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE   -- Africans will continue hunger strike despite Juppe's softened stance.   -- Paris Newsroom +33 1 4221 5381 
1460 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  French Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre said on Thursday he was ready to re-examine expulsion orders for African protesters but ten immigrants went into the 49th (Corrects from 48th) day of a protest fast bent on winning more concessions.   "There will be no residence permits en masse, there will be no automatic right to stay but the government will study things on a case-by-case basis," Debre told RTL radio.   "Those who have had their demands for (political) asylum rejected will not be granted permits.   That is the law," he added, declining to put a number on how many of the 300 protesters occupying a Paris church would be allowed to stay.   An estimated 117 of the protesters are estimated to have been refused asylum, according to their spokesmen.   The hunger strikers, most of them of Malian nationality, have pledged to continue their fast, buoyed by government concessions and bent on winning residence permits for all of the 300.   They have been drinking sweet tea and eating vitamin pills.   The government said on Wednesday it would seek the opinion of the highest administrative court after Prime Minister Alain Juppe cut short his holiday to chair a ministerial meeting and Debre met a spokesman for the protesters for the first time.   "We respect the law but in its enforcement we try to have a humane attitude so that we can stretch out a hand to the worst cases," Debre said.   "I have sympathy for those who are struggling and for those who are trying to have humanitarian aspects taken into consideration, but I also have sympathy for those who say the law must be respected," he added.   The protesters say they are all entitled to stay.   They say many of them enjoyed residence rights until they were plunged into ilegallity by 1993 laws tightening residence and citizenship regulations to drastically curb immigration.   The church, in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, Juppe's former constituency, is surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers, including media celebrities, determined to prevent any police bid to seize the protesters.   The first opinion poll on the dispute, published in the daily Le Parisien, said most French voters sympathised with the protesters but most opposed giving them all an automatic right to stay. 
1461 !GCAT  The following are some of the leading stories in Finnish papers this morning.   HELSINGIN SANOMAT   - Government to make decision whether to linking markka to ERM in near future, any further strengthening of markka not desirable, Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said at social democratic party meeting in Kuopio.   - Government has completely failed in its main goal to halve unemployment, major opposition Centre Party said.   - Nordic ministers for foreign affairs condemn use of violence in Chechnya.    - The army has started to talk about positive military discipline, but changing habits is slow, army researcher says.   - Estonian airport worker died as a Finnair engine propeller hit him in the head on Tallinn airport.   KAUPPALEHTI   - Profit on core operations in the banking sector to weaken this year, despite increasing demand for loans, Postipankki says.   - Import restrictions on alcohol, set in May, did not reduce travel to Tallinn from Finland, statistics show.    - Sales at Siwa, Valintatalo and Euromarket supermarkets increased strongly in the first half of the year.   - Huhtamaki CEO Timo Peltola surprised by Chicago Tribune's continuous writing about Huhtamaki selling Leaf to Swiss company.   Says the spreading of such rumours is annoying.   DEMARI   - Lake waters clearly warmer than usual this time of the year -- three to five degrees higher in almost whole country.   - Finns smoke about seven percent less than a year ago, survey shows.   But youths smoke as much as earlier.    HUFVUDSTADSBLADET   - UN Human Rights Controller in Bosnia, first runner-up in Finland's last presidential election, Euro MP Elisabeth Rehn says ready to reconsider candidacy for the European parliament elections if Swedish People's Party asks her to run.   -- Paivi Mattila, Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 292 
1462 !GCAT  Following are highlights of stories in the Irish press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   IRISH TIMES   - A large Japanese tuna-fishing vessel was standing off Irish fishery limits on Wednesday night following the Irish Naval Service's detention of one of its vessels about 180 miles off Galway Bay.    - The Department of Enterprise and Employment's investigation into fund managers Taylor Asset Managers is expected to focus on the accounts handled by the company's founder and mananging director Tony Taylor.   - Irish building materials firm CRH refused to comment on newspaper reports that it was close to an agreement to acquire U.S. concrete and stone business Tilcon Inc.   - Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever has extended its offer to shareholders in Lyons Irish Holdings but has not increased it beyond the original offer of 323p.    - Persistent rumours that IRA money was behind the internet service provider Indigo forced the family which owned the company to sell it, a member of the family said.   IRISH INDEPENDENT -   - Talks are underway within the Irish third-level education system to create more college places for students next year.    - The Irish Fraud Squad is unable to investigate the activities of Dublin-based company European Business Support Ltd which has been criticised by Irish small firms for the misleading nature of the service it offers in relation to obtaining European grant aid.   - Irish exploration company Invernia should hear on Thursday evening whether it has received planning permission for its proposed lead zinc mine at Lisheen, County Tipperary.   - Irish industrial development advisory board Forfas said 300,000 jobs could be created in the next 15 years with the correct policy framework. 
1463 !GCAT  The following are the main stories from Thursday morning's Austrian newspapers.   DIE PRESSE   - Finance Minister Viktor Klima said in an interview his tax reform plans included closing loopholes and lowering tax rates.   He said he wanted the state to save more and cut the budget deficit to 2.1 percent of GDP by the year 2000.   - Business is picking up at Austrian Airlines and Lauda Air thanks to a slew of late bookings.   DER STANDARD   - In contrast to Finance Minister Viktor Klima, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said in an interview he did not foresee a general tax reform in the near future.   - A survey showed 26 percent of Viennese planned to vote for the far right Freedom Party in city council elections on October 13.   The Social Democrats have 41 percent backing.   The conservative People's Party has 16 percent support.   KURIER   - The new owner of VA Bergtechnik mining, Tampella, will expand the Styrian firm's production and create a new research centre focusing on the coal sector.   Tampella confirmed a three-year employment guarantee for VA Bergtechnik's entire workforce.   SALZBURGER NACHRICHTEN   - The state prosecutor's office of Klagenfurt, Carinthia, said it would initiate legal proceedings against Freedom Party leader Joerg Haider for alleged defamation of character in a case involving Interior Minister Caspar Einem. 
1464 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in Dutch newspapers today.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   HET FINANCIEELE DAGBLAD   - Shipbuilders Van der Giessen-De Noord and Wilton Fijenoord study feasibility of alliance and maybe merger.   (p1)   - Transport group Nedlloyd books strong recovery in second quarter, mainly due to its ocean shipping division.   (p1)   - Publisher VNU takes Internet firm to court over the use of its registered trade names.   (p1)   - Re-sale of Fokker Aviation to receivers not yet on the cards, says industrial engineering concern Stork.   (p1)   - Papermaker Gelderse Papier reports Dfl 3.9 milion net losses due to write down on stocks.   (p3)   - Industrial plastics supplier Schuttersveld posts 12 percent higher first half net at Dfl 14.9 million.   (p3)   - Bank Nederlanse Gemeenten BNG sees first six months results rise to 20 million guilders.   (p3)   DE VOLKSKRANT   - Cabinet does not expect pensioners to contribute financing to sharply rising costs of OAP benefits.   (p1)   - Harbour concern HES Beheer to start new restructuring at unit European Bulk Services EBS after loss in first half.   (p2)   - Dutch central bank DNB in danger of losing some Dfl 100 million a year as a result of new electronic payments.   (p2)   - Bus company Hermes wants to take over Dutch Railways NS' unprofitable lines in the south east of the Netherlands.   (p3)   DE TELEGRAAF   - Antillean island Aruba accuses Dutch Navy and security forces of possible involvement in smuggling drugs.   (p1)   - Cabinet opts to phase in excise rise on cigarettes.   (p7)   - Brewer Bavaria books lower first half net.   (p19)   TROUW   - Korea's Samsung, still interested buying Fokker, prefers cooperation between the aircraft maker and Sweden's Saab.   (p7)   ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD   - Traffic minister to invest hundreds of millions of guilders extra in roads and public transport.   (p1)   - Educational facilities in the Netherlands, important to compete internationally, are of a mediocre level - economic affairs ministry research.   (p8)   -- Amsterdam Newsdesk +31-20-504-5000 (FAX 31-20-504-5040) 
1465 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !GPOL !M13 !M132 !MCAT  An advisor to Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen told Reuters on Thursday that Lipponen had said on Wednesday evening that a further strengthening of the markka was not justified.   "He said that a further strengthening is not justified when one looks at purchase power parities," the advisor told Reuters by telephone.   The advisor said he did not know exactly what Lipponen had said about the timetable for a decision whether to link the markka to Europe's exchange rate mechanism (ERM).   "He talked, as before, about this autumn," the advisor said.    But the advisor said he had not been right by Lipponen's side all the time, and so could not confirm or deny media reports that the prime minister had said a decision would be made "in a fairly near future."   -- Peter Starck, Helsinki Newsroom +358 - 0 - 680 50 245 
1466 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Sara E. and 24 other former Nazi slaves are on the verge of winning compensation awards from Germany that could pave the way for thousands more claims from Holocaust survivors around the world.   Sara, a Polish Jew, survived massacres at the Warsaw ghetto where she lost her entire family.   She was taken to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1943 and survived the notorious "selections" when deportees were singled out to join an army of slaves.   The rest were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.   Sara was sold by the SS, who ran Adolf Hitler's concentration camps, to a German firm to work in its arms factory.   After half a century of uncertainty, Sara, now 73, living in Israel on a meagre pension and still scarred by her ordeal, looks closer than ever to remuneration after Germany's highest court ruled last month there was no legal barrier to her claim.   A court spokesman said the court would set a date for the next hearing when it convened for the autumn session in September.   "I worked 12 hours a day at the conveyor belt assembling grenades -- even with typhus and a raging fever.   We were woken at 3 a.m. every day and had to march two hours to the factory," Sara said in a statement to the Bonn court examining her claim.   "At midday we had a bowl of watery soup for three women.   In the evening each had a piece of bread and ersatz tea," said Sara, who escaped her Nazi tormentors on the notorious "death marches" as SS camp guards fled the advancing Red Army.   Hitler's armaments minister Albert Speer cited 11 million slaves in 1944 -- seven million in Germany -- toiling in his vast empire of camps and arms factories stretching across the Nazi-occupied lands from Norway to Algeria.   A year later at the Nuremberg war crimes trials Speer was prosecuted and sentenced to 20 years in jail for his use of slave labour.   "Work conditions were appalling.   They were starved and beaten by SS guards and few survived," said Baron Klaus von Muenchhausen, who has campaigned for the women for 10 years.   Muenchhausen, who lectures at Bremen University's Raphael Lemkin Institute for the study of xenophobia and genocide, said the Nazis used and sold more slaves during their 14-year rule than traders who enslaved 15 million Africans over 300 years.   "The Nazis debated whether labour should be a tool of extermination -- whether their victims should be worked to death -- or whether they should be treated better so that they would not have to keep re-training new workers," he said.   "These women are old and frail and do not have the means to press for compensation.   I met them in 1985 and they asked me to help them," said Muenchhausen, who found an anonymous German sponsor to pay the women's legal fees.   Muenchhausen campaigned successfully on behalf of about 100 twins used as human guinea pigs for gruesome medical experiments by the "Angel of Death" Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.   The German government awarded them prompt compensation in 1987.   But compensation for ex-slaves seemed unattainable because of a legal anomaly.   "The Nazis' forced labour workers have long been entitled to compensation but have been prevented from making successful claims because of the London Debt Agreement of 1953," he said.   One article of the agreement, under which then-West Germany took over Nazi Germany's debts, states that forced labour workers could not be paid compensation until Germany signed a formal peace treaty with its former foes.   But divided Germany never did during the Cold War, Muenchhausen said.   "Individual claims failed in the past because of this, so we are suing the government for obstructing these rightful claims by not keeping its laws in order," he said, on behalf of the women now living in Israel, the United States and Canada.   Muenchhausen argued that Germany had effectively declared peace with the countries it occupied and with former enemies in two historic agreements signed in 1990: the German-Polish border accord and the so-called "Two-Plus-Four" treaty.   The treaty signed by the four wartime Allies and two Germanys paved the way for German unification.   This, he said, meant that compensation claims could no longer be barred.   In 1993 a Bonn regional court accepted his arguments but sought advice from the Federal Constitutional Court, Germany's highest court, on whether state-to-individual as opposed to state-to-state compensation payments were lawful.   In June this year the Constitutional Court said there was no legal barrier to stop the Bonn court processing the claims.   "The next stage is for the parties and the court to negotiate, then the court officials will discuss what to do next," the court spokesman said.   Many German firms used slave labour during the Third Reich.   This ruling could pave the way for a flood of compensation claims.   IG Farben, which produced the Zyklon B gas for the death camps, paid 30 million marks ($20 million) in compensation to the Jewish Claims Conference in 1957.   The firm was broken up after the war and its plants transferred to Hoechst, Bayer and BASF, now Germany's three largest chemical firms.   But neither those firms nor IG Farben accept responsibility for the suffering of about 350,000 slave workers or have ever paid individual compensation.   Campaigners in Germany have infiltrated shareholders' meetings by buying stock in the listed companies to pressure the management into paying up, so far without success.   The firms argue they had no choice but to use slave labour at the time because the civilian workforce was depleted by the war.   They say that if anyone should pay, it is the German government as the legal successor to Hitler's Third Reich.   Muenchhausen said the German state paid Union, the firm that owned the arms factory where Sara worked, 2.5 million marks ($1.68 million) in damages for loss of property at the end of the war.   "You have a totally unjust situation where the perpetrators were reimbursed for their losses, while the victims were left in the lurch," he said.   "I think this will count in our favour."   ($1=1.4895 Mark) 
1467 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The U.N. official in charge of dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction leaves for Baghdad on Friday to discuss the disputed issue of unrestricted arms inspections.   Rolf Ekeus, head of the U.N. Special Commission, responsible for ridding Iraq of dangerous weapons, is expected to arrive in Baghdad on Sunday and to stay for about three days of talks with Tareq Aziz, the deputy prime minister, and other Iraqi officials.   Iraq for the past few months has balked at surprise inspections by arms experts searching for documents or other weapons-related materials, saying the U.N. teams were delving into sensitive national security sites the Special Commission had promised not to touch.   The Ekeus-Aziz meetings will be based on a June 22 agreement that called for periodic sessions on the weapons controversy.   Iraq said in the agreement it would allow unconditional and unrestricted entry to its sites.   In return, the United Nations promised to operate "with full respect for the legitimate security concerns of Iraq."   "Since then we have tried to test the arrangements, and it has not been a happy experience," Ekeus said on Thursday.   U.N. officials said a minor inspection trip was banned by Iraqi authorities as late as last week.   Ridding Iraq of its nuclear, chemical, biological and ballistic missile arms potential is a key requirement for lifting stringent trade sanctions imposed after Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait in August 1990.   The Security Council also has given inspectors the right to conduct surprise searches.   The destruction of dangerous weapons was central to an April 1991 ceasefire resolution that ended the Gulf War.   Council members, in comments to the press late in July, deplored what they called unacceptable delays in inspections but postponed convening a formal meeting or issuing threats until Ekeus was ready for his next visit.   The 15-member body is expected to adopt a statement on the issue by Friday, although some envoys said it might not be as strong as the United States and Britain wished.   The blanket sanctions are separate from a deal that is expected to go into force next month, allowing Baghdad to sell $2 billion worth of petroleum over six months to buy badly needed food and medicine. 
1468 !C11 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London chairman David Rowland said on Thursday he did not believe a crunch court case brought against the insurance market in the United States would block completion of the 300-year old institution's recovery plan.   In an interview with Reuters, he said many U.S. investors have already accepted the terms of the recovery proposals and added any injuction served against the insurance market by the judge in the critical Virginia case would be quickly appealed.   "I think it's extremely unlikely that the judge would wish to overrule the free choice that they have already made," said Rowland in a reference to the U.S. investors and of the basis on which Lloyd's made its contingency plans for such a legal challenge.   Investors in Lloyds are known as "Names'.   U.S. district judge Robert Payne earlier delayed until Friday his ruling on demands by 93 U.S. Names for an injunction halting the recovery plan, under which Lloyd's aims to reinsure billions of pounds of liabilities into a new company Equitas.   Thousands of Names worldwide are waiting anxiously for this decision, with less than a week until the August 28 deadline by which Lloyd's wants Names to accept or reject the recovery plan.   Lloyd's asked Names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion sterling ($5 billion) to offset the cost and end litigation.   Rowland declined to reveal how many of the 2,700 Names in the U.S. and 33,500 worldwide have accepted.   He said such figures meant little as success depended on "yes" votes from two key blocks: the litigating Names and those with outstanding debts needed by Lloyd's to fund Equitas.   But the level of acceptance among Names was well ahead of where Lloyd's expected it to be at this stage.   "We've got a lot of votes in and we are beginning to see a substantial majority of the members who wish to accept," he said.   Rowland said believed it was extremely likely Lloyd's would have the substantial majority needed to go ahead with the recovery proposals.   He added it was possible after declaring the offer unconditional that Names who had not yet agreed would be given extra time in which to do so.   In the U.S., Payne has indicated that it is not his intention to stop Lloyd's recovery plan worldwide and he may be considering a compromise ruling.   Industry sources have suggested he could, for example, issue an order that funds be held in escrow and that the Names be allowed more time to accept or reject the plan.   Rowland was hopeful any injunction against Lloyd's could be appealed by Monday or Tuesday next week.   The Names in this case claim their contracts with Lloyd's violate U.S. disclosure laws, while Lloyd's contends that they are under their contract with the market bound to conduct legal action against it in Britain.   ($1=.6458 Sterling) 
1469 !GCAT !GCRIM  A 35-year-old man has been charged with running a large-scale pyramid scheme that apparently took in as many as 10,000 investors in Ontario, British Columbia and Europe, police said on Thursday.   Iranian-born Mehrdad Alibabaie, 35, of Toronto was arrested Wednesday for allegedly running a scheme that police estimate bilked investors of more than C$50 million ($36 million), said Toronto Police detective sergeant Chris Hobson.   Alibabaie also faces charges of fraud, extortion and possession of a prohibited weapon.   Police said investors contributed anywhere from C$20 ($15) Canadian to C$2 million ($1.46 million) each to the scheme, which was dubbed "System B", between May 1995 and August 1996.   The scheme promised investors high returns on their money, which organisers told recruits was placed in the international currency and commodity markets, provided they spent an amount equal to 2 percent of their investment at a grocery store chain owned by an associate of Alibabaie.   The system began to collapse this month.   This prompted investors to contact police.   Police believe that the scheme was kept running by the continuing influx of new contributors, and that no money was actually invested in financial markets.   Investigations are ongoing and more arrests may follow. 
1470 !GCAT !GSPO  On a day when only six golfers broke par, Billy Mayfair, Paul Goydos and Japan's Hidemichi Tanaki shared the first-round lead at the World Series of Golf after shooting four-under-par 66 Thursday.   Two strokes back at Firestone C.C. was Steve Stricker, a two-time winner this year.   Another stroke back after shooting one-under 69 were PGA Champion Mark Brooks and Justin Leonard.   The World Series is a limited-field event, with 43 golfers earning invitations by winning tournaments in America and on the world's other major tours over the past 12 months.   Mayfair, who lost this tournament in a playoff with Greg Norman last year and who qualified this time by winning the Tour Championship 10 months age, had a bogey-free round.   He picked up his four birdies on the back nine, three in the last four holes.   "I seem to come here and just start playing well, maybe because I like being here," said Mayfair.   "It's an honour to be here."   Goydos had six birdies and two bogeys, and was the last player to finish before a one-hour lightning delay.   For most players the rough that surrounds Firestone's narrow fairways produces bogeys or hard-won pars, but Goydos made two birdies out of the rough.   "The key was that when I was in the rough, I drew pretty good lies," he said.   Goydos earned a place here by winning the Bay Hill Invitational in March when he was part of a springtime streak of first-time winners.   Because Goydos had been fairly obscure before that win and has played unimpressively since then, he says that people have forgotten that he is a winner.   "In the last couple of weeks 10 or 15 of the guys have asked me if I'm playing in Vancouver," said Goydos, referring to the Greater Vancouver Open, the PGA Tour event which is also being staged this week.   Tanaka, 25, the rookie of the year in Japan last year, is playing in just his third American event though he played well at the recent British Open, shootng a first-round 67 at Royal Lytham which put him in second place.   Tanaka held the lead on his own at five under par after birdieing the first three holes and then the 11th and 12th holes.   His only bogey came on the 18th when he three-putted from 30 feet, missing a three-foot putt which would have left him sole leader.   A slight figure at just 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 metres) and 128 pounds (58 kg), Tanaka can hit drives that are John Daly-esqe.   On the 464-yard final hole, Tanaka drove his tee shot some 350 yards, leaving himself just a 110-yard wedge shot to the green.   Tanaka said through a translator that his goal was to play in America, but added that he felt he needed to learn to speak English before he came over here full time.   Asked what English words he knew, Tanaka replied: "McDonald's." 
1471 !GCAT !GSPO  Scores from the $2.1   million NEC World Series of Golf after the first round   Thursday at the 7,149 yard, par 70 Firestone C.C course   (players U.S. unless stated):   66 Paul Goydos, Billy Mayfair, Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan)   68 Steve Stricker   69 Justin Leonard, Mark Brooks   70 Tim Herron, Duffy Waldorf, Davis Love, Anders Forsbrand   (Sweden), Nick Faldo (Britain), John Cook, Steve Jones, Phil   Mickelson, Greg Norman (Australia)   71 Ernie Els (South Africa), Scott Hoch   72 Clarence Rose, Loren Roberts, Fred Funk, Sven Struver   (Germany), Alexander Cejka (Germany), Hal Sutton, Tom Lehman   73 D.A. Weibring, Brad Bryant, Craig Parry (Australia),   Stewart Ginn (Australia), Corey Pavin, Craig Stadler, Mark   O'Meara, Fred Couples   74 Paul Stankowski, Costantino Rocca (Italy)   75 Jim Furyk, Satoshi Higashi (Japan), Willie Wood, Shigeki   Maruyama (Japan)   76 Scott McCarron   77 Wayne Westner (South Africa), Steve Schneiter   79 Tom Watson   81 Seiki Okuda (Japan) 
1472 !GCAT !GSPO  Paul Broadhurst shot a 62 as several players tore the Nippenburg course apart in the first round of the German Open on Thursday.   His nine-under-par course record left him just one shot clear of fellow Briton Raymond Russell and two ahead of a group of seven players headed by course designer Bernhard Langer.   Broadhurst said of the course: "The fairways are generous, there is little rough and the greens are soft and holding.   It won't surprise me if someone breaks 60 this week."   Of the 156-strong field, 94 broke 70, 112 beat the par of 71 and 128 played to par or better.   Broadhurst, starting at the 10th, broke Gary Orr's year-old record of 63 with a near-faultless round of 31 out and 31 in, with nine birdies and no bogeys.   But he admitted he was very fortunate at the 15th hole, his sixth, where he drove into a bunker, played "a terrible shot" out of the sand and then holed out from 70 yards with his sand-iron for a birdie three.   Had he not three-putted the 13th from 60 feet, he would have had the best round on the European Tour this year.   However, he was well pleased with his lowest round in a Tour event.   Russell's 63 was his lowest round as a professional.   He shot seven birdies and an eagle three at the 560-yard fourth hole.   His only bogey came at the 10th where he three-putted from 35 feet. 
1473 !GCAT !GSPO  Gloria Bistrita (Romania) beat 2-1 (halftime 1-1) F.C. Valletta (Malta) in their Cup winners Cup match, second leg of the preliminary round, on Thursday.   Scorers:   Gloria Bistrita - Ilie Lazar (32nd), Eugen Voica (84th)   F.C. La Valletta - Gilbert Agius (24th)   Attendance: 8,000   Gloria Bistrita won 4-2 on aggregate and qualified for the first round of the Cup winners Cup.   REUTER 
1474 !GCAT !GSPO  Daniel Komen, the second fastest man over 3,000 metres, takes on Algerian Noureddine Morceli at the Brussels grand prix on Friday in a race which may well produce a world best.   The 20-year-old Kenyan failed to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics but has been in devastating form since on the grand prix circuit.   After running the second fastest 3,000 metres in history in Monaco on August 10, Komen clocked the second fastest 5,000 metres at last week's Zurich grand prix.   He now meets Olympic and world 1,500 metres champion Morceli who set the current 3,000 mark of seven minutes 25.11 seconds in Monaco two years ago.   Michael Johnson makes his first appearance at a major European meeting since he achieved an historic 200-400 metres double at the Atlanta Games.   A one-lap race has been added to the programme for the Texan who commands one of the biggest appearance fees in the sport.   But meeting sources denied reports that Johnson was now able to demand $100,000 after Atlanta.   He will be paid around $75,000, the fee top athletes are guaranteed in Zurich.   Johnson injured a hamstring after smashing the world 200 metres record in Atlanta but said he was now back to peak form.   "I'm in good shape now," he said on Thursday.   "I am looking forward to a good race."   He also dismissed suggestions that he might concentrate on the 100 metres in the run-up to next year's world championships.   "I am not a depressed 100 runner who does the 200 and 400 because he isn't good enough," Johnson said.   "I run the 200 and 400 and I'm happy to carry on doing that."   Another record could go in the women's 1,000 metres where Russian Svetlana Masterkova, the Olympic 800 and 1,500 metres champion who broke the women's mile world record in Zurich, takes on Mozambique's former world champion Maria Mutola.   The men's 100 metres boasts each of the Olympic gold medallists from the last four Games -- Carl Lewis (1984 and 1988), Linford Christie (1992) and Canada's current champion Donovan Bailey.   Christie will be making his final appearance at a major grand prix outside Britain before retiring.   Organisers confirmed on Thursday evening that he had recovered from a knee injury.   Atlanta bronze medallist Ato Boldon and American champion Dennis Mitchell are also in the field.   Namibia's silver medallist Frankie Fredericks will run the 200 metres where he is one of seven athletes still in contention for the Golden Four jackpot of 20 one-kilo gold bars, worth around $250,000.   Athletes winning specific events at all four meetings in the series in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin can win the prize.   The competition will be decided at next week's final meeting in the German capital.   The other athletes involved are Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey (100 metres), Denmark's Wilson Kipketer (800 metres), American Derrick Adkins (400 hurdles), Britain's Jonathan Edwards (triple jump), Germany's Lars Riedel (discus), and Bulgarian high jumper Stefka Kostadinova. 
1475 !GCAT !GSPO  Sir Mark Prescott landed his first group one victory in 25 years as a trainer when his top sprinter Pivotal, a 100-30 chance, won the Nunthorpe Stakes on Thursday.   The three-year-old, partnered by veteran George Duffield, snatched a short head verdict in the last stride to deny Eveningperformance (16-1), trained by Henry Candy and ridden by Chris Rutter.   Hever Golf Rose (11-4), last year's Prix de l' Abbaye winner at Longchamp, finished third, a further one and a quarter lengths away with the 7-4 favourite Mind Games in fourth.   Pivotal, a Royal Ascot winner in June, may now be aimed at this season's Abbaye, Europe's top sprint race.   Prescott, reluctant to go into the winner's enclosure until the result of the photo-finish was announced, said: "Twenty-five years and I have never been there so I thought I had better wait a bit longer."   He added: "It's very sad to beat Henry Candy because I am godfather to his daughter."   Like Prescott, Jack Berry, trainer of Mind Games, had gone into Thursday's race in search of a first group one success after many years around the top of his profession.   Berry said: "I`m disappointed but I don't feel suicidal.   He (Mind Games) was going as well as any of them one and a half furlongs (300 metres) out but he just didn't quicken." 
1476 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of the Nunthorpe Stakes, a group one race for two-year-olds and upwards, run over five furlongs (1 km) on Thursday:    1.   Pivotal 100-30 (ridden by George Duffield)    2.   Eveningperformance 16-1 (Chris Rutter)    3.   Hever Golf Rose 11-4 (Jason Weaver)   Eight ran.    Favourite: Mind Games (7-4) finished 4th   Distances: a short head, 1-1/4 lengths.   Winner owned by the Cheveley Park Stud and trained by Sir   Mark Prescott at Newmarket.   Value to winner: 72,464 pounds sterling ($112,200) 
1477 !GCAT !GSPO  World championship leader Tommi Makinen and fellow Finn Juha Kankkunen start the 1,000 Lakes Rally on Friday with a huge home advantage.   The route has been heavily revised since the big-name drivers last contested the world championship event in 1994 and new restrictions on practice have made local knowledge of the uniquely demanding terrain a key factor.   As rivals fretted, Makinen confidently declared: "No problem."   Jumps taken at speeds of 120 kph and the constant twists and turns of the unsurfaced forest roads means that car control and precise lines are vital.   A momentary lack of concentration can spell disaster.   "It's very difficult to describe the roads with pace notes.   You have to know it by heart," explained Ford number two Bruno Thiry of Belgium.   His Spanish team mate Carlos Sainz, second in the world championship, added: "The main problem is knowledge.   Some stages I know, some we just have to learn.   The objective is to be in the top three."   Even Britain's world champion Colin McRae, who has tackled the 1,000 Lakes only once previously, does not rate his chances.   The loss of a day's preparation on Tuesday when he was fined $250,000 -- most of it suspended -- by an International Automobile Federation tribunal in Paris after colliding with spectators in last month's Argentine Rally, did not help.   "I've practised everything one or two times less than everyone else -- and Finland is the most important rally in the championship to have practised," the Subaru driver said.   Mitsubishi driver Makinen's confidence is high as he aims to become only the fourth driver to complete the 1,000 Lakes hat-trick.   But Kankkunen, four times world champion, is expected to run him close in his Toyota. 
1478 !GCAT !GSPO  Damon Hill goes into Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix knowing a single mistake could bring Canadian Jacques Villeneuve right back into the drivers' title race.   The Briton has a 17-point lead over his Williams team mate -- the only man who can deprive him of his first world championship success -- and a win would take him to within touching distance of the title.   But if Hill fails to finish in the top six on the majestic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and Villeneuve wins, the gap between the two will be just seven points with three races remaining.   The Canadian pipped Hill on the line in Hungary a fortnight ago, and the Williams team has said it will allow the two drivers to slug it out for the title without interference.   "It is a pretty interesting situation, very competitive and tight, but I am still looking forward to the race," Hill said.   "I have a good idea of what I need to do to win the race and go on to take the title."   Hill won at the 6.97-km track -- the longest on the Grand Prix calendar -- in both 1993 and 1994, and relishes its combination of sweeping corners and straights through the undulating forest of the Ardennes.   "It is wide, open and fast and now we have the Eau Rouge corner back it is great for all of us," he said.   "This is one of the most challenging corners in Formula One and it is a spectacular experience.   "I thoroughly enjoy the circuit as you feel you can drive the car to its full potential."   In addition to his two victories in Belgium, Hill came second last year when double world champion Michael Schumacher of Germany drove an inspired race to win from 16th on the grid.   This year Schumacher has been hampered by his Ferrari team's chronic reliability problems, but the introduction of a seven-speed gearbox could boost his performance here.   Villeneuve has the disadvantage of never having driven the circuit, although this did not stop him winning the European and Hungarian Grands Prix.   "From what I have seen and heard it is a bit like Suzuka, (in Japan) with a lot of high-speed ballsy corners," said the Canadian, dubbed `the Greta Garbo of the pit lane' because he shuns publicity.   "I don't know if I am going to be competitive.   It's a tough track to learn but I know I am going to enjoy it and if, on top of that, I can learn it quickly it will be good."   The race takes place over 44 laps on Sunday afternoon. 
1479 !GCAT !GSPO  Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez Vicario overcame Naoko Kijimuta's upset bid and an upset stomach Wednesday to move into the quarter-finals of the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic.   Sanchez Vicario, the top seed, beat the little-known Japanese 1-6 6-4 6-3 despite vomiting after being drubbed in the first set.   Fourth seed Kimiko Date beat Japanese Fed Cup teammate Yone Kamio 6-2 7-5, but compatriot and seventh seed Ai Sugiyama squandered a 4-1 lead before bowing to France's Sandrine Testud 6-3 4-6 6-4.   "I was not feeling very well, I was having trouble with my stomach," said Sanchez Vicario.   "Maybe it was something I ate.   I felt nauseous so I threw up.   It was weird because it never happened to me before."   Kijimuta, ranked 53rd in the world, pushed the second-ranked Sanchez Vicario all over the court in dominating the opening set with pinpoint groundstrokes.   "She played really well the first set," said Sanchez Vicario.   "I don't think she missed many shots.   She was taking the ball really early and I was hitting the ball short.   It took me a while to get used to the court."   Sanchez Vicario regrouped, however, and took the next set -- but not before Kijimuta erased a 3-0 lead to level it at 4-4.   The Spaniard got the decisive break in the ninth game before holding serve.   "After winning the second set, I got more confidence," said Sanchez Vicario, the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic runner-up.   "I began to hit the ball deeper and not miss so many easy shots."   The feisty Spaniard traded breaks with Kijimuta in the first two games of the decisive set before running to a 5-1 lead.   Kijimuta won the next two games before Sanchez Vicario sealed the win with her sixth break of the match.   "It was a very good match for me," Sanchez Vicario said of the one hour, 50 minute tussle.   "It's good for me to have a tough match in the beginning.   Date sailed through her first set after racing out to a 5-0 lead on Kamio's many mistakes.   But the tide briefly turned in the second set as the world's eighth-ranked player gave Kamio a 3-0 advantage.   Date levelled the score at 5-5 as each traded services breaks in the ninth and 10th games.   Kamio drilled a forehand long on game point in the next game to give the decisive break to Date, who then served out the match.   Sugiyama, Date's other Fed Cup teammate, couldn't stand prosperity after amassing the big 4-1 lead, and Testud ran off the next five games en route to her three-set victory.   "I had a chance to win but my mental state was too weak today," Sugiyama said.   "I didn't have the guts to play well." 
1480 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   $450,000 Toshiba Classic tennis tournament on Wednesday   (prefix number denotes seeding):   Second round   1-Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Spain) beat Naoko Kijimuta (Japan)   1-6 6-4 6-3   4-Kimiko Date (Japan) beat Yone Kamio (Japan) 6-2 7-5   Sandrine Testud (France) beat 7 - Ai Sugiyama (Japan) 6-3 4-6   6-4   8-Nathalie Tauziat (France) beat Shi-Ting Wang (Taiwan) 6-4   6-2 
1481 !GCAT !GSPO  Two-time defending champion Tiger Woods won three consecutive holes on the front nine and defeated J.D. Manning, 3 and 2, in the first round of match play at the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship Wednesday.   Woods fell behind when Manning birdied the sixth hole but he won the next three holes, two with birdies.   He eagled the 14th hole and clinched the match with a par at 16 as Manning bogeyed.   The 20-year-old Woods is trying to become the first player ever to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships.   Before his titles in 1994 and 1995, he captured three straight U.S. Junior Amateur crowns. 
1482 !GCAT !GSPO  Overcoming some early erratic play, top-seeded Michael Chang defeated unseeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain 6-3 6-2 in the Waldbaum Hamlet Cup tennis tournament on Wednesday.   Chang, ranked third in the world, increased his summer hardcourt record to 16-1 with this win over Bruguera who is ranked 71st.   The duel between two former French Open champions found Chang fighting off four break points in a 14-point service game to start the match.   But after the two exchanged service breaks, Chang put things together and won the last two games of the first set with the loss of only one point, then won the last five games of the match.   "It was a good match for me with the U.S. Open next week, though I didn't serve well and was inconsistent with my ground strokes," Chang said.   "But now I will refine these things."   Chang also said he was surprised to be seeded second for the U.S. Open and surprised that other players were not seeded according to their rankings.   "Wimbledon has been the only tournament not to seed accoding to the computor rankings," he said.   "I'm a little surprised.   I don't know why they did it.   "It probably has upset some people."   Michael Joyce upset third-seeded Richey Reneberg 3-6 6-4 6-3 in an all-American second-rounder.   The victory, putting Joyce in the quarter-finals, was built around a steady service as Joyce, a former U.S. junior champion, rallied from 0-2 in the second set, hitting nine aces at crucial moments.   "I felt sluggish at the start of the match and decided to rely more on my serve than try to move around the court," Joyce said.   "I made a conscious effort to get the first serve in, rather than go for speed.   "It was good to win a match like this after having had trouble with elbow tendinitis this summer.   I have a lot of my confidence back."   Czech Martin Damm also advanced to the quarter-finals, along with Karol Kucera of Slovakia.   Damm, unseeded, was leading sixth-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 5-7 6-3 3-0 when El Aynaoui retired with a recurence of a right foot injury.   It was the fifth time he has retired in a match this year.   Kucera eliminated another Moroccan, Hicham Arazi, 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in a match between unseeded players.   Kucera won the last three points of the first-set tiebreaker with two of his eight aces and a volley placement.   He then broke service on his third match point of the final game. 
1483 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   Waldbaum Hamlet Cup tennis tournament on Wednesday (prefix   number denotes seeding):   Second round   1-Michael Chang (U.S.) beat Sergi Bruguera (Spain) 6-3 6-2   Michael Joyce (U.S.) beat 3-Richey Reneberg (U.S.) 3-6 6-4   6-3   Martin Damm (Czech Republic) beat 6-Younes El Aynaoui   (Morocco) 5-7 6-3 3-0 retired   Karol Kucera (Slovakia) beat Hicham Arazi (Morocco) 7-6 (7-4)   7-5 
1484 !GCAT !GSPO  Good batting and bad weather frustrated Surrey and Kent on Thursday as they looked to keep up the pressure on English county championship leaders Derbyshire.   Third-placed Surrey -- desperate to take full advantage of their game in hand -- struggled to make an impact against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.   Surrey found themselves on the receiving end of centuries from recalled batsmen Graeme Archer and Matthew Dowman, who led Nottinghamshire to 392 for six at the close.   Dowman was in sparkling form, striking 15 fours in his 141-minute innings of 107, while Archer remained unbeaten at the close on 143.   Second-placed Kent had their progress halted by heavy rain that restricted the first day of their match against Glamorgan in Cardiff to 42.5 overs.   They had reached 128 for one when the second interruption shortly after lunch sent the players off the field.   Matthew Walker (59) and David Fulton (53 not out) put together an opening partnership of 122 to build the foundation for a big first-innings total.   Fifth-placed Essex made the best start of all the title chasers thanks to a hat-trick from Ashley Cowan against Gloucestershire at Colchester.   The 21-year-old fast bowler removed Richard Davis with the last ball of his 14th over and then dismissed Martyn Ball and Andy Smith with the first two deliveries of his 15th over on his way to career-best figures of five for 68.   Cowan's inspired spell reduced Gloucestershire to 280 all out, with dropped England wicketkeeper Jack Russell top scoring with 63.   By the close Essex, seeking their fifth successive victory, were 72 without loss.   Yorkshire made solid progress on the opening day of the their clash with Lancashire at Headingley, reaching 305 for five by the close.   Michael Vaughan (57) and Martyn Moxon (66) put on 110 for the first wicket before former Yorkshire spinner Gary Keedy brought Lancashire back into the match by taking both their wickets.   Paceman Richard Green also bagged two quicket wickets to reduce Yorkshire to 187 for four, before Richard Kettleborough (34) and Craig White (66 not out) steadied the innings.   West Indies batsman Phil Simmons hit 108 and Paul Nixon an unbeaten 67 to steer Leicestershire to 343 for eight against Hampshire at Grace Road.   Neil Lenham celebrated his return from injury with a magnificent 145 for Sussex against second-from-bottom Northamptonshire at Northampton.   Lenham hit 22 fours in his 226-ball knock in Sussex's 368 for seven.   An unbroken last-wicket stand of 86 between Ashley Giles and Tim Munton rescued Warwickshire's first innings against Worcestershire.   Giles' unbeaten 57 took Warwickshire from 169 to 255 for nine. 
1485 !GCAT !GSPO  Kenny Dalglish spoke on Thursday of his sadness at leaving Blackburn, the club he led to the English premier league title in 1994-95.   Blackburn announced on Wednesday they and Dalglish had parted by mutual consent.   But the ex-manager confessed on Thursday to being "sad" at leaving after taking Blackburn from the second division to the premier league title inside three and a half years.   In a telephone call to a local newspaper from his holiday home in Spain, Dalglish said: "We came to the same opinion, albeit the club came to it a little bit earlier than me."   He added: "If no one asked, I never opened my mouth.   I have stayed out of the way and let them get on with the job.   The club thought it (the job) had run its course and I came to the same conclusion."   Dalglish had been with Blackburn for nearly five years, first as manager and then, for the past 15 months, as director of football. 
1486 !GCAT !GSPO  Close of play scores in four-day   English County Championship cricket matches on Thursday:   Second day   At Weston-super-Mare: Durham 326 (D.Cox 95 not out,   S.Campbell 69; G.Rose 7-73).   Somerset 236-4 (M.Lathwell 85).   Firsy day   At Colchester: Gloucestershire 280 (J.Russell 63, A.Symonds   52; A.Cowan 5-68).   Essex 72-0.   At Cardiff: Kent 128-1 (M.Walker 59, D. Fulton 53 not out) v   Glamorgan.   At Leicester: Leicestershire 343-8 (P.Simmons 108, P.Nixon   67 not out) v Hampshire.   At Northampton: Sussex 368-7 (N.Lenham 145, V.Drakes 59 not   out, A.Wells 51) v Northamptonshire.   At Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 392-6 (G.Archer 143 not   out, M.Dowman 107) v Surrey.   At Worcester: Warwickshire 255-9 (A.Giles 57 not out, W.Khan   52) v Worcestershire.   At Headingley: Yorkshire 305-5 (C.White 66 not out, M.Moxon   66, M.Vaughan 57) v Lancashire. 
1487 !GCAT !GSPO  Arsenal directors, under fire after the sacking of manager Bruce Rioch and the uncertainty over the anticipated arrival-time of his apparent replacement Arsene Wenger, faced a rowdy annual shareholders' meeting at Highbury on Thursday.   More than 300 people attended the 90-minute meeting during which chairman Peter Hill Wood and vice-chairman David Dein were harangued and interrupted as they tried to address the audience.   They were bombarded with questions ranging from Rioch's dismissal, Frenchman Wenger's possible contract and club finances and transfers.   Managing director Ken Friar said afterwards there would be no comment from the club on the meeting, a private domain of shareholders or their proxy-holders.   But one shareholder said later: "There was a lot of shouting and bawling." 
1488 !GCAT !GSPO  John Crawley's highest test score kept Pakistan at bay on Thursday as England reached 278 for six on the first day of the decisive third test at the Oval.   Crawley was unbeaten on 94 at the close after almost four hours of measured strokeplay, keeping alive the home side's chances of a big first innings total in a match they must win to square the best-of-three series.   The 24-year-old Lancashire batsman, whose previous best in 12 tests was 72 against Australia in Sydney in 1994, blossomed after a shaky start and enjoyed a splendid fourth-wicket stand of 89 with Graham Thorpe to lift England to 205 for three at one point in the afternoon.   It took a determined effort from the Pakistan attack to apply the brakes in fast-scoring conditions and the final session yielded a modest 70 runs as Crawley opted to dig in rather than accelerate towards a maiden test century.    Crawley's first 10 balls scarcely hinted at a great innings to come.   He might have been out lbw, caught at slip and bowled without playing a shot as Waqar Younis, who had already removed Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, strove for another victim.   But Crawley, who attended the same school as Atherton and has long been regarded as a test prospect of similar class, settled down impressively with Thorpe, playing leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed with an ease most of his team-mates struggled to match.   Three times in the same over the leg-spinner was struck clinically through the off-side and the Lancashire man's 50 required 19 fewer deliveries than Thorpe's 89-ball effort.   But to England's dismay, Thorpe, who has now passed 50 on 20 occasions for England yet scored only two centuries, was adjudged lbw for 54 to seamer Mohammad Akram, to become the third player guilty of wasting a good start.   Alec Stewart best summed up his side's slightly uneven day, hitting nine fours in a fluent 44 only to be bowled hitting across the line at a quicker ball from Mushtaq.   Hussain went for 12, steering Waqar to second slip, and England were in danger of squandering a good toss when the paceman bowled Atherton behind his legs for 31 with the score on 116.   It was a brave effort considering Atherton was struck a painful blow on the right shoulder in only the third over by Wasim Akram, who also had his rival captain dropped at leg slip when on 15.   The final session honours, though, were mostly Pakistan's after Nick Knight, who hoisted Mushtaq for a six over mid-wicket, was bowled by the same bowler off his pad and arm for 17.   The old ball belatedly began to swing for the faster bowlers and Wasim, who took nine for 103 in the match when Pakistan clinched a 2-1 series victory on their last visit to The Oval in 1992, surged back to remove Chris Lewis for five.   England, who unexpectedly omitted Andy Caddick to include two spinners, negotiated one over with the new ball before the close but will need the tail to give Crawley, who has faced 200 balls and hit 10 fours so far, solid support if they are to build a match-winning total.   Only one side -- England in 1994 against South Africa -- has come back from 1-0 to square a three-test series in Britain since 1965.   In England's favour, though, is an unsettled weather forecast and illness to Salim Malik who spent a long time off the field with a high temperature and a sore throat. 
1489 !GCAT !GSPO  Scoreboard on the first day of the   third and final test between England and Pakistan at The Oval on   Thursday:   England first innings    M.Atherton b Waqar Younis 31    A.Stewart b Mushtaq Ahmed 44   N.Hussain c Saeed Anwar b Waqar Younis 12    G.Thorpe lbw b Mohammad Akram  54    J.Crawley not out 94    N.Knight b Mushtaq Ahmed 17    C.Lewis b Wasim Akram 5    I.Salisbury not out 1    Extras (lb-11 w-1 nb-8) 20    Total (for six wickets) 278   Fall of wickets: 1-64 2-85 3-116 4-205 5-248 6-273   To bat: R.Croft, D.Cork, A.Mullally   Bowling (to date): Wasim Akram 25-8-61-1, Waqar Younis   20-6-70-2, Mohammad Akram 12-1-41-1, Mushtaq Ahmed 27-5-78-2,   Aamir Sohail 6-1-17-0   Pakistan: Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed,   Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Asif Mujtaba, Wasim Akram, Moin   Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Akam 
1490 !GCAT !GSPO  Middle-order batsmen John Crawley and Graham Thorpe carried the attack to Pakistan on Thursday to hoist England to 218 for four at tea on the first day of the final test at The Oval.   Both Crawley and Thorpe took advantage of fast-scoring conditions to register excellent half-centuries and prevent the home side from wasting a good start after winning the toss.   All the Pakistan bowlers extracted some bounce from a hard, dry pitch, but were forced on the defensive after Waqar Younis bowled captain Michael Atherton around his legs for 31 to leave England wobbling on 116 for three.   Thorpe was finally trapped lbw for 54 by Mohammad Akram with tea fast approaching, but Crawley was unbeaten on 58 at the interval, having reached his 50 in 70 balls with six fours.   The pattern for the first two sessions was set by Alec Stewart who raced fluently to 44 in just 51 balls only to be bowled playing an ill-advised shot to a quicker ball from leg- spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.   Nasser Hussain went for 12, steering Waqar to second slip, and England looked in danger of squandering the initiative when Atherton's gritty innings ended with only 16 runs added after lunch.   It was a brave effort considering he was struck a painful blow on the right shoulder in only the third over by Wasim Akram, although he did survive a hard chance to leg slip when he had made 15.   Crawley made a sketchy start and might have been out lbw, caught at slip and bowled offering no shot during his first 10 balls against the unlucky Waqar.   But he soon settled down to share an impressive fourth-wicket stand of 89 with Graham Thorpe, growing sufficiently in confidence to hit Mushtaq for three off-side boundaries in the same over.   But the leg-spinner gained enough turn to suggest Pakistan may yet regret omitting teenage off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq in favour of an extra batsman if forecasted rain over the weekend does not arrive. 
1491 !GCAT !GSPO  Everton's Duncan Ferguson, who scored twice against Manchester United on Wednesday, was picked on Thursday for the Scottish squad after a 20-month exile.   Glasgow Rangers striker Ally McCoist, another man in form after two hat-tricks in four days, was also named for the August 31 World Cup qualifier against Austria in Vienna.   Ferguson, who served six weeks in jail in late 1995 for head-butting an opponent, won the last of his five Scotland caps in December 1994.   Scotland manager Craig Brown said on Thursday: "I've watched Duncan Ferguson in action twice recently and he's bang in form.   Ally McCoist is also in great scoring form at the moment."   Celtic's Jackie McNamara, who did well with last season's successful under-21 team, earns a call-up to the senior squad. 
1492 !GCAT !GSPO  Manchester United's David Beckham received his first England call-up and Southampton's wayward maestro Matthew Le Tissier was recalled as new manager Glenn Hoddle named his first squad on Thursday.   The two creative midfielders are included in the 22-strong party to face Moldova on September 1 in England's first qualifier for the 1998 World Cup.   With the experienced Arsenal players David Platt and Tony Adams both injured, Hoddle also recalled Newcastle's combative midfielder David Batty and Manchester United defender Gary Pallister.   Blackburn goalkeeper Tim Flowers loses his place to Liverpool's David James, while Manchester United youngster Phil Neville and Liverpool's Jamie Redknapp miss out through injury.    The inclusion of Beckham and Le Tissier provides the clearest signal yet Hoddle wants his England side to play with invention as well as aggression.   Beckham has made an outstanding start to the league season and scored a spectacular goal from inside his own half for United against Wimbledon last Saturday.   He was also at the centre of the United team that demolished premier league rivals Newcastle in the Charity Shield at Wembley the previous weekend.   Le Tissier, who plays the same creative midfield role at Southampton as Hoddle used to play at Tottenham in the 1980s, returns after only six previous England appearances, four as substitute.   He never established a regular place in the side under Terry Venables, but has been widely tipped for a leading role under Hoddle, who took over after the European championship in June.   Brilliant on his day, Le Tissier has often been criticised for his work rate since making his England debut as a substitute against Denmark in 1994.   Squad:   Goalkeepers - David Seaman (Arsenal), Ian Walker (Tottenham), David James (Liverpool)   Defenders - Gary Neville (Manchester United), Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest), Gary Pallister (Manchester United), Steve Howey (Newcastle), Gareth Southgate (Aston Villa), Sol Campbell (Tottenham)   Midfielders - Paul Gascoigne (Glasgow Rangers), Paul Ince (Internazioale), Steve McManaman (Liverpool), David Batty (Newcastle), Matthew Le Tissier (Southampton), David Beckham (Manchester United), Steve Stone (Nottingham Forest), Nick Barmby (Middlesbrough), Darren Anderton (Tottenham)   Forwards - Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham), Alan Shearer (Newcastle), Les Ferdinand (Newcastle), Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) 
1493 !GCAT !GSPO  English county side Sussex said on Thursday they would not re-register fast bowler Ed Giddins after he has served his 19-month ban for using cocaine.   Giddins, who joined Sussex in 1991, was barred on Tuesday from playing first-class cricket until April 1, 1998.   "We believe it to be important that a message is received loud and clear that the use of drugs in any walk of life, but particularly in sport, is wrong and will not be tolerated," Sussex secretary Nigel Bett said.   "The committee debated the matter at length and came to the conclusion that it would be in the best interests of the club and the player if a clean break was made."   Giddins, who toured Pakistan with England A last winter, tested positive after a county match against Kent in May.   A second test also proved positive. 
1494 !GCAT !GSPO  England captain Michael Atherton battled bravely through the opening session to prevent his side losing their way on the first morning of the third and final test against Pakistan on Thursday.   With the home team requiring a win to save the series, Atherton won what should have been a good toss on a rock-hard Oval pitch only to see Alec Stewart and Nasser Hussain surrender their wickets to unnecessary shots as England reached 100 for two at lunch.   Atherton's share was a modest 27 but he demonstrated some much-needed steel against a fired-up Pakistan attack who proved a handful on a surface offering more pace and bounce than any previously encountered in the series.   The England captain, who survived a sharp chance to leg-slip on 15 off Wasim Akram, did particularly well to cope with the initial threat of county team mate Akram and Waqar Younis who raced in with the new ball.   Akram looked extremely sharp and struck Atherton a painful blow on his right shoulder in the day's third over with a    short-pitched ball which cannoned away to the boundary for four leg-byes.   The batsman needed treatment and scratched together only three runs in his first 45 minutes at the crease, in contrast to the in-form Stewart.   Playing on his home ground and with his wicketkeeping duties conveniently delayed, the Surrey batsman dealt confidently with the quicker bowlers and raced to 44 off just 51 balls with nine fours.   But the introduction of leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed altered the picture, a slightly quicker delivery deceiving Stewart on the back-foot as he played across the line.   There was momentary confusion as Stewart appeared to seek confirmation the ball had hit the stumps, although no one else in the ground was in any doubt.   Hussain looked equally untroubled for half an hour before edging the second ball of a new spell from Waqar straight to Saeed Anwar at second slip after making 12.   It added up to an unexpected early boost for Pakistan, who had earlier included Mohammad Akram for his first test of the series ahead of Ata-ur-Rehman in a Pakistan line-up which also featured Aamir Sohail at the top of the order.   England sprung a surprise by dropping seamer Andy Caddick and awarding a first cap to Glamorgan's Robert Croft, giving them a second spin option alongside Ian Salisbury in their quest to bowl Pakistan out twice.   Since three-test tours were introduced in England in 1965, only once has a team come back from 1-0 down to level a series.   England's victory over South Africa at the Oval two years ago proved the exception to the rule. 
1495 !GCAT !GSPO  England were 100 for two at lunch on the first day of the third and final test against Pakistan at The Oval on Thursday. 
1496 !GCAT !GSPO  The abolition of Friday practice in Formula One would be a dangerous error, according to leading team owner Frank Williams.   "It is close to being infantile to believe that we could just arrive at a grand prix on a Saturday morning, go out and do some practice laps and qualifying and then go to the grid with the cars," he said.   "It would be dangerous and it would be wrong."   The International Automobile Federation (FIA), backed by most of the teams, plan to introduce the reduction in length of grand prix meetings in a package of changes from next season.   Williams, one of the most experienced men in the sport, originally stated his views in May.   His comments were re-issued on Wednesday, the day after the FIA announcement.   "We are talking about Formula One cars and they can be very dangerous machines," said Williams, whose team has entered 358 grands prix and won the world constructors' championship eight times over the past 20 years.   "They have to be clearly understood, properly set up and thoroughly checked over.   "What if it rains on Saturday?   Do you just go out and do the warm-up in the dry on Sunday morning and that's it?   You would never ask a boxer to begin training for a world championship bout with Mike Tyson only a week before the fight.   "Our sport is about striving to be the best in the world at everything and that means we need to keep Fridays." 
1497 !GCAT !GSPO  Ireland midfielder Roy Keane has signed a new four-year contract with English league and F.A. Cup champions Manchester United.   "Roy agreed a new deal before last night's game against Everton and we are delighted," said United manager Alex Ferguson on Thursday. 
1498 !GCAT !GSPO  England captain Michael Atherton won the toss on Thursday and opted to bat in the third and final test against Pakistan at The Oval.   England, trailing 1-0, surprisingly omitted seamer Andy Caddick and gave a test debut to 26-year-old Glamorgan off-spinner Robert Croft.   There was no suggestion of Caddick suffering from an injury and his absence ensured a reprieve for Chris Lewis, a disappointment in the drawn second test at Headingley.   Pakistan made two changes, bringing back injured opener Aamir Sohail in place of Shadab Kabir and preferring seamer Mohammad Akram to Ata-ur-Rehman.   Moin Khan retained the wicket keepers' gloves ahead of Rashid Latif.   Teams:   England - Michael Atherton (captain), Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain, Graham Thorpe, John Crawley, Nick Knight, Chris Lewis, Robert Croft, Dominic Cork, Ian Salisbury, Alan Mullally.    Pakistan - Aamir Sohail, Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam- ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Asif Mujtaba, Wasim Akram (captain), Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Akram. 
1499 !GCAT !GSPO  Slighted world number two Thomas Muster accused U.S. Open officials of manipulating the draw and seedings for the Grand Slam event and went as far as suggesting that it all be done over.   In a departure from their usual by-the-rankings seeding format, Open officials Wednesday took great liberty in making their seeding decisions in the men's competition for the tournament which begins on Monday.   Muster strongly objected to the process in which the men's seedings were announced after the draw for the rest of the field had already taken place.   "You can put the seeds in and then make the draw, but you can't make the draw and then put the seeds in then.   It's like cheating.   In my opinion they should re-do the draw," he said after his second-round defeat Wednesday at the Canadian Open.   Muster and French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov were seeded below their rankings, while several players, including popular Americans Andre Agassi and Michael Chang, were bumped up, and one top-16 player was left out of the seeds.   "It seems to be that the ITF doesn't respect the ATP Tour rankings, that's one thing, and it's seems like they can do whatever they want anyway," said Muster, who was seeded third for the year's final major tournament.   "I'm getting pretty used to it," complained the Austrian clay-court wizard who was seeded seventh at Wimbledon despite his number two ranking.   "Wimbledon has been the only tournament not to seed according to the computor rankings," said Chang following his Hamlet Cup victory Wednesday night.   The third-ranked Chang received the second seeding that would normally have gone to Muster.   "I'm a little surprised.   I don't know why they did it.   It probably has upset some people," Chang correctly predicted.   And while Tournament Chairman Les Snyder said player popularity and television were not factors taken into consideration in this year's seeding decisions, Muster had his own theory about the departure from longstanding U.S. Open tradition.   "It's just to put Agassi not to face (Pete) Sampras in the quarters," Muster charged, suggesting that officials were hoping to arrange a rematch of last year's Sampras-Agassi final.   The eighth-ranked Agassi, who had miserable showings at Wimbledon and the French Open this year, could well have run into top-ranked Sampras in the quarter-finals had Open officials seeded him eighth.   At sixth, Agassi cannot meet Sampras before the semifinals.   "They have to take somebody out to put Agassi on six," Muster said, "and then to put Chang on two so it doesn't really look like... they could not put Agassi on two, because it would have been too obvious.   "And the next thing is to put Kafelnikov on seven which is nonsense," he said of the fourth-ranked Russian.   Wimbledon runner-up MaliVai Washington, while not as outraged as Muster, does not support the departure from the rankings in determining seedings.   "I don't think it's a good idea," said the 12th-ranked Washington, seeded 11th for the Open.   Washington was especially sympathetic toward 16th-ranked Spaniard Felix Mantilla, who was not seeded, while number 17 Marc Rosset of Switzerland and 18th-ranked Frenchman Cedric Pioline were.   "I don't mind shuffling within the top ten, but I don't think it's fair to move a guy out," Washington said.   "Somebody who's worked his butt off during the course of the year to get into the top 16 should be seeded at a Grand Slam tournament." 
1500 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the Canadian Open   tennis tournament on Wednesday (prefix number denotes   seeding):   Second round   Daniel Nestor (Canada) beat 1-Thomas Muster (Austria) 6-3 7-5   Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) beat 2-Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia)   6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4   3-Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) beat Jiri Novak (Czech   Republic) 7-5 6-3   4-Marcelo Rios (Chile) beat Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark) 6-3 6-2   6-MaliVai Washington (U.S.) beat Alex Corretja (Spain) 6-4   6-2   7-Todd Martin (U.S.) beat Renzo Furlan (Italy) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3   Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat 8 - Marc Rosset   (Switzerland) 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6)   9-Cedric Pioline (France) beat Gregory Carraz (France) 7-6   (7-1) 6-4   Patrick Rafter (Australia) beat 11-Alberto Berasategui   (Spain) 6-1 6-2   Petr Korda (Czech Republic) beat 12-Francisco Clavet (Spain)   6-3 6-4   Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic) beat 13-Jason Stoltenberg   (Australia) 5-7 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (13-11)   Todd Woodbridge (Australia beat Sebastien Lareau (Canada) 6-3   1-6 6-3   Alex O'Brien (U.S.) beat Byron Black (Zimbabwe) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2   Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) beat Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy)   6-3 4-6 6-1   Tim Henman (Britain) beat Chris Woodruff (U.S.), walkover 
1501 !GCAT !GSPO  Warwickshire all-rounder Shaun Pollock is to return to his native South Africa for an operation on his left ankle and will miss the remainder of English the county championship season.   Pollock, 23, will fly back to South Africa on Tuesday after Warwickshire's county match against Worcestershire.   United Cricket Board of South Africa managing director Ali Bacher said Pollock would probably need two months to recover.   "He will definitely miss the South African team's short tour to Kenya in September and the early part of the tour of India in October," said Bacher.   "But if everything goes according to plan then he could make his comeback in Natal's four-day game against Borde in early November and then fly to India in time for the three tests." 
1502 !GCAT !GSPO  South African provincial side Boland said on Thursday they had signed Leicestershire fast bowler David Millns on a one year contract.   Millns, who toured Australia with England A in 1992/93, replaces former England all-rounder Phillip DeFreitas as Boland's overseas professional. 
1503 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of European Cup Winners'   Cup qualifying round, second leg soccer matches on Thursday:   In Tirana: Flamurtari Vlore (Albania) 0 Chemlon Humenne   (Slovakia) 2 (halftime 0-0)   Scorers: Lubarskij (50th minute), Valkucak (54th)   Attendance: 5,000   Chemlon Humenne win 3-0 on aggregate   In Bistrita: Gloria Bistrita (Romania) 2 Valletta (Malta) 1   (1-1)   Scorers:   Gloria Bistrita - Ilie Lazar (32nd), Eugen Voica (84th)   Valletta - Gilbert Agius (24th)   Attendance: 8,000   Gloria Bistrita win 4-2 on aggregate.   In Chorzow: Ruch Chorzow (Poland) 5 Llansantffraid (Wales) 0   (1-0)   Scorers: Arkadiusz Bak (1st and 55th), Arwel Jones (47th,   own goal), Miroslav Bak (62nd and 63rd)   Attendance: 6,500   Ruch Chorzow win 6-1 on aggregate   In Larnaca: AEK Larnaca (Cyprus) 5 Kotaik Abovyan (Armenia)   0 (2-0)   Scorers: Zoran Kundic (28th), Klimis Alexandrou (41st),   Milenko Kovasevic (60th, penalty), Goran Koprinovic (82nd),   Pavlos Markou (84th)   Attendance: 5,000   AEK Larnaca win 5-1 on aggregate   In Siauliai: Kareda Siauliai (Lithuania) 0 Sion   (Switzerland) 0   Attendance: 5,000   Sion win 4-2 on agrregate.   In Vinnytsya:   Nyva Vinnytsya (Ukraine) 1 Tallinna Sadam (Estonia) 0 (0-0)   Attendance: 3,000   Aggregate score 2-2.   Nyva qualified on away goals rule.   In Bergen: Brann (Norway) 2 Shelbourne (Ireland) 1 (1-1)   Scorers:   Brann - Mons Ivar Mjelde (10th), Jan Ove Pedersen (72nd)   Shelbourne - Mark Rutherford (5th)   Attendance: 2,189   Brann win 5-2 on aggregate   In Sofia: Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) 1 Olimpija (Slovenia) 0   (0-0)   Scorer: Ilian Simeonov (58th)   Attendance: 25,000   Aggregate 1-1.   Olimpija won 4-3 on penalties.   In Vaduz: Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 1 RAF Riga (Latvia) 1 (0-0)   Scorers:   Vaduz - Daniele Polverino (90th)   RAF Riga - Agrins Zarins (47th)   Aggregate 2-2.   Vaduz won 4-2 on penalties.   In Luxembourg: US Luxembourg (Luxembourg) 0 Varteks Varazdin   (Croatia) 3 (0-0)   Scorers: Drazen Beser (63rd), Miljenko Mumler (penalty,   78th), Jamir Cvetko (87th)   Attendance: 800   Varteks Varazdin win 5-1 on aggregate.   In Torshavn: Havnar Boltfelag (Faroe Islands) 0 Dynamo   Batumi (Georgia) 3 (0-2)   Dynamo Batumi win 9-0 on aggregate.   In Prague: Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) 8 Glentoran   (Northern Ireland) 0 (4-0)   Scorers: Petr Gunda (1st and 26th), Lumir Mistr (19th),   Horst Siegl (24th, 48th, 80th), Zdenek Svoboda (76th), Petr   Gabriel (86th)   Sparta win 10-1 on aggregate.   In Edinburgh: Hearts (Scotland) 1 Red Star Belgrade   (Yugoslavia) 1 (1-0)   Scorers:   Hearts - Dave McPherson (44th)   Red Star - Vinko Marinovic (59th)   Attendance: 15,062   Aggregate 1-1.   Red Star win on away goals rule.   In Rishon-Lezion: Hapoel Ironi (Israel) 3 Constructorul   Chisinau (Moldova) 2 (2-1)   Aggregate 3-3.   Constructorul win on away goals rule.   In Anjalonkoski: MyPa-47 (Finland) 1 Karabach Agdam   (Azerbaijan) 1 (0-0)   Mypa-47 win 2-1 on aggregate.   In Skopje: Sloga Jugomagnat (Macedonia) 0 Kispest Honved   (Hungary 1 (0-0)   Kispest Honved win 2-0 on aggregate.   Add Hapoel Ironi v Constructorul Chisinau    Scorers:   Rishon - Moshe Sabag (10th minute), Nissan Kapeta (26th),   Tomas Cibola (58th).   Constructorol - Sergei Rogachev (42nd), Gennadi Skidan   (87th).   Attendance: 1,500. 
1504 !GCAT !GSPO  IFK Gothenburg of Sweden drew 1-1 (1-0) with Ferencvaros of Hungary in the second leg of their European Champions Cup preliminary round tie played on Wednesday.   Gothenburg go through 4-1 on aggregate.   Scorers:   Ferencvaros:   Ferenc Horvath (15th)   IFK Gothenburg:   Andreas Andersson (87th)   Attendance: 9,000 
1505 !GCAT !GSPO  Cuba's sports authorities on Thursday sacked the country's top women's volleyball coach just three weeks after the Cuban team won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics.   The National Sports Institute (INDER), the state body which runs sports in Cuba, said in a statement it was removing Eugenio George Laffita from his post as chief coach of the women's national volleyball team because of "conduct incompatible with his educational role".   INDER said it was also replacing the National Volleyball Commissioner, Inocencio Cuesta Chapman, for "errors of personal conduct".   The sports body did not elaborate on the reason for the sackings, which came as a complete surprise to Cuba's volleyball fans, delighted with the team's performance in Atlanta, where they retained the Olympic title won in Barcelona in 1992.   The INDER statement said only that the decision was aimed at strengthening the sport in Cuba and at ensuring that the athletes "continued to deserve the respect, affection and admiration of the people."   In an interview with a Cuban state newspaper last Sunday, the coach had criticised what he said were inadequate training conditions in Cuba for his women's volleyball team.   He mentioned shortages of balls, courts and equipment.   INDER, in its statement, said it had carried out a study before the Atlanta Olympics which had revealed problems in national and provincial competitions and in the general attention given to women's volleyball. 
1506 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of midweek   matches in the Brazilian soccer championship.    Bahia  2 Atletico Paranaense 0    Corinthians 1 Guarani 0    Coritiba  1 Atletico Mineiro 0    Cruzeiro  2 Vitoria 1    Flamengo  0 Juventude  1    Goias  3 Sport Recife  1    Gremio  6 Bragantino  1    Palmeiras  3 Vasco da Gama  1    Portuguesa  2 Parana 0 
1507 !GCAT !GSPO  Brazil international striker Bebeto was jeered by his team's own fans as Flamengo crashed to a 1-0 home defeat against little-known Juventude in the Brazilian championship.   Furious Flamengo fans chanted "Romario, Romario," referring to the Brazil World Cup hero who left Flamengo to join Spanish club Valencia shortly before Bebeto's arrival.   Bebeto, who returned to Brazil in July after four years in Spain with Deportivo Coruna, has yet to score in two competitive games for Flamengo, who won this year's Rio de Janeiro championship mainly because of Romario's prolific goalscoring.   He incurred the crowd's wrath after missing a gilt-edged chance in the second half, when he blasted the ball over the Juventude crossbar from six metres during Wednesday's match.   "Sincerely, I didn't expect this," said a bemused Bebeto afterwards.   "But I'm not worried.   This will pass and later on the same fans will be applauding me."   Bebeto, 32, has been included in Brazil's squad for a European tour at the end of the month while Romario has been left out.   Other midweek games saw last year's South American champions Gremio hammer Bragantino 6-1 and Palmeiras, who drew their first two games 0-0 before beating Coritiba 5-0 on Saturday, beat Vasco da Gama 3-1. 
1508 !GCAT !GSPO  Three of Australia's top soccer clubs escaped expulsion from the national league on Thursday but the game's ruling body set them a new deadline in a continuing row over the sport's ethnic image.   Champions Melbourne Knights, Marconi and Sydney United are defying Soccer Australia (SA) by refusing to scrap club logos which reflect their mainly European roots.   SA wants them to use new logos as part of a marketing plan aimed at broadening the league's appeal beyond its traditional migrant support base.   Chairman David Hill, who initially ordered the clubs to comply by Thursday, said they now have until September 4.   "There is now the prospect that we can get the logos we want but ones that the clubs can live with to protect their heritage," he told reporters.   The issue has bitterly divided the league, which struggles to compete with rugby league and Australian Rules football.   Officials from Marconi, whose logo features the red, green and white of the Italian flag, have described the SA policy as a kind of "ethnic cleansing".   Marconi, the most successful club in Australian soccer with four titles, were founded by Italian migrants in Sydney, while the Melbourne Knights draw their support almost exclusively from the city's Croatian community. 
1509 !GCAT !GSPO  Australia cricket captain Mark Taylor was recovering in hospital on Thursday after surgery on his back, his management company said.   Taylor underwent an apparently successful operation on Wednesday to repair a damaged disc, a spokeswoman told Reuters.   The back injury prevented the left-handed opener from leading Australia on their current tour to Sri Lanka for a four-nation limited-overs tournament.   "It's just a matter of his recovery taking its normal course," the spokeswoman said.   Before entering hospital, Taylor said he expected it would take about three weeks for him to regain fitness after the surgery.   Taylor hopes to resume playing before Australia leave for India in early October to play a one-off test against their hosts and a limited-overs tournament.   Wicketkeeper Ian Healy has assumed the captaincy for the two-week Singer tournament, starting on August 26, involving hosts Sri Lanka, India and Zimbabwe. 
1510 !GCAT !GSPO  Australian Davis Cup captain John Newcombe on Thursday signalled his possible resignation if his team loses an away tie against Croatia next month.   The former Wimbledon champion said the immediate future of Australia's Davis Cup coach Tony Roche could also be determined by events in Split.   "If we lose this one, Tony and I will have to have a good look at giving someone else a go," Newcombe was quoted as saying in Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper.   Australia face Croatia in the world group qualifying tie on clay from September 20-22.   Under Newcombe's leadership, Australia were relegated from the elite world group last year, the first time the 26-time Davis Cup winners had slipped from the top rank.   Since taking over as captain from Neale Fraser in 1994, Newcombe's record in tandem with Roche, his former doubles partner, has been three wins and three losses.   Newcombe has selected Wimbledon semifinalist Jason Stoltenberg, Patrick Rafter, Mark Philippoussis, and Olympic doubles champions Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde to face the Croatians.   The home side boasts world number six Goran Ivanisevic, and Newcombe conceded his players would be hard-pressed to beat the Croatian number one.   "We are ready to fight to our last breath -- Australia must play at its absolute best to win," said Newcombe, who described the tie as the toughest he has faced as captain.   Australia last won the Davis Cup in 1986, but they were beaten finalists against Germany three years ago under Fraser's guidance. 
1511 !GCAT !GSPO  Results in the Malaysian   Open badminton tournament on Thursday (prefix number denotes   seeding):   Men's singles, third round   9/16-Luo Yigang (China) beat Hwang Sun-ho (South Korea) 15-3   15-7   Jason Wong (Malaysia) beat Abdul Samad Ismail (Malaysia) 16-18   15-2 17-14   P. Kantharoopan (Malaysia) beat 3/4 - Jeroen Van Dijk   (Netherlands) 15-11 18-14   Wijaya Indra (Indonesia) beat 5/8 - Pang Chen (Malaysia) 15-6   6-15 15-7   3/4 - Hu Zhilan (China) beat Nunung Subandoro (Indonesia) 5-15   18-15 15-6   9/16 - Hermawan Susanto (Indonesia) beat 1 - Fung Permadi (Taiwan)   15-8 15-12   Women's singles 2nd round   1 - Wang Chen (China) beat Cindana (Indonesia) 11-3 1ama (Japan) beat Margit Borg (Sweden) 11-6 11-6   Sun Jian (China) beat Marina Andrievskaqya (Sweden) 11-8 11-2   5/8-Meluawati (Indonesia) beat Chan Chia Fong (Malaysia) 11-6   11-1   Gong Zhichao (China) beat Liu Lufung (China) 6-11 11-7 11-3   Zeng Yaqiong (China) beat Li Feng (New Zealand) 11-9 11-6   5/8-Christine Magnusson (Sweden) beat Ishwari Boopathy   (Malaysia) 11-1 10-12 11-4   2-Zhang Ning (China) beat Olivia (Indonesia) 11-8 11-6 
1512 !GCAT !GSPO  Despite the unprecedented embarrassment of having to re-do the entire men's singles draw for the U.S. Open, tournament officials may have gotten what they wanted all along -- a possible Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi final.   Bowing to pressure and harsh criticism from irate players on the ATP Tour, and worried about the perception that the draw could have been manipulated to help popular American players, the U.S. Tennis Association on Thursday erased Wednesday's men's draw and did it all over again.   "We responded mostly to the players.   We listened to them and we have responded," said USTA President and tournament chairman Les Snyder.   The USTA was within the rules in departing from the ATP Tour rankings in choosing the 16 seeded men, and in the revised draw still did not bow to pressure to stick to the rankings.   But by placing the 112 non-seeded players in their slots before announcing the 16 seeds Wednesday, the tournament left itself open to charges of cheating, which came from outspoken world number two Thomas Muster and an outraged Andrei Medvedev.   "They abused the rules.   It would be like fixing a football, basketball or NHL game," said Medvedev, who had suggested the players not play unless the draw was re-done.   Muster, who along with French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov was seeded below his ranking, also charged that the eighth-ranked Agassi was seeded sixth so he could not run into Sampras as early as the quarter-finals.   The original draw put Agassi on a semifinal collision course with the world number one, but the new draw should make CBS television and tournament officials even happier with the possibility of a rematch of the two American superstars in the final.   Sampras now begins defence of his title against Romanian Adrian Voinea, which is good news for Czech David Rikl, the top seed's original first-round victim.   Sampras still has fourth-ranked Kafelnikov in his quarter of the draw.   But a likely third-round Grand Slam rubber match with recent nemesis Mark Philippoussis, who beat Sampras at the Australian Open and lost to him at Wimbledon, will have to wait until the fourth round.   Agassi, the 1994 champion who may now have second seed Michael Chang in his semifinal future, opens against Colombian Mauricio Hadad, while Chang gets a qualifier in round one.   Third seed Muster looks to be one of the winners of the revised draw.   Instead of taking on accomplished hard court player Richey Reneberg in the first round, the Austrian clay court star faces another clay specialist in Argentine Javier Frana.   Muster is now drawn for a likely fourth-round meeting with 13th-seeded Swede Thomas Enqvist before a possible quarter-final against Agassi, who now has Wimbledon runner-up MaliVai Washington, seeded 11th, in his path.   But for retiring Swedish star Stefan Edberg, if he didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all.   The popular Swede, playing his Grand Slam finale, had the misfortune to draw eighth seed Jim Courier as his original first-round opponent.   Given a second chance at a new lease on life, Edberg, who could have ended up against any of the other 127 players in the field, landed fifth-seeded Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek as his new opening-round opponent.   "Sure none of us wish it had occurred," Snyder said of the decision to re-do the draw.   "But we are hopeful we are getting across a strong message -- the main thing is we must do what is best for the sport and for the U.S. Open." 
1513 !GCAT !GSPO  Revised singles draw for the   U.S. Open tennis championships beginning Monday at the U.S.   National Tennis Centre (prefix denotes seeding):   Men's Draw   1-Pete Sampras (U.S.) vs. Adrian Voinea (Romania)   Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) vs. qualifier   Magnus Larsson (Sweden) vs. Alexander Volkov (Russia)   Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) vs qualifier   Qualifier vs. Andrei Olhovskiy (Russia)   Mark Woodforde (Australia) vs. Mark Philippoussis (Australia)   Roberto Carretero (Spain) vs. Jordi Burillo (Spain)   Francisco Clavet (Spain) vs. 16-Cedric Pioline (France)   ------------------------   9-Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) vs. qualifier   Karol Kucera (Slovakia) vs. Jonas Bjorkman (Sweden)   Qualifier vs. Christian Rudd (Norway)   Alex Corretja (Spain) vs. Byron Black (Zimbabwe)   David Rikl (Czech Republic) vs. Hicham Arazi (Morocco)   Sjeng Schalken (Netherlands) vs. Gilbert Schaller (Austria)   Grant Stafford (South Africa) vs. Guy Forget (France)   Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) vs. 7-Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia)   ------------------------   4-Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) vs. Andrei Chesnokov (Russia)   Scott Draper (Australia) vs. Galo Blanco (Spain)   Renzo Furlan (Italy) vs. Thomas Johansson (Sweden)   Hendrik Dreekman (Germany) vs. Greg Rusedski (Britain)   Andrei Medvedev (Ukraine) vs. Jean-Philippe Fleurian (France)   Jan Kroslak (Slovakia) vs. Chris Woodruff (U.S.)   Qualifier vs. Petr Korda (Czech Republic)   Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech Republic) vs. 14-Alberto Costa   (Spain)   ------------------------   12-Todd Martin (U.S.) vs. Younnes El Aynaoui (Morocco)   Andrea Gaudenzi (Italy) vs. Shuzo Matsuoka (Japan)   Doug Flach (U.S.) vs. qualifier   Mats Wilander (Sweden) vs. Tim Henman (Britain)   Paul Haarhuis (Netherlands) vs. Michael Joyce (U.S.)   Michael Tebbutt (Australia) vs. Richey Reneberg (U.S.)   Jonathan Stark (U.S.) vs. Bernd Karbacher (Germany)   Stefan Edberg (Sweden) vs. 5-Richard Krajicek (Netherlands)   ------------------------   6-Andre Agassi (U.S.) vs. Mauricio Hadad (Colombia)   Marcos Ondruska (South Africa) vs. Felix Mantilla (Spain)   Carlos Moya (Spain) vs. Scott Humphries (U.S.)   Jan Siemerink (Netherlands) vs. Carl-Uwe Steeb (Germany)   Qualifier vs. qualifier   David Wheaton (U.S.) vs. Kevin Kim (U.S.)   Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) vs. Alex O'Brien (U.S.)   Karim Alami (Morocco) vs. 11-MaliVai Washington (U.S.)   ------------------------   13-Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) vs. Stephane Simian (France)   Guillaume Raoux (France) vs. Filip Dewulf (Belgium)   Mark Knowles (Bahamas) vs. Marcelo Filippini (Uruguay)   Todd Woodbridge (Australia) vs. qualifier   Kris Goossens (Belgium) vs. Sergi Bruguera (Spain)   Qualifier vs. Michael Stich (Germany)   Qualifier vs. Chuck Adams (U.S.)   Javier Frana (Argentina) vs. 3-Thomas Muster (Austria)   ------------------------   8-Jim Courier (U.S.) vs. Javier Sanchez (Spain)   Jim Grabb (U.S.) vs. Sandon Stolle (Australia)   Patrick Rafter (Australia) vs. Kenneth Carlsen (Denmark)   Jason Stoltenberg (Australia) vs. Stefano Pescosolido (Italy)   Arnaud Boetsch (France) vs. Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela)   Carlos Costa (Spain) vs. Magnus Gustafsson (Sweden)   Jeff Tarango (U.S.) vs. Alex Radulescu (Germany)   Qualifier vs. 10-Marcelo Rios (Chile)   ------------------------   15-Marc Rosset (Switzerland vs. Jared Palmer (U.S.)   Martin Damm (Czech Republic) vs. Hernan Gumy (Argentina)   Nicklas Kulti (Sweden) vs. Jakob Hlasek (Switzerland)   Cecil Mamiit (U.S.) vs. Alberto Berasategui (Spain)   Vince Spadea (U.S.) vs. Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic)   David Prinosil (Germany) vs. qualifier   Qualifier vs. Tomas Carbonell (Spain)   Qualifier vs. 2-Michael Chang (U.S.) 
1514 !GCAT !GSPO  Baltimore Orioles manager Davey Johnson will miss Thursday night's game against the Seattle Mariners after being admitted to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat.   The 53-year-old Johnson was hospitalized after experiencing dizziness.   "He is in no danger and will be treated and observed this evening," said Orioles team physician Dr. William Goldiner, adding that Johnson is expected to be released on Friday.   Orioles' bench coach Andy Etchebarren will manage the club in Johnson's absence.   Johnson is the second manager to be hospitalized this week after California Angels skipper John McNamara was admitted to New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on Wednesday with a blood clot in his left calf.   Johnson, who played eight seasons in Baltimore, was named Orioles manager in the off-season replacing Phil Regan.   He led the Cincinnati Reds to the National League Championship Series last year and guided the New York Mets to a World Series championship in 1986.   Baltimore has won 16 of its last 22 games to pull within five games of the slumping New York Yankees in the American League East Division. 
1515 !GCAT !GSPO  Winning Wimbledon has completely altered Richard Krajicek's outlook and expectations as he prepares for the U.S. Open, which begins on Monday.   "I think I can win here," said the seventh-ranked Dutchman, brimming with new-found confidence.   "This is a different feeling, for sure, than all the other times that I've played here," he said Thursday prior to giving a clinic in Central Park for inner-city children from the Arthur Ashe Safe Passage Foundation   "I always felt that I had a good chance of making a good result, but yes, this is the first time I've felt that I can win," admitted Krajicek, who is seeded fifth for the year's final Grand Slam event.   "Before I used to look too much to who I meet in the fourth round, the quarter-finals," said Krajicek.   "I go more round by round now.   It's somehow helped me more.   I keep my focus on the match I'm playing and not the match I might play if I win the next three matches."   The lanky 6-foot, 5-inch (1.95m) Krajicek went out in the third round at Flushing Meadow last year and has not been past the fourth round in five U.S. Open appearances.   But all those early exits became irrelevant when the big-serving 24-year-old become the first Dutchman to win a Grand Slam with his stunning victory at Wimbledon last month.   "I have won a Grand Slam so I am able to win seven matches in two weeks," said Krajicek, who ousted three-time defending champion Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals and beat another surprise finalist in American MaliVai Washington to claim the sport's most coveted title.   "As long as I hadn't won one, my feeling was just to do well," said Krajicek, whose previous best Grand Slam showings were reaching the 1993 French Open semifinals and the 1992 Australian Open semis.   "Now I really have the feeling that if I play the right game, that I can go all the way." 
1516 !GCAT !GSPO  Bowing to pressure and harsh criticism from players on the ATP Tour, the U.S. Tennis Association will remake the 1996 U.S. Open men's singles draw later on Thursday.   "By remaking the draw, the USTA will protect the integrity of the draw process," USTA President and tournament chairman Les Snyder said in a brief advisory issued by the association.    The USTA seeding committee was within its rights in deviating from the ATP Tour rankings in deciding the seedings, despite the departure from longstanding tradition.   However, in a radical departure from the usual process, the USTA completed the draw for all the non-seeded players before announcing the men's seedings, allowing for the perception of draw manipulation in favour of American players.   "It's an insult to the players and to the ATP rankings and the game of tennis," said an angry Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine at the Hamlet Cup on Thursday before the reversal was announced.   "Wimbledon has an unusual seeding system but it's fair, they list the seedings before they make the draw.   At the U.S. Open they made the draw before they made the seedings," the 38th-ranked Medvedev complained.   "I don't think we can allow this to happen.   When it happens once, then the Australian Open will do the same for Australians and the French Open for the French.   I believe if they don't change the (draw) we should not play," he said.   World number two Thomas Muster of Austria was also outspoken in his criticism of the process.   "You can put the seeds in and then make the draw, but you can't make the draw and then put the seeds in.   It's like cheating.   In my opinion they should re-do the draw," Muster said from Toronto on Wednesday night.   Snyder said the USTA will not change the seedings but it will re-draw the entire 128 player field beginning at 4:00 PM (2000 GMT) to correct "the perception that proper procedures may not have been followed."   (Corrects to make clear that the seeds were included in re-draw).   Medvedev, who would have played Frenchman Jean-Philippe Fleurian in the first round according to the original draw, was delighted when told that the USTA had caved in to pressure form the ATP Tour and its players.   "It's great that the authorities are doing the right thing," he said.   "This way they avoid a lot of confrontation." 
1517 !GCAT !GSPO  Pinch-hitter Luis Polonia's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Ryan Klesko and lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday.   Jeff Brantley (1-2) gave up singles to Mark Lemke and Klesko.   Marquis Grissom, who earlier extended his career-high hitting streak to 25 games, erased Lemke with a botched sacrifice, but a Brantley wild pitch sent Klesko to third.   Polonia, batting for Pedro Borbon (3-0), then lifted a sacrifice fly to right scoring Klesko.   Polonia was released by the Baltimore Orioles and re-signed Saturday by Atlanta, for whom he played in their World Series championship season last year.   "It feels pretty good, especially when you come to the team like that, you want to push yourself to do something right away," Polonia said.   "I got an opportunity today, and it's really exciting."   Borbon, who gave up a pair of hits in 1 1/3 innings, got the win despite allowing an inherited runner to score for the first time in 20 chances this season.   Atlanta's John Smoltz allowed a pair of runs in seven innings, but missed his 21st win.   He gave up seven hits and struck out five without issuing a walk.   "I had so-so stuff.   I didn't have my best stuff, but I was able to get some outs when I needed to," Smoltz said.   In San Diego, Ken Caminiti homered from each side of the plate to tie a National League record and Fernando Valenzuela (11-7) allowed three hits over six scoreless innings for his sixth straight win as the Padres beat the Montreal Expos 7-2.   Caminiti has homered from each side of the plate twice this season and six times in his career, tying him with Bobby Bonilla for the N.L. record.   Greg Vaughn had his second homer in as many games for San Diego.   Montreal lost for the sixth time in seven games.   In Los Angeles, Curt Schilling threw a two-hitter for his second shutout in 16 days and Scott Rolen drove in three runs with his first two major-league homers to pace the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-0 triumph over the Dodgers.   Schilling (6-6), who four-hit the Pirates on August 5, helped Philadelphia to its third straight win and broke a personal two-game slide.   He walked none and tied a season high with 12 strikeouts.   Schilling, who retired the final 14 batters and faced just one over the minimum, had a one-hitter against the Mets in 1992.   Hideo Nomo (12-10) gave up five runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, who lost their third straight.   In San Francisco, left fielder Bernard Gilkey's error in the top of first opened the gates for a seven-run frame that included Jay Canizaro's first career grand slam, and the Giants hung on for a 12-11 victory over the New York Mets.   The Giants tied their high score for a single inning this season.   Tom Lampkin and Glenallen Hill also homered for the Giants, who took the rubber game of the three-game series.   Mark Dewey (5-2) got the victory in relief and Rod Beck notched his 28th save despite allowing a two-run homer to Lance Johnson in the ninth.   Robert Person (2-5) took the loss.   Giants star left fielder Barry Bonds left the game in the ninth with a mild strain of the left hamstring.   In Chicago, Frank Castillo allowed two runs over seven innings and Scott Bullett added a homer, three runs scored and three RBI as the Cubs defeated the Florida Marlins 8-3 in the rubber game of a three-game series.   Castillo (6-14) avoided becoming the first 15-game loser in the N.L.   Bullett was making his first start in place of N.L. home run leader Sammy Sosa, who was placed on the disabled list earlier in the day with a broken right hand.   At Colorado, Ellis Burks drove in three runs and Eric Young went 4-for-5 with two RBI as the Rockies coasted to their third straight win, 10-2 over the St Louis Cardinals.   Andres Galarraga added a run-scoring single and his 36th homer and Armando Reynoso (8-8) won his third straight decision for Colorado, which has won three in a row.   Cardinals starter Andy Benes (13-9) had his 10-game winning streak snapped.   Benes was drilled for seven runs and 13 hits in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start of the season.   In Houston, Denny Neagle allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings and Jeff King recorded his fifth four-hit game of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Astros.   Neagle (13-6) won for the first time in six starts. 
1518 !GCAT !GSPO  Major League Baseball   standings after games played on Wednesday (tabulate under won,   lost, winning percentage and games behind):    AMERICAN LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    NEW YORK  72 53 .576 -    BALTIMORE  67 58 .536 5    BOSTON  63 64 .496 10    TORONTO  58 69 .457 15    DETROIT  44 82 .349 28 1/2    CENTRAL DIVISION    CLEVELAND  76 51 .598 -    CHICAGO  69 59 .539 7 1/2    MINNESOTA  63 63 .500 12 1/2    MILWAUKEE  60 68 .469 16 1/2    KANSAS CITY  58 70 .453 18 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    TEXAS 73 54 .575 -    SEATTLE  64 61 .512 8    OAKLAND  62 67 .481 12    CALIFORNIA  58 68 .460 14 1/2   THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 SCHEDULE   OAKLAND AT BOSTON    SEATTLE AT BALTIMORE     CALIFORNIA AT NEW YORK     TORONTO AT CHICAGO    DETROIT AT KANSAS CITY     TEXAS AT MINNESOTA     NATIONAL LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    ATLANTA  79 46 .632 -    MONTREAL  67 58 .536 12    NEW YORK  59 69 .461 21 1/2    FLORIDA  58 69 .457 22    PHILADELPHIA 52 75 .409 28    CENTRAL DIVISION    HOUSTON  68 59 .535 -    ST LOUIS  67 59 .532 1/2    CHICAGO  63 62 .504 4    CINCINNATI  62 62 .500 4 1/2    PITTSBURGH  53 73 .421 14 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    SAN DIEGO  70 59 .543 -    LOS ANGELES  66 60 .524 2 1/2    COLORADO  65 62 .512 4    SAN FRANCISCO 54 70 .435 13 1/2   THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 SCHEDULE   ST LOUIS AT COLORADO     CINCINNATI AT ATLANTA     PITTSBURGH AT HOUSTON     PHILADELPHIA AT LOS ANGELES    MONTREAL AT SAN FRANCISCO 
1519 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Major League   Baseball games played on Wednesday (home team in CAPS):     American League    California  7 NEW YORK  1    DETROIT  7 Chicago  4    Milwaukee  10 MINNESOTA  7    BOSTON  6 Oakland  4    BALTIMORE  10 Seattle  5    Texas  10 CLEVELAND  8 (in 10)    Toronto  6 KANSAS CITY 2     National League    CHICAGO  8 Florida  3    SAN FRANCISCO 12 New York  11    ATLANTA  4 Cincinnati  3    Pittsburgh  5 HOUSTON  2    COLORADO  10 St Louis  2    Philadelphia 6 LOS ANGELES 0    SAN DIEGO  7 Montreal  2 
1520 !GCAT !GSPO  Rusty Greer's two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning rallied the Texas Rangers to a 10-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series between division leaders.   With one out, Greer hit a 1-1 pitch from Julian Tavarez (4-7) over the right-field fence for his 15th home run.   "It was an off-speed pitch and I just tried to get a good swing on it and put it in play," Greer said.   "This was a big game.   The crowd was behind him and it was intense."   The shot brought home Ivan Rodriguez, who had his second double of the game, giving him 42 this season, 41 as a catcher.   He joined Mickey Cochrane, Johnny Bench and Terry Kennedy as the only catchers with 40 doubles in a season.   The Rangers have won 10 of their last 12 games and six of nine meetings against the Indians this season.   The American League Western leaders have won eight of 15 games at Jacobs Field, joining the Yankees as the only teams with a winning record at the A.L. Central leaders' home.   Cleveland lost for just the second time in six games.   The Indians sent the game into extra innings in the ninth on Kenny Lofton's two-run single.   Ed Vosberg (1-0) blew his first save opportunity but got the win, allowing three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.   Dean Palmer hit his 30th homer for the Rangers.   In Baltimore, Cal Ripken had four hits and snapped a fifth-inning tie with a solo homer and Bobby Bonilla added a three-run shot in the seventh to power the surging Orioles to a 10-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners.   The Mariners scored four runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game 5-5 but Ripken led off the bottom of the inning with his 21st homer off starter Sterling Hitchcock (12-6).   Bonilla's blast was the first time Randy Johnson, last season's Cy Young winner, allowed a run in five relief appearances since coming off the disabled list on August 6.   Bonilla has 21 RBI and 15 runs in his last 20 games.   Baltimore has won seven of nine and 16 of its last 22 and cut the Yankees' lead in the A.L. East to five games.   Scott Erickson (8-10) laboured to his third straight win.   Alex Rodriguez had two homers and four RBI for the Mariners, who have dropped three in a row and 11 of 15.   He became the fifth shortstop in major-league history to hit 30 homers in a season and the first since Ripken hit 34 in 1991.   Chris Hoiles hit his 22nd homer for Baltimore.   In New York, Jason Dickson scattered 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings in his major-league debut and Chili Davis belted a homer from each side of the plate as the California Angels defeated the Yankees 7-1.   Dickson allowed a homer to Derek Jeter on his first major-league pitch but settled down.   He was the 27th pitcher used by the Angels this season, tying a major-league record.   Jimmy Key (9-10) took the loss as the Yankees lost their ninth in 14 games.   They stranded 11 baserunners.   California played without interim manager John McNamara, who was admitted to a New York hospital with a blood clot in his right calf.   In Boston, Mike Stanley's bases-loaded two-run single snapped an eighth-inning tie and gave the Red Sox their third straight win, 6-4 over the Oakland Athletics.   Stanley owns a .367 career batting average with the bases loaded (33-for-90).   Boston's Mo Vaughn went 3-for-3 with a walk, stole home for one of his three runs scored and collected his 116th RBI.   Scott Brosius homered and drove in two runs for the Athletics, who have lost seven of their last nine games.   In Detroit, Brad Ausmus's three-run homer capped a four-run eighth and lifted the Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the reeling Chicago White Sox.   The Tigers have won consecutive games after dropping eight in a row, but have won nine of their last 12 at home.   The White Sox have lost six of their last eight games.   In Kansas City, Juan Guzman tossed a complete-game six-hitter to win for the first time in over a month and lower his league-best ERA as the Toronto Blue Jays won their fourth straight, 6-2 over the Royals.   Guzman (10-8) won for the first time since July 16, a span of six starts.   He allowed two runs -- one earned -- and lowered his ERA to 2.99.   At Minnesota, John Jaha's three-run homer, his 26th, capped a five-run eighth inning that rallied the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-7 victory over the Twins.   Jaha added an RBI single in the ninth and had four RBI.   Jose Valentin hit his 21st homer for Milwaukee. 
1521 !GCAT !GSPO  Philip Cocu scored twice in the second half to spur PSV Eindhoven to a 4-1 away win over NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch first division on Thursday.   He scored from close range in the 54th minute and from a bicycle kick 13 minutes later.   Arthur Numan and Luc Nilis, Dutch top scorer last season, were PSV's other marksmen.   Ajax Amsterdam opened their title defence with a 1-0 win over NAC Breda on Wednesday. 
1522 !GCAT !GSPO  Summary of Thursday's only   Dutch first division match:   NEC Nijmegen 1 (Van Eykeren 15th) PSV Eindhoven 4 (Numan 11th,   Nilis 42nd, Cocu 54th, 67th).   Halftime 1-2.   Attendance 8,000 
1523 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of a Dutch first   division match on Thursday:    NEC Nijmegen 1 PSV Eindhoven 4 
1524 !GCAT !GSPO  Galatasaray striker Adrian Knup, scorer of 26 goals in 45 internationals, has been recalled by Switzerland for the World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan in Baku on August 31.   Knup was overlooked by Artur Jorge for the European championship finals earlier this year.   But new coach Rolf Fringer is clearly a Knup fan and included him in his 19-man squad on Thursday.   Switzerland failed to progress beyond the opening group phase in Euro 96.   Squad:   Goalkeepers - Marco Pascolo (Cagliari), Pascal Zuberbuehler (Grasshoppers).   Defenders - Stephane Henchoz (Hamburg), Marc Hottiger (Everton), Yvan Quentin (Sion), Ramon Vega (Cagliari) Raphael Wicky (Sion).   Midfielders - Alexandre Comisetti (Grasshoppers), Antonio Esposito (Grasshoppers), Sebastien Fournier (Stuttgart), Christophe Ohrel (Lausanne), Patrick Sylvestre (Sion), David Sesa (Servette), Ciriaco Sforza (Inter Milan) Murat Yakin (Grasshoppers).   Strikers - Kubilay Turkyilmaz (Grasshoppers), Adrian Knup (Galatasaray), Christophe Bonvin (Sion), Stephane Chapuisat (Borussia Dortmund). 
1525 !GCAT !GSPO  Spectators at Friday's Brussels grand prix meeting have an extra incentive to cheer on the athletes to world record performances -- a free glass of beer.   A Belgian brewery has offered to pay for a free round of drinks for all of the 40,000 crowd if a world record goes at the meeting, organisers said on Thursday.   It could be one of the most expensive rounds of drinks ever.   The meeting is sold out already.   Two world records are in serious danger of being broken at the meeting -- the women's 1,000 metres and the men's 3,000 metres. 
1526 !GCAT !GSPO  Leading first round   scores in the German Open golf championship on Thursday (Britain   unless stated):   62 Paul Broadhurst   63 Raymond Russell   64 David J.Russell, Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Ian   Woosnam, Bernhard Langer (Germany), Ronan Rafferty, Mats   Lanner (Sweden), Wayne Riley (Australia)   65 Eamonn Darcy (Ireland), Per Nyman (Sweden), Russell Claydon,   Mark Roe, Retief Goosen (South Africa), Carl Suneson   66 Stephen Field, Paul Lawrie, Ian Pyman, Max Anglert   (Sweden), Miles Tunnicliff, Christian Cevaer (France),   Des Smyth (Ireland), David Carter, Lee Westwood, Greg   Chalmers (Australia), Miguel Angel Martin (Spain),   Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Fernando Roca (Spain), Derrick   Cooper   67 Jeff Hawksworth, Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Michael   Welch, Thomas Gogele (Germany), Paul McGinley (Ireland),   Gary Orr, Jose-Maria Canizares (Spain), Michael Jonzon   (Sweden), Paul Eales, David Williams, Andrew Coltart,   Jonathan Lomas, Jose Rivero (Spain), Robert Karlsson   (Sweden), Marcus Wills, Pedro Linhart (Spain), Jamie   Spence, Terry Price (Australia), Juan Carlos Pinero (Spain),   Mark Mouland 
1527 !GCAT !GSPO  Denmark's new Swedish-born coach Bo Johannsen mixes fresh blood with the experience of the Laudrup brothers in his 16-man squad announced on Thursday for the World Cup qualifer against Slovenia in Ljubljana on September 1.   Brian and Michael Laudrup have been complemented by young prospects Soeren Andersen, a forward, and midfielder Ole Bjur, who scored in the 1-0 victory over Sweden in a friendly earlier this month.   Johannsen succeeded Richard Moeller Nielsen after Denmark's disappointing defence of the European championship in June.   Squad:   Goalkeepers - Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United), Mogens Krogh (Brondby).   Defenders - Jes Hoegh (Fenerbahce), Marc Rieper (West Ham), Jakob Friis-Hansen (Hamburg), Jacob Laursen (Derby).   Midfielders - Thomas Helveg (Udinese), Ole Bjur (Brondby), Bjarne Goldbaek (FC Copenhagen), Allan Nielsen (Tottenham), Brian Steen Nielsen (Urawa Red Diamond, Japan), Michael Schjoenberg (Odense), Claus Thomsen (Ipswich).   Strikers - Brian Laudrup (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Laudrup (Vissel Kobe, Japan), Soeren Andersen (Aalborg). 
1528 !GCAT !GSPO  Norway, England and Sweden were rewarded for their fair play on Thursday with an additional place in the 1997-98 UEFA Cup competition.   Norway headed the UEFA Fair Play rankings for 1995-96 with 8.62 points, ahead of England with 8.61 and Sweden 8.57.   The rankings are based on a formula that takes into account many factors including red and yellow cards, and coaching and spectators' behaviour at matches played at an international level by clubs and national teams.   Only the top three countries are allocated additional places.   The UEFA Fair Play rankings are: 1.   Norway 8.62 points    2.   England 8.61    3.   Sweden 8.57    4.   Faroe Islands 8.56    5.   Wales 8.54    6.   Estonia 8.52    7.   Ireland 8.45    8.   Belarus 8.39    9.   Iceland 8.35    10.   Netherlands 8.30    10.   Denmark 8.30    10.   Germany 8.30    13.   Scotland 8.29    13.   Latvia 8.29    15.   Moldova 8.24    16.   Yugoslavia 8.22    16.   Belgium 8.22    18.   Luxembourg 8.20    19.   France 8.18    20.   Israel 8.17    21.   Switzerland 8.15    21.   Slovakia 8.15    23.   Poland 8.12    23.   Portugal 8.12    25.   Georgia 8.10    26.   Ukraine 8.09    26.   Spain 8.09    26.   Finland 8.09    29.   Macedonia 8.07    30.   Lithuania 8.06    31.   Austria 8.05    32.   Russia 8.03    33.   Romania 8.02    33.   Turkey 8.02    35.   Hungary 7.98    36.   Czech Republic  7.95    37.   Greece 7.89    37.   Northern Ireland  7.89    39.   Italy 7.85    40.   Cyprus 7.83    41.   Armenia 7.80    42.   Slovenia 7.77    43.   Croatia 7.75    44.   Bulgaria 7.73    45.   Malta 7.40 
1529 !GCAT !GSPO  A pact between broadcasters and clubs to put even more soccer on television is threatening to turn Spato a nation of couch potatoes and leave bars and restaurants deserted for up to six nights a week.   Bar owners have long complained that Saturday-night Spanish league matches keep their patrons glued to the television set at home instead of spending money on a night on the town.   Their anger deepened on Thursday when an agreement between television channels and football authorities was announced allowing private television channel Antena 3 to broadcast an extra league match on Monday nights from September 1.   "Football is ruining our businesses," Ignacio Cabello, national president of restaurants at the Spanish Federation of Restaurants, Cafeterias and Bars, told Reuters on Thursday.   "We can't swim against the current.   We say football, yes, but limit it to international matches on Wednesdays and domestic matches on Sundays," he said.   Apart from Britons, Spaniards are the most television- addicted people in the European Union with an average 86 percent of the population watching television on a normal day, according to official statistics.   Football accounts for much of that time, with match broadcasts representing nine of 994, the latest figures available.   Bar owners say the Saturday night matches cost them an estimated 112 billion pesetas in 1995 and Cabello forecast that Monday night matches would add an extra 50 to 60 billion ($400-475 million) to that figure in the 1996-97 season.   The new deal between Antena 3, regional channels and private subscription channel Canal Plus establishes a steady diet of televised football on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays for the next two years.   Add to this UEFA Cup matches Champion's League matches on Wednesdays and Cup Winner's Cup matches on Thursdays, and restauranteurs are not the only ones complaining.   Spanish coach Javier Clemente has attacked the new schedule, saying it interferes with international matches.   The first match Antena 3 was due to broadcast on September 2 between Atletico Madrid and Celta is a case in point.   That Monday Spain is due to travel to the Faroe Islands to play its first qualifying match on Wednesday for the 1998 World Cup in France.   Clemente is likely to play Aletico's Kiko and Caminero, and without them, the team won't play Celta.   "The calendar is a disaster," Clemente told sports daily Marca.   "The clubs aren't looking after the sport, only after economics."   Football clubs are expected to earn 250 billion pesetas ($2 billion) for TV rights between now and 2003, including pay-per- view which Antena 3 and Canal Plus hope to introduce in 1998.   The Spanish Football Federation welcomed the idea of Monday night matches on condition they do not interfere with international commitments.   Football clubs are due to iron out remaining problems and ratify the deal next Thursday. 
1530 !GCAT !GSPO  Briton Paul Broadhurst shot a course record nine-under-par 62 to establish a two-shot lead in the first round of the German Open on Thursday.   It was the 31-year-old's lowest ever score on the European Tour and left him clear of six players who took advantage of near perfect conditions to compile 64s and finish on seven under.   "This course is playing so easily someone will break 60 this week," said Broadhurst, who lost the Scandinavian Masters in a play-off three weeks ago.   "It would not surprise me at all.   "To win here, if the weather stays as it is, you will need to shoot at least 20 under, maybe 22, but I'm very happy with my position."   The chasing group includes Welshman Ian Woosnam, who arrived late and did not have a practice round, and local hero Bernhard Langer, carrying an injury to two fingers in his right hand.   Englishman David J. Russell, Northern Irishman Ronan Rafferty, Michael Campbell of New Zealand and Sweden's Mats Lanner also shot 64 to share second place. 
1531 !GCAT !GSPO  Early French league leaders Lens, one of four teams on maximum points after their first two games, face a tough test on Saturday at 1995 champions Nantes.   Lens, lead on goal difference from defending champions Auxerre, Paris St Germain and Bastia, while Nantes, who have lost key players Reynald Pedros and Nicolas Ouedec, are 16th with just one point.   But Lens, who have so far beaten the two newly-promoted sides Caen and Nancy, are expecting a difficult match.   "We're not the favourites," trainer Slavo Muslin said.   "We have beaten two relatively weak sides.   Against Nantes, it will be a different story."   But many in France believe Lens, a club with limited means from a small northern mining town, have a team strong enough to qualify for Europe, if not have a shot at the title.   They have spent money wisely, buying Czech striker Vladimir Smicer before he came to the world's attention during the European championships in England in June.   "If we had waited until the end of the English tournament to make a deal, he would've had become too expensive for us," club president Gervais Martel said.   PSG, for whom new Brazilian midfielder Lenoardo has shone, have also started well and have little to fear from their visit to modest Nancy on Friday.   Reigning champions Auxerre will find it more difficult against Bordeaux, who drew 1-1 at Metz last week thanks to striker Jean-Pierre Papin's first goal for the club.   Bordeaux, UEFA Cup finalists last May, hope the arrival of Papin will compensate for the loss of their main assets from last season, notably the gifted Zinedine Zidane, now with European champions Juventus.   Corsican side Bastia will try to extend their suprise winning streak at Nice.   Bastia have held on to Montenegran striker Anto Drobnjak, who has formed what promises to be a devastating partnership with newcomer Lubomir Moravcik of Slovakia.   "Anto received several offers and I was certain we would lose him but he said he was happy with us and decided to stay," Bastia trainer Frederic Antonetti said.   Monaco, among the favourites for the title despite being held 1-1 by Montpellier last week, travel to Guingamp, who qualified for the UEFA Cup on Tuesday by beating Russian side Rotor Volgrograd 1-0 in an Intertoto clash. 
1532 !GCAT !GSPO  Armed police commandos patrolled the ground when Australia opened their short tour of Sri Lanka with a five-run win over the country's youth team on Thursday.   Australia, in Sri Lanka for a limited overs tournament which also includes India and Zimbabwe, have been promised the presence of commandos, sniffer dogs and plainclothes policemen to ensure the tournament is trouble-free.   They are making their first visit to the island since boycotting a World Cup fixture in February because of fears over ethnic violence.   Australia, batting first in Thursday's the warm-up match, scored 251 for seven from their 50 overs.   Ricky Ponting led the way with 100 off 119 balls with two sixes and nine fours before retiring.   The youth side replied with 246 for seven.   Australian coach Geoff Marsh said he was impressed with the competitiveness of the opposition.   "We were made to sweat to win," he said. 
1533 !GCAT  South African universities and colleges should double student numbers within the next 10 years, a commission looking into higher education recommended on Thursday.   The National Commission of Higher Education handed its report to Education Minister Sibusiso Bengu on Thursday, recommending that student numbers double to 1.5 million by 2005.   Commissioner Rolf Stumpf told a news briefing the body had also proposed a new approach to funding studies, through targeting disciplines producing graduates in specific fields.   "It is based on the premise of affordability and sustainability," he said, adding that this would allow the government help in producing graduates needed by the economy, such as engineers.   Stumpf gave as an example the possibility of setting targets for universities to train engineers and places would be allocated by Bengu on the advice of a higher education council.   This would take place in the framework of a plan which would take into account the human resource needs of the country. 
1534 !GCAT !GPOL !GREL  South Africa's President Nelson Mandela has succeeded Mahatma Gandhi as a saviour of humanity through his struggle for peaceful change, Tibet's Dalai Lama said on Thursday.   "The next century should be one of dialogue and peace...in the past Mahatma Gandhi was a very good example of this and now you (Nelson Mandela) are a great successor of that person," the religious leader told a news conference after meeting Mandela.   He said millions of people throughout the world admired Mandela for his selfless struggle against apartheid.   "I am one of them and today my dream is fulfilled and I wish that all your hard work can succeed because it will not only benefit people in your country but all humanity," he said.   The two Nobel peace prize winners made no mention of China's occupation of Tibet during a joint news conference.   China annexed Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled to exile in 1959.   He runs a government-in-exile in the Himalayan Indian town of Dharamsala.   "His holyiness is known throughout the world for his commitment to values to which every decent human being strives for," Mandela said.   "He stands for peace, justice and for all the concepts which make life worth living."   The Dalai Lama was in South Africa on a week-long visit until Saturday to deliver lectures on peace. 
1535 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday defended the "just war" of his African National Congress against white rule, telling South Africa's truth commission it could not be compared to the defence of apartheid.   Mbeki, heir-apparent to President Nelson Mandela, told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC, that the ANC resorted to violence in 1960 only after white rule had blocked all other avenues of protest.   "In the end, the fundamental issue we would like to present to the TRC is that as a liberation movement, we engaged in a just war for national liberation.   "The conduct of that war should not be any matter that should be the subject of these proceedings," he said.   The ANC acknowledged in a statement handed to the commission in Cape Town that some agents had abused their positions and had violated human rights, but said "none of such violations arose out of official policy."   "There are instances where we could have acted more firmly and speedily to prevent or stop abuses, and for that the ANC accepts collective responsibility."   Mbeki, heading a delegation of 23 people, handed the 100-page text and a volume of supporting documentation to Tutu's commission on the final day of hearings for political parties.   The commission was appointed by Mandela to investigate so-called gross human rights violations under apartheid, to compensate victims and to pardon perpetrators.   Testimony during earlier hearings, including harrowing personal accounts of rape, torture and the killing of children, has at times reduced Tutu and his colleagues to tears.   This week, parties including the white separatist Freedom Front and former president F.W. de Klerk's National Party submitted documents explaining their actions under white rule.   "It would be morally wrong and legally incorrect to equate apartheid with the resistance against it," the ANC said.   "The mass of the people led by the liberation movement waged a just struggle against apartheid, which was designated by the United Nations as a crime against humanity."   Mbeki argued on Thursday that the ANC's guerrilla war was responsible for ending the scourge of apartheid.   "The naked reality is that our country would not be free today if we had depended for our emancipation on legal parliamentary opposition," he said.   De Klerk, who ousted P.W. Botha, the last white hardliner, in 1989 and turned South Africa from apartheid to democracy said on Wednesday his National Party had much to apologise for, but insisted he had never sanctioned assassination or torture.   "I should like to express my deepest sympathy with all those on all sides who suffered during the conflict," he said.   While de Klerk argued that apartheid had been an honest, though misguided attempt to share the country amongst its ethnic groups, the ANC submission rejected any defence of segregation.   "Apartheid constituted a deliberate and systematic mission of a ruling clique that saw itself as the champion of a super-race," the ANC statement said.   It acknowledged that some of its members had exceeded their orders and that the fight against government infiltration in ANC exile bases had been brutal.   The statement names 34 people executed on the orders of an ANC military tribunal between 1980 and 1989.   "From around December 1985...a number of attacks on civilian targets with no connection to the state occurred...The ANC does not seek to justify such attacks, but insists that the context in which they occurred is relevant.   "The ANC has acknowledged that in a number of instances, breaches in policy did occur and deeply regrets civilian casualties.   The leadership took steps to halt operations in conflict with policy," the statement said.   The ANC called for reasonable reparations to victims of the struggle, but stressed the need for confession and forgiveness. 
1536 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  At least 28 inmates and four guards were wounded in a South African prison fight when about 600 prisoners threw bricks, steel pipes, chairs and brooms at each other, officials said on Thursday.   Prison services said two guards suffered head injuries when they were hit with bricks and three inmates were in a critical condition after the clash at the Waterfall prison in northern KwaZulu-Natal province late on Wednesday.   The reason for the clash was not yet known.   "The situation at the prison this morning is calm.   We spent the whole night disarming the prisoners," a spokesman said.   The South African Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights said it had received allegations that prison officers had been involved in smuggling knives into the jail to fan gangster violence. 
1537 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Zimbabwe press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   THE FINANCIAL GAZETTE   - Zimbabwe's mining industry pension fund has in a landmark deal acquired property worth Z$23 million in the capital Harare's central business district from Zimbabwe Financial Holdings (Finhold).   - The government and the Public Service Association (PSA) on Wednesday agreed to end a nationwide strike by civil servants for salary rises that had paralysed public services since Monday, but the situation remained potentially explosive on Wednesday night.   - The town clerk in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on Wednesday accused the government of enacting a law with flawed provisions which led to the nullification of executive mayoral elections in Harare and the country's second largest city of Bulawayo.   - The Zimbabwean government will dispose of 13 percent of its stake in loss-making pharmaceutical company CAPS Holdings and seek a strategic joint venture partner to help revitalise the firm.   BUSINESS HERALD   - Multinational company Trans Zambezi Industry has injected Z$240 million into ailing Zimbabwean paper and packaging firm Art Corporation, saving 3,000 jobs.   - Zimbabwe's government is confident that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will find its 1996/97 budget acceptable and pave the way of re-negotiations for funding of the southern African country's economic reform programme.   - German telecommunications firm Siemens International could emerge winner of a cellular telephone tender floated by Zimbabwe's Post and Telecommunications Corporation after results showed its bid was cheaper than that of its major rival Ericsson LM International of Sweden.   THE HERALD   - Zimbabwe's high court has ruled that people owed money by the government can keep back enough of what they owe in taxes to set off and settle the debt.   - Zimbabwe's Public Service Association (PSA) on Wednesday evening called off a nation-wide strike for pay hikes by its members after public service, labour and social welfare minister Florence Chitauro said she was willing to start salary negotiations if the strikers went back to work on Thursday morning.   - Workers at a beleaguered Zimbabwean textile firm, Fashion Industrial Holdings, which was liquidated two months ago, have agreed to use more than Z$50 million from their pension fund to buy out the company.   -- Stella Mapenzauswa, Harare Newsroom: +263-4 72 52 28/9 
1538 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the South African press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   - - - -   BUSINESS DAY   - The board of First National Bank Holdings Ltd has stopped just short of dismissing managing director Barry Swart after an internal investigation found he had given his daughter a contract to help decorate the bank's new headquarters.   - Inflation ticked up to 7.1 percent in July from 6.9 percent in June as an increase in food prices and a surge in property rates took their toll.   - Insurance group Liberty Life Association of Africa Ltd posted a 667 million rand attributable surplus for the six months to June, aided by a strong performance from offshore subsidiary Liberty International and a sharp rise in new business.   - National Party leader and former South Africa president F.W. de Klerk has accepted responsibility for all authorised abuses of human rights under apartheid and tendered an unequivocal and "genuine" apology for the suffering NP policies had caused.   - South Africa's leading trade partners warned that escalating violent crime was damaging prospects of new offshore investment in South Africa.   - A parliamentary probe has been unable to prove that banks colluded when they raised interest rates a percentage point on May 17.   - Seven former police generals, including three national commissioners, will be the first of the old guard security force officers to be summoned to testify before the truth commission.   - An agent contracted by the South African Defence Force to buy 500 kg of chemicals in Croatia for its secret chemicals weapons project pilfered $1.6 million in state funds, the South African National Defence Force chief told parliament's public accounts committee.   - - - -   BUSINESS REPORT   - Inflation hit 7.1 percent last month from 6.9 percent in June.   It is the highest level of inflation in a year, largely because of a bigger than expected jump in food prices.   - Liberty Life, the insurer, reported a 57.9 percent surge in the net taxed surplus attributable to shareholders in the six months to June 30.   - Consolidated Metallurgical Industries Ltd , the world's largest producer of high-carbon ferrochrome, hit out at high railage costs, which it said hampered the 1.8 billion rand industry's ability to compete in the depressed world ferrochrome market.   - The Central Statistical Services and the private sector will work together to improve the quality and accuracy of some of the data released by the government's statistical service.   - - - -   THE STAR   - Deputy president Thabo Mbeki will on Thursday acknowledge before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that the ANC had committed gross human rights violations, including the execution of more than 30 suspected spies at the notorious Quatro camp in Angola.   -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482 1003 
1539 !GCAT  IZVESTIA   - The fact that for two days running there has been no reaction from the Russian leadership to the promise of an all-out assault on separatist positions in Grozny by the Russian command in Chechnya means that either the military will try the impossible -- to get the capital back from the rebels -- or that they are out of control.   - Tens of thousands of frightened civilians flee Grozny after the military promises more destruction.   - Millions of Russian holiday-makers and businessmen wait with trepidation for the news on a planned strike by aviation workers promised to paralyse the country.   PRAVDA   - National security advisor Alexander Lebed's visit to Chechnya will put an end to renewed fighting there.   SEVODNYA   - The long history of Russia's failed attempts to tackle the Chechen crisis casts doubt on the "optimistic hypothesis" that its latest moves in the region are parts of a thoroughly thought-out peace plan.   - President Yeltsin, contrary to persistant rumours, has not only NOT been taken to hospital but feels much better after a short break from work in Russia's Valdai lake region, says the paper, quoting confidential sources.   - The new Russian government is to discuss the 1997 budget at its first official meeting today.   NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA   - A string of last-minute presidential decrees and government instructions to improve tax collection and abolish tax breaks have produced a favourable impression on International Monetary Fund officials who concluded that Russia's economic performance was satisfactory.   ROSSIISKIYE VESTI   - Russian soldiers operating multiple rocket launchers in Grozny have been given enough ammunition to wipe half the city off the map.   MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMOLETS   - Too many people make too much money on the war in Chechnya and as long as that is the case there will be no peace in the rebel republic, says the paper.   --Andrei Shukshin, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941 8520 
1540 !C13 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  Bulgaria is expected to delay closures of seven state-owned companies involved in military production.   "There are problems in their liquidation.   The cabinet has yet to decide whether to treat these seven military plants as parts of bigger industrial complexes or as separate units," a government spokeswoman told reporters.   Among the seven companies are OMZ-Sofia, Parvi Mai in Lom, Unika MM-Vratza, Aviotechnika-Plovdiv, Shubel-Shumen, Vida Vi-Vidin and EOM-Sofia.   The spokeswoman declined to elaborate.   On Monday the government discussed the liquidation of five industrial state-owned firms, which closures were also delayed.   These companies are part of the 64 loss-makers, which Bulgaria pledged to close under agreements with the International monetary Fund (IMF) -- Sofia Newsroom, 359-2-84561 
1541 !GCAT !GDIS  One Romanian passenger was killed, and 14 others were injured on Thursday when a Romanian-registered bus collided with a Bulgarian one in northern Bulgaria, police said.   The two buses collided head on at 5 o'clock this morning on the road between the towns of Rousse and Veliko Tarnovo, police said.   A Romanian woman Maria Marco, 35, was killed.   The accident was being investigated, police added.   -- Sofia Newsroom, 359-2-84561 
1542 !GCAT !GENT !GPOL  The city of Budapest turned into a vast pleasure park for four days this week as celebrations to mark 1100 years since the first Hungarian tribes settled in the region reached their climax on the country's national day of August 20.   Streets normally snarled with traffic gave way to music, dance and fireworks while an island in the Danube hosted the biggest and longest pop festival in Europe this summer.   "When the government said it was spending money on celebrating 1100 years of history I thought it could be used for something better," said Erszebet Kiralyi, as she walked her three children along the traffic-free Danube embankment.   "But I'd forgotten what a beautiful city we have, especially without the cars, so it was probably worth doing."   Featuring on the two riverside stages -- one below the Royal Palace and the other beside the majestic Parliament built for the 1896 anniversary -- were Hungary's best in jazz and rock plus foreign acts ranging from Italian blues to a Chinese children's folk ensemble.   According to historian Zoltan Vigh, despite the relaxed atmosphere, the mood this year is hardly comparable with the Millenium Exhibition of 1896, when Hungary was one half of a world power, the Austro-Hungarian Empire.   "One hundred years ago Hungary was at the height of economic prosperity," Vigh said.   "It revelled in being one of the great powers and wanted to leave its mark."   Grand public works sprang up around the city.   Apart from a new Parliament, mainland Europe's first underground railway was inaugurated and a new Basilica was unveiled along with an exhibition park featuring replicas of the Empire's finest buildings, all of which survive to this day.   In the century that has passed since then Hungary has been on the losing side in two world wars, lost two thirds of its territory in the treaties of 1920 and for fifty years fell under the shadow of Soviet communism.   Five years after the last Red Army soldier left the country, hope has turned to disillusion for many as the country continues to knock on the closed door of European Union and NATO membership and market forces push real wages down.   "In 1996, the atmosphere is very different from 100 years ago," Vigh said.   "I believe most people are not in the mood to celebrate at such a difficult time.   We're independent again but living standards are falling."   Vigh said most Hungarians have been alienated by the high ticket prices of events such as a recent concert with Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Diana Ross, for which the average ticket price was the equivalent of a teacher's weekly salary.   Another dampener on the celebrations has been the furore caused by the last week's breakthrough in negotiations with Romania over a friendship treaty protecting the minority rights.   Opposition politicians have used the commemorations to accuse the government of failing in the treaty to protect ethnic Hungarians living in Romania's Transylvania region, which 100 years ago was part of Hungary.   According to Vigh everyone is probably celebrating the wrong date anyway.   "A hundred years ago, historians found documents that suggested the arrival of the Magyar tribes from the Asian Steppes was actually 895," he said.   "But budgetary problems prompted the authorities to bend history a little."   Vigh added that a number of scholars have since suggested they could have arrived up to two centuries earlier.   Erzebet Kiralyi does not feel it matters too much if the date is right or not.   "For my generation it's myth rather than scientific history," she said.   "My daughter, who is seventeen, can't even relate to a number like 1100 anyway.   She thinks it's all so stuffy."   In fact most of Hungary's youth seem to have spent the last week in a tent city on Obuda Island on the Danube north of the city at a ten-day music festival which offered an alternative to the more traditional fare in the capital.   Five stages and international acts including Therapy, Iggy Pop and the Stone Roses attracted an estimated 250,000 spectators, most of whom ate, slept and partied for the full ten days, cut off from the outside world.   "They can keep their folk costumes and fanfares," said one reveller.   "This is real." 
1543 !GCAT !GPOL  The Peasant party in Poland's ruling coalition has agreed not to unilaterally force a total cabinet reshuffle during a coming reform of ministries, a leader of the larger ex-communist grouping said on Thursday.   Chiefs of the two left-leaning parties met late on Wednesday to discuss the impending gradual reorganisation of economic and administrative ministries, and agreed to resume their talks next week.   The reform, scrapping seven ministries and creating several new ones, has renewed tension in the often-uneasy coalition of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), in power since 1993.   The Peasants, who want a strong position especially in economic ministries, say the changes should be accompanied by dismissal of the current cabinet and appointment of a new one.   The head of the SLD organisation in parliament, Jerzy Szmajdzinski, said after the talks that the Peasants had agreed not to bring about a so-called constructive vote of no-confidence, a parliamentary procedure which would force a total cabinet reshuffle, without his party's assent.   "One thing was said -- that without our agreement such a constructive vote will not be submitted," he said on private Radio Zet.   "This was a view clearly stated by our colleagues in the PSL -- that only if we agree can such a move be carried out, and we see no need..." he added.   He said that specific appointments to ministries had not been discussed during Wednesday's talks.   The Peasant party's parliamentary speaker Jozef Zych has said rifts over the cabinet reshuffle could cause a break-up of the coalition and bring about early general elections, otherwise not scheduled until September next year.   SLD Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, whose position will be strengthened by the reform, aims to replace ministers gradually as of October when the restructuring begins.   The strongest argument is expected to concern the two new powerful ministries of the economy and of the treasury as well as the finance ministry, now headed by Deputy Prime Minister Gregorz Kolodko, which will have a diminished role.   Two new posts, the head of the Treasury ministry and the secretary of a committee on European integration, must be filled by the start of October.   -- Anthony Barker +48 22 653 9700 
1544 !G15 !GCAT  *   (Note - contents are displayed in reverse order to that in the printed Journal)   *   Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1464/96 of 25 July 1996 relating to a standing invitation to tender to determine levies and/or refunds on exports of white sugar (OJ No L 187 of 26.7.1996)   Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EC) No 658/96 of 9 April 1996 on certain conditions for granting compensatory payments under the support system for producers of certain arable crops (OJ No L 91 of 12.4.1996)   Commission Regulation (EC) No 1663/96 of 20 August 1996 establishing the standard import values for determining the entry price of certain fruit and vegetables END OF DOCUMENT. 
1545 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent   The attack on cigarette makers took a bold turn Thursday when the state of Oklahoma sued a powerful law firm that has been the tobacco industry's first line of legal defense for more than 40 years.   The lawsuit by Oklahoma, which became the 14th state to sue the industry, was the latest latest blow to tobacco companies still reeling from a $750,000 verdict against Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. in a Florida case on Aug. 9.   Separately, just a day before the White House was expected to endorse tough new federal regulations on cigarettes, an Indianapolis jury started deliberations in an important smoker's wrongful death case.   The suit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson was a dramatic step because few lawyers have tried to take on the Kansas City, Mo., firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, which has represented tobacco companies since 1954.   In its suit to recover more than $1 billion in state funds spent to treat smoking-related illnesses, Oklahoma named the nation's largest cigarette makers, the public relations firm of Hill & Knowlton, Inc., two New York law firms, Chadbourne and Parke and Jacob, Medinger and Finnegan, and Shook, Hardy.   The suit accused the law firms of helping the tobacco companies conceal the health risks of smoking and alleged they kept documents confidential by claiming they were protected by attorney-client privilege.   Shook, Hardy has come under growing scrutiny since 1994 when internal Brown & Williamson documents surfaced that suggested the law firm worked with tobacco companies to generate favorable scientific reports.   The documents led a group of congressmen to ask the Justice Department to investigate Shook Hardy as part of a criminal probe of the industry and the firm's records have since been subpoenaed in several civil cases.   Tobacco companies are currently the target of several federal investigations examining whether the industry hid information about the health hazards of smoking and whether its top executives lied about nicotine and addiction.   Despite the growing concerns about Shook Hardy's role, lawyers have been reluctant to name the firm in lawsuits.   Oklahoma in its suit became the first state to do so.   "It's a very serious charge for an attorney to accuse his or her fellow professional with fraud and deceitful conduct," said Clifford Douglas, an Evanston, Ill., consultant to lawyers suing the tobacco industry.   "Attorneys just don't sue other attorneys."   He said there would need to be overwhelming evidence for lawyers to take such action.   Shook, Hardy had no immediate comment on the suit.   Last week Shook, Hardy was named in two lawsuits brought by individuals in New York and New Jersey.   The plaintiffs' lawyer in those cases, Steven Kramer of New York City, said Thursday that he thought he was the only other lawyer to sue Shook, Hardy.   Kramer said he planned to file a similar case next month on behalf of former talk show host Morton Downey, Jr., who has lung cancer.   Shook, Hardy's relationship with the industry dates back to 1954, when Philip Morris hired the firm's prominent litigator David Hardy to defend it against a suit filed by a Missouri smoker who lost his larynx to cancer.   The firm, which only had 16 lawyers at the time, is now one of the biggest in Kansas City, with some 250 lawyers.   The Oklahoma suit, filed in a state court in Cleveland County, named Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., the world's largest cigarette maker, RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson, a unit of B.A.T Industries Plc ; Loews Corp.'s Lorillard Tobacco Co.   Inc. and American Brands Inc., among others.   The suit also named trade groups The Council for Tobacco Research USA and The Tobacco Institute.   The suit followed litigation filed against the industry this week in Kansas, Arizona and Michigan.   New Jersey has plans to sue the industry and Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas are considering actions.   In Washington, Clinton was expected to announce measures on Friday aimed at keeping youths from taking up the smoking habit.   Under the original proposals made a year ago, cigarette companies would be barred from placing billboard ads near schools and playgrounds.   Other measures would eliminate vending machines, free samples, sales of fewer than 20 cigarettes and mail-order.   Tobacco company stocks sank again as investors nervously eyed developments.   Philip Morris fell 87.5 cents to $86.75 after sinking $3.875 on Wednesday, Lowes lost $1.50 to $75.125 after sliding $1.25 on Wednesday, and RJR lost 12.5 cents to $25.125 after falling $1.375 on Wednesday, all on the New York Stock Exchange. 
1546 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  In a stunning break with tradition, the United Auto Workers Thursday delayed choosing a strike target among Detroit's Big Three automakers and said it may try to hammer out new labor contracts simultaneously with all three companies.   UAW President Stephen Yokich said he postponed the decision to allow for unprecedented meetings Thursday and Friday with the chairmen of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp..   The CEOs normally do not join in the talks until days before a settlement.   Yokich said he would give each of the executives a chance to demonstrate their desire for a quick contract settlement and show why they should lead bargaining with the union.   "There might not be a need" for a target company this year, Yokich told a news conference after meeting with 500 UAW leaders from around the nation.   "We're not going to have a target per se."   However, he added that he may still choose a "lead company" as early as Sunday.   Bargaining with each of the automakers has been unusually productive this year, Yokich said, and he does not want to thwart that progress now by focusing on a single automaker.   "It's a strategic move to gain a bit of leverage in the union's favor," said Harley Shaiken, a professor of labor relations at the University of California-Berkeley.   He added that the move creates more suspense for the automakers.   "It's good common, honest sense," Yokich said of his decision to continue bargaining with all three automakers.   "If you've got three companies that are moving along in their negotiations and these three companies want to reach agreement, you don't stop them," Yokich said.   "You meet with them."   Contracts covering over 400,000 UAW hourly workers are due to expire Sept. 14.   Historically, the union has focused its bargaining on a single automaker for an agreement that serves as a pattern for the other two to follow.   The selection of the target is normally a major event in the triennial talks, and the UAW had raised expectations by scheduling its announcement Thursday.   Many analysts had said Chrysler's strong profits and lack of a need to shed jobs made it the front-runner to be the target, but Thursday's decision appeared to put each automaker on an equal footing.   All of the companies have been unusually vocal about their eagerness to lead the talks.   The target firm faces the threat of a national strike if its contract expires with no new agreement, but Yokich said the union was focused on avoiding a strike this year.   Yokich, who became UAW president last year and has a reputation for breaking traditions, won praise for his strategy from UAW local leaders.   "It's something different.   This is Steve Yokich," said Bruce Perry, president of UAW Local 95 at GM's Janesville, Wis., truck plant.   "I think it's visionary.   We're going to see which of the Big Three can best meet our needs."   Each of the automakers said they respected the UAW's decision, acknowledged progress in their talks and said they would continue to work toward a settlement.   "We want to be the target and we believe the solid tradition of trust and openness between Ford and the UAW will serve us well throughout this bargaining process," Ford said in a statement.   Wall Street analysts said the UAW's unusual move was a positive sign.   "Yokich is coming out and saying, 'We're pretty close to an agreement here, and if we are, let's just get it done,'" said PaineWebber's Michael Ward.   "If that's true, that tells me it's pretty much a carryover contract and that's a positive development for the stocks."   GM's shares rose 37.5 cents to $51.50, while Ford rose 62.5 cents to $34 and Chrysler gained 25 cents to $29.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.   UAW leaders attending Thursday's meeting said negotiators have a long way to go to resolve outsourcing and job security issues, which they singled out as the toughest on this year's bargaining table.   "I cannot compete with somebody on the outside who is making less money than I am," said Edward McNulty, president of UAW Local 14 at GM's Toledo, Ohio, transmission plant.   "We have a major problem with global sourcing." 
1547 !C13 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it was more optimistic that automakers and Northeastern states can agree on a program for cars with much cleaner emissions.   However, some observers said the two sides remained in a stalemate.   "We're encouraged by the progress that the automakers and the 12 Northeastern states have made in exploring a possible low emissions vehicle for the nation," the EPA said.   "We understand they have reached agreement on most of the substantive issues, with more discussions to come on remaining issues."   The American Autmobile Manufacturers Association and the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers said they signed a memorandum of understanding that should break the deadlock, and urged the Northeastern states to sign it.   Instead, the states drafted and signed their own memo on a plan for cars that would be up to 70 percent cleaner than current models.   "Folks may have reasserted their positions in a new way by signing" memoranda of understanding, said Paul Billings of the American Lung Association.   "But the fundamental issue that divided them remains."   While the memos show an agreement on the nuts and bolts of the national clean car program, the sticking point remains over Massachusetts' and New York's requirement for some sales of electric-powered -- or zero emissions -- vehicles.   The states' memo reaffirms the rights of individual states to pursue their own programs such as mandates for zero emissions vehicles.   The carmakers have unsuccessfully tried to defeat Massachusett's and New York's laws in court, and have resisted signing a deal that keeps those laws.   "The ZEV mandates in Massachusetts and New York should not be a factor in this decision," said Andrew Card, president of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.   He said the states should sign the carmakers' memo that calls for a separate negotiation on zero emission mandates.   The carmakers proposed offering cleaner cars nationwide to avoid having to build and market different cars for different regions.   They also hope to avoid the Northeastern states' plan to use some electric cars to meet their region's air quality targets.   Card said time is running out for the two sides to get an agreement that would enable manufacturers to produce cleaner cars in the 1998 model year. 
1548 !C21 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GSCI  Pfizer Inc said on Thursday that a study that links calcium channel blocker drugs, which are used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease, to an increased risk of cancer, is contrary to overwhelming scientific evidence.   A recent article in Lancet, a medical journal published in England, said a study of 5,000 men and women over the age of 70 in the United States found that those who took calcium channel blockers were 70 percent more likely to develop cancer.   Of the 5,000 studied, 451 had been using the calcium channel blockers.   Pfizer said the drugs were tested for carcinoginicity before they were approved in the United States and had underwent other trials and studies that found no link between calcium channel blockers and cancer.   An Israeli study of 5,800 elderly patients taking calcium channel blockers found no increase of heart disease or cancer, Pfizer said. 
1549 !C12 !C13 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge sentenced Scotsman David McKeeve to 51 months in prison on Thursday following the Glasgow businessman's conviction on charges of trying to smuggle high-tech equipment from the United States to Libya.   McKeeve, 36, who has been incarcerated since his Nov. 2, 1995 arrest, was found guilty in May of trying to ship computer equipment to Libya in violation of the U.S. embargo and making false statement to conceal the shipment's destination.   His Edinburgh-based company, McNeil International, was convicted on a single charge of conspiring to violate the U.S. embargo.   In January 1986, the United States banned all trade with Libya except for certain humanitarian aid.   McKeeve, who could have received up to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine, was also sentenced to three years probation following his prison term.   He requested an immediate appeal.   "It was never my intention to violate the laws of the United States...I will, for the rest of my life, take great care to respect the laws and customs of any country that I visit," McKeeve told U.S. District Judge Robert Keeton before the sentencing.   McKeeve first tried to ship the computers directly to Tripoli, but then learning of the embargo, changed the destination to Ethiopia.   When he learned U.S. officials were aware of attempts to smuggle banned cargo to Libya through that country, he again changed the documents, first to Malta and then to Cyprus.   The computer cargo never left the United States. 
1550 !C12 !CCAT !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Nicaragua faced a fresh hurdle over its onerous debt burden Thursday when a creditor filed suit in U.S. federal court to recover long defaulted obligations.   LNC Investments Inc, a unit of Leucadia National Corp, sued Nicaragua to recover approximately $26 million of principal payments, plus interest and penalties accrued since 1986.   Nicaragua has long been in default on the payments, LNC said in its suit.    Monetary authorities in Nicaragua were not immediately available for comment.   In its suit, LNC said that Nicaragua was in default of its obligations and had not paid LNC any of the amounts owed.   The dates by which the full amount of the obligations were to have been paid have long passed, the complaint said.   LNC, which had bought the commercial debt on the secondary market, refrained from participating in settlement last year between Nicaragua and most of its creditors.    In December 1995, Nicaragua used loans from the World Bank and other donors to buy back 81 percent of its commercial bank debt, paying creditors eight cents on the dollar to retire about $1.1 billion of debt obligations.   But LNC and other investors who altogether hold around $200 million of commercial debt did not participate in the buyback, preferring to hold out for a better deal.   "We decided not to go into the buyback believing that sometime in the future something would be able to be done with the debt that would have more value than just 8 cents," said Peter Pessoa, the International Bank of Miami, which purchased some of Nicaragua's debt on behalf of clients.   Nicaragua, one of the poorest country's in the hemisphere, faces an uphill battle against a heavy debt burden.   The World Bank and International Monetary Fund considered the country's debt, matched against its paucity of exports and miniscule gross domestic product to be unsustainable.   The country has managed to convince several lender nations to forgive or reduce the amount of Nicaraguan debt.   But the debt remains onerous, as Nicaragua struggles to emerge from economic ruin.   Nicaragua said the economy would expand by about five percent in 1996, the third consecutive year of growth after a decade of declines.   The impoverished state of the nation, coupled with its dim prospects for recovery, meant that most Wall Street analysts saw little opportunity for Nicaragua to borrow funds from the international capital markets.   -- 212 859-1671 
1551 !GCAT !GDIS !GWEA  Hurricane warnings were posted for parts of Mexico's northeast coast Thursday as Tropical Storm Dolly gained strength and again became a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.   At the same time, Tropical Storm Edouard gained little strength as it moved westward across the distant Atlantic Ocean.   At 1700 EDT/2100 EDT, Dolly's center was near latitude 20.6 north, longitude 94.6 west, or about 240 miles (386 km) east-southeast of Tampico, Mexico, and moving west-northwest near 10 mph (16 kmh).    That motion was expected to continue during the next 24 hours, a track that would bring Dolly's center to the Mexican coast somewhere in the warned area on Friday morning.   Hurricane warnings were posted from Veracruz to La Pesca on the northeast coast.   Maximum sustained winds were near 75 mph (121 kmh), making Dolly a weak Category One hurricane.   Hurricane force winds extended up to 30 miles (48 km) from the storm's center, and tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 175 miles (282 km).   Tropical Storm Edouard continued to move westward across the Atlantic.   At 5 p.m.   EDT (2100 GMT), Edouard's center was near latitude 13.6 north, 35.1 west, or about (1,284 km) west of the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's coast, and moving west near 14 mph (23 kmh).   That motion was expected to continue Friday, with some slight strengthening possible during the next 24 hours.   forecasters said. 
1552 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Computer hackers who altered the Justice Department's Internet home page last weekend did not get access to criminal files, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday.   The unidentified hackers added swastikas, obsenities and a picture of Adolf Hitler to the department's page on the World Wide Web in an apparent protest against a law prohibiting transmission of sexually explicit material on the Internet.   The page was shut down until it could be restored.   It has information about the department with links to pages on related topics such as the Violence Against Women Act.   Reno said the department's web page (http://www.usdoj.gov) was separate from its other computer files.   "My understanding is that there is a clear wall between the two systems," Reno said at her weekly news briefing.   "The system designed for public information is separate from that that tracks criminal investigations."   "In this situation, it is a system that is available for the public because it is the Web site, designed to provide information to the public.   And thus, it is more difficult to prevent hacking," she said.   "And what we had done and what this nation needs to do with respect to all its computer systems is continue to refine our knowledge and develop greater knowledge of what can be done to prevent hacking," she added.   Reno and other officials have warned that the U.S. computer network is vulnerable to theft and sabotage and have called for stronger computer security measures. 
1553 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  United Steelworkers of America officials said they rejected a move by copper producer Phelps Dodge Corp to impose a wage freeze on workers at the company's Chino mine in New Mexico.   Robert Guadiana, USWA's lead negotiator said the union rejected a pay freeze, which he described as "insulting", but added that on Thursday, the union scaled-back its pay demand.   The union wants a three-year pay deal and originally sought a hike of $2.00 per hour in the first year followed by a $1.00 per hour rise in the following two years.    Guadiana said on Thursday the union scaled back the pay demand to $1.85 per hour in the first year, with a $1.00 in the second and third year.   Phelps Dodge wants a pay freeze for a contract ending on November 15, 2000 - over four years in length.   The company originally wanted a six-year deal ending in 2002.   "I am insisting on a three-year contract," Guadiana said.   The union has also scaled back its demand relating to pension benefits.    The USWA was irked by Phelps insistence that increments paid to workers only kick in when copper prices are over $1.00 per pound instead of from 80 cents under the previous three-year contract which ended on June 30.   "The company is adamant that the price of copper is going to go nowhere but down for the next few years, and yet they have cut the COMEX price grid to start paying at $1.00 per pound," Guadiana said.   Spot copper closed at 91.15 cents per pound on COMEX Thursday. 
1554 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge on Thursday delayed for one day a decision whether to allow a reorganization for Lloyd's of London to go forward, but a lawyer in the case denied there were any negotiations going on to settle the matter out of court.   U.S. District Judge Robert Payne was expected to rule on whether to uphold an injunction blocking the financially-strapped markets' recovery plan of nearly $5 billion, but by mid-morning had decided to withold judgement until Friday.   "There are no settlement negotiations going on.   I don't think (the delay) bears any relation to the merits of the case or what the judge is deciding," said Chris Lyman, attorney at Kilpatrick and Cody, which represents 93 investors who brought the lawsuit.   Lyman told Reuters he expected a ruling between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.   EDT (1700 GMT and 2100 GMT) on Friday.   "I think think he's giving it careful thought and study," he added.   "The opinion is expected to be issued in the afternoon of Friday, August 23," the federal court said in a one-sentence statement.   "I don't discuss these things," Judge Payne said, when asked by a Reuter reporter about the delay.   Local lawyers for Lloyd's were not immediately available for comment and did not return telephone calls.   The 93 investors or Names -- individuals who pledge assets to back the insurance policies sold at Lloyd's -- are seeking to block the reorganization plan whereby Lloyd's would reinsure billions in liabilities by creating a new reinsurance company, Equitas.   (Corrects to indicate that investors are not from Virginia).   Under the plan, the investors are being asked to pay up to $150,000 to help fund Equitas.   The Virginia investors filed suit instead after Lloyd's declined to provide detailed financial information about Equitas, as is required under U.S. securities laws.   Judge Payne indicated his concern was that U.S. investors were adequately protected.   He also scolded the Securities and Exchange Commission for not taking up the matter.   Lloyd's chief executive, Ronald Sandler, admitted in court that the British Embassy had arranged a meeting in Washington between SEC and Lloyd's officials prior to the court hearing.   Sandler testified he wanted to make the SEC aware of the August 28 deadline for Names to vote on acceptance of the recovery plan.   "My particular purpose was to ensure the SEC understood we were dealing with a process in the reconstruction plan.   I felt they needed to be aware of the time table," Sandler testified in court.   The SEC was asked to reconsider the issue, according to published reports.   But it was not known whether that may have played a role in the judge's delay of the ruling.   In Washington, a spokesman for the SEC said the agency had no comment.   There are 2700 Names in the United States, and 33,500 worldwide.   Industry sources in London said that while the judge could grant some kind of relief to the U.S. Names, Payne said in court earlier this week that it was not his intention to stop Lloyd's worldwide recovery plan. 
1555 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  The White House on Thursday denied President Bill Clinton was timing an announcement on strict new tobacco curbs to steer attention away from statistics that drug abuse among teen-agers has skyrocketed during his term.   Clinton was expected to announce measures on Friday aimed at keeping youths from taking up the smoking habit, just three days after his administration released a report saying drug use among teen-agers more than doubled between 1992 and 1995.   White House spokesman Mike McCurry, responding to Republican charges that Clinton wanted to divert attention from the unfavorable drug report, said Clinton decided a long time ago to clamp down on tobacco products aimed at youth and was waiting for federal regulators to complete the new rules.   "We can't hurry a regulatory process that has to be meticulous and by the book," McCurry said.   In addition, he charged that Clinton's Republican predecessor, George Bush, "made an effort at one point to hide statistics about the rise in drug use among young people," while Clinton had "very openly disclosed" the negative report.   "We care about the health of kids.   And the health of kids can be ruined by addictive behavior of any number of sorts -- alcohol abuse, illegal substance abuse, tobacco addiction," he said, adding Clinton considered all of them top priorities.   Republicans also charged that Clinton was timing the announcement to gain maximum publicity ahead of next week's Democratic National Convention.   The Clinton campaign had ridiculed Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole for saying that tobacco was not necessarily addictive and that the Food and Drug Administration did not have the authority to regulate nicotine.   Dole did not answer questions about tobacco on Thursday.   But his press secretary Nelson Warfield said that since lawsuits were already pending against the proposed regulations Clinton's plan was "purely an election-year gimmick which could mean further delay in cracking down on teen smoking."   With anti-smoking sentiment rising, Oklahoma on Thursday became the 14th state to sue the tobacco industry to recover costs of treating smoking-related illnesses paid by the state.   Clinton's announcement, expected at midday on Friday, was to be an endorsement of the FDA's final recommendations on ways to reduce the number of young people who start smoking.   The FDA says 3,000 a day start and 1,000 will die as a result.   White House officials said the FDA had made "some changes" in Clinton's own recommendations of a year ago but they did not appear to be significant.   Under his proposals, cigarette companies would have been barred from placing billboard advertising near schools and playgrounds.   He also proposed to require age-verified and face-to-face sales and eliminate mail-order sales, vending machines, free samples, self-service displays and sales of fewer than 20 cigarettes.   He also urged that sales or giveaways of caps or gym bags with tobacco company logos be prohibited, as well as brand-name sponsorship of sporting or entertainment events.   The union that represents most tobacco workers said the restrictions could cost thousands of jobs and eventually prompt tobacco companies to move operations out of America.   "Thousands of well-paying American jobs are at risk of being lost to the FDA's ill-conceived new regulations of the tobacco industry," said Frank Hurt, president of the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers International Union.   The Freedom to Advertise Coalition, a group of advertising and publishing associations, said the regulations were overly broad and unconstitutional and poorly targeted. 
1556 !GCAT !GWEA  The center of Typhoon Niki has moved westward across southern Hainan, China, and is now in the Gulf of Tonkin.   Niki produced very heavy rain and damaging winds on Hainan, and is expected to bring similar conditions to northern Vietnam.   Landfall on the upper coast of Vietnam is expected within 12 hours.   Top winds, now near 95 mph, should remain near 90 mph at the time of landfall.   Niki will also be a major threat to shipping from Hainan through the Gulf of Tonkin to Vietnam during this period.   Once Niki moves inland, it will rapidly weaken but heavy rainfall will likely produce flooding    Tropical Storm Dolly is centered about 300 miles east-southeast of Tampico, over water in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.   Top winds have increased to 50 mph and further strengthening will continue during today as Dolly continues to track west northwestward about 11 to 13 mph.   Dolly will be a threat to shipping, then the threat to land will increase as the storm heads for the upper coast of eastern Mexico.   Landfall is expected near midday Friday on the coast near Tampico, Mexico.   Winds should be between 75 and 85 mph at the time of landfall.    Tropical Storm Edouard is in the open Atlantic about 645 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, moving west at 13 mph.   It has top winds of 45 mph and is expected to strengthen while tracking to the west or west northwest over the next 24 hours.   The threat from Edouard is only to shipping at this time.   Tropical Depression 19W, in the western Pacific northwest of the Mariana Islands, is drifting to the north and is expected to continue this motion during the next 36 hours.   Top winds, now 35 mph, may reach 45 mph as the system becomes a tropical storm during this period.   The threat to shipping is moderate. 
1557 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A grand jury has returned a two-count indictment charging Pitt-Des Moines Inc with violating federal safety regulations in a 1993 building collapse that killed two workers, prosecutors said Thursday.   If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, the Pittsburgh-based construction firm faces a maximum fine of $500,000 on each count, U.S. Attorney James Burns of the Northern District of Illinois announced.   Pitt-Des Moines's general counsel Thomas Lloyd said the company would not comment on the latest charges until it received a formal notice of the indictment.    Crews from the company were erecting the fifth floor of Chicago's new U.S. Postal Service Facility on November 3, 1993, when a portion of the building collapsed.   Five other workers were injured.   The company was fined $147,000 in civil penalties in 1994 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for what the agency said was its "deliberate disregard" of safe engineering practices in the incident.   The fine was dismissed on appeal, Lloyd said, and OSHA has appealed the dismissal.   In the indictment, the company was cited for not following rules that require structural supports be tightly secured with at least two bolts, or the equivalent.   The company also allegedly violated regulations that require workers be trained to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions. 
1558 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Federal health officials on Thursday said adrenal cortex injection, an alternative therapy used for AIDS patients and weight-watchers, had caused abscesses due to contamination with a rare bacteria.   They also warned that the injection could be potentially life-threatening for people with weakened immune systems.   In the past year, 54 people in Colorado and Wyoming developed abscesses where adrenal cortex injection had been administered, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.   It said the product, which has not been approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), was contaminated with bacteria that caused the abscesses.   People who developed them were generally treated with antibiotics, but in some cases the abscesses had to be drained or surgically removed.   Most of those who became ill had received injections as part of a weight-loss program.   The product has also been sold to "enhance well-being" in people infected with the virus that causes AIDS, the CDC said.   CDC epidemiologist Michael McNeil said people with weakened immune systems were at particular risk from the unusual bacterium, which appears to have contaminated the product during its manufacture.   "In someone who is otherwise healthy, it tends to cause localized infection," McNeil said.   "In someone who is immuno-compromised, someone with AIDS for instance, it can spread via the bloodstream to infect many organs and may be a life-threatening infection."   The FDA said drugs containing adrenal cortex extract or adrenal cortex injection have been marketed for many years but there is a ban on importing them.   As far back as 1973, the American Medical Association said "there is no known medical use for this drug."   It is important for doctors to be aware if a patient has used the product so that they can identify the bacteria and prescribe the most effective antibiotics, McNeil said.   "This is a completely unapproved drug as far as the FDA is concerned.   Were it an approved drug, it would be easy to know what's in it.   The important message is that preparations labeled like this may be contaminated with this organism."   Of 69 patients given the injections by a Colorado physician this year, 47 developed abscesses at the site of the injection, the CDC said.   The CDC, FDA and several state health departments are investigating the product.   People who develop abscesses after injection should stop using it and contact local or state health authorities, McNeil said.   Vials containing the product were labeled "distributed by Hallmark Labs, Inc.," and did not have lot numbers or expiration dates, the CDC said. 
1559 !C13 !C34 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Microsoft Corp said Thursday that allegations made by rival Netscape Communications Corp in letters to the U.S. Justice Department are "without merit."   In a response statement issued by the company and posted on the Internet, Microsoft said it "adheres strictly to all legal requirements" including those contained in a 1994 consent decree settling federal antitrust charges.    Specifically, Microsoft denied the charge that it offers a $3 discount on its Windows 95 operating system to computer makers who promise to hamper access to Netscape's Navigator browser.   "There is not and has never been any $3 discount for making competing browsers 'less accessible,'" Microsoft said in the unsigned statement.   Microsoft also denied that any of its agreements with Internet service providers obligate them to provide Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser exclusively and noted that customers are free to switch between browsers.    And Microsoft defended its practice of limiting the number of users allowed on a single copy of its Windows NT Workstation as "standard practice in the software industry."   Microsoft said Netscape, which has criticized the new licensing arrangement, similarly uses licensing agreements to limit the number of users allowed to connect to some of its software products.    Netscape's letter to the Justice Department from its lawyer Gary Reback, who has tangled with Microsoft in the past, suggested that the software giant's strategy of integrating the Internet browser with its operating system was a violation of antitrust laws.   Microsoft, which has withstood federal antitrust scrutiny on the issue before, called the claim "preposterous."   In 1994, Microsoft denied any wrongdoing but agreed to settle a long Justice Department probe by changing certain licensing practices.    In its statement, Microsoft also denied that its strategy of giving away the Internet was "predatory," as Netscape had charged.   Microsoft noted that Netscape initially obtained its dominant share of the browser market largely by giving away the product. 
1560 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  In Home Health Inc said on Thursday it will appeal to the U.S. Federal District Court in Minneapolis a decision by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that denied reimbursement of certain costs under Medicaid.   The HCFA Administrator reversed a previously favorable decision regarding the reimbursement of costs related to the company's community liaison personnel, it added.   The company said it continues to believe the majority of the community liaison costs are coverable under the terms of the Medicare program.    "We are disappointed with the administrator's decision but we continue to be optimistic regarding an ultimate favorable resolution," Mark Gildea, chief executive officer, said in a statement.   In Home Health said it previously recorded a reserve equal to 16 percent of all revenue related to the community liaison costs.   Separately, In Home Health said the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis ruled in its favor regarding the reimbursement of certain interest expenses.   This decision will result in the reimbursement by Medicare of $81,000 in disputed costs.   "This is our first decision in federal distrct court regarding a dispute with Medicare," Gildea said.   "We are extremely pleased with this decision and we recognize it as a significant step toward resolution of our outstanding Medicare disputes."   -- Chicago Newsdesk 312-408-8787 
1561 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A jury began deliberations Thursday in a damage suit against the tobacco industry being pursued by the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking for more than 40 years.   It was not known how long the deliberations in Marion County Superior Court would last.   The suit is against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, a unit of RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp, Liggett Group Inc, a unit of Brooke Group Ltd, Philip Morris Cos Inc, and The American Tobacco Co, now owned by Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp, a unit of B.A.T Industries Plc.    The case, similar to hundreds which have been filed across the country, follows one earlier this month in Jacksonville, Florida, where a jury awarded $750,000 to a man who smoked for 44 years before he was stricken with lung cancer.   The Indiana case involves the widow and three teen-aged children of Richard Rogers, an Indianapolis lawyer who died at the age of 52 in 1987.   He began smoking at age six and the suit, which seeks an unspecified amount of damages, contends the industry was at fault for selling him an addictive product that caused the cancer. 
1562 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Ford Motor Co said Thursday it supports the United Auto Workers decision to delay its choice of a strike target and reaffirmed its desire to lead Big Three contract bargaining with the union.   Earlier today, the UAW said it had delayed identifying the automaker to allow union leaders to meet with top officers from General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Corp..   "The UAW leadership will decide where to begin bargaining; it's strictly their decision," Ford said in a statement.   "We want to be the target, and we believe the solid tradition of trust and openness between Ford and the UAW will serve us well throughout this bargaining process," it said.   Ford was the target company in 1993 bargaining, which produced the current contract.   The pact covering about 400,000 UAW hourly workers at the three companies expires September 14.   Historically, the UAW has threatened the target company with a national strike if the pact expires without a new agreement. 
1563 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  At least four inmates and a guard were injured during a 15-hour riot that was quelled at a privately run prison Thursday, officials said.   Four inmates were taken to a hospital with wounds from a shotgun blast fired by a prison guard and a guard's jaw was broken by a rock thrown during the melee at the Eden Detention Center, Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Laureen Chernow said.   Eden is about 45 miles southeast of San Angelo in West Texas.   Chernow said "several more" inmates were injured as well but she did not know the exact number.   A spokeswoman for the Eden Police Department said local police also had not been told the number of casualties.   The facility is run by the Nashville, Tennessee-based Corrections Corp of America, but a spokesman for the company could not be reached for comment.   The uprising started at midday Wednesday when inmates began protesting conditions, complaining about food and clothing, Chernow said.   State police and Texas Rangers were called in about seven hours later and patrolled the prison's perimeter with helicopters and floodlights while guards inside worked to end the uprising, she said.   It was the second incident this month at a Texas prison operated by Corrections Corp.   On Aug. 7, two convicted sex offenders escaped from a company-operated jail in Houston, raising concerns from local police who said they were not notified of the escape for several hours. 
1564 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  United Auto Workers President Stephen Yokich said the union's stunning decision not to select a strike target Thursday should not affect the Canadian Auto Workers union's choice of a target company for its contract bargaining.   At a news conference, following an announcement of the strategy to 500 UAW leaders here, Yokich said he would discuss the decision with CAW President Basil "Buzz" Hargrove sometime Thursday.    Although the UAW believes it is making strong progress with General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Corp and will pursue talks with all three for the time being, Yokich said Hargrove is free to set his own bargaining and strike strategy.   "He's the president of that union, and he has the right to strike," Yokich said.   "I'm not going to talk with Buzz and say you can't do this and you can't do that.   Buzz has to run his show.   I expect him to do that."   Yokich said the two unions, however, will continue to exchange information and work together on issues during the bargaining season.   Contracts with the Big Three for both unions expire September 14.   Hargrove has said the CAW plans to select a target company ahead of the Labor Day weekend, which starts Friday, August 30.   But the union may hit GM with strikes at individual plants even if it selects Ford or Chrysler as its national target, he said Wednesday. 
1565 !C23 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  Paracelsian Inc said it has improved the system that models the way the HIV-1 virus kills T cells, providing further infomration that the company's PN 355 AndroVir blocks this action by the virus.   Also, the company's system has also identified additional compounds acting on how HIV-1 attacks the immune system, Paracelsian said.   Paracelsian's improved system allows for the indentification of signal transduction pathways used by the HIV-1 virus to kill cells with the system more accurately similating the human physiology of HIV-1 interactions with a variety of T cells, the company said.   The system improves upon a model developed at the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, the company said.   The system has been used to identify several compounds that could be used in combination with AndroVir against the virus, Paracelsian said.   Safety and dose-determination studies of AndroVir are currenty held at Bastyr University in Seattle, the company said. 
1566 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the state sued the tobacco industry on Thursday seeking to recover costs of treating smoking-related illnesses paid by the state.   Oklahoma, the 14th state to file suit against the industry, is seeking unspecified damages in a civil suit filed in a Cleveland County court against tobacco companies, trade groups, public relations and law firms, he said.   "Conservative figures indicate Oklahoma is due hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funds for treeatment of smoking-related illnesses since 1980," a spokesman said.    The suit alleges tobacco companies misled smokers about the health risks of smoking and manipulated nicotine levels to keep smokers hooked on cigarettes.   "Tobacco manufacturers have deliberately misled the public for years about the devastating impact their product has on the health of our people," he said. "  (And) in the name of profits they have secretly manipulated nicotine levels."   The suit named tobacco manufacturers Philip Morris Cos Inc ; RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp's RJR Reynolds; B.A.T Industries Plc's Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. and The American Tobacco Co.; Loews Corp's Lorillard Tobacco Co Inc; Brooke Group Ltd's Liggett Group Inc; and, American Brands Inc.   The suit also named trade groups The Council for Tobacco Research USA and The Tobacco Institute, publicists Hill & Knowlton and three industry law firms, he said.   The Oklahoma suit joins similar litigation filed against the industry this week in Kansas, Arizona and Michigan.   New Jersey, Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas are also said to be preparing suits against the industry. 
1567 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The United Auto Workers union delayed its choice of a strike target for Big Three U.S. automaker contract talks to allow union leaders to meet a final time with the chief executive officers of the three companies, UAW officials said Thursday.    Stephen Yokich, UAW president, said UAW officials will meet with the chairmen of General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler Corp over the next two days and will decide at a future date whether to focus bargaining on just one of the companies.   For the timehe UAW intends to continue bargaining with each of the automecause talks are progressing at their strongest pace in years, Yokich said at a news conference.   Earlier, some UAW officials had said a strike target could be announced as early asweekend or on Monday.    "It could happen Sunday, it could happen next week, I don't know," Yokich said.   Separate contract talks between the UAW and Ford, GM and Chrysler began in June.   Yokich said that he does not want to halt progress that his bargaining teams are making at any of the three companies.   "It's good common, honest sense if you've got three companies that are moving along in their negotiations and these three companies want to reach agreement, you don't stop them," Yokich said.   "You meet with them."    Kenneth Van Horn, shop chairman of the UAW Local 5960 in Lake Orion, Mich. and one of the 500 UAW leaders attending a meeting here, said Yokich told them that more progress is being made at Ford and Chrysler than at GM.   He said he supports the decision to delay the choice of a bargaining target.   "We're here to put bread and butter on people's tables, not put them out on strike," Van Horn said.   Ernest Lofton, UAW vice president in charge of Ford bargaining, said progress at the number two automaker is the best it has been since 1979.    "This set of negotiations, I believe that we have reached understandings," he said.   "The negotiations are going smoother and we're doing things at a more rapid pace."   UAW vice president Richard Shoemaker said bargaining at GM also has improved and has not been affected by a costly 17-day strike at GM's brake plant in March.   However, he said bargainers have a long way to go to reach an agreement.   "There aren't any simple problems left to resolve," Shoemaker said.   The substantive issues on the table involve job security and outsourcing of work done by UAW members.   The contract covering about 400,000 UAW hourly workers at the three companies expires September 14, 1996.   Historically, the UAW has threatened a target company with a national strike if talks fail to reach an agreement by the expiration.     Chicago newsdesk 312 408 8787 
1568 !C33 !C331 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  Lockheed Martin Corp has been awarded a seven-year contract to maintain the command and control portion of the U.S. Air Force's satellite network, the company said Thursday.   The contract could be worth as much as $368 million if all options are exercised, it said.   Lockheed's Federal Systems will be maintaining the ground control unit while it is phased out and replaced by newer technology, it said. 
1569 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A U.S. district judge has decided to delay until Friday a decision on a lawsuit filed by a group of U.S. investors seeking to block a Lloyd's of London recovery plan, the court said on Thursday.   Judge Robert Payne had been expected to issue his ruling this afternoon at the court in Richmond, Va.   "There will be no decision issued today," an assistant to Payne said.   A decision is now expected Friday afternoon.   The investors, known as names, are seeking an injunction to block the plan, which is designed to keep Lloyd's solvent.    Payne declined comment on the reason for the delay in his ruling.   Under its recovery plan, Lloyd's plans to reinsure billions of pounds of liabilities into a new company, Equitas.   It is asking names to help pay for Equitas, but offered them 3.2 billion stg to offset this cost and end litigation.   Lloyd's has moved to have the U.S. lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the U.S. names are bound to conduct legal action against the insurance market in Britain.   The names argue that Lloyd's sold them a security, bringing them under the protection of U.S. securities laws.    Lloyd's has set an August 28 deadline for names to accept or reject its recovery plan. 
1570 !GCAT !GHEA  Calcium-channel blockers, drugs commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease, may increase the risk of cancer, U.S. and Italian doctors reported on Friday.   The research, published in the Lancet medical journal, adds to growing evidence that the popular drugs may be dangerous to some people.   Dr Marco Pahor of the University of Tennessee in Memphis and colleagues looked at the health records of more than 5,000 men and women over the age of 70 in the United States.   Of them, 451 had been using calcium-channel blockers (CCBs).   Those who used CCBs were 70 percent more likely to develop cancer.   The more of the drugs they took, the higher their risk.   "No association with cancer was found for other cardiovascular medications," Pahor's group wrote in the Lancet.   Those cancers that stood out most were cancer of the uterus and of the lymph and blood systems.   But Pahor said people should not stop taking the drugs.   "The evidence provided by this single study is not sufficient to recommend withdrawal of treatment from current users," they wrote.   "Whether calcium-channel blockers truly promote cancer needs to be confirmed in long-term clinical trials."   CCBs help lower blood pressure and ease the heart's workload by stopping calcium from accumulating in the muscle cells of the heart and blood vessels.   Calcium is important in cell function.   It has an important role in apoptosis, or programmed cell death.   Apoptosis allows damaged cells to remove themselves from the system -- and many doctors believe cancer can be caused when cells fail to destroy themselves.   Pahor's group pointed out that CCBs can inhibit apoptosis.   Henry Dargie, a cardiologist at the University of Glasgow, said that might be the case, but he said many unknown factors would have been involved and commented that the controversy was "in danger of developing into a witch-hunt".   Other studies have linked CCBs with cancer, and the older, faster-acting CCBs have been associated with heart attacks.   The reports have been heavily criticised because they rely on general observation of patients, rather than on targeted study of the drugs and their effects.   Researchers working in Israel released their own study on Friday showing that CCBs caused no increase in cancer deaths over four years among 11,500 patients.   "These results should end the CCB "scare' brought on by sensationalised media reports, so that appropriate patients can continue to benefit from these safe and effective drugs," said Henrietta Rechier-Reiss of the Tel Aviv Medical Centre.   In a commentary the Lancet said there had been a "steady flow of data indicting this drug class" and said randomised trials should be organised immediately.   "Industry is likely to baulk at this suggestion on grounds of cost.   The twin costs to calcium-channel blocker manufacturers of declining sales and diminished consumer confidence should convince them otherwise," it said.   The reports have already hit some pharmaceuticals stocks.   Sellers of calcium channel blockers include Pfizer Inc, Bayer AG, Hoechst Marion Roussel Inc., a unit of Hoechst AG, and Astra Merck Inc., a joint venture of Merck & Co and Sweden's Astra AB. 
1571 !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Green Rate Ref Period 1 Day 3 Day Forecast Current    22 Aug  22 Aug 22 Aug G.Rate rate in    AMR  RMG RMG  RMG 31 Aug effect   BFr 39.5239 39.2198 0.769 0.674 n/a unch 24.06.95   Dmk 1.91639 1.90389 0.652 0.545 n/a unch 07.07.96   DFl 2.14934 2.13557 0.641 0.534 n/a unch 07.07.96   UK 0.833821 0.825898 0.950 1.164 n/a unch 17.06.96   DKr 7.49997 7.35622 1.917 1.840 n/a unch 24.07.95   FFr 6.61023 6.49882 1.685 1.757 n/a unch 01.02.95   Lit 2030.40 1942.48 4.330 4.529 n/a unch 26.04.96   IR 0.829498 0.795142 4.142 4.308 n/a unch 26.03.95   Dra 311.761 304.001 2.489 2.491 n/a unch 01.01.96   Pta 165.198 160.909 2.596 2.635 n/a unch 24.07.95   Esc 198.202 195.364 1.432 1.386 n/a unch 01.02.95   Skr 8.64446 8.46309 2.098 2.184 n/a unch 07.07.96   Os 13.4875 13.3973 0.669 0.561 n/a unch 07.07.96   Fmk 6.02811 5.76239 4.408 4.089 n/a unch 06.05.96   AMR = Agricultural Market Rate.   RMG = Real Monetary Gap.   On the basis of exchange rates from 21-22 August, the average Finnish RMG has fallen below +5 percent.   If it remians so at the end of the period the Finnish markka will not enter a second confirmation period on 31 August and its green rate would therefore remain unchanged.   All other green rates are also currently forecast to remain unchanged from 31 August.   During confirmation periods, the three-day (6 percent) rule is suspended. 
1572 !GCAT !GHEA  Women who get measles while pregnant may have babies at higher risk of Crohn's disease, a debilitating bowel disorder, researchers said on Friday.   Three out of four Swedish babies born to mothers who caught measles developed serious cases of Crohn's disease, the researchers said.   Dr Andrew Wakefield of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine and colleagues screened 25,000 babies delivered at University Hospital, Uppsala, between 1940 and 1949.   Four of the mothers had measles while pregnant.   "Three of the four children had Crohn's disease," Wakefield's group wrote in the Lancet medical journal.   Crohn's is an inflammation of the bowel that can sometimes require surgery.   It causes diarrhoea, abdominal pain and weight loss.   The researchers said the three children involved had especially severe cases.   Exposure to viruses can often cause birth defects.   Most notably, women who get rubella (German measles) have a high risk of a stillborn baby. 
1573 !GCAT !GHEA  Women who take new low-oestrogen oral contraceptives do not run a significant risk of strokes, said an international study published on Friday.   Although women who use the pill do have a slightly higher risk of strokes they are in no great danger because the odds for all women are so low, said Dr Neil Poulter, an epidemiologist at University College London who coordinated the study.   The World Health Organisation sponsored the study of nearly 8,000 women aged 20 to 44 in 21 centres across the world.   It compared stroke rates in women who did and did not use the pill and published its results in the Lancet medical journal.   "Overall, the use of oral contraceptives produced a small increase in the risk of stroke but the more modern low-dose oral contraceptives were associated with less risk...and the risks were further reduced in women under 35 years of age," Poulter said in a statement.   Early versions of the pill increased the risk of strokes and blood clots in women who took them, but new versions using lower doses of hormones have since been developed.   Poulter said in a telephone interview he thought the study -- the biggest of its kind -- had vindicated the pill.   "The risks are tiny and that's the key message," he said.   Using oral contraceptives roughly triples the risk of stroke, but Poulter's group said the risk was very small to start out with.   "In Europe, annual incidence rates range from one to three per 100,000 for women younger than 35 years, and rise to 10 per 100,000 for those older than 35 years," they wrote.   "The incidence of ischaemic stroke (one caused by a blood clot) is low in women of reproductive age and any risk attributable to oral contraceptive use is small," they added.   "The risk can be further reduced if users are younger than 35 years, do not smoke, do not have a history of hypertension, and have blood pressure measured before the start of oral contraceptive use."   Poulter said the risk of haemorrhagic stroke, caused by bleeding from a blood vessel in the brain, was no higher in pill-users under the age of 35.   "This is a particularly reassuring finding as haemorrhagic stroke is the most common type of stroke in young women and the vast majority of pill users worldwide are below 35 years old."   He said it was very important to measure blood pressure before prescribing the pill, as it seemed that was why women over 35 had higher risks of stroke.   "Our best guess is the mechanism for this is gradually increasing blood pressure," Poulter said.   Blood pressure rises on average with age.   Last year the British government sparked a major scare when it announced that new, "third-generation" pills increased the risk of getting a blood clot in the leg.   Poulter said this was true, but it was important to note that risks were small to start out with -- and said pregnancy carried an even higher risk.   "Compared with the alternatives, the pill is a better bet," he said.   "You've also got to put in the balance the benefits of the pill.   Think about the downsides of being pregnant, or other forms of contraceptives."   Poulter said his group would be publishing a similar study into the risks of heart attack in women who use the pill. 
1574 !GCAT !GHEA !GODD  London dog-lovers who let their pets foul the streets are being targeted by a cinema advertisement campaign showing a man defecating on the pavement.   The inner-London borough of Islington said on Thursday it planned to run an advertisement showing a middle-aged man dressed in pyjamas squatting down and fouling the pavement.   "You wouldn't.   Don't let your dog" is the message, as the man's neighbour slips on the mess.   Around 17,500 dogs -- one for every 10 humans -- live in Islington, where local authorities reckon they fork out 32,000 pounds ($49,500) a year to clear up their mess.   "We've tried the soft approach, but there are some people it clearly isn't getting through to," said Islington's director of leisure Ivan Loftman.   The ad is made by Saatchi & Saatchi, which was behind four winning election campaigns for the Conservative Party but is no longer the party's advertising agency.   (Corrects to delete reference to the party's current advertising campaign, which is handled by another agency, M&C Saatchi).   ($1=.6460 Pound) 
1575 !GCAT !GPRO  Russian President Boris Yeltsin's 15-year-old grandson plans to study at one of Britain's most expensive schools, newspapers reported on Friday.   They said the boy, also called Boris, would start next month at Millfield School in Somerset, western England, where the fees reach 15,000 pounds ($23,230) a year.   At Millfield young Boris will study with pupils from 54 countries.   Those joining in September include five from Beijing and three from Hanoi, according to headmaster Christopher Martin. 
1576 !GCAT !GDIS  An Israeli yachtsman died in hospital on Thursday despite being plucked from stormy seas by a rescue helicopter alerted by his distraught teenage son, British coastguards said.   The 13-year-old boy, who was not named, had been sleeping and woke to find his father had disappeared overboard six miles (10 km) off the Cornish coast of southwestern England.   They were believed to have a distant relative in the county of Cornwall.   Coastguards said an hour elapsed before the boy sent an SOS and it took navy rescue helicopters another two hours to locate the man.   Efforts to revive him on the way to hospital failed. 
1577 !GCAT !GHEA  Garlic pills may not lower blood cholesterol and studies that show they do may be flawed, British researchers have reported.   A study by a team of doctors at Oxford University has found people with high blood cholesterol do not benefit significantly from taking garlic tablets.   The study involved 115 people with high blood cholesterol levels.   They were given 900 milligrams a day of dried garlic powder or placebo tablets.   "There were no significant differences between the groups receiving garlic and placebo," they wrote in the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians.    Those taking part were told to eat a low-fat diet for six weeks before they started taking the pills, and their blood cholesterol measured before and after the six-week period.   The researchers said this would make their findings more accurate.   Several studies have found garlic pills can lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol.   But the Oxford team disputed these findings and said either previous trials may have been interpreted incorrectly, those taking part were not given special diets beforehand or the duration of the studies may have been too short.   The six-month trial was funded by the British Heart Foundation and Lichtwer Pharma GmbH, which makes Kwai brand garlic tablets.   The study did not address whether whole garlic could affect cholesterol.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7950 
1578 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GDIS !GENV  Britain said on Thursday it would give 25 million pounds ($39 million) of development aid to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where much of the population living in the south has fled to avoid a volcano.   The volcano in the Soufriere hills has erupted three times in the past 13 months and last April some 4,500 people living in the capital, Plymouth, and southern areas were evacuated to the north, where many are living in public shelters and schools.   "This assistance will provide a fast track development programme for the designated (northern) safe area," Britain's Overseas Development Administration said in a statement.   Britain gave 8.5 million pounds ($13 million) to Montserrat, which is one of its dependent territories, when the volcano first became active.   Overseas Development Minister Lynda Chalker said a recent census had shown most Montserratians wanted to remain on the island.   "The development of the north will help them to do just that," she said. 
1579 !GCAT !GPOL  The British government unveiled a new national identity card on Thursday and ran straight into a major row over whether it should carry Britain's red, white and blue flag.   The voluntary cards, which can also serve as driving licences, were attacked by Welsh, Scottish and Irish nationalists as well as by Britons opposed to closer links with the European Union.    The cards were announced by Home Secretary Michael Howard, Britain's interior minister, and will incorporate the coat of arms of Britain's royal family, the British flag and the European Union flag.   Nationalists in Scotland and Wales immediately demanded that the Cross of St Andrew and the Red Dragon, symbols of their respective countries, should replace the British flag on cards issued in their areas.    Howard made a concession by allowing Northern Ireland to keep existing driver's licences, which feature no national symbols, until 2001.   Anti-Europeans were annoyed that the twelve stars of the EU flag, a symbol of the power of Brussels, should appear on documents issued by Britain.   Britons, unlike the citizens of many other countries, do not have to carry an identity document.   The voluntary new cards are intended to act as a convenient means of identification and the government has denied they will eventually become compulsory.    Howard told a news conference that objectors to the use of the British flag were a very small minority.   "We do not need to explain or justify the use of a national flag on a document of this kind," he said.   But Mike Russell, chief executive of the Scottish National Party, which advocates independence for Scotland, disagreed.    "I think there will be a huge reaction against an identity card which imposes the (British) flag on people," he told Reuters.   In Northern Ireland, Eddie McGrady of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party welcomed the driver's licence concession, but added: "An identity card for Northern Ireland should not have a symbol on it at all."   - London Newsroom - 44-171-542-7947 
1580 !GCAT !GSPO  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN   Practicing at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, Australian batsman Mark Waugh drove a cricket ball onto a staffer's head more than 100 metres away.   The Sri Lankan groundsman was knocked out by the ball and Australian team officials quickly came to his asistance.   Page 24.   --   Defending his NEC World Series of Golf championship this weekend in Ohio, Australian golfer Greg Norman has sacked his long-time coach Butch Harmon after a season of indifferent form.   Currently 10th on the 1996 US Tour money list, Norman admitted it was robably his lowest grade since 1991.   Page 24.   --   Recovering from a knee injury, Perth Wildcats forward Scott Fisher will play against the Melbourne Tigers in the top-of-the-table National Basketball League clash tonight, after passing a fitness test yesterday.   The Wildcats will back-up against the Adelide 36ers on Saturday night.   Page 22.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Soccer Australia and rebel soccer clubs Marconi Fairfield, Sydney United and Melbourne Knights had reached some form of compromise on the logo issue by the time yesterday's 5pm deadline passed.   While club officials returned to their boards with recommendations about new uniforms, SA board chairman David Hill said SA would allow the clubs to use European nationalistic colours in their logos.   Page 42.   --   Paralympian John Lindsay won a gold medal in the 100-metre wheelchair race on Wednesday.   Lindsay beat the rest of the field in 15.22 seconds, finishing strongly after his hand slipped off the wheel at the start of the race.   Page 41.   --   After two weeks ago refusing to grant rugby league club South Queensland a loan to cover a reported A$4 million debt, the Australian Rugby League has been identified as the benefactor responsible for guaranteeing Crushers' players payments for the remainder of the season.   Page 41.   --   THE AGE   For the fourth time in the past five grand slams, Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis and world number one Pete Sampras have been drawn precariously close to each other, with a third-round clash in the US Open likely.   Page C6.   --   Melbourne Tigers centre Mark Bradtke has denied suggestions that he is set to join Shane Heal in the US National Basketball Association, saying there is only a 10 per cent chance that he will sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.   Page C6.   --   Former Hawthorn star Dermott Brereton has boosted the anti-merger group, Operation Payback's, chances of reaching its A$1.7 million financial target, after announcing that he would be interested in joining a new-look board if the AFL club's merger with Mebourne should fail.   Page C10.   --   HERALD SUN   Melbourne and Monaco are both challenging the Friday Formula One ban in grand prix racing which is attempting to restrict the races to weekends-only in 1997.   Melbourne and Monte Carlo are seeking to keep the extra day of driving practice because of the nuture of their temporary circuits.   Page 106.   --   Champion Carlton centreman Greg Williams' football future is in doubt because of chronic problems with his right knee which will force him to miss his second AFL game in a row tomorrow.   Carlton officials must at least face the possibility that the 33-yea-old may not play again for the rest of the season.   Page 110.   --   The AFL's decision to take no action against Richmond's John Howat has infuriated Geelong, who must meet North Melbourne tonight without star ruckman John Barnes who was forced out because of concussion sustained in a behind-the-play incident last weekend Page 112.   --   THE DAILY TELEGRAPH   Australia will face England in the semi-finals of the world youth netball championships after beating the Cook Islands 89-21 in their final round match yesterday.   Australia and New Zealand are the only two undefeated teams at the World Youth Cup in Canada.   Page 106.   --   Irish rugby union officials are expected to resist Australia's plan to bring the November 30 Test against Ireland forward one week.   The Wallabies are scheduled to play Tests against Italy, Scotland and Ireland during their seven-week European tour, but the Australian Rugby Union is also trying to fit in a Test against Wales.   Page 110.   --   Nigerian officials are outraged after World Junior Athletics Championships organisers played the wrong national anthem for Nigeria's sprinters during the medal presentation for the men's 100 metres event.   The mistake has proved very embarassing for Athletics Australia.   Page 112.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
1581 !GCAT !GSPO  World number one Pete Sampras, seeking his first Grand Slam title of the year, and women's top seed Steffi Graf, aiming for her third, should be able to ease into the year's final major, which begins on Monday.   Sampras opens the defence of his U.S. Open crown against David Rikl of the Czech Republic, while top-ranked Graf begins her title defence against Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia.   Wednesday's U.S. Open draw ceremony revealed that both title holders should run into their first serious opposition in the third round.   Looming in Sampras's future is a likely third-round date with recent nemesis Mark Philippoussis, the rising Australian who took out Sampras in the third round of the Australian Open in January.   Sampras avenged that defeat with a straight sets win over the 19-year-old power hitter in the second round at Wimbledon and their rubber match in New York could provide some first-week fireworks.   While only a stunning upset will keep Graf from sailing through to a predictable semifinal showdown with third seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the German star could also be tested in the third round where she will probably face 28th-ranked veteran Natasha Zvereva of Belarus.   There will be no repeat of last year's men's final with eighth-ranked Andre Agassi landing in Sampras's half of the draw.   Bumping Agassi up to the sixth seeding avoided the possibility that he would run into Sampras as early as the quarter-finals, but they could lock horns in the semis.   Olympic champion Agassi meets Karim Alami of Morocco in the first round.   Surprise second seed Michael Chang, ranked third in the world, opens against Czech Daniel Vacek, while women's second seed Monica Seles drew American Anne Miller as her first victim.   Second-ranked Austrian Thomas Muster, who was seeded third, did not have the luck of the draw with him.   In the first round Muster faces American Richey Reneberg, who has been playing some of the best tennis of his career of late.   If he survives, Muster is seeded to run into either fifth-seeded Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands or 12th-seeded American Todd Martin in the quarter-finals in Chang's half of the draw.   Perhaps the best, yet most unfortunate, first-round matchup of the men's competition pits eighth seed Jim Courier against retiring star Stefan Edberg.   The popular Swede is playing his final major tournament next week and the two-time champion's Grand Slam farewell could well be a one-match affair.   With the exception of a Philippoussis showdown, Sampras looks to have landed in a comfortable quarter of the draw with the likes of Frenchman Cedric Pioline and ailing French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who is nursing a rib injury, in his path.   Seles, runner-up to Graf last year, is seeded to run into fifth-ranked German Anke Huber in the quarter-finals with fourth seed Conchita Martinez or eighth-seeded Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport looking like her most likely semifinal opponents.   But Huber will be tested immediately with a first-round encounter against dangerous 18th-ranked South African Amanda Coetzer.   Sanchez Vicario, runner-up to Graf at the French Open and Wimbledon, begins play against a qualifier in a quarter of the draw that includes young talent Martina Hingis, the 16th seed, before a probable quarter-final clash with seventh-seeded veteran Jana Novotna.   Martinez begins play against Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
1582 !GCAT !GSPO  Top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria was beaten 6-3 7-5 by 123rd-ranked Daniel Nestor of Canada on Wednesday in his first match of the $2 million Canadian Open.   A lefthander with a strong serve, Nestor kept the rallies short by constantly attacking the net and the tactic worked in the second-round match against Muster, playing his first match after receiving a first-round bye along with the other top eight seeds.   The tournament also lost its second seed on the third day of play when second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia was beaten 6-7(3-7) 6-4 6-4 by unseeded Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden.   Other seeded players advancing were number three Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, number four Marcelo Rios of Chile, number six MaliVai Washington of the United States and American Todd Martin, the seventh seeed.   Eighth seed Marc Rosset of Switzerland was eliminated in a one hour, 55 minute battle by unseeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia.   Philippoussis saved a match point at 5-6 in the third-set tie break before winning 6-3 3-6 7-6 (8-6).   Philippoussis's compatriot, 13th seed Jason Stoltenberg, was not as fortunate.   He held one match point at 9-8 in a marathon third-set tie break but was beaten 5-7 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (13-11) by unseeded Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic.   "I knew I had to serve well and keep the points short and that's what I was able to do," said Nestor, who ranks 10th in doubles.   There were only two service breaks in the match.   The lanky Canadian broke Muster at 4-3 in the first set and 5-5 in the second before ending the match on his third match point when the Austrian hit a service return long.   "I probably didn't hit five ground strokes in the whole match," said Muster, only partly joking.   "The way he was chipping and charging and serving and volleying I didn't really get my timing playing from the baseline."   "He played a good match, took a few chances, and every time he was down he was able to come up with a big first serve."   Playing at night was not Muster's preference.   "I asked for a day match and they gave me a night match," he said.   "I don't like playing under the lights but maybe it would not have made any difference."   Ivanisevic rallied from a 2-5 deficit in the first set but then played erratically against the 44th-ranked Tillstrom, who was a surprise winner over his famous compatriot Stefan Edberg in the second round at Wimbledon.   Ivanisevic hit 32 aces but was outplayed from the back court by the 24-year-old Tillstrom.   The sixth-ranked Ivanisevic, who lost in the final at Indianapolis to world number one Pete Sampras of the U.S. last Sunday, made a quick getaway after his loss but did say: "Something was not there when I arrived (in Toronto).   I didn't feel good.   And I didn't have a good feeling as soon as I lost in my doubles (on Tuesday)."   "I thought he looked a little unfocused at certain times on his ground strokes," said Tillstrom.   The 19-year-old Philippoussis, who beat Sampras in the third round of this year's Australian Open, stayed calm in a nervy third-set tie break against Rosset.   "I'm pleased because I didn't play that great today, but I fought really well," he said.   "When I was down 2-5 in the tiebreak (in the third set), I just thought about winning my two serves and hoped that he might get tight.   Then he shanked a forehand at to make it 5-all and that helped me back." 
1583 !GCAT !GSPO  The confident All Blacks announced an unchanged team on Thursday in their bid to become the first New Zealand side to win a series in South Africa.   Even though flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens has made a rapid recovery from a cartilage operation they retain the side which won in Durban last week for the second test in Pretoria on Saturday.   Simon Culhane keeps the number 10 jersey as coach John Hart sticks to his policy of consistency in selection.    This is the ninth successive international in which Hart has named an unchanged pack and in all he has used only 19 players.   The Springboks will not whittle down their 23-strong squad until shortly before the kick-off and changes are expected.   Seven were made before last week's 23-19 test defeat.   Lock Mark Andrews said: "We've had a few new players come in because of injuries or whatever and it's been hard for us but that's no excuse."   Andrews is likely to move back to South Africa's problem position of number four in the line-out with Kobus Wiese coming in at number two to replace Hannes Strydom.    Centre Japie Mulder should return after a back problem, with Andre Snyman, Mulder's replacement in Durban, expected to be given a second cap on the wing in place of Pieter Hendriks.   Justin Swart would make the positional move to the left wing.   Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen is likely to oust Johan Roux for the number nine jersey in front of his home crowd at Loftus Versfe's the ultimate challenge," he said.   "It's certainly going to be tougher than last week because South Africa will have taken heart from their performance in Durban.   I think it will be a lot more open game than that one."    The third and final test is in Johannesburg on August 31.   Teams:   South Africa (probable): Andre Joubert; Andre Snyman, Japie Mulder, Danie van Schalkwyk, Justin Swart; Joel Stransky, Joost van der Westhuizen; Gary Teichmann (captain), Andre Venter, Ruben Kruger, Mark Andrews, Kobus Wiese, Marius Hurter, Henry Tromp Os du Randt.   New Zealand: Christian Cullen; Jeff Wilson, Walter Little, Frank Bunce, Glen Osborne; Simon Culhane, Justin Marshall; Zinzan Brooke, Josh Kronfeld, Michael Jones, Ian Jones, Robin Brooke, Olo Brown, Sean Fitzpatrick (captain), Craig Dowd. 
1584 !GCAT !GSPO  An uneasy calm has fallen over South African rugby -- off the field at least -- as the game's administrators hope that Black August is behind them.   Minister of sport, Steve Tshwete, and Rian Oberholzer, chief executive of the South African Rugby Football Union (SARFU), met on Tuesday in an attempt to mend their differences which have seen the sport's image suffer.   Tshwete, normally a moderate and conciliatory voice, had said on Saturday that the Springboks had "taken everyone for a ride" last year when they projected a spirit of national unity in winning the world cup under the slogan "one team, one country".   In a statement issued to the press he also said SARFU had failed to deliver on their promises of rugby development.   By Tuesday afternoon he had taken it back although SARFU clearly remains on trial.   Rugby, he said, was perceived as a white sport but he accepted they were taking steps to change that image.   On Saturday coloured flanker Sean Plaatjies will make history when he becomes the first non-white to captain the South African Schools team when they meet Scottish Schools in a curtain-raiser to the second test against the All Blacks in Pretoria.   "South African rugby has nothing to hide," SARFU press officer, Alex Broun, told Reuters.   "It has certainly been a difficult month and a number of off-the-field incidents, many of which we have had no control over, have attempted to disrupt the Springbok team."   The problems started with the selection of 29-year-old hooker Henry Tromp as a replacement for the August 3 test against Australia in Bloemfontein.   Tromp is seen as representing the worst of the old South Africa.   In 1992 he and his father were convicted of beating 16-year-old Daniel Bongone who later died from internal injuries.   Both men were found guilty of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm but outrage at the incident was heightened when Tromp served only nine months in prison while on remand.   His selection re-opened old wounds which were exacerbated by the re-appearance of the old flag of the republic, the "vierkleur" (four colour) in the Bloemfontein test.   Springbok manager Morne du Plessis issued a statement in the name of the team condemning those who carried it.   But later the issue snowballed when Pienaar was reported on Afrikaans radio as saying: "The crowds will be welcome even if they bring the old flag, they may still come and watch."   The stony silence of SARFU's unpopular president, Dr Louis Luyt, on all the issues fuelled the belief that the game was happy to turn its back on new the South Africa.   Team discipline has also troubled the Springboks.   Prop Os du Randt was "severely reprimanded" for feigning injury in order to be replaced in the Cape Town test on August 10.   Winger James Small was not considered for selection for the following test in Durban on August 17 after he was seen in a nightclub at 2:00 a.m. on the eve of the Cape Town match.   At a subsequent disciplinary hearing Small admitted being in the club and he has again been overlooked for Saturday's test against the All Blacks in Pretoria.   If the Springboks lose that game it will become an All Black August for they will have suffered the fate of becoming the first South African team to lose a home series to New Zealand.   And should it happen, SARFU will be under pressure again, but this time to replace Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff for whom it would be a fifth defeat in seven matches this season. 
1585 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of South Korean pro-soccer games played on Wednesday.    Anyang  3 Chonnam 3 (halftime 2-0)    Puchon  0 Suwon  0 (halftime 0-0)   Standings after games played on Wednesday (tabulate under - won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):    W D L G/F G/A P    Puchon 1 1 0 1 0 4    Chonan 1 0 0 5 4 3    Anyang 0 2 0 5 5 2    Suwon 0 2 0 3 3 2    Pohang 0 1 0 3 3 1    Pusan 0 1 0 0 2 1    Chonnam  0 1 1 5 6 1    Ulsan 0 0 1 4 5 0    Chonbuk  0 0 0 0 0 0 
1586 !GCAT !GPOL  GREECE GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)   ***********************************************************    * 22 Sep 96 - General elections to be held.   *   ***********************************************************    - - - - -    President (Sworn in 10 Mar 95)..........Costis STEPHANOPOULOS    - - - - -    Prime Minister (Elected 18 Jan 96).............Costas SIMITIS    - - - - -   PANHELLENIC SOCIALIST MOVEMENT (PASOK) GOVERNMENT   (Sworn in 22 Jan 96)   MINISTERS:    Aegean......................................Antonios KOTSAKAS    Agriculture...............................  Stephanos TZOUMAKAS    Culture.........................................  Stavros BENOS    Defence....................................  Gerassimos ARSENIS    Development..................................Vasso PAPANDREOU    Education & Religion........................George PAPANDREOU    Environment, City Planning & Public Works.....Costas LALIOTIS    Finance...............................  Alexandros PAPADOPOULOS    Foreign....................................  Theodoros PANGALOS    Deputy Foreign Minister (European Affairs)......  George ROMEOS    Health....................................  .  Anastasios PEPONIS   Interior, Public Administration &    Decentralisation.....................  .  Akis TSOHATZOPOULOS    Justice...................................Evangelos VENIZELOS    Labour & Social Security................  Evangelos YANNOPOULOS    Macedonia & Thrace.....................  .  Philippos PETSALNIKOS    Merchant Marine...............................  .  Kosmas SFYRIOU    National Economy..........................  .  Yannos PAPANDONIOU    Press & Information..........................  .  Dimitris REPPAS    Public Order..................................Costas GEITONAS    Transport & Communications..............Haralambos KASTANIDIS    - - - - -    President of Parliament..................Apostolos KAKLAMANIS    - - - - -    Central Bank Governor.........................Lucas PAPADEMOS    - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End Government List) 
1587 !GCAT !GPOL  ZAIRE GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)    ***********************************************************    * 17 Apr 96 - The National Election Commission unveiled a *    * draft election timetable which envisages a *    * constitutional referendum in December and *    * parliamentary and presidential elections in *    * May 1997.    *    ***********************************************************    - - - - - - -    President..........................  (Marshal) MOBUTU Sese Seko    - - - - - - -   GOVERNMENT (Sworn In 11 July 94, Reshuffled 26 Feb 96):    Prime Minister (elected 14 June 94)...........  .  KENGO wa Dondo    Deputy Prime Minister....................Admiral MAVUA Mudima   (Also Minister of Defence)    Deputy Prime Minister.....................  .  KAMANDA Wa Kamanda   (Also Minister of the Interior)    Deputy Prime Minister.........................KITITWA Tumansi   (Also Minister of Foreign Affairs)    Deputy Prime Minister..................MUTOMBO Bakafwa Nsenda   (Also Minister of Mines)    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:    Agriculture............................Astride TSHIKUNG Nawej    Budget.......................................IDAMBUITO Bakato    Civil Service.............................TSHASA Vangisi Vavi    Culture & Arts....................................  EPEE Gambwa    Defence........................................See Deputy PMs    Economy & Industry.....................  .  Marco BANGULI Nsambwe    Energy.........................................  MPETSHI Ilonga    Environment, Conservation, Tourism...TSHIBANDA Ntunda Mulongo    Finance.............................Gilbert KIWAMA Kia Kiziki    Foreign Affairs...............................  .  See Deputy PMs    Foreign Trade........................KASONGO Muidinge Maluila    Health & Family.................................KASONGO Numbi   Higher Education, Universities & Scientific    Research....................MUSHOBEKWA Kali Mba wa Katana    Information, Press...............................  BOGUO Makeli    Interior.......................................See Deputy PMs    International Cooperation...............Wivine NLANDU Kavindi   Justice, Institutional Reform,    Lord Chancellor.......................Joseph NSINGA Udjuu    Labour.......................................OMBA Pene Djunga    Land Affairs...............................  .  KAYUMBA Bin Amani    Mining.........................................  See Deputy PMs    Planning...............................  .  MAMBU Makenzu Makuala    Posts, Telephones, Telecommunications...........  .  GFUZA Ginday   Primary, Secondary & Vocational    Education............................SEKIMONYO Wa Magangu    Public Works............................Alexis THAMBWE Mwamba    Social Affairs...........................LUMBU-LUMBU Musavuli    Sports, Youth & Leisure...................KISOMBE Kiaku Mwisi    Transport & Communications.....................  .  MWANDO Nsimba    Without Portfolio........................MBOSO Nkodia Mpwanga    - - - - - - -    Central Bank Governor...........  Patrice DJAMBOLEKA Okitongono    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
1588 !GCAT !GPOL  COMOROS GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)    President........................................Mohamed TAKI    - - - - - - -   GOVERNMENT (Formed 21 Aug 96):    Prime Minister....................Tajiddine Ben Said MASSONDE    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:   Administrative Reform & Decentralisation.  Ashirafi Said HASHIM   Education, Professional Training,   Francophone Affairs, Culture, Youth,    Sports & Scientific Research...........  .  Mouzaoir ABDALLAH    Finance, Economy, Budget & Internal Trade........Dahilou OMAR   Foreign Affairs, Cooperation,   Relations with Arab-Islamic institutions    and External Trade...................Said Omar Said AHMED    Industry, Works & Mining Research................  .  Madi AHMADA    Interior and Information...........  .  Said Mohamed Said HASSANE   Justice & Internal Moslem Affairs    Lord Chancellor...............................  Ali Ben ALI   Minister-Delegate reporting to Finance Minister    for Economy and Domestic Trade........Soifa Said BOURHANE   Minister-Delegate reporting to Foreign Minister   for Cooperation    and Arab-Islamic Relations........Said Mohamed Said BARAR   Minister of State for Territory Development,    Town Planning and Housing....................Soidri SALIM   Production, Stock Breeding, Fishing    Forestry & the Environment...............Said Ali MOHAMED   Public Health, Population    & Social Affairs..........................  .  Ibrahim HALIDI   Secretary of State to the Interior Ministry   in charge of Information and Administrative   Supervision of Governorates....Assoumani Youssouf MONDOHA   Transport, Tourism, Posts & Telecommunications.....Omar TAMOU    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End Government List) 
1589 !GCAT !GPOL  TAJIKISTAN GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)    President (Sworn in 16 Nov 94)..............Imomali RAKHMONOV    Presidential Chief of Staff................  Khumiddin SHARIPOV    - - - - - - -   GOVERNMENT    Prime Minister (Apptd 8 Feb 96)................  .  Yakhyo AZIMOV    - - - - - - -    First Deputy Prime Minister.....................  .  Yuri PONOSOV    Deputy Prime Minister.............................Akil AKILOV    Deputy Prime Minister.......................Kadriddin GIYASOV    Deputy Prime Minister.....................  Bosgul DODKHUDOYEVA    Deputy Prime Minister....................Dzhamolidin MANSUROV    Deputy Prime Minister................  Kholisdzhan TEMURDZHANOV    Deputy Prime Minister.....................  .  Abdurahmon NAZIMOV    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:    Agriculture......................................Muso BAROTOV    Bread Production..............................Bekmurod UROKOV    Communications............................Nuridin MUKHITDINOV    Culture and Information....................Bobokhon MAKHMADOV    Defence..................................Sherali KHAIRULLAYEV    Economy....................................  .  Tukhtaboy GAFAROV    Education....................................  Munira INOYATOVA    Environment...................................Ismoil DAVLATOV    Finance...................................Anvarsho MUZAFFAROV    Foreign Affairs...............................  .  Talbak NAZAROV    Health......................................Alamkhon AKHMEDOV    Interior....................................  Saidamir ZUKHUROV    Justice......................................Shavkat ISMOILOV    Labour & Personnel.......................Shukurdzhon ZUKHUROV    Press & Information........................Bobokhon MAKHMADOV    Security....................................  Saidanvar KAMOLOV    Social Security..........................  Abdusattor DZHABAROV    Transport.................................Faridun MUKHITDINOV    Water and Irrigation........................Ismat ESHMIRZOYEV    - - - - - - -   STATE COMMITTEES:    Construction.................................Abdumalik AZIMOV    Contracts and Trade............................Khakim SALIYEV    Industry...............................  .  Gafarkhon MUKHITDINOV    State Property..........................  .   Matlubkhon DAVLATOV    - - - - - - -    Speaker of Parliament.....................  .  Safarali RADZHABOV    - - - - - - -    National Bank Chairman...................Murotali ALIMARDONOV    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
1590 !GCAT !GPOL  RUSSIA GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)    President.......................................Boris YELTSIN    (Re-elected 3 July 96 for a four-year term,    sworn in 9 Aug 96)    - - - - - - -   CABINET OF MINISTERS (appointed 15 Aug 96):    Prime Minister (Re-apptd Aug 10 96)......  Viktor CHERNOMYRDIN    First Deputy Prime Minister................  .  Alexei BOLSHAKOV    First Deputy Prime Minister..................Viktor ILYUSHIN    First Deputy Prime Minister................  .  Vladimir POTANIN    Deputy Prime Minister.....................  .  Vladimir BABICHEV    (Also Head of Government Administration)    Deputy Prime Minister..........................  .  Oleg DAVYDOV    (Also Minister of Foreign Trade)    Deputy Prime Minister.....................  Alexander LIVSHITS    (Also Finance Minister)    Deputy Prime Minister...................Alexander ZAVERYUKHA    Deputy Prime Minister.......................Vitaly IGNATENKO    Deputy Prime Minister.............................Oleg LOBOV    Deputy Prime Minister..........................  .  Valery SEROV    Deputy Prime Minister........................Vladimir FORTOV    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:    Agriculture..................................Viktor KHLYSTUN    Civil Defence and Emergencies..................Sergei SHOIGU    Commonwealth of Independent States..............Aman TULEYEV    Communications...............................  Vladimir BULGAK    Construction....................................  .  Yefim BASIN    Culture..............................................  .  VACANT    Defence....................................  Gen Igor RODIONOV    Defence Industry..................................Zinovy PAK    Economy........................................Yevgeny YASIN    Education..................................Vladimir KINELYOV    Finance.......................................See Deputy PMs    Foreign Affairs.............................Yevgeny PRIMAKOV    Foreign Trade.................................See Deputy PMs    Fuel & Energy.................................Pyotr RODIONOV    Health....................................  .  Tatyana DMITRIEVA    Industry.......................................Yuri BESPALOV    Interior....................................  .  Anatoly KULIKOV    Justice....................................  Valentin KOVALYOV    Labour & Social Development................  .  Gennady MELIKYAN    Nationalities..........................  .  Vyacheslav MIKHAILOV    Natural Resources...............................  Viktor ORLOV    Nuclear Energy..............................Viktor MIKHAILOV    Railway Communications.......................Anatoly ZAITSEV    Science & Technology..................................VACANT    Transport......................................Nikolai TSAKH    - - - - - - -    Speaker of the Lower House (State Duma)....Gennady SELEZNYOV Speaker of the Upper House    (Federation Council)........................Yegor STROYEV    - - - - - - -    Central Bank Governor.........................Sergei DUBININ    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End government list) 
1591 !GCAT !GPOL  VANUATU GOVERNMENT LIST (960822)    President (Sworn in 4 Mar 94)................  .  Jean-Marie LEYE    - - - - - - -   CABINET (Formed 23 Feb 96):    Prime Minister..........................  .  Maxime Carlot KORMAN    Deputy Prime Minister.........................Donald KALPOKAS   (Also Minister of Education)    - - - - - - -   MINISTERS:    Agriculture.................................Vincent BOULEKONE   Civil Aviation, Tourism, Telecommunications    & Meteorology..............................Albert RAVUTIA    Commerce & Industries..............................Barak SOPE   (Dismissed for insubordination 22 Aug 96)    Education.......................................See Deputy PM    Finance...........................................Sela MOLISA    Foreign Affairs...............................  .  Amos BANGABITI    Health....................................  .  Cyriaque METMETSAN    Home Affairs....................................  .  Charley NAKO    Justice...........................................Joe NATUMAN    Lands.........................................  .  William EDGELL    Transport & Public Works..........................  Amos ANDENG    - - - - - - -     NOTE: Any comments/queries on the content of this    government list, please contact the Reuter    Editorial Reference Unit, London, on (171) 542    7968.    (End Government List) 
1592 !C12 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GENV  The Canadian Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favor of a major forestry company, dismissing an appeal from the Greenpeace environmental group that tried to stop logging in a pristine rain forest in British Columbia.   The group challenged the use of sweeping injunctions to ban unnamed people from blocking roads used by MacMillan Bloedel Ltd loggers around Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island, but the court said the injunctions were acceptable.   The injunctions have expired and Clayoquot Sound is now quiet but experts said the case was relevant for possible future clashes between environmentalists and loggers.   "I conclude that the British Columbia Supreme Court has jurisdiction to make orders enjoining unknown persons from violating court orders," Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the 9-0 decision.   Between 1991 and 1993, more than 1,000 people were charged with criminal contempt of court and fined or sent to jail for impeding MacMillan Bloedel's clear-cutting around Clayoquot.   The firm had governmental authority to log there despite environmental concerns by groups such as Greenpeace.   "We believe the Canadian public will be surprised to find that they don't have the right to protect the public's forest," Greenpeace forest campaigner Tamara Stark said.   "We are disappointed the court has decided to protect private interests at the expense of the interests of the public."   Stark said Greenpeace would continue to campaign to end the logging of pristine rain forests, although she said there were no immediate plans to blockade roads.   MacMillan Bloedel welcomed the decision, which it said would help secure forest industry jobs and the economic viability of logging operations.   "We're pleased.   This...will reassure workers who were concerned about their continued ability to do their jobs" because of protest blockades, a company spokesman said. 
1593 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The brother of executed Nigerian human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa on Thursday called on Canada to urge fellow Commonwealth nations to impose an oil embargo on Nigeria in a bid to end human rights abuses there.   "We are grateful for the stand taken by the Canadian government and we wish that they will continue to urge other Commonwealth nations to take similar stands and effectively announce an oil embargo on Nigeria," Saro-Wiwa's brother, Owens Wiwa told a news conference.   After a June Commonwealth meeting in London, Canada imposed some sanctions against Nigeria but stopped short of boycotting Nigerian oil.   However, the government has recommended Canadian oil companies should reduce or halt Nigerian imports.   "We within this country are moving in effect close to a de facto embargo anyway.   A full oil embargo, of course will take major international support to be successful," said Foreign Affairs spokesman Rodney Moore.   A group of Commonwealth ministers had proposed a visit to Nigeria next week to examine the human rights situation there.   The Nigerian government initially opposed the visit by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), but later invited it to visit Abuja on Aug.29-30.   However, Nigeria on Thursday set strict terms for the visit, which diplomats said could put the mission in jeopardy.   CMAG is comprised of Canada, Britain, Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malaysia, Jamaica and New Zealand.   "Their (the group's) findings should call for no less than a full oil embargo of Nigeria and a recommendation for the expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth," said Diana Wiwa, the slain Nigerian poet's sister-in-law and acting coordinator of the Canada-based Movement for the survival of the Ogoni People.   Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth after the executions of poet Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists for murder last November.   The Commonwealth group links Britain to its former colonies.   Nigeria has barred Saro-Wiwa's lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, from attending a Commonwealth legal conference in Vancouver next week.   Nigeria has been gripped by a political crisis since a previous military government anulled presidential elections in 1993. 
1594 !GCAT !GWEA  Southwest Saskatchewan's Parkland region saw two to three hours of a slight risk of frost Thursday morning, Environment Canada said.   The eastern edge of the Alberta-Saskatchewan Cypress Hills Provincial Park to west of Assiniboin, around Wood Mountain National Park on the Montana border, saw temperatures between 5.0 degrees Celsius (41.0 Fahrenheit) and 3.0 Celsius (37.4 F) at chest level for up to three hours up to sunrise, Environment Canada meteorologist Michel Bisson said.   Winds were from the east at seven kmh to 10 kmh (4.4 to 6.2 mph) under clear skies, Bisson said.    Temperatures at ground level can be 2.0 to 5.0 Celsius lower than at chest level depending on windspeed, sky conditions and ground surface moisture, Bisson said.   Freezing occurs at 0 Celsius (32.0 F).   "There was probably very little risk of frost.   You're getting down to zero in the low lying areas so there's probably very little stuff touched, but nothing major," Canadian Wheat Board weather analyst Don Bonner told Reuters.   Val Marie, Sask., reported an overnight low of 3.0 Celsius at chest level (37.4 F), Maple Creek reported a low of 4.0 Celsius (39.20F), Bisson said.   Cypress Hills Park reported a low of 9.0 Celsius at chest level and Assiniboia reported a low of 8.0 Celsius, he added.   -- Gilbert Le Gras 204 947 3548 
1595 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The risk of frost was forecast on Thursday to grow in number and size on regions of the Prairies from this weekend to next, Environment Canada said.   There is a slight risk of frost in Alberta's Peace River Valley Saturday morning with the threat forecast to grow to moderate across a band of the Prairie's northern grainbelt by the last weekend of August.   Environment Canada's 10-day frost outlook called for no frost risk anywhere on the Prairies the morning of Friday August 23 but a slight risk in Alberta's Peace River Saturday.   There was no risk of frost seen anywhere on the Prairies either Sunday or Monday morning.   A slight risk of frost was forecast for Alberta's central foothills region along the Rocky Mountain range Tuesday morning, Environment Canada said.   A slight risk of frost was forecast for Alberta's central foothills extending into the southern Peace River Valley on the morning of Wednesday August 28.   A moderate risk of frost was forecast for Alberta's central foothills area the mornings of August 30 and 31.   A slight risk of frost was forecast for the Prairies' northern grainbelt the mornings of August 29 and 30.   -- Gilbert Le Gras 204 947 3548 
1596 !GCAT !GDIP  Nigeria's military rulers on Thursday set out strict terms for a proposed Commonwealth visit to discuss the country's suspension, which diplomats said could put the mission in doubt.   "The invitation should not be construed as a request for a Commonwealth fact-finding mission," a foreign ministry statement said in the capital Abuja.   A Commonwealth diplomat called the terms "disappointing".   "These terms effectively mean that the group would only be able to meet the government.   There will clearly have to be serious thought about whether a visit could go ahead next week," another diplomat said.   In London, a Commonwealth spokesman said members of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) were consulting among themselves and would seek clarification from Nigeria before deciding whether the visit would go ahead.   The Commonwealth suspended Africa's most populous nation after author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other minority rights activists were executed for murder last November.   The group criticised Nigeria's plan to restore democracy by 1998 as inadequate.   "We were unfairly treated and abitrarily suspended and we want that matter addressed," foreign minister Tom Ikimi told British Broadcasting Corporation radio.   "We need to be a member of the Commonwealth for them to operate in the manner they claim to want to operate here."   Nigeria has consistently refused to allow a CMAG fact-finding mission to investigate the alleged human rights abuses that led to its suspension from the club of Britain and its former colonies.   But this month Nigeria invited the Commonwealth to visit the capital Abuja on August 29-30 to continue discussions begun in London in June.   There has been no official response to the invitation.   Diplomats said any team visiting Nigeria would expect to be allowed to meet anyone they wanted to, including political detainees and pressure groups.   When the two sides met for the first time in London the Commonwealth ministers decided not to impose further sanctions on Nigeria pending more talks, a decision that angered pro-democracy activists.   The statement said CMAG had no mandate to carry out a fact-finding mission and that the United Nations had already carried out its own investigation.   The U.N. team, which visited at Nigeria's invitation in April, suggested the reform of draconian laws but backed the transition plan of military ruler General Sani Abacha.   Nigeria's last transition to democracy was aborted at the last minute in 1993, when a previous military government annulled elections, plunging the country into political crisis.   Among dozens of political detainees in Nigeria is the presumed winner of the elections, millionaire businessman Moshood Abiola, who declared himself president in 1994 based on the results.   U.S. officials on Wednesday said the United States had begun its own attempts to engage Nigeria in a discussion of human rights and democracy.   The United States has proposed sanctions against Nigeria, but has fallen short of calling for an embargo on crude oil, which accounts for over 95 percent of Nigeria's export earnings.   CMAG comprises Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Britain, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. 
1597 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  The West African state of Sao Tome and Principe announced on Thursday that President Miguel Trovoada had been re-elected for a second five-year term in last month's presidential election.   Trovoada won 52.74 percent of the vote and his rival Manuel Pinto da Costa took 47.25 percent in the second round run-off on July 21, according to official figures from the Supreme Court.   Abstention among the electorate of 50,000 was around 20 percent, the president of the Supreme Court, Jose Paquete, said.   The confirmation of Trovoada's victory came 36 hours after Pinto da Costa withdrew a complaint lodged with the court.   He had asked for the election results to be suspended because of alleged fraud in the voting.   Sao Tome and Principe, a former Portuguese colony located 125 miles (200 km) off Gabon, is one of the poorest countries in the world. 
1598 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  A spokesman for Burundi's new military ruler on Thursday rejected a human rights group report that more than 6,000 people were killed in the first three weeks after a July 25 coup.   (Correction makes clear that not all 6,000 killings blamed on the army).   In a statement, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International said human rights in Burundi were deteriorating despite promises by Tutsi military ruler Pierre Buyoya to end killings.   "Amnesty International is either completely misguided or is falling into propaganda.   I am positive they are misinformed and that these numbers are outrageous," Buyoya's spokesman Jean-Luc Ndizeye said.   "You cannot have this number of people killed in such short a time in Burundi without there being a civil outcry," he said.   Amnesty International said more than 6,000 people were reported to have been killed in various parts of Burundi.   It said it had learned at least 4,050 unarmed civilians were buried after being extrajudicially executed between July 27 and August 10 by government forces in Giheta district in the central province of Gitega.   Amnesty International said most of the 4,050 were killed after the army came to obtain information about rebel movements.   "This pattern is being repeated in other parts of the country," it said.   At a news conference before the Amnesty International statement, Buyoya said he opposed killings but they could not be expected simply to cease overnight after he had taken power.   "Just because there was a change on July 25 it doesn't mean that all the activities of war or the massacres will stop.   We are in the process of putting in place the building blocks so that security can return and massacres can stop," he said.   More than 150,000 people -- mainly civilians -- have been killed in Burundi since 1993 in massacres and civil war between the Tutsi-dominated army and rebels of the Hutu majority.   U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in a report to the Security Council this week recommended countries assemble a force of 50,000 to intervene if Burundi plunged into genocide, like that in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994 in which up to a million people died.   Amnesty International said despite Buyoya's promises to halt expulsions of Rwandan refugees they were continuing with troops using torture and killings to frighten Rwandans into leaving.   "It appears Major Buyoya has either gone back on his word or is not in control of the forces which brought him to power," it added.   Asked to comment, Ndizeye said: "For sure Buyoya is in full control of every part of the army.   He is the commander in chief and the rest is pure speculation or totally unfounded."   Ndizeye said the return of Rwandan refugees was in cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency and was voluntary.   The U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday it had ended the repatriation of more than 45,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees. 
1599 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The U.N. refugee agency said it ended on Thursday the repatriation from Burundi of more than 45,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees from the biggest camp in northern Burundi.   Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told Reuters by telephone from northern Burundi that the last 6,000 refugees were en route to Rwanda from Magara refugee camp, leaving behind only 220 who refused to go.   "The last convoy left with about four trucks.   The camp of Magara is now empty except for these 220 people.   These people do not want to return home for one reason or another," Stromberg said.   Asked about what would happen to those who had refused to go back, Stromberg said: "They are still refugees and will be treated as such.   One option is to move them to another site and this can be done without government approval."   He said 6,000 Rwandan Hutus went back home on Thursday and a total of 50,000 refugees from Magara camp would have returned once the last convoy reached south Rwanda.   Refugees have accused Burundian troops of harassing them and say they decided to leave because they feared for their lives.   Groups of hardline Hutu refugees in Magara stoned troops of Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army last Sunday after refusing to take apart parts of the camp that had already been abandoned.   Troops later on Sunday shot dead three refugees as they tried to leave the camp.   The military said its soldiers only opened fire after a refugee pulled out a handgun and started shooting.   Burundian army officers have accused the Rwandan Hutu refugees of backing Burundian Hutu rebels infiltrating Burundi.   The Rwandan refugee exodus from Burundi began after Burundi's army toppled Hutu president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya on July 25 and installed retired army major Pierre Buyoya.   Buyoya, who is trying to break down international opposition to the army coup, has pledged not to force Rwandan refugees in Burundi to return home and ordered a halt to forced expulsions by the Tutsi army earlier in July.   The return from camps in Burundi is the biggest movement back since some two million Rwandans, mostly Hutu refugees, fled to Burundi, Zaire and Tanzania during the 1994 killing of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu troops, militia and mobs.   In another development, the U.N. Human Rights Field Office for Rwanda said on Thursday that 271 Rwandan refugees returning from Burundi in July and August were arrested by Rwandan authorities.   In a report, it said 62 them had been released.   Rwandan authorities screen returning refugees and arrest any suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide.   UNHCR officials say they plan to move the repatriation operation to the last Rwandan refugee camp in Burundi at Rukuramigabo, which has some 13,000 Rwandans.   There were some 135,000 Rwandan refugees in Burundi at the start of the year. 
1600 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Rwanda and Zaire said they agreed on Thursday to repatriate 1.1 million Rwandan Hutu refugees who fled to eastern Zaire in three months of civil war and genocide in 1994.   Zairean Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo told a joint news conference with his Rwandan counterpart Pierre Celestin Rwigema the operation would begin with closing all Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire.   "The two heads of government (Kengo and Rwigema) have decided to make operational the organised, massive and unconditional repatriation of all Rwandan refugees," said a statement read by Kengo.   "This (repatriation) is going to be carried out rapidly.   The repatriation will be enormous and immediate.   We are at a stage where Zaire is going to proceed with the closure of the camps," Kengo added.   Zaire has said before that it would close the camps in eastern Zaire but the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says repatriation must be voluntary.   Kengo, who has repeatedly stressed the need for the Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire to return home, visited Rwanda while it was receiving thousands of Rwandan refugees who were leaving its southern neighbour Burundi.   The U.N. refugee agency said it ended on Thursday the repatriation from Burundi of more than 45,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees from the biggest camp in northern Burundi.   Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters by telephone from northern Burundi that the last 6,000 refugees were en route to Rwanda from Magara refugee camp, leaving behind only 220 who refused to go.   "The last convoy left with about four trucks.   The camp of Magara is now empty except for these 220 people.   These people do not want to return home for one reason or another," Stromberg said.   Asked about what would happen to those who had refused to go back, Stromberg said: "They are still refugees and will be treated as such.   One option is to move them to another site and this can be done without government approval."   He said a total of 6,000 Rwandan Hutus went back home on Thursday and a total of 50,000 refugees from Magara camp would have returned once the last convoy reached south Rwanda.   Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko has intervened in the past two years to stop Kengo from ordering, in violation of international law, the deportation from Zaire of the 1.1 million Rwandan Hutus.   Kengo's visit was the first by such a senior Zairean official since the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) rebels took power in 1994 and drove into exile in Zaire the Hutu government and Hutu soldiers held reponsible for the genocide.   The civil war in Rwanda and the seizure of power by the RPF led to strained ties between the two neighbouring states.   Last August, Zairean troops forcibly expelled some 15,000 Rwandan and Burundian Hutus.   The expulsions were only stopped after Mobutu stepped in following an international outcry.   Together with the refugees, eastern Zaire is also home to Rwanda's 40,000-strong former Hutu army and Hutu militiamen who infiltrate back into Rwanda and are a major security concern for Kigali.   Government officials said Rwanda would also raise with Kengo the issue of the rebels based in Zaire who together with Hutu rebels in Burundi have stepped up their attacks in Rwanda and Burundi this year.   Rwandan officials said they wanted assurances that Zaire would take action against rebels operating from its territory.   It was unclear what Kengo's response was.   The rebels have disrupted economic activity in the Rwandan border towns of Cyangugu and Gisenyi, Rwandan officials say.   Kengo was due to return to the Zairean capital Kinshasa on Thursday night. 
1601 !C42 !CCAT !E12 !E14 !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Zimbabwean doctors and magistrates joined thousands of civil servants on Thursday in a strike that has crippled key social services.   The three-day strike continued despite calls by union leaders for a return to work and pledges by the government to discuss wage rise demands of up to 60 percent.   Economic analysts warn, however, that such hikes would be unhealthy for the southern African country's economy and would fuel inflation which the government has vowed to reduce considerably in the current financial year ending next June.   Some public servants heeded a Wednesday night call by their union leaders to end the damaging strike but thousands across the country refused to return to their jobs.   In the capital Harare, about 5,000 workers milled in a central city park throughout the day, some shouting belligerent slogans against President Robert Mugabe's government, and thousands of others were scattered around the town.   The civil servants -- who suspect their Public Service Association (PSA) union leaders were bullied into calling off the strike -- said they wanted to be addressed by their leaders who were holding exploratory talks with the government.   State media reported that junior state doctors in many centres and magistrates in at least one town have joined the strike.   The PSA executives were unavailable for comment, but on Wednesday night they appealed to their members to go back to work after squeezing firm promises from Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro that she would open talks with them on their salary demands.   The workers have rejected salary increases of up to eight percent awarded by the government as "an unacceptable insult" and have further been incensed by unconfirmed reports that newly-wed Mugabe went on a honeymoon with his former presidential secretary Grace Marufu at the start of the strike.   On average, civil servants earn Z$1,000 (U.S.$99) a month and PSA union leaders justify their 60 percent pay rise demand on grounds salaries in the public service have fallen way below the cost of living over the years.   The union also says their wages are on average 120 percent below wages for similar grades and jobs in the private sector.   Economist John Robertson said although the civil servants deserved decent wages, their numbers at around 180,000 made their demands difficult to meet.   "If they are met in whole, the government can forget about its targets on inflation.   The health of the whole economy, including efforts to get interest rates down, will be at stake."   The government -- facing accusations of spending nearly 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) on financing a political patronage system -- hopes to lower annual inflation to 16 percent by next June from 22 percent in July.   Another bank economist also urged the government to find ways of rationalising the civil service, saying that was the only way to point the national economy onto a healthy path.   $1 = 10.12 Zimbabwe dollars. 
1602 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  South Africa's ruling African National Congress apologised on Thursday for having killed civilians in the apartheid war but said its cause, against whites who regarded blacks as "sub-human", had been just.   "The apartheid system could not but integrate in its world vision the concept of humans with a right to govern and sub-humans privileged to be governed," Deputy President Thabo Mbeki told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.   "This paradigm allows those who enjoy the right to govern the ethical framework...to use maximum force against any sub-human," said Mbeki, heir apparent to President Nelson Mandela.   Tutu's commission is hearing from political parties their views on the historical context of South Africa's race conflict so it can form as full a picture as possible of human rights abuses during apartheid.   Mbeki said most of the actions of ANC guerrillas during the struggle to topple white-minority governments could not be described as human rights violations, because the movement was fighting a just war for national liberation.   "It was said that this was a terrorist war ... We say it was not a terrorist war but a legitimate resort by the majority of the people in this country to a form of struggle imposed on them because there were no other channels," Mbeki said.   He said ANC guerrillas had orders to avoid harming civilians but some had been caught "in the crossfire".   "The leadership of the ANC would want to express its regret and sorrow," he said.   "I'm sorry for the loss of life of those who might not have been members of the security forces."   Mbeki said he was referring to attacks like a car bomb which killed several white civilians at a Durban beachfront bar in 1986.   But he accused security forces of planting other bombs in restaurants which were blamed on the ANC to give it a bad name.   Mbeki admitted that ANC officers in military camps in exile had committed "excesses" in rooting out spies within their own ranks.   Previous inquiries have found that suspected agents were tortured and in some cases killed.   Mbeki said South Africa's political leaders had to account fully for what happened under apartheid, when the National Party government detained tens of thousands without trial in attempts to crush black resistance.   "It will not do merely to seek excuses, to make comparisons as to who was more evil than the other," he said.   "The ghost that needs to be laid to rest is the ending of the domination of the black by the white, in all spheres of social existence."   Mbeki said the ANC never supported the "necklace", the burning-tyre killings of suspected sellouts by fellow blacks.   Tutu's deputy on the commission, Alex Boraine, told reporters the commission might call former hardline president P.W. Botha to testify if he refused to appear voluntarily.   Botha's successor, F.W. de Klerk, told the commission on Wednesday that Botha had refused to contribute to drafting the National Party's hindsight overview of apartheid. 
1603 !GCAT !GDIP  Nigeria's military rulers on Thursday set out strict terms for a proposed Commonwealth visit to discuss the country's suspension which diplomats said could put the mission in doubt.   "The invitation should not be construed as a request for a Commonwealth fact-finding mission," a foreign ministry statement said in the capital Abuja.   A Commonwealth diplomat called the terms "dissapointing".   "These terms effectively mean that the group would only be able to meet the government.   There will clearly have to be serious thought about whether a visit could go ahead next week," another diplomat said.   The Commonwealth suspended Africa's most populous nation after author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other minority rights activists were executed for murder last November.   The group criticised Nigeria's plan to restore democracy by 1998 as inadequate.   Nigeria has consistently refused to allow a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) fact-finding mission to investigate the alleged human rights abuses that led to its suspension from the club of Britain and its former colonies.   But this month Nigeria invited the Commonwealth to visit the capital Abuja on August 29-30 to continue discussions begun in London in June.   There has been no official response to the invitation.   Diplomats said any team visiting Nigeria would expect to be allowed to meet anyone they wanted to, including political detainees and pressure groups.   When the two sides met for the first time in London the Commonwealth ministers decided not to impose further sanctions on Nigeria pending more talks, a decision which angered pro-democracy activists.   The statement said CMAG had no mandate to carry out a fact-finding mission and that the United Nations had already carried out its own investigation.   The U.N. team, which visited at Nigeria's invitation in April, suggested the reform of draconian laws but backed the transition plan of military ruler General Sani Abacha.   Nigeria's last transition to democracy was aborted at the last minute in 1993, when a previous military government annulled elections, plunging the country into political crisis.   Among dozens of political detainees in Nigeria is the presumed winner of the elections, millionaire businessman Moshood Abiola, who declared himself president in 1994 based on the results.   U.S. officials on Wednesday said the United States had begun its own attempts to engage Nigeria in a discussion of human rights and democracy.   The United States has proposed sanctions against Nigeria, but has fallen short of calling for an embargo on crude oil, which accounts for over 95 percent of Nigeria's export earnings.   CMAG comprises Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Britain, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. 
1604 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Deputy President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday defended the "just war" of his African National Congress against white rule, telling South Africa's truth commission it could not be compared to the defence of apartheid.   Mbeki, heir apparent to President Nelson Mandela, told Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that the ANC resorted to violence in 1960 only after white rule had blocked all other avenues of protest.   "In the end, the fundamental issue we would like to present to the TRC is that as a liberation movement, we engaged in a just war for national liberation.   "The conduct of that war should not be any matter that should be the subject of these proceedings," he said.   The ANC acknowledged in a statement handed to the commission in Cape Town that some agents had abused their positions and had violated human rights, but said "none of such violations arose out of official policy".   "There are instances where we could have acted more firmly and speedily to prevent or stop abuses, and for that the ANC accepts collective responsibility."   Mbeki, heading a delegation of 23 people, handed the 100-page text and a volume of supporting documentation to Tutu's commission on the final day of hearings for political parties.   The commission was appointed by Mandela to investigate so-called gross human rights violations under apartheid, to compensate victims and to pardon perpetrators.   Testimony during earlier hearings, including harrowing personal accounts of rape, torture and the killing of children, has at times reduced Tutu and his colleagues to tears.   This week, parties including the white separatist Freedom Front and former president F.W. de Klerk's National Party submitted documents explaining their actions under white rule.   "It would be morally wrong and legally incorrect to equate apartheid with the resistance against it," the ANC said.   "The mass of the people led by the liberation movement waged a just struggle against apartheid, which was designated by the United Nations as a crime against humanity."   Mbeki argued on Thursday that the ANC's guerrilla war was responsible for ending the scourge of apartheid.   "The naked reality is that our country would not be free today if we had depended for our emancipation on legal parliamentary opposition," he said.   De Klerk, who ousted P.W. Botha, the last white hardliner, in 1989 and turned South Africa from apartheid to democracy said on Wednesday his National Party had much to apologise for, but insisted he had never sanctioned assassination or torture.   "I should like to express my deepest sympathy with all those on all sides who suffered during the conflict," he said.   While de Klerk argued that apartheid had been an honest, though misguided attempt to share the country among its ethnic groups, the ANC submission rejected any defence of segregation.   "Apartheid constituted a deliberate and systematic mission of a ruling clique that saw itself as the champion of a super-race," the ANC statement said.   It acknowledged that some of its members had exceeded their orders and that the fight against government infiltration in ANC exile bases had been brutal.   The statement names 34 people executed on the orders of an ANC military tribunal between 1980 and 1989.   "From around December 1985...a number of attacks on civilian targets with no connection to the state occurred...The ANC does not seek to justify such attacks, but insists that the context in which they occurred is relevant.   "The ANC has acknowledged that in a number of instances, breaches in policy did occur and deeply regrets civilian casualties.   The leadership took steps to halt operations in conflict with policy," the statement said.   The ANC called for reasonable reparations to victims of the struggle, but stressed the need for confession and forgiveness. 
1605 !GCAT !GPOL  South African President Nelson Mandela's ANC on Thursday published the first official history of its struggle against white rule -- a saga of bravery, bungling, brutality and ultimate triumph over apartheid.   The 100-page document prepared for Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission records the history and strategies of the African National Congress from its formation in 1912 to its 1994 victory in South Africa's first democratic elections.   But most of the statement is devoted to the party's years in exile, when its armed wing, UmKhonto weSizwe (MK, Spear of the Nation), waged a David-and-Goliath war against the sophisticated white army of successive apartheid governments.   "The ANC is immensely proud of the bravery, discipline and selfless sacrifices of its MK combatants," it said.   "If captured, they faced the possibility of being tortured to death, abduction and secret execution, combined with intense pressure to become collaborators or be murdered.   "Given these conditions, it is remarkable that very few attacks by MK personnel violated ANC policy with regard to targets with no direct connection to the apartheid regime."   The document defines the command structures that existed across southern Africa, records the rules of engagement adopted by the ANC and reveals the fears of its exiled community.   "The efforts by the South African state to destroy the ANC and MK were unceasing and massively financed...methods included infiltration by state agents and spies; cross-border raids and kidnapping," the document says.   In one case, state agents poisoned an entire ANC training camp in Angola, almost killing 500 men.   In another South Africa bombed the Catengue camp with precision the ANC believes could only have been based on intelligence from within.   In 1981, the ANC uncovered an intelligence ring reaching to high command of that camp.   And in the aftermath, young ANC security staff were given an almost free hand to root our spies.   "The difficult conditions under which we had to operate led to a drift in accountability and control away from established norms, resulting in situations in which some individuals... began to behave as a law unto themselves," the document says.   Suspected infiltrators, some later cleared, were beaten and tortured and detained in inhuman conditions.   The ANC names 34 members executed on the orders of a military tribunal between 1980 and 1989, and 50 more who committed suicide.   For almost half-a-century from its founding, the ANC tried to engage South Africa's white masters in a discussion about social and political rights for the overwhelming black majority.   In the early decades it stuck to peaceful and legal methods such as boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience.   But the Sharpeville massacre of 69 unarmed black protesters by police on March 21, 1960, led to a rethink that brought the launch on December 16, 1961, of its armed campaign.   The guerrilla war targeted the state, despite calls within the ANC to abandon restraint in the face of state brutality.   The ANC reassessed its definition of legitimate targets at a 1985 conference in Zambia, leading to an intensification of the war, including the use of landmines and bombs.   "A resolution was adopted which acknowledged that there would be unavoidable civilian casualties," it says.   Some attacks, such as the bombing of a half-built nuclear power plant near Cape Town, dented the white nation's pride.   Others, like a 1983 car bomb at Air Force headquarters that killed 19 people and hurt more than 200, had ambiguous results.   "Both the cadres who set up the car bomb were killed in the blast," the report says.   The document also records the decline in discipline as young radicals inside the country took up the campaign in the ANC's name, but often outside the movement's direct control.   One consequence was the rash of executions in the late 1980s by township youths of alleged informers or collaborators using the flaming, petrol-soaked car tire known as a "necklace".   The document records that leaders of the ANC and its United Democratic Front condemned necklacing and all forms of lynching.   "Necklacing was never the policy of the ANC.... Evidence is beginning to emerge that this gruesome form of reprisal may have been initiated by the state...the direct result of the work of agents provocateurs," it says.   "The fundamental issue we would like to present...is that as a liberation movement, we engaged in a just war for national liberation," Deputy President Thabo Mbeki said when he delivered the document to Tutu's commission in Cape Town. 
1606 !GCAT !GHEA  An outbreak of cholera has killed five people in the central Senegal town of Kaolack, where health authorities have recorded 291 cases since August 11, a medical official said on Thursday.   Doctor Masserigne Ndiaye said medical staff were overwhelmed with work.   "People are rushing to the hospital as soon as the first symptoms appear, that's why we have fewer deaths," he told Reuters by telephone from the town, 160 km (100 miles) southeast of the Senegalese capital Dakar. 
1607 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The U.N. refugee agency said it hoped that on Thursday the last few thousand Rwandan refugees who want to return home would be leaving a refugee camp in northern Burundi.   But it remained unclear what would happen to a hardline core of Hutu refugees who refuse to return to Rwanda, saying they fear they will be killed or detained in reprisal for genocide in 1994.   An official with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Rwandan capital Kigali told reporters: "We expect to empty Magara camp of people leaving voluntarily today."   An estimated 6,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees were left in Magara on Thursday after 4,800 refugees abandoned the camp on Wednesday and were taken by truck back to southern Rwanda, UNHCR officials said.   "We are concerned and remain in contact with the governor of Ngozi province and the Burundian military authorities to establish what will happen to those refugees in Magara who do not want to return," UNHCR spokesman Paul Stromberg said.   Groups of hardline Hutu refugees in Magara stoned troops of Burundi's Tutsi-dominated army last Sunday after refusing to take apart parts of the camp that had already been abandoned.   Troops later on Sunday shot dead three refugees as they tried to leave the camp.   The military said its soldiers only opened fire after a refugee pulled out a handgun and started shooting.   Burundian army officers have accused the Rwandan Hutu refugees of backing Burundian Hutu rebels infiltrating Burundi.   Refugees have accused Burundian troops of harassing them and say they decided to leave because they feared for their lives.   The Rwandan refugee refugee exodus from Burundi began after Burundi's army toppled Hutu president Sylvestre Ntibantunganya on July 25 and installed retired army major Pierre Buyoya.   Buyoya, who is trying to break down international opposition to the army coup, has pledged not to force Rwandan refugees in Burundi to return home and ordered a halt to forced expulsions by the Tutsi army earlier in July.   The return from camps in Burundi is the biggest movement back since some two million Rwandan mostly Hutu refugees fled to Burundi, Zaire and Tanzania during the 1994 killing of up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu troops, militia and mobs.   In another development, the U.N. Human Rights Field Office for Rwanda said on Thursday that 271 Rwandan refugees returning from Burundi in July and August were arrested by Rwandan authorities.   In a report, it said 62 of the 217 had been released.   Rwandan authorities screen returning refugees and arrest any suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide.   After the last refugees in Magara leave, UNHCR officials say they plan to move the repatriation operation on to the last Rwandan refugee camp in Burundi at Rukuramigabo, which has some 13,000 Rwandans.   There were some 135,000 Rwandan refugees in Burundi at the start of the year.    "The last convoy left with about four trucks.   The camp of Magara is now empty except for these 220 people.   These people do not want to return home for one reason or another," Stromberg said.   Asked about what would happen to those who had refused to go back, Stromberg said: "They are still refugees and will be treated as such.   One option is to move them to another site and this can be done without government approval."   He said said a total of 6,000 Rwandan Hutus went back home on Thursday and a total of 50,000 refugees from Magara camp would have returned once the last convoy reached south Rwanda.   Refugees have accused Burundian troops of harassing them and say they decided to leave because they feared for their lives. 
1608 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  The waters of Awash river, which recently threatened to flood an area where 150,000 people live, have started receding, the state-run Ethiopian news agency said on Thursday.   The agency quoted Mesfin Teshome, manager of the nearby Koka Dam, as saying the volume of water entering the dam from the river was much less than it had been three days ago.   On Tuesday, Ethiopian authorities said they had prepared shelters for 150,000 people threatened by expected flooding of the Awash River.   The Awash River, fed by rains from the highlands, was threatening to overflow and destroy thousands of hectares of sugar estates at Shoa, Wonji and Metharar along its banks some 100 km (65 miles) east of Addis Ababa, officials said. 
1609 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Nigerian Major General Sam Victor Malu took over on Thursday as commander of the ECOMOG peacekeeping force in Liberia, two days after the start of the latest ceasefire in the six-year civil war.   Malu replaced another Nigerian major general, John Inienger, who told officers at the handover ceremony that peace was now at hand for Liberia after six years of fighting and more than a dozen failed accords.   "The search for peace in Liberia has been difficult, challenging and sometimes painful.   Peacekeepers were harassed, killed and taken hostage," he said.   "It is difficult but I want to assure you that peace is in sight."   United Nations military observers travelling to the western town of Tubmanburg on Wednesday to monitor the ceasefire were delayed by shooting along the highway, U.N. special representative Anthony Nyakyi said.   They finally went ahead with an escort from the ULIMO-J faction.   Faction leaders who agreed a new peace deal in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Saturday have accused each other of breaking the ceasefire.   The latest peace deal foresees the disarmament of an estimated 60,000 combatants and sets a target date of May 30 next year for elections.   The ECOMOG force, currently 10,000 strong, was sent to Liberia by the Economic Community of West African States in 1990 at the height of the fighting. 
1610 !GCAT !GREL  The West African state of Guinea declared Thursday and Friday days of national prayer.   A government statement, broadcast repeatedly by state radio, said the two days of prayer were "for the dead, for peace and prosperity in Guinea, the victory of the new government and the health of the head of state".   The precise reason for the call was not immediately clear.   Guinea's president, Lansana Conte, vice-president of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, left for Kuwait on August 16 to prepare the next OIC summit in Pakistan in 1997.   Koranic reading sessions and prayers were to be held in the farming town of Badi-Tondon, near his home about 60 km (40 miles) from the capital Conakry.   Conte, an army general, survived a February army pay revolt which at the time he described as a veiled attempt to topple him.   He has since named a prime minister for the first time since early in his rule and ordered a crackdown on corruption.   Conte seized power in 1984 after the death of veteran Marxist leader Ahmed Sekou Toure.   He won elections in 1993. 
1611 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Angola's civil war is over for the UNITA former rebels, their leader Jonas Savimbi said on Thursday.   He told delegates to a crucial party congress that UNITA, which fought for nearly two decades against the Angolan government, would work to change itself into a political party.   "UNITA's soldiers are not preparing for war...we don't want war.   War has finished...there is no political advantage in war," he said in an address to around 1,500 members at the movement's headquarters.   Savimbi appealed for delegates to the party's supreme decision making meeting to reject "extreme decisions".   The congress is intended to debate the future of the movement that spent 20 years trying to topple Angola's formerly Marxist MPLA rulers after independence from Portugal in 1975.   Delegates must also decide on the government's offer for Savimbi to take the job of vice president.   The two sides signed a peace deal in 1994 and agreed to integrate their troops into a single national army under a government of national unity.   The government has agreed to integrate nine UNITA general into the top brass of a united national army, including the post of deputy force commander and Savimbi said this left more than 50 other UNITA generals with uncertain futures.   Savimbi, 63, said UNITA had handed in all heavy weapons and artillery, referring to 870 tonnes of materiel including tanks and missiles handed to U.N. peacekeepers last month.   "Absolutely, we have no more (weapons)," he said, adding that UNITA had met its obligations under terms of the peace pact.   That included disarming 60,000 UNITA fighters.   He accused President Jose Eduardo dos Santos's government of not keeping its side of the accord, alleging that not all troops and special police had been confined to barracks.   The government had failed to expel all foreign mercenaries and was still buying weapons, Savimbi said.   Despite the shaky peace, Angola has remained largely divided into MPLA-controlled areas centred on the capital Luanda, and UNITA territory that includes northern diamond areas whose riches helped to pay for its war effort. 
1612 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  A Senegalese minister negotiating with Angolan authorities who have expelled hundreds of foreign traders said on Thursday they had agreed to stop indiscriminate expulsions and send home only those who were there illegally.   Angola has thrown out hundreds of West Africans, Lebanese and Indians since the start of a clampdown on illegal foreign traders 10 days ago.   Senegal's President Abdou Diouf sent Abdoulaye Wade, minister of state at the presidency, for talks with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on the issue.   "We have reached an agreement with the central authorities to stop expelling people indiscriminately en masse and to make a selective case by case study," Wade told Senegalese radio by telephone from Luanda.   "All those whose papers are in order will go back and resume their business."   Senegal's foreign ministry has denounced the expulsions and Guinean authorities said many of those sent back had valid papers and had been mistreated by Angolan security forces. 
1613 !GCAT !GVIO  The human rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday more than 6,000 people were reported killed in Burundi in the first three weeks after an army coup last month.   In a statement, the London-based human rights group said human rights in Burundi continued to deteriorate despite promises by Tutsi military ruler Pierre Buyoya to end killings.   Amnesty International said more than 6,000 people were reported to have been killed in various parts of Burundi in three weeks from the July 25 coup.   It said it had learned at least 4,050 unarmed civilians were buried after being extrajudicially executed between July 27 and August 10 by government forces in Giheta district in the central province of Gitega.   "Most of these victims were killed after the army came to their villages, ostensibly to obtain information about movements of rebels," Amnesty International said.   "Soldiers then assembled the victims and shot them, apparently after they denied knowledge of the wherabouts of rebels," it added.   "The 4,050 victims do not include people who may have died from gunshot and other wounds in the bush or drowned in rivers while fleeing," it said.   "As the army reportedly prevented access by independent observers to Nyabitanga, Mugera and Giheta areas, it becomes very difficult to obtain more details on such killings," it said.   "This pattern is being repeated in other parts of the country."   More than 150,000 people -- mainly civilians -- have been killed in Burundi since 1993 in massacres and the vicious war between the Tutsi-dominated army and Hutu rebels.   Amnesty said massacres by government troops had been reported in rural Bujumbura, Muramvya, Kayanza and Cibitoke provinces.   It cited the case of the wife and four children, one three years old, of Honorata Murishu in Mahuta district near Bujumbura who were extrajudicially executed by troops on July 29.   It said in Mutimbuzi district 39 people were extrajudicially executed on August 9 after soldiers on August 7 with students killed more than 200 people in Rutegame district of Muramvya province.   "The organisation is also concerned that all sides to the armed conflict are executing virtually all captured combatants," the Amnesty International statement said.   It said at least six prisoners on death row in Mpimba prison, Bujumbura, were moved to a secluded cell on August 9 and risked being subjected to torture in the next few days.   The transfer came a day after civil servants in Bujumbura demanded the public hanging of Hutu prisoners sentenced to death between February and June this year after unfair trials, it said.   "Despite promises made by Major Buyoya that he would respect international law and stop refoulement (expulsion) of refugees, forcible repatriation has resumed," Amnesty International said.   It said troops were using torture and extrajudicial executions to frighten Rwandan refugees into returning home.   "The army is making it clear that a similar fate awaits Rwandan refugees who remain in the camps.   It appears Major Buyoya has either gone back on his word or is not in control of the forces which brought him to power," the group added.   Buyoya, who is trying to break down international opposition to the army coup, has pledged not to force Rwandan refugees in Burundi to return home and ordered a halt to forced expulsions by the Tutsi army earlier in July. 
1614 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  U.N. human rights monitors reported on Thursday a large rise in killings by "state agents" in Rwanda last month as the number of prisoners and detainees reached nearly 80,000.   The U.N. Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda said in July it received reports of killings of 365 people in 93 incidents, "a very significant increase compared with...other months".   "Of these, 220 occurred in Gisenyi prefecture, which has seen a marked rise in insurgency activity by infiltrators opposed to the government," said the monitors' monthly report.   It said anti-rebel operations by the government Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) accounted for 182 of the killings in July.   The Rwandan army says it is fighting Hutu rebels infiltrating from neighbouring Zaire.   Human rights groups accuse the army and rebels of killing civilians in reprisal attacks.   Up to a million members of the Tutsi minority and allied Hutus were killed in genocide in Rwanda in 1994 by Hutu troops, militiamen and mobs.   The rebels infiltrating into border regions of Rwanda are mostly former troops who fled to Zaire in 1994.   The U.N. human rights report said after an operation on July 9 and 10 it received names of 113 local people reported killed and 58 reported disappeared in two communes in Gisenyi and Ruhengeri prefectures.   "The killings of 182 people represents a very subustantial increase in reported killings by state agents as compared to previous months," it said.   It said the population of 14 central prisons increased in July from 51,599 inmates to 52,678 in stark contrast with the official maximum capacity of the jails of 28,700 prisoners.   Rwandan troops arrest anyone suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide and prisons have been filling since the end of the genocide in 1994.   "The detainee population in 182 other centres was 25,832, and most were severely overcrowded.   The total detainee population in Rwanda at the end of July was 78,510," the U.N. report said.   "The increase of the detainee population intensified the problem of overcrowding," said the report, adding in some centres five prisoners were held in each square metre (1.19 square yards).   It said the human rights office in Rwanda continued to receive reports of ill-treatment in centres across Rwanda.   "The most common reported illnesses continued to be malaria, dysentery and respiratory diseases, resulting often from HIV infection.   Forty-two detainees died during July, 31 of illness," it said.   The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said last week reprisal killings by Rwandan troops and rebels of civilians including women and children were rising in Rwanda.   In a report, Amnesty International said between April and July more than 650 civilians were killed in Rwanda including women, children and babies by troops and Hutu rebels.   "The RPA appears to be using the 'need to fight the enemy' as a pretext for eliminating people whose presence or influence is perceived as a threat to the current government," it added. 
1615 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  The human rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday that more than 6,000 people were reported killed in Burundi in the past three weeks, following the July 25 army coup.    In a statement, the London-based human rights group said the human rights situation in Burundi continued to deteriorate despite promises by new Tutsi military ruler Pierre Buyoya to end killings.   Amnesty International said more than 6,000 people were reported to have been killed in various parts of Burundi in just three weeks after the July 25 coup.   It said it had learned at least 4,050 unarmed civilians were buried after being extrajudicially executed between July 27 and August 10 by government forces in Giheta district in the central province of Gitega.   "Most of these victims were killed after the army came to their villages, ostensibly to obtain information about movements of rebels.   Soldiers then assembled the victims and shot them," it said. 
1616 !GCAT !GVIO  Burundi's military-appointed government on Thursday said foreign military intervention would not solve the problems of the nation, where a war between the army and rebels is killing up to 1,000 people monthly.   "Foreign military intervention in Burundi will not solve a bad situation, instead it will only make it worse," Foreign Minister Luc Rukingama told reporters in the capital Bujumbura.   "As we have seen in Somalia, in Liberia and in Bosnia, (military intervention) failed to bring answers," he added.   U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in a report to the Security Council this week recommended countries assemble a force of 50,000 to intervene in Burundi if it plunged into genocide, like neighbouring Rwanda in 1994 when up to one million people died.   The force would be outside U.N. command.   But Boutros-Ghali, who has repeatedly urged creation of such a foreign force, said of more than 50 countries approached only four offered troops.   More than 150,000 people -- mainly civilians -- have been killed in Burundi since 1993 in massacres and the vicious war between the Tutsi-dominated army and Hutu rebels.   Boutros-Ghali had failed to receive sufficient support for his proposals before the Burundian military overthrew Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya on July 25.   Regional African states, which were preparing to respond to a request from Ntibantunganya for "security assistance", reacted to the coup by clamping sanctions on landlocked Burundi on July 31.   Sanctions have had limited impact in Burundi, which produces much of its own food, but have produced a siege mentality in the Tutsi minority determined to resist rule by the Hutu majority.   The French wing of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday it would send a cargo plane full of drugs, medical and surgical material to provide for the needs of the populations of four Burundian regions.   The plane, carrying 25 tonnes of drugs to supply dispensaries and hospitals, will be the first relief flight since the sanctions were imposed by Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Zaire and Zambia.   But the regional states since the coup have quietly backed off their plan for military intervention, arguing it cannot be implemented without the approval of the Burundian authorities.   Keen to force Burundi's leaders into negotiations, diplomats say several U.N. Security Council member want to threaten sanctions and promise aid if Burundi does not end its conflict.   A proposed resolution, initiated by Chile and Botswana, was to be circulated on Thursday in a bid to halt violence between Tutsis and Hutus and deal with the coup.   Burundi leader Pierre Buyoya has rejected demands for unconditional peace talks with Hutu rebels, banned political parties including the Hutu-dominated Frodebu party and suspended the national assembly.   A senior Frodebu official said on Thursday talks between Buyoya and Frodebu members had stalled because both sides disagreed over who was Burundi's true president.   Ntibantunganya, holed up in the U.S. ambassador's residence in Bujumbura since two days before the coup, has refused to step down and maintains he is the legal head of state.   He has called for a popular campaign for his restoration. 
1617 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday it would suspend operations in Burundi at the end of next week unless regional countries relaxed sanctions.   "At the end of next week, UNICEF will stop working for lack of fuel and as a result our entire immunisation programme for the year will be wiped out," UNICEF representative in Burundi Michel Sidibe told Reuters.    "There must be allowances and exemptions for the vulnerable and humanitarian activities must be allowed to operate," he said.   Sidibe said he was aware fellow agencies such as the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) were planning to do the same.   But a WFP spokeswoman said in Nairobi, after checking with WFP in Bujumbura, that there were no plans for the agency to suspend its operations and it had reserves of fuel in Burundi.   Regional African states imposed sanctions on Burundi, which imports all its petroleum products, on July 31, after the Tutsi-dominated army toppled Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. 
1618 !GCAT !GODD  A South African boy is writing back to an American girl whose message in a bottle he found washed up on President Nelson Mandela's old prison island.   But Carlo Hoffmann, an 11-year-old jailer's son who found the bottle on the beach at Robben Island off Cape Town after winter storms, will send his letter back by ordinary mail on Thursday, the post office said.   It will be sent for free.   Danielle Murray from Sandusky, Ohio, the same age as her new penfriend, asked for a reply from whoever received the message she flung on its journey months ago on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. 
1619 !C42 !CCAT !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  South African trade union leader Sam Shilowa said on Thursday he endorsed the government's desire to reduce the country's budget deficit but warned against damage to basic services.   "We said yes, we need the budget deficit reduced, but key issues like health and education should not be affected," the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) general secretary told a workers and management conference.   "We have to make sure that services to the broader community are not going to suffer because of this strategy," Shilowa said.   Finance Minister Trevor Manuel's macroeconomic strategy, released in June, intends to reduce the budget deficit from over five percent of GDP this budget year to four percent next year and three percent by 1999.   The budget targets, described by Manuel as "non-negotiable," are part of a broad strategy to double economic growth to an annual six percent by the year 2000.   "The debate is not whether it is negotiable or not.   The debate is to ensure that the macroeconomic framework constraints the government faces are better understood," said Shilowa.   "Are there alternatives?   If there aren't, then how do we move forward?"   he asked.   Shilowa said the ongoing debate about privatisation of state assets should not be interpreted simply as a pro- and anti- issue.   "The debate should be about what the new mandate of state-owned enterprises should be...and what role the state sector could play in the productive sector of the economy," Shilowa said.   Cosatu supported the state's retaining control of its assets, but this did not mean it was on a collision course with the ruling African National Congress (ANC), whose leader President Nelson Mandela has firmly endorsed privatisation.   "Whatever our criticism, we are not in opposition to the ANC.   We are allies and our aim is not to undermine ANC policies," Shilowa said. 
1620 !GCAT !GPOL  President Mohamed Taki of the coup-prone Comoro Islands has appointed a new government, dropping his finance and justice ministers who refused to merge their parties into a single ruling party.   Finance Minister Said Ali Kemal was replaced by Dahilou Omar, a close Taki ally and former minister-delegate for the economy and budget, state-run Comoros radio said on Thursday.   Justice Minister Mohamed Abdul Wahab was replaced in the 14-member government announced on Wednesday night by Ali Ben Ali, former minister-delegate for administrative reform.   Parties headed by Wahab and Kemal took a total of 13 percent of the vote in a presidential election in March won by Taki but they had refused to dissolve their parties and join a single ruling party the president is trying to set up, officials said.   The two party leaders were included in the former cabinet as they were needed to balance political factions after an abortive coup last September led by French mercenary Bod Denard.   The only woman in the former cabinet, Minister-Delegate for Posts and Telecommunications Soifa Said Bourhane, was appointed minister-delegate for the economy and domestic trade, the radio said.   Taki summoned ministers at short notice on Wednesday and told them Prime Minister Tajiddine Ben Said Massonde had handed in his resignation and had been asked to form a new government.   The Indian Ocean Comoro Islands have seen up to 17 coups or attempted coups since independence from France in 1975. 
1621 !GCAT !GDIP  Nigeria's military government on Thursday said a proposed Commonwealth visit to discuss the country's supension from the organisation would not be a fact-finding mission.   "The invitation should not be construed as a request for a Commonwealth fact-finding mission," a foreign ministry statement said.   Nigeria has consistently refused to allow a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights abuses that led to its suspension from the club of Britain and its former colonies.   But this month Nigeria invited the Commonwealth to visit the capital Abuja from August 29-30 to continue discussions begun in London in June.   There has been no official response to the invitation.   The Commonwealth suspended Nigeria after author Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other minority rights activists were executed for murder last November.   The group criticised Nigeria's plan to restore democracy by 1998 as inadequate.   When the two sides met for the first time in London the Commonwealth ministers decided not to impose further sanctions on Nigeria pending more talks, a decision which angered pro-democracy activists.   The foreign ministry statement said CMAG had no mandate to carry out a fact-finding mission and that the United Nations had already carried out its own investigation.   The U.N. team, which visited at Nigeria's invitation in April, suggested the reform of draconian laws but backed the transition plan of military ruler General Sani Abacha.   U.S. officials on Wednesday said the United States had begun its own attempts to engage Nigeria in a discussion of human rights and democracy.   CMAG comprises Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Britain, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. 
1622 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Ivorian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   FRATERNITE MATIN   - Ivorian police detain 232 people, mostly to check their papers, in second day of spot checks in populous districts of the commercial capital Abidjan as part of efforts to curb banditry.   - France's defence minister, Charles Millon, says French aid to help Ivory Coast maintain stability and security in volatile region will continue   - Ivorian maid Veronique Akobe, jailed in France after killing employer's son who raped her and then pardoned and released, says after homecoming she wants to forget and get on with her life.   - Road accidents kill about 60 people in four months; transporters reluctant to apply law requiring fitting of speed restrictors to vehicles carrying more than nine people   LA VOIE   - President Henri Konan Bedie looks for ways of drawing individual opposition politicians into government without openly offering the opposition a role based on consensus   - Abidjan hosts sub-regional seminar on intellectual property rights   LE JOUR   - Village burnt in southern Ivory Coast in dispute over forest land involving migrant Baoule farmers and indigenous Bakoues   - Mini-bus drivers strike in Ivory Coast's central second city of Bouake, saying municipal taxes too high   ($1=508 CFA)   -- Abidjan newsroom +225 21 90 90 
1623 !GCAT !GCRIM  At least 28 inmates and four guards were wounded in a South African prison riot when about 600 prisoners threw bricks, steel pipes, chairs and brooms at each other, officials said on Thursday.   Two guards suffered head wounds and three inmates were in critical condition after the clash at the Waterfall prison in northern KwaZulu-Natal province late on Wednesday.   The reason for the clash was not yet known.   "The situation at the prison this morning is calm.   We spent the whole night disarming the prisoners," a spokesman said.   The South African Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights said it had received allegations that prison officers had been involved in smuggling knives into the jail to fan gangster violence. 
1624 !GCAT !GDIS  A rottweiler dog belonging to an elderly South African couple savaged to death their two-year-old grandson who was visiting, police said on Thursday.   The dog attacked Louis Booy in the front garden of his grandparents' house in Vanderbijlpark near Johannesburg on Tuesday.   His bloody body was lying in the garden when his parents arrived in the afternoon to pick him up.   It was unclear where the grandparents were at the time.   Dogs fierce enough to scare off burglars are becoming increasingly popular in the crime-infested Johannesburg area. 
1625 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GWELF  Some Zimbabwean civil servants returned to work on Thursday but thousands of others defied a call by their union to end a three-day strike for higher wages which has crippled critical social services.   The Public Service Association (PSA) union executive called off the strike on Wednesday night after assurances from Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Florence Chitauro that her government would open serious talks over their revised demands for between 30 and 60 percent salary increases.   In the capital Harare on Thursday, about 5,000 workers milled around a central city park and others were scattered through the city.   The civil servants said they suspected their leaders had been intimidated into calling an end to the strike and were waiting for an address from them.   Union and government officials were not available for comment, but some senior officers who have been offering skeletal services during the strike reported that a few strikers had returned to their jobs.   The government said it had posted some police officials around government offices to protect workers from being intimidated by the strike leaders.   Many state hospitals were still handling emergency cases only, using the services of army and Red Cross medical corps, as many nurses stayed away from work. 
1626 !GCAT  These are significant stories in the Nigerian press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY TIMES   - Central bank reshuffles positions of its four deputy governors as part of reorganisation effort.   - Federal government says it will back the private sector to help develop Nigeria's roads.   - Seven people brought before special tribunal charged with illegally acquiring telephone lines.   THE GUARDIAN   - Bankers endorse central bank announcement allowing them to trade in stabilisation securities.   - Capacity utilisation of pharmaceutical companies increases to 20 percent from 10 percent as a result of contracts worth 1.5 billion naira from Petroleum Trust Fund.   THISDAY   - Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) presents its insurers with claims worth over 38 million naira to cover operational losses in the last seven months.   ($1=80 naira)   --Lagos newsroom +234 1 2630317 
1627 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Zairean Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo began talks with Rwandan officials on Thursday on security and the fate of 1.1 million Rwandan refugees in Zaire since Rwanda's 1994 genocide.   A Rwandan foreign ministry official said Kengo would discuss the problems with Rwandan Prime Minister Pierre Celestin Rwigema, Vice-President and Defence Minister Major-General Paul Kagame and Interior Minister Colonel Alexis Kanyarengwe.   "The talks are expected to centre around the problem of the refugees on the Rwandan-Zairean border.   Security and refugees are going to be central to their talks," the official said.   Kengo arrived in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Wednesday on the first visit to Rwanda by such a senior Zairean official since before the three-month genocide of up to one million people by the Hutu majority and civil war in Rwanda in 1994.   He was scheduled to give a news conference in Kigali before returning to the Zairean capital Kinshasa later on Thursday.   On Wednesday, Kengo visited a massacre site at Murambi near the southwestern town of Gikongoro where bodies of victims have been exhumed from a mass grave and returned to a school where they were killed.   Kengo, who has repeatedly stressed the need for the Rwandan Hutu refugees in Zaire to return home, is visiting Rwanda while it receives back thousands of Rwandan refugees from its southern neighbour Burundi.   Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko has intervened in the past two years to stop Kengo from ordering, in violation of international law, the deportation from Zaire of the 1.1 million Rwandan Hutus.   Last August, Zairean troops forcibly expelled some 15,000 Rwandan and Burundian Hutus.   The expulsions were stopped only after Mobutu stepped in following an international outcry.   Together with the refugees, eastern Zaire is home to Rwanda's 40,000-strong former Hutu army and Hutu militiamen who infiltrate Rwanda and are a major security problem for Kigali.   Rwandan officials said they wanted assurances that Zaire would take action against rebels operating from its territory. 
1628 !GCAT !GPOL  President Nelson Mandela's African National Congress on Thursday defended its "just struggle" against apartheid, telling South Africa's truth commission it could not be compared to the defence of white rule.   "It would be morally wrong and legally incorrect to equate apartheid with the resistance against it," the party said in a 100-page statement handed in by Deputy President Thabo Mbeki.   "The mass of the people led by the liberation movement waged a just struggle against apartheid, which was designated by the United Nations as a crime against humanity."   The ANC acknowledged in the statement that some agents had abused their positions and violated human rights, but said "none of such violations arose out of official policy".   It said it regretted the killing of civilians in the fight against a ruling clique that believed it came from a super-race.   "There are instances where we could have acted more firmly and speedily to prevent or stop abuses, and for that the ANC accepts collective responsibility."   Mbeki, heading a delegation of 23 people, handed the statement and a volume of supporting documentation to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's statutory Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the final day of a special sitting for political parties.   Testimony during earlier hearings, including harrowing personal accounts of rape, torture and the killing of children, has at times reduced Tutu and his colleagues to tears.   This week, parties including the white separatist Freedom Front and former president F.W. de Klerk's National Party submitted documents explaining their actions under white rule.   De Klerk, who ousted P.W. Botha, the last white hardliner, in 1989 and turned South Africa from apartheid to democracy, said on Wednesday his National Party had much to apologise for, but insisted he had never sanctioned assassination or torture.   While de Klerk argued that apartheid had been an honest, though misguided attempt to share the country amongst its ethnic groups, the ANC submission rejected any defence of segregation.   "Apartheid oppression and repression were...not an aberration of a well-intentioned undertaking that went horribly wrong.   "The ideological underpinning and the programme of apartheid constituted a deliberate and systematic mission of a ruling clique that saw itself as the champion of a super-race," the ANC statement said.   The ANC, outlawed after protests against the Sharpeville massacre of 69 black demonstrators by police in 1960, initially directed its armed opposition to white rule against agents and facilities of the state.   "Military struggle was seen as forming only part of, and being guided by a broader political strategy to ensure that the battle against apartheid was fought on all possible fronts."   But the ANC statement acknowledged that some agents had exceeded their orders and that the fight against government infiltration in ANC exile bases had been brutal.   The statement names 34 people executed on the orders of an ANC military tribunal between 1980 and 1989.   The statement also explained the bombing of so-called "soft inside South Africa, including a beachfront bar and a shopping centre near Durban.   "From around December 1985...a number of attacks on civilian targets with no connection to the state occurred...The ANC does not seek to justify such attacks, but insists that the context in which they occurred is relevant.   "The ANC has acknowledged that in a number of instances, breaches in policy did occur and deeply regrets civilian casualties.   The leadership took steps to halt operations in conflict with policy," the statement said.   The ANC called for reasonable reparations to victims of the struggle, but stressed the need for confession and forgiveness.   "The catalogue of legal discrimination and injustice that occurred under apartheid needs to be acknowledged if a human rights culture is to flourish in the new South African legal system," it said. 
1629 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Kenyan press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DAILY NATION   - Opposition parliamentarian Raila Odinga dismisses President Daniel arap Moi's claims that he and another opposition leader are planning to provoke civil disobedience.   - The Kenya Airline Pilots Association gives Kenya Airways a seven-day ultimatum to reinstate a pilot dismissed a week ago.   - The High Court rules the president has no powers to grant land privately acquired but surrendered to the Commission of Lands to hold in trust for pubic use.   EAST AFRICAN STANDARD   - President Moi tells district commissioners to ensure food aid reaches the people it is intended for and is not sold.   - An application is filed in the high court seeking to send the head of the civil service to a civil jail over a state debt of nearly 500,000 shillings.   KENYA TIMES   - Negotiations avert a nationwide strike by bank employees.   ($1=57 shillings) 
1630 !GCAT !GENT !GPOL !GVIO  Once a week a band of ragged Hutu musicians descend from the hills and trek into Burundi's ethnically cleansed capital for jam sessions with fellow enthusiasts from the Tutsi tribe.   While Tutsi soldiers jog through the streets in formation singing: "We'll fight to the death and we'll win," the small group of Hutu and Tutsi musicians sing of love, cows and wayward wives.   The common culture between Burundians despite their ethnic divisions is a glimmer of hope amid the hatred on both sides and the killing of more than 150,000 people since 1993 in war and massacres.   But no one thinks singing will end bloodshed in Burundi, where the Hutu majority of 85 percent of the 5.6 million population has been ruled since before colonial days by the Tutsi minority.   "We sing blues about cows, songs about love.   Everyone loves good music.   You can unite people with music," says Gilbert Ndakoze, a Tutsi known as "Ginda" and the head of the eight Hutu and eight Tutsi musicians who tour the country when they can.   "Hutu rebels sing before they attack villages because singing is a spiritual drug to kill.   Soldiers sing.   Everyone sings Burundi," adds Ginda, whose group meets weekly despite sanctions on Burundi to press for a return to civilian rule.   When security allows it, Ginda and his musicians travel to Burundi's villages, documenting traditional songs, some of which date back 800 years.   They are recorded in a digital studio in Bujumbura.   Their music is a mainly wild mesh of traditional flutes, drums, violins, drums, the citar, harmonicas, the double bass and the piano.   Voice however is the predominant instrument.   Their whispers in songs are usually about love.   A voice from deep in the throat is about violence, common even before the start of war in 1993 in one of Africa's most densely-populated countries where Tutsi and Hutus lived side-by -side on the same hills.   Many have been driven off and forced to seek refuge in camps for the displaced or inaccessible areas in the last three years.   Songs about women, frequently portrayed as poisoners or witches in traditional tales, are mean and full of violence.   "Let me linger" is about the wife of a farmer in the hills of Burundi who "cultivates" other men when her husband is out.   "In the morning, she puts water on the fire.   Then she spends hours putting make-up on.   After making herself nice, she puts on her shoes and goes out to wander," the song says.   "I came home and asked her where she had cultivated.   She smiled and showed her teeth.   I jumped and kicked her in the teeth.   I pulled her teeth out.   I pulled them by the roots."   In war songs, Ginda said his men dance with machetes and pangas.   "Violence is a big theme in our traditional songs.   It's our history.   Ever since I was born, we've been at war."   Burundians also sing the lyrics to songs such as: "If you tickle the feet of a Hutu, he'll scoop your eyes out."   Another goes: "Hutu is stocky and carries load, he eats too much.   Tutsi is thin and drinks milk, he thinks too much.   Tutsi is quiet but if you disturb him, he will sting you like a snake."   They are also some happy songs in Burundi, usually about cows, the traditional sign of wealth.   When a Burundian man wants to compliment a woman, he says: "You have the eyes of a cow." 
1631 !C15 !C151 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Rustenburg Platinum Holdings Ltd said on Thursday that last month's wildcat strike had cost the company some 264 million rand in lost revenue.   A statement from the company estimated that loss of platinum production amounted to 100,000 ounces.   Mine manager Anglo American Platinum Corp Ltd had previously put lost production at 97,000 ozs.   The mine produced 1.55 million ozs of platinum in the year ended June 30, 1996.   -- Johannesburg newsroom +27 11 482 1003 
1632 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin, back in the Kremlin after a two-day vacation, gave a ministerial job on Thursday to a communist who ran against him for president.   Russian news agencies said Yeltsin had appointed Aman Tuleyev as minister responsible for relations with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the loose grouping created when the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991.   His party sought the restoration of the Soviet Union in recent Russian election campaigns, but said this should be done through negotiation rather than by force.   Tuleyev, a bear-like Siberian with a shock of black hair, was effectively the understudy to communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov in the presidential campaign.   But he dropped out of the race just before the first round of the election to allow the so-called national-patriotic coalition to field a single candidate.   Zyuganov won through to the second round, where he lost decisively to Yeltsin in a campaign where the president's team dwelt heavily on the horrors of Russia's communist past and urged voters not to turn back the clock.   Yeltsin also named his first woman cabinet minister, giving the health portfolio to Tatyana Dmitrieva.   She appeared with Yeltsin in a fleeting television clip, the first time he has been shown on television since his inauguration, and she told Interfax news agency that they had discussed fundamental questions about health care.   Another new appointee is Pyotr Rodionov -- not to be confused with Defence Minister Igor Rodionov -- who was named fuel and energy minister.   He currently works for the St Petersburg branch of gas monopoly Gazprom, the company for which Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin worked before joining the government.   Yuri Bespalov is to become industry minister, Anatoly Zaitsev is the new minister for railway communications and Viktor Orlov minister for natural resources.   Most of the new Russian government team was appointed earlier this month, after Yeltsin was inaugurated for a second term as president. 
1633 !GCAT !GDIP  Ukrainian Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko said on Thursday that China had over-reacted to a three-day visit by Taiwan's Vice-President Lien Chan to the former Soviet republic earlier this week.   China has cancelled a visit to Ukraine by a VIP delegation.   "I don't know whether this is going to be accepted with pleasure but I think the (Chinese reaction) was out of proportion," Udovenko told Reuters.   "It wasn't even a visit but a trip, a private journey."   He also denied Taiwanese media reports that Lien had met President Leonid Kuchma.   "There was no meeting and there would have been no meeting even if someone had wanted such a meeting," he said.   "From our side there was not even a thought about that.   I have spoken personally to the president."   The 14-member Taiwanese delegation, headed by Lien, visited the Ukrainian capital at the invitation of the chancellor of Kiev State University and left for Taipei on Wednesday evening.   In Taipei, Lien said on Thursday he had talked to people "of all levels" during the secretive visit but declined to confirm reports he had met the Ukrainian president.   "I met the people I wanted to meet and discussed the things I wanted to discuss," Lien told reporters at Taipei's international airport.   "But I cannot identify who I met by name.   That would not live up to the agreement I made before visiting."   Udovenko said Ukraine was interested in developing trade with Taiwan and wanted to open a trade mission in Taipei.   He said he already asked the Ukrainian Trading House, a Ukrainian investment organisation, to open an office in Taipei.   "Ukraine never in its policy made a step away from support of China's territorial integrity.   We consider Taiwan as an integral part of China and we will follow this line further," Udovenko said.   "But life changes.   There should be no objections to our scientific, cultural, trade and economic cooperation with Taiwan.   We already have established close economic cooperation with China's other provinces."   Beijing regards nationalist-ruled Taiwan as a rebel province ineligible for foreign ties and has sought to isolate it diplomatically since a civil war separated them in 1949.   Lien indicated in Taipei that Taiwan also wanted to open a representative office in Kiev.   Taiwanese offices have been already established in Moscow and the Belarussian capital of Minsk.   China is Ukraine's second largest economic partner with annual bilateral trade at $1 billion.   Ukrainian-Taiwanese trade stands at less than $100 million. 
1634 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed signed a deal with separatists in Chechnya on Thursday, promising to withdraw government forces to end three weeks of bloodshed in Grozny, the Chechen capital.   "Troops will be withdrawn from Grozny because constitutional order cannot be introduced using air and artillery strikes.   They will be withdrawn from the whole of Chechnya," a triumphant Lebed told reporters in this village about 20 kms (12 miles) south of Grozny.   Moscow's forces have been attacking Grozny to try to oust rebels who seized it in a raid on August 6 that humiliated the Russian military.   The separatists said the attack was in retaliation for Russian bombardments of Chechen villages.   The Russian attacks followed a deal with the rebels for disarmament in return for step-by-step troop withdrawals from the mainly Moslem region to be completed by September 1.   Truces have come and gone in 20 months of the Chechen conflict, and it was too soon to say whether the new deal would bring respite for civilians who have been fleeing Grozny in tens of thousands since the raid began.   It was also unclear how much power Lebed actually wields.   Though President Boris Yeltsin appointed him his special envoy to Chechnya, Security Council secretary and security adviser, he criticised him in an interview earlier on Wednesday.   "I am not completely satisfied with Lebed's performance in Chechnya," Yeltsin told RIA news agency in an interview shown in a television feed.   Lebed predicted further criticism from his many opponents in Moscow -- democrats and hardliners alike.   But he seemed not to care, saying: "Anyone who is unhappy is welcome to complain."   The exact text of the deal, signed by two of the more compromising figures on the two sides, was not available.   But Itar-Tass news agency said it provided for disengagement of Russian and rebel forces battling for 20 months in Chechnya and Lebed provided some pointers as he spoke amid a crowd of about 100 reporters, bodyguards and onlookers.   "Joint military administrations will be set up in Grozny to protect the city from looters and bandits," Lebed said.   "I will come back with a draft political agreement in two days.   We will discuss it and sign it," he added.   That deal would also address the root of the fighting -- Chechnya's status.   Lebed said forces would start withdrawing tomorrow from southern Chechnya and joint military administrations would be set up at the same time.   A deadline for a Russian assault on Grozny had passed quietly on Thursday morning as Lebed held a second day of talks.   Interfax news agency the two sides were discussing a nine-point deal which addressed the situation in Grozny, separating the fighters, stopping looting and averting clashes.   Lebed's press spokesman Alexander Barkhatov told reporters the two sides were working out a "day-by-day schedule" to stop the fighting.   Yeltsin appointed Lebed his security chief after the former paratrooper captured around 15 percent of the votes in the first round of Russia's presidential election this year.   But he criticised him after the talks began but before the deal was signed, saying: "We must remember, when he met voters he always promised to solve the Chechen problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   But unfortunately the results of his work are not yet obvious.   "But we must not despair, we will take this issue to the end," Yeltsin added.   More than 30,000 people have been killed in the breakaway North Caucasus region since Yeltsin sent in his forces in December 1994 to end an independence drive.   The latest battles have killed many hundreds and sent tens of thousands fleeing.   Expectations that Grozny would be bombed on Thursday, after a Russian commander issued an ultimatum to rebels who have seized the city, sparked a fresh exodus. 
1635 !GCAT !GVIO  A Bosnian soldier detained by Serbs for over two years has gone on hunger strike after the former warring parties showed no interest in including him in prisoner exchanges, the United Nations said on Thursday.   Zlatko Meimovic was captured by separatist Serb troops in February 1994 and was imprisoned in Pale before being shifted to the northeast Serb-controlled town of Bijeljina.   Under the Dayton peace treaty signed last December, Croat, Moslem and Serb factions were to release all prisoners of war earlier this year.   Most were freed.   But Meimovic's case was complicated as he comes from an ethnically mixed family -- commonplace in Bosnia before nationalist war tore it apart.   "The federal commission for prisoner exchanges didn't want to consider his case because his mother is a Croat, his father is a Moslem and his wife a Serb," Andrea Angeli, spokesman for U.N. police monitors in northeast Bosnia, told Reuters.   He said Meimovic had been on a hunger strike for the last 10 days to attract attention to his case and had sent letters to Serb authorities but had received no response so far.   The Serbs recently released four Bosnian army soldiers who had been arrested together with Meimovic, he said.   "He is only drinking water.   He has a cough and a fever and his general condition is quite weak." 
1636 !GCAT !GVIO  Security chief Alexander Lebed met separatists in a Chechen rebel-held village on Thursday and their talks were said to be making progress after a deadline for a Russian assault on Grozny passed quietly.   Lebed held his second day of talks as it became clear Russian generals had not carried out their threat to bombard the Chechen capital, held by rebels for more than two weeks.   There was no sign of major military activity during the morning in Grozny, which suffered a pounding by Moscow's forces on Wednesday.   In the village of Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) further south, the talks were said to be going well.   Lebed's press spokesman Alexander Barkhatov told reporters the two sides were working out a "day-by-day schedule" to stop fighting which has raged on and off for more than 20 months.   "The talks are being conducted in a good atmosphere," he said.   A document was being prepared, he said.   Interfax news agency said it was a nine-point deal which addressed first of all the situation in Grozny, then separating the two sides, stopping looting and averting further clashes.   Lebed and Maskhadov were interrupted several times to look into incidents of fighting in the region, Interfax said.   More than 30,000 people have been killed in the North Caucasus region since President Boris Yeltsin sent his forces to crush its independence drive in December 1994.   The latest fighting has killed many hundreds and sent tens of thousands fleeing.   Expectations that Grozny would be bombed on Thursday, after a Russian commander issued an ultimatum to rebels who have seized the city, sparked a fresh exodus.   Lebed said he had halted the assault after 11th-hour talks with rebel leaders on Wednesday night.   But the generals in the field appear to have had clear differences with Yeltsin's security adviser as well as with their own defence minister.   Explosions occasionally echoed across the countryside around Grozny, but they were far fewer than on Wednesday, when a sporadic air and artillery bombardment went on for hours.   The separatists, broadcasting on rebel television in their mostly-Moslem region, were announcing Russia had capitulated and calling on supporters of the Moscow-backed government to join them, Ekho Moskvy quoted official pro-Moscow sources as saying.   "The separatists are addressing the supporters of the legal government of the Chechen republic with threats and demands that they cross over to the rebel side," it quoted the Chechen government's representative in Moscow as saying.   Four Russian servicemen were killed, 18 wounded and three taken prisoner in Chechnya on Thursday, Interfax said.   Itar-Tass news agency said six had also been killed in Grozny overnight.   No casualty figures were available for the rebels, or for the civilians cowering in cellars to escape the fighting.   The Red Cross estimated on Wednesday that about 120,000 were left in Grozny.   A similar number had fled in the last two weeks.   Yeltsin, target of speculation over his health as factions vie for position over Chechnya, returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a brief break and met his new health minister.   Lebed went back to the same southern Chechen village where he had talks the previous night and promised to try to end the conflict and demilitarise Grozny.   "We have gathered here with the firm intention of achieving something worthwhile.   We are going to discuss the issues of how to separate the troops and give Grozny the status of a demilitarised city."   Lebed said on Wednesday he had agreed a ceasefire with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov and declared the Russian military's threat to flatten Grozny would not happen.   The Russian military, humiliated by the separatists' takeover of Grozny on August 6, had accused the rebels of using a previous ceasefire to strengthen positions. 
1637 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin said he was not "fully happy" with the performance of his security supremo Alexander Lebed, whom he has ordered to restore peace in rebel Chechnya, RIA news agency said on Thursday.   "One should remember that he (Lebed) constantly promised to solve the Chechnya problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   Unfortunately no results can yet be seen as far as Chechnya is concerned," it quoted Yeltsin as saying in an interview with the agency.   Yeltsin's press office said that the Kremlin leader gave the interview on Thursday.   A press officer could not say whether it was a live interview or written answers to questions.   Yeltsin said he hoped Lebed, who held talks with the separatist rebels on Wednesday and Thursday, would "encourage them to start peace negotiations".   "At the same time Boris Nikolayevich (Yeltsin) said he was 'not fully happy' with his representative's work in Chechnya," RIA quoted Yeltsin as saying with reference to Lebed.   Lebed, who arrived in Chechnya on Wednesday, has cancelled an ultimatum by Russian commanders to launch an all-out bombardment of the regional capital.   He was said on Thursday to be making good progress in talks with separatist fighters on a permanent ceasefire.   The latest upsurge of fighting in the 20-month conflict that had killed tens of thousands people took place after the rebels seized most of Grozny on August 6.   Yeltsin has ordered Lebed to restore Russian control over Grozny before the end of the month.   Lebed argued later that a major military operation in the city would lead to bloodshed and a burst of resentment at home and abroad.   Yeltsin told RIA that he receives daily all information about the conflict.   "We should not despair," RIA quoted him as saying. 
1638 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin, in a statement marking the fifth anniversary of the failed hardline coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, described the Chechen crisis as a "bleeding wound" on the body of Russia.   Yeltsin, congratulating his fellow citizens on crushing the August 1991 coup, said life was difficult for many Russians in other former Soviet republics.   But democracy was making headway at home and Russia's statehood had been strengthened.   "Life is still complicated for a significant number of Russians, the process of economic transformation is progressing with difficulty," the statement said.   "The Chechen crisis is a bleeding wound on Russia's body, carrying away the lives of our citizens.   The fate of our countrymen elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Independent States is not easy."   Gorbachev, who withdrew Soviet forces from Afghanistan, also described the war there as a "bleeding wound".   Yeltsin sent troops to Chechnya in December 1994 to crush an independence bid and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting.   His security chief Alexander Lebed is in the region in the latest of many attempts to end the crisis.   Yeltsin, who returned to Moscow on Thursday after a two-day break in the lakelands of northwestern Russia, was shown briefly on television meeting new health minister Tatyana Dmitrieva.   It was Yeltsin's first television appearance since he was inaugurated for a second term in office on August 9, and he looked stiff and awkward on that occasion.   His disappearance had prompted speculation in Russian and Western media that Yeltsin was ill, but aides said he was simply tired after a gruelling campaign for reelection.   Yeltsin led resistance to the 1991 coup, climbing on top of a tank outside the White House government building to denounce the plotters who said Gorbachev was ill and declared a state of emergency across the Soviet Union.   Yeltsin, who met several new ministers in the Kremlin on Thursday, also drew attention to what he described as Russia's victory over inflation in the years since the coup.   "Inflation has been beaten," he said triumphantly.   Russian consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in the week to August 19, the first time that prices have fallen since economic reforms began. 
1639 !GCAT  These are the main Hungarian headlines on Hungary's Kossuth Radio midday news.   Reuters cannot vouch for their accuracy:   - Opposition Christian Democrat People's Party will ask an extraordinary session of the Hungarian parliament to be convened in order to discuss the planned Hungarian-Romanian basic treaty.   The other opposition parties support the move.   - The extra one billion forints given from the budget for higher education will prevent axing jobs.   - Opposition FIDESZ-MPP party said a new constitution is of a higher priority than the ruling Socialists consider it to be.   - Agricultural Cooperatives' Association said dropping state subsidies could trigger a crisis in the sector and asked for the government to elaborate a long-term, strategic agricultural policy.   - Junior coalition partner Free Democrats disagree with the Finance Ministry's family subsidy changes planned for 1997.   -- Budapest newsroom +36 1 266 2410 
1640 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed met separatists in a Chechen rebel-held village on Thursday and their talks were said to be going well after a deadline for a Russian assault on Grozny passed quietly.   Lebed held his second day of talks as it became clear Russian generals had not carried out their threat to bombard the Chechen capital, held by rebels for more than two weeks.   Pounded by Moscow's forces on Wednesday, there was no sign of major military activity in Grozny in the morning and talks in the village of Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) to the south of the capital, were said to be progressing briskly.   Lebed's press spokesman Alexander Barkhatov told reporters the two sides were working out a "day-by-day schedule" to stop fighting which has raged on and off for more than 20 months.   "The talks are being conducted in a good atmosphere," he said.   "A document will be completed in an hour's time."   More than 30,000 people have been killed in the North Caucasus region since President Boris Yeltsin sent his forces to crush its independence drive in December 1994.   The latest fighting has killed many hundreds and sent tens of thousands fleeing, especially after a Russian commander gave civilians 48 hours to get out before the attack due on Thursday.   Lebed said he had halted the attack after 11th-hour talks with rebel leaders on Wednesday night.   But the generals in the field have had clear differences with Yeltsin's security adviser as well as with their own defence minister.   Explosions occasionally echoed across the countryside around Grozny, but they were far fewer than on Wednesday, when a sporadic air and artillery bombardment went on for hours.   Itar-Tass news agency said six Russian servicemen had been killed in the city overnight, but no casualty figures were available for the rebels who control most of the town or for the civilians cowering in cellars to escape the fighting.   The Red Cross estimated on Wednesday that about 120,000 were left in Grozny.   A similar number had fled in the last two weeks.   Yeltsin, target of speculation over his health as factions vie for position over Chechnya, returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a brief break and met his new health minister.   Lebed returned to the same southern Chechen village where he had talks the previous night and promised to try to end the conflict and agree the status of demilitarised city for Grozny.   "We will today try to stop the war," he said.   "We have gathered here with the firm intention of achieving something worthwhile.   We are going to discuss the issues of how to separate the troops and give Grozny the status of a demilitarised city."   Lebed said on Wednesday he had agreed a ceasefire with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov and declared that the Russian military's threat to flatten Grozny would not happen.   He described the military ultimatum as a "bad joke" and assured Maskhadov late on Wednesday there would be no bombing.   The Russian military, humiliated by the separatists' takeover of Grozny on August 6, had accused the rebels of using a previous ceasefire to strengthen positions.   Truces have come and gone in Chechnya, and with Russia's chain of command looking tangled this week, it may yet be some time before Grozny can be sure Lebed is as good as his word. 
1641 !GCAT  Radio Romania news headlines:   * Leading board of ruling Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) to discuss proposals for new health and culture ministers this afternoon starting 4pm.   The government is to decide on the two new ministers to be appointed in its next cabinet meeting.   * Foreign policy commission of upper house of Senate had a first debate on the draft of the Romanian-Hungarian treaty, said commission chairman Sergiu Nicolaescu.   * Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu would present the draft of the Romanian-Hungarian treaty in the next cabinet meeting, due on Friday, and only afterwards attend debates in the Senate's foreign policy commission on the treaty, said foreign ministry spokesman Sorin Ducaru.   Ducaru said Melescanu would present the draft treaty also in a meeting with parliamentary parties.   --Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264 
1642 !GCAT  Here are highlights from Polish newspapers this morning.   RZECZPOSPOLITA   - The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) wants to preserve the continuity of responsibility for cabinet ministries during the reform of central administration.   The SLD would keep the finance ministry while the economy ministry would go to its coalition partner the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), SLD chief Jerzy Szmajdzinski proposed during negotiations yesterday.   - Britain's 7th Armoured Brigade will hold a training exercise on the Drawsko training grounds in northern Poland, which will cost less than at its training area in Canada.   - The privatisation ministry will consider selling two big sodium plants, Janikosoda and Soda Matwy, to the Ciech foreign trade company and the Inowroclaw-based salt mine to Petrochemia Plocka oil refinery, the ministry said.   - Members of the Polish Academy of Science (PAN), backed by politicians of various leanings oppose a plan to privatise the public CBOS polling institute.   - German firms Saarberg Holter Umwelttechnik and Klockner Industrieanlagen GMBH will install desulphuring appliances at the Opole electric power station by end-1997 in the biggest-ever Polish-German environmental protection project.   - After talks with the Polish Iberia Motors Seat dealer, the Volkswagen Poznan plant will delay assembling of Seat Cordoba cars until next month, VW Poznan board member Adam Dobielinski said.   - The Antimonopoly Office has demanded that TPSA, the telecommunications monopolist, produce connection pricing conditions it plans to present to Poland's two GSM digital cellular telephone operators.   The Office suspects that TPSA will try to impose the same pricing as for the analogue system's operator Centertel.   NOWA EUROPA   - President Aleksander Kwasniewski enjoys 63 percent public approval, a survey by the CBOS polling institute showed.   - Poland's foreign trade revenues, which have been boosted by cross-border trade, are falling as Germany and Russia introduce policies curbing money outflows.   "Maintaining positive balance at the level of $6 billion is impossible in the long run", the planning ministry information and forecasting department director Anna Trebacz said.   - Poland agreed to guarantee the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's 50 million Ecu loan for Poland's east-west railway line modernisation, the finance ministry said.   - In the 1996 first half, the net profit of the major PZU SA insurance company was 52 million zlotys, 18 percent higher than in the same period last year.   - The privatisation ministry will soon conduct public offering or direct sale to major investors of 20 large firms.   The ministry said 60 privatisation projects were under way.   - Radom-based telephone maker RWT SA will declare bankruptcy as potential investor CEBA Poland has withdrawn its offer.   RWT SA has a 27 million zlotys debt.   GAZETA WYBORCZA   - An association of owners of homes built on former German lands which passed to Poland after 1945 demanded land property rights, fearing that the previous owners may submit claims when Poland joins the European Union.   - The Lodz-based Powszechny Bank Gospodarczy (PBG) consumer bank has bought 40 cash dispensers from American firm NCR.   PBG officials said the dispensers would take VISA cards and come into operation in six big Polish cities this year.   - The U.S. bank Merrill Lynch has increased its stake in the listed Elektrim foreign trade company to five percent.   - The listed Elektromontaz electrical engineering firm will carry out a cable project for the Czech Plzen-based Skoda Energetika plant worth $ 1,283,000.   ZYCIE WARSZAWY - Some participants in a Coca-Cola competition will sue Coca-Cola Poland Services for allegedly withholding prizes totalling 320 thousand zlotys.   - The recently announced Polish Development Bank (PBR) Eurobond issue will not exceed $75 million.   The money will be used for investment and credit refinancing operations.   - According to a recent Bank Handlowy Capital Operations Centre (BH COK) analysis of the Jutrzenka confectionery maker, listed on the parallel market, the firm's market share in the coming two years will increase from three to four percent.   PARKIET - Listed Slaska Fabryka Kabli (SFK) cable maker has reported a July net loss of 260,000 thousand zlotys.   "We expect the situation to improve from August onwards", SFK deputy president Marian Foltyyn said.   - According to Polish Industrial Lobby (PLP) experts, demonopolizing and privatisation of the electric energy sector will hurt the economy as it will lead to higher energy prices.   - The Jelcz bus-maker, controlled by Sobieslaw Zasada Centrum SA, will supply Lublin city with buses worth five million zlotys.   - The listed Rafako boiler maker will join a tender for contracts to deliver boiler and exhaust desulphuring equipment to the Belchatow 2 electric power station.   -- Warsaw Newsroom +48 22 653 9700 
1643 !GCAT !GPOL  President Boris Yeltsin, back in the Kremlin after a two-day holiday, moved to complete his government team on Thursday and met several candidates for top ministerial jobs.   Russian news agencies said decrees naming the new ministers would be signed in the near future.   Itar-Tass news agency said Pyotr Rodionov -- not to be confused with defence minister Igor Rodionov -- was named fuel and energy minister, Yuri Bespalov is the new industry minister, Anatoly Zaitsev is minister for railway communications and Viktor Orlov is minister for natural resources.   Tatyana Dmitrieva, the new health minister, is the only woman so far in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.   Most ministers were appointed earlier this month after Yeltsin was inaugurated for a second term as Russian president.   But a list of ministers left some posts vacant.   Yeltsin has still not named a minister for culture or one responsible for relations with other former Soviet states.   The agencies gave no details of what was discussed at the meetings between Yeltsin and the candidates.   Yeltsin, 65, has not been seen in public since he was inaugurated for a second term on August 9.   His absence prompted speculation that he was ill but aides insisted he was just resting after a gruelling reelection campaign. 
1644 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed flew into a Chechen village for talks with rebel leaders on Thursday hours after the passing of a deadline set by army generals for an assault on the capital, Grozny.   Pounded by Russian forces on Wednesday, Grozny was relatively peaceful early on Thursday morning with no sign of major military activity.   Lebed said he had halted the attack after 11th-hour talks with rebel leaders on Wednesday night.   But the field commanders have had clear differences with President Boris Yeltsin's security adviser as well as with their own defence minister.   Explosions occasionally echoed across the countryside around Grozny, but they were far fewer than on Wednesday, when a sporadic air and artillery bombardment went on for hours.   Itar-Tass news agency said six Russian servicemen had been killed in the city overnight, but no casualty figures were available for the rebels who control most of the town or for the civilians cowering in cellars to escape the fighting.   The Red Cross estimated on Wednesday that about 120,000 were left in Grozny.   A similar number had fled in the last two weeks.   Presidential aides said Yeltsin, target of speculation over his health as factions vie for position over Chechnya, returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a brief break.   Lebed returned to the same village where he had talks the previous night and promised to try to end the conflict and agree the status of demilitarised city for Grozny.   "We will today try to stop the war," he said on arrival at Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.   "We have gathered here with the firm intention of achieving something worthwhile.   We are going to discuss the issues of how to separate the troops and give Grozny the status of a demilitarised city."   Lebed said on Wednesday he had agreed a ceasefire with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov and that the Russian military would not carry out its threat to flatten Grozny with air raids and artillery assaults.   He described the military ultimatum as a "bad joke".   The Russian military, humiliated by the separatists' takeover of Grozny on August 6, had accused them of using a previous ceasefire to strengthen positions.   Military commanders had given civilians 48 hours to leave the city before they began bombing the rebels out of it.   But Lebed assured Maskhadov late on Wednesday there would be no bombing.   "I have taken it upon myself never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums," said Lebed, telling local people who gathered around that he would strive to justify their trust.   Ceasefires have come and gone in 20 months of war in Chechnya, however.   With Russia's chain of command looking more than usually tangled in recent days, it may be some time before Grozny can be sure that Lebed is as good as his word.   Asked about his tug-of-war with the generals, Lebed was quoted as saying on Wednesday: "No one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing.   "We have to restore a single command structure."   Frightened civilians have already fled the city, much of it still in ruins after Russian raids at the start of Russia's military campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   Those still in the city, huddled in cellars without power, water or food, have appealed to the outside world for help.   Yeltsin, as commander-in-chief of Russia's armed forces, is in overall command of the Chechnya campaign, Moscow's biggest military engagement since the Afghan war.   But at his only public appearance in seven weeks, his August 9 inauguration, he looked stiff and tired.   Aides say he is resting and have denied reports he has suffered a recurrence of heart trouble.   U.S. President Bill Clinton appealed to Yeltsin on Wednesday to end violence in Chechnya and promote a peaceful dialogue.   "This cycle of violence must come to an end because prolonged fighting is only going to endanger civilians," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters, quoting a letter from Clinton to Yeltsin. 
1645 !GCAT  These are some of the main stories in Sofia newspapers today.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   24 CHASA   -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the weakening of the Bulgarian lev which reflects unsufficient financial discipline, the IMF mission leader Anne MgGuirk said on arrival in Sofia.   The IMF mission is in Bulgaria to review the progress of its reform programme within a funging agreement approved last month.   -- Bulgaria is expected to become a member of the World Trade Organisation by the end of the year, deputy trade minister Petar Stefanov said.   -- Bulgaria's state-run transport companies posted 2.854 billion levs loss in the first half of 1996, the transport ministry said.   -- Bulgaria's central bank (BNB) could cut 10 points off its record high main interest rate of 108 percent in September if the lev steadies against the dollar on the local forex market and commercial banks meet the targets set in their stabilisation programmes, central bank officials said.    -- Bulgaria's private Slavyani bank is in merger talks with several other private credit institutions in a bid to meet new central bank minimum capital requirements, Slavyani board chairman Borislav Tsonev said.   The BNB last week that banks should raise their capital to 1.4 billion levs or 2.2 billion levs by March 31, 1997 for a domestic and a full licence respectively.   STANDART   -- Bulgaria's air traffic controllers at the airports in Sofia, Varna and Bourgas threatened a strike from August 29 if the transport ministry fails to meet their demand for a $1,200 monthly salary by that date.   -- The main opposition Union of Democratic Forces said it would ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether Socialist foreign minister Georgi Pirinski, whose Bulgarian citizenship has been disputed, can be a cabinet member.   The U.S. born Pirinski is also the candidate of the ruling Socialist Party for the country's presidential elections due on October 27.   PARI   -- Bulgaria is expected to import some 100,000 tonnes of grain worth $25 million from the United States to replenish its state reserves, trade minister Atanas Paparizov said.   -- Some twelve debt-ridden state firms, slated for liquidation, could be restructured, stabilised or privatised, trade union leader Krastyo Petkov said, adding that he would raise the issue in talks with the visiting IMF mission.   TROUD   -- Bulgaria's national carrier Balkan Airlines posted 1.8 billion levs loss for the first half of 1996, transport ministry said.   -- The trade ministry imposed new minimum export prices on pork, chicken meat and cheese in a move to prevent exports at artificially low prices, trade minister Atanas Papariziv said.   -- Sofia Newsroom, (++359-2) 981 8569 
1646 !GCAT  DELO   - Slovenian ombudsman of human rights Ivo Bizjak said delays in court procedures in the country were too long, as many cases take more than four years.   - 80 employees of machine producer Litostroj ended their strike on Wednesday after receiving the delayed part of June salaries.   DNEVNIK   - Slovenia's accountancy court will decide whether the planned 16.5 kilometre trunk of a highway between Vransko and Blagovica would have to be changed because of high costs as the route includes five tunnels. 
1647 !GCAT  HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - Slavomir Hatina, director of oil refiner Slovnaft, said the company was still negotiating on $250 million syndicated loan with Citibank which should cover a major part of investment for its EFPA modernisation programme.   - Slovnaft said it would sign the last contracts for EFPA by the first half of September at the latest.   - One of the world's leading producers of plastic fibres, Rhone-Poulenc of France, plans to aqcuire by the end of this year 100-percent control of major plastic materials producer Chemlon Humenne.   The french firm already holds 56.8 percent of Chemlon.   - Some 42.5 percent out of 5,737 companies posted a profit in 1995, totalling about 72 billion crowns.   Overall losses at unprofitbale firms totalled 29 billion crowns.   - Production of coal is expected to total around 3.8 million tonnes this year, slightly up from 3.6 million tonnes in 1995.   NARODNA OBRODA - Economics Minister Jan Ducky said a bank specialised in supporting exporters could begin operation at the beginning of next year.   Ducky said the bank would be state-owned with contributions from exporting firms.   - Slovak ambassador to Vatican, Alexander Neuwirth, has not yet returned to Vatican, some four months after he was recalled to Bratislava for "consultation with foreign ministry."   - One of the leading construction firms, Hydrostav, wholly- owned by a manager-employee joint-stock company, posted a gross profit of 95 million crowns in first half, an increase of 30 percent over the same period in 1995.   - Brigita Schmognerova, an economics analyst with the opposition Party of Democratic Left (SDL), said VSZ steel's acquisition of a 43.7 percent stake in bank IRB violated the banking law, as the purchase was not approved by the central bank and finance minsitry.   - Schmognerova warned that VSZ's entry into financial institutions, which also include Dopravna Banka, could be a serious danger for these banks due to the company's extensive debts.   - Schmognerova said the Slovak banking sector has entered a similar stage of decline of financial institutions as the Czech banking sector witnessed over the recent past.   PRAVDA - Shell said it would build about 10 petrol stations in Slovakia within next two years.   Shell said about 70 percent of motor fuels it sells in Slovakia are supplied by Slovnaft.   -- Bratislava Newsroom, 42-7-210-3687 
1648 !GCAT  HOSPODARSKE NOVINY - According to the Czech National Bank, 22 percent, or 219 billion crowns, of the 980 billion crowns in total loans at banks will likely have to be written off.   - The Czech Republic posted a trade surplus to the countries of the CEFTA, comprised of the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia.   Exports to these countries totalled 6.113 billion crowns, while imports from these countries totalled 3.751 billion crowns.   - According to the German Institute for Economic Research, trade between the EU and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is predicted to increase by 250 percent in the next few years.   - EuroTel GSM telephones can be used in Germany in spite of the fact that EuroTel has no existing contract with any German operators.   Calls placed in Germany on EuroTel GSM phones are free.   - Anheuser Busch Int.  's actions on the German market have been described by the director of Budejovicky Budvar n.p. as a classic case of a parasite.   The American company has been marketing it's Anheuser-Busch B beer on the German market with advertisements featuring the name Budweiser, which is a trademark owned by Budvar in Germany, the third-most imported beer in Germany.   - The National Property Fund, which owns 22 percent of Cukrovar Prosenice, wants to know the reasons why the supra-national Eastern Sugar company, which owns 55 percent, has decided to close the refinery, though the NPF admits that they will not be able to influence the situation.   PRAVO - CEZ is continuing to supply six regional companies with energy in spite of the fact that they owe a total of two billion crowns to the company.   - Anheuser Busch has offered its proposal for the privitisation of Budejovicky Budvar to the Minstry of Agriculture, which is to decide on the method of Budvar's privatisation at the beginning of September.   MLADA FRONTA DNES - The flow of direct investment from foreign countries on the Czech market is expected to reach $420 million or 11.2 billion crowns in the first half of 1996, 2.5 billion crowns behind last year's record high.   -- Prague Newsroom, +42-2-2423-0003 
1649 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  President Boris Yeltsin's security adviser, Alexander Lebed, began a new round of talks with Chechen separatist leaders on Thursday and promised to try to end the conflict.   "We will today try to stop the war," he told reporters on arrival at the rebel-held village of Novye Atagi, some 20 km (12 miles) from the Chechen capital Grozny.   "We will sort out concrete measures to do that."   "We have gathered here with the firm intention of achieving something worthwhile.   We are going to discuss the issues of how to separate the troops and give Grozny the status of a demilatarised city," Lebed said.   Lebed, charged by President Boris Yeltsin with the tricky task of resolving the Chechen crisis, said on Wednesday he had agreed a ceasefire with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov.   He said the Russian military would not carry out a threat to flatten Grozny, held by the separatists since August 6 and described the military ultimatum as a "bad joke".   Lebed arrived in the village in a convoy of three helicopters, one carrying bodyguards and one with journalists aboard.   An aide said the talks were likely to last for about three hours. 
1650 !GCAT !GVIO  Grozny, pounded by Russian forces on Wednesday, was quiet early on Thursday as residents waited to see if peacemaker Alexander Lebed could deliver on his promise to halt a threatened all-out assault.   The sound of explosions occasionally echoed across the countryside around the city, but they were far fewer than on Wednesday, when artillery bombardments went on for hours.   A couple of helicopters flew overhead, but did not appear to be firing and there was no sign of the fighter jets which screamed over the city on Wednesday.   Lebed, sent by President Boris Yeltsin to bring peace to Chechnya, said after talks with Chechen separatists that he had agreed a ceasefire with the commander of the rebels who seized most of Grozny more than two weeks ago.   Interfax news agency, quoting the Russian commandant in Chechnya, said both Russian and Chechen forces had ceased military actions.   "The situation was normal in the town throughout the night," Partagen Andrievsky told the agency.   He said rebels had fired on Russian positions 10 times and 12 servicemen had been injured.   The Russian military, humiliated by the separatists' takeover of Grozny, had accused them of using a previous ceasefire to strengthen their positions, and military commanders had told civilians to leave the city because they would bomb the rebels out of it.   But Lebed assured Chechen chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov late on Wednesday that the Russian generals' ultimatum was "a bad joke" and said there would be no bombing.   "Lebed gave a guarantee that there would be no storming of Grozny tomorrow nor in the future," Maskhadov told Reuters correspondent Dmitry Kuznets after late-night talks with Lebed in the village of Novye Atagi, 20 km (12 miles) from Grozny.   "I have taken it upon myself never again to give the Chechen side ultimatums," said Lebed, telling local people who gathered around that he would strive to justify their trust.   The two men are due to meet again at 10 a.m. (0600 GMT).   Ceasefires have come and gone in 20 months of war in Chechnya.   And with Russia's chain of command looking more than usually tangled over the past few days, it will be some hours before Grozny can be sure that Lebed is as good as his word.   Asked about his tug-of-war with the generals, Lebed was quoted as saying: "No one has given anyone any powers.   You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing.   "We have to restore a single command structure."   Frightened civilians have already fled the city, much of it still in ruins after Russian raids at the start of Russia's military campaign to crush Chechnya's independence bid.   Those still in the city, huddled in cellars without power, water or food, have appealed to the outside world for help.   The Red Cross estimated there were now about 120,000 civilians in the city after a similar number fled the past fortnight's fighting.   The acting Russian commander in the region made his threat of an all-out bombardment on Monday.   He accused the rebels of abusing a shaky truce agreed last week with Lebed's help and gave civilians 48 hours to Thursday morning to flee their homes.   His superior, General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, returned from holiday and sounded equally bellicose on Wednesday.   Tikhomirov met Lebed before he headed off for his talks with Maskhadov.   Yeltsin, as commander-in-chief of Russia's armed forces, is in overall command of the Chechnya campaign, Moscow's biggest military engagement since the Afghan war.   But at his only public appearance in seven weeks, his August 9 inauguration, he looked stiff and tired.   Aides say he is resting and have denied reports he has suffered a recurrence of heart trouble.   U.S. President Bill Clinton appealed to Yeltsin on Wednesday to end violence in Chechnya and promote a peaceful dialogue.   "This cycle of violence must come to an end because prolonged fighting is only going to endanger civilians," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters, quoting a letter from Clinton to Yeltsin. 
1651 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed has silenced the guns which were pounding Grozny and reined in the generals who were threatening to flatten the city.   But his cynical dismissal of the Russian military's ultimatum to the rebels this week to leave the Chechen capital or be carpet-bombed as a "bad joke" raises two vital questions: Whose joke was it and might they have more up their sleeves?   The answers could mean life or death for the civilians cowering in Grozny basements, breathing wary sighs of relief on Thursday that no bombs were falling.   They will be sorry to learn that no one in Moscow seems to have the responses to hand.   Lebed and his protege, Defence Minister Igor Rodionov, have said they had nothing to do with the bombardment threats which brought condemnation from governments around the world.   Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov, with whom Lebed was said to be on the verge of a detailed peace settlement on Thursday, took them at their word.   "We hope Lebed will be able to conqunt to conclude the war," Maskhadov said after agreeing a ceasefire with Lebed on Wednesday evening, just hours before the bombardment had been due to start.   What is not clear is just who "those in Moscow" are.   Maskhadov told Reuters he knew their names and so did Lebed.   But he was not about to say who they were.   In just two months in the Kremlin, Lebed has upset the status quo, accusing high-placed figures of profiting from the war and securing the sacking of the defence minister, Pavel Grachev, and other leading hawks.   Last week, he said Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov should be sacked for bungling the defence of Grozny.   New Defence Minister Rodionov said on Wednesday that the acting army commander in Chechnya, Konstantin Pulikovsky, had been "given a dressing down" for announcing the ultimatum on Monday.   He said "someone" had provoked Pulikovsky, but gave no clue as to who that someone was.   Pulikovsky is still in his job.   His superior, Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, who backed his deputy on his return from holiday on Tuesday, has not received the slightest public reprimand.   The liberal Izvestia newspaper asked on Thursday why, if Pulikovsky was out of line, no one had said anything earlier, pointing out that for two days, as the crisis loomed, all top officials, including the president, kept their heads down.   "Paralysis of Power" ran the headline on its front-page commentary on Thursday alongside photographs comparing the exodus from Grozny with the floods of refugees in World War Two.   Emil Pain, a former presidential adviser on Chechnya, said on Wednesday he doubted the generals were really acting alone.   "If an ultimatum was presented then there must have been a nod from on high," he told a news conference.   Izvestia pointed out that, far from being out of control, they could merely have been fulfilling Yeltsin's orders.   Last week Yeltsin gave the command for the situation in Grozny to be returned to how it was on August 5, the day before the rebels captured large parts of the city.   This is Lebed's problem as he considers how to turn his dramatic political success into a lasting peace while saving face for Moscow after the humiliation of its army that has left the rebels still firmly ensconced in Grozny.   "Lebed's mandate is completely contradictory.   On the one hand he has to bring peace, and on the other he has to reproduce the situation on August 5 before the Chechens came in," said a western diplomat who declined to be named.   "Will Russia give in?"   asked the popular daily Moskovsky Komsolets, giving a hint of the likely outrage in Moscow to any sign Lebed had given in to the rebels.   Defence commentator Pavel Felgenhauer said that the latest crisis resembled the 1992 civil war in the former Soviet republic of Moldova, where Lebed's successful peace efforts were preceded by a Russian offensive against the Moldovan army.   He said the latest offensive was meant to send a message to the rebels that they had better be flexible -- or else.   "The army generals and Lebed who seem to be acting independently of one another are playing in the same team," Felgenhauer wrote in Thursday's Sevodnya newspaper.   "The aim is to make clear to the Chechen separatists that... a ceasefire must mean a total end to any hostile acts, otherwise Lebed will not be able to stop Moscow's "party of war'." 
1652 !C18 !C181 !C183 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Slovak National Property Fund (NPF) on Thursday said it would amend the recent sale of a major stake in oil and gas storage firm Nafta a.s. to include "at least" a 10 percent stake for company employees.   "The (NPF) will propose an amendment to the contract with Druha Obchodna a.s., the new owner of 45.9 percent of Nafta, stipulating the firm will have to sell a stake representing at least 10 percent of Nafta's basic capital to Nafta employees," Oto Balogh, NPF spokesman, told Reuters.   The NPF is the state privatisation agency charged with selling state property.   Earlier on Thursday, NPF president Stefan Gavornik told the official Slovak radio that he expected the NPF presidium, the agency's executive body, to approve the amendment to the contract at its meeting on August 27.   The NPF raised eyebrows at the beginning of August when it sold its entire holdings in Nafta to the private, and little-known, firm Druha Obchodna for 500 million crowns, far below market value.   Analysts have said that the shares had a market value of some 3.2 billion crowns.   Nafta shares closed at 2,000 crowns on the BSE on Wednesday while the NPF sale price averaged about 400 crowns per share.   Nafta was originally included on a government list of strategic companies which would not be privatised at all, or in which the government would retain a veto right over the key decisions.   Despite the sale, the government continues to hold the veto right its so-called "golden share", which was approved by a Nafta shareholders' meeting this spring.   -- Peter Laca, Bratislava Newsroom, 42-7-210-3687 
1653 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  A U.S. Information Agency poll shows very few Bosnian Serbs and Croats support the Dayton peace agreement's goal of a unified, multi-ethnic Bosnia and documents strong separatist sentiments.   Ninety-five per cent of the Bosnian Serbs surveyed in the poll voiced opposition to a unified Bosnia, as did two thirds of the Croats.   In contrast, Moslem support for a unified Bosnia was near-unanimous at 97 percent.   "Bosnian Serbs, Croats and Moslems have grown further apart -- not closer together -- in their visions for the country," the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) said in an analysis of the poll issued in Sarajevo on Thursday.   The poll, conducted in mid-to-late July among 2,763 Bosnian residents, provided a number of insights into the political mood of the country in the run-up to September 14 national elections.   Three-quarters of Croats polled felt the Croat-dominated Herzegovina region of Bosnia "should really be part of Croatia".   Ninety per cent of Croats thought it "inevitable that the country will be partitioned into three ethnic communities", a statement agreed to by 96 per cent of Serbs.   Eight Moslems in ten felt differently, endorsing the proposition that "we will ultimately be able to live in peace together".   Not surprisingly, backing for nationalist parties among Croats and Serbs was strong.   The hardline Croat nationalist HDZ won the backing of 81 percent of the Croats interviewed, giving it what appears to be an insurmountable lead in the forthcoming elections.   Support for the ruling Serb nationalist SDS party among Serbs in Bosnia's Serb republic was less solid, standing at just 54 per cent.   The rival Socialist Party won 25 percent backing.   Regardless of which party they backed, however, virtually all Serbs (96 per cent) surveyed agreed with the statement that the "Bosnian Serb republic should be part of Serbia".   "The results of this poll reveal why there was a war in Bosnia and why the peace is so fragile," said a Western diplomat in Sarajevo who asked not to be named.   "They make it clear just how deeply the country is divided and how difficult it will be to realise Dayton's aspirations regardless of the outcome of elections."   A USIA poll of residents in the predominantly Moslem region of central Bosnia showed Alija Izetbegovic leading Haris Silajdzic in the race for the Moslem seat on Bosnia's new collective presidency.   Silajdzic, the former Bosnian prime minister, was favoured by 33 per cent of those interviewed as against 44 per cent for Izetbegovic, who is the country's current president.   Analysts say that, if those figures hold, the split Moslem vote could ensure that a Serb gets the most votes for president and emerges as chairman of the three-man body.   In the Serb republic, 47 per cent of 1,158 Serbs interviewed said they doubted next month's elections would be free and fair. 
1654 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian troops and separatist rebels are due to cease fire in Chechnya on Friday and are expected to form joint patrol groups to protect the devastated regional capital Grozny against looters.   Moscow peacemaker Alexander Lebed and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov struck a military deal on Thursday in the village of Novye Atagy, some 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.   The deal also provides for withdrawing Russian troops from Grozny -- much of which has been controlled by rebels since August 6 -- to bases outside the city and a later withdrawal of Moscow troops from the rest of Chechnya.   "I made this decision on behalf of Russian mothers whose sons have died and continue to die in Chechnya," Lebed, whom President Boris Yeltsin had ordered to end the 20-month war in the breakaway province, told reporters after signing the deal.   Interfax news agency said the truce will be launched at midday (0800 GMT) on Friday.   On the same day the sides are expected to form joint military administrations in Grozny which will run the city.   Lebed and Maskhadov also agreed to swap prisoners of war.   Tens of thousands people died in Chechnya after Moscow sent troops to quell the region's independence bid.   Rebels fight for full independence from Moscow, while the Kremlin wants Chechnya to remain part of the Russian Federation.   Lebed said after signing he would be back in Chechnya in two days to sign a political pact which would clarify the future status of Chechnya.   He made no hint, though, on what sort of compromise might be reached.   Truces have come and gone in 20 months of the Chechen conflict, and it was too soon to say whether the new deal would bring respite for civilians who have been fleeing Grozny in tens of thousands since the raid began.   The latest bout of fighting, in which rebels seized much of Grozny, followed a deal which foresaw rebel disarmament in return for step-by-step troop withdrawals from the mainly Moslem region to be completed by September 1.   It was also unclear whether Lebed had enough power and support from Yeltsin to press on with his peace deal.   The ex-paratrooper's Kremlin chief sent him a discouraging message on Thursday complaining of a lack of progress just hours before the deal with Maskhadov was signed.   "I am not completely satisfied with Lebed's performance in Chechnya," Yeltsin said in a televised interview with RIA news agency.   Some of Russia's top brass also appeared sceptical about the deal.   "These are the third talks since I started serving in Chechnya," Itar-Tass news agency quoted the commander of Interior Ministry forces, Colonel-General Anatoly Shkirko, as saying.   "Earlier talks had ended in nothing," added the general whose troops form the backbone of Russian forces in Chechnya.   "Moreover they had incurred new casualties."   News of the truce had apparently failed to reach Grozny fast enough.   Interfax news agency said at least 50 Russian servicemen have been killed in a battle which erupted at Grozny's Minutka square on Thursday and continued after the truce deal was signed.   The report could not be independently confirmed.   Lebed said he was ready to face criticism.   "I predict attacks by jingoistic patriots and jingoistic democrats for signing the accord," he said referring to radicals on different sides of the political spectrum in Moscow.   "Anyone who is unhappy is welcome to complain, including the president and God Almighty himself," he added. 
1655 !G15 !G158 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL  Powerful paramilitary gangs must be removed from Mostar if efforts to reunify its Moslem and Croat communities are to succeed, the European Union envoy in the Bosnian city said on Thursday.   On August 14, Moslems and Croats who wrecked Mostar in a 1993-94 war convened a new joint council and elected a single mayor after Western threats of sanctions that ended a Croat boycott of the EU-sponsored reunification process.   But EU envoy Sir Martin Garrod said politically connected rightist gangsters in the Croat-run western sector of town would have to be stripped of power and influence to normalise life in Mostar, which is about 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Sarajevo.   "There are two fundamentally important things -- one is that is we achieve the unified administration of Mostar and the second, that we get rid of the scum from Mostar," he said at a ceremony reopening the main city bus station.   "By that I mean the thugs and the gangs and the criminals who instil fear, who instil anguish, who instil intimidation into the innocent citizens of Mostar," he said in comments carried by Bosnian state television.   "And that scum has got to be removed if we're going to move back to normal life in Mostar."   Profiteering nationalist warlords played a big role in the separatist Croat war to seize Mostar "capital" of a breakaway Croat "republic" in western Bosnia, which is to be abolished under U.S. pressure on September 1.   Persecution of Moslems -- firebombings of property and violent evictions of residents -- was pervasive in Croat-held west Mostar during the war and has continued sporadically even under EU administration since 1994.   New Croat mayor Ivan Prskalo missed the bus station ceremony because of what were described as "other obligations", but his Moslem deputy Safet Orucevic, previously mayor of east Mostar, did attend alongside Garrod.   "I'm sure Mr Prskalo and I will have the opportunity and honour to jointly open many such facilities which would serve to unify Mostar so that we can revive the trust and tradition of joint living of all citizens of this city," Orucevic said.   Rebuilding of the bus station cost $260,000 in EU funds. 
1656 !GCAT !GCRIM  An 11-year-old Albanian boy is suspected of biting a sleeping baby to death, the state-run news agency ATA reported on Thursday.   The five-month-old baby boy, who bled to death, was found with savage teeth marks on his neck and body.   Police suspected the older boy, dubbed "the vampire" by the local press, of being responsible because he had a record of biting other people.   An investigation using measurements and photographs indicated the boy carried out the attack, ATA said.   Police also found blood-soaked clothes belonging to the boy and were holding them as evidence, it added.   The agency said the boy, who could not be arrested because his age, remained at home in the western village of Jube and was behaving extremely aggressively.   "Policemen handed him a notebook...and he ate it," it said. 
1657 !GCAT !GVIO  Chechen civilians hailed Russian security chief Alexander Lebed as a saviour on Thursday for preventing a threatened all-out assault on the capital Grozny, but separatist fighters doubted peace had come to stay.   A flood of refugees from this devastated city was reduced to a trickle after Lebed described as "a bad joke" an ultimatum by a senior Russian commander for people to leave the city within 48 hours or face a massive attack.   "Lebed is our great hope," said Wakha Israilov, a 36-year-old man who had stayed behind to protect his home from looting.   "He's our only hope," chorused a crowd of women at a nearby marketplace.   Lebed, President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy to Chechnya, appeared to have opened the door to new period of relative calm in the breakway region by striking a deal with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov.   As the two men ended talks at a village south of Grozny, only a few cars and buses flying white flags carried refugees along a dusty "safe" corridor leading out of the northeast suburb of Staraya Sunzha.   After another night of mortar and sniper fire, some people ventured cautiously into the streets in search of food and water.   The occasional rifle shot and rattle of a machine gun reminded them of the dangers.   Bearded Moslem fighters wearing green headbands and wielding Kalashnikovs patrolled the district, calmly demonstrating their control.   They were sceptical about the latest peacemaking initiatives, but they intended to obey the ceasefire.   "We are under strict orders not to shoot," said field commander Ruslan Masayev at one of the fighters' bases in the city.   "If they respect it, we will not fire."   Masayev, in camouflage fatigues and bedecked with weapons he said had been captured from his Russian enemies, answers directly to Shamil Basayev -- the rebel commander who masterminded the August 6 offensive on Grozny.   "We are at home in our city and we don't plan to leave," Masayev said, adding that he was ready to fight to the death and had little faith in the Russians, even Lebed.   "I only have faith in Allah," he said.   "This is not my first day of war.   I've heard many promises and none of them have been fulfilled."   Masayev's men said they were holding several Russian prisoners and they showed journalists two young servicemen captured five day ago.   The two frail and frightened-looking soldiers, wearing civilian clothes, had light bruises around their eyes but said they had been treated well.   They identified themselves as Ravil Zinorov, 27, and Serei Balashov, 21.   Both had been serving in Chechnya under contract for only a matter of weeks.   "I hope this war finishes soon and they will send us home," Balashov said with his Chechen captors looking on.   He wrote his address and a message in this correspondent's notebook.   It read: "Grandma, everything is alright.   I hope to return home soon.   I kiss you, Sergei." 
1658 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL !M14 !M141 !MCAT  A senior Ukrainian minister on Thursday denied charges by traders that the government had officially ordered state-owned elevators to keep grain locked up until state grain purchase contracts are fulfilled.   But Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Zubets told a news conference such orders may have been issued informally by lower levels of government in some provinces, and acknowledged that there were some restrictions on grain movements.   "The Ukrainian government has not forbidden anything," Zubets said.   "Legally we are not allowed to do this, and this will never happen."   Without written government orders as evidence of force majeure, brokers are liable for breach of contract.   Traders say there is an order in practice restricting movements of grain across oblast (provincial) boundaries.   After the government fills its order the provinces will allow the elevators the full right to export grain wherever they want, Zubets said.   Asked by reporters whether the government would intervene to release grain, he replied "in a day or two".   A formal order by the government to restrict grain movements would break agreements with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which have urged Ukraine to liberalise its farm sector.   Grain trading on Ukraine's 22 exchanges ground to a halt about two weeks ago, and industry sources accused the government of quietly ordering the provinces to hold on to this season's limited supply of grain.   Much of the grain in the elevators which traders say is being held back had been purchased in May and June in forward contracts of up to 10,000 tonnes, and brokers said it may not be released until November, by which time the state will have bought all the grain it needs.   Angry brokers have written a letter to Prime Minister Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Pavlo Lazarenko asking them to release the grain, and have also published letters in newspapers saying the government's move has paralysed the exchanges.   "Don't believe those who have said we've intervened to raise grain prices," Zubets said.   Ukraine has forecast the 1996 grain harvest at 28 million tonnes -- the lowest since the late 1940s.   It hopes to export about three million tonnes this year.   Zubets said the state must buy about five million tonnes of grain from domestic farmers to ensure people have enough to eat.   Only about eight percent of grain is bought and sold on the relatively new exchange system, and the majority is bartered for fuel and machinery, used directly as animal feed or sold straight to the government.   --Irene Marushko, Kiev Newsroom +380 44 229 2264 
1659 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  International mediator Carl Bildt expressed "deep disquiet" on Thursday over reports of serious Serb manipulation of voters ahead of the Bosnian elections, and the main Moslem party is pondering a boycott.   The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is overseeing Bosnian post-war elections, and independent monitors say the registration of Bosnian Serb refugees has been marred by serious irregularities.   Figures released on Thursday confirmed OSCE anecdotal reports that Serb refugees were directed to register in "target" communities from which the pre-war Moslem majority was expelled during the 43-month Bosnian conflict.   Bildt, international High Representative to Bosnia, said registration figures for two municipalities, Brcko and Srebrenica, looked particularly suspect.   "I have expressed my deep disquiet over these figures to OSCE and told them they must come up with a plan of action," Bildt told Reuters.   "One option is to annul the registrations for towns like Brcko and Srebrenica as obviously rigged.   The figures are simply not credible as voluntary acts.   They fly in the face of common sense."   OSCE and independent monitors reported that Serb officials had actively discouraged refugees from registering to vote by absentee ballot or in person from the community in which they lived before the war.   Human rights workers said the obvious intent of this "electoral engineering" was to cement Serb control over key depopulated towns by ensuring a Serb majority even if all expelled Moslems somehow showed up to vote on election day.   Leaders of the Moslem nationalist ruling SDA party were scheduled to meet in Sarajevo on Thursday evening to discuss the voter registration problem.   Bosnian government radio on Wednesday reported the SDA would ask the OSCE for revisions to the registration process for refugees, or for a postponement of municipal elections.   The radio said if the OSCE refused the request the SDA would consider calling for a boycott of the elections.   The Dayton peace agreement proposed the elections as a balm to heal the country's war wounds but Western officials say the Serbs were using them as a knife to dismember Bosnia along ethnic lines.   On Thursday figures for refugee registrations from Serbia were released, making the extent of the manipulation apparent, diplomats and human rights monitors said.   The strategic municipality of Brcko had a pre-war population of 87,332, of which 44 percent was Moslem and 21 percent or about 18,000 Serb.   Brcko is now virtually a pure Serb community due to ethnic cleansing during the war and has a current population estimated at 20,000.   But OSCE reports that another 31,278 Serb refugees in Serbia have also registered to vote in Brcko.   In the Srebrenica municipality, where 37,211 people lived before the war, of whom 73 percent were Moslem and 25 percent or 9,300 were Serb, at least 10,000 Serbs now live.   Another 19,700 Serbs recently registered in Serbia to vote there.   Officials said the registration figures for these two communities were the most obviously suspect but that there were numbers for other towns in Bosnia's Serb republic which seemed inflated as well.   The OSCE could decide to suspend municipal elections without prejudicing the rest of the September 14 ballot because voting for local offices was not a requirement of the Dayton peace agreement.   The OSCE's Provisional Election Commission, which promulgates election rules, was meeting on Thursday and officials said its agenda included the issue of registration irregularities. 
1660 !GCAT !GVIO  Alexander Lebed, the Kremlin's new peacemaker in Chechnya, and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov agreed on Thursday to disengage their forces in the breakaway province after two weeks of bitter fighting.   Lebed, President Boris Yeltsin's security adviser, said Russian troops would leave the capital Grozny -- they were largely pushed out by the rebels in the last offensive -- and would start withdrawing from the rest of Chechnya.   He promised to return in two days to strike another deal, on the highly sensitive issue of Chechnya's political status.   "I will come back with a draft political agreement in two days.   We will discuss it and sign it," Lebed told reporters after signing the pact on military issues.   He gave no details of the planned political deal.   Tens of thousands have died since Moscow sent troops and armour in December 1994 to quell Chechnya's independence bid.   A series of attempts to end fighting have collapsed as the sides could not agree on the future of the mountainous region.   The separatists seek full independence from Moscow while the Kremlin wants Chechnya to remain part of the Russia Federation.   Ex-paratroop general Lebed, whom Yeltsin last week ordered to restore peace, told reporters that he and Maskhadov agreed that Russian troops will start leaving Grozny on Friday.   Most of the city has been in rebel hands since August 6.   "Troops will be withdrawn from Grozny because constitutional order cannot be introduced using air and artillery strikes," Lebed told reporters in this village some 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.   "They will be withdrawn from the whole of Chechnya."   Only on Wednesday, Lebed had blocked a plan by the Russian army commander in the region to bomb the city flat on Thursday.   He said that the capital will be run by joint military administrations.   Lebed did not say whether the pro-Moscow Chechen administrators, whom the rebels regard as traitors, would stay on in the city.   Lebed said that the the troop withdrawal from the hilly southern parts of Chechnya, where rebel positions are especially strong, would start on Friday.   But he said it was too early to set any deadline for a complete pullout.   "Let us stop fighting first and then deal with deadlines," he said.   Maskhadov stood side by side with Lebed in the yard of a large three-storey house facing around 100 journalists, guards and local residents where the signing took place.   The rebel commander was far more reserved in his comments.   "The basic principle of the agreement is joint action," said Maskhadov, for whom talks with Lebed are by no means his first negotiations with Russians.   Lebed said that he was ready to face criticism in Moscow for a deal which many could see as a national humiliation.   "I predict attacks by jingoistic patriots and jingoistic democrats for signing the accord," he said referring to radicals on different sides of the political spectrum in Moscow.   "Anyone who is unhappy is welcome to complain, including to the president and God Almighty himself," he added. 
1661 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Romania's leading opposition hopeful in November presidential elections on Thursday rejected calls to abandon his campaign after stinging attacks on his support for the return of the country's exiled king.   Emil Constantinescu, an academic who is running a close second to incumbent Ion Iliescu in opinion polls, said the ruling leftist Party of Social Democracy (PDSR) had been frightened by his popularity into starting a smear campaign.   The row is a foretaste of bitter campaigning, officially due to start on September 4, for November 3 presidential and parliamentary elections.   Iliescu, in power since the bloody 1989 fall of communism, launches his manifesto next Wednesday.   The PDSR on Wednesday said remarks by Constantinescu made in the United States showed that if elected he would breach the constitution by reinstalling King Michael, kicked out in 1947 and allowed to return to his home country only once.   Local media on Thursday said Constantinescu had been badly hurt by the charges and called on him to quit, saying he was damaging the electoral chances of the Democratic Convention (CDR), the loose centrist alliance that he leads.   Even supposed political allies who hope to govern in coalition with the CDR warned it they would oppose changes to the constitution.   "This is in essence nothing but a poor political manoeuvre," Constantinescu, 56, told Reuters.   He said his U.S. interview had been distorted by the PDSR and its author had come forward to acknowledge fabricating elements.   He denied he would restore the monarchy but said Michael, whose home is now in Switzerland, had a right to live in Romania.   "This (attack) shows the PDSR is not only worried it is in panic," said Constantinescu, who lost in 1992 to Iliescu.   "If anything good comes from this situation it is that we can see clearly, very shortly before the electoral campaign, how the PDSR will campaign on the themes of 1990 and 1992."   Communist-style PDSR attacks on the CDR as the party of land-owners, capitalists and royalists cost the opposition the 1992 election.   The PDSR, made up mainly of ex-communist functionaries, has held power since the 1989 revolution.   Constantinescu said the Romanian electorate, facing its third set of post-communist polls, was now too sophisticated to fall for PDSR scaremongering.   "The mentality of Romanians has changed a lot.   They now reject all such tactics based on hatred and disinformation," the bearded geology professor said, denying that his electoral chances had suffered a telling blow.   "By having this scandal now and proving it is nothing more than a diversion it will again compromise the ruling party and the issue will not be returned to in the campaign."   The issue of the monarchy still has resonance in Romania, where less than 10 percent support the king's return to power but many more hold him in affectionate regard.   Michael has been refused a visa since his one triumphant visit in 1992.   But analysts say the PDSR can profit by portraying the CDR as the party of privilege in a society suffering from the economic pain of a sluggish transition to a market economy. 
1662 !GCAT !GVIO  Islamist rebels in Tajikistan launched an attack against government forces to strengthen their grip on a strategic highway, a Tajik defence ministry source in Dushanbe said on Thursday.   The source told Reuters opposition fighters had attacked late on Wednesday near the the village of Childara, around 160 km (110 miles) east of the capital, to try to secure a bridge on a strategic road between government and rebel-held territory.   "There is a battle for the bridge and there have been casualties on both sides," he said by phone from the Tajik capital Dushanbe.   He said attacks had been stepped up elsewhere in the region but gave no further details.   Tajik opposition leader Akbar Torajonzoda, who spoke with Reuters by telephone from the Iranian capital Tehran, denied the clash, saying opposition forces already held the area.   "This bridge has already been taken by our detachments, it has been under our control for some time," he said.   On Monday, the Tajik government confirmed that the town of Tavildara, 200 km (120 miles) east of Dushanbe, had fallen to rebel forces in fierce fighting last week.   Neither the fall of Tavildara or Thursday's fighting around Childara have been independently confirmed.   Torajonzoda said he had met the United Nations special representative to Tajikistan, Gerd Merrem, in Tehran on Thursday -- Merrem is trying to rescue a shaky U.N. sponsored ceasefire agreed in peace talks last month -- but gave no details of the talks.   "We have no plans to step up our actions, we only take defensive measures," Torajonzoda said.   The four-year civil war in Tajikistan, a remote mountainous nation which borders Afghanistan and China, has costs tens of thousands of lives and displaced many more. 
1663 !E21 !E212 !ECAT !G15 !G158 !GCAT  The European Union is expected to transfer 40 million European currency units (ECU) to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on August 29, the BNB said in a statement.   "The Commission of the European Union informed the BNB that the second tranche of the balance of payments agreement signed in 1994 will be transfered to a BNB account on August 29," said the statement.   The first 70 million Ecu tranche of the 110 million ECU loan were transfered two years ago to support Bulgaria's balance of payments.   The EU approved the loan after Bulgaria closed an $8.16 million commercial debt deal in July 1994.   -- Sofia Newsroom, 359-2-84561 
1664 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian security supremo Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov, who signed a document to end weeks of fighting in the regional capital Grozny earlier on Thursday, have agreed a ceasefire from midday (0800 GMT) on Friday, Interfax news agency said.   "According to the document, all military actions will stop on Chechen territory from midday on August 23.   All special operations or terrorist acts are banned," the agency said.   Russia usually refers to its attacks on villages in the mostly-Moslem region to oust rebels as "special operations".    Lebed said after signing the deal earlier on Thursday that Russian troops would leave the regional capital Grozny, much of which has been seized by rebels for more than two weeks, and subsequently start leaving Chechnya.   Lebed also said that under the deal Grozny will be run by joint military administrations comprising troops and rebels.   Tens of thousands died in Chechnya after Russia sent troops to quell the region's independence bid.   Rebels want full independence from Moscow while the Kremlin insists that Chechnya should remain part of Russia.   Lebed said he would come back to Chechnya in two days to sign another agreement which would sort out political roots of the conflict including the issue of the region's future status.   He gave no details of a possible deal. 
1665 !GCAT !GVIO  At least 50 Russian servicemen have been killed in a battle with separatist rebels which erupted in the Chechen capital Grozny on Thursday and continued after Russia and the rebels agreed a truce, Interfax news agency said.   Interfax quoted Russian military command in Chechnya as saying that about 200 interior ministry forces, sent on reconaisance mission, clashed with rebels at Minutka Square.   The Interfax report could not be independently confirmed.    Moscow peacemaker Alexander Lebed and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov signed an agreement earlier on Thursday under which the two sides would cease all hostilities at noon (0800 GMT) on Friday.   Interfax made clear that the interior ministry detachment had been sent on the mission before the truce deal had been signed at the local equivalent of 1500 GMT.   But fierce fighting still raged at 1600 GMT, Interfax said.   It quoted a source in the Russian command in Chechnya as saying that the servicemen were outnumbered by the rebels. 
1666 !GCAT !GPOL  Russian President Boris Yeltsin, whose eight-week absence in public caused rumours about his health, said on Thursday that if he took his vacation he would stay in Russia rather than go abroad.   "Rumours circulate about my (possible) trip to Switzerland," Yeltsin said in a televised interview with RIA news agency.   "Thanks to the press for the invitation but I cannot go as there are problems which should be solved here," Yeltsin said.   "If I take my leave, I will spend it on Russian territory."   Yeltsin, 65, who had two heart attacks last year, disappeared from public view in late June at the end of a vigorous re-election campaign.   He appeared only briefly at an inauguration ceremony on August 9.   Yeltsin's aides have denied media reports that the Kremlin chief was ill and needed heart surgery, possibly in Switzerland.   They have insisted Yeltsin was fine though in need of a rest after the election campaign.   The president, who faces an upsurge of fighting in rebel Chechnya where separatists have seized the capital Grozny, just spent two days in the picturesque lakeland of Valdai in northwestern Russia, where he was seeking a vacation refuge.   He returned to Moscow on Wednesday and there has been no word since then whether he planned to return to Valdai for a longer break. 
1667 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Polish schoolgirl blackmailed two women with anonymous letters threatening death and later explained that she needed money for textbooks, police said on Thursday.   "The 13-year-old girl tried to extract 60 and 70 zlotys ($22 and $26) from two residents of Sierakowice by threatening to take their lives," a police spokesman said in the nearby northern city of Gdansk on Thursday.   He said the women reported the blackmail letters and police caught the girl on Wednesday as she tried to pick up the cash at the Sierakowice railway station.   "Interviewed in the presence of a psychologist, she said she wanted to use the money for school books and clothes," spokesman Kazimierz Socha told Reuters.   He said the case of the girl, from a poor family that had never been in trouble with the law, would go before a special court dealing with underage offenders. 
1668 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  A Russian foreign ministry spokesman on Thursday rejected criticism from the international community over its forces' attacks on the Chechen capital Grozny, recalling that the rebels started the latest fighting.   Foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Demurin told a news briefing that criticism "should be addressed to those who started these (military) actions", Interfax news agency said.   He was speaking a day after U.S. President Bill Clinton appealed to President Boris Yeltsin to end the violence in Chechnya and promote a peaceful dialogue.   "This cycle of violence must come to an end because prolonged fighting is only going to endanger civilians," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.   Itar-Tass news agency said of Demurin's reaction: "Talking about the disappointment caused by the renewed military activities in Chechnya expressed in particular by America, the diplomat advised them to remember who renewed the military actions and how the situation began."   Fighting flared in Grozny after the rebels seized the city on August 6.   Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled the city since then.   Earlier this week, a Russian general gave civilians 48 hours to escape before an all-out attack.   The attack, expected on Thursday did not materialise, but Moscow's aircraft and artillery pounded Grozny on Wednesday to try to oust the rebels.   Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy had urged the two sides to negotiate.   "The high toll the fighting has exacted on civilians is of particular concern to Canada.   We urge both sides to spare no effort in protecting their safety," he said in an August 20 statement faxed to Reuters on Thursday.   A senior German diplomat visited Moscow on Wednesday to press home Bonn's growing alarm about the situation in Grozny and urge Russia to halt its military campaign.   The European Union had also appealed to both sides to cease fire immediately.   Despite a series of truces and peace deals, fighting has raged on and off ever since Yeltsin sent in his forces to crush Chechnya's independence bid in December 1994.   More than 30,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed.   Demurin said the foreign ministry was paying close attention to criticism abroad, but added that security chief Alexander Lebed was in full control of the situation.   Tass quoted him as saying it could be hoped that a political solution would be found as a result of moves by Lebed, holding his second day of talks with rebels in the mainly Moslem region. 
1669 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed said on Thursday he hoped to sign a political deal with separatist leaders soon which would sort out the root of the conflict -- the region's future status.   "I will come back with a draft political agreement in two days.   We will discuss it and sign it," Lebed told reporters after signing a deal to disengage Russian and rebel forces who have been fighting over the regional capital Grozny since August 6.   Lebed gave no details of the planned deal. 
1670 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  The United Nations said on Thursday local police in northwestern Bosnia are failing to stop violence against opposition voters despite pledges to support free and fair elections, scheduled for September 14.   The intimidation suffered by people affiliated with opposition parties may leave them too frightened of reprisals to vote in the country-wide elections, the U.N. said.   Spokesman Alex Ivanko told reporters in Sarajevo: "It seems that some people don't know better and we're still continuing to get reports...of continued violence against supporters of opposition parties."   Three explosions damaged houses of supporters of political parties opposed to the ruling Moslem nationalist SDA party in the town of Cazin, in the northwestern Bihac area of the Moslem-Croat federation, Ivanko said.   The authorities of the Moslem-controlled Bihac region have been scolded by the U.N. consistently in recent weeks for attacks on opposition voters, often using explosive devices.   Active harassment and intimidation of the political opposition in the area began in June when an SDA loyalist struck Bosnia's former prime minister Haris Silajdzic on the head with an iron pipe.   Silajdzic is now the chief rival to Bosnian President and SDA chief Alija Izetbegovic.   One of the houses damaged in Wednesday's blasts belonged to a supporter of Silajdzic's Party for Bosnia, Ivanko said.   U.N. monitors recently received a letter from a local opposition party accusing nine police officers and eight SDA supporters of intimidation.   Last week U.N. police Commissioner Peter Fitzerald won assurances from top Moslem-Croat and Serb police officials that they would instruct their forces to support free and fair elections.   Exasperated by security promises constantly being broken, Ivanko said it was "disheartening to see that statements and agreements made at the level of ministers of interior...for some reason do not materialise at the local level.   "It seems that the situation is not getting better, it's getting worse," he said.   "It's very tense in Cazin and the local police are not doing anything...to try to change the situation."   A spokesman for the international community's High Representative to Bosnia said Carl Bildt was considering a trip to Cazin to inspect the abuses. 
1671 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian President Boris Yeltsin's security supremo Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov signed a deal on Thursday aimed at ending three weeks of renewed fighting in the region.   The final contents of the document negotiated in this village south of the Chechen capital Grozny have not been officially disclosed.   Itar-Tass news agency said it provided for the disengagement of Russian and rebel forces in Chechnya. 
1672 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Chechens are returning east to Central Asia to escape fighting in the breakaway republic more than 50 years after Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin exiled them to the frozen Kazakh steppe in cattle wagons.   Drawn with exhaustion, 26-year-old Khavash Isayev sat on the edge of a sofa in a basement flat in the Kazakh capital Almaty, the office of a Chechen-owned trading company, as he recounted his escape from Grozny 10 days ago.   "The fighting was the worst I'd ever experienced.   Planes bombed us at night and we couldn't walk the streets in daylight for fear of being shot," said Isayev.   He decided to try and make for Almaty where he had an uncle.   Stalin deported the Chechens en masse in the bitter winter of 1944 for supposed "collaboration" with German invaders.   Hundreds of thousands died of hunger and cold on the way.   Bodies, tossed from unheated railcars, littered the steppe.   Nikita Khruschev allowed them to return to Chechnya in 1957.   Around 80,000 remain in Kazakhstan.   Isayev said he ran a gauntlet of Russian checkpoints -- few young Chechen men leave Chechnya for fear of being interned in Russian camps camps -- and waited at an airport in southern Russia, for a flight to Almaty.   "They (airport guards) made me undress in front of everyone, they took my money and were then going to arrest me," Isayev said.   "The women (Chechen refugees) started crying, they gave the guards their ear-rings and necklaces and I was freed."   His flat in Grozny destroyed, Isayev does not know where the rest of his family are or what he will do next.   The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Almaty estimates around 6,000 Chechens have fled to Kazakhstan since the start of the conflict.   The Chechen-Ingush Cultural Association in Almaty puts the number of refugees at around 10,000.   The Chechen owner of the trading company, Vakha Saltabayev, had been torn away from his business the last few days trying to find food and shelter for the refugees starting to trickle in.   "Some refugees who came after the fighting in 1995 returned to Chechnya.   But they are starting to come back again," said Saltabayev.   Anatoly Puzhai, the UNHCR representative in Kazakhstan, says his organisation provides some basic aid to "vulnerable groups" among the Chechen refugees but said most have to rely on relatives or fend for themselves.   "Nothing is provided by the Kazakh government for the refugees," Puzhai said.   Two days after the last separatist attack on Grozny on August 6, Albeka Adirkhanova, 38, wanted to get her nine-year-old daughter out of the city.   "The bombing, the corpses, it was terrible.   I didn't want my daughter to see this," she said.   She said Russian troops stopped the bus she and other refugees had escaped in and demanded money.   Unable to pay and her documents destroyed in her gutted apartment in central Grozny, she said she was forced off the bus and told to walk.   She took a train to Kyrgyzstan, where she was born in exile, but was told to move on, ending up in Almaty where she and her daughter are staying with Saltabayev and four other refugees.   Adirkhanova's brother was killed in the recent fighting, her husband has been missing since January last year and she said she had no idea where her relatives were.   Adirkhanova was composed as she told of her escape.   But tears welled up in her eyes when she recalled a conversation she overheard on a bus in Almaty on Thursday.   "They were talking about a bank robbery and someone said 'it was the Chechens'," she said.   "We are blamed for everything but we are not bad people.   We live cleanly," Adirkhanova said. 
1673 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Russia's new energy minister, Pyotr Rodionov, has gained a reputation as a hard man during a long career working for natural gas monopoly Gazprom.   "He's been described as fairly tough," said MC Securities oil and gas analyst Stephen O'Sullivan.   "He clearly comes from the gas industry -- no one in the oil industry seems to know him."   President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree naming Rodionov as the new minister of fuel and energy, Russian news agencies on Thursday quoted the president's press service as saying.   Rodionov is currently a board member of RAO Gazprom and managing director of its St Petersburg subsidiary, Lentransgaz.   Lentransgaz last August reduced supplies to St Petersburg consumers who were behind on payment, Interfax news agency said, although it was not clear if Rodionov was responsible for the decision.   The 45-year-old engineer has worked at Lentransgaz practically all his adult life, was appointed to the Gazprom board in May and will work again for his former boss at Gazprom, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.   Rodionov, as chief executive of AO Lentransgaz, criticised the neighboring Baltic states last October for considering using Norwegian natural gas instead of Russian gas, calling it an uneconomical move, the Russian daily Sevodnya wrote.   "It is interesting that he said it was economically unreasonable rather than unacceptable," O'Sullivan said.   But whether the ministry of fuel and energy will have significant influence under Rodionov is unclear.   "The ministry of fuel and energy essentially does not have anything to do," a government source told Reuters recently.   Privatisation of the oil industry, the independence of Gazprom and the transfer of oil transport issue decisions to the federal energy commission have reduced the role of the ministry, the source said.   Former energy minister Yuri Shafranik may have chosen to run for political office rather than serve a second term as energy minister, the source added.   But O'Sullivan said Rodionov could play an important role in regulating the electricity industry, which is heavily dependent on natural gas.   "The ministry could influence whether there is much competition in the industry... Changes in gas tariffs affect electricity rates," he said.   Unified Energy System (UES), the national grid controller and major shareholder in all but one of Russia's local power companies, is a mini-ministry of its own with strong lobbying powers in Rodionov's new ministry.   Battling UES's appetite for control could be one of Rodionov's biggest jobs, if he decides to pursue it.   The fuel and energy ministry will play a role in oil and natural gas tariffs but the extent of the powers of Rodionov and his ministry is unclear and could depend in large part on Rodionov's former boss -- Chernomyrdin. 
1674 !G15 !G155 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  A lawyer representing jailed Albanian opposition leader Fatos Nano has contacted the European Court of Human Rights in an effort to ensure Nano's release, a newspaper reported on Thursday.   Koha Jone quoted Nano's lawyer Perparim Sanxhaku as saying he had approached the Strasbourg court where he planned to launch an appeal against the Socialist leader's prison sentence.   "We had direct contacts with the Strasbourg court concerning Fatos Nano's release from prison," Sanxhaku said.   Albania's parliament last month ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, from which the court draws its authority.   Nano, 43, was arrested in 1993 and jailed for 12 years in 1994 on charges of embezzlement during his brief stint as prime minister in 1991.   President Sali Berisha has resisted international calls for Nano's release from the high-security Benca jail in a remote part of southern Albania.   Socialist leaders have accused Berisha of perverting the course of justice in order to sideline Nano, his main political rival.   "The party cannot appeal to Strasbourg because Nano has to do that personally.   His release remains one of the party's main aims, however," Socialist party spokesman Kastriot Islami told Reuters. 
1675 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Talks between Russia's Alexander Lebed and Chechen separatist leaders were going well on Thursday and the two sides were working out a detailed schedule on how to stop the war, a Lebed aide said.   Press spokesman Alexander Barkhatov told reporters the negotiations, being held at this rebel-held village some 20 km (12 miles) south of the Chechen capital Grozny, were progressing briskly and being conducted in a good mood.   He said a document would be completed in an hour's time for signature by the two sides, who were working on a "day-by-day schedule to stop the war in Chechnya." 
1676 !GCAT !GPOL !GPRO  Russian television showed a brief clip of Boris Yeltsin on Thursday, with the president laughing and smiling as he spoke to nominee health minister Tatyana Dmitrieva.   It was the first time the president had been shown on television since he was inaugurated for a second term in office on August 9.   He returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a two-day break in the lakelands of northwestern Russia. 
1677 !GCAT !GDIP  Croatia said on Thursday it expected to sign a landmark normalisation treaty with Serbian-led Yugoslavia on Friday, dispelling concern that the deal might be delayed.   Last-minute talks this week on the legal fine print of the pact to end five years of hostility after Croatia's secession from federal Yugoslavia had been troublesome, officials of both sides reported.   But Croatian state radio, announcing Foreign Minister Mate Granic would go to Belgrade on Friday.   signalled the deal would be signed on August 23 as envisaged by the presidents of Croatia and Serbia, the main republic in rump Yugoslavia.   "It is expected that the agreement on normalisation of relations between the republics of Croatia and Yugoslavia will be signed," the Foreign Ministry said in a brief statement read on the radio's 0700 GMT news bulletin.   Presidents Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia agreed at a surprise meeting in Athens earlier this month to have their foreign ministers sign a mutual recognition accord on August 23.   Experts negotiating the treaty text have have been trying to resolve issues including a stubborn territorial dispute over the Prevlaka peninsula on the Adriatic coast, the legal succession to old Yugoslavia, war damages and protection for Serb refugees trying to return to Croatia.   The main state-run Croatian newspaper Vjesnik said on Thursday three days of talks this week apparently yielded "understanding" on sticking points from Prevlaka to a war amnesty for former rebel Serbs in Croatia.   "Precisely what kind of agreement was reached could not be learned since the Yugoslav side demanded absolute secrecy," said Vjesnik, which reflects official Croatian policy.   "During the talks there was a strong possibility that the two sides would not be able to reach a level of understanding that would be enough for Granic to travel to Belgrade on Friday," the Zagreb daily added.   But it said this week's talks had cleared the way for a treaty based on mutual recognition within internationally recognised borders and establishment of diplomatic relations.   Some legally intricate issues which some analysts had said might scuttle the August 23 signing, such as rights to the assets of old socialist federal Yugoslavia, would probably be resolved at a later date.   Western powers regard diplomatic normalisation between Croatia and Serbia, the twin pillars of old multinational federal Yugoslavia, as perhaps the most crucial step towards a lasting peace in the Balkans.   War broke out in 1991 after Croatia declared independence to escape creeping domination by Milosevic-led nationalist Serbs in the Balkan federation.   Fighting spread to Bosnia when its Moslem-led government broke away in 1992.   Rebel minority Serbs armed by Milosevic seized almost a third of Croatia in the 1991 war but lost almost all of it to a Croatian government army counter-offensive over U.N. truce lines a year ago.   Eastern Slavonia, the last Serb-held enclave in Croatia, is to revert to Croatian government rule next year after a transitional period under U.N. administration.   By signing a normalisation treaty with Zagreb, Belgrade would definitively renounce its claim to oil-rich Eastern Slavonia which abuts the Danube River border with Yugoslavia. 
1678 !GCAT !GDIS  Fires which raged through Kazakhstan's steppes this week destroyed more than 5,000 hectares of grassland, the interior ministry said on Thursday.   A ministry spokesman said the fires raged for six days in the Central Asian country's Kurchumsky district, located near the Chinese border about 1,100 km (700 miles) northeast of the Kazakh capital Almaty.   He said over 600 volunteers, firefighters and police finally brought the fires under control on Tuesday.   The cause of the fire was not yet known but hot, dry weather had hampered firefighting operations. 
1679 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  As Russia swung this week between peace talks with Chechen separatists and all-out bombardment of their capital, Grozny, contradictory policy statements raised doubts about the chain of command.   It is as unclear in theory as it is in practice:   President Boris Yeltsin:   The president, newly re-elected for a four-year term on July 3, is commander-in-chief of the Russian armed forces, Europe's biggest and including one of the world's main nuclear arsenals.   He has huge constitutional powers but, after ordering troops into Chechnya in December 1994 to halt its secession, has left day-to-day control of operations to others.   His absence from view and rumours of ill-health have fuelled speculation about who conducts policy.   Many Russian analysts believe Yeltsin is still in command but keeps a low profile to avoid blame for the debacle.   He may let his subordinates pursue different approaches -- war and negotiations -- to see which is more successful at limiting damage and saving face.   Some even say the apparent contradiction is planned to wear down the rebels and divide their leadership.   General Alexander Lebed:   Hired by Yeltsin in June after coming from nowhere to finish third in the first round of the election, the two-star reserve general has amassed three titles, each answerable only to the president: National Security Adviser, Secretary of the Security Council -- chaired by Yeltsin and including defence and interior ministers -- and Yeltsin's personal envoy to Chechnya.   Last week, Yeltsin took political responsibility for settling the crisis away from a State Committee of Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's and gave it to the Security Council.   He put Lebed, 46, in charge of ending the war, decreeing him new powers.   These have not been publicly spelled out.   The Security Council exposed Kremlin in-fighting when it said on Tuesday officials might be issuing bellicose orders on Chechnya under Yeltsin's name without his knowledge.   Lebed himself, after overruling generals who threatened to bomb Grozny, said of power: "You simply have to take it, as I am quietly doing.   We have to restore a single command structure."   The coming days may tell if the conciliatory ex-paratrooper, whose name means "swan", can prevail.   If he cannot save Moscow's face and end the bloodshed his days in the Kremlin are numbered.   Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin:   Constitutionally Yeltsin's number two if the president were taken ill, the 58-year-old technocrat was re-appointed this month.   Since his State Committee lost its mandate last week, he has taken a back seat in Chechnya.   The defence and interior ministers, whose troops are fighting in Chechnya, report to the president, not to the head of the government.   Chernomyrdin is reported to see Lebed, who has no cabinet role, as a rival.   Defence Minister Igor Rodionov:   A three-star general and old Lebed ally, Rodionov was plucked from a military academy to head the defence ministry last month, putting him in overall command of some 20,000 troops in Chechnya.   It took him two days to publicly disown the local acting commander's threat to start bombing Grozny.   Interior Minister Anatoly Kulikov:   Also a general, he commands a further 20,000 troops and police in Chechnya.   In spring 1995, the Chechen crisis was classified as an internal security matter under the overall control of the interior ministry.   Relations between interior and defence troops are strained.   Like Rodionov, Kulikov reports directly to Yeltsin.   The president has ignored Lebed's demand, made on Friday, to sack Kulikov for bungling in Grozny.   Lieutenant-General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov:   Appointed by Yeltsin as Commander of the Joint Group of the Federal Forces in Chechnya at the start of the year, he has operational control over all defence and interior troops in the region.   A defence ministry officer, Tikhomirov took the war to the rebels in a spring offensive.   His manner belies his name, which is derived from the Russian words for "peace" and "quiet".   Lieutenant-General Konstantin Pulikovsky:   Also a defence ministry officer and Tikhomirov's deputy, he was acting commander for several weeks until Wednesday, when his chief returned from holiday.   The rebels humiliated the military by seizing Grozny on his watch and it was Pulikovsky who gave civilians 48 hours to flee or be bombed.   Rodionov later said he acted out of turn and had been "given a dressing down". 
1680 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Skopje press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   DNEVNIK   - The ethnic Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity in Macedonia, the government's coalition partner, will boycott local elections this fall if the territorial division law is not amended to its liking, says party secretary-general Naser Ziberi in an exclusive interview.   - The government is striking back against cigarette smugglers in what will become a full anti-tax evasion campaign in September.   NOVA MAKEDONIJA   - Macedonia's produce farmers are forced to sell their products at ridiculously low prices.   A ton of tomatoes sells for 4,000 denars ($100), and a ton of peppers for 5,000 ($125).   VECER   - Greek authorities once again painted over the name Macedonia on the local airline Palair Macedonia in a breach of the agreement on mutual undestanding signed by the two countries under U.N. and U.S. auspices.   A similar incident occurred on July 17.   -- Skopje newsroom +389 91 201196 
1681 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Sarajevo press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   OSLOBODJENJE   - The Bosnian federation launches a common payment system on Friday.   Under the new system taxes and customs may be paid in the Bosnian dinar, the Croatian kuna or the Deutsche mark until a new Bosnian currency is introduced.   - The president of the Bosnian Association for Refugees and Displaced Persons, Mirhunisa Komarica says many survivors of the 1995 massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica are languishing as forced laborers in Serbian mines.   According to Komarica, 2,400 male residents of Srebrenica work in the Trepca mine and 1,900 work in a mine in Aleksandrovac.   DNEVNI AVAZ   - Slovenian police briefly detain two Bosnian opposition leaders in Ljubljana and cancel opposition political rallies in Ljubljana and Maribor.   --Sarajevo newsroom, +387-71-663-864. 
1682 !GCAT  These are the leading stories in the Belgrade press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.   POLITIKA   - Federal government submits to Yugoslav parliament its report on the normalisation of relations with the IMF and other international financial organisations.   - Serbian local elections scheduled for November 3, the same day as federal elections and republican and local elections in Montenegro.   - Belgrade Zmaj factory concludes $9.2 million deal with Chinese firm Haifa for the sale of agricultural machines.   - Yugoslav government to sign a number of Yugoslav-Macedonian agreements which will promote bilateral economic cooperation.   Prime Minister Radoje Kontic to visit Macedonia early in September to sign the deals.   - Federal government is drafting a bill on foreign currency savings blocked since 1991 to try to find a way to settle the 6.5 million German mark internal debt.   - Teachers agree to start school year regularly on Sept 1 if their June wages are paid by that date.   - Deputy Speaker of the lower house of the Yugoslav Parliament Radmilo Bogdanovic expects ethnic Albanians to participate in this year's parliamentary elections.   NASA BORBA   - Seven thousand workers of the Kragujevac Zastava weapons factory protest in front of the municipal building demanding outstanding wages.   - U.N. Administrator in Eastern Slavonia Jacques Klein says another year needed to complete peaceful reintegration in the area.   - Representatives of Panturist from Osijek and Lasta from Belgrade plan to open direct bus line between Belgrade and Zagreb by the beginning of autumn.   POLITKA EKSPRES   - So far 35 parties signed the agreement on media representation for the forthcoming elections.   The deadline for its signing is October 6.   - Domestic banks again facing solvency problems and shortage of dinars.   BORBA   - Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of the Yugoslav Parliament Radmilo Bogdanovic says in an interview it is time for ehtnic-Albanians in Kosovo to ask for talks but not in the presence of a third party.   -- Belgrade newsroom 381 11 +2224305 
1683 !GCAT  Here are highlights of stories in Romania's press on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   Business:   CAPITAL   - State Ownership Fund has privatised total 2,210 state companies so far   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Troubled Banca Dacia Felix SA sold its Chisinau branch for $500,000 to Victoria bank in Chisinau.   - Farmers will have to spend some 530,000 lei per hectare to sow wheat this autumn.   Cost includes fertilisers and seeds.   Agriculture Ministry expects government to grant allocations so per-hectare wheat sowing cost may go down.   AZI   - Area to go under wheat this autumn will extend on some 2.3 million hectares, Agriculture Ministry sources said.   - Romania plans to increase amount of processed crude oil output to some 18 million tonnes next year from around 14 million tonnes in 1995, Romanian Oil Company sources said.   ZIUA   - Government plans to import nuclear fuel for Cernavoda nuclear power plant although Romanian nuclear fuel, now in stock, is fit for utilisation.   LIBERTATEA   - Distribition of shareholder's certificates under mass selloff scheme which goes slow due to summer holidays is expected to go beyond an end-August deadline.   General:   ROMANIA LIBERA   - Alexandru Oproiu, who allegedly supported Nicu Ceausescu, son of late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and sentenced to jail for killings in the December 1989 revolution, to be freed from prison on health grounds, and could take over the health ministry after Iulian Mincu resigned, says the newspaper.   - The big European rivers -- Danube, Dnepr, Don -- flowing through East European countries which have no environment protection laws, turned the Black Sea into Europe's garbage can, says the newspaper presenting excerpts from an international conference in Istanbul.   - Newspaper publishes excerpts from an interview with President Ion Iliescu in the French Figaro magazine saying he "believes the values of communism are values impregnated with European humanism."   ADEVARUL   - President Ion Iliescu and Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu would present draft of Romanian-Hungarian treaty to parliamentary parties next week, said foreign ministry spokesman Sorin Ducaru.   - Opposition Democratic Convention (CDR) bloc can no longer win the November polls unless it nominates another candidate for presidency, said political analyst Silviu Brucan.   He said the pro-monarchy statement by CDR presidential candidate, Emil Constantinescu, "ruined his chance and affected the CDR".   - Gheorghe Funar, head of National Unity Party (PUNR) says scandal around Constantinescu's statement is a diversion to draw attention away from much more grave problems, like the Romanian-Hungarian treaty.   - Of the six percent of Romania's youngs who take drugs, 1.4 percent use marijuana and hashish, says public health care institute.   EVENIMENTUL ZILEI   - The scandal on the pro-monarchist statement by Emil Constantinescu is a diversion, says the newspaper wondering why and how the interview published three weeks ago in an unknown Romanian-language magazine in the U.S. was published in Romanian media.   - Workers in the Renel electricty authority are obliged to sign lists of support for President Iliescu's candidacy for a new presidential term.   CRONICA ROMANA   - FBI manager Louis Freeh said he would open an office in Romania along with other offices in 23 capitals across the world to help crack down on terrorism, drug traffic and crime.   - Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu to be appointed Romania's envoy at the UN mission in Geneva after the November 3 polls, said sources close to the presidency.   JURNALUL NATIONAL   - "I am candidate for presidency so I can not be a monarchist" says Emil Constantinescu in interview.   DIMINEATA   - National confederation of Romania's revolutionaries appeals to all political parties to withdraw their support for CDR leader Emil Constantinescu in the campaign for the November 3 polls due to his "irresponsible" statement on the monarchy.   ($=3,157 lei) -- Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264 
1684 !GCAT  The following are the reports carried by Estonia's newspapers on Thursday.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - President Lennart Meri received the 1996 Coudenhove-Calergi European Award as a recognition of his efforts for integrating independent Estonia into the EU.   - A luggage handler in Tallin Airport was killed by the spinning propeller of a Karair ATR-72 airliner on Wednesday.   SONUMILEHT   - Meri received a letter from French President Jacques Chirac on European security and amendments to the CFE treaty.   - Two notorious prisoners have provoked a protest action in the Parnu prison although the living conditions in the facility are the best in Estonia.   - Reform Party secretary general Heiki Kranich rejected claims that the party has banned Foreign Minister and party leader Siim Kallas from running for president.   EESTI PAEVALEHT   - The security police hope to destroy completely the so-called Kazan gang of organized criminals.   Seven members have already been detained.   - The privatisation agency board re-elected Viino Sarnet for another five years as its director general.   - Assistant director of Criminal Police Koit Pikaro, reputedly one of the most competent investigators in Estonia, will receive a new and lower post as a result of his failure to report an illegal pistol shooting by his subordinates.   POSTIMEES   - Representatives of the Constantinople and Moscow orthodox churh patriarchs met in Tallinn to discuss the future of the two churches in Estonia.   - The Country People's Party has gathered the 21 signatures needed for putting Arnold Ruutel up as presidential candidate.   - The Development Party faction met President Lennart Meri, but has decided which way to vote in Monday's presidential election.   ARIPAEV   - The Social Bank financial office, which attempted to pay the bank's debts, will announce its bankruptcy tomorrow.   - Police will by 2.4 million kroons worth of new communications systems from Japanese firm ICOM.   - Privatisation Agency permitted Estonian Railway to form a joint venture with the German firm Hermann Koehne.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
1685 !GCAT  Lithuanian newspapers carried the following reports in their Thursday editions.   Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy:   LIETUVOS RYTAS   - Lithuanian lawmakers approved a draft project to start a process to indict former prime minister Gediminas Vagnorius for causing 35 billion litas damage to agricultural sector during the initial post-Communist reform period.   Vagnorius considers the move a political attack.   - Lithuania will take adequate reciprocal measures against Latvia if the parliament of the neighboring country ratifies an agreement with U.S. and Swedish oil extracting companies in sea areas still under negotiation, Foreign Minister Povilas Gylys saud after meeting President Algirdas Brazauskas.   - Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists made suggestions to the government on how to activate investments and production in the country.   - The government approved compensation procedures for apartment heating and hot running water to low income families.   RESPUBLIKA   - Parliament appealed to the Russian Duma to use its influence to settle the Chechnya crisis.   - Negotiations for full EU membership should start with all candidate countries at the same time, said the Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers at a summit in Riga.   - An audit carried out by Arthur Andersen shows that the biggest private financial institution in Lithuania, Vilnius Bank, had an 11.7 million litas profit during the first-half of 1996.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
1686 !GCAT  Following are the main stories in Croatian newspapers on Thursday.   VJESNIK   - It now seems certain that Foreign Minister Mate Granic will pay a visit to Belgrade on Friday to sign the agreement on normalisation of relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia -- in last minute talks the two managed to resolve disputing issues.   - Military court in Serbia charges four Croats with spying.   - Some 117,421 Bosnians residing in Croatia will cast their ballots on August 31 and September 1, two weeks ahead of the Bosnian elections.   - State-owned firms from the Croatian Privatisation Fund portfolio in 1995 recorded a loss of 3 billion kuna, accounting for two thirds of total economy losses.   VECERNJI LIST   - There are no Croats in Yugoslavian prisons, says Pavle Todorovic, head of the Yugoslav delegation holding discussions with Croatia on detained and missing persons.   - Of 130,000 firms registered in the country, more than a half are trading companies.   - To encourage production in former Serb-held enclaves, state investment bank HBOR granted more than 600 loans worth 58 million kuna.   SLOBODNA DALMACIJA   - Croatia Airlines will have regular flights to Sarajevo from August 26.   - German NATO soldiers, stationed on the Adriatic coast, are a good commercial for Croatian tourism.   -- Zagreb Newsroom, 385-1-4557075 
1687 !GCAT  These are the main stories in Latvian newspapers on Thursday.   Prepared for Reuters by the Co-operation Fund.   Reuters has not verified these reports and does not vouch for their accuracy:   ALL NEWSPAPERS   - Politicians, journalists and participants of the events of 1991 commemorated the fifth anniversary of the restoration of Latvia's independence.   - The parliament committee for foreign affairs asked parliament to delay ratifying the oil exploration agreement between Latvia and AMOCO.   The appeal was joined by the ruling board of the Baltic Assembly.   It came in response to a call by Lithuanian deputies to delay ratification until the Latvian-Lithuanian sea border is fixed.   - The governing factions believe that the coalition treaty draft, submitted by Prime Minister Andris Shkele, should be improved.   They have created a working group which will sum up proposals by the factions on the coalition treaty.   DIENA   - Diena received an anonymous letter, supposedly from a former member of the OMON group which fought against Latvia's independence in 1990-1991.   The letter contains threats to kill officers of the police and public prosecutor's office who are investigating the activities of the OMON.   NEATKARIGA RITA AVIZE   - Finance Minister Aivars Kreituss and Bank of Latvia president Einar Repshe object to the proposal of the parliamentary commission which investigated the Banka Baltija crisis to issue state bonds to the stricken bank's depositors.   - Lithuania will not reply to the Latvian memorandum of August 19 on the building of an oil terminal in Butinge.   BIZNESS & BALTIYA   - Shareholders of the Latvian state-owned railway company discussed results of the first half of the year and the next year's draft budget.   -- Riga Newsroom +371 7 22 66 93 
1688 !GCAT !GVIO  The city of Grozny, pounded by Russian planes and artillery for hours on Wednesday, calmed down overnight, although sporadic explosions and shooting could still be heard.   Reuters correspondent Lawrence Sheets, speaking from the nearby village of Alkhan-Yurt, said he had heard little from Grozny since Wednesday evening's arrival of Russian security chief Alexander Lebed, who said he "came with peace".   A couple of helicopters flew over the city early on Thursday morning, but did not appear to be firing at anything.   Lebed said on Wednesday he had clinched a truce with Chechen separatists and he promised to halt a threatened bombing assault on Grozny, which the rebels have held since August 6. 
1689 !GCAT !GENV  A surging wolf population in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has farmers and hunters howling for the age-old predator's hide.   Once pushed to the brink of extinction, the wolf has successfully -- some would say savagely -- re-established itself in the region's vast forests.   "We really have too many wolves now," said Jaak Tammpets, a senior conservation officer with the Estonian Environment Ministry.   "We have to bring them under control before they kill too many wild boar and domestic animals," he added.   The precise number of wolves is all but impossible to gauge, but Estonia and Lithuania, home to just a few dozen in the 1960s, are believed to have between 500 and 700 wolves each, while Latvia's population is put at close to 1,000.   By contrast, equally heavily forested Sweden has only around 40 wolves, while Norway lacks even a breeding population.   "Outside of Russia, Latvia probably has the largest wolf population in all of Europe," said Ilona Lodzina, head of the nature protection division at the Latvian environmental protection ministry.   Baltic wolves were ruthlessly hunted with poison and traps during the Soviet era since the animal's fondness for venison was frowned upon by the Communist elite, whose penchant for big game hunting was widely ridiculed.   "Bounties were placed on the wolf's head during the Soviet era because they eat roe deer and wild boar, animals which the nomenclature loved to hunt," said Albertas Stanislovaitis, head of the wildlife protection and hunting department at the Lithuanian Ministry of Forestry.   But even as they waged war on the wolf, the Soviet authorities inadvertently paved the way for the animal's remarkable come-back in the region, biologists say.   The commissars who ruled the Baltics with an iron fist provided the wolf and its prey with new habitats when they collectivised agriculture and deported hundreds of thousands of peasants to Siberia in the 1940s and 1950s.   Farms abandoned in the wake of the brutal forced migrations were eventually reclaimed by the surrounding wilderness.   The forests of Latvia and Estonia have almost doubled in size since World War Two to cover 42 percent and 50 percent of the countries' area repectively.   Lithuania's have grown by 50 percent to cover almost 30 percent of the country.   Deer, moose and boar flourished in this spreading wilderness on the eastern rim of the Baltic sea.   In Lithuania, wild boar soared from 3,800 to almost 20,000.   This plentiful supply of wild prey has in turn led to a sharp increase in the number of wolves, much to the chagrin of farmers and hunters and the delight of conservationists.   The wolf population has also been pushed up by "migration" from neighbouring Russia and Belarus, a fact not lost on the Baltic peoples, for whom it is an article of faith that nothing good comes from the East.   At least 30 cattle were killed by wolves in western Lithania in July this year, Stanislovaitis said.   "The females teach their young to hunt at this time of the year and cattle are easy prey," he said, adding that an exceptionally harsh winter killed off many weak deer, so wolves were showing more of an appetite for easily caught beef.   "We have organised hunting parties, but it's very hard to hunt wolves in the summer.   It's much easier in winter, when they can be tracked," he said.   Last winter, Lithuanian hunters bagged more than 90 wolves, while their Estonian counterparts tracked and shot more than 300.   Poisoning is outlawed under the Bern Convention, though local animal activists say they suspect some farmers still resort to the practice to protect their herds and flocks.   Conservationists say that the wolf, historically portrayed and persecuted as a bloodthirsty menace, gets little favourable press in the Baltics.   "Public debate is now dominated by the hunters.   Few people are defending wolves here," said Robert Oetjen of the Estonia Fund for Nature.   But farther afield, the wolves have their advocates.   "The Baltic states are a natural treasure," said Ola Jennersten, conservation officer with the World Wide Fund for Nature in Sweden.   "It's amazing.   Animals that are rare or have vanished in the Nordic countries are common in the Baltics.   The wolf is an example of this, and deserves protection." 
1690 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  A Chilean human rights panel has uncovered a further 899 cases of people who died or disappeared during General Augusto Pinochet's rule, bringing the total to nearly 3,200, officials said on Thursday.   The report was the final step in a six-year investigation into political repression under the military regime which ruled Chile with an iron grip from 1973 to 1990.   "The most serious result of the deep and painful conflicts experienced by Chilean society in recent years was...human rights violations," said board president Alejandro Poblete who presented the report to President Eduardo Frei.   The Reconciliation and Compensation Corporation said the new cases were in addition to the 2,298 victims named in an official 1990 investigation into human rights violations during Pinochet's government.   The new figures bring the number of victims of political repression to 3,197, of whom 2,095 are known to have died and 1,102 are officially classified as "disappeared" -- meaning no trace of them has been found since they were abducted.   Investigations into human rights violations have been a frequent source of friction between the country's civilian authorities and the powerful armed forces since Chile returned to democracy in 1990.   Despite ceding power to civilians that year, Pinochet remains commander-in-chief of the army.   Interior Minster Carlos Figueroa said the government was looking into setting up a permanent body to defend human rights and would set up a special unit to take up the search for the bodies of people who have disappeared.   "The families of human rights violation victims can be reassured that they will continue to be helped in their search for the truth about their loved ones," said Figueroa.   Most victims were left-wing opponents of Pinochet, many of whom were killed and tortured by the regime's feared security services.   An amnesty law dictated by the armed forces in 1978 has meant that few cases have been tried with only a handful of military officers behind bars for human rights crimes.   Pinochet, now 80, came to power in a bloody coup in September 1973 which overthrew Marxist President Salvador Allende.   The lower house of Congress last week voted to create a national holiday, Day of the Disappeared and Detained People, to be celebrated on August 30 to commemorate those who died during the Pinochet years.   The bill's fate will be decided in the Senate, where majority pro-military rightists have said they oppose it. 
1691 !GCAT !GVIO  At least one demonstrator was killed and more than eight were injured on Thursday when thousands of coca farmers trying to enter the capital of Colombia's southern Caqueta province clashed with troops, officials said.   A spokesman for the governor's office in Caqueta said the demonstrators sought to force their way across a bridge on the outskirts of Florencia, the provincial capital but were turned back by troops firing tear gas and automatic weapons.   He said said four soliders suffered machete wounds in the clash.   Nine demonstrators with bullet wounds were admitted to the Maria Inmaculada Hospital in Florencia, a hospital spokeswoman said adding that one of them, a man aged about 25, died of his injuries.   She said more injured demonstrators were admitted to two other hospitals in the area but could give no figures.   Tens of thousands of peasants in Caqueta and neighbouring provinces have staged protest marches since mid-July against the government's chemical spraying of illicit drug crops.   At least seven peasants have been killed in violence stemming from the protests so far.   Farmers across much of Colombia's impoverished southern provinces argue that coca is the only staple crop that allows them to make a living wage.   But the government, under heavy pressure from Washington to wipe out tens of thousands of acres (hectares) of coca leaf and opium poppy fields this year, says it will continue spraying them from the air with herbicide. 
1692 !GCAT !GVIO  Haiti's national television station was hit by gunshots on Thursday, the latest incident in a week of violence that has threatened Haiti's fragile stability.   U.N. spokesman Eric Falt said shots from small calibre weapons were fired early on Thursday morning at the offices of National Television of Haiti just outside the capital.   No one was hurt.   Two political killings and an attack on a police station that killed one civilian have raised concerns this week that the tenuous order established by U.S. troops and a U.N. peacekeeping mission could be falling apart.   Equally disconcerting to those backing efforts to maintain democracy after years of repressive military rule were growing accusations from opposition politicians that the Haitian government was behind Tuesday's assassinations.   Pastor Antoine Leroy, a top official of the Mobilisation for National Democracy (MDN) party and MDN member Jacques Florival were killed outside of Florival's house on Tuesday afternoon.   Evans Paul, former mayor of Port-au-Prince and leader of the Opposition National Front for Democratic Change, called a news conference on Thursday and accused the Haitian government of plotting the assassinations.   "It is clear to everyone it was the Lavalas government that assassinated the two important men of the MDN," he said.   Port-au-Prince Mayor Joseph Emmanuel Charlemagne, a Lavalas supporter and outspoken folk singer, said he believed the government was behind Monday's attack on a police station, in which a group of men wearing military fatigues fired automatic weapons and threw grenades, killing a nearby shoeshiner.   Charlemagne suggested the government had staged the attack to justify ongoing arrests of former members of the Haitian military.   Palace sources discounted the accusations and said Tuesday's assassinations may have been the result of MDN infighting.   U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Meg Gilroy said the U.S. "deplored the criminal acts and we reaffirm our firm support for the democratically elected government."   U.N. special representative Enrique Ter Horst issued a statement late on Wednesday condemning the violent acts and calling for calm. 
1693 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Argentine unions, who were to meet Friday to vote on plans for a general strike in September, will postpone the meeting until the end of this month, a union spokesman said Thursday.   "We have agreed with our fellows from the (main union federation) CGT to suspend the Central Confederal Committee, which was due to meet tomorrow, for eight or nine days," bus drivers union leader Juan Palacios told the independent DyN news agency.    Argentina's trade unionists consider the Central Confederal Committee a kind of "workers parliament."   Palacios, whose union belongs to the hard-line splinter group MTA, said the CGT and the MTA would hold a joint news conference at 1900 local/2200 GMT.   He added the two sides, whose leaders first postponed a strike vote last Tuesday after a gunfight in which seven workers were injured, have since declared a truce and were now ready to discuss their plans to protest against the government's austerity measures.    The daily Clarin said Thursday morning the CGT was now considering a 24-hour strike without demonstrations rather than the 36-hour walkout with worker mobilization it was contemplating before.   It quoted CGT spokesman Carlos West Ocampo as saying the change was due to security reasons after Tuesday's shootout.   -- David Haskel, Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0652 
1694 !GCAT !GDIS  About 30 people were injured on Thursday in an explosion on the highway linking Mexico City to the central city of Puebla, apparently caused by an accident involving a gas truck, Radio Red said.   The explosion took place about 50 miles (80 km) from the Mexican capital, the radio report said.   Television news programme 24 Horas said a gas tanker carrying 10,600 gallons (40,000 litres) of propylene had exploded and one person had been killed.   There was no immediate official comment on the reports. 
1695 !GCAT !GDIP  The Foreign Ministry, offering details of its decision to expel a U.S. diplomat, unveiled on Thursday what it called anti-government literature and publications she had distributed to Cuban dissident groups.   They included books from right-wing U.S. organisations such as Freedom House and the International Republican Institute with titles like "Guide to resources for a transition in Cuba" and "How to organise a trade union meeting."   Also shown was a miniature paperback with a Spanish translation of British writer George Orwell's political satire "Animal Farm," which attacks totalitarian ideology, and a work by an anti-communist Cuban exile, Carlos Franqui.   Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marianela Ferriol said Robin Meyer, a second secretary at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana whose visa was revoked last week, "gave advice to and organised" groups opposed to Cuba's one-party communist government.   Meyer flew out of Cuba on Wednesday.   "She dedicated herself to distributing material and literature to the leaders and members of small groups manipulated, encouraged and financed by the government of the United States," Ferriol told a news conference in Havana.   She said the aim of Meyer's activities was to "destabilize (Cuba's) socio-political regime" and that this was completely incompatible with her status as a diplomat as defined by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.   The U.S. State Department, which denied that Meyer had violated the Vienna Convention in her monitoring of human rights in Cuba, announced on Monday it was expelling a Cuban diplomat from Washington in retaliation.   The two countries do not have formal diplomatic ties but maintain Interests Sections in each others' capitals.   Ferriol said the U.S. retaliatory expulsion was "absurd and unfair".   Among the publications she displayed were works published by Freedom House and written by Cuban dissidents such as Roberto Luque Escalona, who lives in Miami.   There were also works about the Cuban Independence hero Jose Marti, which Ferriol said "distorted" his life and views.   She did not explain how Cuban authorities obtained the books.   "No self-respecting state allows actions of this kind.   We do no permit and we will never permit activities of this kind by diplomats from the United States or diplomats from any other country," she said, referring to Meyer's activities.   Cuban authorities, invoking the island's constitution and laws defending the existence of a one-party state, treat internal political opposition groups as illegal and often persecute their members, accusing them of being "counter- revolutionaries" in the service of the United States.   Citing public statements by U.S officials, the government has said Washington channels funds through organisations like Freedom House to support dissidents on the island with the intention of toppling the communist government.   The tit-for-tat expulsions further strained relations that are already tense following Cuba's downing of two small U.S. planes in February and the passage in March of U.S. legislation that seeks to curb foreign investment in Cuba. 
1696 !GCAT !GODD  The alleged weight problems of reigning Miss Universe Alicia Machado are probably a case of wisdom teeth, not a sweet tooth, her mother said on Thursday.   "When she left Venezuela (two weeks ago) her face was swollen due to her wisdom teeth which were taken out," Marta Fajardo told Reuters in a telephone interview from Maracay, central Venezuela.   Machado, 19, found herself at the centre of a dispute this week when pageant organisers in Venezuela said her crown was in danger unless she went on a crash diet.   But Miss Universe organisers quickly denied they had ordered Machado to lose 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or lose the title.   Fajardo insisted her daughter, who weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) when she won the Miss Universe title in Las Vegas in May, had perfectly normal eating habits.   "Everybody has their own addiction to something or other but it's not as if she eats cakes like crazy," she said.   The weight scandal has been front page news in Venezuela, which is proud of its reputation as the world's beauty queen capital.   Machado, who faced the full glare of publicity on Wednesday night at a Miss Teen USA pageant in New Mexico, is the fourth Venezuelan to take the Miss Universe crown. 
1697 !GCAT !GPOL  Cuba's ruling Communist Party urged its members on Thursday to take a more active role in defending Cuba's socialist system, saying the country was engaged in a battle pitting socialism against capitalism.   "More than before, the war being waged against our nation is one of a confrontation of ideas, an attempt to make us renounce our revolutionary ideology ... in short, to try to make us abandon socialism and adopt capitalism," the party's Central Committee said in the seventh and final instalment of a lengthy analysis published in the party newspaper Granma.   The document sets out the party's view of new ideological challenges it faces and how to respond.   Thursday's instalment said current economic reforms and increased hostility from enemies like the United States meant Cuban communist militants needed to be more active than ever in upholding the party's political line.   "Each militant must feel that he has a permanent mandate to practice politics in favour of the Revolution," the party said.   It called for strengthening of the country's ideological defences and invoked key figures in Cuban history such as independence hero Jose Marti and Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary who fought in Cuba's 1959 Revolution.   It also cited "the example of (Cuban President) Fidel (Castro), united with the principles of Marxism and Leninism."   As examples of the new conditions and pressures that could cause what it called "deviation" by officials, it cited "a greater presence of market relations among us, the psychology of capitalist business, as well as habits of consumption."   It said the party should ensure that those elected to positions of responsibility have, as well as technical aptitude, "a clear revolutionary commitment and personal behaviour characterised by austerity and modesty".   Party militants should also be permanently on the alert against "any manifestations of bribery and corruption". 
1698 !GCAT !GDIS  Colombia's Coast Guard on Thursday rescued 12 people lost for three days in an open boat off the Pacific coast, officials said.   The boat had been missing since Monday afternoon when it left the tiny island of Gorgona off Colombia's southwest coast with sightseers for a return trip to Narino province, near the border with Ecuador.   The boat ran out of fuel and did not have a radio to call for help, Navy spokesman Lt. Italo Pineda said .   He said 11 passengers and one boatman survived on coconuts and rainwater during 65 hours lost at sea.   The boat was towed to the port city of Buenaventura. 
1699 !GCAT !GVIO  Leftist guerrillas have killed four Colombian marines patrolling a river in the drug-infested southeastern province of Guaviare, authorities said on Thursday.   Military spokesmen said the attack by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels occurred early on Wednesday on the outskirts of the provincial capital.   They said the rebels, one of whom was killed in the attack launched from the banks of the Guaviare River, attacked a high-speed patrol boat with automatic weapons and dynamite.   Three marines were wounded in addition to the four killed.   Guaviare, a FARC stronghold, is one of Colombia's leading cocaine production centres.   The FARC, the country's largest and oldest rebel group, specialises in protecting rural drug farms and laboratories. 
1700 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Argentine senators have relented on their decision not to pay income tax "like ordinary citizens" and will pay on all their parliamentary income and allowances, Vice-President Carlos Ruckauf said Thursday.   Ruckauf, who is also president of the upper house of the Argentine Congress, said senators of the ruling Peronist Party and the main opposition Radical Party had requested to be taxed on their income and the Senate approved the proposal late Wednesday.    "Legislators have always been exempt from paying income tax but they have now decided to consider themselves the same as other citizens," the Peronist official told local radio.   Senators provoked President Carlos Menem's wrath last week by voting to continue their income tax exemptions in defiance of government attempts to eliminate it along with other tax exemptions in an attempt to boost fiscal revenues.   Menem slammed the senators' vote last week as "a huge and inadmissible mistake" and vowed to veto it.   Their reluctance to pay taxes was especially controversial at a moment when Congress is deliberating government austerity measures aimed at plugging the budget deficit, including more taxes on fuel and for self-employed workers, while family allowance benefits are being reduced.   The lower house of Congress voted late Wednesday a motion clarifying that in its view there was no law actually freeing legislators from paying taxes, merely "authorizing the heads of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies to regulate on which items of lawmakers' allowances income tax is paid."   -- Stephen Brown, Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0695 
1701 !E11 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Mexico's President Ernesto Zedillo said Thursday that virtually all the jobs lost during the worst of the country's economic crisis have now been recovered.   "Today we can say that practically all the jobs lost during the most critical part of the crisis have been recovered," Zedillo said during a tour of the northern state of Coahuila.    He gave no specific figures but said Mexico still had to create a million jobs a year just to keep pace with the growing working population.   More than a million people are believed to have lost their jobs in the severe recession Mexico went through following the December 1994 peso crisis.   Mexico this week reported second-quarter GDP growth of 7.2 percent compared to the second quarter of last year, however.   Zedillo said earlier this week that the figure showed the economy is now "clearly in a phase of expansion".   --Martin Langfield, Mexico City newsroom 525 7289558 
1702 !E21 !E211 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Argentina's government has decreed a 30-percent rise in the base used to calculate tax for most self-employed workers, according to an official document Thursday.   The move, effective as of September 1, is part of a package announced by Economy Minister Roque Fernandez aimed at cutting Argentina's 1996 budget deficit to about $4 billion after about $1 billion in privatization income.   Fernandez said Thursday that raising tax on self-employed workers would bring $400 million in extra revenue in 1997.   Other parts of the package, including a big rise in fuel taxes and an extension of value-added tax, and an increase in the retirement age for women, have been sent to Congress for approval.   -- Jason Webb, Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0655 
1703 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GWELF  Brazil will post a social security deficit of 6 billion reais ($6 billion) or 0.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1996, the first in five years, a newspaper said.   The social security deficit will contribute to the government missing its 1996 public sector deficit target of 3 percent of GDP, O Globo newspaper said.   The public sector defted to be higher than 3.5 percent of GDP in 1996.   The main cause for this year's social security deficit is the 42 percent increase in minimum salary and benefits awarded last year, O Globo said.   This year's 12 percent rise in the minimum salary and 15 percent increase in pensions has worsened the situation.   -- Simona de Logu, Rio de Janeiro newsroom, 5521 507 4151 
1704 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GVIO  Argentina's largest labor federation CGT is now considering a 24-hour strike without demonstrations rather than the 36-hour walkout with worker mobilization it was contemplating, a CGT spokesman said.   Carlos West Ocampo told the daily Clarin that the change was due to security reasons after a union assembly last Tuesday to take a strike vote was aborted by a gunfight between rival factions that left several workers wounded.   The CGT meeting to vote on the strike against the government's belt-tightening measures has been rescheduled for Friday.    "We don't want to allow the anonymous trouble-makers a chance to act," West Ocampo said.   The Tuesday shootout broke out after supporters of the radical union splinter group MTA tried to force their way into the sports center where the labor summit was underway.   Seven union members were hit, two of them suffering serious chest wounds.   Before Tuesday's labor summit, union leaders had said they were planning a 36-hour strike with a demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo to oppose the latest set of austerity measures announced by new Economy Minister Roque Fernandez.    Three weeks ago unions held a day-long general strike against belt-tightening measures by then-Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo taxing widely-used food vouchers and scrapping family allowance for workers making more than $1,000 a month.   Fernandez took over and came up with his own austerity regime, which includes Cavallo's measures.   Fernandez's measures include a generalization of value added tax and a hike in gasoline levies.   The new set of measures have drawn fresh fire from unions.   Administration officials expect they will improve revenue by around $4.0 billion next year.   Congress is expected to approve the package in October.   -- Daniel Helft, Buenos Aires Newsroom + 541 318 0663 
1705 !GCAT !GWEA  Tropical Storm Dolly, upgraded again overnight from a tropical depression, is gradually picking up steam in the Gulf of Mexico, National Meterological Service said Thursday.   Currently centered 200 km (125 miles) north of the port of Frontera in Tabasco state, Dolly is moving west-northwesterly at a speed of 24 km/h (15 mph), packing sustained winds of 85 km/h (53 mph) and gusts of 100 km/h (63 mph).   Storm alerts are out in the Gulf of Mexico from Puerto Progvreso in the state of Yucatan to La Pesca in the state of Tamaulipas, the service said.    "Tropical Storm Dolly will continuing gaining force during the day and it will be centered at 1300 local (1800 GMT) in the Gulf of Mexico around 300 km (188 miles) north of the port of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state, 225 km (141 miles) northeast of the port of Veracruz," the service said.   Dolly is seen reaching sustained winds of 100 km/h (63 mph) and gusts of 120 km/h (75 mph), the weather service added.   The weather front is expected to dump further rains along most parts of the Gulfm coastline, possible causing landslides and flooding.   Dolly slammed Tuesday into the state of Quintana Roo after racing through the Caribbean.   It edged Wednesday across the Yucatan Peninsula before leaving land for the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.   The state-owned oil and gas monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) said Wednesday that its three crude export ports in the Gulf had been forced to close because of the threat posed by Dolly.   The company also took precautions on its offshore platforms in Campeche Bay.   The ports, namely Pajaritos, Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas, are the company's main exit points for shipments to the United States and Europe.   --Chris Aspin, Mexico City newsroom (525) 7289530. 
1706 !GCAT  These are the highlights of the main Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro newspapers this morning.   GAZETA MERCANTIL   -- BRAZIL'S TBC CUT TO 1.88 PERCENT IN SEPTEMBER   Brazil's Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) has cut the Basic Interest Rate of the Central Bank (TBC) for its operations in the financial markets to 1.88 percent in September.   -- END TO ICMS INJECTS $1.5 BLN INTO AGRIBUSINESS SECTOR   The exemption of semi-finished goods exports from the ICMS tax can increase earnings in Brazil's agribusiness sector by at least $1.5 billion in the first year and $2 to $2.5 billion in the next three years.   -- BAMERINDUS ORDINARY SHARES FALL 4.4 PERCENT   Ordinary shares of Brazilian private bank Bamerindus fell 4.4 percent yesterday after the bank announced first half profits of 20.4 million reais.   O GLOBO   -- RIO'S CRIMINAL YOUTHS CONCENTRATED IN SEVEN NEIGHBORHOODS   Rio de Janeiro's state government says the city's most dangerous streetchildren are concentrated in 11 critical areas located in seven neighborhoods of the city.   -- SOCIAL SECURITY DEFICIT IN 1996 TO BE 6 BLN REAIS   Brazilian social security is to post a 1996 deficit of 6 billion reais, the first deficit in five years.   -- GOVT AID TO BRAZIL'S STATES ALREADY OVER 3 BLN REAIS   Brazilian federal government aid to help states in financial trouble has already reached 3.2 billion reais and is expected to rise by the end of the year.   FOLHA DE SAO PAULO   -- SAO PAULO GOVERNOR TO DISCUSS VIOLENCE WITH FIESP   Sao Paulo Governor Mario Covas, who criticized industrial federation FIESP for its support of an anti-crime campaign, is meeting the heads of industrial and commercial federations to discuss the fight against crime.   -- ROAD CRASH IN MINAS GERAIS LEAVES SEVEN DEAD, 20 INJURED   Seven people were killed and 20 injured when a bus and a truck crashed in Minas Gerais state near the town of Pouso Alegre Wednesday.   -- SAO PAULO'S ROSSI FALLS AND PITTA INCREASES LEAD   A survey of Sao Paulo's mayoral candidates shows Francisco Rossi of the PDT at 12 percent of the vote, down 4 percentage points, while leading candidate Celso Pitta of the PPB managed to expand his lead by 2 percentage points to 37 percent.   Reuters has not verified the stories and cannot vouch for their accuracy.   -- Simona de Logu, Rio de Janeiro newsroom, 5521 507 4151 
1707 !GCAT !GVIO  Peruvian guerrillas killed one man and took eight people hostage after taking over a village in the country's northeastern jungle region, anti- terrorist police sources said on Wednesday.   For three hours on Tuesday, around 100 members of the Maoist rebel group Shining Path took control of Alomella Robles, a small village about 345 miles (550 km) northeast of Lima, the sources said.   Some guerrillas made villagers listen to propaganda speeches in the village centre, others forced passing motorists out of their cars and daubed their vehicles with slogans.   By Wednesday, the whereabouts of the eight hostages was still not known, the sources said.   In recent months the Shining Path, severely weakened since the 1992 capture of its leader Abimael Guzman, has been stepping up both its military and propaganda activities.   Peru's guerrilla conflicts have cost at least 30,000 lives and $25 billion in damage to infrastructure since 1980. 
1708 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Two Cuban sportsmen defected in separate incidents in Costa Rica and Guatemala on Wednesday, one a major soccer player and the other a young baseball star on the Cuban "B" team.   Goalkeeper Fernando Grinon Russeaux, who was due to play in the Cuban soccer team in a World Cup qualifier against El Salvador next month, gave the slip to teammates before they left Costa Rica, saying he was seeking to escape a lack of freedom on the Communist-ruled island.   "I had taken the decision a long time ago, but I was waiting for the best circumstances to carry it out," he told Reuters in an interview at the San Jose offices of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Cuba.   Dressed in his national team track suit, which he said was all he could take with him without arousing suspicion, Grinon said he left a wife and two children in Cuba and that he feared reprisals against them from the Cuban government.   "From now, it (the Cuban government) is responsible for anything that could happen (to them)," he said.   His defection coincided with the disappearance of 21-year-old Jesus Ramon Valvidia, second baseman on the Cuban "B" team playing friendly matches in Guatemala who has been a part of Cuba's top adult and youth teams since he was 12.   "We all went to bed last night.   In the morning we woke up and he wasn't there.   He left very early," coach Juan Diaz told Reuters.   The coach also said Valvidia's belongings had disappeared.   "He is definitely not with the team anymore."   Rene Guim, a spokesman for Miami sports agent Joe Cubas, told Reuters Valvidia called Cubas four days ago and the agent flew to Guatemala City on Monday to make contact with the baseball player.   Cubas was planning to help Valvidia make contact with a foreign embassy in Guatemala.   But spokesmen at the embassies of the United States, Panama and the Dominican Republic said Valvidia had not sought asylum there.   The Guatemalan Interior Ministry said he had not left the country.   Both cases suggested that defecting while under the watchful eye of one's teammates is not easy for a Cuban.   "When you think about deserting, you don't let any of your colleagues know, because the atmosphere of repression in which we live makes us see each one of them as a policeman or a mole for the Communist regime," Grinon said in Costa Rica.   He said that besides the 18 players on the national soccer team, there were also seven party officials who tagged along in Costa Rica to keep an eye on behaviour. 
1709 !GCAT !GVIO  Guatemalan guerrillas on Wednesday denied recent reports that they did not intend to lay down their arms in peacetime and insisted they were abiding by a ceasefire declared earlier this year.   "Since declaring a halt to military offensives, we have rigorously complied (with the cease-fire)," leaders of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit in exile in Mexico said in a statement.   Last weekend all four of Guatemala's daily newspapers carried front-page stories saying the leftist Revolutionary Unit (known by the Spanish acronym URNG) had sworn in a recent document to stay armed after peace accords are signed.   "We reject ... the way a recent URNG publication was twisted and taken completely out of context trying to say that the URNG would not disarm after peace accords are signed," said the URNG.   The rebels have met regularly with government peace negotiators since January, and both sides plan to sign a definitive peace agreement this year, ending 36 years of civil war in Guatemala.   The URNG declared a unilateral ceasefire in March and the Guatemalan army is under presidential orders to cease all counter-insurgency measures.   The guerrillas also denied charges by political leaders that they had stepped up propaganda campaigns, which usually consist of handing out pamphlets in rural areas.   President Alvaro Arzu made a public call to the URNG this month to cease the campaigns.   In July, URNG propagandizing sparked right-wing criticism after armed guerrillas entered a building of the capital's major university and spoke to students for about half an hour.   The populist Guatemalan Republican Front party is trying to bring criminal proceedings against President Arzu and his defence minister for not stopping the propaganda campaigns. 
1710 !GCAT !GCRIM  Prison guards beating nude inmates with batons is nothing new, says convicted murderer Eurpe Herrera, jailed in Panama's worst prison.   "It happens all the time.   The difference is this time it was shown on TV."   Herrera spoke during a government-organised press tour of Panama City's Modelo prison where guards were filmed last month herding naked prisoners into a courtyard and beating them with nightsticks.   They were quelling a riot that killed two inmates, left a dozen prisoners and guards wounded and caused a national uproar.   President Ernesto Perez Balladares condemned the beating and ordered an investigation.   The prison director and 12 other officials were suspended.   "There are torturers here.   The guards beat us all the time," Herrera said, showing scars on his forearms through his cell bars.   With four months left of his 12-year sentence, he wondered whether he would survive in his cramped urine- and feces-infested cell.   Built for seven, it now holds nearly 50.   Modelo has a capacity of 275 prisoners but contains nearly 3,000.   Panama's 46 packed, violent and filthy jails hold a total of nearly 7,000 prisoners, 75 percent of whom have not been sentenced.   Prisons in Latin America are notorious for squalid conditions, overcrowding and gang rule, and Panama is no exception.   Jail riots rocked Argentina and Brazil this year in protest againt inhumane and degrading conditions, while Venezuelan prisons have been described officially as hellish.   Giovanni Niedda, head of the Panama branch of Prison Fellowship International, a human rights group working to improve prison conditions around the world, said years of military rule were often to blame for the situation.   "Many countries, especially in Central America, that are coming out of civil wars have prison systems where military officials are mixed with civilian staff.   Abuses are often committed by military officials and civilians don't have enough power to stop them," he said.   Panama abolished its army in 1994 along with the Panama Defence Forces, henchmen of former military strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega.   But Niedda said many were re-hired by the penal system.   Otilia Tejeira Koster of Panama's Human Rights Investigation Centre said the government failed to make prison reform a priority because most prisoners were poor and black.   "Many don't know their rights so they are left there."   In a quick reaction to the Modelo riot, authorities began transferring some 1,000 prisoners to other jails in the capital and in the Atlantic port city of Colon.   "We will close Modelo sometime this year.   We realise it has to be closed," an Interior Ministry spokesman said.   He said the penitentiary system budget had increased sixfold in three years to some $12 million in 1995.   A new prison was built in Colon and two in Panama City, La Joya and Renacer, have been rehabilitated.   But international and local human rights groups charge that Panama's prisons are like Nazi concentration camps and have not changed since military rule under Noriega and his predecessors.   "In Modelo they still have 'la chiquita,' a small cell used to punish prisoners.   They are put in there for weeks at a time.   It's so small they cannot stand or lie down, they have to stay in a crouched position," a human rights leader said.   Romulo Emeliani Sanchez, Roman Catholic bishop for Panama's prisons, called Modelo a "cemetery for the living and a small-scale hell."   "Rats are bigger than cats," a guard there said.   Prisoners often cut themselves with homemade knives in order to get permission to leave their cells to see the doctor.   Rape of new prisoners is frequent and condoms are not available, he said.   "I came in without AIDS.   Now I have AIDS and tuberculosis," said one prisoner who has spent 14 years of a 20-year murder sentence in Modelo.   Homosexuals, who are locked up together in one cell, complained they are denied medical attention.   Guards said they feared for their lives and admitted beatings were frequent.   In the Modelo riot, they confiscated more than 300 homemade knives made of copper and iron torn from cell doors.   "When there are hundreds of them running around armed, what are we supposed to do?"   asked one guard. 
1711 !C11 !CCAT !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Japan on Wednesday granted Mexico credits worth $960 million for environmental and trade projects, part of visiting Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's drive to open up a new trade front for Japanese industry.   "Among the countries in the Group of Seven, Japan is the one that exports more capital than it takes in," Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said.   "Proof of that is the credit supports that Mexico has received," Zedillo said during a banquet for Hashimoto on the second day of the Japanese prime minister's three-day visit.   The other industrial nations in the Group of Seven are Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany and the United States.   A transcript of the president's comments was issued by his office.   The accords were signed at a ceremony at the Los Pinos presidential residence.   Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Angel Gurria listed them as follows:   - an environmental credit agreement for $460 million aimed at helping clean up pollution in Mexico City   - an accord between Mexico's foreign trade bank Bancomext and Japan's Eximbank for $250 million   - an accord between Mexico's development bank Nacional Financiera and Japan's Eximbank, also for $250 million.   Hashimoto was here on the first leg of a 10-day, five-nation tour of Latin America, where he hopes to drum up trans-Pacific trade with the region's emerging economies.   The Mexican government is keen to court Asian business, and Japan is currently its third largest trade partner with trade flows this year expected to top $6 billion.   Japan has long seen Mexico as a launching pad for increased exports to the United States and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).   Some 300 Japanese businesses are currently located in Mexico, many set up along its bustling border with the United States.   On the day before Hashimoto's arrival on Tuesday, a potential cloud was lifted when a top Japanese executive at electronics firm Sanyo was freed after being held captive for nine days in the border town of Tijuana.   The ransom was $2 million.   Tokyo has invested nearly $60 billion in Latin America over the past 14 years and its economic aid doubled between 1990 and 1995 to $1.14 billion.   Mexico was the first stop on a trip that will also take Hashimoto to Chile, Brazil, Peru and Costa Rica. 
1712 !GCAT !GCRIM  Flamboyant former Surinamese rebel leader Ronny Brunswijk was in custody on Wednesday charged with attempted murder, police said.   Brunswijk turned himself into police after Freddy Pinas, a Surinamese-born visitor from the Netherlands, accused Brunswijk of trying to kill him on Sunday after a bar-room brawl in the small mining town of Moengo, about 56 miles (90 km) east of Paramaribo, said police spokesman Ro Gajadhar.   Pinas, showing cuts and bruises on his face, told reporters the former head of the feared Jungle Command had tried and failed to shoot him after Pinas objected to Brunswijk's advances toward his wife.   Pinas said Brunswijk then ordered his bodyguards to beat him up.   Brunswijk, 35, denied the charges and said he had merely defended himself when Pinas attacked him with a bottle.   It was the second time Brunswijk had been charged with attempted murder in less than two years.   In 1994 he served two months in prison for shooting a thief in the buttocks.   Brunswijk led a rebel group of about 1,000 in a 1986 uprising against the regime of military strongman Desi Bouterse.   The conflict, which killed more than 500 and caused thousands to flee to neighbouring French Guiana in the late 1980s, eventually paved the way to democratic elections in 1991.   Despite numerous problems with authorities, Brunswijk went on to become a successful businessman with mining and logging interests.   He also manages and occasionally plays for one of the leading local soccer teams. 
1713 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   Former National Crime Authority chairman Peter Faris QC called for a judicial inquiry into all NCA investigations and Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the Supreme Court ruling raised serious doubts about the operations of the NCA, following yesterday's acquittal of criminal charges against businessman John Elliott, resulting from a four-year NCA inquiry.   Page 1.   --   The Australian Democrats have committed themselves to passing the Government's new industrial relations legislation by the end of the year, however, Democrats industrial relations spokesman Andrew Murray said yesterday while he supported the end of compulory unionism and closed shops, he was against the proposed repeal of the "conveniently belong" rule, which limits the number of unions in workplaces.   Page 3.   --   Following last night's meeting with union officials, Qantas Airways Ltd managing director James Strong announced staff would be issued with A$500 worth of Qantas shares under the company's employee share ownership scheme.   However, unions are pushing for guarantee that all employees will be entitled to a further two tranches of shares over the next two years.   Page 3.   --   Despite yesterday's commitment from the Democrats to pass an amended Workplace Relations Bill, the Government is still likely to have little hope of implementing its labour market deregulation program if has to rely on the Democrats in the Senate.   The Democrats reaffirmed their opposition to restricting the Industrial Relations Commission's power in a Senate inquiry report.   Page 3.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   Announcing a review of the National Crime Authority's failed investigation into former Liberal Party president and Elders chairman John Elliott, Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams said the legal ruling, which found Elliott not guilty of an alleged A$6.5 million fraud of Elders shareholders, raised "serious questions" about the operations of the NCA.   Page 1.   --   Delivering the inaugural Vincent Lingaiari Lecture at the Northern Territory University, Governor-General Sir William Deane urged all Australian Parliaments to pass resolutions supporting the national reconciliation process and the work of the Council for Reconciliation, claiming that Australia would remain a diminished nation until there was true reconciliation with indigenous and non-indigenous people.   Page 1.   --   Local residents and environmental groups have threatened legal action to stop the development of Keith Williams' A$100 million Port Hinchinbrook resort in north Queensland, which was given the go-ahead by the Federal Government yesterday under a strict new set of environmental guidelines.   Page 1.   --   In the latest development of the Carruthers inquiry into electoral bribery, Queensland Criminal Justice Commission tapes revealed that National Party operative Matt Heery admitted in private conversations to deceiving the inquiry, plotting to burn documents and boasting that he had information to down Queensland Premier Rob Borbidge and Liberal leader Joan Sheldon.   Page 3.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   The Federal Government has ordered an inquiry into the National Crime Authority's handling of the John Elliott case, after charges against Elliott, Peter Scanlon and Kenneth Biggins for defrauding Elders shareholders of A$66.5 million were dropped because the bulk of the prosecution evidence was ruled inadmissible.   Page 1.   --   Sydney police were last night conducting a massive search for a woman who abducted a nine-week-old boy from his cot in the New Children's Hospital at Westmead.   The woman is believed to be unrelated to the boy, who was recovering in the hospital after sufering breathing problems.   Page 1.   --   The New South Wales Police Royal Commission yesterday announced there was no evidence to suggest that Council of Civil Liberties head John Marsden had ever been protected from investigation or prosecution by the police.   However, Marsden said the commission had not gone far enough to clear his name of paedophile allegations.   Page 1.   --   Justice Frank Vincent's ruling that the National Crime Authority had acted outside its powers to obtain evidence against businessman John Elliott was the key to victory for Elliott, as the ruling had a flow-on effect which ruled out evidence from other winesses supporting prosecution allegations.   Page 1.   --   THE AGE   Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams last night announced a review of the role of the National Crime Authority after Justice Frank Vincent of the Supreme Court found that the NCA had stepped outside its terms of reference to investigate theft and fraud allegations against businessman John Elliott.   Page A1.   --   Some of the Government's key Budget plans are at risk, following Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley's announcement last night of Labor's intention to block Higher Education Contribution Scheme changes worth A$1.1 billion over four year, upfront charges for nursing homes worth A$308 million and higher prescription charges valued at A$503 million.   Democrats Leader Cheryl Kernot said her party would also vote against increased prescription charges and HECS changes.   Page A1.   --   Public hearings for the Victorian Casino Inquiry scheduled for next month were indefinitely postponed last night because of confusion over the Commonwealth's powers to investigate State Government officials.   Inquiry chairman Senator Bruce Childs said the committee wished to clarify the matter before proceeding with the public hearings.   Page A1.   --   Although the Northern Territory Parliament yesterday rejected a bill to repeal the world's first pro-euthanasia legislation, the law will face a further challenge on September 9 when Victorian Liberal backbencher Kevin Andrews introduces a bill to Federal Parliament to override the Territory's Rights to the Terminally Ill Act.   Page A3.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
1714 !GCAT  (Compiled for Reuters by Media Monitors)   THE AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW   As a final stage of WMC Ltd's three-year restructuring plan, the company will sell its A$350 million petroleum division to help fund the A$1.25 billion expansion of the Olympic Dam mine and a A$600 million fertiliser project based in Queensland.   Page 1.   --   Tax consultants have slammed the new thin capitalisation rules announced in this week's Budget papers.   Ian Farmer of Coopers & Lybrand claims because the new rules add to the cost and trouble of investing in Australia, many foreign investors would be reluctant to invest into major assets such as the airports or Austel.   Page 5.   --   News Corp Ltd predicts that unprecedented takings from its Hollywood feature Independence Day, high TV advertising returns and lower newsprint prices will bring forward up to a 20 per cent increase in profit following the group's 25.3 per cent slump in 1995-96.   Page 29.   --   US mining group Battle Mountain Gold has initiated proceedings with Niugini Mining Ltd aimed at buying out Niugini's remaining share of 49.6 per cent which it does not already own.   The move is expected to cost the US miner at least A$290 million.   Page 29.   --   Once again the future of embattled Pay-TV operator Australis Media is under threat from the group's bond holders and Optus Vision shareholder the Seven Network.   Doubts are being raised about the Kerry Packer-Optus Vision rescue package which include concerns that Australis' assets were sold too cheaply and Seven's rival, Kerry Packer, was being granted a larger stake in Optus-Vision.   Page 29.   --   Alan Newman's Futuris Corp Ltd has posted a record net profit which could see it expand its operations in the rural service sector.   The Perth-based industrialist lifted its net profit in 1995-96 to A$52 million, up 30 per cent from the previous year.   Page 30.   --   THE AUSTRALIAN   Emerging triumphant after his acquittal on theft and conspiracy charges, businessman John Elliott said yesterday the National Crime Authority investigation into Elders IXL Ltd in 1990 had cost the company's shareholders billions of dollars.   Page 25.   --   Although it reported its first fall in profit since 1990 yesterday - a six per cent decline after tax and abnormal items to A$1.26 billion in the year to June - News Corp Ltd said lower newsprint prices, solid forward advertising bookings for its US TV network and record box-office takings for its film Independence Day had set the company on track for a 20 per cent rise in profit this financial year.   Page 25.   --   Reporting a higher-than-expected A$246.2 million net profit for the year to June 30, Qantas Airways Ltd chairman Gary Pemberton said yesterday any attempt to maintain market share by expanding the fleet would place Qantas' profitability and capital at risk.   Page 25.   --   Australis Media Ltd's US bondholders are believed to have rejected key components of the A$367 million rescue package headed by Kerry Packer, jeopardising the pay TV operator's latest recapitalisation plan.   A long-standing impasse with the US noteholders would force Australis' two regional licensees, United International Holdings Inc and Century Communications, back to the negotiating table.   Page 25.   --   With production expected to begin in the second quarter of 1998 and the first full year of production expected to average 26,200 barrels a day of low gravity, low sulphur crude oil, Santos Ltd yesterday announced the A$200 million development of the Stag oil field near Dampier.   Page 27.   --   WMC Ltd is set to offload most of its petroleum division assets, including a 30 per cent stake in the East Spar offshore gas and condensate project in Western Australia, Greenhill Petroleum Corp in the US and a gas development project in New Zealand, to support key growth projects such as Olympic Dam.   Page 27.   --   THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD   Boosted by cost reductions and interest savings, Qantas Airways yesterday announced a net profit of A$246.7 million for the year to June 30.   The result was A$9.7 million above the prospectus forecast and 36.8 per cent up on last year's figure.   Page 21.   --   Higher world paper prices and a sharp drop in earnings from the group's book publishing operations have contributed to News Corp's 25 per cent fall in annual net profit to A$1.02 billion.   Falling almost A$100 million short of its target, the result was well down on 1995's record of A$1.36 billion.   Page 21.   --   According to the Reserve Bank's annual report, the Federal Government's A$4 billion in spending cuts announced in the Budget could make a useful contribution to boosting national savings and the economy.   The central bank reported a large increase in net profit to A$2.5 billion, up by A$714 million on the previous year.   Page 21.   --   Australis Media's largest US junk bond holder, investment bank Merrill Lynch, has reportedly expressed concern over the pay TV operator's A$133 million rescue package which involves the sale of assets to rival pay TV group Optus Vision.   If Australis' debt raising fails it could be forced into liquidation.   Page 21.   --   West Australian-based industrial group Futuris Corp has reported a 30 per cent rise in net profit after abnormals to A$52 million and has forecast an improved year ahead.   Futuris predicted a buoyant automotive sector and an upswing in the building industry would help boost profits for 1997.   Page 23.   --   St George Bank subsidiary St George Investment Services will apply for registration as a life insurer following St George's decision to dump plans to acquire an insurer to launch its own product on the market.   St George managing director Jim Sweeney said the move "will provide the insurance business with an excellent foundation and profile from which to grow".   Page 23.   --   THE AGE   Despite reporting a 37 per cent increase in net profit to A$246.7 million for the year to 30 June, Qantas Airways has predicted another year of heavy cost-cutting to offset an expected softening in revenues for the air industry.   Page C1.   --   WMC yesterday announced it was selling all but the strategic components of its petroleum division.   The expected A$350 million sale follows WMC's failure to make international impact in the copper/gold, alumina and nickel sectors.   Page C1.   --   In its annual report the Reserve Bank of Australia has warned Australian companies will have to get used to the idea of lower profit growth in exchange for low inflation.   The Bank also expressed concern that unions and global investment markets are yet to accept Australia's long-term low inflationary levels.   Page C1.   --   After the fifth month of the planned 45-month contract, the Transurban group's A$1.8 billion City Link project has been declared "on track", with costs and construction running to schedule according to the company's chairman Laurie Cox.   Page C3.   --   Rupert Murdoch has predicted his News Corporation will make a comeback after last financial year's 25.3 per cent slump in net profit from A$1.37 billion to A$1.02 billion.   Murdoch claims the group will be back by a 20 per cent increase this financial year Page C3.   --   Cement and lime producer Adelaide Brighton believes the pick-up in the construction industry will not occur until at least the second half of next year.   This will make Adelaide's year even harder after the company yesterday posted a net loss of A$49.3 milion for the last financial year.   Page C3.   -- Reuters Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800 
1715 !GCAT  NEW ZEALAND HERALD    Front Page - South Auckland school breaks law by shutting    out pupils    - Aust verdicts puts Hawkins case on hold    - Slow response to baby-at-wheel complaint stuns    Editorial - Regulatory relapse (teachers licences)    - Auckland bus threat    Business - Interest charges restrain Wilson and Horton    profit    - Horton board resignation ends 119-year link    - Baird to leave Ceramco    Sport  - Culhane gets nod    - All Blacks watch what they eat    - Truce reached over school v club cricket debate   THE DOMINION    Front page - Tougher line on truckies urged    - Lange pleads for end to Labour-Alliance split    - Jail drunk drivers who injure - judge    Editorial - Best chance to beat the boks    Business - Sharemarket rides high on forestry sale with    $79m day    - NZ First's slip acts as sedative - analyst    - Panel backgrounds events up to Power NZ damages    claim    Sport  - Hart decides against Mehrtens    - Brooke has an eye on test history    - Twose's cricket future clouded   THE PRESS    Front page - Older, wiser Lange bows out in style    - Police probe action of three officers    - Councillor takes up Chch East School cause    Editorial - Smart cards    Business - Wil Hort ties cut as earnings held    - Mainfreight profit forecast on target    - Light Leather has best six months    Sport  - Decision to drop Lomu hurt - Hart    - Down to the wire for Warriors    - Robson likely to stay with Auck 
1716 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  The world's first voluntary euthanasia law survived a challenge in Australia's Northern Territory parliament on Thursday when opponents failed to repeal the assisted suicide legislation.   But euthanasia opponents vowed to continue fighting the law, which came into effect on July 1 but has not yet been used.   The next challenge is scheduled for September, when Australia's national parliament will be asked to override the territory's law.   Another challenge is also expected in Australia's High Court, with euthanasia opponents seeking a ruling on the legislation's constitutional validity.   National government backbencher Kevin Andrews on Thursday said he would introduce his anti-euthanasia private member's bill in parliament on September 9.   The territory's parliament defeated the "Right to Human Life" bill 14 to 11 in a free vote after a five-hour debate.   Last month, the law survived a territory court challenge.   The law allows terminally-ill patients to end their life by lethal injection or pill as long as they meet strict conditions.   Doctors have been warned they may face murder charges if they assist a patient to die and the euthanasia law is repealed.   Territory opposition backbencher Neil Bell, who introduced the right to life bill, said he was disappointed with the vote, but that the matter was far from resolved.   "There's a lot of people out there who are concerned and a lot of other people who don't understand it," Bell told Reuters by telephone from Darwin, the territory's capital.   Right to Life Australia chairwoman Margaret Tighe said the group would throw its weight behind any move in the national parliament to have the law repealed.   "Right to Life will continue to support any initiative aimed at overturning this insidious piece of legislation," Tighe said.   Both Prime Minister John Howard and opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley have signalled their support for the anti-euthanasia bill, on which all members of the national parliament will be given a conscience vote.   Northern Territory Chief Minister Shane Stone said on Thursday the challenge in the national parliament could succeed, with support for the bill at present seemingly split.   National government parliamentarian Chris Gallus and opposition member Anthony Albanese on Thursday signed a joint letter calling for support of the euthanasia law.   "The legislation which prevails in the Northern Territory is safe and based on noble notions of compassion, personal dignity and the rights of individuals to control their lives," they said. 
1717 !GCAT !GPOL  The latest National Business Review-Consultus poll released on Friday showed eroding support for the the government and an overwhelming victory for the opposition in prospect if the numbers are translated into support on election day, a pollster said.   The UMR-Insight poll showed party support at 34 percent for the ruling conservative National Party, 21 percent for the economic nationalist New Zealand First Party, 20 percent for the main opposition Labour Party and 16 percent for the five-party left wing grouping the Alliance.    The Alliance appears to have gained from its campaign against the privatisation of Forestry Corp, sold on Tuesday by the government for $2.026 billion last week.   Exacerbating the National Party's problems was the continued poor showing of its coalition partner United, which scored only 0.5 percent support, and the "wasted vote" going to its potential coalition partners, free-market Act and the Christian Coalition.    Act registered 3.4 percent support, its best performance in the history of the poll, while the Christians scored 3.6 percent.   Parties which do not win one of the 65 constituency seats must score five percent support to qualify for seats from the party list.   The list is used to rebalance the number of seats to reflect a party's level of support.   If the poll was echoed on election night it would mean some eight percent of the vote that was likely to shore up a National-led government would be dismissed from the analysis.    But UMR-Insight director Stephen Mills says the momentum is towards Act and the Christians and it is too soon to dismiss the possibility they will make the five percent threshold.   "But the evidence is that a Labour-New Zealand First-Alliance arrangement will have more than enough support to govern.   It is really how the dice fall between them and whether they can organise a coherent government".   He said the most interesting dynamic was whether National's support was now eroding to niche parties such as Act and Christians in the way Labour's did to the Alliance and New Zealand First.    On the basis of Friday's numbers, National would qualify for 45 seats, New Zealand First 28, Labour 26 and the Alliance 21 in a 120 seat parliament.   Boosting the opposition's prospects was the poor showing of National in the poll of support in the constituencies.   National was down eight percentage points at 29 percent while Labour shed only one point to 30 percent.   Mills said the constituency vote should be viewed with caution because it contained a high "don't know" vote and was "highly indicative".    But the big disparity between Labour's constituency support and its level of support in the party vote suggests it will win more constituency seats than the number of overall seats its 20 percent support would qualify it for.   In that case, Labour keeps the "overhang" and the 120 seat parliament is increased in size by that number.   It is widely expected NZ First and Labour will strike a deal after the election, with a NZ First-National deal less likely given its stipulation that Prime Minister Jim Bolger and Finance Minister Bill Birch would have to lose their jobs first.    Financial markets took little note of the poll.   Indeed, the New Zealand share market powered to 2-1/2 year high while the New Zealand dollar and bond market were virtually unchanged.   "Did I miss the election?   Has it gone?"   quipped SBC Warburg share broker John Rowley.   "There seems to be no interest at all in the election, it seems to be regarded as a non-event which is strange."   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746    It is widely expected New Zealand First and Labour will be able to strike a deal after the election, with a New Zealand First-National deal less likely given Peters' stipulation that Prime Minister Jim Bolger and Finance Minister Bill Birch would have to lose their jobs first.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 4734 746 
1718 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Labor opposition leader Kim Beazley said on Thursday opinions differed among the minor parties on the merits of measures in the conservative coalition government's budget.   "We've got to be realistic about two things, firstly the minor parties don't agree with us on everything, and secondly on top of that an awful lot of what is done here is being done in what are so-called appropriations measures," Beazley said on ABC TV.   He had been asked how many measures he was confident of defeating in the Senate with the help of minor parties.   In Tuesday night's 1996/97 (July/June) budget, Treasurer Peter Costello announced a budget that cuts the underlying deficit from A$10.3 billion at June 1996 to A$5.6 billion in 1996/97, and will see a A$1.0 billion surplus by the fiscal year to June 1999.   The conservative Liberal National coalition government is two votes short of a majority in the Senate.   Those two votes could come from the seven Democrats, two Greens, a pair of Independents or the Labor opposition.   No party is expected to vote against the Appropriation Bills -- that is those authorising expenditure -- since obstruction would spark a constitutional crisis.   "The capacity to knock off appropriation measures is very very limited indeed, unless you want to create an absolute crisis and that's not on as far as we're concerned," Beazley said.   However, there were discrete areas where entitlements would continue in place if they were not amended, Beazley said.   "I've indentified a few...most notably the one relating to HECS (higher education contribution scheme)," Beazley said.   The Democrats have also said they oppose this measure.   HECS is a levy on tertiary education paid through the tax system.   In the budget the costs of courses were raised, the income threshold at which the levy is payable from was lowered and the rate at which it is repaid was quickened.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
1719 !E21 !E211 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  The Australian Democrats will not block supply in the Senate, but they would still request amendments to Appropriations Bills, Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot said in her official response to the Government's Budget.   Kernot criticised the budget as being "built on the backs of the unemployed," and heralding a significant shift from the public to private sector.   The Democrats would oppose several measures in the budget, but would not block supply as they do not believe in denying the government the money it needs to run the country, she said.    In Tuesday night's 1996/97 (July/June) budget, Treasurer Peter Costello announced a budget that cuts the underlying deficit from A$10.3 billion at June 1996 to A$5.6 billion in 1996/97, and will see a A$1.0 billion surplus by June 1999.   "But our pledge not to block supply doesn't stop us from requesting amendments to the Appropriations Bills," Kernot said, saying it was a tactic the Democrats intended to use.   Kernot said the Democrats would support the family tax package, but were unhappy with the loose targetting of the rebate.   The Democrats were also "favourably disposed towards an increase in the Medicare levy for higher income earners."   However, they were not "favourably disposed" to the lift in the threshold for the medical expenses tax rebate, she said.   "We will announce our position on these changes in the next fortnight," Kernot said.   "However we will vote against increases in payments for prescriptions under the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme," she said, adding they had done so under the previous Labor government as well.   The Democrats are also opposed to user-pays education, and "will oppose the cuts in operating subsidies to universities and we will vote against the changes to HECS and AUSTUDY," she said.   Kernot also said the Democrats were opposed to funding cuts of the ABC and ATSIC.   "However, we know these cuts will form part of the roughly A$3 billion worth of measures whcih are not reviewable by the Senate," she said.   The conservative Liberal National coalition government is two votes short of a majority.   Those two votes could come from the seven Democrats, two Greens, a pair of Independents or the Labor opposition.   Kernot said the Democrats supported the need for deficit reduction, but believed the Government should focus on the two medium term goals of halving unemployment and achieving a structural surplus within the next two to three years.   A "reduction of about A$4 to A$5 billion over the next three years represents a credible and responsible strategy in economic, fiscal and social terms," Kernot said.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
1720 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Opposition leader Kim Beazley on Thursday called the conservative coalition government's budget bought down earlier this week a betrayal and divisive in his official reply to the budget.   "This is a budget of betrayal," Beazley said, saying it was not only a betrayal of election promises, but also a betrayal of the Australian promise -- "the promise of Australia working always towards a more fair, a more just, a more inclusive and united society."   "Above all this budget also betrays the jobless," Beazley told Parliament.    In Tuesday night's 1996/97 (July/June) budget, Treasurer Peter Costello announced a budget that cuts the underlying deficit from A$10.3 billion at June 1996 to A$5.6 billion in 1996/97, and will see a A$1.0 billion surplus by June 1999.   Beazley said the government, which won power from the Labor Party at the election in March, had placed a dead hand on the economy when they took office, and the cuts would further dampen growth.   "It suits the government to have low growth because lowe growth makes it appear as if the bigger cuts are needed to restore the Budget to balance," he said.    Greater growth, like the four percent growth Labor averaged over the last four years it was in office, could restore the budget to balance without the need for large cuts, as well as reducing unemployment, he said.   "And unemployment, not the budget, is the number one problem facing Australia," Beazley said.   Beazley said Labor had no argument that Australia's longer term economic interests were best served by returning the Budget to surplus.    The best way to achieve balance was through a moderate program of cuts over the government's term "which do not harm valuable public programs, and which do not harm growth -- and which provide hope rather than despair for the jobless."   Beazley said Australians expected the Prime Minister to "stand above Treasurers and a desire to please financial markets, when necessity dictates", but said Prime Minister John Howard had stood aside.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
1721 !GCAT !GDIP  China has offered to hold negotiations to end almost five decades of hostility with Taiwan but said on Thursday Taipei had spoiled the atmosphere for talks.   China's top negotiator with Taipei, Tang Shubei, told a visiting group from Taiwan on Wednesday that it was time for the rivals to hold political talks to pave the way for reunification, Chinese newspapers said on Thursday.   "Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks...to end the state of hostility," the overseas edition of the People's Daily quoted Tang as saying.   "China wants peaceful reunification... Political disputes should be resolved through political talks," Tang said.   In Taipei, Kao Koong-lian, spokesman for the cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, said: "It is fine with us."   On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang urged Taiwan authorities to abandon their drive to break out of diplomatic isolation for the talks to push through.   "The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has (all along) been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities," he added.   "The Taiwan authorities should in the first place put an end to their activities of trying to create 'Two Chinas' or 'One China, One Taiwan,'" Shen told Reuters.   Taiwan, regarded by China as a renegade province, says it is committed to reunification but stresses this cannot be achieved overnight.   Taipei has banned official contact with Beijing since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops lost the Chinese civil war and fled to the island in 1949.   The two sides have skirted the ban by setting up unofficial bodies to handle bilateral affairs after tensions began easing in the late 1980s.   China suspended unofficial talks with the island last year shortly before Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui made a landmark visit to the United States.   China's offer to hold reunification talks came after a series of regulations were introduced to pave the way for direct shipping links, which Taiwan still bans.   Taiwan has indirect shipping and air links with China through a third territory, mostly Hong Kong.   Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Liu Xiangdong urged Taiwanese authorities to "eliminate human barriers (to direct shipping links) as soon as possible", said the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.   China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Ukraine's ambassador in Beijing, Anatoly Plyushko, to protest against a visit to Kiev by Taiwanese Vice-President Lien Chan, an embassy spokesman said.   The former Soviet republic of Ukraine recognises China but not Taiwan.   In apparent retaliation against Lien's visit, Chinese State Councillor Li Tieying, a member of the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party, has postponed a visit to Ukraine.   Taiwan's state radio reported that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met Lien on Wednesday, but a spokesman for Kuchma denied this.   Lien surfaced in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission.   He made a secret detour to Ukraine to receive an honorary degree after making a state visit to the Dominican Republic. 
1722 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  North Korea, seizing on student unrest over reunification in South Korea as a timely propoganda weapon, announced on Thursday that two South Korean students in the communist nation had started an indefinite hunger strike.   The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), monitored in Tokyo, said the two students vowed to risk their lives unless fellow students detained by South Korean authorities for supporting reunification were released.   KCNA said the hunger strike started on Wednesday night on the North Korean side of the border town of Panmunjom.   It identified the students as Ryu Se Hong and To Jong Hwa, and said they were in North Korea to attend functions there for the reunification of the two Koreas.   About 3,200 students were arrested this week in Seoul after riot police stormed a teaching block at Yonsei University, smashing through burning barricades of desks and chairs and lobbing stun grenades to dislodge mostly female undergraduates.   "The North is taking advantage of this incident to divert the eyes of their people away from its domestic situation and to gain advantage over the South in future negotiations," said Noriyuki Suzuki, a North Korea analyst at Radio Press in Tokyo.   Since the Yonsei clash, KCNA and other North Korean media have issued a barrage of stories about what they called suppression of human rights by South Korea's "truculent fascists."   "They (the two students) vowed to carry on an indefinite hunger strike at the risk of life ... until all of their comrades, who risked their life to make the grand reunification festival successful, are released," KCNA said.   Suzuki said the uproar in South Korea offered a timely opportunity for North Korea to divert the attention of its people from their own woes of floods and famine.   "The riot incident also gives North Korea an extra card to bring out in future negotiations such as proposed four-nation peace talks," Suzuki said.   South Korea and the United States have proposed four-nation peace talks with North Korea and China, to replace a truce agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.   North Korea, however, has insisted on bilateral talks with the United States to seek a peace agreement, saying South Korea is not a party to the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.   Suzuki and other North Korea-watchers doubted if North Korea would use the riots to sever communication channels with the South.   "The North's attack on the South's handling of student gatherings at this time of the year is more or less an annual event and won't last for long," Suzuki said. 
1723 !GCAT  NIHON KEIZAI SHIMBUN   Five leading Japanese steel manufacturers and trading firms are to radically review their contracts for steel exports, aiming to reduce commissions to trading firms.   Three steelmakers -- Nippon Steel Corp, Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd and Kawasaki Steel Corp, plan to reduce foreign exchange commissions they pay to trading firms from the current one yen per dollar to 0.1 yen from October.   Two other steelmakers will also follow suit next spring.   ----    Nippon Steel Corp is expected to post parent current profit of 25 billion yen in the half-year to September 30, down 15 percent from the same period a year ago, against a previously forecast 19 percent rise to 35 billion yen.   ----   International telecommunications carrier Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd (KDD) and Thailand's state-run telephone firm have agreed to set up a joint company in Bangkok to start business in the personal handyphone system (PHS).   They hope to receive permission from the Thai government by next spring.   ----    IBM Japan Ltd has set up a marketing plan targeting Japan's smaller cities.   It plans to tie up with eight big retailers, including Best Denki Co Ltd and Joshin Denki Co Ltd, in its marketing.   It hopes to raise its sales outside the Tokyo area to 45 percent of its total by the end of this year.   ----   Alpha Therapeutic Corp, a U.S. unit of Green Cross Corp, is expected to pay around $90 million worth of compensation for patients who were infected with the HIV virus in the United States through contaminated blood products.   ----    Leading car parts manufacturers affiliated with Nissan Motor Co Ltd plan to expand their business in Mexico.   Calsonic Corp is to build a five billion yen plant there to manufacture air conditioners, mufflers and other parts.   Tachi-S Co Ltd, a leading car seat maker, will also double its production capacity.   ----   Mitsubishi Corp plans to set up a joint investment fund with major South African conglomerate Anglo-American Corp to invest in small and medium-sized manufacturers in South Africa.    Mitsubishi Materials Corp plans to spend 10 billion yen to set up a silicon wafer production plant in Indonesia, and aims to start output at the factory from the beginning of 1998.   ----   Major Japanese dyestuff company Nippon Kayaku Co Ltd and Tomen Corp plan to build a joint textile dyestuff company with a Chinese company in China in September.   ---- 
1724 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan's Vice-President Lien Chan said on Thursday he spoke with people "of all levels" during a secretive Kiev mission that enfuriated China but declined to say if he met Ukraine's president.   "I met the people I wanted to meet and discussed the things I wanted to discuss," Lien told reporters at Taipei's international airport when asked to confirm reports that he met President Leonid Kuchma.   "In Ukraine, I met people from all levels, specific people, and had a full exchange of views.   But I cannot identify who I met by name.   That would not live up to the agreement I made before visiting."   Lien used similarly coy language when asked to confirm reports in the Taiwanese media, including one in the ruling Nationalist Party's Central Daily News, that Taiwan and Ukraine had agreed to exchange unofficial representative offices.   "We both think we should promote relations on the basis of organisations.   That was the consensus," Lien said, choosing his words carefully.   "As for a setting up a representative office, Ukraine understands that we have such offices in Russia, Belarus and elsewhere and they understand the importance.   There should be some subsequent development in this matter."   Ukraine, bearing the brunt of China's anger, flatly denied that Lien and Kuchma met, although Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko told Reuters he found Beijing's furious reaction to Lien's visit to be "out of proportion".   "It wasn't even a visit but a trip, a private journey," Udovenko said of Lien's three-day stay.   China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, delivered a note of protest to Ukraine's ambassador in Beijing and cancelled a visit by a high-level delegation.   Udovenko confirmed that Ukraine, which recognises Beijing, was interested in developing trade with Taiwan and wanted to open a trade mission in Taipei.   Beijing says Taiwan, as a Chinese province, is not entitled to foreign ties and has rebuked even allies whom it sees as giving political or diplomatic quarter to the island's leaders.   Lien denied Beijing's allegation that his government sought to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", saying Beijing was determined to destroy it.   "Everyone knows the Republic of China's diplomacy faces communist China's overall blockade.   It wants the Republic of China to disappear from the world map," he said.   Lien said Taiwan would continue to press for international recognition, including a seat in the United Nations.   "It is necessary for the Republic of China to develop foreign relations for the sake of our survival and development," he said.   Lien surfaced in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing in New York following a state visit to the Dominican Republic. 
1725 !GCAT !GDIP  Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Thursday at the start of a four-day visit to China that follows growing friction between the two nations.   Downer met Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and witnessed the signing of an agreement on Australia's consulate in Hong Kong, the Xinhua news agency said.   The agreement formally permits Australia to maintain its consulate in Hong Kong after the British colony returns to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997.   Australia was one of the first countries to reach such an accord with Beijing, the news agency said.   It gave no details of Downer's meeting with Qian.   Relations between China and Australia have been strained in recent weeks, partly because of Australia's plan to sell uranium to China's rival Taiwan.   Other issues affecting ties include plans by an Australian cabinet minister to visit Taiwan and a scheduled visit to Australia next month by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.   China routinely objects to foreign officials meeting the 1989 Nobel Peace prize winner, insisting he is spearheading a campaign for Tibetan independence.   Last month Downer said he would raise the case of jailed Chinese-born Australian businessman James Peng during his meetings with Beijing officials.   Peng, 36, was sentenced to 18 years in a Chinese prison last September after being convicted of embezzling about A$240,000 (US$180,000) in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen.   He has insisted he was framed by powerful commercial rivals. 
1726 !GCAT !GCRIM  Vietnam jailed a prominent dissident on Thursday and imposed suspended sentences on two others for violations of national secrecy laws, court sources said.   Le Hong Ha, a former Interior Ministry official and senior communist party member, was sentenced to two years' jail.   Ha Si Phu, a prominent academic, and Nguyen Kien Giang, a lesser known but outspoken communist critic, were given suspended prison sentences of 12 and 15 months respectively.   Thursday's trial was closed to foreign journalists for reasons which were not clear, and court officials refused to give any details of the daylong event.   Formal confirmation of the sentences was also not available on Thursday evening, but the terms -- relating to charges under article 92 of Vietnam's Penal code -- appeared lighter than anticipated.   Vietnam's sweeping national secrecy laws allow for jail sentences of between two and seven years with a maximum punishment of 15 years for more serious violations.   However, Hanoi-based analysts were hesitant to read too much into the apparent outcome.   "It's difficult to make a judgment based on just one trial (since June's Communist Party Congress)... But, it would be good if this is a sign that things are improving," said a senior Western observer.   Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu were arrested late last year during a broader crackdown on dissent as preparations for the congress got into full swing.   Party congresses are major political events in Vietnam involving months of preparations and official meetings are usually held under a veil of secrecy.   June's congress was seen as the most important Communist Party meeting since the end of the Cold War.   Le Hong Ha had been expelled from the party earlier in 1995 after calling for the rehabilitation of prominent intellectuals Hoang Minh Chinh and Do Trung Hieu.   Ha Si Phu is known to have published a number of articles advocating political reform and had given interviews to a number of foreign radio stations in which he openly criticised the Hanoi government.   Nguyen Kien Giang, a veteran communist was investigated for possessing state secrets in early January this year, but had not been taken into custody.   It had not been clear in advance of Thursday's trial whether he would be sentenced alongside Ha and Phu.   The event had been condemned earlier in the day by human rights group Amnesty International, which said Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu were being punished "only for questioning the political views of the Vietnamese government".   Their arrests last year were also criticised at the time by the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch/Asia which accused Hanoi in a strongly worded statement of violating international laws.   Vietnam has been a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 1982. 
1727 !GCAT !GDIP  The leader of Hong Kong's main democratic grouping said on Thursday he had scrapped a Taiwan visit but denied it was because he feared upsetting China or ruining a chance for smoother relations with Beijing.   Democratic Party leader Martin Lee confirmed press reports that the party had planned a high-level visit to Taiwan this summer but it was now off.   The development came amid a row between China and Ukraine over a visit to Kiev by Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan.   Lee told Hong Kong radio his trip had been called off because of a busy travel agenda, including visits to Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and a fund-raising trip to Canada.   "Because of all these various commitments we decided to postpone it indefinitely," he said.   Asked if a possibility of a thaw in his frosty relations with China had been a factor, Lee said the postponement of the trip to Taiwan "clearly predated China's olive branch".   This was a reference to an offer by China to improve relations with Hong Kong's democratic movement.   Vice-Premier Qian Qichen said in Beijing this month that people with divergent views on democracy could be brought on board the China-controlled panel that will pick Hong Kong's political leadership after Britain withdraws next year.   Qian's remark was widely interpreted as an olive branch to the Democratic Party, which upsets China with its support for mainland dissidents and its accusations that Beijing plans to snuff out democracy in Hong Kong.   Hong Kong reverts to China next July 1 after a century and a half of British colonial rule.   The handover is the first step in reintegrating formerly Chinese-ruled territories that the communist People's Republic of China failed to incorporate when it was founded in 1949.   Until now China has kept the Democrats out of preparatory work on the sovereignty transfer.   For their part, the Democrats have opposed China's plan to dissolve the territory's elected legislature and put an appointed one in its place next July.   Taiwan became the refuge of the Nationalists when the communists defeated them in China's civil war in 1949.   Beijing views the island as a rebel province and interprets official contacts with Taipei by third parties as actions aimed at creating "two Chinas". 
1728 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Vietnam sentenced a prominent dissident to two years' jail on Thursday and imposed suspended sentences on two others, court sources said.   Le Hong Ha, a former high-ranking Communist Party member, was sentenced to two years in prison.   Ha Si Phu, a leading academic, and outspoken communist Nguyen Kien Giang, were given suspended sentences of a year and 15 months respectively.   (Corrects background descriptions of Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu, which had been transposed.)   The sources said all three men had been accused of divulging state secrets.   Foreign correspondents were not allowed to attend the trial and further details were not immediately available.   Officials were also not available on Thursday evening to confirm the outcome of the one-day trial.   Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu were arrested late last year during a broader crackdown on dissent in the run-up to Vietnam's Eighth Communist Party Congress.   Phu (corrects from Ha) was said to have openly criticised Hanoi during an interview with a foreign radio station.   Ha (corrects from Phu) had been expelled from the Communist Party earlier in the year after voicing support for another dissident, Hoang Minh Chinh.   Nguyen Kien Giang was investigated for possessing state secrets a few weeks later, but had not been taken into custody.   It had not been clear in advance of Thursday's trial whether he would be sentenced alongside Ha and Phu.   The event had been condemned earlier in the day by human rights group Amnesty International, which said Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu were being punished "only for questioning the political views of the Vietnamese government". 
1729 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Indonesian authorities and the country's leading opposition figure signalled on Thursday they are trying to negotiate an end to a row that has sharply raised political tensions.   Lawyers for the government and for Megawati Sukarnoputri, ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and daughter of late founding president Sukarno, said they would discuss their differences.   However, political analysts said chances for an agreement were remote.   Central Jakarta District Court chief judge I Gde Ketut Suarta, who was hearing a lawsuit filed by Megawati against her removal, said an out-of-court settlement was in progress and he would give both sides one week to negotiate.   Megawati, who was not present in court, declined to comment on the development, which comes after months of political unrest in Indonesia capped by riots in Jakarta last month and a subsequent government crackdown.   "I don't have any comment at the moment.   I have given everything to my lawyers," she said.   Aides said she planned to meet her legal team later on Thursday to discuss the case.   They said no immediate political strategy was expected to be announced and there were no details on what shape a settlement might take.   Megawati is suing the government and the military for backing a rival PDI faction which deposed her from the leadership in June.   Members of the rival faction, including its leader Surjadi, were also named as defendants.   "The offer for an out-of-court settlement is the best.   We will do it if the defendants share our perceptions," said Megawati's chief lawyer, R.O. Tambunan, at the court.   However, a lawyer for the national police chief, who has been cited as a defendant, said: "We agreed with the offer, but only on one condition -- the suit must be dropped.   We are also ready to face it because we have nothing to do with the PDI."   Muchtar Buchori, a political commentator who is close to Megawati, said she would at least demand reinstatement as the party chief in exchange for dropping the case.   "I think her reinstatement will be very difficult," said independent analyst Dewi Fortuna Anwar.   "Since the president has accepted Surjadi as (PDI) chairman, it will be difficult to wriggle out of that."   Megawati has been at the centre of a political storm since her ejection from the PDI's top post.   Her removal led to some of the most severe protests in the three-decades rule of President Suharto and riots broke out in Jakarta on July 27 after police cleared the PDI headquarters of her supporters.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst in the city for more than 20 years.   The government has since cracked down on dissent and taken over 200 people into custody.   Some have been charged with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   Megawati has been questioned twice by police in connection with the riots but has not been charged.   Political analysts have said the government backed the move to depose Megawati because it feared she could cut into the ruling Golkar party's votes in next year's parliamentary elections and perhaps stand against Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections. 
1730 !GCAT !GDIS  A boy was decapitated and 12 were injured when a commuter train rammed into a school minibus in the Philippine capital on Thursday, police said.   The minibus driver, carrying students to one of Manila's leading schools, told investigators he was not aware the train was coming because his view was blocked by a bus speeding across the tracks.   The bus made it across safely.   Police said a 14-year-old student was thrown out of the minibus and decapitated as the train crushed him.   The train sped on without stopping, Sergeant Mario Ocampo said.   The minibus driver has been charged with homicide and causing multiple physical injuries through reckless imprudence, Ocampo said. 
1731 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  U.S. restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has paid 5,000 yuan ($600) to five Chinese customers, but dismissed claims they found a fingernail in their food, company officials said on Thursday.   Hangzhou Kentucky Co, which operates the popular fast-food stores in Hangzhou, capital of eastern China's Zhejiang province, paid the money after nearly three months of court mediation, a company official told Reuters by telephone.   He said the settlement did not mean the firm had lost a lawsuit for 50,000 yuan compensation brought against it by the customers, who said they found the fingernail in their food in February last year.   "We were prepared to engage in the lawsuit right to the end because there wasn't fingernail in the food at all, but customers come first so we accepted the mediation," he said.   "We paid 5,000 yuan and undertook half of the legal costs only in order to support consumers' defence of their rights.   They really spent too much time, money and energy on this," the company official said.   ($1 = 8.3 yuan) 
1732 !GCAT !GCRIM  Philippine investigators on Thursday filed criminal charges against a German accused of sexually molesting several teenaged boys.   Conrad Jecht, 63, from Halle, Germany, was arrested by police in Bulacan province near Manila on Tuesday after two boys accused him of paying them 120 pesos ($4.60) each to have sex, officials of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said.   He was charged under a 1992 child abuse law designed to erase the country's image as a haven for paedophiles.   NBI lawyers filed the charges with the Department of Justice which will determine if there is enough evidence to send the case to the courts for trial.   Philippine courts recently sentenced a Briton and an Australian to up to 17 years each for sexually molesting children. 
1733 !GCAT !GVIO  Indonesian soldiers clashed with kidnappers of 12 forestry workers in remote Irian Jaya on Thursday, killing one of the armed gang in an attempt to free the hostages, official media said.   The Antara news agency said none of the 12 hostages, seized on August 14, was freed and soldiers would continue efforts to free them.   One hostage had escaped since authorities first learned of the kidnapping.   The hostages, employees of PT Kamundan Raya, a subsidiary of private forestry concern Djajanti Group, were taken from their base camp, about 60 km (37 miles) west of the town of Timika, by a group of armed Irianese.   Antara quoted Irian Jaya army spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Maulud Hidayat, as saying troops seized one gun and two magazines containing 34 bullets in the clash near Dania, an Irian village.   "The gun, seized from the dead member of the security disturbance movement is believed to be one of the three weapons used by its members when they kidnapped the employees of PT Kamundan Raya," Antara said .   The army in Irian Jaya refers to the kidnappers as members of the security disturbance movement, the same term used to describe the separatist Free Papua Movement (OPM) which aims to free Irian Jaya from Indonesian rule.   On August 18, Antara said the kidnappers were demanding Kamundan Raya cease its logging activities, appoint a tribal leader as a mediator and involve a human rights organisation in negotiations before freeing the workers.   Hidayat said the army used four helicopters and a tracking dog in their attempt to free the hostages and added that the workers should be released soon.   He said the slainn kidnapper's body had been taken to Timika, 4,000 km (2,500 miles) east of Jakarta.   Antara gave no further details.   Indonesia faces scattered resistance to its rule in Irian Jaya, a former Dutch colony it took control of in 1963, especially from the OPM.   Earlier this year, the OPM held 11 people, including five Europeans, captive for more than four months in what it said was an act aimed at publicising its fight for a free Irian Jaya.   In May, four British, two Dutch and three Indonesian hostages held by the OPM escaped after an army operation for their rescue was launched.   Two Indonesian hostages were killed by their captors. 
1734 !GCAT !GPOL  Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party's starts a two-day congress on Friday vowing to commit itself to reforms seen as crucial to boosting its appeal, party secretary-general Wu Poh-hsiung said on Thursday.   The Nationalists, who have 2.6 million members, have ruled Taiwan since they lost a civil war to communist China and fled to the island in 1949.   But their once unshaken power began weakening after Taiwan allowed new political parties in the late 1980s.   The Nationalists now hold only a razor-thin majority in the Legislative Yuan, or parliament.   On Thursday, Wu told reporters the proposed reforms would include restructuring party organisations, raising the party's competitiveness, encouraging people's participation and promoting inter-party cooperation.   A fast-growing number of young and well-educated Taiwanese have joined the New Party, formed in 1993 by former Nationalist elite members who accused the Nationalists of failing to carry out internal reforms.   Delegates at the congress would also elect members of the Central Standing Committee, and President Lee Teng-hui, who doubles as the Nationalist chairman, may nominate two acting party vice-chairmen, Wu said.   In December 1995, the ruling party expelled two maverick vice-chairmen, Lin Yang-kang and Hau Pei-tsun, after they campaigned for the New Party in parliamentary elections.   Lin and Hau later ran as a pair to challenge President Lee in the island's first direct presidential election in March.   Lee won the election by a landslide 54 percent. 
1735 !GCAT !GDIP  A visit to China by Japan's vice-defence minister has boosted military ties between the two countries and could pave the way for Beijing's defence minister to visit Tokyo next year, Japanese diplomats said on Thursday.   Naoaki Murata, Japan's Defence Agency's highest ranking career official, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to resume high-level military talks between the two nations, the first such contact since 1989.   Murata met Chinese Defence Minister Chi Haotian on Thursday after touring a tank base near the Great Wall on the outskirts of Beijing on Wednesday.   "He had very significant and very frank talks with Mr Chi," a Japanese embassy official said.   "They talked about how to accelerate the bilateral relationship of the defence forces.   "We consider this visit made the basis for the next step, maybe Mr Chi's visit to Japan, that could hopefully be held next year," he said.   Japan suspended high-level defence contacts with China after the June 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.   Murata briefed Chi on a Japan-U.S. security agreement that has caused concern in Beijing.   He assured the Chinese minister that the April accord did not mark any change in Tokyo's military posture, the diplomat said.   Chi assured the Japanese visitors that China would keep to the nuclear test moratorium it declared in July, the diplomat said.   The two did not discuss a dispute between China and Japan over the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known in Japan as the Senkakus, that erupted last month, he said.   China on Wednesday accused Japan of trying to twist international law to gain ownership of the group of islands in the East China Sea.   Last month, members of a Japanese right-wing group sailed to the islands and built a make-shift lighthouse on one of them. 
1736 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan said on Thursday he had talked to people "of all levels" during a secretive Kiev visit that angered China but declined to confirm reports he had met the Ukrainian president.   "I met the people I wanted to meet and discussed the things I wanted to discuss," Lien said on his return to Taiwan when asked to confirm whether he had met President Leonid Kuchma.   "But I cannot identify who I met by name.   That would not live up to the agreement I made before visiting."    "In Ukraine, I met people from all levels, specific people, and had a full exchange of views," Lien told reporters at Taipei's international airport.   Lien used similarly coy language when asked to confirm Taiwan media reports, including one in the ruling Nationalist Party's Central Daily News, that Taiwan and Ukraine had agreed to exchange unofficial representative offices.   "We both think that we should promote relations on the basis of organisations.   That was the consensus," Lien said, choosing his words carefully.   "As for a setting up a representative office, Ukraine understands that we have such offices in Russia, Belarus and elsewhere and they understand the importance," he said.   "There should be some subsequent development in this matter." 
1737 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Indonesia on Thursday criticised a New York Times report which said the United States was reconsidering the proposed sale of F-16 fighters to Jakarta because of human rights issues.   "I have nothing to say on such reports that do not specify their source," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Ghaffar Fadyl told Reuters.   The New York Times quoted unnamed government sources on Wednesday as saying the Clinton administration was debating whether to delay or cancel the sale of nine F-16s in response to a crackdown on political dissent in Indonesia.   "I hope the government will not be influenced by reports that are unclear and sometimes could be classified as disinformation that might affect the relations between the two countries," Fadyl said.   "If it does reflect the government's views, why didn't the governmnent's spokesman say so?"   The nine jet fighters at issue were from a batch of 28 originally sold to Pakistan, but a U.S. congressional amendment blocked their delivery over Islamabad's nuclear policy.   "There's been no decision made on those aircraft.   We are still seeking to carry out President Clinton's commitment to find an alternative buyer for the F-16s," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said on Wednesday.   The proceeds of a sale would be used to reimburse Pakistan.   Without directly confirming the report, Davies said: "We're seriously concerned about the events that have occurred in Indonesia and we will be monitoring the situation there and considering carefully how to proceed in light of events."   Riots erupted in Jakarta on July 27 after police raided the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst in the city in more than 20 years.   The government has since cracked down on dissent and taken more than 200 people into custody, charging some with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   Davies said F-16s did not fall into the category of items that could be used to stifle internal dissent, such as crowd control equipment and small arms, whose sale would be prohibited under U.S. policy.   The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, said during a visit to Jakarta in May that he hoped the sale of the F-16s to Indonesia would be approved soon after some legal issues had been resolved. 
1738 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Australia will provide more than A$30 million (US$23.7 million) in development assistance to Cambodia in 1996-97, an Australian embassy statement said on Thursday.   "The allocation for financial year 1996-97 will allow major new projects identified in health and in the justice system to begin this year as planned," it said, adding that the aid reaffirmed Canberra's commitment to Cambodia's reconstruction.   The Southeast Asian nation was devastated by war and revolution in the 1970s and 1980s and has been rebuilding since a 1991 peace pact, hampered by a continuing insurgency.   The statement said Australia's 1996-97 aid budget announced on Tuesday contained bilateral allocation of A$22.3 million to Cambodia.   The estimated total aid flow to Cambodia, including regional and humanitarian funding, is A$30.8 million.   Australia, which played an important role in the Cambodian peace process, is a major aid donor to this country.   (US$1 = A$1.26) 
1739 !GCAT !GPOL  Philippine Defence Secretary Renato de Villa said on Thursday that rumours of his death which had sent the local peso into a tailspin were absurd.   "It's really wild.   It's really out of the blue," de Villa told Reuters.   "Relax, I'm alive," he said, laughing after being told the peso had been battered on the foreign exchange market by rumours he had been killed in an ambush.   "I was here (at the defence ministry).   I was holding a conference," he said.   De Villa, a former armed forces chief of staff and often tipped as a future presidential candidate, said he had ordered an investigation into how the rumour started.   "I have asked some people to look into it," he said, adding the order had gone to armed forces intelligence units.   Rumours that de Villa had been killed sent the Philippine peso to a low of 26.235 to the U.S. dollar in late trade against its Wednesday close of 26.193.   Vigorous Central Bank intervention and equally vigorous denials from de Villa's aides helped the currency recover to close at 26.225 to the dollar.   --Manila newsroom (632) 841-8936 
1740 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan has caught 41 illegal immigrants from China who tried to sneak onto the island by hiding in the freezers of a Taiwanese fishing boat, a police official said on Thursday.   The Taiwanese captain, Lin Wen-nan, 58, charged 20,000 yuan ($2,400) per person to take them to the island from China's southeastern Fujian province, the official said.   They were caught off northern Taiwan late on Wednesday, the official said.   Police arrested Lin and two other Taiwanese crew members and said the illegal immigrants would be repatriated.   An increasing number of illegal immigrants from the mainland have tried to enter Taiwan in recent years, mainly by fishing boats, to seek higher-paying jobs on the island. 
1741 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Vietnam sentenced a prominent dissident to two years' jail on Thursday and imposed suspended sentences on two others, court sources said.   Le Hong Ha, a former high-ranking party member, was sentenced to two years in prison.   Ha Si Phu, a leading academic and outspoken communist Nguyen Kien Giang, were given suspended sentences of a year and 15 months respectively.    The sources said all three men had been accused of divulging state secrets.   Foreign correspondents were not allowed to attend the trial and further details were not immediately available.   Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu were arrested late last year during a broader crackdown on dissent in the run-up to Vietnam's Eighth Communist Party Congress.   Nguyen Kien Giang was investigated for possessing state secrets a few weeks later, but had not been taken into custody.   It had not been clear in advance of Thursday's trial whether he would be sentenced alongside Ha and Phu. 
1742 !GCAT !GHEA !GVIO  Scores of villagers die every month in a Burmese government relocation camp where thousands of people have been herded under the military's counter-insurgency plans, Burmese dissidents have said.   Most of the dead were women and old people, victims of malaria and diarrhoea, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) said in a statement received on Thursday.   The villagers are mostly from the Karenni ethnic minority and were ordered out of their homes in the hills of eastern Burma's Kayah state earlier this year as the Burmese army battled Karenni guerrillas in the area.   "At least 150 newly relocated Karenni refugees died within the month of July at the new relocation site in Shadaw town," the ABSDF said.   The dissidents, citing villagers who fled from the relocation site to the Thai-Burmese border, said people were living in overcrowded conditions without medical assistance.   There was no independent confirmation of the deaths but the forced relocation of civilians from areas in which rebels operate is a standard Burmese army counter-insurgency tactic.   The Burmese army has forced more than 10,000 people from their homes in Kayah state in an attempt to isolate the guerrillas in the area, Burmese opposition sources say.   The relocation sites are on the edges of government garrison towns.   Anyone remaining in the hills is liable to be regarded as an insurgent and risked being shot, they said.   "Many Karenni villagers were killed by the SLORC troops for failing to obey the order," the ABSDF said, referring to the ruling military body, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).   Several thousand Karenni refugees have trekked from their hills to camps just inside Thailand in recent months to escape the forced relocations, refugee workers in Thailand said.   Karenni guerrillas signed a ceasefire with the SLORC in March last year but the truce collapsed several months later and intermittent fighting has continued in several parts of Kayah state since then. 
1743 !GCAT !GDIP  South Korean President Kim Young-sam said on Thursday that famine and a faltering economy in North Korea could trigger "reckless" military provocation by the rival communist neighbour.   "There is a high possibility that the North could trigger reckless military provocations to overcome its three difficulties -- economy, international isoalation and risk of a collapse of its system," Kim said in a statement.   Experts on North Korea have warned of a possible collapse of the communist state after floods last year devastated the country and left it on the brink of famine.   The floods ruined crops and left about 100,000 people homeless.   Pyongyang said it was hit again last month by torrential rains that killed at least 116 people and caused about $1.7 billion in damage.   Kim visited the U.S.-South Korea command post in Songnam, south of Seoul, to inspect the annual military wargames codenamed "Ulchi Focus Lens".   He was briefed by General John Tilelli, commander-in-chief of the Korean and American combined forces.   The wargames are designed to evaluate and improve coordination between the troops in contingency operations.   "I ask you to contribute to stability in the Korean Peninsula and East Asia as well as to world peace by reinforcing war preparations between South Korea and the United States," Kim told the troops.   South Korea launched the joint military and civil exercises on Monday.   They are expected to last until August 30.   About 300,000 people will take part in the exercise, which will include the staging of mock air raids, acts of arson and terrorist attacks.   The government also conducted nationwide civil defence drills on Wednesday as part of the exercise.   About 37,000 American servicemen, backed by 655,000 South Korean military personnel, confront communist North Korea's 1.1 million-strong army across the world's last Cold War frontier.   The Stalinist North has accused Seoul and Washington of holding the Ulchi exercise as "a rehearsal for invasion" of the North.   Pyongyang has demanded the military exercise be cancelled, saying it would drive the Korean peninsula to the brink of crisis.   Seoul and Washington cancelled their full-scale annual "Team Spirit" military drill this year, an exercise far larger than Ulchi Focus Lens, hoping to ease tension between the Koreas.   The two nations technically remain at war since their 1950-53 conflict. 
1744 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Hong Kong carpenter was arrested in the Thai seaside town of Pattaya after police seized 18 kg (39.7 pounds) of heroin following complaints by residents of a noisy saw, police said on Thursday.   Cheung Siu Man, 40, was arrested late on Wednesday after police searched a house and found heroin in bags and hidden in hollow spaces in wooden planks, police said.   The suspect said he was hired to make a wooden box from the planks in order to hide the heroin.   Police went to the house after receiving complaints of sawing during the night over the course of several days.   When they arrived to investigate, police saw people escaping from the back door so they decided to search the house.   The seized heroin has an estimated street value of about 300 million baht ($12 million), police said.   Officials are now hunting for the suspect's collaborators, police said.   Cheung was being detained pending formal charges, police said. 
1745 !GCAT !GDIP  Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit that follows rising friction between the two nations in recent weeks.   Downer was to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and sign an agreement on an Australian consulate in Hong Kong, an official of the Australian embassy in Beijing said.   China will resume sovereignty over Hong Kong, a British colony, in mid-1997.   Relations between China and Australia have been strained in recent weeks because of Australia's plan to sell uranium to China's rival Taiwan.   Other issues affecting ties include plans by an Australian cabinet minister to visit Taiwan, a security pact between Canberra and Washington and a possible visit to Australia next month by Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.   Downer is the first Australian minister to visit China since the new conservative government took office in Canberra in March. 
1746 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan and China restated their willingness on Thursday to resume talks stalled a year ago over the Nationalist island's drive to wriggle free of political isolation enforced by its huge communist neighbour.   "Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks...to end the state of hostility," China's top negotiator, Tang Shubei, was quoted by mainland state media as saying.   "China wants peaceful reunification.   ... Political disputes should be resolved through political talks," Tang said.   Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang, in a subsequent interview in Beijing, was less enthusiastic, repeating Beijing's line that Taipei was holding up talks.   "The necessary atmosphere for the opening of the talks has been disrupted by the Taiwan authorities," Shen told Reuters.   Taiwan issued a positive, though noncommittal, response.   "We have never ruled out talks on political issues with the mainland," said Kao Koong-lian of Taiwan's policymaking Mainland Affairs Council.   "The most urgent thing right now is to resume negotiations."   Kao indicated the top agenda item should be Taiwan's ties with Hong Kong during the British colony's return to Chinese sovereignty in mid-1997.   Analysts were quick to note that previous calls for talks had come to naught, although they pointed out that China's earlier expressions had called for a "timetable for talks" while Tang's latest comment said the time for talks had come.   The mutual calls coincided with Beijing's furious censure of the former Soviet republic Ukraine, which offended China by allowing a private visit by Taiwan Vice President Lien Chan.   Taiwan media said Lien won agreement to swap unofficial representative offices with Ukraine during an "unofficial" meeting with President Leonid Kuchma.   Kuchma aides in Kiev -- acknowledging China's fury -- denied that any such meeting took place.   Taiwan's government said there would be no comment before Lien returned to Taipei late on Thursday.   Beijing has viewed Taiwan as a rebel province since a civil war split them in 1949, pushing it into isolation and reserving the right to use force to bring it under China's red flag.   China on Monday won the latest round in its diplomatic tug-of-war with Taiwan, restoring ties with Niger four years after it switched recognition to Taipei.   Only 30 states now recognise Taiwan's exiled Republic of China.   China on Tuesday launched a separate effort to woo Taiwan back to the fold, publishing rules governing direct shipping links across the Taiwan Strait despite Taiwan's 47-year-old ban on direct investment, transport and communications.   The rules fuelled new hopes among many Taiwan investors, who have poured at least $20 billion into China and clamour for the huge cost savings that direct links would provide.   It remained to be seen whether Taipei or Beijing would allow vessels flying third-country flags to pioneer direct routes.   After decades of cross-straits enmity, an economic thaw began in the late 1980s and heralded historic quasi-official talks in Singapore in 1993, which evolved in turn into increasingly productive contacts.   But relations crashed in mid-1995 after Washington allowed Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui to make a private U.S. visit.   Beijing assailed Lee's journey as a breach of Washington's "one China" policy, the cornerstone of U.S.-China ties.   It also punished Taiwan by freezing the talks and mounting a campaign of intimidating war games and missile tests in waters near the island that peaked just before Taiwan's unprecedented popular presidential election on March 23. 
1747 !GCAT !GPRO  China's state media celebrated paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's 92nd birthday on Thursday with praise, poetry and propaganda, but the ageing patriarch remained as reclusive as ever.   Officials declined to say where Deng, whose health is reported to be frail, would spend his birthday, but said the diminutive leader was in good shape for a man of his age.   State newspapers made no direct mention of the passing of the latest milestone in Deng's political life, but articles lauding him heralded the start of the reformer's 93rd year.   "Deng Xiaoping is both the architect of our nation's modernisation and reform and also a veritable great strategist," said the Liberation Army Daily, the mouthpiece of Deng's military powerbase.   The People's Daily, voice of China's communist leadership, eulogised the gravel-voiced former chain-smoker as a master diplomat and weighty communist philosopher.   "Materialist dialectics are the philosophical basis of Deng Xiaoping's construction of the theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics," the newspaper said.   "Deng's extensive and profound diplomatic thoughts, which greatly enriched and perfected China's independent foreign policy of peace, has led China to achieve one success after another in its diplomacy," it said in a separate article.   Chinese analysts say Deng's influence has declined along with his health, but the man who sent China down the road of market-style reform continues to influence his appointed successors.   The success of Deng's reforms in bringing unprecedented wealth to many Chinese ensures that his theories are frequently cited even by those who wish to alter economic policies established during his ascendancy.   Rumours of his impending death still provoke ripples of alarm on China's nascent stock markets.   Officials have long declined to give details of the state of the old revolutionary's health, deflecting inquiries with a standard: "He is in good health for a man of his age."   Deng has not been seen in public for more than two years and the most recent photograph of him was issued in January 1995 -- a fuzzy image that did little to quash rumours he was seriously ill.   The Beijing Youth Daily splashed a recent snapshot of a healthy-looking Deng across its front page on Thursday -- but the picture showed a newly-completed waxwork and not the ageing leader himself.   Deng is reported to detest the kind of personality cult that marked the rule of late Chairman Mao Zedong, but his declining years have been marked by an increasingly adulatory approach to him by state propagandists.   The Xinhua news agency said one beneficiary of Deng's abandonment of Mao's strict social controls and Stalinist economic approach had honoured his hero with a 3,000-line poem called "The Ode to Deng Xiaoping".   "The politically inspired lyric poem illustrates the course that Deng has pursued for more than 90 years, and (the) opportunities, prosperity, and glory his thought has brought about in China," the official agency said.   "Without Deng, my generation and I would not have what we have today," it quoted author Gui Xinghua, a member of China's once-persecuted class of intellectuals as saying.   The official praise did not move all readers of Beijing's state media, however.   After scanning the Liberation Daily's long tribute to Deng's strategic thinking, one young Beijing reader said the article said little that was new.   "They could just use chunks of this for his obituary, when he dies," she said. 
1748 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  Indonesian-appointed East Timor Governor Abilio Soares said on Thursday a group of community leaders plan to sue Portugal for cruelty during the 450 years it ruled the tiny territory.   Soares said he briefed President Suharto on the proposed case at his office on Thursday.   Community leaders plan to hire foreign lawyers to take the case to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, he said.   "We will show the world how cruel Portuguese colonial rule was for 450 years in East Timor," Soares told reporters after meeting Suharto.   "If the people wanted to sue (Portugal), they can," Soares quoted Suharto as saying.   Soares did not give further details on the proposed lawsuit.   Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed the territory a year later.   The United Nations still regards Lisbon as the administering authority.   Indonesia's human rights record in East Timor has been under international scrutiny since it invaded the territory. 
1749 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned Vietnam's decision to place two prominent dissidents on trial on Thursday.   The London-based organisation said in a facsimiled statement that Le Hong Ha and Ha Si Phu faced jail terms of up to 15 years "only for questioning the political views of the Vietnamese government."   Le Hong Ha, a former high-ranking member of the Communist Party, and Ha Si Phu, a leading academic, were arrested last year amid a broader crackdown on dissent during the run-up to Vietnam's Eighth Communist Party Congress.   The pair have been accused of divulging state secrets.   Ha Si Phu is said to have openly criticised Hanoi during an interview with a foreign radio station.   Le Hong Ha had been expelled from the Communist Party after voicing support for another dissident, Hoang Minh Chinh.   Their trial was due to begin later on Thursday, with sentencing likely to be announced the same day.   A foreign ministry spokesman said the trial was closed to foreign reporters.   The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch/Asia earlier accused Hanoi of violating international laws at the time of their arrest last year.   Vietnam is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
1750 !GCAT !GPOL  Israeli-PLO ties reached crisis point on Thursday, rocked by a flap over a West Bank flight by Yasser Arafat and a meeting between the Palestinian President and former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.   Israel angered Arafat by holding up for three hours permission to fly over its territory by helicopter to the West Bank town of Ramallah for a scheduled meeting with Peres.   Palestinians said Arafat cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs in protest.   The Palestinian leader met Peres in the evening in the self-ruled Gaza Strip.   It was their first meeting since Peres lost Israel's May 29 elections.   Arafat and Peres, main architects of the 1993 PLO-Israel peace deal along with Israel's Yitzhak Rabin who was killed by a right-wing Jew last year, met for about an hour at the Palestinian military coordination headquarters.   They told reporters afterwards they were committed to protecting the peace deal.   "In this meeting we had a very important discussion on how to protect and to push forward the peace process," Arafat said.   Peres said: "You may have heard, I'm no longer in the government...neither did I come here to attack the government."   But he added: "We made an agreement with the Palestinians... and I feel deeply obliged that every promise we made on behalf of the (previous) government, on behalf of the Israeli people should be respected."   "If you replace rifles with words, words must be respected," Peres said.   Israel Channel One television said Peres pledged to also aid the Palestinians to solve economic problems.   Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election last May dismayed Palestinians, who in the 1993 deal won limited self-rule on the West Bank and Gaza and a commitment from Israel to negotiate a final peace.   Netanyahu opposes trading occupied land for peace and has so far refused to meet Arafat.   The right-wing leader has yet to carry out a redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron, part of a deal signed last September.   Final peace talks, begun before the May election, have yet to resume.   Israel's army radio said Arafat told Peres that joint committees running security and civilian matters were no longer working as they should under the new Israeli administration.   Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged Netanyahu, who has accused Peres of trying to undermine his government's authority, of personally barring Arafat's flight.   David Bar-Illan, Netanyahu's communications director, dismissed the accusation, saying technical problems rather than political ones had kept Arafat grounded in Gaza.   Bar-Illan blasted Peres, 73, over the Arafat meeting and suggested he retire from politics and accept an "elder statesman's" role if he wanted to continue his peace efforts.   Netanyahu has accused Nobel peace laureate Peres of "sticking spokes in the wheels of peace" by meeting Arab leaders while in opposition.   After the two met, Israel's Itim news agency quoted Netanyahu as telling his Likud party: "I understand Mr Peres has lots of time on his hands these days.   We wish him lots and lots of free time."   Yossi Beilin, a former minister in Peres's cabinet, said the Labour party chief had every right to meet Arafat.   "How can someone think he can stop the head of the opposition (Peres) from meeting Mr. Yasser Arafat?   These are two people who brought about such great changes in the history of the region," Beilin told Israel Radio.   Ahmed Korei, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the council dedicated its morning session to discussion of "Israel's flagrant violation of the accords by restricting President Arafat's movement."   "This is an attempt by the Israeli government to impose a whole mentality of domination and humiliation on the Palestinian leadership, and has serious political implications," Minister of Higher Education Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters.   She added: "If Netanyahu wants to renege on agreements, this is clearly one way he's doing it." 
1751 !GCAT !GPOL  Israeli-PLO relations reached crisis point on Thursday, rocked by a flap over a West Bank flight by Yasser Arafat and a planned meeting between the Palestinian President and former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.   Israel angered Arafat by holding up for three hours permission to fly over its territory by helicopter to the West Bank town of Ramallah for a scheduled meeting with Peres.   Palestinians said Arafat cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs in protest and that the Palestinian leader would meet Peres later in the day in self-ruled Gaza.   Yossi Beilin, a former minister in Peres's cabinet, said the Labour party chief had every right to meet Arafat.   "How can someone think he can stop the head of the opposition (Peres) from meeting Mr. Yasser Arafat?   These are two people who brought about such great changes in the history of the region," Beilin told Israel Radio.   Ahmed Korei, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the council dedicated its morning session to discussion of "Israel's flagrant violation of the accords by restricting President Arafat's movement".   Legislators accused Israel of trying to humiliate the Palestinians and of attempting to undermine deals signed with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1993.   "This is an attempt by the Israeli government to impose a whole mentality of domination and humiliation on the Palestinian leadership, and has serious political implications," Minister of Higher Education Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters.   She added: "If (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu wants to renege on agreements, this is clearly one way he's doing it."   Netanyahu's election last May dismayed Palestinians, who won limited self-rule on the West Bank and Gaza and a promise from the former Labour government to negotiate a final peace.   Arafat risked his political life by signing the historic interim PLO-Israel peace deal.   Some Palestinians said the accord was a sellout.   Netanyahu opposes trading occupied land for peace and has so far refused to meet Arafat.   The right-wing leader has yet to carry out a redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron, part of a deal signed last September.   Final peace talks, begun before the May election, have yet to resume.   Netanyahu has accused Nobel peace laureate Peres of "sticking spokes in the wheels of peace" by meeting Arab leaders while in opposition.   Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said an explosion was unavoidable if Israel kept up what he called violations and delays in implementing signed agreements.   Palestinian peace negotiator Hassan Asfour charged Netanyahu, who has accused Peres of trying to undermine his Likud government's authority, of personally barring Arafat's flight.   David Bar-Illan, Netanyahu's communications director, dismissed the accusation, saying technical problems rather than political ones had kept Arafat grounded in Gaza.   Bar-Illan blasted Peres, 73, over the Arafat meeting and suggested he retire from politics and accept an "elder statesman's" role if he wanted to continue his peace efforts.   Saeb Erekat, minister of local government in the Palestinian Authority, told Israel's army radio: "We thought after all Israel was a democracy and when Netanyahu won the elections he doesn't cancel the fact there are many political parties in Israel." 
1752 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  King Hussein defended the decision to raise bread prices, telling members of parliament on Thursday that the ensuing riots had harmed Jordan's stable image and allowed its enemies to gloat.   But he also struck a conciliatory note with the deputies -- most of them opposed to the price increase -- saying he remained committed to democracy, public freedoms and fighting corruption and abuses of power.   The meeting at his palace was part of efforts to rebuild links with society and stage displays of unity after containing the country's worst unrest since 1989.   The king's response to the riots had angered many Jordanians.   After the first riots on Friday he suspended the summer session of the lower house of parliament and vowed an "iron fist" against unrest.   The king's action had increased anger at Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti, who ignored parliament's views and pushed ahead with the price rise last Tuesday.   "The recent events allowed our enemies to gloat and allowed them to get at what they wanted," King Hussein told deputies, including 23 opposition lawmakers who had threatened to boycott parliament until the government reversed the price rise.   "What happened had a negative impact on years of what we tried to build to tell the world, that Jordan is an oasis of stability," he said in a speech shown on state television soon after it was delivered.   The king defended the decision to double bread prices as necessary to build a modern nation, but promised to review the economic and political situation to avoid future problems.   The king again blamed "outside parties" for the unrest, which flared in the southern city of Karak, spread to nearby centres and by Saturday night to Amman.   "There are many confessions with us that prove that a large part of this dissension had its origins outside the country with government decisions, commitment, support and incitement," he said.   The king did not explicitly repeat his charges that Iraq and the pro-Baghdad Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party (JASBP) caused the trouble.   Critics and protesters blame the unrest on economic hardship.   The king, who has met popular representatives and dignitaries since Sunday, said government and parliament had to face duties or "the future will remain hostage to uncertainty".   Bread is a staple for the poor majority of Jordan's 4.2 million population, facing falling standards of living, unemployment and still awaiting promised economic dividends from the controversial 1994 peace treaty with Israel.   Kabariti said he had to raise bread prices to close a gaping budget deficit that threatened to undermine the next stage of an IMF economic reform plan and the vital loans it would bring.   At the palace lunch, the opposition group, led by the Islamic Action Front Party (IAF), presented a petition demanding the release of detainees, an end to the military presence in Karak and a reversal of the bread price increases.   The army has eased the curfew on Karak as normality returns, but over 200 activists and suspects remain in jail, officials said.   The JASBP said in a statement on Thursday four more senior leaders were arrested.   However, officials announced a one-week delay in the start of the academic year for thousands of children across the kingdom because of the riots. 
1753 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Syria on Thursday said Israel's offer of peace talks was not serious and it was really preparing for military confrontation with Syria.   Official radio said Syria would not abandon its demand for the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967, and urged the United States to prevent the Middle East from exploding.   "No one in the world takes the Israeli government's talk of resuming peace negotiations seriously, especially that the head of the government (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) every day announces his readiness for talks with no preconditions," the political commentary said.   "These preconditions which he rejects are the international security resolutions which call for Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Arab lands," it added.   Amid mounting tension between the two nations, Israel on Wednesday sent Syria a message, via Washington, saying it was committed to peace and wanted to open negotiations without preconditions.   Syria and Israel accused each other this week of escalating tension.   Israeli television reported on Monday that Damascus had recently test fired a Scud C missile able to hit most cities in the Jewish state.   Israel on Tuesday tested its U.S.-funded Arrow 2 missile, saying it successfully intercepted a target missile.   "Netanyahu threatened Syria and Lebanon with aggression.  .  , saying it would be very hard and Israeli officials accompanied that with talks of Syria's armaments.   The aim of this talk is very clear as it is one of Israel's traditional ways of preparing for aggression," Syrian radio said.   Netanyahu, during a tour of Israel's south Lebanon occupation zone earlier this week warned that Israel would reply to attacks on Israeli soldiers there.   "The tension which the Israeli government has been spreading since it took office could destroy everything... as it continues to implement its anti-peace and anti-Arab policies... and insists that it will not withdraw from the Golan," the radio said.   "The peace sponsors (the U.S. and Russia) should shoulder their responsibilites to save the peace process from collapse.   The failure of that would mean a threat to the security of the peoples of the region," the radio said.   Syrian newspapers earlier on Thursday turned down Israel's offer to resume peace talks, saying negotiations could only be based on an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan.   "Syria will never negotiate for the sake of negotiations and will not be dragged into the trap of talks 'with no preconditions', which simply means holding talks that are not based on any principle and allowing Netanyahu to say the Golan is an Israeli land," the official newspaper Tishreen said.   Talks between Syria and Israel were suspended following a wave of Moslem suicide attacks in Israel in February and March when Damascus refused to condemn the attacks. 
1754 !GCAT !GVIO  Fighting between Turkish forces and Kurdish rebels raged and the two sides issued widely differing death tolls on Thursday for recent clashes.   The state-run Anatolian news agency said 37 people, mostly Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas, were killed in fighting in the southeast of the country.   But a Kurdish news agency close to the rebels gave a higher toll and said most dead were members of the security forces.   Anatolian said Turkish troops had killed 32 guerrillas in separate clashes in Hakkari, Sirnak and Siirt provinces.   It gave no details of military casualties or when the clashes took place.   Security officials in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir were not immediately available for comment.   The rebels killed five people, including three pro-government village guards, in a rocket attack on Wednesday night near the rugged border with Iraq, Anatolian said.   The Kurdish news agency DEM said the guerrillas had killed 47 Turkish troops in the last three days in the southeast.   It said only one rebel had died.   More than 20,000 people have been killed in the 12-year-old conflict between security forces and the PKK, fighting for Kurdish autonomy or independence.   A leading official in Turkey's coalition called parliament to an extraordinary meeting to discuss ending nine years of emergency rule in 10 mainly Kurdish southeastern provinces.   "Drafts on lifting emergency rule...will be discussed at the meeting," Anatolian quoted True Path Party (DYP) deputy Saffet Arikan Beduk as saying.   He said deputies from the DYP and its coalition partner Welfare Party had agreed to call a meeting on August 27 or September 3.   Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan has vowed to scrap emergency rule under his plan to solve the Kurdish problem through "Moslem brotherhood".   An Iraqi Kurdish rebel group meanwhile urged the West to halt what it said was Iranian military support for a rival militia in fighting between northern Iraq's Kurds.   The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) says Iranian artillery has bombarded its positions this week in an enclave protected from Baghdad by a Western allied air force known as Operation Provide Comfort (OPC).   "The OPC member countries are directly responsible for bringing the situation under control," KDP Ankara representative Safeen Dizayee told Reuters.   "We want direct measures to be taken if need be."   But a rival Kurdish group denied KDP charges that Iran was lending it support in fighting that broke out at the weekend and shattered a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced last year.   "This is a desperate attempt to confuse the facts of the situation," the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said.   U.S., British and French planes based in south Turkey have been shielding Iraq's Kurds from any attack by Iraqi government forces since shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War.   But the air force did not stop Iranian troops from entering the enclave last month to chase Iranian Kurdish rebels.   The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, said on Wednesday that Iranian artillery killed or wounded about 100 people in daily bombardments of northern Iraq this week in support of the PUK.   Barzani's group said in a later statement that Iran had helped thousands of PUK fighters to pass through its territory on Wednesday in a bid to attack the KDP from the rear.   Washington on Wednesday urged the rival parties to stop fighting and accept a U.S. invitation to peace talks in London.   Northern Iraq has been split into rival Kurdish zones since fighting broke out between the two groups in 1994.   Around 3,000 people died until the ceasefire last March. 
1755 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured Egypt he will start negotiations with the PLO soon, but a top Palestinian official said his policies meant there was no point holding talks.   Netanyahu's office said on Thursday that he "informed President (Hosni) Mubarak about the track which is planned in the talks with the Palestinians which are to be opened in the very near future including via the steering committee."   Its statement said Netanyahu spoke to Mubarak by telephone but gave no date for a resumption of formal talks.   Netanyahu had apparently been shaken by Mubarak's remarks on Thursday in Alexandria suggesting that Cairo was having second thoughts about a Middle East economic summit it is scheduled to host in November if the peace process remained stalled.   The speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council and former top peace negotiator Ahmed Korei, also known as Abu Alaa, in remarks broadcast by Israel Channel One television, said Israel's present policies made negotiations an empty exercise.   "First of all, if Israel continues with violations I do not see a benefit in negotiations...I do not want negotiations that cover the expansion of settlements," Korei said.   Netanyahu's government at the beginning of August lifted a freeze on Jewish settlement building imposed by the previous government in 1992 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinians hope one day to establish an independent state.   Still, Palestinian officials confirmed that Mahmoud Abbas, a senior PLO official also known as Abu Mazen, held talks with Netanyahu political adviser Dore Gold in Tel Aviv on Thursday.   They gave no details, but Israel's army radio said Gold and Abbas discussed a resumption of the steering committee talks.   Israel's Itim news agency said Netanyahu met Dan Shomron, the former army chief of staff who will head Israel's delegation on the committee, to discuss Israel's positions.   Israel's Channel Two television said Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy would go to Egypt soon but Israeli spokesmen were unavailable for comment.   Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979 and has acted as a mediator in negotiations.   Netanyahu's message to Mubarak came several hours after Israel-PLO ties reached a crisis point over Israel's delaying for three hours a flight by Arafat to the West Bank where he had intended to meet former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres.   In the end Arafat met Peres in the Gaza Strip self-rule enclave.   To the Palestinians the delay was a capricious obstruction of Arafat's movement and a major violation of interim peace deals.   Arafat cancelled an Israeli-PLO meeting on civilian affairs in protest.   At a joint news conference after their meeting, Arafat and Peres pledged to fight for the life of the peace deals they crafted along with Israel's former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, killed by a right-wing Jew in November.   Peres said: "I feel deeply obliged that every promise we made on behalf of the (previous) government, on behalf of the Israeli people should be respected.   If you replace rifles with words, words must be respected."   Netanyahu's defeat of Peres in May dismayed Palestinians, who in the historic 1993 PLO-Israel interim peace deal won limited self-rule on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a commitment from Israel to negotiate a final peace.   Netanyahu opposes trading occupied land for peace and has so far refused to meet Arafat.   He opposes a Palestinian state and has yet to carry out a redeployment of Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron, part of a deal signed last September. 
1756 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, apparently shaken by reports Cairo might have cold feet on holding an upcoming Middle East economic summit, told Egypt's president that talks with the PLO would resume soon.   "The prime minister informed President Mubarak about the track which is planned in the talks with the Palestinians which are to be opened in the very near future including via the steering committee," Netanyahu's office said in a statement issued to the media on Thursday.    Earlier on Thursday Mubarak, speaking to academics in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, said the world could not keep waiting for the right-wing Israeli government to make up its mind about its next step in the peace process.   "For the past two months they've been saying we're committed to our obligations, but when?   The Palestinians and the world are not going to wait 10 months or a year.   "We have an economic conference coming up and I've told the Israelis that no progress in the peace process will hit the Middle East economic summit because not many countries will attend.   That's what we're worried about," he said.   The Israeli government has not yet taken a decision on redeploying troops in the West Bank town of Hebron, an operation that should have taken place in March.   The economic conference is to be held in November. 
1757 !GCAT !GDIP  A Moroccan government delegation led by Interior Minister Driss Basri, will visit the disputed Western Sahara next week to talk to hundreds of young unemployed Saharans, the official MAP news agency said on Thursday.   The young Saharans staged a six-day peaceful demonstration in Rabat earlier this month to press for jobs and social benefits.   They ended their protest after a meeting with Basri, who promised to meet them later in Western Sahara.   The visit will coincide with the preparations throughout the country for the referendum on the constitution reforms set for September 13, an official said.   The referendum will also take place the Western Sahara provinces, he said.   Morocco, which controls four-fifths of the territory, claims Western Sahara as an integral part of the kingdom but its claims have been contested since 1976 by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front which fought for independence of the area.   A long-delayed referendum, under the U.N. supervision, is supposed to enable those living in the former Spanish colony to decide between independence, as sought by Polisario, or integration with Morocco. 
1758 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Palestinian watchdog groups in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Thursday urged the Palestinian Authority to honour a High Court decision to free 10 university students held without charge for nearly six months.   Eight human rights organisations said in a joint press release faxed to Reuters that the 10, all univeristy students at the West Bank University of Bir Zeit, were still in jail despite a court order issued on August 18 for their release.   "We have come together, as concerned local human rights organisations, at this crucial moment to urge all officials of the Palestinian National Authority to respect the structures that have been put in place to organise our society," the statement said.   It said that lawyers for the 10 delivered a release order from the High Court to the Ramallah Central Prison immediately after the decision was issued.   "As of today, Thursday, August 22, the students have not been released by the prison," the statement said.   "According to the applicable law, the government is obliged to implement the decisions of the High Court and no authority is permitted to influence the functioning of the courts," it said.   The statement said that prison officials had initially assured them they would be freed on Sunday.   But later they said that they were awaiting orders from Gaza, where the Palestinian Authority is based.   No officials from the Palestinian Justice Ministry were immediately available to comment on the report.   The 10 students were among hundreds of people rounded up by the Palestinian Authority in a crackdown on Islamists after Hamas and Islamic Jihad suicide bombers killed 59 people in Israel in four attacks in February and March. 
1759 !GCAT !GDIP !GTOUR  Iran is to cut long waiting periods for tourist visas to revive its withered tourism industry, a newspaper said on Thursday.   The daily Resalat quoted Deputy Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Hossein Taheri as saying Iranian embassies would issue tourist visas within 24 hours.   Travel agents in Tehran said tourist groups received visas after a few weeks while individuals applying for visas have had to wait sometime for months.   Taheri said boosting tourism was an essential part of Iran's development plans and Tehran aimed to raise the annual number of visitors to 700,000 from 450,000 in three years, Resalat said.   Iran earned $250 million from tourism in the Iranian year that ended on March 19, he added.   Iran was once a high-profile destination for Western tourists drawn by its archeological and artistic treasures, with about 600,000 visitors a year.   But tourism plummeted after the 1979 Islamic revolution and most visitors now are from Iran's low-income neighbours who come on pilgrimage to Shi'ite shrines or for small-scale trading. 
1760 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GDEF  The United Arab Emirates has withdrawn an Italian-made rocket system from military service due to a reoccurring malfunction, a senior UAE official said on Thursday.   "We were having serious problems with the rapid launcher rocket system because of a reoccurring malfunction especially during (hot) summer months," said the military official.   He said the system was supplied by Snia BPD SpA, controlled by industrial group Fiat.   Officials in both companies were not immediately available for comment.   "The fault was discovered during training and after three years of disputes with the Italians (manufacturer) and failure to fix the problem we were forced to withdraw the mobile rocket- launching unit from service," he added.   He said 24 multiple launchers and thousands of the surface- to-surface rockets, with a 30 km (19 miles) range, were bought in the early 1980s.   The official could not give an exact value for the deal but said it was worth more than $100 million. 
1761 !C11 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  The chairman of national carrier EgyptAir on Thursday blamed the control tower at Istanbul airport for the EgyptAir plane accident.   Twenty people were injured on Wednesday when the EgyptAir Boeing 707 overshot the runway, caught fire, hit a taxi and skipped across a road onto a railway line.   Chairman Mohamed Fahim Rayyan told a news conference at Cairo airport: "The control tower should have allocated the plane another runway, instead of the one the plane landed on."   "The one it landed on is 2,250 metres (2,460 yards) long while the other one if more than 3,000 metres (3,300 yards) long and is less steep," he added.   He said a Turkish civil aviation authority official had made the same point and he noted that a Turkish plane had a similar accident there in 1994.   The EgyptAir pilot blamed Turkish airport staff for misleading him.   The landing took place after a rainstorm.   "Its not an accident.   It's very wet.   The brake action is very poor and the tower said it's medium.   That's wrong," the pilot told private Ihlas news agency in English. 
1762 !GCAT !GDIP  The Egyptian government will have nothing more to do with the Sudanese government because it continues to shelter and support Egyptian militants, President Hosni Mubarak said in a speech on Thursday.   Egypt says the Sudanese government helped the Moslem militants who tried to kill Mubarak in Addis Ababa last year.   It sponsored last week's U.N. Security Council resolution threatening a ban on Sudanese flights abroad if Khartoum does not hand over three men accused in the Addis Ababa incident.   The sanctions will come into effect in November if Sudan fails to extradite the men, but Sudan says it cannot hand them over to Ethiopia for trial because they are not in Sudan.   "We are still eager that nothing should affect the Sudanese people but we will not deal with the current regime or the Turabi front or whatever," Mubarak told a group of academics.   Hassan al-Turabi is the leader of the National Islamic Front, the political force behind the Sudanese government.   "I don't want to go into more details than that but there are more details and they are bitter.   There are terrorists they are sheltering and they make Sudanese passorts for them and they get paid by them," Mubarak said.   He did not say if Egypt would go so far as to break relations, a step it has been reluctant to take, ostensibly because it would affect ordinary Sudanese. 
1763 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Jordanian authorities on Thursday arrested four senior members of the pro-Iraqi Baath party accused by the government of helping incite last weekend's bread roits, party officials said.   A statement released by the Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party (JASBP) said the security forces broke-in to the party headquarters in Amman and arrested the party's deputy general secretary Adam al-Abdullat and a member of the higher leadership Suleiman Abu Udiala.   Security forces also arrested two other members of the party's top leadership body, Akram al-Himsi and Khaled Aref Abu Zeimah, from their Amman homes on Thursday afternoon, the party statement said.   The riots, which shook Jordan for two days, broke out after Friday's main prayers in the long-politicised southern town of Karak, traditional bastion of Communist ideology and Baath socialism that swept the region in the 1950s.   King Hussein, who has led a reversal in Jordan's ties with Iraq since giving asylum to Saddam's sons-in-law a year ago, has implied there was an Iraqi influence in the the riots.   Governement attempts to link the rioting to foreign influence has been treated with derision by those in the streets who blame the protests on severe economic hardships, including rising poverty and unemployment. 
1764 !GCAT !GCRIM  Turkey, on the "Balkan route" of the billion-dollar drugs trade, has seen a marked increase in narcotics traffic and in demand at home, drug squad chief Onder Karaman said on Thursday.   "Turkey has traditionally been on the route between the producer and consumer countries.   Lately we have seen that there is also a demand at home," Karaman told Reuters in an interview.   "The market has not yet been fully formed, but we are seeing the warning signs.   This market has to be destroyed," he said.   Turkish police said they captured 1.509 tonnes of drugs, mostly heroin and hashish, between January 1 and August 15 this year, compared with 1.05 tonnes for the same period in 1995.   Among this year's haul was 714 kg of heroin and 782 kg of hashish.   Eighteen people, mostly in their teens and early twenties, have died in Turkey as a result of drug-taking so far in 1996.   One was the daughter of a leading Islamist figure.   Twenty-four died in 1995.   The so-called Balkan drug route is used to transport narcotics produced in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and northern Iraq to Europe, either by land through Istanbul and Thrace or by sea from the western port town of Izmir.   Kurdish separatists fighting for 12 years in southeast Turkey also deal in drugs for money, food and arms, he said.   Lorry-loads of drugs are often seized during attempts to smuggle them from northwestern Turkey to Bulgaria or Greece.   "They are concealed in compartments you would never imagine existed, that you never could find," said Karaman.   "It takes us days, weeks, months tracking them to catch them.   "Just recently we caught 87 kilos of heroin in a lorry.   Just one kilo of that is worth up to DM 15,000 ($10,000) in Turkey, about DM 35,000 ($23,500) in Holland," he said.   Karaman said the rise in the amount of drugs captured in Turkey was a reflection in part of extra effort by police, but also showed a trend of increased drugs usage at home.   "The recent deaths were very sad, but they are making us notice the trend at home," he said.   Karaman said Turkish youth, not traditionally into drugs, were being affected by the increasingly frequent portrayal of drug-taking on television and in foreign films, as well by a growing tendency to copy western habits.   A number of singers popular among Turkish teenagers have been caught with or are reported to be taking drugs.   Even school children are now occasionally caught with drugs.   Karaman said police had begun an education programme in schools.   They also patrol certain schools more susceptible to drugs trade in an effort to nip the trend in the bud. 
1765 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal judge on Thursday delayed for one day a decision on whether to allow a reorganization of Lloyd's of London to go forward, but a lawyer in the case denied there were any negotiations going on to settle the matter out of court.   U.S. District Judge Robert Payne was expected to rule on whether to issue an injunction blocking the financially strapped market's 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.8 billion) recovery plan, but decided to withold judgment until Friday.   Chris Lyman, attorney at Kilpatrick and Cody, which represents investors who brought the lawsuit, said there were no settlement negotiations going on.   "I don't think (the delay) bears any relation to the merits of the case or what the judge is deciding," he said.   "The opinion is expected to be issued in the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 23," the federal court said in a one-sentence statement.   The 93 investors, or Names -- individuals who pledged their assets to back the insurance policies sold at Lloyd's -- are seeking to block the reorganization plan, whereby Lloyd's would reinsure billions in liabilities by creating a new reinsurance company, Equitas.   Under the plan, the investors are being asked to pay up to $150,000 each to help fund Equitas.   The investors filed suit, claiming Lloyd's declined to provide detailed financial information about Equitas as required under U.S. securities laws.   In an interview with Reuters in London, Lloyd's Chairman David Rowland said any injunction served against the insurance market by the judge in the Virginia case would be quickly appealed.   Rowland added he did not believe the court case would block completion of the 300-year-old insurance market's recovery plan and said many U.S. investors have already accepted the terms of the recovery proposals.   He declined to reveal how many of the 2,700 Names in the United States and 33,500 worldwide have accepted.   Payne, who told the court during hearings earlier this week that he learned as a law student not to impose an injunction he could not enforce, indicated his concern that U.S. investors be adequately protected.   He also scolded the Securities and Exchange Commission for not taking up the matter.   Lloyd's chief executive, Ronald Sandler, admitted in court that the British Embassy had arranged a meeting in Washington between the SEC and Lloyd's officials prior to the court hearing.   Sandler testified he wanted to make the SEC aware of the Aug. 28 deadline for Names to vote on acceptance of the recovery plan.   "My particular purpose was to ensure the SEC understood we were dealing with a process in the reconstruction plan.   I felt they needed to be aware of the time table," Sandler testified.   In Washington, a spokesman for the SEC said the agency had no comment.   Industry sources in London said that while the judge could grant some kind of relief to the U.S. Names, Payne said in court earlier this week that it was not his intention to stop Lloyd's worldwide recovery plan. 
1766 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS  Two U.S. military reserve planes crashed in the same region in separate incidents on Thursday and the pilot of one was missing, officials said.   An official spokesman said a Marine Reserve F/A-18 fighter attack plane, on a routine air training exercise, crashed in the Atlantic after disappearing from the radar screen near Wallops Island, Virginia.   There was no indication yet what had happened to the pilot.   The Coast Guard said later it found debris in the Atlantic about 40 miles (65 km) east of Ocean City, Maryland, which is about 40 miles (65 km) north of Wallops Island.   In eastern Maryland, less than 100 miles (160 km) from the first crash, an Air National Guard A-10 Thunderbolt tankbuster plane crashed and the pilot was taken to a hospital, Guard spokesman John Hoffman said.   There was no immediate word on the pilot's condition.   Hoffman said the A-10 plane was on a "functional check flight" when it crashed. 
1767 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Fourteen inmates and two guards were injured during a 15-hour riot involving hundreds of prisoners at a privately-run prison in west Texas, prison officials said on Thursday.   Guards lobbed pepper gas into a crowd of about 400 inmates who gathered in a recreation yard at the Eden Detention Centre here on Wednesday and refused to return to their cells, prison officials said.   At least two inmates were struck by buckshot pellets fired as warning shots when some inmates attempted to escape by scaling a security fence at the prison, said a spokeswoman with Corrections Corp. of America, which operates the facility.   "Two inmates underwent surgery to remove buckshot pellets and remain in the hospital.   Twelve other inmates were treated at area hospitals for minor, superficial wounds, including bruises and lacerations," said Susan Hart, spokeswoman with the Nashville, Tenn.-based company.   One guard was hospitalized after his jaw was broken by a rock thrown during the melee, which started at midday on Wednesday when inmates began protesting conditions at the 1,000-bed facility, said Laureen Chernow, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of Public Safety.   State police and Texas Rangers were called in about seven hours later and patrolled the prison's perimeter with helicopters and floodlights while guards inside worked to end the uprising, Chernow said.   About 120 inmates identified as "ringleaders" in the fracas were being transferred out of the detention centre, which is located about 45 miles (70 km) southeast of San Angelo, Hart said.   The incident is the second this month at a Texas prison facility operated by the company.   On Aug. 7, two convicted sex offenders at a company operated jail in Houston escaped, raising concerns from local police who said they were not notified of the escape for several hours and were unaware sex offenders were housed there. 
1768 !GCAT !GDEF  High-technology military incinerators began burning deadly nerve gas rockets at Tooele, Utah, on Thursday under a program to eliminate the entire U.S. chemical weapons arsenal by 2004.   The first M-55 GB nerve gas rocket was incinerated at about 10 a.m.   EDT (1400 GMT), a defense official said.   He said the incinerators at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Salt Lake City, might burn as many as 60 of the rockets during the day.   Tooele is the first of eight sites in the United States involved in destroying the entire U.S. arsenal of about 3.6 million chemical weapons by 2004.   Army spokeswoman Kathy Gibbs said the cost of the entire project would be about $12 billion.   Incinerators on the Johnston Atoll in the Pacific have been destroying the weapons at a low rate since 1993, but Tooele and other sites on the mainland will destroy them in large volumes, defense officials said.   Robots in the facilities drill holes in each weapon to drain out the nerve, blister or other chemical agents and then take the metal shells and chemical agents to separate incinerators, the officials said.   They said both the metal shells and chemical agents were burned at such high temperatures that virtually nothing was left.   Scrubbers in the smoke stacks of the incinerators ensured no chemical agent could be released into the air, the officials said.   Scrubbers are chemical baths that clean chemical agents out of the emissions.   They start their work before the emissions get to the smoke stacks but some of them are placed in the smoke stacks, officials said.   Opponents had tried to block the destruction of chemical war agents in the United States on the grounds that emissions were a hazard.   The destruction was held up until last week, when a federal judge rejected a preliminary injunction requested by the Kentucky-based Chemical Weapons Working Group.   U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell ruled the opponents had not shown emissions would be a risk.   "For individuals living closest (to the Tooele facility), the risks resulting from continued storage are one hundred times greater than the risks resulting from disposal operations," the judge wrote in an opinion.   The munitions are stored in dirt-covered bunkers built with reinforced steel.   About 42 percent of the Army's lethal chemical weapons are kept at Tooele.   Other sites are in Colorado, Oregon, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana and Maryland, along with the munitions site on Johnston Atoll.   Defense officials said many of the weapons were obsolete -- the M-55 rockets no longer have launchers, for example -- and some have leaked but are in stockpiles where even leaking weapons can be safely handled.   The M-55 rockets are filled with GB nerve agent, a colorless, odorless liquid resembling water, and equipped with explosive agents designed to burst when the rocket is over its target.   The liquid, once released, vaporises before incapacitating or killing its victims.   The Defense Department disclosed in January for the first time that the U.S. arsenal had 3.3 million single-chemical bombs, rockets, artillery shells and cartridges and 315,682 binary weapons.   The binary weapons hold chemicals in separate chambers and mix them into deadly gas in flight.   Former President George Bush announced in 1991 that the United States would no longer use chemical weapons and called for the elimination of the country's arsenal.   Congress agreed and passed legislation requiring the destruction of the arsenal by 2004. 
1769 !GCAT !GSCI  Just weeks after scientists announced evidence of ancient life on Mars, they are now hailing genetic proof of a third major branch of life on Earth, tiny one-celled organisms called "archaea."   Archaea, named for the Greek word for ancient, were discovered in 1977 and have since "posed an intriguing and incompletely resolved puzzle" about life forms and evolution, researchers write in Friday's edition of the journal Science.   Now scientists have identified and sequenced the genome in one type of archaea and were astonished to find that two-thirds of the genes were different from anything biologists had seen before.   "This brings to closure the question of whether archaea are separate and distinct life forms," said Craig Venter, president of the Institute for Genomic Research in Rockville, Maryland, which did the research along with scientists at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore.   Although archaea are distinct, they also have some traits in common with the other two branches or "domains" of life -- bacteria and the more complex "eukaryotes," which include plants, animals and humans.   Like bacteria, they lack a nuclear membrane and have one circular chromosome.   Yet many of their cellular functions resemble those of eukaryotes and the report suggests archaea and eukaryotes "share a common evolutionary trajectory."   Moreover, since archaea live in areas previously thought to be uninhabitable by any living thing, scientists say the discovery is even more intriguing given the recent findings about possible life on Mars or other planets.   "Our understanding of this organism significantly increases the likelihood that life exists on other planets.   We know from this genomic (or DNA) sequence that life has other parameters and may exist in ways that will revolutionise our thinking," Venter said.   At a news conference on Thursday, Venter showed a video of how one sample of archaea was collected from a thermal vent 8,060 feet (2,457 metres) beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.   The organism existed in the vent's walls, between the cold of the surrounding ocean and the extreme heat -- about 600 degrees Fahrenheit (315.55C) -- of the steam in the vent.   "These organisms, they do sound like things out of science fiction because we can't relate to them in terms of our own life," Venter said.   "If we can begin to understand these and understand the extremes of life here and how we might have evolved from these or other organisms, it gives us a certainly much better chance of finding life elsewhere in the universe."   On Aug. 7 NASA released to the public and to peer review its analysis of tests that scientists said proved the existence of life on Mars billions of years ago.   The Science report said researchers identified and sequenced all the genes in an archaeon called Methanococcus jannaschii, an organism that lives in hot deep water and produces methane.   It is only the fourth organism for which the complete genome has been identified.   The researchers identified 1,738 protein-coding genes in M. jannaschii and have worked out the specific tasks of close to 40 percent of them.   The work, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, will spur basic scientific research into the fundamental operations and functions of the cell.   It also has huge potential commercial interest for biotechnology companies working on health, renewable energy and environmental clean-up. 
1770 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The United States welcomed the deal reached on Thursday between Russian authorities and Chechen rebels to end the fighting in Chechnya and said it hoped it would lead to a political settlement.   "We welcome this agreement.   It's a very positive step forward.   We look forward to its implementation by both of the parties and hope it leads eventually to a political settlement to the Chechen crisis," State Department spokesman Glyn Davies told reporters.   Davies said the agreement, reached by Russian President Boris Yeltsin's security supremo Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov at a village south of the Chechen capital Grozny, included a ban on all hostilities.   They also agreed to a partial pullout of forces from Grozny, to set up joint military police patrols in the devastated city and to list the permanent locations of their warring forces as well as routes and deadlines for the troop pullout, he said.   In Moscow, Interfax news agency said a ceasefire would take effect from midday on Friday.   Tens of thousands have died since Moscow sent troops and armour in December 1994 to quell Chechnya's independence bid.   A series of attempts to end fighting have collapsed as the sides could not agree on the future of the mountainous region.   The separatists seek full independence from Moscow, which wants Chechnya to remain part of the Russia Federation.   Davies said it was too early to know whether the deal was more promising than an accord on June 10 that failed to stop the fighting.   Chechnya has been a major irritant in relations between Russia and the United States, which has criticised Kremlin attempts to resolve the problem by force.   Earlier this week, the State Department condemned threats by a Russian military commander, Gen. Konstantin Pulikovsky, to start an all-out assault on Grozny unless the rebels left. 
1771 !C13 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA  The KinderCare day care centers, under government pressure, have agreed to admit children with diabetes and test them daily, Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday.   KinderCare Learning Centers, Inc., the nation's largest child care company with 1,143 centers in 38 states and Britain, had refused to take diabetic children because they needed frequent tests of their blood sugar levels.   Under an agreement reached with the Justice Department, the Alabama-based company will accept diabetic children and give them daily finger prick tests.   "Children with diabetes shouldn't be left on the sidelines," Reno told a news conference.   The agreement settles a lawsuit against the company under the Americans with Disabilities Act by the American Diabetes Association on behalf of a three-year Ohio boy who was not allowed to attend a KinderCare center in Columbus.   "KinderCare cares for thousands of children with disabilities every day and is proud to lead the industry in practices that benefit those children with insulin-dependent diabetes," company chairman and chief executive officer Sandra Scarr said in a statement.   The tests, usually done before lunch, require pricking a finger to get a blood sample, placing the sample on a test strip, putting it in a monitor and reading the level.   If the level is too low, the child is given juice and re-tested.   "My understanding is that they don't have to hire additional people.   That this is something that child care workers in the centers can accomplish themselves very easily," Reno said.   Parents or guardians will supply the test equipment and will be required to sign an authorization form every six months.   KinderCare will not be required to give insulin shots and will be protected from liability as long as the company takes reasonable care when following written orders from a child's doctor and parents.   About 100,000 children under the age of 18 are estimated to have diabetes.   Reno did not know how many might be affected by the agreement but said, "It can have a significant impact."   She urged other day care centers to follow KinderCare's lead.   Alan Altschuler of the American Diabetes Association said many diabetic children could test themselves by the time they started school.   He said the test took less than a minute. 
1772 !GCAT !GODD  Miss Universe, Venezuela's Alicia Machado, left New Mexico on Thursday, refusing to answer questions about her weight or claims she was told to either go on a crash diet or give up her title.   Machado, 19, flew to Los Angeles after slipping away from the New Mexico desert town of Las Cruces, where she attended the 1996 Miss Teen USA pageant on Wednesday.   While Machado was not a contestant here, she came under intense scrutiny following reports she was given an ultimatum by Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc. to drop 27 pounds (12 kg) in two weeks or risk losing her crown.   In Venezuela, her mother told Reuters that Machado had a swollen face when she left home two weeks ago because she had her wisdom teeth extracted.   Marta Fajardo insisted her daughter, who weighed 112 pounds (51 kg) when she won the Miss Universe title in Las Vegas in May, had perfectly normal eating habits.   "Everybody has their own addiction to something or other but it's not as if she eats cakes like crazy," she said.   Organisers flatly denied ever threatening Machado but immediately put her under wraps and blocked access to her.   Dressed in a black strapless evening gown at Wednesday's pageant, Machado was clearly heavier than the contestants but still won rave reviews after her brief appearance on stage.   "Are you kidding?   She's fantastic," said Nikki Campbell, 28, who went to the pageant.   "She looked great.   Very sexy."   Machado's publicists said on Thursday she was scheduled to stay in Los Angeles for promotional work with sponsors before returning to Venezuela on Sept. 5.   Beauty queens are high-profile personalities in Venezuela and Machado's alleged weight problem made front page news this week.   It was an official of the Miss Venezuela Organisation who first said Machado had been told to lose weight fast.   People close to her said she then eased up on her diet and indulged her passion for pasta and cake, but it was not clear how many pounds she gained and most people who saw her said she was still a long way from being fat.   Martin Brooks, president of Miss Universe Inc, said he spoke with Machado to assure her that organisers were not putting pressure on her.   "She's fine with it.   She wished, as we all did, that it hadn't happened but she's spiritually and mentally terrific.   There's no problem whatsoever," he told Reuters.   He said the lifestyle associated with being Miss Universe could make routine exercise difficult.   "The problem is they travel so much and are so busy that the ability to have any type of regimented routine workout doesn't exist.   I dont know if Alicia is working out.   We haven't talked about it because it hasn't been an issue," he said. 
1773 !GCAT !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed struck a deal with Chechen rebels on Thursday to stop fighting on Friday and promised to withdraw troops from all of Chechnya as well as the capital Grozny.   "Troops will be withdrawn from Grozny because constitutional order cannot be introduced using air and artillery strikes," a triumphant Lebed told reporters in this village about 20 km (12 miles) south of Grozny.   "They will be withdrawn from the whole of Chechnya," he said after a signing ceremony on a second days of talks.   Moscow's forces have been attacking Grozny to try to oust rebels who seized it in a raid on August 6 that humiliated the Russian military.   The separatists said the attack was in retaliation for Russian bombardments of Chechen villages.   Russian news agencies said Lebed and Maskhadov agreed to cease fire from midday (0800 GMT) on Friday.   Itar-Tass news agency said they had also agreed to an unconditional exchange of all dead and prisoners.   The latest bout of fighting followed a deal which foresaw rebel disarmament in return for step-by-step troop withdrawals from the mainly Moslem region to be completed by September 1.   Truces have come and gone in 20 months of the Chechen conflict, and it was too soon to say whether the new deal would bring respite for civilians who have been fleeing Grozny in tens of thousands since the raid began.   It was also unclear how much power Lebed actually wields.   Though President Boris Yeltsin appointed him his special envoy to Chechnya, Security Council secretary and security adviser, he criticised him in an interview earlier on Wednesday.   "I am not completely satisfied with Lebed's performance in Chechnya," Yeltsin told RIA news agency in an interview shown in a television feed.   Lebed predicted further criticism from his many opponents in Moscow -- democrats and hardliners alike.   But he seemed not to care, saying: "Anyone who is unhappy is welcome to complain."   The exact text of the deal, signed by two of the more compromising figures on the two sides, was not available.   "Joint military administrations will be set up in Grozny to protect the city from looters and bandits," Lebed said.   "I will come back with a draft political agreement in two days.   We will discuss it and sign it," he added.   That deal would also address the root of the fighting -- Chechnya's status.   Lebed said forces would start withdrawing from southern Chechnya on Friday and joint military administrations would be set up at the same time.   Before signing the deal, Lebed dumped plans by the Russian command in Chechnya to launch an all-out attack on Grozny if the rebels did not withdraw from the city.   News of the truce had apparently failed to reach Grozny fast enough.   Interfax news agency said at least 50 Russian servicemen have been killed in a battle which erupted at Grozny's Minutka square on Thursday and continued after the truce deal was signed.   The report could not be independently confirmed.   Interfax quoted Russia's military command in Chechnya as saying that about 200 interior ministry troops sent on a reconnaisance mission had been outnumbered by attacking rebels.   Interfax made clear that the interior ministry detachment had been sent on the mission before the truce deal had been signed at the local equivalent of 1500 GMT.   But fierce fighting still raged at 1600 GMT, Interfax said.   Yeltsin appointed Lebed his security chief after the former paratrooper captured around 15 percent of the votes in the first round of Russia's presidential election this year.   But he criticised him after talks began before the deal, saying: "We must remember, when he met voters he always promised to solve the Chechen problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   But unfortunately the results of his work are not yet obvious.   "But we must not despair, we will take this issue to the end," Yeltsin added.   More than 30,000 people have been killed in the breakaway North Caucasus region since Yeltsin sent in his forces in December 1994 to end an independence drive. 
1774 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Mississippi Gov. Kirk Fordice issued an executive order Thursday banning same-sex marriages, saying he feared gay couples someday may be able to wed in Hawaii and later demand legal recognition back home.   Calling the idea of a gay marriage "an absurdity," the Republican governor told a news conference that his action would defend the sanctity of traditional matrimony.   "It can't be a marriage with people of the same sex," Fordice said at the state capitol, where he appeared alongside members of the conservative Mississippi Family Council, the American Family Association and other like-minded groups.   "The state has an interest in preserving and protecting the special status of marriage as the foundation of a healthy society," he continued.   "Traditional families are the foundation for a better and more productive life."   Fordice's move was prompted by an ongoing legal battle in Hawaii, where a gay couple has been trying to force the state to grant them a marriage license.   Arguments were expected before the state Supreme Court next month and Mississippi officials believed the case could go to the gay couple.   Forest Thigpen, spokesman for the Jackson-based Mississippi Family Council, said the governor's action made the state the 24rd to take steps to ban same-sex marriages.   But Brenda Henson, a gay rights activist with the community-service group Camp Sister Spirit in Ovett, Mississippi, said she was outraged by the executive order.   "There is a myth out there that gay and lesbian people are very promiscuous.   If people truly believed that and wanted to change it, they shouldn't be denying us the right to legalise our unions and stabilise our commitments," said the woman, who has had the same partner for 13 years. 
1775 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Bob Dole has cut President Clinton's lead in half since his choice of Jack Kemp as running mate and the end of the Republican convention last week, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Thursday.   The survey, which was conducted Aug. 20-21 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, showed Clinton leading Dole by 48 percent to 38 percent, with Reform Party candidate Ross Perot at eight percent.   Two weeks earlier, an NBC/WSJ poll gave Clinton a 20-point lead over his Republican opponent.   The new poll also showed that voters were fairly evenly divided on which candidate would do a better job dealing with the economy, 41 percent choosing Clinton and 37 percent saying Dole. 
1776 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS  Two more U.S. fighter planes crashed on Thursday and the Air Force combat command cancelled most operations on Friday to try and seek an explanation for the proliferation of disasters this year.   A Marine reserve F/A-18 fighter attack plane crashed into the Atlantic on Thursday morning and the pilot was missing.   Hours later an Air National Guard A-10 tankbuster crashed less than 100 miles (161 kms) away and the pilot was taken to a hospital.   They were the latest in a series of crashes including one in Croatia that killed Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, four Navy F-14 crashes and helicopter crashes including a spectacular training collision.   The Air Combat Command, which operates about a fourth of all Air Force planes, cancelled routine operations on Friday for a "Safety Day" and ordered units to examine every part of their operations to find out if anything was wrong and needed to be fixed.   The move came after four crashes in the past month, including one of President Bill Clinton's support planes as it left Jackson Hole, Wyoming, after the Clintons' vacation there.   "We must step back from the day-to-day pressures of the mission and spend a day identifying and quantifying the risks associated with everything that we do, then devising practical ways to mitigate those risks," the command's chief, Gen. Richard Hawley, said.   The Navy and Marine Corps suspended operations earlier in the year for similar reviews.   But officials say no common cause has been found for the crashes, not even the four F-14 crashes.   In the worst incident, an F-14 smashed into a house in Nashville, Tennessee, killing both crewmen and three civilians inside.   The Navy blamed the pilot, saying he may have taken off at too steep an angle to impress his parents.   The Air Force passenger jet crash in Croatia that killed Brown and 34 other people, including a number of top U.S. business executives, was blamed on a deadly mix of errors.   One was a failure by commanders to follow Air Force orders against landing at airports without approved landing aids.   In the worst helicopter crash of the year, a two-man AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter collided with a troop-loaded CH-46 Sea Knight in darkness as they took part in joint exercises with British forces, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.   Fourteen of the 16 Marines on the choppers were killed. 
1777 !GCAT !GCRIM !GHEA  Dr. Jack Kevorkian attended his third suicide in less than a week on Thursday, bringing the body of a 40-year-old Missouri woman suffering from multiple sclerosis to a hospital emergency room, doctors said.   Dr Robert Aranosian, emergency room director at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital, said Kevorkian brought in the body of Patricia Smith, of Lees Summit, Mo., at midday and told doctors that she had been paralysed by the disease.   It was his second assisted-suicide in 36 hours and the 37th that he has acknowledged attending since starting his crusade for doctor assisted suicide in 1990.   Kevorkian's lawyer, Geoffrey Fieger, said those attending Smith's death included her husband, David, a police officer, her father, James Poland, and Kevorkian.   It was the first known time that a police officer has been president at the suicide of one of Kevorkian's patients.   He offered no details about the cause of Smith's death or the location.   She was a nurse who had "rapidly progressing multple sclerosis."   On Tuesday night, Kevorkian attended the death of Louise Siebens, a 76-year-old Texas woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.   On August 15, Kevorkian helped Judith Curren, a 42-year-old Massachusetts nurse, who suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, a non-terminal illness, to end her life. 
1778 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  She is not a millionaire or a moderate, a Republican or a Democrat.   She has no advertising budget, no paid campaign staff and no solid chance of winning.   But she is a third party candidate.   Susan Gallagher, like scores of others eager for political office, will be on November's ballot seeking a senate seat but faces the prospect that no one will know who she is or what she stands for.   Compared to the well-publicised presidential bid of Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, the Libertarian Party, the Natural Law Party and the Green Party will have candidates on ballots in many states but probably not on CNN's Larry King Live.   With typically small followings, they advocate everything from meditating for peace to more controls on big business and less restrictive government.   While they get little publicity, Americans say they want to hear more about them.   Some 2,007 voters surveyed by the Freedom Forum at Columbia University's Centre for Media Studies said they would like more information about the whole field of candidates and thought "the media gives undue advantage to the frontrunners," said Dr. Andros Szanto, who conducted the study.   Nancy Woodhull, executive director of the Freedom Forum, said those polled think "that by not covering the other candidates, the press is trying to control things."   Gallagher, a 37-year-old realtor, will be on the ballot in Massachusetts running against Republican Gov. William Weld and Democratic incumbent Sen. John Kerry, both millionaires who have well-financed campaigns and the public exposure that comes from televised debates.   Gallagher, a mother of four who rails against abortion, homosexuals, and free-trade agreements, has never earned more than $50,000 annually.   She said both Weld and Kerry "are too liberal and too out of touch with real people" and has sought to be included in the debates.   The media consortium that has arranged them has so far declined.   Walter Robinson, metropolitan editor of The Boston Globe, said he told Gallagher that she would have to get enough signatures to get on the ballot, which she did.   He also told her that she needed to present "some other indication of viability ... evidence of popular support, the ability to raise money, the mere existence of position papers, a campaign staff or separate office."   She now runs her campaign out of her realty office with volunteers.   The Libertarians and their senate candidate, George Phillies, a physicist who teaches at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, has also asked to be included in the debates.   "Last time around, the media told us that to be in the debates we had to be a major party.   We got that designation after securing 3 percent of the vote in the last election," said Phillies.   "Now, they want us to submit signatures to get on the ballot, but we're automatically on the ballot.   They just keep changing the rules."   There is no federal requirement for televised debates to include all qualified candidates but some think the potential candidates deserve a higher profile.   "Newspapers and TV provide a forum for the country to talk to itself.   And it gets itself in trouble by leaving out of the conversation a number of viewpoints," said Woodhull of the Freedom Forum.   The Natural Law Party, which says it can meditate away crime and even wars, has put up Robert Stowe as a senate candidate.   "The media always controls political races to a large extent," said Stowe.   "They will decide who they want to cover." 
1779 !C11 !C13 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  To many Americans, Lloyd's of London is some obscure British entity that insures things like Betty Grable's legs and Bruce Springsteen's voice.   But Lloyd's, which is an insurance market and not an insurance company as many people mistakenly believe, also touches the lives of countless ordinary Americans in the course of their every day lives.   It insures such mundane organisations as the (San Francisco) Bay Area Rapid Transit system, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, major airlines, hospitals and Fortune 500 companies.   "Every time you get on a Western-based jet plane, there's Lloyd's at the back of it somewhere," a Lloyd's spokesman said.   Lately, however, Lloyd's has been getting more attention in the United States for its financial and legal problems than for the exotic insurance that it writes.   The 300-year-old insurance market, beset by massive losses from natural disasters as well as asbestos and environmental claims on policies written decades ago, is seeking to avert insolvency by implementing a recovery plan.   Under its recovery plan, Lloyd's plans to reinsure billions of dollars of liabilities into a new company, Equitas.   It is asking investors in Lloyd's, known as Names, to help pay for Equitas, but has offered them 3.2 billion British pounds ($4.8 billion) to offset this cost and end litigation.   But the heavy losses at Lloyd's also spelled trouble for the Names, who had agreed to financially back Lloyd's with all their personal assets in return for a share of the premiums.   Instead of reaping rich returns, some of the Names, especially in the United States, are facing financial ruin from their Lloyd's commitments.   A group of 93 Names has sued Lloyd's in a federal court in Richmond, Va., in an effort to block Lloyd's recovery plan.   A decision in the case is expected Friday afternoon, just five days before Names worldwide must decide to accept or reject Lloyd's recovery plan.   A federal judge on Thursday delayed for one day a decision on whether to allow the reorganization to go forward.   In an interview in London, Lloyd's Chairman David Rowland said any injunction served against the insurance market by the judge in the Virginia case would be quickly appealed.   There are about 33,000 Names worldwide, but only about 13,000 still actively participate in Lloyd's.   In the United States, about 750 of 2,600 Names are still active.   A sudden failure of Lloyd's could have widespread implications for many Americans, said Brian Atchinson, president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.   "The impact would be on many, many insurance policies held by people who would never imagine they would be affected by that," he said.   Despite its recent woes, U.S. risk managers depend on Lloyd's for the breadth of its market and its ability to provide coverage for unusual and hard-to-place risks.   "I think when you have maybe unusual situations or large amounts of coverage you're looking for, I think Lloyd's has filled a particular niche in the insurance world that it would be difficult to match," said Keith Grand, risk manager for the city and county of San Francisco.   In purchasing liability coverage for the San Francisco airport, Grand said, Lloyd's consistently provides the best coverage at the best price.   "In that particular part of the marketplace there aren't a whole lot of companies that are even in the business," he said.   In addition to aviation, Lloyd's specialises in other difficult markets, including medical malpractice insurance, insurance for directors and officers at major corporations, and kidnap and ransom insurance.   One-third of Lloyd's business comes from the United States, which is its second-largest market next to Britain.   Excluding private passenger automobile insurance, which is sold only in Britain, the United States is its largest market.   Lloyd's entered the U.S. market as a marine insurer in the mid-1800s, but business took off after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when Lloyd's agreed to pay claims and other insurers stalled.   "That made our reputation for paying up," the Lloyd's spokesman said.   Lloyd's still has not failed to pay a valid claim in the last 70 years or so it has operated under its current structure, he said.   San Francisco's Grand said recent changes allowing corporate capital to be invested at Lloyd's with limited liability could further strengthen the market.   "When you look at the number of corporations and insurance companies that have put a lot of money into Lloyd's to make it available for underwriting, that's sort of a testament by the folks who understand best what's going on that this is a good place to put their money," Grand said.   "As a result, the capacity (to write insurance) is almost as much as it's ever been despite the publicity being worse than its ever been," he said. 
1780 !GCAT !GHEA  Six years after receiving a heart transplant, Robert Smith woke one morning last year with bumps the size of small eggs on his right leg.   "I knew they weren't normal," the 64-year-old resident of Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, said.   After his doctor ran tests, Smith was sent to Pittsburgh, where he received an experimental treatment for tumours in transplant patients.   Eight days later, the malignant tumours disappeared.   A year later, they have not returned.   "There were no side effects," Smith said on Thursday via telephone from his home.   "I felt fine."   Organ transplant patients who develop malignant tumours -- a condition called post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) -- may benefit from a treatment being researched at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, according to Dr Michael Nalesnik, one of the researchers.   The new treatment showed promise in a study that began last year and involved seven patients including Smith, Nalesnik said.   "We have a lot of work to do, research is ongoing," Nalesnik said.   "But it appears promising.   We'd like to expand it and use it on more patients."   In the study, cells were removed from the immune systems of patients who developed malignant tumours after an organ transplant.   Tumours can develop after an organ transplant because of a resulting weakness in the immune system.   The cells were then mixed with Interleukin-2, a natural hormone that stimulated the cells to become lymphokine-activated killer cells (LAK cells.)   The LAK cells, which kill tumour cells while sparing normal ones and are used in other forms of cancer therapy, were infused back into the patients' bloodstreams.   Nalesnik said tumours disappeared in four of the patients and have not recurred.   The medical centre plans to use the treatment on at least 20 more patients.   According to the medical centre, about 2 percent of transplant patients develop PTLD.   Tumours can develop months or even years after a transplant.   Nalesnik said only a small percentage of tumours respond to traditional treatments, which include temporarily reducing them or eliminating drugs patients took to suppress their immune systems and prevent organ rejection.   Nalesnik plans to present the study's results next week in Spain at a meeting of the International Congress of the Transplantation Society.   Other researchers said the treatment was encouraging.   "I would love to see more people treated this way," said Dr Israel Penn, a transplant researcher at the University of Cincinnati Medical Centre.   "It could be a significant advancement in the management of these patients." 
1781 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A mistrial has been declared in a shareholder suit against ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc that alleged the company made false and misleading statements about its anti-viral drug Virazole, lawyers in the case said on Thursday.   Daniel Berger, one of the shareholders' lead lawyers, said his clients would seek a new trial.   The mistrial was declared on Wednesday after the Manhattan federal jury was deadlocked after a week of deliberations. 
1782 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Despite a mistrial in a securities fraud case against ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc, shareholders will continue to pursue their class action lawsuit against the company, lawyers representing the shareholders said.   Earlier today, ICN said a jury rejected a number of shareholder claims of securities fraud involving the company's Virazole drug to treat AIDS and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on six claims.   The investors' lead counsel, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, said in a statement that a mistrial occurred after five weeks of evidence and a week of jury deliberations before Federal District Judge Kimba M. Wood.   Daniel Berger, partner of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, said in a statement: "The jury certainly did not find ICN and its co-defendants blameless; on behalf of the investor class, we will seek an immediate retrial on the outstanding issues." 
1783 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT  The financial position of the Oakland, Calif., Unified School District has improved over the past five years, according to California's Auditor.   The district, which has had a long history of financial and management difficulties, ended fiscal year 1994-1995 with a fund balance of $4.3 million in its unrestricted general fund, the state Auditor's office said in a report.   As of June 21, 1996, the district's unaudited financial reports for fiscal year 1995-1996 estimated an ending fund balance of $7.4 million in its unrestricted general fund, the report concluded.   For fiscal year 1994-1995, the district's reserve designated for economic uncertanties was $3.9 million, $1.1 million below the state's recommended level.   For fiscal year 1995-1996, the district's unaudited financial reports estimated a reserve of $5 million designated for economic uncertainties, an amount approximating the state's recommendation, the Auditor's report said.   The auditor also concluded that the district's classification of instructional costs could be overstated by as much as $1.5 million.   Management controls have improved since a 1990 state audit, however, "minor weaknesses still exist," the report said.   --Adam Entous, 415-677-2511 
1784 !GCAT !GDIS !GENV  Weary crews contained six major wildfires across the Western United States on Thursday, but a new blaze was reported in Wyoming and fires burned in seven states, officials said.   An army of 14,750 firefighters were battling 24 large fires that had burned 410,334 acres (166,000 hectares) by Thursday.   By contrast, more than 20,000 personnel were assigned to 29 major fires on Wednesday, the National Interagency Fire Centre said.   Thousands of firefighters pulled from fire lines were being moved to other hot spots, authorities said.   "Some (firefighters) are having a chance to rest," Ron DeHart, an information officer with the fire centre, said.   "But we're bracing for another tough weekend and tough week because we expect some dry lightning.   This continues to be a very dangerous and explosive fire season."   Fire crews contained six major blazes in California, Colorado, Arizona, Montana and Utah, authorities reported.   In northern California, thousands of firefighters and more than 600 soldiers gained ground on the so-called Fork fire about 100 miles (160 km) north of San Francisco, which had expanded slightly overnight to 77,490 acres (31,360 hectares), up from 73,600 acres (29,790 hectares) on Wednesday.   The Fork fire was 50 percent contained and residents evacuated from the Long and Spring valley areas returned to their homes, but about 40 homes near the fire lines remained off limits.   "The weather is holding," said Alleah Haley of the state Department of Forestry.   "We're getting a jump on this fire."   In San Luis Obispo County, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, a wildfire had consumed 104,000 acres (42,090 hectares), up from 69,000 acres (27,600 hectares) on Monday.   The fire increased in size because firefighters ignited unburned vegetation inside the control lines, but it was 75 percent contained and officials expected to have it under control by Thursday night.   Thus far, the San Luis Obispo County fire has cost $6 million to fight.   The fire swept through a condor habitat but none of the birds was harmed.   "We believe that there was no danger posed to them," Helen Tarbet, a spokeswoman, said.   Also in California, the so-called Ackerson Complex fires had burned 19,865 acres (8,037 hectares), threatening more than 20 historic homesteader cabins and other structures in Yosemite National Park.   The fire was 15 percent contained.   In southwest Utah, near Cedar City, a wildfire expanded to 10,100 acres (4,087 hectares) from 9,300 (3,764 hectares) on Wednesday, threatening some properties near the blaze.   Firefighters asked local ranchers to move 500 to 800 range cattle from the area.   The latest fire reported in Wyoming was the Logan Creek fire that had burned an estimated 1,500 acres (607.1 hectares) of Ponderosa Pine, Pinyon Juniper, grass and sage.   In Oregon, firefighters continued to make progress battling several wildfires that have threatened powerlines and vast wilderness areas.   In Colorado, nearly 650 firefighters were battling a 4,700 acre (1,880 hectare) blaze in the Mesa Verde National Park in the southwestern part of the state.   Fire information officer Bob Irvine said the fire was 60 percent contained.   Full containment was expected on Friday night.   Tourists anxious to see the treasured cliff dwellings of the Anasazi people were still not allowed to visit the park, Irvine said.   Park officials said they believed the cliff dwellings were safe because they were not surrounded by trees. 
1785 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday it will donate about $1.0 million worth of U.S. farm goods to the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere to distibute to the needy in Tajikistan.   USDA said the donated commodities will include 2,700 tonnes of wehat flour and 300 tonnes of vegetable oil.   The donation was made under USDA's Food For Progress program.   The supply period is fiscal 1996. 
1786 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  The U.S. Agriculture Department said Thursday it would donate $1.2 million worth of U.S. farm goods to the volunteer organization, Lishkas Ezras Achim, to distribute to the needy in Moldova.   USDA said the donated commmodities will include 1,000 tonnes of vegetable oil, 700 tonnes of rice and 300 tones of wheat flour.   The donation was made under USDA's Food for Progress program.   The supply period is fiscal year 1996. 
1787 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  The United States will send officials from four departments to a conference in Sweden next week on ways to stop the sexual exploitation of children, the Justice Department said on Thursday.   Assistant Attorney General Laurie Robinson will head the U.S. delegation, which also includes representatives from the departments of Labour, State and Defence.   The five-day World Congress on Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children begins Aug. 27 in Stockholm.   "This important conference will strengthen our ability to bring the exploiters of children to justice.   Adults who prey on children will find no safe haven anywhere in the world," Attorney General Janet Reno said in a statement.   The conference follows a scandal in Belgium this week over the kidnapping and sexual abuse of children. 
1788 !GCAT !GCRIM !GVIO  The investigation of last month's bombing at the Atlanta Olympic Games will continue as long as necessary to solve the case, Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday.   "This whole matter has been one of our highest priorities and we are trying to do everything we can, as quickly as possible but consistent with a thorough investigation to make sure that justice is done," she told a weekly news conference.   Attorneys for security guard Richard Jewell, the only known suspect in the July 27 pipe bombing that left two people dead and injured more than 100, have demanded the government charge Jewell or drop its investigation of him.   Reno declined comment on a report by Jewell's attorneys that he passed a lie detector test.   Jewell, 33, a security guard, was the first to report seeing a suspicious backpack, which exploded before the area could be cleared.   After being hailed as a hero, he was identified as a suspect in news reports.   FBI agents questioned him and searched his home but have not arrested him.   He has denied any role in the bombing. 
1789 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVOTE  Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday she hoped the war against drugs and juvenile crime would not become partisan issues in the presidential election campaign.   "Our children should not be political footballs," Reno said at her weekly news conference.   She was responding to attacks by Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and other Republicans on President Clinton's anti-drug efforts after a report this week said there had been a sharp increase in teenage drug use in the last four years.   "My hope is that in these next 70-something days between now and the election, we can continue to work together at the state and local level in the partnership, to focus on our children, to continue our efforts to reduce youth violence in a bipartisan way, to reduce youth drug use and not to let these issues become part of the political season," Reno said.   "There is so much, as I have talked about before, about what can happen when Republicans and Democrats sit down together.   There are so many good people on both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, who are trying to address some of these issues that should not be partisan in nature," she added.   Reno said she tried to be non-partisan and to keep the Justice Department out of politics.   She said she would not attend the Democratic convention in Chicago next week where Clinton may announce some anti-crime programmes. 
1790 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL !GVOTE  Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole Thursday denounced President Clinton's proposed move to regulate tobacco sales to children as a "campaign gimmick."   "Clearly Bob Dole supports restrictions on teen smoking," said a statement issued by Dole press secretary Nelson Warfield.   But it said since lawsuits were already pending against the proposed regulations, Clinton's plan "is purely an election year gimmick which could mean further delay in cracking down on teen smoking."   The statement said Dole, if he is elected president, will work with Congress and governors "to combat teenage smoking and drug use which has flourished under the Clinton administration."   Assuming completion of a final review of regulations by the White House Office of Management and Budget, Clinton was expected to sign an executive order Friday to regulate sales and advertising of tobacco to young people. 
1791 !GCAT !GOBIT !GPRO  Albert Bertino, a Walt Disney animator who helped create such characters as Bambi, Goofy and Donald Duck, has died, a Disney spokesman said on Thursday.   He was 84.   Bertino, who joined Disney in 1939 after working as a cartoonist and illustrator, died in Los Angeles on Sunday.   He also had a hand in the animated movies "Fantasia" and "Pinocchio" and was credited with perfecting the art of "Imagineering," a combination of imagination and innovative engineering with which he created some of the most popular rides at the Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California, south of Los Angeles.   Bertino was responsible for "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," the "Haunted Mansion" and "Country Bear Jamboree," a stage show featuring an animatronic bear named "Big Al," which Bertino said was modelled on himself.   In addition to being an animator, he wrote many of the episodes for the "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour" television series.   Bertino is survived by his wife, a son and daughter and four grandchildren. 
1792 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Computer hackers who altered the Justice Department's Internet home page last weekend did not get access to criminal files, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday.   The unidentified hackers added swastikas, obsenities and a picture of Adolf Hitler to the department's page on the World Wide Web in an apparent protest against a law prohibiting transmission of sexually explicit material on the Internet.   The page was shut down until it could be restored.   It has information about the department with links to pages on related topics such as the Violence Against Women Act.   Reno said the department's web page (http://www.usdoj.gov) was separate from its other computer files.   "My understanding is that there is a clear wall between the two systems," Reno said at her weekly news briefing.   "The system designed for public information is separate from that that tracks criminal investigations."   "In this situation, it is a system that is available for the public because it is the Web site, designed to provide information to the public.   And thus, it is more difficult to prevent hacking," she said.   "And what we had done and what this nation needs to do with respect to all its computer systems is continue to refine our knowledge and develop greater knowledge of what can be done to prevent hacking," she added.   Reno and other officials have warned that the U.S. computer network is vulnerable to theft and sabotage and have called for stronger computer security measures. 
1793 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Reform party presidential candidate Ross Perot predicted Thursday that Democrats will join Republicans in calling for a tax cut, a device he said was little more than a promise of free candy.   "Our country has severe financial problems," he told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.   "We've got to deal with them now.   If we don't we're going to have a financial meltdown."   He said neither of the two major parties will take responsibility for the massive government debt or for Social Security and pension systems that are operated hand-to-mouth, month-by-month.   "My position is they were both there when it happened.   Nobody else was there so somebody has to take responsbility," he said.   "But now they're going to present you with massive and exciting plans to solve these problems.   And they're going to to present you, both parties, with the mother of all tax cuts to fix this," Perot said.   "Let me give you an analogy.   You come out and see me and say 'Ross, I'm hopelessly in debt.   I can't pay my bills.   You're a businessman, could you give me some advice?'   "And I'd say 'Sure...get your boss to cut your salary.'   You'd say 'Ross but I can't pay my bills now.'   I'd say 'Let's change the subject.'   That's what they're telling you right now and boy do we love it."   "Ask yourself, are they giving you hard facts or are they spending their time promising you free candy."   Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, who spoke to the same group earlier this week, has proposed a 15 percent income tax cut which he said should put money in the pockets of middle-class American wage earners and encourage growth and investment.   President Clinton has been critical of Dole's plan.   Perot got 19 percent of the votes cast in the 1992 presidential election against Republican George Bush and Clinton.   He has accepted $29.2 million in taxpayers money to fund this year's campaign.   He told the veterans that 62 percent of voters want a new party and "there's not a penny of special interest money" in his organisation.   He said the country's 27 million veterans represent more than enough votes to swing the election and he urged them to study the issues and not be manipulated by propaganda "just like Tokyo Rose and people like that dumped on you during World War II." 
1794 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole on Thursday vowed to send President Bill Clinton into retirement and as an incentive he promised the Democratic incumbent a 15 percent tax cut.   Under a Dole presidency, Democrats would get the tax cut "whether they like it or not," Dole told a rally.   "Even former President Clinton will get a tax cut next year whether he likes it or not."   In a brief speech at an old-fashioned bandstand in a leafy suburban park, Dole repeated the centrepiece of his campaign -- a 15 percent across-the-board income tax cut, slashes in capital gains taxes and a balanced federal budget.   Critics have said it would be impossible to balance the budget while cutting taxes without eviscerating social programmes, but Dole said he could do it.   He did not elaborate on how he would do so.   But he and running mate Jack Kemp said the experience of New Jersey showed that the Democrats were wrong, that it is possible to cut taxes while balancing the budget.   "We are going to do it ... We are going to balance the budget while cutting taxes and it can be done, you can do both," Dole declared to a small but enthusiastic rally that he dubbed "Clinton's retirement party."   To sceptics, Dole cited popular New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who has cut state income taxes by 30 percent since taking office in January 1994.   Whitman, campaigning alongside Dole in this state of moderate swing-voters, attributed 135,000 new jobs in New Jersey during her administration to her economic policies.   "The Democrats say that you can't balance a budget and cut taxes at the same time.   We know you can because you are doing it in New Jersey.   Bob Dole knows what America needs and it isn't four more years of 'Broken promises Bill,'" she said.   Dole said his message was "very simple."   "This country deserves to do better.   That's the message we have.   We're going to take it all across America."   Kemp, who has accompanied Dole and kept up the campaign energy since the San Diego convention, told the audience to stop thinking of the Republicans as the "Grand Old Party" and start regarding it as "the Grand Opportunity Party."   Dole has edged to just five points behind Clinton since the announcement of his tax cut plan, the choice of Kemp as running mate and the successful Republican convention, a Reuters poll said.   The poll, released on Thursday, showed 41.5 percent supported Clinton and 36.3 percent Dole -- a gap of just 5.2 percentage points.   Texas billionaire Ross Perot got 7.4 percent. 
1795 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  American voters narrowly prefer Democratic President Bill Clinton over challenger Bob Dole, but they still want Republicans in control of Congress, a Reuters poll said on Thursday.   The apparent preference for divided government was a key finding of the survey conducted for Reuters by John Zogby Group International.   It found that 43.6 percent of voters want Republicans to control the Senate and 36.6 percent would prefer Democrats.   For the House of Representatives, 40.8 percent wanted Republicans in control and 37.7 percent favoured Democrats.   The results were similar to the last Reuters-Zogby poll, released on August 6, which put Republicans ahead of Democrats 42.4 percent to 39.7 percent for the Senate and 42.2 percent to 40.2 percent for the House.   "The voters like this mix.   They like this divided government, as long as they get things done," pollster John Zogby said.   The latest poll, taken just after last week's Republican convention, put Dole five percentage points behind in the race against Clinton, a much narrower gap than the 12 points in the August 6 poll.   The new poll, of 1,007 likely voters, was taken from August 18-20, just as the signing of major legislation on the minimum wage, health care and welfare reform by President Clinton this week began to dominate the political news.   "With a big week for major legislation ... voters may be responding to a feeling of getting the best of both worlds -- divided government without gridlock," Zogby said.   The poll suggested the crucial region in the November 5 election would be the central states and the Great Lakes, where Republicans led in overall Congressional preferences while Clinton was ahead in the presidential election.   In the central and Great Lakes states, 46 percent preferred that Republicans keep a majority in the Senate against 33 percent for Democrats, and 44 percent for Republicans to keep the House against 35 percent for Democrats.   In the South and West, voters preferred Republicans for both the presidency and Congress.   But in the East, they preferred Democrats for both the presidency and Congress, the poll said.   Which party is your preference to win a majority in     the Senate and the House, respectively?    Fem Demo- Repub Indep- Aug 6    All Male -ale crat lican endent Poll    Democrats 36.6 32.2 40.9 74.8 7.9 26.3 39.7   in the Senate    Republicans 43.6 49.9 37.5 9.3 81.7 39.5 42.4   in the Senate    Democrats 37.7 34.4 40.8 75.2 8.0 29.2 40.2   in the House    Republicans 40.8 47.9 34.1 8.3 80.1 33.6 42.2   in the House 
1796 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Vicksburg, Miss., Hotel Association submitted petitions seeking to force a referendum on the city's proposed two percent lodging tax, city officials said Thursday.   The city council voted July 15 to levy the tax, which would raise $300,000 a year to fund operating costs of a new convention center.   If officials verify that the petitions contain signatures of at least 1,500 registered voters, the city must either rescind the tax or hold a referendum before collecting it.   The tax would pay debt service on a revenue bond issue to finance construction of the city's $10 million convention center.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1797 !C12 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  ALLTEL Corp said Thursday a Georgia superior court issued a stay of the Georgia Public Service Commission's order mandating a $24 million reduction in the company's intrastate access charges.   The commission had issued an order requiring ALLTEL to reduce its intrastate access rates in response the company's plan to change its rate structure, the company said.   ALLTEL said it considered the commission's order to be unlawful and was appealing the order.   The court granted ALLTEL's request for a stay pending the outcome of its appeal, the company said.   -- New York newsdesk, 212-859-1610 
1798 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  Amid high praise and angry rebukes, President Bill Clinton on Thursday signed an overhaul of the welfare system that gives states more power, limits eligibility and ends direct federal aid for poor children.   "Today we are ending welfare as we know it," Clinton said, echoing his 1992 presidential campaign promise as he signed the bill delivered by the Republican-controlled Congress.   "But I hope this day will be remembered not for what it ended but for what it began, a new day that offers hope, honours responsibility, rewards work and changes the terms of the debate," he said.   With Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress conspicuously missing from the politically charged election-year ceremony, Clinton acknowledged the new law "is far from perfect" but vowed to work to correct its flaws.   "What we are trying to do today is to overcome the flaws of the welfare system for the people who are trapped on it," he said.   "We all know that the typical family on welfare today is very different from the one that welfare was designed to deal with 60 years ago."   Under the new law, which has been condemned by many of the liberal allies Clinton deems essential to his bid for a second term, federal welfare spending will be cut by about $55 billion over six years, mainly by reducing funding for the Food Stamps programme and aid to legal immigrants.   It also imposes a five-year lifetime limit on receiving welfare and requires recipients to begin working within two years after receiving benefits.   One of the more controversial changes ends a 61-year guarantee of federal aid for poor children.   Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the main federal cash welfare programme, and smaller programmes are folded into an annual block grant to states to run their own programmes instead.   The bill upset many Democrats and their traditional allies.   "This isn't welfare reform, it's welfare denial," Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois complained.   Eleanor Smeal, head of the Feminist Majority, charged that "tragically, President Clinton has caved in to this reactionary Congress' demands."   At the same time, Christina Martin, a spokeswoman for Republican presidential challenger Bob Dole, said that "by selling out his own party, Bill Clinton has proven he is ideologically adrift."   Clinton twice before vetoed welfare legislation crafted by the Republican Congress, but with election-year politics heating up, several of his political strategists recommended that he sign this version and try to amend it later.   Even before signing the bill into law, he granted waivers from the five-year limit for benefits to Hawaii, Minnesota and the District of Columbia.   Representative Clay Shaw of Florida, a chief congressional sponsor of the bill and the only Republican lawmaker to attend the signing ceremony, made public a letter to Clinton objecting to the waivers and urging him "to avoid any further efforts to undermine and weaken welfare reform."   White House officials privately admit the law has created a strain with the Democratic Party's liberal wing but believe most will return to the fold before the Nov. 5 election.   Campaign strategists hope to strike an inclusive tone at next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago, with black civil rights activist Jesse Jackson -- an ardent critic of the welfare law -- the first major speaker to address the conclave on Tuesday night.   In Kansas City, Stephen Burger, executive director of the International Union of Gospel Missions, one of the nation's largest providers of services to the homeless, offered mixed reviews of the changes.   He said they offered "tremendous opportunities" for some social service organisations but noted "the devil is in the details" and said he was concerned that religious groups "accepting government funds would either have to change their programmes fundamentally or risk being sued."   The American Civil Liberties Union expressed similar worry about litigation because the law's Charitable Choice Clause that allows "states to contract with religious organisations to provide social services to the poor" requires that none of the funds "shall be expended for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytisation." 
1799 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  By Alan Elsner, U.S. Political Correspondent   One in three Democrats thinks President Bill Clinton lacks a firm core of beliefs, while one in five Republicans believes Bob Dole is too old to be president, according to a new Reuters poll.   The poll, conducted for Reuters by the John Zogby Group, found both major candidates have potential weaknesses in the campaign for the Nov. 5 presidential election.   But Texan billionaire Ross Perot, running on the ticket of his own Reform Party, is unlikely to be able to capitalise.   More than 60 percent of respondents believed his personality did not make him suitable to be president.   The poll of 1,007 likely voters carried a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.   It showed Clinton leading Dole by a little more than five percentage points, 41.5 to 36.3 percent.   Perot trailed with 7.4 percent.   Clinton led Dole by 23 points in the East, while Dole had a narrow three-point lead in the South and West and the Rocky Mountain states.   In the central and Great Lakes states, where the election may be decided, Clinton had a four-point lead.   Not surprisingly, Clinton had twice as much support as Dole among voters under the age of 30 and held a 6.5-point lead among those in the 30-49 age-group.   While the president and Dole were tied among voters of 65 or older, Clinton, who turned 50 this week, was weakest in the 50-64 age group, where Dole enjoyed a five-point advantage.   These figures might be a problem for Clinton since younger people are less likely to turn out to vote.   The president had a narrow lead among Catholic, who comprise a crucial swing group.   But Dole led by almost 15 points among Protestants.   Clinton also led among groups earning less than $75,000 a year but richer Americans preferred Dole by a 25-point margin.   The gender gap remained a factor.   Women preferred Clinton by 12 points.   Men preferred Dole by 1.5 points.   Republicans fear Perot's entry into the race will hurt Dole.   But 33 percent of Perot supporters said they would have voted for Clinton if their candidate had not run, while only 19 percent said they would have backed Dole.   Among voters who supported Perot in 1992, the split was about even.   Some 12.5 percent of self-described Republican voters in the survey intend to vote for Clinton while eight percent of Democrats support Dole.   Turning to congressional elections, Democrats clearly have a major problem.   Respondents preferred a Republican majority in the Senate by a historically wide margin of around 13 points in all regions except the East, where Democrats led by 10 points.   For the House of Representatives, the Republican lead was around nine points in all regions except the East, where Democrats led by 14 points.   In 1994, when Republicans won control of both houses of Congress, they outpolled Democrats by 7.4 percentage points nationwide.   Dole's major challenge remains his need to overcome strong scepticism about his economic package, which includes a promise to cut income tax rates by 15 percent.   Some 36 percent of respondents strongly disagreed that Dole could succeed in both cutting taxes and balancing the budget, including 16 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of 1992 Perot voters.   A further 16 percent of Republicans said they somewhat disagreed Dole could succeed.   Among voters who described themselves as conservative or very conservative, 53 percent disagreed that Dole could deliver the tax cuts and balance the budget.   Almost 60 percent of Republicans and 58 percent of Dole supporters said they would be willing to forgo the tax cut if they believed it would lead to an increase in the deficit.   Only 13.8 percent of Republicans listed taxes as the most important issue in the campaign, compared to 20 percent who cited education and 31.4 percent who rated the integrity and character of the candidate the most important issue. 
1800 !GCAT !GCRIM  Larry Fortensky, the estranged husband of Elizabeth Taylor, was arrested and charged with drug use after police found him in an illegally parked luxury motor home, authorities said on Thursday.   He was arrested on Wednesday at the motor home, which police said was in a parking lot in Hemet, about 70 miles (113 km) east of Los Angeles.   The vehicle had no license plates, Hemet Police Sgt. Gil Kammerzell said.   Police said Fortensky, 44, was in the motor home with a woman identified as his live-in maid.   A black BMW belonging to Fortensky was parked next to the vehicle.   Fortensky, a construction worker before his marriage to Taylor in 1991, "appeared to be extremely agitated and refused to cooperate with the officer when he was asked for the motor home's registration papers," Kammerzell said.   He said Fortensky remained uncooperative and refused to answer most of the officer's questions.   "While speaking with Fortensky the officer noticed that he displayed symptoms of being under the influence of a controlled substance."   Fortensky was released on his own recognisance and arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 20.   He faces up to a year in county jail if convicted.   Taylor and Fortensky met in 1990 at the Betty Ford clinic in Palm Springs, California, where she was being treated for dependency on prescription drugs and he was undergoing treatment for alcoholism.   In Taylor's eighth marriage, they were married in 1991 at pop star Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch amid a blaze of publicity.   At the time she was 59 and he was 39.   Taylor filed for divorce in February this year and the divorce proceedings are still going through the courts. 
1801 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Education and jobs are issues of more concern to U.S. voters than taxes, a Reuters poll said on Thursday in a finding that could favour President Bill Clinton over his opponent Bob Dole.   The poll, conducted for Reuters by John Zogby Group International, showed education was uppermost in voters' minds.   Some 85.9 percent of respondents said it was the most important issue or very important in determining how they would vote in the November 5 presidential election.   The issue of jobs and the economy was second with a ranking of 79.9 percent, followed by crime, the candidate's character, health care, the federal budget deficit and the environment.   The issue of taxes was in eighth place in the list of 10 issues, with only 55 percent saying it was most important or very important.   Dole has made a 15 percent tax cut the centrepiece of his campaign.   Abortion, an issue which seemed to dominate the Republican party debate prior to their convention in San Diego, ranked last of the 10 issues, even behind foreign policy.   The poll found overall that 41.5 percent of voters supported Clinton against 36.3 percent for Dole and 7.4 percent for Texas billionaire Ross Perot.   That was a marked improvement for Dole from the first Reuters-Zogby poll Aug. 6, which showed him 12 points behind Clinton.   But pollster John Zogby said the findings on issues suggested voter interest may have subsided in Dole's tax cut plan, which grabbed attention when it was announced earlier this month.   "When Dole announced it, it captured peoples' imaginations.   ... But the luster has worn off," Zogby said.   Furthermore, three in five respondents to the latest Reuters-Zogby poll (60.4 percent) would be willing to forego a tax cut if that would increase the deficit.   Dole says he can cut taxes and reduce the deficit at the same time.   Education was a paramount concern for Americans.   This was true across the political spectrum, with conservatives valuing it just as much as liberals, Zogby said.   This finding could help Clinton, Zogby said.   The Democratic president has said he will protect education programmes from Republican budget cuts, and has proposed targeted tax cuts to help Americans pay for college.   But Zogby added that education was a tough issue for presidential candidates since many people think educating children is the duty of the states, not the U.S. government.   "The issue should play to Clinton, and yet, George Bush wanted to be the education president and listed a number of programmes that just seemed to stall," Zogby said, recalling Clinton's Republican predecessor at the White House.   Dole has also emphasised education, most notably in his speech accepting the Republican nomination for the presidency in San Diego last week.   "We are not educating all of our children," he said.   "Not for nothing are we the biggest education spenders and among the lowest of education achievers of the leading industrial nations."   But Dole's solutions to the problem are the ideological opposite of Clinton.   Dole charged that teachers unions, who generally support the Democratic president, are to blame for much of the problem.   "If education were a war, you would be losing it," he said of unions.   He also backed "school choice," a proposal that would provide government-funded vouchers so that low-income children can attend private schools if they choose.   The Reuters-Zogby poll of 1,007 likely voters was carried out between Sunday and Tuesday this week, just after the Republican convention ended.   The finding that jobs and the economy are still important to voters may also play well for Clinton.   He frequently mentions that 10 million jobs have been created during his presidency, a time of economic expansion.   "Hitting jobs and the economy is going to be a tough sell for Dole.   Clinton has the opportunity to go before the people with a real record of accomplishment," Zogby said.   Crime and character were also important to voters.   The character issue could be a negative for Clinton, especially since independent voters were quite concerned about it, Zogby said.   "It is a possible hole for Dole to plug into," he said.   Clinton has been plagued by a host of character issues ranging from his investment in the failed Whitewater real estate deal in Arkansas, to allegations of sexual harrassment.   How important is each of the following issues in determining how you vote in this year's election?     Most  Very Somewhat Not Not Sure/     Important Important Important Important No Opinion    Taxes 12.9  42.1  36.3  6.9  1.8   Budget    Deficit 14.8  49.5  29.3  4.8  1.6   Jobs and    Economy 22.3  57.6  17.5  1.2  1.4    Crime 19.3  56.7  19.8  3.1  1.1    Education 25.8  60.1  11.0  1.9  1.1   Health    Care  21.8  51.5  21.2  4.2  1.2   Envir-    onment 13.3  43.3  35.1  7.3  1.0    Abortion 11.8  32.7  23.5  27.1  5.0   Foreign    Policy 10.5  38.1  38.4  9.1  4.0   Candidate    Character 23.6  50.1  18.0  5.8  2.6 
1802 !C12 !CCAT !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM  LNC investments Inc, a unit of Leucadia National Corp, filed suit in U.S. federal court here against the Republic of Nicaragua Thursday to recover approximately $26 million in debt obligations.   In court papers, LNC stated that Nicaragua was in default of $26 million worth of obligations.   LNC asked for the recovery of the $26 million in principle, and additional contractual an/or penalty interest that had accrued since 1986.   The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge John Keenen.   -- George Lerner, 212-859-1671 
1803 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Bargaining talks continued on Thursday between Phelps Dodge Corp and the United Steelworkers of America labor union over a new labor contract for workers at the Chino copper mine in New Mexico.   Phelps spokeswoman said talks on Wednesday afternoon centred on contract language, but she was unable to say what was being discussed on Thursday morning.   The USWA is seeking a pay rise in a new three-year deal.   Phelps wants a pay freeze for at least four years, but offered higher incremental payments if copper prices reach certain levels.   The previous three-year contract expired at the end of June.   The mine is operating normally, Phelps said.   -- New York Commodities 212-859-1646 
1804 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS  A U.S. Marine F/A-18 fighter attack plane crashed in the Atlantic off the Virginia coast on Thursday but there was no word on what happened to the pilot, official spokesmen said.   "We know that the plane is down," Gunnery Sergeant Don Hooper said.   He said the plane, which had taken off from Andrews Air Base near Washington, was in the ocean but there was no word on the pilot, who was alone.   Lieutenant Colonel Pat Sivigny said the Coast Guard was searching the area.   He said the plane disappeared from radar near Wallops Island on the Virginia coast while on a routine air training flight. 
1805 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Bob Dole has narrowed the gap to just five points behind President Bill Clinton since the announcement of his tax cut plan, the choice of Jack Kemp as running mate and the successful Republican convention, a Reuters poll said on Thursday.   The poll of 1,007 likely voters conducted by John Zogby Group International from August 18-20 showed 41.5 percent supported Clinton and 36.3 percent Dole -- a gap of just 5.2 percentage points.   Texas billionaire Ross Perot got 7.4 percent, 0.6 percent chose other candidates and 14.2 percent were undecided.   The survey margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.   The last Reuters-Zogby poll, released on August 6, had Dole 12 points behind Clinton.   The gap narrowed even more when voters were asked about Dole's vice presidential running mate Jack Kemp.   Asked in a separate question to choose between the candidates -- this time with vice presidential candidates Al Gore and Kemp included -- the margin narrowed to just 3.7 points.   The Clinton/Gore ticket had the support of 42.8 percent, against 39.1 percent for Dole/Kemp.   Support for Perot, who has yet to name a running mate, slipped to 6.1 percent.   "Dole certainly got his bounce from the Republican convention.   He had a very good week -- a popular and focused tax cut plan that appears to have brought his base home, the startling selection of Jack Kemp as running mate, and an above average performance defining himself at a no-glitches convention," pollster John Zogby said.   "The race appears to be competitive, but it remains to be seen if the gap has closed enough, as the President has scheduled a big week with major bill signings as a segue to his convention in Chicago," he said, referring to the Democratic national convention next week.   But when likely voters were asked which issues were most important to them, the results appeared to tip in Clinton's favor, Zogby said.   Respondents named education, the integrity and character of the candidate, jobs and the economy, crime, and health care as the "most important" issues.   Taxes, the issue on which Dole has staked his campaign, is well down the list of priorities.   "If you add the issues up, I think the balance gets tilted in favor of Clinton," Zogby said.   "Dole doesn't emerge from this with a major vote grabber, except for the integrity question," he added.   In a separate question, 60.4 percent of respondents said they would be willing to forego Dole's proposed 15 percent tax cut if such a cut meant an increase in the budget deficit.   Despite backing Clinton for President, voters appear to favor divided government in Washington.   The poll shows they prefer Republicans to control both chambers of Congress.   Survey respondents wanted Republicans in the Senate majority by 43.6 percent to 36.6 percent and in the House of Representatives by 40.8 percent to 37.7 percent.   Zogby said that support for Clinton was stronger towards the end of the three-day polling period, following publicity about Clinton signing major pieces of legislation including a minimum wage increase and health care and welfare reforms.   Zogby also said that Dole's post-convention bounce in the polls was vulnerable when viewed historically.   "I do recall that polls showed (Democrat) Walter Mondale in a dead heat against (Republican) Ronald Reagan at the end of the 1984 Democratic convention," Zogby said.   Reagan won that race in a landslide.   The results of the Reuter poll may differ slightly from some other recent surveys because of methodology, Zogby said.   The Reuters poll excluded respondents if they were not registered to vote or said they were unlikely to vote.   "Our universe has to be those who show up to vote on election day.   A lot of adults don't vote," Zogby said.   Some other polls survey voting-age adults or registered voters.   The poll was the second of three major surveys Zogby is conducting for Reuters.   In the last month of the campaign Reuters will publish a daily tracking poll done by Zogby.   If the election for president were held today, for     whom would you vote, Clinton, Dole, or Perot?    Fem Demo- Repub Indep- Aug 6    All Male -ale crat lican endent Poll    Clinton 41.5 38.7 44.2 77.4 10.3 36.4  43.3    Dole  36.3 40.2 32.5 7.8 72.2 28.4  31.3    Perot  7.4 7.7 7.1 4.5 4.3 13.7  9.2    Other  0.6 1.3 0.0 0.2 0.3 1.5  2.7    Undecided 14.2 12.1 16.2 10.0 13.0 20.0  13.4   Note: Columns may not add to 100 percent due to rounding 
1806 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  The welfare reform bill signed into law by President Clinton Thursday makes the most dramatic changes in federal anti-poverty programmes in six decades.   Following are highlights of the measure:   -- Ends a 61-year guarantee of federal aid for poor children.   Instead, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the main federal cash welfare programme, and smaller programmes are folded into an annual block grant states would use to operate their own welfare programmes.   -- Reduces spending by about $55 billion over six years, mainly by cutting Food Stamps and aid to legal immigrants.   -- Imposes a five-year lifetime limit on welfare benefits.   States could exempt up to 20 percent of their caseload for hardship reasons and set shorter time limits.   -- Requires recipients to begin working two years after receiving welfare and mandates that 50 percent of single-parent families work 30 hours a week by 2002.   States already running welfare work programmes under federally approved waivers could continue the programmes until the waivers expired.   -- Reduces spending on Food Stamps, federal coupons redeemed for food at supermarkets, by $28 billion over six years and allows able-bodied individuals without children to receive Food Stamps for only three months in any three-year period, unless they are working part-time.   Individuals can get another three months if they are laid off a job.   -- Bars most federal aid including Medicaid and cash welfare to future legal immigrants for five years.   Current immigrants could not receive disability and Food Stamps during their first five years in the United States and states have the option to deny other aid.   Exceptions include refugees and immigrants who have generally worked for 10 years.   -- Makes it more difficult for children to receive federal disability payments due to mental problems.   -- Sets tough new rules to crack down on parents who do not pay child support. 
1807 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  With presidential elections looming, the United States has slumped back into a subsidiary role in Middle East peacemaking, willing to help but only if the parties themselves take the lead, U.S. analysts say.   The U.S. dream has faded of clinching a comprehensive Middle East peace during this administration, one that would give Israel treaties with Syria and Lebanon to add to those with Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians.   Already looking shaky under the previous, pro-peace Labour government in Israel, that prospect virtually vanished when Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, won Israeli elections in May.   "For a moment it looked as though the United States might take the lead," Yahya Sadowski, Middle East analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said.   "Now it appears they are going to remain loyal to the old maxim of 'never to be more forward than the principals themselves.'"   Washington's role as the key intermediary was underlined again this week when Israel asked the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv to forward a message to Syria about Israel's willingness to engage in peace talks without preconditions.   But with the U.S. presidential vote less than 11 weeks away, no one in Washington has the political capital to invest in any role much greater than message-carrier, certainly not one that involves diplomatic sparring with Israel.   Secretary of State Warren Christopher, who has led the U.S. Middle East peace effort for the past three and a half years, has paid one brief visit -- in June -- to Israel since Netanyahu was elected.   Aides say he has no plans to return to the area before a regional economic summit in Cairo in November.   Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suggested on Thursday that even that could be in doubt because of what Arabs see as Israel's stalling on the peace process.   Christopher is widely expected to retire at the end of this administration, even if President Bill Clinton is reelected, and most analysts say any new push in the Middle East will have to await a successor.   Much of the U.S. activity in the Middle East since Netanyahu was elected -- an event that apparently took Washington by surprise -- has been devoted not to advancing the peace process but to keeping it from going backwards.   The United States has urged the Arabs not to give up on Israel and has sought to keep Palestinian self-rule going in the West Bank and Gaza by ensuring a continued flow of aid to the Palestinian Authority.   In private, U.S. officials make clear their considerable differences with Netanyahu's policies, especially his refusal to adhere to the principle of "land for peace" that his Labour rivals had espoused in negotiations with the Arabs.   The administration has given no sign that it thinks the recent Israeli proposal for a "Lebanon-first" deal with Syria, which would remove the guerrilla threat to Israel from south Lebanon before there is any talk of Israel returning the Golan Heights to Syria, is going to work.   "It is the U.S. view that they will have to at some point discuss the disposition of the Golan Heights.   I mean, I don't think there's any question about that," State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said on Wednesday.   Syria has rejected the Lebanon-first idea.   It also rejected on Thursday Israel's latest peace talks offer, saying the "no-conditions" proposal merely meant Israel's abandonment of the land-for-peace principle that underlay previous talks.   The weakness of Washington's position has been shown by the reluctance of U.S. leaders to insist publicly on land-for-peace, a phrase avoided by Christopher during his last visit to Israel.   Analysts say Washington is in a similarly weak situation on the question of Israeli settlements on occupied territory.   The Netanyahu government has moved to unblock restrictions on settlements imposed by Labour.   Washington calls the settlements "unhelpful" and "complicating" but Sadowski asked what the United States would be prepared to do to stop Israel from expanding them.   "We can stand there and lecture about settlements being unhelpful but that will have about the same effect as lecturing the Bosnian Serbs," he said. 
1808 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GWELF  Ericka Lewis, a 20-year-old mother of two, has few worries about big cuts in welfare, even though she depends on it.   Against all odds, she hopes to be off public assistance before the cuts start to pinch.   "I'm hoping that by November I will have a job 'cause I don't like being on public assistance ... It's barely enough.   When you have bills like rent and phone and kids that are growing every day it's really not enough," Lewis told Reuters.   She was aware of at least one key provision of a sweeping welfare reform bill President Bill Clinton signed on Thursday: the five-year lifetime limit on receiving public aid.   She agrees with the concept.   "I think that public assistance is only assistance," she said on the eve of the signing.   The law ends a 61-year-old U.S. guarantee of federal aid to poor children, transferring the money and responsibility to the states -- in Lewis's case, the District of Columbia.   It also cuts spending by $55 billion (corrects from $55 million) over six years, requires recipients to work after two years and reduces spending on Food Stamps.   Lewis lives in what sounds like a stereotypical welfare family: four generations in a three-storey row house in the Montana Terrace public housing project in Washington's northeast quadrant, a household with three women, five children and no adult males.   She gets by on $415 a month, which covers food and clothing for herself and sons Gerald, 5, and Earic, 2.   She started receiving benefits after her children's father was killed two years ago.   Before that, she received Social Security benefits after her mother died when she was 12.   Single motherhood cut into her school attendance; she graduated in June from an alternative public high school that gave her some clerical training.   Lewis said she wanted to work as a secretary or receptionist and hoped her old high school would help her find work.   If that happens, her younger son would go into a daycare programme within walking distance of her home; her older son is set to begin school in September.   Lewis's career ambitions, her high school diploma and her determination not to have any more children set her apart from other young women she knows.   "For other people that live in my neighbourhood, they have two and three kids and they steady having babies and they don't have a junior high school education," she said.   "For me, I'm trying to keep my life going so I won't be caught up."   But the general conditions of Lewis's life put her family at risk, said Bobbi Blok of the Washington Child Development Council, which refers children like Lewis's to various aid programmes.   Cash-strapped cities like Washington are increasingly unable to offer real help to girls who become mothers in their teenage years and who are part of families where grandparents and great-grandparents care for young children, Blok said.   "It's families at risk.   Child care may be the one link keeping that family together ... and that's being threatened," Blok said.   Her agency is already contending with a 12 percent cut in public assistance from the city.   Cuts in federal welfare programmes may not be felt for up to a year.   Still, Blok heaves a big sigh when asked what impact the cuts will have.   "The frustration level becomes extremely high," she said. 
1809 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The United States welcomed the deal reached on Thursday between Russian authorities and Chechen rebels to end the fighting in Chechnya and said it hoped it would lead to a political settlement.   "We welcome this agreememnt.   We look forward to its implementation by both parties and hope it leads to a political settlement of the Chechen crisis," State Department spokesman Glyn Davies told reporters.    Davies said the agreement, reached by Russian President Boris Yeltsin's security supremo Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov at a village south of the Chechen capital Grozny, included a ban on all hostilities.   The sides also agreed to a partial pullout of forces from Grozny, to set up joint military patrols in the devastated city and to list the present location of their warring forces as well as routes and deadlines for the troop pullout, he said.   Tens of thousands have died since Moscow sent troops and armour in December 1994 to quell Chechnya's independence bid.   A series of attempts to end fighting have collapsed as the sides could not agree on the future of the mountainous region.   The separatists seek full independence from Moscow while the Kremlin wants Chechnya to remain part of the Russia Federation. 
1810 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Bob Dole has narrowed the gap to just five points behind President Bill Clinton since the announcement of his tax cut plan, the choice of Jack Kemp as running mate and the successful Republican convention, a Reuters poll said on Thursday.   The poll of 1,007 likely voters conducted by John Zogby Group International from August 18-20 showed 41.5 percent supported Clinton and 36.3 percent Dole -- a gap of just 5.2 percentage points.   Texas billionaire Ross Perot got 7.4 percent, 0.6 percent chose other candidates and 14.2 percent were undecided.   The survey margin of error was plus or minus 3.2 percent.    The last Reuters-Zogby poll, released on August 6, had Dole 12 points behind Clinton.   The gap narrowed even more when voters were asked about Dole's vice presidential running mate Jack Kemp.   Asked in a separate question to choose between the candidates -- this time with vice presidential candidates Al Gore and Kemp included -- the margin narrowed to just 3.7 points.   Respondents named education, the integrity and character of the candidate, jobs and the economy, crime, and health care as the "most important" issues in the campaign for the November 5 election.   Taxes, the issue Dole has highlighted with his tax cut plan, was well down the list of priorities.   Despite backing Clinton for President, voters appear to favor divided government in Washington.   The poll shows they prefer Republicans to control both chambers of Congress. 
1811 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  Widespread rain showers are forecast through Friday for much of the northern Midwest, after which the weather should turn dry and slightly cooler through next week, meteorologists said.   Rain amounts of 0.25 to 1.00 inch were forecast for much of northern Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.   Instances of 2.00 inches of rain fell in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa late Wednesday and early Thursday, while the rest of that area received 0.50 inch or less, said Craig Solberg, Freese-Notis Weather meteorologist. 
1812 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Alabama's Elmore County scheduled a Sept 3 referendum on a 9 mill property tax increase to raise money for schools, elections officials said Thursday.   The proposal would increase the average property tax bill by $54 annually.   It would raise part of the $25 million needed for new classrooms in the Tallahassee school district, which serves Elmore and Tallapoosa counties.   --Jane Sutton, 305-374-5013 
1813 !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  President Bill Clinton Thursday signed a bill into law that will fundamentally change public assistance to poor people in the United States, calling it an "historic opportunity" to improve the welfare system.   "Today we are ending welfare as we know it.   But I hope this day will be remembered not for what it ended for what it began -- a new day that offers hope," Clinton said before signing the Republican-backed bill, which ends the 61-year-old federal guarantee of aid to the poor.    Clinton, who promised in his 1992 bid for the presidency to "end welfare as we know it," said that while the bill was not perfect, it could help alleviate "the terrible, almost physical isolation" of the poor from the rest of society.   "We can change what is wrong.   We should not pass up this historic opportunity to do what is right," he said.   He said he would work to remedy cuts in nutrition aid for poor people and a ban on welfare for legal immigrants.   Many of Clinton's fellow Democrats were against the bill, arguing that it would throw hundreds of thousands of children into poverty.   Many analysts viewed Clinton's decision to sign it as the latest in a series of moves toward the political center before the Nov. 5 presidential election.   But Vice President Al Gore rejected criticism of Clinton's action, saying that if the bill was implemented properly "and repaired where misguided," it would give the poor "hope and support." 
1814 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GTOUR  Voters in Juneau, Alaska's capital, will be asked in October whether the city should charge a $7 fee for each visiting cruise-ship passenger.   The passenger fee is being promoted by a group of residents who believe swelling crowds from cruise ships are squeezing public services in the picturesque port city of 30,000.   "All of the municipal budgets are strained by it," said Judy Crondahl, a leader of Juneau Values Responsible Tourism, the group that gathered enough petition signatures to place the measure on the ballot in the city's October 1 municipal election.   Crondahl, operator of a bed-and-breakfast inn, said visitors who stay overnight in Juneau hotels pay an 11 percent tax, while the cruise ship passengers pay no similar fee.   "People come in off the cruise ships and they're using the same services and not paying a commensurate amount for it," she said Wednesday.   It is unlikely that the fee would diminish Juneau's appeal as a cruise destination, Crondahl said.   "People pay several thousands of dollars when they come up here on a cruise ship.   Seven dollars is not going to deter anybody," she said.   The capital city is expected to host 469,000 cruise ship passengers this year, according to the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau.   Cruise-ship visitation has surged in the past 10 years, the bureau reports.   In 1986, only 181,000 people visited Juneau by cruise ship, according to the bureau.   Members of the Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau overwhelmingly oppose the passenger fee, said Susan Bell, president of the organization.   Of 114 members who responded to a survey, 95 opposed the measure, she said.   Their concern was that "to just target cruise ship passengers is not a fair and balanced approach," Bell said.   Crondahl's group gathered 2,765 valid petition signatures, exceeding the required 2,521, said Evelyn Stott, a spokeswoman for the Juneau clerk's office.   The measure would exempt ships for 20 or fewer passengers, ships with no overnight accommodations, non-commercial ships and vessels operated by the state, federal or foreign governments, The October 1 ballot will also feature a $3.19 million school bond issue, Stott sa --U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650 
1815 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Washington's unemployment rate dropped to 5.4 percent in July, the state's lowest monthly rate in five years, the Seattle Times reported.   The July rate was down from 5.8 percent in June, according to the state Employment Security Department.   Department commissioner Gary Moore attributed the gains to the improving aerospace industry, and to job gains in services and trade that helped offset the traditional summer job losses from school closures.   Nearly 40,000 nonteaching staff were off school payrolls in July but 16,700 workers were added in other areas.   Columbia County had the state's highest unemployment rate, 13.3 percent, and Whitman County had the lowest, 2.1 percent.   --U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650 
1816 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Oklahoma Attorney General spokesman Gerald Adams has set a news conference for 1230 EDT/1630 GMT on tobacco litigation (corrects to clarify that Adams is a spokesman for the Attorney General and not the Attorney General himself).   Sources involved with other attorneys general who have sued the tobacco industry to recoup Medicaid costs of smokers say Adams plans to announce that he has filed a similar case.   If Oklahoma sues the industry, it will become the 14th state to take such an action.   Three other states, Kansas, Arizona and Michigan, also filed this week. 
1817 !E21 !E211 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  New York City might lose $290 million a year under the sweeping welfare reform bill that President Clinton is expected to sign on Thursday, the New York Times said.   The paper, citing early estimates by city and federal officials, said the loss would come from a provision that will deny welfare benefits to legal immigrants.   New York City is the home of most of the state's legal immigrants.   While New York Gov. George Pataki in early August raised the prospect that the legislature might have to be recalled to grapple with the changes that will flow from the federal bill, he has not recently signalled that he plans to do so soon.   Assembly Speaker Sheldon Siver, D-Manhattan, on Tuesday told reporters in New York City that while he had spoken with the governor this week, Pataki had not raised the possibility of calling the legislature back into session.   The New York Times said that some state officials believe New York State might gain at least $200 million in federal aid if it submits a plan soon after the new federal bill goes into force on October 1, though such a plan is not required until July 1.   --U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650 
1818 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  Sweden said on Thursday it had expelled three North Korean diplomats from Stockholm, accusing them of smuggling cigarettes into Sweden.   Foreign Ministry spokesman Staffan Bjorck told Reuters the three men were ordered to leave the country on July 12 after they were caught smuggling in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.   Pyongyang's ambassador to Sweden had not been expelled, he added, although officials said he was not now in Sweden and appeared to have returned to North Korea.   "We called in the ambassador to the foreign ministry and told him that three of the diplomats at the embassy in Stockholm were no longer welcome in Sweden," Bjorck said.   "We did this because they were smuggling cigarettes from abroad to Sweden.   They left the country within a week or so.   This is not the way a diplomat should behave."   Bjorck said that until July there were seven North Korean diplomats based in Stockholm.   He said the vacant positions had not yet been filled.   Bjorck said Swedish and Estonian police had been investigating the group for several months.   They were arrested in a mini-van.   "They were involved in a wide-ranging smuggling operation," Anders Eriksson, head of Sweden's security police Sapo, told Swedish radio.   Estonian media reported that two North Korean diplomats, a third secretary and an attache, were stopped in Tallinn in July as they tried to drive on board a ferry to Stockholm.   The Tallinn daily Postimees said the two men told Estonian customs officers they were carrying mail from Moscow and that they had diplomatic immunity.   Estonian customs rejected their pleas and broke into the vehicle, discovering 500,000 crowns ($75,000) worth of cigarettes that police suspected they planned to sell in Sweden, where cigarettes are traditionally expensive.   Swedish officials said the third North Korean expelled was a senior diplomat who had been organising the smuggling.   The officials said North Korean diplomats appeared to receive little or no salary from North Korea, where aid agencies say the country has been near famine. 
1819 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Disarmament negotiators conceded defeat on Thursday as almost three years of talks on a treaty outlawing all nuclear explosions ended in failure.   The 61-nation Conference on Disarmament (CD), whose efforts for a landmark Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) were blocked by India, decided it could not even agree to report its failure to the U.N. General Assembly.   But major powers said they would work quickly to revive the draft treaty and have it approved and opened for signature in New York next month despite India's opposition.   "The CD has now played out its string.   There's nothing more this body can do on the treaty itself," said U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar.   "But noone's interested here in consigning the treaty to the dustbin...The story now is in New York."   India blocked the treaty at a negotiating committee last week and confirmed its veto on Tuesday because it said the pact did not contain a clause committing the five declared nuclear powers to a timetable for nuclear disarmament.   One of three nuclear "threshold states" alongside Pakistan and Israel, India complained that the treaty would simply maintain the divide between the nuclear "haves" and "have nots".   Conference member states had hoped that the negotiating committee's report, which only stated that no consensus had been reached on the pact, could still be forwarded to the General Assembly, which asked the conference last year for a CTBT.   But Iran and India both blocked that move, with Iran using complicated procedural manouevring to head off a clear decision in a first meeting on Thursday.   All five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- support the idea of reviving the text and having it signed at the outset of the next session of the General Assembly as originally envisaged.   But they will not take the lead role in pushing through the resolution in New York, where the support of major non-aligned states is seen as crucial in getting the clear overall majority needed to have the treaty approved without any changes.   Australia signalled on Thursday that it was ready to sponsor the resolution, and diplomats said an Australian text was already circulating in Geneva.   Canberra was expected to publicly announce its intentions on Friday.   "We cannot give up.   The opportunity is here now, it will not last," said Australian ambassador Richard Starr.   "We must grasp it or lose it and with it the whole critical step towards nuclear disarmament."   The idea of sending the negotiating report to New York was supported on Thursday by a number of influential non-aligned states including Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Peru and Chile -- the states whose support will be crucial in New York. 
1820 !GCAT !GCRIM  Former Iranian president Abolhassan Banisadr told a heavily guarded German court on Thursday that Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the 1992 killing of opposition Kurd leaders.   Nearly four years after the three Iranian Kurdish leaders and their translator were shot in a Berlin restaurant, Banisadr told the court that he had information from three independent sources linking Tehran to the murder.   Closely protected by a team of bodyguards, Banisadr said that a secret "council for special operations" supervised by Khamenei had drawn up the plans to kill the exiles.   "According to the current (power) structures (in Iran) there can only be one person who ordered this and that is the ruler himself -- Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," Banisadr told the Berlin court.   Tehran has denied the allegations which he also made in an interview with prosecutors in June.   Speaking softly in Farsi, Banisadr said through translators that he based his assertions on information gathered about the power structures in Iran during his 15 years in exile from sources "within and the regime and outside".   Banisadr said he also cross-checked his information with other sources.   He said that he could not provide the court with the names of his sources but added: "This information is reliable.   I have no doubts about its reliability."   He alleged that the "council for special operations" in Tehran was outside official political structures and was responsible for determining who would be assassinated and how.   The former president said Khameini and four other men sat on the council, including Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahiyan.   German authorities issued an arrest warrant for Fallahiyan in March in connection with the 1992 Kurd dissident killings.   Banisadr said that once a plan was approved by the council, it was up to Fallahiyan to carry it out.   "There are no laws for these things in a state of absolute rule," Banisadr said.   "There can be no political assassination without the approval of the leader," he said, referring to Khameini.   Banisadr repeated his accusations at a news conference held in the courtroom after the first day of his two-day testimony.   He said he was worried that even if the defendants were convicted, the German government would soon release them.   "I am concerned that one way or another they will be released after the trial ends and be given high positions in Iran," Banisadr said.   Banisadr is the star prosecution witness against an Iranian, Kazem Darabi, and four Lebanese who have been on trial for nearly three years on charges of murdering the dissidents.   Two masked men armed with machineguns burst into the Mykonos restaurant in Berlin on September 17, 1992, and fired at dozens of Iranian dissidents seated at a table.   Three leaders of the Iranian Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK-I) and the translator were killed in the hail of bullets.   Federal prosecutor Bruno Jost said that Banisadr's testimony had so far been useful but that he wanted more details on his knowledge of the assassination.   But another prosecuting attorney, Wolfgang Wieland, said Banisadr's testimony had convinced him of Tehran's involvement.   "There is no doubt that these murders were ordered by the state," Wieland told reporters outside the courtroom.   Security for the trial, which is expected to wind up in the early autumn, has been tight all along but reached unprecedent levels on Thursday with about 100 police officers on hand.   Outside the courthouse, police closed off a busy Berlin street to traffic.   Scores of police in bullet-proof vests and carrying machineguns patrolled the area.   Banisadr was escorted into the courtroom from an underground entrance. 
1821 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  Sweden said on Thursday it had expelled three North Korean diplomats from Stockholm, accusing them of smuggling cigarettes into Sweden.   Foreign Ministry spokesman Staffan Bjorck told Reuters the three men were ordered to leave the country on July 12 after they were caught smuggling in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.   Pyongyang's ambassador to Sweden had not been expelled, he added.   "We called the ambassador to the Foreign Ministry and told him that three of the dipolmats at the embassy in Stockholm were no longer welcome in Sweden," Bjorck said.   "We did this because they were smuggling cigarettes from abroad to Sweden.   They left the country within a week or so.   This is not the way a diplomat should behave."   Bjorck said Swedish and Estonian police had been investigating the group for several months.   They were arrested in a small van.   No-one from the police or customs office was available to comment further on the case.   Bjorck said that until July there were seven North Korean diplomats based in Stockholm.   He said the vacant positions had not yet been filled. 
1822 !GCAT !GCRIM  The people of Belgium on Thursday buried two eight-year-old girls starved to death by a local paedophile gang as detectives resumed their investigation into the fate of two other kidnap victims.   The bodies of Melissa Russo and Julie Lejeune, contained in two small white coffins, were laid to rest after a public memorial service in their home town of Liege attended by thousands both inside and outside the Saint Martin basilica.   Belgians across the country observed a minute's silence.   The outpouring of national grief since the girls' bodies were found last weekend surpassed the mourning after the death of much-loved King Baudouin three years ago.   People along the route to and from the church stopped work and many wept at the sight of the hearses covered in flowers.   During the two-hour service the girls' parents repeatedly broke down.   Their lawyer Victor Hissel, himself a father of two, gave voice to national sentiment when he praised the parents for having dealt with "this hell and agony" with dignity.   Other speakers expressed anger at the injustice done.   There were wreaths from the Belgian government and from King Albert and Queen Paola.   After the service Paul Marchal, father of An Marchal -- one of two young girls still missing -- hugged Jean-Denis Lejeune who had struggled to contain his emotions during the mass, hiding his eyes behind black glasses.   The crowd applauded warmly.   Melissa and Julie -- close friends, who were snatched as they were out for a stroll in June 1995 -- were buried side by side away from the public eye at a cemetery near their homes.   The mother of Eefje Lambrecks, who has been missing along with An Marchal for exactly one year, also attended the service and was cheered and applauded by the crowd.   The Marchals, the Lambrecks and Michel Bourlet, the public prosecutor in charge of the case, all remain hopeful that the two girls can be found alive.   "I hope An and Eefje met Julie and Melissa somewhere and told them their parents were looking for them," An's mother Betty told Belgian television.   The four were all kidnapped or held by convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux, 39, an unemployed father of three.   Two other girls he had concealed in a concrete dungeon were rescued late last week.   Melissa and Julie starved to death while Dutroux was serving a brief jail term for violent theft and an accomplice neglected to feed them.   Dutroux killed him in retaliation, police said.   Dutroux is believed to have been the mastermind behind a kidnapping, child trafficking and juvenile pornography gang which included his second wife Michelle.   When Marchal and Lambrecks first disappeared, police delayed starting a search for them for 10 days despite their families' anguished pleas, assuming they had simply run away from home.   Since the scandal broke last weekend, police -- now under fierce criticism -- have sought to make up for lost time, contacting authorities in Britain, the Netherlands and France.   British Detective Superintendent John Bennett, who led the investigation into the "House of Horrors" murders in Gloucester, western England, arrived on Wednesday to offer advice.   Sophisticated heat-seeking and radar equipment was being used to ensure no further bodies were hidden at Dutroux's various properties around the southern city of Charleroi.   Detectives in Gloucester used similar machinery to locate the victims of Fred and Rosemary West, who are believed to have killed and buried at least 10 women and girls.   At least 15 children have vanished in Belgium in the past six years.   Seven have now been found dead, six are still missing and only two have been rescued.   In the wake of Dutroux's arrest, Belgian and Dutch police have re-opened various dormant cases of missing children.   Belgian media said authorities were mulling the possibility of carrying out DNA genetic fingerprinting tests to compare tissue taken from Dutroux with tissue found on two young murder victims, including a German girl killed near the coast this summer.   Under Belgian law, however, the suspect would have to give his consent. 
1823 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Australia signalled on Thursday that it would take the lead in rescuing a nuclear test ban treaty by sponsoring a U.N. resolution which would bypass India's veto on the pact.   After Iran used procedural wrangling to prevent the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from making its final report on the failed negotiations, Australian ambassador Richard Starr said the treaty could not be allowed to die after years of work.   "We cannot give up.   The opportunity is here now, it will not last," Starr said.   "We must grasp it or lose it and with it the whole critical step towards nuclear disarmament."   Western diplomats expect Australia to sponsor a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly calling for the treaty to be opened for signature despite the Indian and Iranian opposition.   "The Australians are getting ready.   They have prepared a text and are showing it around to get opinions," said one diplomat, adding that he expected an announcement on Friday.   India vetoed adoption of the draft Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which would ban all nuclear explosions, in the Geneva body two days ago.   It says it opposes the draft because it does not commit the five declared nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to a timetable for dismantling their arsenals.   However, treaty backers still hope to send the text to the General Assembly for signature next month, according to a timetable set by the 185-member world body last December.   "We have a workable treaty and we have a commitment by the five nuclear weapon states to endorse and sign it," Starr said in a speech at the close of the morning session in Geneva.   "It is in the interests of this conference that, given this paralysis, its work be taken to the broader international community, recognised and endorsed.   "Accordingly, Australia will be looking to work with friends of the CTBT to fulfil the goal of the 50th General Assembly of a completed text, endorsed and ready for signature by the 51st assembly this year."   Starr told reporters the decision rested with his government in Canberra and he hoped it would come "shortly".   "My government has said quite clearly that we do not want this text to die in the ad hoc committee," he said.   U.S. ambassador Stephen Ledogar, asked whether Australia was expected to bring the text to the General Assembly, replied: "It looks like they will be playing an important role."   The conference had been expected to wrap up its work on the CTBT by adopting the committee's report summarising more than two years of negotiations and stating no consensus was reached.   But Iran's envoy Sirous Nasseri set off more than two hours of heated procedural debate on whether to accept a proposal by Pakistan to send the committee's final report to New York.   "Pakistan was just trying to goad India," one envoy said.   "Neither India nor Iran want to help the process in New York."   Poland's envoy Ludwik Dembinski, who currently chairs the 61-member conference, held consultations before a resumed meeting at five p.m. (1500 GMT).   But Nasseri said he doubted whether he would be able to get instructions from tehran by the end of day because it was a holiday there.   Influential non-aligned states including Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Peru and Chile backed the treaty on Thursday.   Pakistan's envoy Munir Akram read out his country's simple proposal: "The Conference on Disarmament decides to transmit immediately the report of its ad hoc commitee on the nuclear test ban treaty to the U.N. General Assembly."   But Iran's Nasseri repeatedly objected that Pakistan's proposal was not appropriately formatted and did not respect rules of procedure allowing delegations two weeks to decide.   Ledogar said in a brief speech: "I wish to make clear that the United States supports this treaty text as it is.   "We call on those delegations which have not yet done so to join with us in support of this text."   Nearly identical statements were read out by Russia's Grigory Berdennikov, China's Sha Zukang, France's Joelle Bourgois and Britain's Sir Michael Weston.   Later Sha left the morning debate, telling reporters: "It is a waste of time.   I am fed up." 
1824 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Hamburg court sentenced U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck on Thursday to four years in prison for pumping banned extremist propaganda into Germany from his base in the United States.   Lauck, from Lincoln, Nebraska, yelled a tirade of abuse at the court after his conviction for inciting racial hatred.   "The struggle will go on," the 43-year-old shouted in German before being escorted out by security guards.   Lauck's lawyer vowed he would appeal against the court's decision, arguing that his client should have been set free because he had not committed any offence under German law.   The German government hailed the conviction as a major victory in the fight against neo-Nazism.   Lauck's worldwide network has been the main source of anti-Semitic propaganda material flowing into Germany since the 1970s.   "Lauck possessed a well-oiled propaganda machine, honed during more than 20 years," presiding judge Guenter Bertram told the court.   "He set up a propaganda cannon and fired it at Germany."   said Bertram, who also read out extracts from Lauck's material praising Hitler as "the greatest of all leaders" and describing the Nazi slaughter of millions of Jews as a myth.   Eager to put Lauck behind bars quickly and avoid a long and complex trial, prosecutor Bernd Mauruschat limited his charges to offences since 1994.   He had demanded a five-year jail term but said he was satisfied with the court's sentence.   Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Lauck's defence team had argued that U.S freedom of speech laws meant he was free to produce his swastika-covered books, magazines, videos and flags in his homeland.   Interior Minister Manfred Kanther said in a statement he "welcomed the prosecution and conviction of one of the ringleaders of international neo-Nazism and biggest distributers of vicious racist publications".   "It is high time he was behind bars," the opposition Social Democrats said in a statement.   Lauck, dressed in a sober blue suit and sporting his trademark Hitleresque black moustache, showed no sign of emotion as Bertram spent more than an hour reading out the verdict and explaining the court's decision.   But as Lauck was about to be led away, he turned to reporters and blurted out a virtually incomprehensible quick-fire diatribe against the court.   "Neither the National Socialists (Nazis) nor the communists dared to kidnap an American citizen," he shouted, in an oblique reference to his extradition to Germany from Denmark.   "That's the truth."   His attorney, Hans-Otto Sieg, told reporters outside the courtroom that the judges had not explained how a German court could judge someone for actions carried out in the United States.   Bertram said Lauck was obsessed by Nazism and devoted his life to leading his National Socialist German Workers' Party Foreign Organisation (NSDAP-AO), which derives its name from the full German title of Hitler's Nazi party.   During the three-month trial, the court dealt mainly with issues of the NSDAP-AO's "NS Kampfruf" ("National Socialist Battle Cry") magazine, filled with references to Aryan supremacy and defamatory statements about Jews.   The court rejected Sieg's argument that Lauck's extradition from Denmark, where he was arrested in March last year at the request of German authorities, was illegal.   Lauck was also convicted of disseminating the symbols of anti-constitutional organisations.   He will probably be free in around two and a half years.   The court ruled that the 15 months he has spent in custody since his arrest should be subtracted from his prison term. 
1825 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL !GVIO  Tension rose in a 49-day stand-off between the government and African immigrants fighting expulsion when police on Thursday ejected supporters of the protesters who briefly occupied the Paris offices of France's ruling RPR party.   The centre-right coalition government's conciliatory offer to review the expulsion orders for 10 hunger strikers, and about 300 protesters backing them at a Paris church, failed to break the fast.   The immigrants demanded residence permits for all 300, many of whom are from the west African state of Mali.   Police said 41 members of a separate movement were taken away after they occupied for an hour the headquarters of the Gaullist RPR, senior partner in the coalition, in central Paris.   The protesters had shouted slogans from the upper floors.   Simultaneously, magistrates released one of the 300 protesters who had been detained on Wednesday during a routine police check.   A few sympathisers had staged a demonstration outside the Paris law courts to demand his release.   Ababakar Diop, spokesman for the fasters and the protesters entrenched in a Paris church, said Malian Dembele Makan, whose demand for political asylum had earlier been rejected, was detained after leaving the church.   Diop accused the government of using carrot-and-stick tactics in making a conciliatory offer while detaining Makan.   "He was already in custody before the Interior Minister (Jean-Louis Debre) said he was ready to study our situation case-by-case," Diop told Reuters.   "This is doublespeak.   We appeal to President Jacques Chirac so that Debre stops lying," he added.   Debre promised earlier to re-examine expulsion orders for the Africans but the hunger strikers, determined to win more concessions, pledged to keep up their fast.   "There will be no residence permits en masse, there will be no automatic right to stay but the government will study things on a case-by-case basis," Debre told RTL radio.   "Those who have had their demands for (political) asylum rejected will not be granted permits.   That is the law," he added, declining to put a number on how many of the protesters would be allowed to stay.   An estimated 117 of them have been refused asylum, according to their spokesmen.   Signalling their determination to force the government into what would amount to a humiliating climbdown, the protesters called a new rally for next Wednesday after a march through Paris drew 5,000 demonstrators on Wednesday.   The hunger strikers have been drinking sweet tea and taking vitamin pills, but two are said to be in a serious condition.   An official of France's highest administrative court, the Council of State, said it would probably release its review of controversial immigration laws later on Thursday.   The government requested it to help find a way out of the crisis.   "We respect the law but in its enforcement we try to have a humane attitude so that we can stretch out a hand to the worst cases," Debre said.   The protesters say many of them enjoyed residence rights until they were plunged into illegality by the laws which tightened residence and citizenship regulations to drastically curb immigration.   The church, in the heavily immigrant Goutte d'Or district, is surrounded by hundreds of sympathisers, including celebrities like film star Emmanuelle Beart, determined to prevent any police raid. 
1826 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Disarmament negotiators conceded defeat on Thursday as almost three years of talks on a treaty outlawing all nuclear explosions ended in failure.   The 61-nation Conference on Disarmament (CD), whose efforts for a landmark Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) were blocked by India, decided it could not even agree to report its failure to the U.N. General Assembly.   But major powers said they would work quickly to revive the draft treaty and have it approved and opened for signature in New York next month despite India's opposition.   "The CD has now played out its string.   There's nothing more this body can do on the treaty itself," said U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar.   "But noone's interested here in consigning the treaty to the dustbin...The story now is in New York."   India blocked the treaty at a negotiating committee last week and confirmed its veto on Tuesday because it said the pact did not contain a clause committing the five declared nuclear powers to a timetable for nuclear disarmament.   One of three nuclear "threshold states" alongside Pakistan and Israel, India complained that the treaty would simply maintain the divide between the nuclear "haves" and "have nots".   Conference member states had hoped that the negotiating committee's report, which only stated that no consensus had been reached on the pact, could still be forwarded to the General Assembly, which asked the conference last year for a CTBT.   But Iran and India both blocked that move, with Iran using complicated procedural manouevring to head off a clear decision in a first meeting on Thursday.   All five declared nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- support the idea of reviving the text and having it signed at the outset of the next session of the General Assembly as originally envisaged.   But they will not take the lead role in pushing through the resolution in New York, where the support of major non-aligned states is seen as crucial in getting the clear overall majority needed to have the treaty approved without any changes.   Australia signalled on Thursday that it was ready to sponsor the resolution, and diplomats said an Australian text was already circulating in Geneva.   Canberra was expected to publicly announce its intentions on Friday.   "We cannot give up.   The opportunity is here now, it will not last," said Australian ambassador Richard Starr.   "We must grasp it or lose it and with it the whole critical step towards nuclear disarmament."   The idea of sending the negotiating report to New York was supported on Thursday by a number of influential non-aligned states including Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, Peru and Chile -- the states whose support will be crucial in New York. 
1827 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The president of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday told Eritrea it should withdraw its troops immediately from a small Red Sea island as it had promised last weekend.   Ambassador Tono Eitel of Germany, this month's council president, said council members "recalled the promise made by Eritrean authorities to withdraw their troops and they expect this withdrawal to take place immediately."   He said he was authorised to speak to Eritrean diplomats at the United Nations "in order to convey the expectation of the council."   Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in January was asked to mediate Eritrea's dispute with Yemen, which also claims the islands.   He appointed French mediator Francis Gutman, who announced last weekend that Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its forces so that arbitration procedures could take place.   At least 12 people were reported killed last December when the two countries fought briefly over the Lesser Hanish and other disputed Red Sea islands.   Both states claim the islands, which lie near tanker routes at the Red Sea's southern entrance.   Asked if any troop withdrawal had begun, Eitel told reporters after closed-door Security Council consultations: "News about any withdrawal has not reached me." 
1828 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  A U.N. official said on Thursday that Iraq last week had delayed another weapons inspection team searching for possible hidden arms.   Rolf Ekeus, the U.N. official in charge of ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, told reporters that a team was stopped at road blocks while the Iraqi official accompanying it was allowed to go ahead.   The official was Lt-Gen Amir Muhammad Rasheed, Iraq's oil minister.    Ekeus said the site his team wished to inspect, southwest of Baghdad near the airport, had been involved previously in moving some of the equipment or arms his inspectors were seeking.   Ekeus is leaving for Baghdad on Friday to confer with Iraq's deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz on the incident and previous ones involving the barring of his inspectors.   He briefed the Security Council, which will issue a statement, supporting his quest.   Ekeus said any concealed weapons or materials Iraq may still have are usually moved when they know inspectors are about to arrive.   "They are put on railway cars and trucks and made mobile," he said.   "The site can be emptied if we cannot move without being hindered."   Ekeus again said Iraq needed to be clear on the sum of the weapons and materials it said it destroyed unilaterally.   "We don't believe that is the full story.   Some of it was no doubt destroyed but we believe more exists.   The matter of concealment is undisputed and must be highlighted." 
1829 !C13 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  A senior U.N. official said on Thursday he expected arrangements to implement the Iraqi oil-for-food deal could be completed "quite soon."   "I am reluctant to speculate but we are doing the preparations and the secretary-general is anxious to start the program," said Undersecretary-General Yasushi Akashi.   "It might be sooner than you think," he told reporters after briefing the Security Council on arrangements for monitors needed to carry out the agreement.   Akashi is head of the Department of Humanitarian affairs.   His deputy earlier speculated at least 10 days. 
1830 !GCAT !GVIO  Algerian security forces have shot dead three Moslem guerrillas suspected of killing a leading French bishop in western Algeria, the Algerian state-run television said on Thursday.   Security forces also arrested four other men sought for giving support to the slain Moslem rebels, the television said.   The television, which did not say when the security forces killed the rebels, said the four arrested men confessed details of the assassination of the French Roman Catholic Bishop Pierre Claverie.   The 58-year-old Claverie was killed in August 1 in a bomb blast at his residence in the western Algerian city of Oran, hours after he met visiting French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette in Algiers.   An estimated 50,000 Algerians and more than 110 foreigners have been killed in Algeria's violence pitting Moslem rebels against the Algerian government forces since early 1992, when the authorities cancelled a general election in which radical Islamists took a commanding lead. 
1831 !GCAT !GCRIM  Robbers grabbed jewels worth 20 million francs ($4 million) from a car taking three Saudi women to the French Riviera resort of Antibes, police said on Thursday.   The robbers drove across the path of the women's car, forcing it to a stop.   One of them snatched the ignition keys while another grabbed a small suitcase containing the jewels from the back seat.   The ambush, on Wednesday night, occurred shortly after the Saudis had landed at Nice from London and as they were nearing their villa in the exclusive Cap d'Antibes resort.   Investigators believe the robbers followed the women from the airport. 
1832 !GCAT !GENV !GPOL  The Italian government ordered birth-registry offices on Thursday to stop using the word stepchild in family listings, saying it carried negative connotations.   A directive issued by Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano, said registry offices should list all children as sons or daughters and drop the term stepchildren when describing offspring of a man or woman from a previous marriage.   Napolitano said the word was an "unpleasant expression, even discriminatory".   He added: "We want to assure concrete and effective recognition of people's right to confidentiality regarding their origins."   Alberta De Simone, a deputy from the Democratic Party of the Left, who had sought the change, praised the government saying the term stepchild was "a heavy and negative mark to bear".   "We've cancelled an expression that has always sounded degrading," said Alessandra Mussolini, a deputy of the rightist National Alliance and granddaughter of the Fascist dictator. 
1833 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Prime Minister Alain Juppe, backed by France's highest administrative court, on Thursday rejected a blanket demand for residence permits by 300 African immigrants including 10 hunger strikers who are holed up in a Paris church.   But he said the Council of State left the door open to case-by-case reviews and pledged the government would not expel people who were ill or use deportations to break up families.   "Whenever none of these circumstances arise, expulsion orders will be enforced," Juppe said in a videotaped statement broadcast on LCI television.   The protesters' vowed to continue their 49-day-old fast until they win residence permits for all 300.   But they also called a meeting to discuss Juppe's statement amidst fears that police were preparing to eject them early on Friday although hundreds of sympathisers have surrounded the Saint-Bernard church to protect them.   Tension rose in the stand-off earlier in the day when protesters briefly occupied the Paris offices of the ruling RPR party.   Police ejected and held them, along with eight press photographers, for four hours before releasing them.   "This fascist-like behaviour cannot be tolerated," said RPR official Renaud Muselier, referring to the protesters.   But another potential flashpoint was defused when magistrates released on a technicality one of the 300 protesters who had been detained on Wednesday after leaving the church temporarily to visit his family.   A few sympathisers had demonstrated outside the Paris law courts to demand the release of the man, identified by the protesters as Malian Dembele Makan.   Juppe said the Council of State fully backed his view that none of the protesting immigrants had the right to stay in France under 1993 laws tightening conditions for residence.   "It would be against the law to give blanket residence permits to this or that group.   We are going to continue a review of individual situations," he said.   "It never crossed our mind to expel someone who is seriously ill, separate a mother from her children, break up a couple, or expel parents of children who were born in France or are French citizens," he said.   Many of the protesters say they once had residence rights and were plunged into illegality by the hardline 1993 laws pushed through by then-interior minister Charles Pasqua at a time of mounting anti-immigrant sentiment.   Lawyers say loopholes in the laws, which also tightened conditions for citizenship, had created a legal nightmare.   Juppe said the law would nonetheless be enforced.   But the far-right National Front party, which advocates sending home all immigrants, taunted Juppe for "weakness".   "Words yes, but where is the action?"   the Front said in a statement.   Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre declined to say how many protesters met the conditions that would allow them to stay.   But he said those whose demands for political asylum had been rejected would be expelled -- an estimated 117, according to a spokesman for the Africans.   Signalling their determination to force the government into what would amount to a humiliating retreat, the protesters have called a new rally for next week after a march through Paris drew 5,000 demonstrators on Wednesday.   The hunger strikers have been drinking sweet tea and taking vitamin pills, but two are said to be in a serious condition. 
1834 !GCAT !GCRIM  A fifth suspect has been arrested in connection with the kidnappings of six young Belgian girls, two of whom have died in captivity, judicial authorities said on Thursday.   Public Prosecutor Michel Bourlet told a news conference Michael Diakostavrianos faces a charge of association with criminals.   Two of his houses were being searched, he added, without giving details.   A local court will decide next Tuesday whether Diakostavrianos will be formally charged.   Police also questioned an unnamed acquaintance of Brussels businessman Jean-Michel Nihoul, one of four detained earlier this week, Bourlet said.   Nihoul was charged with criminal association on Tuesday.   The acquaintance was freed subsequently.   An acquaintance of chief suspect Marc Dutroux, who has admitted to holding the girls captive, was also being interrogated, Bourlet said.   He gave his surname only as Thirau.   Bourlet said, "We are questioning a maximum number of people who knew Dutroux."   Dutroux, 39, an unemployed father of three, is believed to have been the mastermind behind a kidnapping, child trafficking and juvenile pornography gang. 
1835 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  The fate of a nuclear test ban treaty now lies in the hands of non-nuclear weapon states who have pledged to resurrect the shelved pact at the U.N. General Assembly, diplomats said on Thursday.   Australia is expected to announce on Friday it will sponsor a resolution seeking action from the world body after the Conference on Disarmament failed to agree on the treaty text.   The 61-nation Conference on Disarmament, whose efforts for a landmark Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) were blocked by India, decided it could not even agree to report its failure to the U.N. General Assembly.   Richard Starr, Australian ambassador, said his country hoped the treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear explosions used to test and refine nuclear weapons, could be salvaged after nearly three years of negotiation and "decades of expectations".   "There is a clear need for friends of the CTBT to consider action so that the whole international community will be able to consider, endorse and sign this valuable treaty.   "We would not want to see a treaty text die in a pigeonhole in Geneva," Starr told Reuters.   But diplomats said the window of opportunity in New York was narrow if there was to be real hope of the 51st General Assembly opening the pact for signature at a ceremony in late September.   "It is in the hands of the non-nuclear weapon states.   They have to band together to carry this through to New York," one envoy told Reuters.   "The nuclear weapon states can't carry it into the New York arena," he added.   "No single country can do it alone."   Others feared that India and Iran, who strongly oppose the draft treaty text, would continue to put up procedural roadblocks in the New York debates.   Each could count on support from other non-aligned states in the 185-member world body.   "The procedural pettiness of the Iranians is as bad as that in New York or worse," said one envoy after Thursday's debate.   U.S. disarmament ambassador Stephen Ledogar expressed disappointment with the blockage in Geneva, but predicted the pact would be opened for signature in New York next month.   "It will succeed," Ledogar told reporters.   "It has traditionally been on everyone's shopping list for arms control and disarmament.   The instinct for support is enormous.   "I think it appears as though the overwhelming choice is to put it before the General Assembly.   That is the route that will be pursued," he added.   "There is a very little timeframe."   In particular, the Clinton administration hopes to avoid a damaging defeat on home turf on the eve of the presidential elections in early November, according to analysts.   There have been nearly 2,000 nuclear tests in the atmosphere, underground and under water since the end of World War Two, more than half of them by the United States.   India torpedoed the pact in Geneva after it became clear that the five declared nuclear powers (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States) would not commit to a timetable for total nuclear disarmament.   All five declared nuclear weapon states made clear in closely coordinated speeches on Thursday they did not want the pact reopened for negotiation or fresh amendments in New York.   Washington and its allies want to avoid the text being dissected by the U.N.'s first committee which discusses disarmament matters and is to meet between October and November.   Ledogar said there was barely three weeks to act before the current 50th General Assembly closes on September 16.   Treaty backers hope the body will agree to hand over the text intact to the 51st General Assembly opening the next day.   "The United States is not going to be the prime mover in this," Ledogar said.   "This is the sort of thing, I think, where it is best in order to achieve maximum support, for those who have historically wanted this the most should take the lead -- those are the non nuclear weapon states.   They are the ones who will be exercising leadership," he added.   "After all, this treaty is about getting us -- the nuclear weapon states -- to do something." 
1836 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS  Three Italian workmen were killed on Thursday in an explosion at a munitions factory near the northern town of Brescia, police said.   Police said three other employees at the S.E.I. factory in Ghedi suffered minor injuries.   The Italian news agency ANSA said the factory made bombs for Tornado warplanes.   It was not known what caused the blast. 
1837 !C13 !C21 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT  The European Union's standing veterinary committee agreed on Thursday to ease a national ban on Greek livestock exports imposed because of an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, a European Commission spokesman said.   "The committee approved a Commission proposal to regionalise the ban," the spokesman said.   The committee of senior veterinary officials agreed to limit the ban to the Evros region, near the Turkish border, and to closely monitor the situation in the neighbouring Rodopi region.   The ban, imposed on July 18, affected all trade in cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and related meat and milk products.   Greece said in a statement it will strengthen surveillance of its northern border with Albania and Macedonia where outbreaks of foot and mouth disease have recently been reported.   The European Commission will propose aid to help Greece finance the cost at a meeting of the EU's standing veterinary committee in early September, the spokesman said.   The committee urged the Commission to urgently draft a programme for combatting the highly contagious foot and mouth disease in the Balkans.   The EU sent on Thursday a new mission to clarify the situation in the Serbian province of Kosovo where thousands of animals were recently slaughtered on suspicion of contact with the disease.   EU officials said in Belgrade last week they believed that the disease may never have occurred. 
1838 !GCAT !GCRIM  A French woman has admitted starting a deadly blaze in a hotel in central France in a plot to avenge a lovers' quarrel, officials said on Thursday.   "It was a woman's revenge, an affair of a lover's spite," said Philippe Crepin, head of public security in the region around the central town of Clermont-Ferrand, where the fire in the Le Savoy hotel killed four and injured 14 on Wednesday.   The man targeted by the arsonist was in the hotel at the time of the blaze but was not among the dead, Crepin added.   The woman, 26, told police that with help from her current boyfriend, 29, she had set fire to papers stuffed into a rubbish bin on a lower floor.   Flames rapidly spread throughout the building.   The woman and her companion were detained after police questioned survivors. 
1839 !GCAT !GPOL !GVOTE  Greece's socialist Prime Minister Costas Simitis announced on Thursday that early general elections will be held on September 22.   "I will visit tomorrow the president of the republic to request the parliament's dissolution and ask for elections to be held on Sunday, September 22," Simitis told reporters after chairing a special cabinet meeting.    Simitis cited as reasons for the early poll problems with the country's ailing economy and tense relations with neighbouring Turkey.   Elections were originally scheduled to be held in October next year.   Simitis, 60, is one of Greece's most popular politicians and and poll analysts have said his PASOK socialist party has a slight edge over the conservative New Democracy main opposition party.   Simitis, who replaced late party founder Andreas Papandreou as premier in January, wants a public mandate to push on with tough economic decisions aimed to bring Greece in line with its European Union partners 
1840 !GCAT !GCRIM  Norway said on Thursday it would hunt down and expose paedophiles and dealers in child pornography using the Internet for the sexual exploitation of children.   Norway's ombudsman for children, Trond Waage, has joined forces with Save the Children Norway to study the distribution of child pornography on the Internet and how paedophiles operate on the international computer network.   "We are exploring how the Internet is used by criminals to sell child pornography and operate other forms of commercial and sexual exploitation of children," Waage told Reuters.   "We know there are individuals, from the more professional out to make money down to dirty animals, who use the Net for these purposes, but we can't say yet if this is relatively small scale or widespread."   Waage was speaking on the day thousands of Belgians attended a memorial service in Liege for two eight-year-old girls starved to death by a paedophile gang in a case that has shaken the country.   The results of the initial Norwegian study will be presented next week at the world's first conference against sexual exploitation of children in Stockholm.   Save the Children Norway wants to spearhead an international network for monitoring the Internet for child porn in cooperation with other Save the Children groups and the Bangkok-based End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT).   The project has hired computer experts and skilled "surfers" to try to break tangles of codes and synonyms and identify the Internet sites where paedophiles communicate and store pictures and information.   "We want to give a signal to the people misusing the net: "Don't feel too sure that we won't find you, whatever codes and synonyms you use.   There is now a body in Norway that will use resources to hunt these criminals down," Waage said.   He said he had been warned by experts to drop plans to block use of the Internet for child pornography by "bombing" the paedophiles' communication sites with a computer virus.   "We wanted to establish a network of bomb squads but we were advised not to use this as a solution because of the great risk of receiving return bombs," Waage said.   The spread of the multi-media Internet system means paedophiles can communicate with one another or buy child pornography from the safety of their home with little risk of detection.   "In the good old days if you had child pornography you had to dig a hole in the garden to hide it or stash it in the loft.   Nowadays it can just be hidden in your computer or on disk," said Lars Groenseth, spokesman for Save the Children Norway.   Waage said experts had identified three main operating methods, the most professional being via pornography "shops".   But there are also paedophile rings and chat groups.   "We assume the paedophile rings organise activities for one another on a regional, national and international level.   In a chat group you probably have to build up trust over some time.   But once the trust is there they exchange information and introduce each other to a wider network," he said. 
1841 !C13 !C31 !CCAT !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !M14 !M143 !MCAT  A U.N. official on Thursday said he estimated technical arrangements to implement the Iraqi oil-for-food deal could be completed in 7-10 days.   But the official, Shaukat Fareed, a director in the U.N. Department of Humanitarian affairs, said this was an optimistic estimate.   "A week to 10 days is our hope but it could very easily take longer," he told Reuters after briefing the Security Council on progress made in implementing the accord allowing Iraq to sell $2 billion worth of oil over six months in order to buy badly-needed food and medicine.    Fareed said technical details remained but there were no political problems forseen and most of the monitors needed initially were lined up and on their way.   When arrangements are completed, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali must report to the Security Council that the six-month clock can begin running.   The council has to acknowledge it received the report but not vote on it.   More than 260 from U.N. agencies or hired by the United Nations will be involved in the process, 600 of them alone in the Kurdish North.    Western diplomats on Wednesday told Reuters that the administrative arrangements necessary before first Iraqi oil can flow remained about two weeks away.   They said that four overseers, independent experts from the United States, France, Russia and Norway, who will approve oil sales contracts on a day-to-day basis are expected to be in place at the United Nations this week.   Once in place, Baghdad must submit its pricing mechanism, a step which is expected to take place next week.   This will consist of a pricing formula to be used for term contract sales based on three regional benchmark crudes - North Sea Brent for Europe, West Texas Intermediate for the Americas and Dubai for the Middle and Far East.   Iraq will also be permitted to sell its oil on the spot market, subject to sanctions committee approval, at market prices rather than formula prices, diplomats said.   The United Nations named the four overseers on August 8, the date the Security Council's sanctions committee adopted procedures for how the oil would be sold and the food and other goods purchased.  .   Since procedures were adopted, U.N. officials have worked to finalize the last bits of the oil-for-food scheme, aimed at easing the impact of sanctions iposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait six years ago. 
1842 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIS !GVIO  A German train was derailed on Thursday after saboteurs removed a small section of the track overnight in an apparent protest against a nearby nuclear storage unit, local officials said.   None of the 13 passengers was injured when the regional train came off the rails between the northern towns of Dannenberg and Lueneburg.   A spokeswoman for Lueneburg local council said anti-nuclear posters were found near the scene.   The line is close to the Gorleben nuclear storage unit.   Anti-nuclear activists held pitched battles with police there in May as they tried to prevent French-processed nuclear waste reaching the controversial new depot. 
1843 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL  U.S. President Bill Clinton had to drop the resort of Ballybunion from a whirlwind Irish tour last year.   So Ballybunion is going to America instead.   Two residents of the Atlantic resort, where Clinton was to have played golf with the Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring, have been invited to the Democratic party convention in Chicago on August 26-29.   They have been asked to bring with them the placards they waved when Clinton addressed Ireland at a packed ceremony in Dublin city centre on December 1, last year.   They read: "Ballybunion backs Clinton."   "The Democratic party have requested we bring our placards with us.   We will be guests of the Kennedys," said Frank Quilter, one of the two who have been invited to Chicago.   Clinton made a triumphant Irish tour to back a Northern Ireland peace process but was forced to drop Ballybunion from a packed schedule at the last minute. 
1844 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP !GPOL !GVIO  Prime Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday that France's highest administrative court had upheld his view that 300 African immigrants holed up in a Paris church did not have the right to stay in France.   But Juppe, in a statement given to LCI television, said the Council of State had not ruled out a new review of individual cases.    "The Council of State has concluded that a right to a residence permit does not exist.   This is common sense," Juppe said in the videotaped statement.   "But the government can always, after a case-by-case review of individual situations, use its authority to grant residency in exceptional circumstances," he said.   "This precisely confirms the government's policy as announced several weeks ago."   Juppe had asked the council to give an opinion on the situation of the 300 Africans, including 10 hunger strikers in the 49th day of a fast, who have been occupying the Saint-Bernard church in an effort to pressure the government to let them remain in France.   The protesters, who said earlier that the fast would continue until all 300 were given residence permits, said they would call a meeting to discuss Juppe's stance. 
1845 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  Germany said on Thursday it had received assurances from the Russian government that its forces would observe the latest ceasefire in Chechnya.   Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Erdmann said top Bonn diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger had been assured by senior Russian officials that the ultimatum to storm and take the Chechen capital of Grozny was not valid.   "The Russian side confirmed that the ceasefire is in place and they will keep to it," Erdmann told Reuters after speaking by telephone to Ischinger, who had met the officials on a two-day visit to Moscow.   He returned to Bonn on Thursday.   Ischinger is the political director of Bonn's foreign ministry.   Ischinger said he met three Russian deputy foreign ministers and a vice defence minister, who confirmed Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov's pledge that Moscow would seek a political solution under the aegis of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).   "The ultimatum (to storm Grozny) is no longer an issue," he said quoting Ischinger, who had been sent to Moscow by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel as his personal envoy to urge an end to Moscow's military campaign in the breakaway region.   Ischinger said the threat of a major assault to take Grozny had been the unauthorised initiative of the commanding general and not Moscow's intention.   The officials had been positive about Kinkel's request on Wednesday that President Boris Yeltsin's security chief Alexander Lebed should, on his return to Moscow, meet Tim Goldiman, the OSCE representative responsible for Chechnya, he said. 
1846 !GCAT !GDIP !GVIO  The United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday it was sending a chartered cargo plane from Belgium at midnight with emergency relief supplies for Chechen civilians fleeing Grozny.   In a statement, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees also said that more than 23,000 Chechens had flooded into neighbouring Ingushetia and Dagestan in the last two weeks.   The Geneva-based agency said that as the crisis deepened in Chechnya, it had boosted its staff to 37 in the two Russian republics.   The total number of displaced Chechens in Dagestan and Ingushetia since Russian President Boris Yeltsin sent his forces to crush an independence drive in December 1994 stands at more than 100,000.   "The supplies are for at least 23,000 Chechen civilians in Daghestan and Ingushetia.   It is quite clear that more are on the road," UNHCR spokeswoman Ruth Marshall told Reuters.   "More than 5,000 have arrived in the past 24 hours."   UNHCR said it was also distributing food parcels donated by the government of Saudi Arabia, sufficient to cover the needs of at least 20,000 people for one month.   In addition, two trucks left Amsterdam on Thursday to replenish UNHCR stocks in the northern Caucasus and a third was leaving on Friday.   Travel time is estimated at 10 days.   The chartered plane, which will leave Ostend airport in Belgium, is scheduled to arrive at Vladikavkaz airport early on Friday morning (0500GMT), according to the UNHCR.   The airport, in north Ossetia, is the biggest in the region.   The airlifted supplies will include blankets, plastic sheeting for shelter, jerry cans as well as basic cooking sets. 
1847 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The European Union's main grain panel took no decision on Thursday on whether to increase an export allocation for German intervention barley and the quota is therefore unchanged, European grain officials said.   European grain houses had been pressing for a decision to unblock extra German barley to meet what could be a major purchase by Saudi Arabia, the world's largest barley importer.   But European officials said it was too early to take a decision and the issue was kept off Thursday's agenda for the cereals management committee in Brussels.   "It is too hot," said one official.    Several leading trade houses said earlier that Saudi Arabia had unofficially bought 800,000 tonnes of barley on the world market, much of which could come from the European Union if the supplies were available.   Traders were still waiting for final confirmation of a deal.   Some 283,000 tonnes of German barley remain blocked off in EU-controlled stores for export after a modest sale of 34,277 tonnes on Thursday.   But traders said this was not enough and were urging Brussels to put its weight behind the unconfirmed Saudi deal by adding up to 300,000 tonnes of new German barley to the quota. 
1848 !C17 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission and Germany will seek on Friday to defuse a heated row over public aid for Volkswagen AG which has spurred anti-European Union sentiment in the bloc's largest member state.   German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt, who just returned to work after a 10-week bout of malaria, is due in Brussels to meet European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert.   Van Miert has warned that the move of the ex-communist eastern German state of Saxony to pay 91 million marks ($61.3 million) in unauthorised support to VW could touch off an EU "subsidy war" if left unchallenged.   He threatened in a recent German magazine interview that Brussels could raise the stakes by blocking other aid to Europe's largest carmaker or excluding it from public tenders.   "The Commission prepares all the actions which are necessary in order to get back to legality and that will be the main objective of the meeting tomorrow," Commission spokesman Nikolaus van der Pas told reporters on Thursday.   "You know the position we've taken on the WV case, that's absolutely clear," he said.   Van der Pas noted that Bonn accepts Saxony's arguments that the payouts are justified but that it believes the state went too far by defying the order from Brussels.   The dispute erupted last month when Saxony state premier Kurt Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, overrode Commission objections to the size of a proposed aid package for VW and paid out extra funds.   He warned that the state stood to lose thousands of jobs in the towns of Mosel and Chemnitz if it didn't pay.   VW, which this month reported a 45 percent jump in six-month group income, had suspended plans to develop plants in the two towns after the EU executive in June rejected 240.7 million marks of the total promised aid package of 780 million marks.   In deciding to trim the amount of aid, the Commission took the view that VW's production at the plants would increase capacity in an industry already suffering from overcapacity.   Saxony has filed a lawsuit against the Commission to block the ruling reducing the amount of aid while Van Miert has threatened to go to the European Court of Justice if the carmaker spends the extra money.   "I think Saxony has some good arguments, VW has some good arguments and the Commission as well," one car industry insider said.   According to Brussels, Saxony paid out 142 million marks to VW after the Commission's June decision.   Of this amount, it says 91 million was unauthorised.   In total, Volkswagen has received at least 522 million marks from Saxony, which struggles with a jobless rate of more than 15 percent despite rapid economic growth.   One EU source said he did not believe that the Commission, which vets state aid to see whether it may harm competition, was now taking a stricter line on aid in ex-communist east Germany.   "What one can say is that the Commission is now examining all state aid cases in east Germany like any other state aid case in the Community," he said.   ($ = 1.484 German Marks) 
1849 !GCAT !GCRIM  Thousands of Belgians turned out on Thursday to pay their last respects to two young girls who starved to death after abduction by a paedophile gang, and to support the courage and share the grief of the parents.   Young and old, rich and poor, from all walks of life... Belgians united in mourning eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo in a way that even the death of King Baudouin three years ago did not quite achieve.   A memorial service in the Saint Martin Basilica in Liege was relayed in sound and pictures to the thousands waiting outside in this east Belgian city and beamed live throughout the country.   Liegoise France Collignon summed up the mood.   "It is horrendous, unbelievable," she said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stood in the crowd cradling her eight-week-old daughter Morgane in her arms.   Some in the crowd cried openly but silently.   Others stood absorbed as the memorial service progressed.   Others still seemed lost in thought, stricken expressions on their faces as they and the rest of the country adopted the dead girls as a symbol of the determination never to let their fate be repeated.   "I haven't got the words to describe these people," said Marie-Char Orgeret, 14.   "We should do the same thing to them as they did to Julie and Melissa."   Reporters and television crews circulated, posing the same questions to different people -- and getting the same answer.   The crowds were there to show support for the parents of Julie and Melissa -- Jean-Denis and Louisa Lejeune and Gino and Carine Russo -- and express their disgust at what had happened.   "I am here for the poor parents of those martyred children.   The people who did this must be made to suffer..." said Anne-Marie Lamory of Bastogne in southern Belgium.   "They too should die suffering...they are monsters."   Friends Julie and Melissa disappeared in June last year from near their homes in the Liege suburb of Grace-Hollogne.   Last weekend convicted child rapist Marc Dutroux led police to the bodies of the two girls in the garden of one of his houses.   He said they had starved to death early this year.   The discovery triggered an eruption of emotion throughout the country, amplified by the rescue of two other young girls and information about two others whom Dutroux admitted having abducted a year ago with two accomplices.   Some people have urged the reintroduction of the death penalty -- finally erased from the statute books in June after lying dormant for several years.   Others called for it to be made impossible for convicted child abusers to be released early from jail.   Dutroux, sentenced to 13 years in jail in 1989 for multiple child rape, was freed 10 years early in 1992 for good behaviour.   Police had expected up to 100,000 to gather for the memorial service.   In the end only 5,000 turned up, police said, but the emotion they generated more than made up for the lack of numbers.   As the 18-car funeral cortege went by -- 13 cars loaded with hundreds of bouquets sent by well-wishers, one laden with soft toys donated by young children, one car each carrying the two small white coffins and one car each for the girls' parents -- people crossed themselves and clapped to show their support.   Many in the crowd also clutched pictures of the two girls, some weeping as they read the inscription underneath.   It read:   "We were eight years old and full of dreams.   We believed life would be beautiful.   You grown-ups, make us a better world." 
1850 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Disarmament negotiators wrapped up almost three years of talks on a global nuclear test ban on Thursday with no pact agreed and without even agreement to report their failure to the United Nations General Assembly.   Opposition from Iran and India prevented the 61-nation Conference on Disarmament sending a negotiating report to the U.N., where major powers still hope to reintroduce the draft text and have it signed next month.    India vetoed the draft treaty because it does not contain a clause committing the five declared nuclear powers to a timetable for nuclear disarmament.   But conference members had still hoped to send the negotiating report -- which merely stated that no consensus had been reached on the text -- to the General Assembly, which asked the Geneva body last year to negotiate a pact.   That was blocked on Thursday by Iran and India, making it slightly more difficult for major powers and some non-aligned states to reintroduce the treaty to the current session of the assembly as a resolution needing a simple majority rather than the consensus needed in Geneva.   Australia earlier signalled that it would be willing to take the lead role in proposing the resolution.   Backers of the treaty hope it can be adopted and opened for signature by late September. 
1851 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Shares in Stet rose on the Milan bourse following remarks by an Italian junior minister suggesting that the government should be able to strike a deal with the hardleft Communist Refoundation party over privatisation of state-controlled telecom group.   Stet was trading at 4,830 lire in mid-afternoon, up from a day's low of 4,720 lire and an opening 4,730 lire.   Michele Lauria, the undersecretary at the post ministry said earlier: "From its latest statements, the position of Refoundation (over the Stet sale) seems calmer and more constructive than at first," Lauria said in a statement.   Milan newsroom +392-66102321 
1852 !C31 !C311 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The European Union will raise duties on transatlantic imports of maize on Friday to 37.54 Ecus a tonne from 31.89 Ecus, the European Commission said.   Duties on imports of maize from nearby origins will rise to 47.54 Ecus a tonne from 41.89 Ecus.   Duties on other grain imports will remain unchanged.    EFFECTIVE FROM AUGUST 23 IN ECUS PER TONNE    NEARBY ORIGIN (1) DISTANT ORIGIN (2) DATE OF    CURRENT PREVIOUS CURRENT PVS  CHANGE    DURUM WHEAT  4.69  0.14 0.00  0.00 15AUG96    COM WHT HIGH QUAL 22.01 22.95 12.01 12.95 15AUG96    MEDIUM QUALITY 35.23 38.01 25.23 28.01 15AUG96    LOW QUALITY  48.79 53.91 38.79 43.91 15AUG96    BARLEY 66.99 64.33 56.99 54.33 15AUG96    RYE 66.99 64.33 56.99 54.33 15AUG96    SORGHUM  81.10 78.44 71.10 68.44 15AUG96    MAIZE 47.54 41.89 37.54 31.89 23AUG96    Exchange Kansas Mid  Mid     Minneapolis City Chicago Chicago America America   Products percent protein and 12 percent humidity     HRS2(14%) HRW2(11.5%) SRW2 YC3  HAD2 US barley2   (ECUS per tonne) Quotes 133.80 136.84 129.70 113.49 172.36 110.06    Gulf -  13.53  7.12 38.64  -  -   Great Lakes 21.24  -  -  -  -  -   Gulf of Mexico-Rotterdam 9.18 Ecus per tonne Great Lakes-Rotterdam 17.70 Ecus per tonne   (1) Nearby origin covers imports by land, river or sea from Mediterranean, Black Sea and Baltic ports.   (2) Distant origin covers other ports.   The import duty may be adjusted if during the two-week reference period the average import duty differs by five Ecus per tonne from the fixed duty.   Importers may claim a two Ecus per tonne reduction for Atlantic and Suez canal shipments to British, Danish, Swedish, Finnish and to Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic ports.   A three Ecus per tonne reduction can be claimed for imports into Med ports.   Importers who show they have paid a quality premium can claim a 14 or eight Ecus reduction for shipments of high quality common wheat, malting barley and flint maize. 
1853 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Irish naval officers shadowed a Japanese trawler on Thursday and escorted another to port in a crackdown on illegal fishing in the nation's Western waters.   It was the first time the authorities had detained a Japanese vessel inside its 200-mile "Irish box" waters on suspicion of illegal fishing.   A senior naval official told Irish radio that officers were preparing to board an unnamed Japanese vessel found inside the Irish box on Thursday.   "We are about 200 yards (metres) away from the vessel.   We are going to carry out a routine search," Lieutenant Commander Brian Havers of the LE Deirdre told Irish radio.   He said he would not know until after a search of the hold and inspection of the trawler's documentation whether or not it would also be detained and escorted to port.   A second vessel, the Minato Maru, was being escorted to the coast of Cork, southern Ireland, after being found in the Irish box earlier this week.   Its captain is expected to be charged when he reaches land with fishing about 100 miles off the Galway coast inside Irish waters.   Eight tonnes of tuna were found in its hold.   A further 30 Japanese vessels were grouped just outside Ireland's international waters, Havers said.   He declined to be drawn on speculation of a standoff developing between the Japanese fleet and Irish fisheries protection vessels.   It took more than 10 hours for Irish naval vessels to retrieve the 70-mile long-line fishing gear thought to have been used by the Minato Maru to catch tuna.   Other long-line gear was also being retrieved from inside the area, which extends for 200 miles around the Irish coast and is more than 10 times the country's land area.   Long-lining is used to catch surface-feeding fish on kilometres (miles) of line tossed overboard by trawlers, marked by radio signal and picked up later.   Ireland detained several vessels, mostly Spanish, last year in a show of strength over the protection of its waters for Irish fishermen and licensed operators from other EU states. 
1854 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT !M14 !M141 !MCAT  The European Union's cereals   management committee granted the following licences to export   free-market grain, trade sources said.   (In ECUs per tonne.)    Tonnage Maximum Refund Minimum Tax    Soft wheat  145,350  ----  1.27   (Main tender)    Soft wheat  10,000  ----  0.02   (ACP states tender)    Barley 3,000  1.75  -----    Rye 1,500  22.00  ----    oats 2,000  23.95 
1855 !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  A French aid group said on Thursday it planned to send a convoy of 40 trucks with relief supplies for Iraqi children, challenging the U.N. embargo imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.   Alain Michel, president of the independent Lyon-based Equilibre, condemned the embargo as unjust after visiting Iraq.   "Iraq is held hostage by this embargo, which is a weapon of the cowardly," he told a news conference.   He said the weak were suffering most from the embargo.   Perhaps 250 children were dying each day for lack of medicines, while Iraq had just 30 ambulances out of the 1,500 it had before the war.   Equilibre, which has run aid missions to Kurds in northern Iraq and has operated in countries including Bosnia and Rwanda, said it was appealing for donations to send an aid convoy of 10 trucks from France and another 30 from Jordan in November.   The convoy would carry medicines and basic foods not affected by the 1990 embargo.   It would also transport goods such as sheets for hospital beds, disinfectants, parts to repair ambulances and medical equipment such as incubators that are theoretically banned under the U.N. rules, he said.   "We expect a confrontation with the sanctions monitors over the convoy," Michel said. 
1856 !C18 !C183 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  The Italian government should be able to reach an agreement with the hardleft Communist Refoundation over the privatisation of telecoms holding Stet, the undersecretary at the post ministry said.   "From its latest statements, the position of Refoundation (over the Stet sale) seems calmer and more constructive than at first," Michele Lauria said in a statement.   Refoundation leader Fausto Bertinotti warned at the start of the week that he would be ready to bring the government down if it tried to push through the Stet sale, which is slated for early 1997.    Refoundation holds the balance of power in the lower house of parliament and has ensured the survival of Italy's centre-left government since it took office in May.   Earlier on Thursday, Refoundation chairman Armando Cossutta wrote in La Repubblica newspaper that his party had a much more pragmatic and less ideological view of the privatisation of Stet than those people who were blindly calling for its sell-off.   "Before selling Stet, the government, and above all parliament, must completely define rules for markets, like the telecommunications and electric energy sectors, which today are clear monopolies," Cossutta wrote in an article.   The undersecretary at the post ministry said in his statement: "If the liberalisation of the sensitive multi-media sector is taken as the key concept of the operation...an agreement can be reached."   -- Rome newsroom +396 6782501 
1857 !GCAT !GDIS  One adult was killed and 19 children injured when an explosion ripped through a primary school in the north-east of the Netherlands on Thursday, police said.   A police spokesman said around 100 children, between six and 12, were in the shool in the town of emmeloord at the time of the blast, thought to be linked to repair work on the building's central heating system.   None was seriously injured.   The explosion caused widespread damage to the school building, which was likely to be closed for the near future.   "The building is flattened, it looks like it's been hit by a bomb," the spokesman said.   The woman killed in the blast was an administrative worker at the school.   One other adult, the mechanic inspecting the central heating, was seriously injured. 
1858 !GCAT !GPRO !GREL  Mother Teresa was conscious and in stable condition in an Indian nursing home on Thursday after suffering heart failure and her condition was being monitored by a team of physicians, a doctor said.   The 85-year-old Roman Catholic missionary who won the Nobel peace prize was admitted to Woodlands Nursing Home in Calcutta on Tuesday with a temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) and severe vomiting.   Dr A.K. Bardhan told Reuters said a team of five doctors was constantly monitoring her condition.   "Her condition is same as it was in the morning.   She is fully conscious and stable," he said.   The next bulletin on her health would be issued on Friday.   Bardhan described the cardio-respiratory complications as heart failure.   He said Mother Teresa, fitted with a heart pacemaker in 1989, had suffered heart failure in the past and responded to treatment.   "Last night she developed some cardio-respiratory complications which were handled and corrected quickly," he said.   She was given anti-heart failure treatment and respiratory support.   Asked to give a prognosis, the doctor said: "It is very difficult to say."   He offered no more details on her condition or the treatment.   A general physician in New Delhi said heart failure could cover a range of problems, but given Mother Teresa's age and the fact she had a pacemaker could indicate a serious condition.   "In the next 24 or 48 hours we will know if she is responding to treatment and will pull out of this," said the doctor, who asked not to be identified.   A nun at Mother Teresa's religious order, the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, said: "We are all praying for her speedy recovery."   The nun said all of the order's senior nuns were at the nursing home attending Mother Teresa, who many regard as a living saint.   She will be 86 next Tuesday.   Mother Teresa, who is of Albanian Descent founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in Calcutta, India's most densely populated city, in 1949 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.   Her health began to deteriorate in 1989 when she was fitted with the pacemaker.   In 1991, she was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In May 1993, she fell in Rome, breaking three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive an award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   The Missionaries of Charity order now has nearly 3,000 people ministering to the needy, dying and orphaned in the slums of 200 cities.   Its work includes caring for nearly 7,000 children in 120 homes and arranging 1,500 adoptions a year.   In 1988, nearly four million sick people were treated at its 629 mobile clinics. 
1859 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India said on Thursday that its opposition to a global nuclear test ban treaty did not mean New Delhi intended to enter into an arms race with neighbouring Pakistan and China.   Foreign Minister I.K. Gujral was asked at a news conference if India's decision to block adoption of the accord in Geneva would lead to an arms race with Pakistan and China.   "I do not see that possibility because India is not entering into any arms race," he said.   "Our not signing a new treaty does not mean we are going in for any new kind of weapons, particularly nuclear."   China, along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, is a declared nuclear power.   India carried out a nuclear test in 1974 but says it has not built the bomb.   Experts believe both India and Pakistan could quickly assemble nuclear weapons.   Asked what stopped India from being an open nuclear power state Gujral said "self-discipline."   Gujral said he did not expect India's veto of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to damage bilateral ties with the United States or other nations.   "We both value each other's friendship and this one issue on which we may differ should not affect and will not affect our bilateral relations," Gujral said.   But Gujral said India would re-examine its position if the treaty was modified.   Asked what India would do if the pact were forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly, Gujral said: "That bridge I will cross when I come to it."   In a written statement released at the news conference, Gujral reiterated India's objections to the treaty, under negotiation at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.   "It is a sad fact that the nuclear weapon states show no interest in giving up their nuclear hegemony," the statement said.   Gujral said India had national security concerns that made it impossible for New Delhi to sign the CTBT.   "Our security concerns oblige us to maintain our nuclear option," he said, adding that India had exercised restraint in not carrying out any nuclear tests since the country's lone test blast in 1974.   He said: "We cannot accept constraints on our option as long as nuclear weapon states continue to rely on their nuclear arsenals for their security". 
1860 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  India said on Thursday that its opposition to a global nuclear test ban treaty did not mean New Delhi intended to enter into an arms race with neighbouring Pakistan and China.   Foreign Minister I.K. Gujral was asked at a news conference if India's decision to block adoption of the accord in Geneva would lead to an arms race with Pakistan and China.   "I don't see that possibility because India is not entering into any arms race," he said.   "Our not signing a new treaty does not mean we are going in for any new kind of weapons, particularly nuclear."   China, along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, is a declared nuclear power.   India carried out a nuclear test in 1974 but says it has not built the bomb.   Experts believe both India and Pakistan could quickly assemble nuclear weapons.   Gujral said he did not expect India's veto of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to damage bilateral ties with other nations.   "I do not visualise its straining our bilateral relations with any country.   The text has already been blocked," he said.   Gujral said India would re-examine its position if the treaty, particularly a clause providing for its entry into force, was modified.   Asked what India would do if the pact were forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly, Gujral said: "That bridge I will cross when I come to it."   In a written statement released at the news conference, Gujral reiterated India's objections to the treaty, under negotiation at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.   "It is a sad fact that the nuclear weapon states show no interest in giving up their nuclear hegemony," the statement said.   Gujral said India had national security concerns that made it impossible for New Delhi to sign the CTBT.   "Our security concerns oblige us to maintain our nuclear option," he said, adding that India had exercised restraint in not carrying out any nuclear tests since the country's lone test blast in 1974.   He said: "We cannot accept constraints on our option as long as nuclear weapon states continue to rely on their nuclear arsenals for their security". 
1861 !GCAT !GPRO  Mother Teresa remained in intensive care in an Indian nursing home on Thursday after suffering heart failure, but the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was conscious and in stable condition, a doctor said.   "At present she is on respiratory support in intensive care," Dr A.K. Bardhan told Reuters, saying a team of medical specialists had examined her at 11 a.m. (0530 GMT).   "She is fully conscious and stable."   Bardhan said the 85-year-old Roman Catholic missionary was admitted to the Woodlands Nursing Home in Calcutta on Tuesday night with a temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) and severe vomiting.   Bardhan described the cardio-respiratory complications as heart failure.   He said Mother Teresa, fitted with a heart pacemaker in 1989, had suffered heart failure in the past and responded to treatment.   "Last night she developed some cardio-respiratory complications which were handled and corrected quickly," he said.   The doctor, part of a team of physicians attending Mother Teresa, said she was given anti-heart failure treatment and respiratory support.   Asked to give a prognosis, the doctor said: "It is very difficult to say."   The next medical bulletin was not expected until Friday morning, said Bardhan.   He offered no more details on her condition or the treatment.   A general physician in New Delhi, the Indian capital, said heart failure could cover a range of problems, but given Mother Teresa's age and the fact she has a pacemaker could indicate a serious condition.   "In the next 24 or 48 hours we will know if she is responding to treatment and will pull out of this," said the doctor, who asked not to be identified.   "We are all praying for her speedy recovery," said a nun at Mother Teresa's Roman Catholic religious order, the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.   The nun, who asked not to be identified, said all of the order's senior nuns were at the nursing home attending Mother Teresa, who many regard as a living saint.   She will be 86 on Tuesday.   Mother Teresa founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in India's most densely populated city and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.   Her health began to deteriorate in 1989 when she was fitted with the heart pacemaker.   In 1991, she was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In May 1993, she fell in Rome, breaking three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive yet another award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   The wrinkled nun of Albanian descent founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1949.   The religious order now has nearly 3,000 people ministering to the needy, dying and orphaned in the slums of 200 cities.   Their work includes caring for nearly 7,000 children in 120 homes and arranging 1,500 adoptions each year.   In 1988, nearly four million sick people were treated at her 629 mobile clinics. 
1862 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  SUMMARY- Rain 0.20-1.45 inch (5-37 mm) fell through most of India except in the far south and far north where only isolated showers of a trace-0.25 inch (trace-6 mm) were reported.   Highs 80-96F (27-36C).   CROP IMPACT- Conditions are favorable for sugar cane across India.   FORECAST-   TODAY...Showers and rain 0.25-1.00 inch (6-25 mm) and locally heavier through most of central and south central India, up to 0.75 inch (19 mm) in 75 percent of north central India, and only isolated up to 0.25 inch (6 mm) elsewhere.   Highs 82-96F (28- 36C).   TONIGHT...Variable clouds in southern India with showers.   Partly cloudy in northern India with a few light showers.   Lows 68-76F (20-24C).   TOMORROW...Little change from today's weather expected.   OUTLOOK...Showers and thunderstorms likely in central and southern areas with isolated showers to the north.   Temperatures near normal Saturday-Monday.   Source: Weather Services Corporation 
1863 !C21 !CCAT !GCAT !GWEA !M14 !M141 !MCAT  SUMMARY- Rain 0.20-1.45 inch (5-37 mm) fell through most of India except in the far south and far north where only isolated showers of a trace-0.25 inch (trace-6 mm) were reported.   Highs 80-96F (27-36C).   CROP IMPACT- Conditions are favorable for development of rice across India at this time.   FORECAST-   TODAY...Showers and rain 0.25-1.00 inch (6-25 mm) and locally heavier through most of central and south central India, up to 0.75 inch (19 mm) in 75 percent of north central India, and only isolated up to 0.25 inch (6 mm) elsewhere.   Highs 82-96F (28- 36C).   TONIGHT...Variable clouds in southern India with showers.   Partly cloudy in northern India with a few light showers.   Lows 68-76F (20-24C).   TOMORROW...Little change from today's weather expected.   OUTLOOK...Showers and thunderstorms likely in central and southern areas with isolated showers to the north.   Temperatures near normal Saturday-Monday.   Source: Weather Services Corporation 
1864 !GCAT  Following are some of the main stories in Thursday's Pakistani newspapers.   DAWN   - Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who completed a tour of five Asian nations, announced major defence industry accords with Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.   - Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Aqazadeh said Iran and Pakistan have finalised a $1.2 billion agreement for a joint oil refinery.   The agreement was signed in Islamabad on Tuesday.   - A leader of the Mohajir National Movement (MQM), Osama Qadri, sought by authorities who have offered a reward of one million rupees for information on his whereabouts, was arrested.   Qadri was in hiding since an army operation was launched against the MQM in June 1992.   - Stock exchanges of 13 Asian and European countries are discussing the possibility of starting cross-border listing and trading of companies registered in their respective exchanges, president of the Karachi Stock Exchange Arif Habib said.   BUSINESS RECORDER   - The State (central) Bank of Pakistan has allowed banks to offer 40 billion rupees as credit to the cotton sector in fiscal 1996/97 (July-June).   - The private sector has entered the field of sugar imports and eight shipments of 96,000 tonnes have so far been booked.   - The fiscal budget for 1996/97 (July-June) has weighed heavily on the stock market in Pakistan and share prices have flattened after initial gains, the International Finance Corporation said.   THE MUSLIM   - Pakistan needs two billion rupees to eradicate cultivation of the poppy plant in opium growing areas.   - Representatives of a Dutch-Indonesian-Pakistani consortium met officials of the Pakistani Privatisation Commission to discuss the sale of the state-run Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd.   - The Taleban have denied they had arrested six men to investigate the escape of seven Russian airmen from Kandahar.   -- Islamabad newsroom 9251-274757 
1865 !GCAT !GPRO  Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mother Teresa, under treatment at an Indian nursing home for fever and cardiac problems, is resting and not in critical condition, a doctor said on Thursday.   "She is resting at present," Dr A.K. Bardhan told Reuters in the eastern city of Calcutta.   "She is not in critical condition."   Bardhan said the 85-year-old Roman Catholic missionary was admitted to the Woodlands Nursing Home in Calcutta on Tuesday night with fever and "rigor", or chills accompanied by contraction of the skin.   She was admitted to the intensive care unit on Wednesday evening after developing a cardiac problem, and put on an artificial respirator, the attending physician said.   Bardhan said Mother Teresa remained in the intensive care unit on Thursday morning.   He did not elaborate on her exact condition.   "We are all praying for her speedy recovery," said a nun at Mother Teresa's Roman Catholic religious order, the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.   The nun, who asked not to be identified, said all of the order's senior nuns were at the nursing home attending Mother Teresa, who will be 86 on Tuesday.   The health of the woman, who founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in India's most densely populated city and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, began to deteriorate in 1989 when she was fitted with a heart pacemaker.   In 1991, Mother Teresa was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In May 1993, she fell in Rome and broke three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive yet another award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   The wrinkled nun of Albanian descent regarded by many as a living saint founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1949.   The religious order now has nearly 3,000 people ministering to the needy, dying and orphaned in the slums of 200 cities.   The work includes the care of nearly 7,000 children in 120 homes and arranging 1,500 adoptions each year.   In 1988, nearly four million sick people were treated at her 629 mobile clinics. 
1866 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indian business and political stories in leading newspapers on Thursday prepared for Reuters by Business News and Information Services Pvt Ltd, New Delhi.   Telephone: 11-3324842, 11-3761233; Fax: 91-11-3351006 Internet: biznis.  news@forums.  sprintrpg.  sprint.  com    -------oo0oo-------    TOP STORIES   The Times Of India   CONGRESS PARTY EXPELS FORMER MINISTER AFTER RAIDS   The Congress party suspended former Communications Minister Sukh Ram from the party's primary membership, following recent raids on his homes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which recovered an unaccounted sum of 36.6 million rupees.   Sukh Ram, whose whereabouts have not been known since the raid, has been accused of unfairly favouring a private firm in a government purchase of radio equipment.   Congress officials said the funds recovered did not belong to the party.   Meanwhile, the CBI carried out another raid on one of Sukh Ram's houses.   The former minister is variously said to be in London and the United States.   ----   The Hindustan Times   BJP ACCUSES GUJARAT GOVERNOR OF HELPING PARTY REBELS   The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the President to reprimand the Gujarat governor for trying to destabilise the BJP-ruled state government.   The governor had taken advantage of the split in the ruling party (BJP) to create confusion and "pollute the political atmosphare in the state," BJP alleged.   The governor had recently said that a breakaway faction of the BJP had the support of a substantial number of lagislators   ----   Indian Express   PAY COMMISSION RECOMMENDS INTERIM RELIEF   The Fifth Pay Commission has recommended a third instalment of interim relief for the six million federal government employees in the country, pending a wage revision.   The commission has recommended that 10 percent of the basic pay be paid as interim relief.   The recommendation, suggested in the commission's interim report to the finance ministry, is likely to cost the exchequer about 15 billion rupees.   ----   The Economic Times   FOREIGN POWER COMPANIES TO GET EASY APPROVAL   The Power Ministry has decided to grant automatic approval to coal-based, hydro-electric and non-conventional energy-based power projects for 100 percent foreign equity holding.   In the new set-up there would be no need for clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board or the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Investment once the Reserve Bank of India, the central bank, approved the projects.   ----   HARRIS THREATENS TO SEVERE VENTURES WITH ARM   US-based Harris Corp contemplated snapping all its ventures with ARM (Advanced Radio Masts) Ltd in view of latter's alleged links in a corruption case investigated by the federal police.   Harris said the future of its ties with ARM depended on whether ARM had adopted corrupt means to get telecommunications equipment contracts from the government.   Harris is governed by the US Federal Corrupt Practices Act.   The Act forbids US companies from indulging in corrupt practices or being associated with corrupt companies worldwide.   ----   SOUTHERN PETRO'S GDR ISSUE WILL RAISE FOREIGN STAKE   Foreign investment in Southern Petrochemical Industries Corp (SPIC) may go up to 58 percent following its $60-million (global depositary receipt) GDR issue.   The government recently cleared SPIC's $60-million GDR issue.   The company already has 28 percent equity placed with foreign investors.   Once the warrants of its $60 million GDR issue are converted into shares, the foreign investors' stake may double to 58 percent.   ----   Financial Express   BOMBAY BOURSE INDEX UP 90 POINTS   The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index recovered 90 points to close above the 3400-mark.   The BSE received good buying support from local and foreign institutional investors, said sources.   The BSE-30 scrips index, opening at the previous level, moved upwards to close at 3406.22 points, up 2.7 percent.   Top gainers included Reliance which moved up by 14.75 rupees to close at 215.75 rupees.   The total turnover on BSE was 1.57 billion rupees.   The National Stock Exchange's 50-share index gained 22 points over the previous close of 977.   The net traded value stood at 9.20 billion rupees.   ----    MICHELIN PLANS FULLY-OWNED TYRE UNIT   French tyre giant Michelin plans to set up a 100 percent owned manufacturing subsidiary in India.   Michelin does not rule out forging ties with an Indian company at a later stage.   The company plans to invest $60 million as equity and set up a manufacturing plant with an initial capacity to produce 20,000 tonnes of tyres per year.   ----   TRACTOR MAJORS WOO MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA   World tractor majors are planning to enter India to tap a growing market and use it as a potential sourcing point for global markets.   Leading players like US-based Agco, Kubota of Japan and Same of Italy are exploring tie ups with India's automobile giant, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M).   M&M is currently negotiating with US-based Case for a possible joint venture to manufacture high horsepower tractors.   Sources said M&M had plans to become a global player by tying up with multinational corporations in various segments of tractor manufacturing and exports.   ----   Business Line   PRIVATE SECTOR ALLOWED TO SET UP AIR CARGO COMPLEXES   The government has decided to permit the private sector to set up air cargo complexes to ensure smoother movement of export cargo dispatched by air.   The government, in its first-ever policy on cargo complexes, plans to allow such facilities to be located outside airports.   The policy will help establish more than one air cargo complex to route exports through a airport.   The policy aims to introduce competition from the private sector and ensure improvement in quality of services provided by the state-run Airports Authority of India, which now enjoys virtual monopoly, sources said.   ----   SEVEN COMMITTEES TO EXPLORE INSURANCE REVAMP   The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has constituted seven working groups to review and recommend changes in the existing administrative and legal framework on critical insurance-related areas.   The groups will have to submit their reports by an August 31 deadline set by the insurance authority.   The setting up of the working groups to advise the IRA is one of the initial steps taken by the regulator towards restructuring the insurance sector.   ----   Business Standard   RESERVE BANK REJECTS GE CAPITAL SUBSIDIARY PLANS   GE Capital India's plan to start two wholly-owned subsidiaries has run into rough weather.   The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to clear proposals from the US-based GE Capital's Indian affiliate to establish the subsidiaries.   RBI said GE Capital had failed to meet the bank's entry-level requirements.   GE Capital had planned to set up two wholly-owned subsidiaries, one for hire-purchase and lease financing activities and the other for bill discounting.   ----   REFINERY MAJOR EARMARKS 105-BLN RUPEE INVESTMENT   Country's second largest refining company, Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), plans to invest 105 billion rupees in various projects over the next six years.   HPCL's plans in the joint sector include setting up two more refineries, developing liquefied petroleum gas infrastructure facilities and power projects.   HPCL is tying up with Saudi Aramco Oil Company to set up a six million-tonne refinery in Punjab.   ----   The Observer   MINISTRY RULES OUT SHORT-TERM INCENTIVES FOR BOURSES   The Finance Ministry has ruled out taking short-term measures to rescue the stock market from the current slump.   Instead, the government plans to focus on institutional strengthening of the capital market.   Setting up of depositories and reforming the company laws are some of the steps the Finance Ministry plans to undertake.   The ministry fears that the slump in the share prices may adversely affect the realisation of the government's disinvestment targets.   The ministry is therefore exploring alternatives to divest through measures like direct public offerings or tapping of the international market.   ---- 
1867 !GCAT !GTOUR !GVIO  Sri Lanka will launch a $4 million campaign to attract investors and tourists by stressing that a 13 year-long ethnic war has been largely limited to the country's north and east.   Media and Tourism Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake told a news conference on Thursday the government had to counter moves by separatist Tamil guerrillas to tarnish Sri Lanka's image.   "Presently we suffer from a problem of disinformation," he said.   "These reports are exaggerated."   Tourist arrivals to the Indian Ocean island dropped by 39.6 percent in April from a year ago, the Ceylon Tourist Board said.   Sri Lanka had 403,101 tourists last year.   The armed forces have battled the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam since 1983 in a war largely contained in the north and east and away from attractions such as the southern beaches, the central hill country and the ancient kingdoms in the north-central region.   The rebels, however, have also hit economic targets.   A suicide bomb attack on the Central Bank in Colombo in January killed almost 100 people. 
1868 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDEF  Sri Lanka has begun arresting army deserters who did not return to their camps despite a two-month government amnesty, army spokesman Brigadier Sarath Munasinghe said on Thursday.   Since the amnesty lapsed at the end of last month, the military has arrested 311 soldiers, including two officers, Munasinghe told a news conference.   They are among the 15,000 who deserted the army during the past five years as fighting escalated against separatist Tamil guerrillas.   "But 4,206 deserters responded to the pardon and have returned to their duty stations," he said.   The army, strapped for troops to fight the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has offered amnesties in the past, but it is the first time it has publicised arrests.   Military sources said the army's recruitment campaign gathered momentum soon after troops captured the rebels' northern Jaffna peninsula stronghold in a series of well publicised offensives that ended last April.   But the army suffered its worst setback in the 13-year ethnic war last month when rebels overran a key army camp in the island's northeast, killing or capturing the camp's 1,400 soldiers.   The Tigers, fighting for independence in the north and east, are known to be ferocious fighters and carry a cyanide capsule in a string around their necks to prevent being captured alive.   Munasinghe said 15,000 deserters in five years was not unusual for an army fighting a guerrilla war.   The government last year said more than 50,000 people have died in the war. 
1869 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIS !GVIO  Bangladeshi students angered by the death of a friend in a road accident clashed with police in Bangladesh on Thursday, leaving two dead, including a policeman, and at least 50 people hurt, hospital sources said.   The policeman was killed by a gunshot as officers came under attack from rampaging students in the the northern town of town, 300 km (180 miles) north of Dhaka, police said.   Police fired back, killing Rafiqul Islam, a student at the local Azizul Huq college.   Doctors at the hospital said at least 50 people, including six policemen, were injured in the clashes.   They said police Inspector Faruque Hossain was admitted with bullet injuries and was in critical condition.   Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to quell the riot, triggered by a road accident earlier in the day which killed a student that police identified as Khairul Islam. 
1870 !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  A British minister expressed his government's official disquiet on Thursday at the recent death of a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin at Dhaka airport.   "I have told Bangladesh leaders that British goverment has attached serious importance to the resolution of the tragic death of Siraj Mia," Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Liam Fox Fox, told reporters.   Siraj Mia died at Dhaka airport on May 9 during interogation by customs officials after arriving from London.   His body bore multiple injuries, and his relatives complained that he was murdered.   A post-mortem report suggested he might have been tortured.   But customs authorities said the passenger was drunk and died of loss of blood from a deep cut in his wrist after he hit a glass sheet.   Fox, who arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on four-day visit, said Britain wanted Dhaka to act seriously on the case.   "This is one of the reasons of my visit here... this is an important issue in our relationship", said Fox, who is due to leave for Nepal on Friday.   Fox said the incident had strained relations between the two governments.   He said the Mia's issue had been raised in the House of Commons.   Fox said he had brought up the issue at every meeting he had had with government leaders in Dhaka.   He said the Bangladesh government had assured him it was taking the matter seriously.   "The British government wants a thorough investigation and a just outcome," he said.   Fox said the British government wanted an end to the alleged harassment of its nationals at Dhaka airport by customs officials.   Bangladesh's Criminal Investigation Department has charged two immigration officials in connection with Mia's killing.   Mia, a father of five children, had a restaurant business in a London suburb. 
1871 !C13 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP !GJOB  Seven South Asian nations vowed on Thursday to eliminate all forms of child labour by the year 2010 and to end child labour in hazardous occupations 10 years earlier.   "Child labour, in bondage or otherwise, working in hazardous occupations should be eliminated by the year 2000," said a resolution adopted by a ministerial conference of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Rawalpindi.   It also said: "SAARC member states should eliminate the evil of child labour from the SAARC region by the year 2010."   A spokesman said the resolution was unanimously adopted by ministers from the organisation's member-countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.   The resolution will be go before the ninth SAARC summit next year at Male, capital of Maldives, for endorsement.   SAARC Secretary-General Naeem Hassan told a news conference that it was the first time the issue of child labour had been collectively taken up by the seven-nation group.   "There is a general agreement that something has to be done about the issue."   Pakistan's Social Welfare Minister Sher Afgan said: "It is now the responsibility of the governments and the people of all our countries to help translate the commitments into reality."   He added: "It is our responsibility to eradicate child labour.   It is our duty to provide food, health, education and clothing to our children."   South Asian countries have come under international criticism and faced threats of trade sanctions over alleged use of child and bonded labour.   In July the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed an appropriations bill amendment to fund inspections of plants suspected of employing child labour in India and Pakistan.   India's Labour Ministry officials say some 18 million children are at work there instead of going to schools.   But children's-rights activists say more than 55 million poor children work in labour-intensive industries in India such as match-making, quarrying, tanning, bangle-making, firework-manufacturing and carpet-weaving.   The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says 10 million children there work in brick kilns, farms, carpet factories, workshops and restaurants for the same hours as adults but much less pay.   Islamabad denies unofficial estimates of the child workforce and has ordered its own study, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, which is due to be issued in September.   The SAARC resolution contains a commitment to move towards universal access to and completion of primary education by the year 2000.   The conference also resolved to combat trafficking in children and to help victims of violence caused by prostitution and sexual exploitation. 
1872 !GCAT !GDIP !GPOL !GVOTE  India's Home (interior) Minister accused Pakistan on on Thursday of planning to disrupt state elections in troubled Jammu and Kashmir state.   "It seems that from across the border there is going to be a planned attempt to disrupt the elections," Inderjit Gupta told reporters in the state capital Srinagar.   The local polls next month will be the first since 1987 in the state, clamped under direct rule from New Delhi since 1990.   India has often accused Pakistan of abetting militancy in the valley, a charge Islamabad has always denied.   Gupta said there might be an increase in the number of people infiltrating the Kashmir valley to create disturbance in the region.   "We noticed among the people who come from across the border, there is a growing number of foreign mercenaries," Gupta said.   India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the troubled region of Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947.   Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's centre-left government hopes the elections will help restore normality and democratic rule in Jammu and Kashmir, where more than 20,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence since 1990.   Over a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi's rule in the state. 
1873 !GCAT !GDIP  Pakistan said on Thursday it was seeking to reverse a U.N. Security Council decision to delete some 50 items from its agenda, including its dispute with India over Kashmir.   A Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters the Council's decision this month to delete these items from September 15 was for what he called the "very frivolous reason" that its agenda was overcrowded.   Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's government has come under attack from political opponents who see the Council's move as a failure for Islamabad's foreign policy.   The spokesman said the Security Council had agreed to review the decision after vigorous efforts by Pakistan and other concerned countries.   Pakistan has approached the Council's permament members and Bhutto had sent them messages, he said.   The Arab group in the United Nations and several other countries had taken up the matter, while a ministerial contact group of the Organisation of Islamic Conference on Kashmir had decided to write to the Security Council, he said.   Kashmir has been on the Council agenda since 1949 when it ordered a ceasefire in the first India-Pakistan war there and later called for a plebiscite to decide its future.   India is fighting a separatist revolt in the two-thirds of Kashmir it rules.   Pakistan, which wants the dispute to be resolved by implementing the U.N.-mandated plebiscite, controls the remainder of the region, over which the two countries have fought two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.   "The decision of the Security Council is procedurally flawed, was taken without prior consultation in a closed meeting and without any regard to the merits or substantive aspects concerned," the Pakistani spokesman said.   "We have made it clear that if this decision is not rescinded, it would have a serious bearing on the working and the future role of the Security Council under the charter of the United Nations."   Under the present Security Council decision, an item due to be deleted will remain on the agenda for one more year if a country complains against deletion before September 15.   But the spokesman said Pakistan, which wants Kashmir to remain on the agenda until the dispute is settled, wished to reinstate the issue as a matter of principle.   "Because of these irregularities (in the Council decision) and because Kashmir issue has been alive all this time -- so many people have died -- it is not an issue which can be just brushed under the carpet just like that," he said.   More than 20,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in Indian part of Kashmir since early 1990, hospital and police sources say.   Pakistan denies Indian charges that it is training and arming the Kashmiri militants seeking independence or union with Pakistan. 
1874 !GCAT !GPRO  Mother Teresa, known as the Saint of the Gutters, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for bringing hope and dignity to millions of poor, unwanted people with her simple message:"The poor must know that we love them."   While the world heaps honours on her and even regards her as a living saint, the nun of Albanian descent maintains she is merely doing God's work.   "It gives me great joy and fulfilment to love and care for the poor and neglected," she said.   "The poor do not need our sympathy and pity.   They need our love and compassion."   The diminutive Roman Catholic missionary was on respiratory support in intensive care in an Indian nursing home on Thursday after suffering heart failure.   But an attending doctor said Mother Teresa, who turns 86 next Tuesday, was conscious and in stable condition.   The task Mother Teresa began alone in 1949 in the slums of densely-populated Calcutta, and grew to touch the hearts of people around the world.   When in 1979 she was told she had won the Nobel Peace Prize, she said characteristically: "I am unworthy."   The world disagreed, showering more than 80 national and international honours on her including the Bharat Ratna, or Jewel of India, the country's highest civilian award.   Her health began to deteriorate in 1989 when she was fitted with a heart pacemaker.   A year later, the Vatican announced she was stepping down as Superior of her Missionaries of Charity order.   More than 100 delegates flew in from around the world to elect a successor.   They could not agree, so asked her to stay on.   She agreed.   In 1991, Mother Teresa was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia.   In 1993, she fell in Rome and broke three ribs.   In August the same year, while in New Delhi to receive yet another award, she developed malaria, complicated by her heart and lung problems.   Last April she fractured her left collar bone.   But her increasing frailty, arthritis and failing eyesight has not stopped her travels around the world to mingle with the poor and desperate.   Mother Teresa was born Agnes Goinxha Bejaxhiu to Albanian parents in Skopje, in what was then Serbia, on August 27, 1910.   She attended a government school and was already deeply religious by the time she was 12.   At the age of 18 she became a Loretto nun, hoping to work at the Order's Calcutta mission.   She was sent to Loretto Abbey in Dublin and from there to India to begin her novitiate and teach geography at a convent school in Calcutta.   She said her divine call to work among the poor came in September, 1946.   "The message was quite clear," she told one interviewer.   "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.   It was an order.   I knew where I belonged."   The Vatican and the mother superior in Dublin approved and after intensive training as a nurse with American missionaries she opened her first Calcutta slum school in December 1949.   She took the name of Teresa, after France's Saint Therese of the Child Jesus.   In India she was simply called Mother.   Mother Teresa set up her first home for the dying in a Hindu rest house in Calcutta after she saw a penniless woman turned away by a city hospital.   Named "Nirmal Hriday" (Tender Heart), it was the first of a chain of 150 homes for dying, destitute people, admitting nearly 18,000 a year.   Her Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious order she founded in 1949, now runs about 300 homes for unwanted children and the destitute in India and abroad.   In 1994 a British television documentary called the myth around Mother Teresa a mixture of "hyperbole and credulity".   Catholics around the world rose to her defence. 
1875 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Former Indian prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao won a partial reprieve in a cheating case on Thursday when the Supreme Court ordered a magistrate to consider the leader's appeal against a summons to appear in court.   The Supreme Court ordered the appointment of a new lower court magistrate to take up Rao's claim that another judge overstepped his authority last month when he summoned the former prime minister to appear as a co-accused in the case.   The court's move offered respite to Rao, whose authority at the head of the Congress party has been undermined by the cheating case summons, by allowing the former prime minister to ask a new magistrate to rescind the summons.   But the Supreme Court stood by its refusal, announced on Wednesday, to quash a July 9 order by Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Prem Kumar summoning Rao to appear in the case.   The July 9 order was later upheld by the Delhi High Court.   "It is appropriate not to hear the petition in this court," the Supreme court bench said, referring to Rao's appeal which would now be heard by a lower court.   The Supreme Court said Rao would not have to appear in person before any tribunal in connection with the case until his complaint was considered by the new magistrate.   At each stage of the appeal process Rao has been represented by his lawyer.   "We are of the view that it would subserve the ends of justice if the matter is heard by some other judicial officer," the two-judge bench said in its order.   "Therefore we request the Delhi High Court to appoint a new magistrate to deal with this matter," the court said.   Rao's lawyer indicated that he would ask the new magistrate, yet to be assigned to the case, to consider the former prime minister's request to have the summons rescinded.   But the magistrate could also uphold the summons and force Rao to appear.   At issue was a case filed by expatriate Indian businessman Lakhubhai Pathak, who alleged Rao and a Hindu guru conspired to cheat him of $100,000 in 1983.   Pathak says he paid the money to guru Chandraswami in a failed attempt to secure a state newsprint contract after Rao, then foreign minister, assured him at a meeting in a New York hotel that his "work would be done".   Rao says he is innocent of the charge of criminal conspiracy to cheat, and has denied he was in New York on the dates mentioned by Pathak.   Analysts say Rao would probably be forced to relinquish leadership of Congress if he were forced to testify.   Congress has governed India for all but four years since independence in 1947.   But the party was soundly defeated in recent general elections, forcing Rao to step down.   Rao's lawyers have argued that their client cannot be named as a co-accused if he was not mentioned in Pathak's initial complaint, filed with police in 1987. 
1876 !GCAT !GVIO  The rebel Taleban Islamic militia has captured a pro-government military base in the eastern Afghan province of Paktia, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service said on Thursday.   The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), quoting a Taleban spokesman in the northwestern Pakistani town of Peshawar, said the Taleban forces captured the Ali Khel base on Wednesday from fighters loyal to Afghan Prime Minister Gulbaddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami faction.   Hezb-e-Islami officials could not be contacted immediately and no independent account of the fighting was available.   AIP said at least two people were killed and about a dozen wounded in the fighting.   Taleban seized two tanks, some artillery pieces and mortars from the base, it added.   Hekmatyar, once a main opponent of Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, rejoined the Kabul government in June as Prime Minister after a peace pact between the two men.   The Taleban movement has sworn to oust Rabbani and install a purist Islamic order throughout Afghanistan. 
1877 !GCAT !GVIO  The bullet-riddled bodies of 14 pro-India militants were found on Thursday in northern Jammu and Kashmir state, police said.   The victims, all members of the Muslim Mujahideen, were found in Anantnag district, about 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Srinagar, the state's summer capital, they said.   Police said the bodies were in a house in the Mattan Chowk area of Anantnag town.   No one claimed responsibility for the killings, but police said they suspected separatist guerrillas.   Muslim Mujahideen is one of several groups that back Indian rule in the troubled province and which clash regularly with separatist militants.   The bodies were found one day after Muslim Mujahideen chief Nabi Azad told reporters in Srinagar his group supported the call for greater autonomy for the region but would not take part in coming local assembly elections.   The voting, to be held on four days starting on September 7, would be the first local elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1990 revolt against Indian rule in the mostly Moslem state.   Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's centre-left government hopes the elections will help restore normalcy and democratic rule in Jammu and Kashmir, where more than 20,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence. 
1878 !GCAT !GVIO  Fourteen members of a pro-India militant group were found dead on Thursday in south Kashmir, police said.   The bullet-riddled bodies of the victims, all members of the Muslim Mujahideen outfit, were discovered in Anantnag district, about 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Srinagar, the summer capital of troubled Jammu and Kashmir state, they said.    Police said all 14 bodies were found in a house in the Mattan Chowk area of Anantnag town.   Authorities said no one had claimed responsibility for the killings but they suspected separatist guerrillas.   Muslim Mujahideen is one of several groups, comprised of former separatist militants, which back Indian rule in the province.   On Wednesday, Muslim Mujahideen chief Nabi Azad told a news conference in Srinagar that his group would not participate in coming local assembly elections in the Jammu and Kashmir state.   The assembly elections, set to be held on four days next month starting on September 7, would be the first local elections in the state since a separatist revolt against Indian rule in the mostly Moslem state erupted in 1990. 
1879 !GCAT !GPRO  Mother Teresa, under treatment at an Indian nursing home for fever and cardiac problems, is resting and not in critical condition, a doctor said on Thursday.   "She is resting at present," Dr A.K. Bardhan told Reuters in the eastern city of Calcutta.   "She is not in critical condition."    Bardhan said the 85-year-old Roman Catholic missionary was admitted to the Woodlands Nursing Home in Calcutta on Tuesday with fever and "rigor," or chills accompanied by contraction of the skin.   She was admitted to the intensive care unit on Wednesday after developing a cardiac problem, and put on an artificial respirator in the evening, the attending physician said.   Bardhan said Mother Teresa remained in the intensive care unit on Thursday morning.   He did not elaborate on her condition.   A Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who founded a network of missions for the poor and the sick in the densely-populated city, Mother Teresa was fitted with a heart pacemaker in 1989. 
1880 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GPOL  Australian Industrial Relations (IR) minister Peter Reith said the government's proposed IR reforms could be in place by early next year, after the release of a Senate Committee report on the bills on Thursday.   The Senate majority report proposed amendments to the bill, but Reith said this did not surprise him as the committee had been dominated by Labor Party Senators who oppose the reforms.   "But irrespective of the majority report, I remain hopeful that the outcome of negotiations with the Democrats will be the passage of the bill and a new industrial relations system in the New Year," Reith said in a statement.    The committee chairwoman, Labor Senator Jacinta Collins, said the inquiry had found workers would be worse off under the government's plan to change the industrial relations system.   "Overall the findings in most areas would mean workers would be worse off," Collins told Reuters.   Later Reith told reporters that the committee had been Labor Party dominated and trade union orchestrated -- they were "just using the Senate Committee for their own political purposes."   "The fact is that, as we speak now already, this majority committee's report is dead, dead in the water," Reith said.    "The bill is going to pass, and we look forward to sensible discussions about the amendments."   Reith said negotiations would continue with the minority Democrat senators, who can provide the government with the votes it needs to pass the legislation in the upper house.   Democrats industrial relations spokesman Andrew Murray said they would reject some proposals and make sure that employers and employees needed to bargain fairly at an enterprise level.   But Murray said there was room for negotiation between both the Federal government and the Democrats.    The Democrats were also prepared to support the thrust of new unfair dismissal laws, the establishment of an official employment advocate, ending union closed shops and preference clauses and quickening the pace of award system modernisation, he said.   Reith declined to nominate any areas of the legislation that he may be more inclined to amend to ensure passage, which he expected to occur in coming months.   "The lines will be drawn when when the thing hits the Senate," Reith said.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1881 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  The Australian Attorney-General has called for a review of the role of the National Crime Authority (NCA) in the failed prosecution of former corporate high-flier John Elliott for fraud.   Elliot was acquitted on Thursday by the Victorian Supreme Court of defrauding his old business empire of A$66.5 million.   "In the circumstances I have asked my department to review the role of the NCA in the Elliot case in order that I can report as soon as practicable to the Intergovernmental Committee which oversees the NCA," Attorney-General Daryl Williams said in a statement.   Elliott's acquittal was ordered by Judge Frank Vincent after the prosecution withdrew its case, noting an earlier court ruling that much of its evidence was inadmissable.   Williams said Elliott and Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett had called for an inquiry into the NCA after Elliott's acquittal.   Williams said the ruling of inadmissiblity of the bulk of the evidence which would have been put before the trial "raises serious questions about the operations of the NCA wehich need to be clarified."   The NCA had told Williams that the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions intended to appeal the ruling, but any such appeal would not be against the acquittal.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273 2730 
1882 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Shell Australia Ltd's striking refinery operators voted on Thursday to return to work at the 115,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) plant near Melbourne on Friday, a trade union official said.    "The members have voted to return to work at 7 p.m. (0900 GMT) tomorrow," Australian Workers' Union (AWU) negotiator Sam Wood said after the vote on Thursday afternoon.   Picket lines on the refinery's ocean tanker and LPG distribution facilities have been lifted, he said.   The 240 or so striking operators walked off the job on August 13 after shutting down the refinery, at Geelong southwest of Melbourne, in a dispute over wage practices.   The AWU had refused a Shell request for the operators to perform extra maintenance duties as part of a new wage deal.    But the union and the company reached a compromise in talks held earlier on Thursday, Wood told Reuters.   Under the agreement, a limit has been put on the amount of time operators can spend performing maintenance tasks, he said.   "Only 20 percent of their time as an operatore could be spent on doing maintenance-type activities," he added.   "With those protections in there, we are now satisfied that our concerns are being addressed."   The refinery has been operating at partial production since late last week.   Using non-union labour, Shell brought the refinery to around one third of normal output by this week.    Shell welcomed the decision to return to work and said the agreement was consistent with the company's aim of keeping the refinery on an internationally competitive footing.   "This has been a difficult dispute but there is now a genuine commitment to build a sound relationship for the future," Shell spokesman Warren Stooke said in a statement.   He did not say when the refinery might return to full capacity.   -- Melbourne bureau 613-9286-1421 
1883 !C12 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Normandy Mining Ltd said on Thursday that it had gained Supreme Court approval for its A$4 billion merger with associates PosGold Ltd and Gold Mines of Kalgoorlie Ltd.   Normandy's general manager of corporate affairs, Colin Jackson, said lodging with the Australian Securities Commission on Friday would complete the formal process.   "It is almost there," Jackson told Reuters.    "At the close of business tomorrow PosGold and GMK will cease trading and former PosGold and GMK shareholders will begin trading their alloted Normandy Shares on a deferred delivery basis on Monday," Jackson said.   He said Normandy had not picked up any of the eight percent of shares in Mount Leyshon Gold Mines Ltd traded in recent days.   The shares are believed to have been sold by long-term Mount Leyshon stakeholder Government of Singapore Investment Corp, market sources said.    Jackson said that while Normandy had made two previous offers for Mount Leyshon, in which it has a 76 percent stake, circumstances had now changed.   "It would have cost us around A$75 million to buy out the minority in Mount Leyshon and we now have many more opportunities which would represent a far better return to shareholders," Jackson said.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
1884 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GENV  New South Wales (NSW) will soon be breeding up to 20 million sterile fruit fly a week in an attempt to protect major fruit growing areas without the use of pesticides.   The sterile fruit fly will be bred at NSW Agriculture's Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Camden, in a new A$600,000 facility.   NSW Agriculture Minister Richard Amery said the fruit fly 'factory' was being funded by the Tri-State Fruit Fly Committee, comprising representatives of the NSW, Victorian, South Australian and federal governments and industry.   When the sterile fruit fly mate with wild fruit fly there will be no offspring, Amery said.   NSW Agriculture had been releasing sterile fruit fly in Wagga Wagga, NSW, since February with very positive results, he said.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
1885 !GCAT !GDIS  Eight South Korean tourists were rescued from an icy river on Thursday after their vehicle plunged from a bridge on New Zealand's South Island, police said.   The eight were in a minibus which skidded on the Kawarau bridge near the tourist resort of Queenstown.   It crashed through barriers and fell about 12 metres (40 feet) into the river.   Two of the passengers were flown to hospital in the city of Invercargill.   Radio New Zealand said they were a 35-year-old man who was critically ill and and eight-year-old boy with moderate injuries.   The other six people were taken to a local hospital but were not seriously injured.   Department of Conservation officer Brian Ahern said the group was lucky to survive the plunge.   Road conditions at the time were treacherous, with ice on the ground and falling snow. 
1886 !GCAT !GPOL !GWELF  The minority Australian Greens said on Thursday they will try to block in the upper house of parliament social security cuts in the 1996/97 Federal budget handed down on Tuesday.   "Greens Senators (Bob) Brown and (Dee) Margetts will move to block the government's harsh social security cuts in the Senate by opposing legislated changes to the Social Security Act (1991) needed to implement key parts of the government's budget," they said in a statement.    The Greens said they would oppose budget measures valued at A$249 million in the fiscal year to June 1998, their first full year of operation:   --Making migrants wait longer for social security, which will save A$140 million   --Cutting rent assistance, worth A$33 million in 1997/98;   --Tightening entitlements where beneficiaries have been working part-time, A$76 million in 1997/98.   The value of another opposed measure, cutting fraudulent claimants' benefits for 13 weeks, was unclear.    The Liberal-National government, which will need legislation for some of the deficit-slashing budget it announced on Tuesday, is two votes short of a majority in the Senate, the upper house of parliament.   Assuming the Labor opposition votes against a measure, the two votes can come from the seven Australian Democrats, either of the two Greens, who might not always vote together, or from either of two Independents, Brian Harradine and Labor defector Mal Colston.   -- Canberra Bureau 61-6 273-2730 
1887 !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  The world's first voluntary euthanasia law survived a challenge in Australia's Northern Territory parliament on Thursday when opponents failed in a bid to repeal the assisted suicide legislation.   The territory's parliament defeated the "Right to Human Life" bill 14 to 11 in a free vote after a five-hour debate.   The law, which came into effect on July 1 but has not yet been used, survived a court challenge last month and still faces challenges in the national parliament and Australia's High Court.   The assisted suicide law allows terminally-ill patients to end their life by lethal injection or pill as long as they meet strict conditions.   Territory opposition backbencher Neil Bell, who introduced the right to life bill, said he was disappointed with the vote, but that the matter was far from resolved.   "There's a lot of people out there who are concerned and a lot of other people who don't understand it," Bell told Reuters by telephone from Darwin, the territory's capital.   Doctors have been warned they may face murder charges if they assist a patient to die and the law is subsequently repealed.   The territory's Supreme Court last month rejected a challenge brought by a coalition of doctors, church and aboriginal leaders, ruling the law was within the territorial parliament's power.   The euthanasia law still faces a challenge in Australia's national parliament where a government backbencher intends to introduce legislation in the next few weeks to override the law.   A challenge is also expected in Australia's High Court with euthanasia opponents seeking a ruling on the legislation's constitutional validity.   Northern Territory Chief Minister Shane Stone said on Thursday he expected the challenge in the national parliament could succeed. 
1888 !GCAT !GPOL  The New Zealand parliament next week says farewell to the Westminster-style first-past-the-post voting system.   But this week it sketched the shape of the future under the Mixed Member Proportional system to be ushered in at the October 12 election.   While the House will sit for two days next week to hear the last of the valedictories from MPs (voluntarily) leaving politics -- in some cases in horror of working under the consensus politics needed under coalition governments -- the    final serious business of the House ended on Thursday.   Wednesday was the last private members' day of the session and saw the passage of the Teacher Registration Bill.   Proposed by Labour's Trevor Mallard, it passed through its final stages in the teeth of government opposition and created history in the process.   National's seven-MP coalition partner United crossed the floor to help the bill through.    In itself, that was no surprise.   United's support for Labour was always assured.   United education spokeswoman Margaret Austin had been an early promoter of teacher registration when she was Labour's education spokeswoman before switching party allegiance midway through 1995.   Moreover United had written its support for the bill into the agreement which set up its coalition with National.   What was surprising was the behind-the-scenes horse trading that saw National turn down the chance to filibuster the measure past 10 p.m. and effectively sink it until the next parliament.    In what was akin to the first cuckoo of the MMP Spring, it appears National did a number of deals with the "enemy" on the bill.   First it undertook to allow its smooth passage in exchange for a commitment from Labour that the balance of its own legislative programme could be cleared.   Labour had threatened (or was it bluff?)   to keep the House running for two more weeks without such an understanding.    Secondly it struck a deal with New Zealand First to support their amendment to have teachers at Maori language immersion schools (kura kaupapa Maori) exempted from compulsory registration if in turn New Zealand First supported National's similar exclusion for independent schools.   While New Zealand First was successful (much to Mallard's and Austin's annoyance), National's amendment was lost, leaving kura kaupapa alone outside the bill's ambit.   It was a working model of MMP compromise in action and it will be no surprise if similarly strange bedfellows fashion legislation after October 12.    If the referendum supporting a change to MMP was largely motivated by disaffection with Labour and National for breaking manifesto promises, then deals such as this could cause some serious disillusionment among voters who believe a manifesto pledge is for life.   They are likely to find out later this year that, like marriage, manifestos can have trouble riding out the rough times.    For those who believe the disparate voices in the House -- anything up to seven parties on some polling -- will lead to policy paralysis rather than an unwinding of the economic reforms of the past 12 years, there was also early evidence this week.   Prime Minister Jim Bolger is a strong advocate of the abolition of the Privy Council as New Zealand's final court of appeal, but faces some some conservative opposition within his own ranks.   The minor parties crucial to National's majority in the House are keen to cling to the appeal, whose abolition some would see as a dangerous first step towards the republic which    Bolger has also promoted.   So the broad support crucial for such a constitutional change is not there, and the Courts Structure Bill seems to have quietly atrophied at the select committee stage.   With the exception of bills of high ideological significance, that is likely to be the fate of many a proposal under the next government: death in the lobbies rather than on the floor of the House.   -- Wellington newsroom 64 4 473-4746 
1889 !E13 !E131 !E14 !E141 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Lower than expected salary and wage growth will provide some comfort to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), but the overall inflation picture remains murky, economists said on Thursday.   Earlier, Statistics New Zealand said its Labour Cost Index rose 0.3 percent in the June quarter and 1.9 percent in the year to June.   Economists polled by Reuters had expected on average 0.53 percent and 2.2 percent rises respectively.   They said that while the weak data would encourage the RBNZ in its fight to dampen inflation, it needed to see more weak indicators before loosening its grip on monetary conditions.   Only last week the market was suprised by data showing June quarter employment growth of 0.9 percent, against economists' expectations of a 0.37 percent rise.   Doyle Paterson Brown economist Stephen Toplis cautioned against reading too much into Thursday's figures as there was still too much uncertainty in the overall inflation picture.   "If you get a whole swag of these numbers coming in below expectations, then you are going to see the Reserve Bank bring forward the easing (rather) than put it back," he said.   "There have been a significant number of bits of information that are now suggesting the economy is slowing down more than people may have anticipated," he said.   "The problem is, we are still getting the odd statistic out there which is showing a slightly different picture."   Toplis said on top of the surprisingly strong employment growth, recent building consents data, remained substantially higher than a year ago, despite falling month to month.   Bank of New Zealand economist Peter Jolly said a low labour cost number was a prerequisite for any monetary easing, but while the weak quarterly rise was "very positive" it was not enough in itself.   "It goes part of the way.   I think they (the RBNZ) felt they needed a weaker housing market and some alleviation in wage pressures, and they have got it a little bit in both but not entirely."   Jolly said the RBNZ would not signal an easing in its September economic forecasts, due on September 13.   "They will need the weight of evidence and I don't think the weight of evidence is quite there yet," he said.   The data was seen as mildly positive for the market.   Rates on the 90-day bank bills rose about three basis points, and the shorter government bond yields slipped around two basis points.   "In our view, it is supportive and consistent with earlier anecdotal evidence that the economy slowed in May, June and July," said Roger Kerr, executive director of merchant bank Bancorp Treasury Services. 
1890 !C11 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  Qantas Airways Ltd chairman Gary Pemberton said on Thursday the airline's planned A$330 million cost cuts for the 1996/97 year were independent of the current wage negotiations between the airline and unions.   Asked if the cuts would include the outcome of the current wage talks, Pemberton said: "They are independent of that.   We will have to find A$330 million in cost savings anyway."    Pemberton said it was too early to predict the outcome of the current wage talks as the issue was very sensitive to both the airline and the unions.   The company said earlier on Thursday that its cost cutting target had been raised to A$330 million from A$230 million to deliver profit growth in line with market expectations.   At 12.40 p.m. (0240 GMT), Qantas shares were one cent firmer at A$2.18.   Qantas is 25 percent owned by British Airways Plc.   -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800 
1891 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) said on Thursday it had agreed with Shell Australia Ltd to continue negotiations over the ongoing industrial dispute at Shell's oil refinery in Geelong, Victoria.   "We're having a mass meeting this afternoon to report that to our members," AWU Victoria state organiser Cesar Melhem told Reuters.   Some 240 AWU operators began shutting down the refinery on Monday, August 19 and walked off the job the following day in protest against work practices at the site.    A small crew of non-union labour has since brought the refinery back to partial production but the company's Lara LPG and ocean tanker distribution facilties remain closed by picket lines.   Melhem said the union was hopeful of resolving the dispute in its favour.   A Shell spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.   -- Melbourne bureau 61-3 9286-1435 
1892 !GCAT !GPOL  The red ochre dirt poured out of a politician's manicured white hands and into the weathered black hands of an aboriginal tribal elder, spilling back into the dry outback earth from which it came.   The symbolic image of former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam returning land to a group of Aborigines in 1975 remains one of the most poignant in the history of aboriginal land rights in Australia.   This week, Whitlam returns to the site, Daguragu in the Northern Territory, to celebrate with Aborigines the beginning of the aboriginal land rights movement 30 years ago.   But three decades later, indigenous land rights still divide Australians.   Aborigines say perceptions are the major obstacle to progress.   To black Australia, land is spiritual.   To the white community, it is a commodity.   "Land is the Mother Earth to aboriginal people.   We believe the land is all life," said Galarrwuy Yunupingu, chairman of the Northern Land Council in the Northern Territory.   "So it comes to us that we are part of the land and the land is part of us.   It can not be one or the other.   We can not be separated from it by anything or anybody," he said.   On August 23, 1966, a small, sinewy aboriginal stockman named Vincent Lingiari led 200 of his Gurindji tribe off Wave Hill Station, a sprawling cattle property on Gurindji land owned by the British Vestey group of companies.   Lingiari was fed up with the poor work and living conditions his people suffered on their traditional land.   He demanded not only better conditions, but the return of Gurindji land to the people.   Aborigines call that day, Gurindji Freedom Day.   "We were treated like dogs.   We were lucky to get paid the 50 quid (sterling) a month we were due.   We lived in tin humpies (shelters) and we had to crawl in and out of on our knees," said Billy Bunter Jampijinpa, then a 16-year-old Gurindji stockman.   "The food was bad, just flour, tea, sugar and bits of beef like the head or feet of a bullock.   The Vestey mob were hard men.   They didn't care about blackfellas," Jampijinpa said.   Lingiari led his people to a bush camp at nearby Wattie Creek, which they renamed Daguragu.   Here they stayed for seven years, despite being threatened with violence and starvation.   They would never return to work at Wave Hill.   In 1968, the then Australian government decided to build a township at Wave Hill for the Gurindji and in 1975 provided funds to buy 90 sq km (35 sq miles) of land from Lord Vestey.   The Gurindji struggle led to the introduction of the Aboriginal Land Rights Act in 1976, but it took five more years after the law passed for the Gurindji to win their claim to 1,290 sq km (498 sq miles), still only a fraction of their land.   "The strike at Wave Hill three decades ago was one of the turning points in the struggle...for recognition of our rights of land," said Aborigine Marcia Langton, a professor in aboriginal studies at the Northern Territory University.   Forty percent of the territory, 538,000 sq km (207,721 sq miles), is now aboriginal land, hosting a billion dollars worth of mineral operations and major tourist attractions like Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock, and the Kakadu wetlands.   Aborigines have created 600 homeland centres, supporting themselves with mineral royalties, tourism, 26 cattle projects and ventures such as crocodile farming.   But the struggle for land rights continues.   Australia's first land rights law remains valid only in the territory, and even there, Aborigines warn that land gains remain under threat from miners, pastoralists and politicans.   Aborigines say they are still locked out of ancestoral lands because the territory's law does not cover pastoral leases, towns or sacred sites.   "Many of these people live in fringe camps in Alice Springs, Katherine or Darwin, severely economically disadvantaged...," said Yunupingu.   Australia's 300,000 Aborigines are the most disadvantaged of the country's 18 million population.   Aborigines have a 60 percent unemployment rate, are 18 times more likely to be in prison and to die 18 years to 20 years earlier because of poor health.   Some 38 percent of aboriginal communities do not meet World Health Organisation standards.   Northern Territory's Minister for Aboriginal Development Mick Palmer said many communities are "land rich but income poor" and called on land councils to become land managers.   The 1993 introduction across Australia of Native Title, a law recognising aboriginal ownership of land before white settlement in 1788, was called a new dawn in the land rights struggle.   But no land has yet been handed back as Native Title.   "I am worried about what might happen in the future if aboriginal people don't keep fighting," Yunupingu said.   "Loss of our land rights would leave us powerless as the scavenger birds in Australian cities.   If we lose our land, we will end up eating crumbs from the whitefellas' table," he said. 
1893 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  The Supreme Court of Victoria on Thursday acquitted former Elders IXL chief executive John Elliott and three co-accused of charges that they defrauded the group of A$66.5 million.    Judge Frank Vincent announced the acquittal after the prosecution told the court it would lead no evidence against the four accused because of an earlier court ruling against the admissability of much of the prosecution case.   "In consequence a verdict of not guilty should be entered into the record," Judge Vincent said after hearing the prosecution had withdrawn its case. 
1894 !GCAT  -- ALL PAPERS -- Beijing cancels a mission to Ukraine by Politburo member and senior economic reform minister Li Tieying, and attacks Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan's visit to Ukraine as a move against China's reunification.   -- Beijing-funded WEN WEI PO and TA KUNG PAO -- Beijing issued details of rules on direct cargo and transport links between China and Taiwan.   -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- A Democratic Party trip to Taiwan during which party leader Martin Lee would probably have met President Lee Teng-hui has been canceled amid signs of a thaw in relations between the party and Beijing.   The trip was considered too sensitive at a time when the party was awaiting Beijing's response to calls for dialogue.   -- MING PAO -- Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's family have prepared a party at home, just for family members and the head of Deng's Office.   Deng only wanted to celebrate his 92nd birthday on Thursday with his family.   It said Deng seemed to have lost interest in the world, because he rarely asked his assistant to read newspapers to him nowadays.   -- HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES -- according to its own sources, China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, would cut interest rates by a big margin at the end of the week, which showed Beijing's determination to boost its economy.   -- HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL -- The mayor of Guangzhou, Li Zeliu, said that the city would lower land prices by 25 per cent and the transaction fees and taxes by 20 per cent.   Property experts said local developers who had projects in Guangzhou, including Lai Sin Group, would benefit.   -- HONGKONG STANDARD -- China's plan to establish direct shipping links with Taiwan could help the island wrest U.S.-bound shipping business from Hong Kong.   -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- Xiamen International Bank, the first Sino-foreign bank widely considered a trailblazer in China's drive to reform its financial sector, was seeking mainland approval for a listing in Hong Kong.   -- TA KUNG PAO -- About 1,000 overseas students graduated from the latest mandarin Chinese language course at the Beijing Language and Culture University.   Last year about 40,000 foreign students went to learn the language in China.   It said short courses lasting from one to five months were most popular.   -- HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES -- Local businessmen have dreamed up a new promotion method using movie stars as label designers.   Singer Andy Lau was invited to design a series of sunglasses targeted at professionals, while singer Amanda Lee, who is known for her trendy and stylish outfits, had designed an Amanda Lee Collection for Lee jeans.   -- Hong Kong News Room (852) 2843 6441 
1895 !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Indonesian authorities and the country's leading opposition figure signalled on Thursday they are trying to negotiate an end to a row that has sharply raised political tensions.   Lawyers for the government and for Megawati Sukarnoputri, ousted chief of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and daughter of late founding president Sukarno, said they would discuss their differences.   However, political analysts said chances for an agreement were remote.   Central Jakarta District Court chief judge I Gde Ketut Suarta, who was hearing a lawsuit filed by Megawati against her removal, said an out-of-court settlement was in progress and he would give both sides one week to negotiate.   Megawati, who was not present in court, declined to comment on the development, which comes after months of political unrest in Indonesia capped by riots in Jakarta last month and a subsequent government crackdown.   "I don't have any comment at the moment.   I have given everything to my lawyers," she said.   Aides said she planned to meet her legal team later on Thursday to discuss the case.   They said no immediate political strategy was expected to be announced and there were no details on what shape a settlement might take.   Megawati is suing the government and the military for backing a rival PDI faction which deposed her from the leadership in June.   Members of the rival faction, including its leader Surjadi, were also named as defendants.   "The offer for an out-of-court settlement is the best.   We will do it if the defendants share our perceptions," said Megawati's chief lawyer, R.O. Tambunan, at the court.   However, a lawyer for the national police chief, who has been cited as a defendant, said: "We agreed with the offer, but only on one condition -- the suit must be dropped.   We are also ready to face it because we have nothing to do with the PDI."   Muchtar Buchori, a political commentator who is close to Megawati, said she would at least demand reinstatement as the party chief in exchange for dropping the case.   "I think her reinstatement will be very difficult," said independent analyst Dewi Fortuna Anwar.   "Since the president has accepted Surjadi as (PDI) chairman, it will be difficult to wriggle out of that."   Megawati has been at the centre of a political storm since her ejection from the PDI's top post.   Her removal led to some of the most severe protests in the three-decades rule of President Suharto and riots broke out in Jakarta on July 27 after police cleared the PDI headquarters of her supporters.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst in the city for more than 20 years.   The government has since cracked down on dissent and taken over 200 people into custody.   Some have been charged with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   Megawati has been questioned twice by police in connection with the riots but has not been charged.   Political analysts have said the government backed the move to depose Megawati because it feared she could cut into the ruling Golkar party's votes in next year's parliamentary elections and perhaps stand against Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections. 
1896 !GCAT !GDIP  Taiwan media on Thursday revealed the prize that Vice-President Lien Chan snared during a mysterious mission to Ukraine that has incensed China -- an exchange of unofficial representative offices.   Taiwan and Ukraine agreed to exchange offices after Lien met Ukraine President Leonid Kuchma in a secretive trip to the former Soviet republic, Taiwan newspapers reported.   Taiwan officials would not comment on the reports, maintaining the secrecy that has cloaked Lien's trip since he dropped from sight on Sunday during a New York stopover.   The Central Daily News, the ruling Nationalist Party's mouthpiece, said on its front page that Lien and Kuchma reached the agreement in a meeting on Wednesday.   Ukraine, already bearing the brunt of China's scorn over the Lien's visit, has flatly denied that the two leaders met.   "There was no meeting.   Neither official, nor private nor non-official," a Kuchma spokesman said on Wednesday.   "There is no point at all for the president to meet him.   The Chinese are even angry over his private stay in Ukraine."   The Central Daily News and other papers said the two leaders also agreed to bolster cultural and technology exchanges between Taiwan and Ukraine, which do not have diplomatic ties.   Taiwan and Ukraine were expected to set up economic and cultural representative offices in each other's territory within six months, the independent Liberty Times reported.   None of the reports identified the sources of their information.   Ukraine recognises Beijing, which has regarded Taiwan as a renegade province since a civil war split them in 1949.   Beijing says Taiwan is a Chinese province not entitled to foreign ties and has scorned even allies whom it sees as giving political or diplomatic quarter to the island's leaders.   Furious over the welcome Kiev accorded Lien, Beijing scrapped a high-level visit to the former Soviet republic that was to have begun on Wednesday.   On Wednesday the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's ambassador to express Beijing's displeasure over Ukraine's decision to allow Lien to visit.   "The Chinese expressed displeasure over this action in Ukraine that this person from Taiwan has got permission to visit the country," an embassy spokesman said.   The spokesman confirmed that Chinese State Councillor Li Tieying, a member of the Politburo of the ruling Communist Party, had postponed his Ukraine visit.   Lien surfaced in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a European mission.   He made a secret detour to Ukraine after making a state visit to the Dominican Republic.   Taiwan state television showed Lien with his wife and other Taiwan and Ukraine officials posing at the University of Kiev, where the announcer said Lien had received an honorary degree. 
1897 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Indonesian opposition figure Megawati Sukarnoputri is discussing a possible settlement with the government in the row over her ejection as leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), a judge said on Thursday.   It was the first sign that the political upheaval which followed her removal from the PDI in June could be coming to an end, but there were no immediate details on what a settlement would entail.   Jakarta District Court chief judge I Gde Ketut Suarta, who was hearing a lawsuit filed by Megawati against her ouster from the party post, said the two sides were working on an out-of-court settlement.   Megawati is suing the government and the military for backing a rival PDI faction which deposed her from the leadership.   Members of the rival faction, including its leader Surjadi, were also named as defendants.   Suarta adjourned the hearing after a brief statement that the court would reconvene on August 29 to hear the outcome.   More than 100 supporters thronged the court complex and chanted "Megawati Will Win" as the proceedings ended.   Riot police and armed police later dispersed them peacefully.   "The offer for an out-of-court settlement is the best.   We will do it if the defendants share our perceptions," said Megawati's chief lawyer, R.O. Tambunan.   However, a lawyer for the national police chief, who has been cited as a defendant, said: "We agreed with the offer, but only on one condition -- the suit must be dropped.   We are also ready to face it because we have nothing to do with the PDI."   Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno, has been at the centre of a political storm since her ejection from the party post.   Her removal led to some of the most severe protests in the three-decades rule of President Suharto.   Riots broke out in Jakarta on July 27 after police cleared the PDI headquarters of her supporters.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst the city has seen for more than over 20 years.   The government has since cracked down on dissent and taken over 200 people into custody.   Some have been charged with subversion, a crime punishable by death.   Authorities blame the riots on a small activist group, the People's Democratic Party, and say its members infiltrated the PDI during the protests against Megawati's ouster.   Megawati has been questioned twice by police in connection with the riots but has not been charged.   Political analysts have said the government backed the move to depose Megawati because it feared she could cut into the ruling Golkar party's votes in next year's parliamentary elections and perhaps stand against Suharto in the 1998 presidential elections.   In contrast, Surjadi, the man who succeeded her as PDI chief, earlier this week agreed to support Suharto and not criticise Golkar and the other recognised political party, the United Development Party, in the campaign.   Suharto, one of the longest-ruling leaders in the world, has won six five-year terms as president unopposed.   He has not said if he will stand in 1998, but analysts say it is likely. 
1898 !GCAT !GDIP  China, piling pressure on Taiwan, has offered to hold political talks to end the hostility with the island that it regards as a rebel province.   China's top negotiator with Taipei, Tang Shubei, told a visiting group from Taiwan on Wednesday that it was time for the rivals to hold political talks, Chinese newspapers said on Thursday.   "Now is the time for the two sides to engage in political talks...that is to end the state of hostility," the overseas edition of the People's Daily quoted Tang as saying.   "China wants peaceful reunification.   The two sides have of course to engage in talks.   Political disputes should be resolved through political talks," Tang was quoted as saying.   In Taipei, Kao Koong-lian, spokesman for the cabinet's Mainland Affairs Council, said: "It is fine with us."   Taiwan says it is committed to reunification but stresses this cannot be achieved overnight.   Taipei has banned official contact, not to mention talks, with Beijing since Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist troops lost the Chinese civil war and fled to the island in 1949.   The two sides have skirted the ban by setting up unofficial bodies to handle bilateral affairs after tensions began easing in the late 1980s.   China suspended unofficial talks with the island last year shortly before Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui made a landmark visit to the United States.   Beijing has sought to push Taiwan into diplomatic isolation.   China's offer to hold reunification talks came after the Ministry of Communications and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation introduced regulations to pave the way for direct shipping links, which Taiwan still bans.   Taiwan has banned direct air and shipping links with China since 1949 but allows indirect links through Hong Kong or a third country.   Many Taiwanese businessmen, who have poured more than $20 billion into China, clamour for direct transport links, but Taiwan has been reluctant to lift the ban, which it views as its last bargaining chip in talks with the communists.   Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade Liu Xiangdong urged Taiwanese authorities to "eliminate human barriers (to direct shipping links) as soon as possible", said the People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Communist Party.   Hong Kong's Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po newspaper quoted a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's cabinet as saying: "There is no reason for the Taiwan authorities to reject the regulations...(which are) pragmatic, flexible and would bring benefits to the two sides."   On the diplomatic front, China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned Ukraine's ambassador in Beijing, Anatoly Plyushko, to protest over a visit to Kiev by Taiwan's Vice President Lien Chan, an embassy spokesman said.   The former Soviet republic of Ukraine recognises China but not Taiwan.   In apparent retaliation against Lien's visit, Chinese State Councillor Li Tieying, a member of the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party, has postponed a visit to Ukraine.   Taiwan's state radio reported that Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma met Lien on Wednesday, but a spokesman for Kuchma denied this.   Lien surfaced in Kiev on Tuesday, two days after vanishing on a mysterious European mission.   He made a secret detour to Ukraine to receive an honorary degree after making a state visit to the Dominican Republic.   Lien and Kuchma have reached agreement to exchange representative offices, Taiwan's Central Daily News said. 
1899 !GCAT  Newspaper headlines   CHINA TIMES - Army has completed missile defence network.   Police to start widespread crackdown on underground society next month.   UNITED DAILY NEWS - China cancels high-level official visit to Ukraine to protest Taiwan Vice-president Lien Chan's private visit there.   Taiwan's wholly owned shipping firms are excluded from being agents of Taiwan-China cargo shipping links.   COMMERCIAL TIMES - Taiwan's foreign trade growth is worst among Asia's Four Little Dragons.   China announces cargo shipping management rules between Taiwan and China.   ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS - China announces cross-strait cargo shipping management rules, paying way for direct trade between Taiwan and China.   Taiwan's July export orders rise only 1.75 percent from a year ago.   -- Taipei Newsroom (5080815) 
1900 !GCAT  Following is a summary of major Indonesian political and business stories in leading newspapers, prepared by Reuters in Jakarta.   Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy.   Telephone: (6221) 384-6364.   Fax: (6221) 344-8404.   - - - -   KOMPAS   Jakarta police say they have for the moment finished questioning Catholic priest Father Ignatius Sandyawan as part of their investigation into the July 27 riots in the capital.   Police say Sandyawan, who has been accused of sheltering criminals, would not be detained while they gather further information.   - - - -   JAKARTA POST   Garuda Indonesia plans to begin diverting flights through Hang Nadim International Airport on Batam Island to develop the special zone's potential as a freight transit point.   New housing regulations governing foreign ownership will limit the occupancy by foreigners to 40 percent for any particular area to stop them having a dominant presence in a particular neighbourhood.   - - - -   REPUBLIKA   The leader of the People's Democratic Party, Budiman Sudjatmiko, and his colleagues, currently in detention and facing subversion charges after last months riots, will be represented by a team of 33 lawyers.   - - - -   BISNIS INDONESIA   Housing Minister Akbar Tanjung has issued more detailed regulations governing the types of houses which can been owned by foreigners as businessmen in the property sector called on the government to open up the commericial sector to foreign ownership. 
1901 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GPOL  Indian police said on Friday they raided the home of a company executive whose firm has been linked to a growing scandal involving the privatisation of the nation's telecommunications sector.   The raid followed a search of two homes belonging to former communications minister Sukh Ram during which police seized more than $1 million in cash and the arrest of a civil servant.   The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it raided on Thursday the home of Mahendra Nahata, chairman of Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd (HFCL), a little-known firm that won lucrative licences earlier this year.   "Searches were conducted at his home," CBI spokesman S.M. Khan told Reuters.   "Some documents were seized and are being scrutinised."   The Press Trust of India (PTI) said his offices were also raided on Friday.   Neither Nahata nor company officials could be reached for comment.   "Some CBI officials did visit the house of Mr Nahata and held discussions with him," PTI quoted a senior company official, Arvind Kharbanda, as saying.   Last week, the CBI seized cash worth over $1 million from two homes belonging to Sukh Ram.   He was abroad during the raids last week and was located on Friday in London.   His relatives told the Indian high commission in London he was unwell and planned to return to India within a week, PTI said.   He was earlier in the United States as part of a trip which media reports said was for treatment linked to heart problems.   Khan confirmed police searches of Nahata's home were linked to last week's corruption case against Sukh Ram.   Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's Congress party, defeated in April-May general elections this year, suspended Sukh Ram from its membership this week after the raids.   No formal charges have been laid by the CBI but a senior telephone department official has been arrested in the case.   On Friday, police arrested the owner of a radio equipment firm alleged to have been favoured by Sukh Ram, PTI said.   Sukh Ram oversaw a yet-unfinished privatisation process that began in 1994 and was accused by the opposition of unfairly favouring the HFCL in an auction of licences under an economic reform programme started in 1991.   He has denied the accusations.   Although the raids on his homes were not linked to the privatisation of telephone services, they revived simmering charges that Sukh Ram mishandled the tendering process for licences in the privatisation scheme.   Opposition parties protesting against Sukh Ram and the licensing process virtually paralysed parliament during a month-long session last December.   On Monday, new Communications Minister Beni Prasad Verma ordered an overhaul of the committee which awards the licences. 
1902 !C17 !C34 !CCAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  The European Commission and Germany failed on Friday to defuse a politically sensitive row over subsidies granted in the ex-communist east to car giant Volkswagen as both sides threatened to take legal action.   European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert and German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt met in Brussels but could agree only to continue their efforts to find a solution.   The row has worried Bonn by arousing anti-European Union sentiment in the bloc's largest member state.   "I don't think you can say we were able to overcome the problems today," Van Miert told a news conference.   Van Miert and Rexrodt, who just returned to work after 10-weeks off due to malaria, were obviously wide apart on the issue of aid for Volkswagen to develop plants in the state of Saxony, which struggles with a jobless rate of more than 15 percent.   "As far as the specific case of Volkswagen is concerned our views differ from those of the Commission," Rexrodt said.   Reflecting the controversial nature of the issue, he said there was a strong possibility that Bonn would decide to challenge the Commission in the European Court of Justice.   Van Miert, who says Saxony has paid illegal aid to Volkswagen, also reiterated his threat to take the case to the Luxembourg-based court to stop the money from being used.   "Today we can't say we have made enough progress -- an illegal situation still exists in our view," Van Miert said.   The Commission is due to discuss the case on September 4.   Meanwhile Bonn and Brussels would continue their talks to try and reach "a pragmatic settlement", Rexrodt said.   "This is the begining of a discussion process that I hope will lead to an end which both sides can be happy with."   The row erupted last month when Saxony state premier Kurt Biedenkopf overrode Commission objections to the size of the aid package size and paid out extra funds.   Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, warned that the state stood to lose thousands of jobs in the towns of Mosel and Chemnitz if it did not pay.   VW had suspended plans to develop plants in the two towns after the EU executive rejected 241 million marks ($161.7 million) of a total promised aid package of some 780 million.   The company has threatened to relocate its investment to a lower-cost country if the subsidies are not granted in full.   Van Miert reacted furiously to Saxony's defiant move, saying that the decision to pay 91 million marks in unauthorised support to VW could touch off an EU "subsidy war".   "If there were no discipline it would undermine our whole aid policy which would lead to total anarchy," he said.   "The German government has been asking for carte blanche, which is not acceptable."   According to Brussels, Saxony paid out 142 million marks to VW after the Commission's June decision.   Of this amount, it says 91 million was unauthorised.   In total, Volkswagen has received at least 522 million marks from Saxony.   Van Miert accepted that former east Germany would need significant aid for some time but said that if it were awarded illegally it would be a major risk to the EU's internal market.   Almost six years after unification, eastern Germany still relies on annual net transfers of about 140 billion marks.   Rexrodt, however, said the area's situation could not be compared with the rest of the EU.   The VW case was special, he said, and that was why Germany believed that special EU rules allowing aid to areas affected by the division of Germany should be applied.   "We don't want anarchy either, we don't want each state to do what it likes, but we must insist that we are in a very special situation," Rexrodt said.   ($ = 1.49 German Marks) 
1903 !C12 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Lloyd's of London held its breath on Friday for a U.S. court ruling on its three billion pounds ($4.65 billion) recovery plan, the crucial launch pad to secure the centuries-old insurance market's future.   The judge in a law suit brought against Lloyd's in Richmond, Virginia, by U.S. investors trying to halt the plan has deliberated for two days.   He is due to announce his ruling by Friday evening London time.   Lloyd's is confident that the judge's decision will not prevent implementation of its recovery proposals, under which it aims to reinsure billions of pounds of pollution- and asbestos-related liabilities into a new company called Equitas.   It is asking investors -- called Names -- to help fund Equitas, which will allow the market to pass an annual solvency test and enable the investors liable for huge pre-1993 losses to end their involvement.   The recovery plan includes a 3.2 billion pounds settlement offer to soften the cost to Names of the Equitas scheme and end litigation.   Lloyd's chairman David Rowland told Reuters in an interview on Thursday evening that, with only days to go until the August 28 deadline by which Lloyd's wants Names to vote on the recovery plan, a substantial number of U.S. Names had already accepted.   "I think it's extremely unlikely that the judge would wish to overrule the free choice that they have already made," said Rowland of these U.S. Names and of the basis on which Lloyd's has made its contingency plans for such a late legal challenge.   While judge Robert Payne has indicated he does not want to derail the recovery plan worldwide, he was also expected to provide the 93 U.S. Names in the Virginia case with some sort of relief.   There are 2,700 Names in the United States and 33,500 worldwide.   The Names who launched the latest assault against Lloyd's say the market is violating U.S. securities laws and are demanding more information on syndicate reserves.   Lloyd's contends that they are bound by contract to sue it in Britain.   A significant setback which prevented Lloyd's from accessing funds needed by the end of September for its recovery plan could be challenged.   Rowland said Lloyd's would appeal any injunction.   Rowland expects Lloyd's to obtain the substantial majority of votes in favour which is needed to go ahead with the recovery proposals as planned.   The total level of acceptance so far is well ahead of expectations.   Once the offer is declared unconditional, Lloyd's could then give those Names who have not assented by the voting deadline extra time in which to do so -- a potential olive branch to a dissident minority in the United States and Britain.   However, a Wall Street Journal report suggested on Friday that the threat to Lloyd's in the United States was growing.   The insurance market last month secured a deal with securities regulators in 38 U.S. states broadly solving the problems it has had there.   But the report said top legal officials from New York and Colorado, two states which played key roles in negotiating the settlement, felt the deal should not prevent American investors in Lloyd's from suing it in the United States.   Lloyd's was unable to comment immediately on the report.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7721 ($1=.6458 Pound) 
1904 !C12 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GENV  Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton said Friday the state and the U.S. government have sued financier Robert Friedland, former president and major stockholder of Galactic Resources Ltd., to recover the cost of cleaning up Galactic's Summitville gold mine.   The Colorado mine is now a Superfund site.   The suit, which had been under seal, was filed in May in U.S. District Court in Denver and alleged that Friedland was responsible for the major decisions associated with Summitville, a contention he has denied.   "The operation of the Summitville mine has caused serious damage to our environmentm" said Colorado Gov. Roy Romer.   In order to insure payment if Friedland is found responsbile the U.S. government obtained a temporary court order in Canada preventing him from taking possession of $152 million in Inco Ltd. stock he was to receive under Inco's takeover of Diamond Fields Resources Inc.   In a statement from Vancouver, British Columbia, Friedland said he would challenge the order, issued by the Supreme Court of British Columbia.   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in May won a garnishee order against Friedland, according to his statement.   Summitville has come to represent the worst in mining.   The EPA has been battling Friedland for years over environmental damage at the gold mine in southwestern Colorado.   The EPA took control of the site in 1992 after a cyanide leak there.   Friedland was chairman and chief executive until 1990 of Galactic Resources Inc., which developed the mine, but he has denied any responsibility for the spill.   Galactic subsequently declared bankruptcy in 1993.   The EPA reportedly has already spent more than $100 million on a clean-up at Summitville.   Friedland, who commands a reputation as a shrewd dealmaker, was also founder and co-chairman of Diamond Fields which discovered the vast Voisey's Bay nickel deposit in northeastern Canada.   Inco, a nickel mining giant, closed a C$4.3 billion ($3.2 billion) takeover of Diamond Fields on Wednesday for cash and stock.   The court-ordered freeze affects about one-third of the Inco shares that Friedland was to receive in exchange for his stake in Diamond Fields, a spokesman said.   Friedland accused the EPA of "stealth" and resorting to "surreptitious and high-handed tactics" in obtaining the freeze.   The EPA is seeking to confiscate the stock, he said.   Friedland said he would seek to have the order overturned and was considering suing for damages.   Court hearings were held in Vancouver, Toronto and Denver without his knowledge, he said.   "If the EPA thinks I am going to tolerate this high-handed effort to run roughshod over our civil rights, they have been misadvised," Friedland said.   Friedland claims the agency mishandled the Summitville clean-up job and is trying to hold him responsible for its mistakes.   The EPA has "publicly acknowledged" it considers other people unrelated to Friedland responsible for the damage at Summitville in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, he said.   He said the orders freezing his Inco shares were obtained "without disclosure of certain material facts to the court" but gave no details.   Friedland said the EPA told the courts he was hiding from the agency.   "That is simply ludicrous.   The truth is that the EPA has never attempted to serve me with a lawsuit using appropriate legal means," he said. 
1905 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  President Bill Clinton, expanding the federal role in fighting teen smoking, on Friday announced strict rules to control tobacco sales and advertising -- including requiring proof of age to buy cigarettes.   "Cigarette smoking is the most significant public health problem facing our people," Clinton said in announcing the regulations.   "More Americans die every year from smoking-related diseases than from AIDS, car accidents, murders, suicides and fires combined."   Endorsing a plan that substantially broadens the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Clinton took on powerful tobacco interests -- who have made clear the action will be fought in the courts.   "We have carefully considered the evidence," Clinton said during a Rose Garden announcement.   "It is clear that the action being taken today is the right thing to do scientifically, legally and morally."   "With this historic action we are taking today, Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will be out of our children's reach forever," Clinton declared in singling out two popular cigarette advertising icons.   The tobacco industry lashed out at the regulations.   Philip Morris Cos.   Inc., the world's largest tobacco company, called the move a "specious and arbitrary interpretation of federal law" and claimed only Congress has the authority to give the FDA regulatory authority over tobacco.   "The FDA's rule sets the stage for restrictions that could lead the agency to do even more to deprive adults of their rights by unilaterally forcing the prohibition of cigarettes," said Steven Parrish, a senior vice president.   The new FDA rules, which will be phased in over two years, would require young people to provide a photo identification to establish age before they could buy cigarettes.   It is already illegal in all 50 states to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.   The regulation would permit a store clerk to request a photo ID of "anyone under the age of 27" but is intended for teenagers only.   Under the new rules, vending machines that sell cigarettes would be banned from places teenagers can go, and billboards advertising cigarettes would be prohibited within 1,000 feet (300 metres) of schools and playgrounds.   Sales or giveaways of products like caps or gym bags that carry cigarette or smokeless tobacco product brand names or logos would also be prohibited.   The FDA also will require the industry to educate children about the dangers of smoking, he said.   The White House said an estimated 4.5 million children and adolescents smoke in the United States, with an estimated 3,000 starting each day.   Refering to the election-year opposition the decision has generated, particularly in tobacco-growing states, Clinton told a gathering of mostly health care professionals that "it really isn't an accident that nobody else ever tried to do this ... This is not going to be one of those (political) freebies."   Underscoring the political implications of the decision, Joe Lockhart, the president's campaign spokesman, said Republican rival Bob Dole "faces a big decision today -- protect children or protect the tobacco lobby."   Dole has been criticised by Democrats for accepting contributions from tobacco interests and saying no link has been made between smoking and cancer.   His spokesman, Nelson Warfield, dismissed the rules as an "election-year gimmick" that could delay a teen smoking crackdown because of lawsuits.   "We assume ... that it will be litigated," White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said of the decision.   Tobacco companies have made clear they will fight the regulations in court by claiming the FDA does not have the authority to regulate nicotine.   FDA Commissioner David Kessler insisted his agency will fend off legal challenges, saying: "These are drug delivery systems.   Nicotine is an addictive drug, that's why people smoke.   Tobacco companies know this."   The advertising industry also took exception to the limits, calling such curbs an unconstitutional breach of free speech that would cost $1.1 billion annually in lost revenues. 
1906 !C11 !C12 !C17 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A U.S. District Court judge had not announced by the regular close of business on Friday whether he would issue an injunction blocking the reorganization plan of financially strapped insurance market Lloyd's of London.   Some 93 American investors have asked the judge Robert Payne to block the $4.8 billion reorganization plan, under which Lloyd's would reinsure billions of dollars of liabilities in a new company called Equitas using investors' money.   Payne had been due to issue the ruling on Thursday, but delayed the decision until Friday.   The office of the Clerk of the Courts for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia normally closes at 5 p.m.   EDT (2100 GMT).   But judges have the authority to order the clerks to stay and await a decision.   It was not immediately clear at 5 p.m. whether Payne would issue a decision.   Courthouse staff said they could not speculate on how Payne might proceed.   The judge made no statements by the close of business on Friday.   Payne heard two days of testimony from Lloyd's Chief Executive Ronald Sandler and several investors earlier this week.   The judge has said that he did not want to stop the recovery plan from going ahead worldwide.   The investors, known as Names, want the plan blocked at least until they can receive more information regarding Equitas.   Under the plan, the investors are being asked to pay up to $150,000 each to help fund the new company.   In their lawsuit, the investors claimed Lloyd's declined to provide detailed financial information about Equitas as required under U.S. securities laws.   Lloyd's has an Aug. 28 deadline for Names to accept or reject the recovery plan.   The United States accounts for 2,700 of the 33,500 Names worldwide. 
1907 !GCAT !GCRIM  A federal grand jury indicted 36 people on fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme run by Premium Sales Corp., a Florida grocery company seized by federal authorities three years ago, officials said Friday.   The indictment alleged that three of Premium's top officers, Kenneth Thenen, 59, his son, Scott Thenen, 37, and Daniel Morris, 53, headed a massive fraud scheme that bilked investors of hundreds of millions of dollars and used the money to fund lavish lifestyles that included luxury homes, Lear jets, racing boats and jewelry.   "It makes me feel ill when I think of the greed some of these people had," said Jerry Bandy, chief of criminal investigations of the Internal Revenue Service.   The indictment, announced by the IRS, Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Justice Department, said the defendants coerced investors into financing billions of dollars worth of grocery "diversions" that did not exist.   Officials said it was possibly the largest fraud in south Florida history.   Federal authorities said grocery diverting is a legitimate business in which groceries are bought cheaply in one area of the country and sold for a profit in another area.   But Premium Sales, while setting up offices in Florida and California and hiring hundreds of workers, made few legitimate deals, fabricated thousands of phony purchase orders and diverted investors' money into a series of bogus companies and bank accounts in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Switzerland.   FBI special agent Paul Philip said Premium Sales, of Aventura, Florida, operated as a classic pyramid fraud in which the principals promised friends, business and social acquaintances returns of 20-50 percent, and early investors were paid with the money of later investors.   "This is a Ponzi scheme where the investors who entered early got the money of those who got in late, and in the end when it collapsed, they all lost," Philip said.   When the scheme collapsed in June 1993, the company owed investors about $500 million and had less than $90 million in assets, officials said.   It was placed into involuntary bankruptcy, assets were frozen and a receiver was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.   Authorities said Kenneth Thenen, Scott Thenen, and six other alleged principals in the scheme were arrested without incident.   Morris and two others were still being sought Friday and 25 defendants were ordered to surrender to federal agents next week. 
1908 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed pressed on with his plan to bring peace to Chechnya on Friday, armed at last with the public blessing of President Boris Yeltsin and his permission to seek a political solution.   Yeltsin had earlier seemed to snub his Chechnya envoy on his plea for an early meeting, raising questions over how much authority Lebed really possessed as he strove for an end to the 20-month-long war.   Itar-Tass news agency reported that Lebed briefed Yeltsin late on Friday and the president gave the former paratroop general his approval to seek a political solution in talks with leaders of the Chechen separatist guerrillas.   However, the Russian leader seemed unready for concessions on the rebel demand for full autonomy.   His press service said he had empowered Lebed to hold talks aimed at a political accord defining Chechnya as an integral part of the Russian Federation.   Yeltsin's backing was seen as crucial for Lebed, a novice in Kremlin intrigue who has said he expects strong resistance to a deal some in Moscow might consider a national humiliation.   Lebed has badly needed some clarification of Moscow's murky chain of command.   A truce under a military agreement secured by Lebed was holding on Friday and Russian and rebel commanders discussed how to implement other aspects of the military deal.   Lebed, who had signed the agreement with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov, is drafting the broader political agreement and was expected to return to the region this weekend.   Lebed, who Yeltsin gave sweeping powers as his special adviser in the breakaway republic, had returned in triumph from talks with separatist leaders.   "I'm in command here.   I have legitimate authority to fulfil the duties I have been charged with," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying on his return to Moscow early on Friday.   He said he had agreed a truce with the separatists and a political deal -- the key sticking point in 20 months of fighting between Russian troops and Chechen rebels -- would be ready within two days.   Grozny was relatively calm on Friday and both Russian soldiers and Chechen fighters said the ceasefire was holding.   Defence and interior ministry troops are both based in the region, and cooperation between them leaves a lot to be desired.   Earlier this week, military commanders set a Thursday deadline for residents to quit the Chechen capital Grozny, but Lebed said the threat had not been approved by the Russian leadership.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by an August 6 separatist raid which captured much of Grozny, wants to drive the fighters out at any cost.   But Lebed, who made his name as peacemaker in Moldova's separatist Dnestr region in 1992, says the costly war must be brought to an end.   He has effectively staked his political career on a peaceful and swift outcome.   Lebed has already demanded that Yeltsin sack interior minister Anatoly Kulikov, accusing him of bungling the campaign, but Yeltsin refused.   Lebed's peace plan was being put into operation on Friday.   Plans were being worked out to pull Russian troops out of southern regions of Chechnya and set up joint patrols of separatists and Russian soldiiers in the capital.   The head of Russia's North Caucasus military district, which includes Chechnya, noted ceasefires had come and gone before.   Yeltsin had earlier appeared to be dissatisfied with Lebed, saying on Thursday: "He always promised to solve the Chechnya problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   But unfortunately the results of his work are not yet obvious."   "But we will not despair.   We will take the issue to the end," he added.   The United States and the European Community have welcomed the ceasefire agreements.   "We welcome this agreement... We look forward to its implementation by both of the parties and hope it leads eventually to a political settlement to the Chechen crisis," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said.   Lebed was named Yeltsin's security chief as a vote-winning move between the two rounds of the presidential election.   Lebed had captured 15 percent of the first-round vote, taking third place behind Yeltsin and the communist runner-up.   Yeltsin virtually disappeared from sight soon after the first round, prompting speculation that he was ill.   Aides denied all the rumours and press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told Izvestia the president was "lively and dynamic" on Thursday after a two-day break.   Komsomolskaya Pravda said Yeltsin had gone fishing and boating and played billiards during his short vacation. 
1909 !C13 !C32 !CCAT !GCAT !GHEA !GPOL  President Bill Clinton, expanding the federal role in fighting teen smoking, on Friday announced strict rules to control tobacco sales and advertising -- including requiring proof of age to buy cigarettes.   "Cigarette smoking is the most significant public health problem facing our people," Clinton said in announcing the regulations.   "More Americans die every year from smoking-related diseases than from AIDS, car accidents, murders, suicides and fires combined."   Endorsing a plan that substantially broadens the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Clinton took on powerful tobacco interests -- who have made clear the action will be fought in the courts.   "We have carefully considered the evidence," Clinton said during a Rose Garden announcement.   "It is clear that the action being taken today is the right thing to do scientifically, legally and morally."   "With this historic action we are taking today, Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man will be out of our children's reach forever," Clinton declared in singling out two popular cigarette advertising icons.   The new FDA rules, which will be phased in over two years, would require young people to provide a photo identification to establish age before they could buy cigarettes.   It is already illegal in all 50 states to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18.   Under the new rules, vending machines that sell cigarettes would be banned from places teenagers can go, and billboards advertising cigarettes would be prohibited within 1,000 feet (300 metres) of schools and playgrounds.   Sales or giveaways of products like caps or gym bags that carry cigarette or smokeless tobacco product brand names or logos would also be prohibited.   The FDA also will require the industry to educate children about the dangers of smoking, he said.   The White House said an estimated 4.5 million children and adolescents smoke in the United States, with an estimated 3,000 starting each day.   Refering to the election-year opposition the decision has generated, particularly in tobacco-growing states, Clinton told a gathering of mostly health care professionals that "it really isn't an accident that nobody else ever tried to do this ... This is not going to be one of those (political) freebies."   Underscoring the political implications of the decision, Joe Lockhart, the president's campaign spokesman, said Republican rival Bob Dole "faces a big decision today -- protect children or protect the tobacco lobby."   Dole has been criticised by Democrats for accepting contributions from tobacco interests and saying no link has been made between smoking and cancer.   His spokesman, Nelson Warfield, dismissed the announcement as an "election-year gimmick" that could delay a teen smoking crackdown because of lawsuits.   "We assume ... that it will be litigated," White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said of the decision.   Tobacco companies have made clear they will fight the regulations in court by claiming the FDA does not have the authority to regulate nicotine.   FDA Commissioner David Kessler insisted his agency will fend off legal challenges, saying: "These are drug delivery systems.   Nicotine is an addictive drug, that's why people smoke.   Tobacco companies know this."   The advertising industry also took exception to the limits, calling such curbs an unconstitutional breach of free speech that would cost $1.1 billion annually in lost revenues.   Hal Shoup, executive vice president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, said there was no dispute that children's access to tobacco should be limited.   But he added: "Our quarrel is with the violation of the right to speak truthfully about legal products."   The National Centre for Tobacco-Free Kids, however, defended the regulations, saying they were "entirely consistent with the First Amendment and with Supreme Court decisions interpreting the right of government to restrict commercial speech in order to protect important governmental interests." 
1910 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  The legal assault course facing Lloyd's of London took an unexpected turn on Friday after news that two senior U.S. state officials had taken action that could upset the insurance market's recovery plan.   Top legal officials in New York and Colorado have made moves that could threaten a deal signed in July that was aimed at ending legal action against Lloyd's in return for extra help made available to U.S. investors helping to fund the plan.   The two states were party to this agreement and one of the officials played a key role in it.   "We'll fight it all the way down the line," said a spokesman for Lloyd's.   "They want a better deal but there is no more."   Under Lloyd's recovery proposals, the 33,500 investors in the insurance market worldwide -- called Names -- would pay to reinsure billions of pounds of liabilities into a new company, Equitas, enabling them to end their involvement and the market to continue to trade.   The Names have until August 28 to accept the plan, which also includes a 3.2 billion pounds ($5 billion) offer designed to soften the cost of Equitas and end litigation.   Lloyd's was holding its breath for a crucial U.S. court ruling later on Friday.   The judge in a law suit brought against the market in Richmond, Virginia, by U.S. Names trying to stop the plan in its tracks has already deliberated for two days.   The 93 Names demanding the injunction say the market is violating U.S. securities laws and have asked for more complete information on syndicate reserves.   Lloyd's contends that they are bound by their contracts to sue it in Britain.   But in a dramatic twist, New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco, who was instrumental in the July deal going through, wrote to the judge in the Virginia case, Robert Payne, urging him to affirm the right of U.S. Names who do not accept the recovery plan to sue Lloyd's in the United States.   "It's a modest concession and within your equitable powers to require," the Wall Street Journal quoted Vacco as saying.   Lloyd's chairman David Rowland says Lloyd's would appeal any injunction.   It is not clear how Lloyd's would react to a compromise ruling in the Virginia case.   Colorado has also entered the fray, with its attorney general, Gale Norton, informing Lloyd's lawyers he is working on a new claim against the market on behalf of Names in that state.   The Colorado state security commissioner, Philip Fegin, played a leading role in negotiations for the deal to end Lloyd's U.S. woes after launching his own challenge against the market.   Rowland told Reuters in an interview on Thursday evening he was confident that Payne's decision would not block completion of the recovery plan, which he noted many U.S. Names had already accepted.   There are 2,700 American Names.   "I think it's extremely unlikely that the judge would wish to overrule the free choice that they have already made," said Rowland of these U.S. Names and of the basis on which Lloyd's has made its contingency plans for such a late legal challenge.   Rowland expects Lloyd's to obtain the substantial majority of votes in favour which is needed to go ahead with the recovery proposals as planned.   The total level of acceptance so far was well ahead of expectations, he said.   Once the offer is unconditional, Lloyd's could then give those Names who have not assented by the voting deadline extra time in which to do so -- a potential olive branch to the dissident minority in the United States and Britain.   Following the start on Friday of an advertising campaign in British newspapers reminding Names to reply in time, settlement offer acceptance forms have been streaming in to Lloyd's by fax, by post and delivered by hand, a spokesman said.   -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7721 ($1=.6436 Pound) 
1911 !GCAT !GPOL !GVIO  Russian security chief Alexander Lebed pushed ahead with a plan to bring peace to rebel Chechnya on Friday but Boris Yeltsin apparently snubbed his request for an early meeting, putting Lebed's authority on shaky ground.   Lebed, named as the president's special adviser in the breakaway republic, returned in triumph from talks with separatist leaders, saying he had been given full command of operations there and would meet Yeltsin in the afternoon.   "I'm in command here.   I have legitimate authority to fulfil the duties I have been charged with," Interfax news agency quoted him as saying on his return to Moscow early on Friday.   He said he had agreed a truce with the separatists and a political deal -- the key sticking point in 20 months of fighting between Russian troops and Chechen rebels -- would be ready within two days.   But Interfax news agency said a meeting between Yeltsin, recently the subject of rumours about his health, and Lebed would take place only early next week.   The delay threatened to rob Lebed of the authority he desperately needs to clarify Russia's murky chain of command.   Itar-Tass said Yeltsin wanted a written report from Lebed.   Grozny was relatively calm on Friday and both Russian soldiers and Chechen fighters said the ceasefire was holding.   Defence and interior ministry troops are both based in the region, and cooperation between them leaves a lot to be desired.   Earlier this week, military commanders set a Thursday deadline for residents to quit the Chechen capital Grozny, but Lebed said the threat had not been approved by the Russian leadership.   The military in Chechnya, humiliated by an August 6 separatist raid which captured much of Grozny, wants to drive the fighters out at any cost.   But Lebed, who made his name as peacemaker in Moldova's separatist Dnestr region in 1992, says the costly war must be brought to an end.   He has effectively staked his political career on a peaceful and swift outcome.   Lebed has already demanded that Yeltsin sack interior minister Anatoly Kulikov, accusing him of bungling the campaign, but Yeltsin refused.   With or without Yeltsin's blessing, Lebed's peace plan was being put into operation on Friday.   Plans were being worked out to pull Russian troops out of southern regions of Chechnya and set up joint patrols of separatists and Russian soldiiers in the capital.   The head of Russia's North Caucasus military district, which includes Chechnya, noted ceasefires had come and gone before.   Yeltsin said of Lebed on Thursday: "He always promised to solve the Chechnya problem if he had power.   Now he has power.   But unfortunately the results of his work are not yet obvious."   "But we will not despair.   We will take the issue to the end," he added.   Izvestia newspaper hinted that Yeltsin was out of touch.   "Either the president is still demanding the impossible -- the restoration of legal order in Chechnya as it was on August 5," it said, referring to the day before rebels seized Grozny.   "Or he is judging the activities of his security adviser on the basis of the siuation before Lebed's last trip to Chechnya."   Both the United States and the European Community have already welcomed the ceasefire agreements.   "We welcome this agreement... We look forward to its implementation by both of the parties and hope it leads eventually to a political settlement to the Chechen crisis," U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said.   Lebed was named Yeltsin's security chief as a vote-winning move between the two rounds of the presidential election.   Lebed had captured 15 percent of the first-round vote, taking third place behind Yeltsin and the communist runner-up.   Yeltsin virtually disappeared from sight soon after the first round, prompting speculation that he was ill.   Aides denied all the rumours and press spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky told Izvestia the president was "lively and dynamic" on Thursday after a two-day break.   Komsomolskaya Pravda said Yeltsin had gone fishing and boating and played billiards during his short vacation. 
1912 !C13 !C24 !C31 !C312 !CCAT !G15 !G153 !GCAT  Britain on Friday denied a report that it had secretly avoided implementing European Union (EU) rules to stop mad cow disease spreading to the continent.   The Guardian newspaper said almost two million cattle were sold to Britain's EU partners without adequate controls to see if they had been born to cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease.   The paper alleged that the Ministry of Agriculture issued secret orders to its officials that they need carry out computer checks on only 10 percent of calves exported to the continent.   EU rules required 100 percent verification.   But the ministry said Britain had always met its obligation not to send to other EU countries the calves of cows in which BSE was known or suspected.   "A 1990 EU ruling required the UK to make full use of computer records to guarantee the identification of animals and these procedures were twice scrutinised by two visiting European Commission missions in 1994 and 1995.   "On both occasions they expressed complete satisfaction with the UK measures," the ministry said in a brief statement.   Earlier the Brussels-based Commission said it was checking The Guardian story.   "If there is a problem, we shall demand an explanation from the British government," Commission spokesman Thierry Daman told a news briefing.   The implications of any such illegal exports have become more serious following recent confirmation by the British government that BSE can be passed from cow to calf.   Daman said EU inspectors found in August 1995 that the Ministry of Agriculture was carrying out computer checks in line with agreed EU rules.   The Commission was now checking reports from earlier inspections, he added.   Veal calves accounted for nearly all live cattle exports to the continent before exports were banned by the EU in March 1996 due to fears that BSE could spread to humans. 
1913 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  The German construction industry on Friday launched a fresh attempt to set a minimum wage for the sector and urged other industry groups not to block the initiative as they have in the past.   The building workers' union IG Bau and the two leading industry associations revealed a new agreement for a minimum hourly wage of 17 marks for west Germany and 15.64 marks for workers in the east -- considerably below levels they tried, but failed, to establish nationwide earlier this year.   In a statement, the union said it had agreed to compromise on a lower minimum wage because of the increasing urgency of getting legislation in place to ward off competition from low-paying foreign contractors.   "Both sides declared unanimously during the talks that there was an urgent need to act on a minimum wage.   Drawing in foreign workers into the domestic wage system ... could no longer be delayed," IG Bau said.   A previous minimum wage agreement -- envisaging minimum hourly rates of 18.60 marks for the west and 17.11 marks for the east -- foundered in April when the BDA umbrella employers' federation vetoed the deal during its final negotiating stages.   The BDA complained that the original deal exceeded lowest wages in other sectors and could carry an inflationary risk.   IG Bau and construction industry groups, who were incensed at the BDA's abrupt turnabout on their first deal, say the compromise rates represent just 82 percent of the current lowest wage in the building sector and should therefore be acceptable to all.   IG Bau and building firms blame surging unemployment levels in the German building sector on a big influx to the country of foreign contractors, mainly English and Portuguese, employing foreign workers at cut-price rates.   The building industry estimates that around 200,000 foreign building workers are currently employed by low-paying foreign firms in Germany.   At the same time, the number of German building workers unemployed in June was 186,500, around a third higher than in the year-earlier period.   "A generally binding minimum wage ... could at least slow down further employment losses," the two leading industry associations, the Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie and the Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes said.   IG Bau said the wage agreement could become law as early as October 1 if approved by the Labour Ministry's wage committee. 
1914 !GCAT !GDIS !GVIO  The chief investigator of the crash of TWA Flight 800 refused on Friday to confirm a report in The New York Times that a trace of explosives had been found in the wreckage of the passenger cabin.   "I'm not going to comment at all on this report," Robert Francis of the National Transportation Safety Board said on NBC-TV's "Today" programme.   The New York Times reported in Friday's edition that traces of PETN, a chemical in plastic explosives, had been found in pieces of the wreckage pulled from the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island.   The newspaper cited as sources three senior officials deeply involved in the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity.   TWA's Flight 800 from New York to Paris exploded and crashed on July 17.   All 230 passengers and crew aboard were killed.   Francis said the NTSB and the FBI were still trying to determine if the explosion was caused by a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure.   "We need more evidence," he said.   Chemists at the Federal Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory found PETN on a piece of wreckage retrieved from the jet's passenger cabin between seat rows 17 and 27, the Times reported.   The new test result comes from a piece of wreckage that was in the exact area of the passenger cabin where investigators said the centre of the blast was.   One official described the wreckage as part of a seat.   The finding came after weeks of investigation into the cause of the crash by the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies.   Officials have repeatedly said there was no definitive evidence to indicate which one of the three leading possible causes -- a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure -- was behind the crash.   While the new finding provides evidence that the plane was destroyed by an explosive device, a senior official said PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, was an explosive component commonly found both in many bombs and surface-to-air missiles, the newspaper said.   It said it was still impossible to know which type of explosive device destroyed the Boeing 747.   An FBI spokesman in Washington had no comment on the report.   Francis said on Thursday that experts who studied the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion would test debris from the TWA crash to determine whether a bomb or an accident caused the plane to explode.   Francis told reporters the plane appeared to have been rocked by an explosion in the centre fuel tank area.   He added it was not clear whether that was the primary explosion that brought the plane down or a secondary blast.   The bodies of 209 victims have been recovered.   The discovery meets the FBI's previously stated standard for declaring that the plane was brought down by a criminal act, the newspaper said.   An investigator and other senior officials said they hoped to find additional forensic evidence as salvage workers continued to retrieve wreckage from the Atlantic.   They are particularly interested in finding metal fragments showing shock waves -- physical damage left by a blast that indicates what type of device exploded. 
1915 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB !GPOL  Israel's government on Friday considered for the first time ways to cut a growing dependence on foreign workers who have taken jobs which are off-limits to Palestinians and unwanted by Jews.   "We will act to reduce drastically the presence of illegal foreign workers as well as cut the scope of foreign labourers who enter the country with a permit," a cabinet statement quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying.   The communique said the cabinet would take a "practical decision" next week.   "We will propose expelling about 1,000 illegal foreign labourers from Israel a month," Labour and Welfare Minister Eli Ishai told Israel Radio before Friday's debate.   But Ishai's plan was no blueprint for a mass exodus from Israel of workers from countries such as Romania, Thailand, Turkey and China who now do the low-paying manual labour of Palestinians barred from the Jewish state for security reasons.   It would take authorities more than eight years to expel all of the 100,000 foreigners he said were working in Israel without a permit -- assuming police could round all of them up and no new illegal labourers slipped into the country.   Ishai said another 100,000 foreigners had valid work papers.   "There is a problem here.   (Hiring foreigners) pays -- it is good for building contractors....We may have to keep a quota of foreign workers.   The question is how many," Ishai said.   Many Israelis initially welcomed the blue-collar foreign influx at the height of the six-year-long Palestinian uprising that began in 1987, during the course of which Arab guerrillas knifed Jews in Israeli cities.   But while Israeli law required Palestinian workers to return to their homes in the occupied territories each evening, foreigners remain overnight in squalid housing.   "Go look at the old central bus station area (in Tel Aviv).   It has all the things you see in the Bronx," legislator Ran Cohen told the radio, comparing the foreign workers' slum area to the New York borough known for poverty and crime.   Cohen called for the establishment of "transit camps" to hold illegal immigrants for several days before expulsion, a proposal which his left-wing Meretz party colleague Amnon Rubinstein said would hurt Israel's image.   "It won't be a concentration camp," Cohen snapped.   The cabinet communique quoted Netanyahu as saying that while "strong action" was needed to stop foreign workers staying in Israel illegally, "we are talking about human beings and therefore must treat them accordingly".   Israel's Channel Two television showed on Thursday six Turkish workers locked in a shack on an Israeli farm by their employer, apparently over a financial dispute.   "It is just like a ghetto," said an incredulous police officer at the scene.   Nigerians cleaning apartments, Thais picking flowers in greenhouses, Chinese building workers and Filipina nannies have become permanent fixtures in the Jewish state.   The Palestinian Authority has demanded Israel allow more of its people in to work, saying an Israeli closure had crippled the economy in the self-ruled areas.   Before the Palestinian uprising, as many as 160,000 Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza worked in Israel.   Israel sealed off the territories and stopped Palestinians from entering in February after the first in a series of Moslem suicide bombings that killed 59 people -- including seven Romanian workers.   Today some 30,000 Palestinians work in Israel. 
1916 !GCAT !GCRIM  A Chinese appeals court on Friday reduced to five years from 10 the sentence of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff member convicted of corruption.   The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court sentenced Hong Yang, 44, a Chinese national, to five years in prison for accepting bribes totalling 100,000 yuan ($12,000) in 1993, the Xinhua news agency said.   "The sentence was dealt with leniently ... and according to law," Xinhua said, quoting the court.   Hong, a former employee of the People's Bank of China, or central bank, was arrested in December while on an IMF mission to China and was found guilty on June 28.   He was then sentenced to 10 years in jail, but appealed.   The case dated to before Hong had joined the IMF.   The series of events surrounding the arrest is considered unprecedented at an international institution and had drawn sharp criticism from IMF staff members who accused the organisation of not doing enough to defend and protect Hong.   The IMF suspended technical assistance to China after the initial sentence was handed down, but said in July it had resumed aid after being assured Hong would get a second trial.   In China, courts rarely reduce sentences of defendants who appeal, though an admission of guilt may lead to more lenient treatment. 
1917 !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GJOB !GPOL  An Israeli cabinet minister proposed on Friday taking steps to cut growing dependence on foreign workers who have taken jobs which are off-limits to Palestinians and unwanted by Jews.   "We will propose expelling about 1,000 illegal foreign labourers from Israel a month," Labour and Welfare Minister Eli Ishai said before the cabinet debated the issue at its weekly meeting on Friday.   "The number of legal workers also should be cut," he told Israel radio.   The cabinet put off until next week a decision on expulsion.   Ishai's proposal was no blueprint for a mass exodus from Israel of workers from countries such as Romania, Thailand, Turkey and China who now do the low-paying manual jobs of Palestinians barred from the Jewish state for security reasons.   It would take authorities more than eight years to expel all of the 100,000 foreigners he said were working in Israel without a permit -- assuming police could round all of them up and no new illegal labourers slipped into the country.   Ishai said: "There is a problem here.   (Hiring foreign workers) pays -- it is good for building contractors....We may have to keep a quota of foreign workers.   The question is how many."   He said 200,000 foreigners work in Israel -- half of them illegally.   Many Israelis initially welcomed the blue-collar foreign influx at the height of the six-year-long Palestinian uprising that began in 1987, during the course of which Arab guerrillas knifed Jews in Israeli cities.   But while the Palestinians had been required by Israeli law to return to their homes in the occupied territories each evening, the foreigners who replaced them remain overnight in squalid housing that has become an eyesore.   "Go look at the old central bus station area (in Tel Aviv).   It has all the things you see in the Bronx," legislator Ran Cohen told the radio, comparing the foreign workers' slum area to the New York borough known for poverty and crime.   Cohen called for the establishment of "transit camps" to hold illegal immigrants for several days before expulsion, a proposal which his left-wing Meretz party colleague Amnon Rubinstein said would hurt Israel's image.   "It won't be a concentration camp," Cohen snapped.   The Palestinian Authority has demanded Israel allow more of its people in to work, saying an Israeli closure had crippled the economy in the self-ruled areas.   Before the Palestinian uprising, as many as 160,000 Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza worked in Israel.   Israel sealed off the territories and stopped Palestinians from entering in February after the first in a series of Moslem suicide bombings that killed 59 people -- including seven Romanian workers.   Today some 30,000 Palestinians work in Israel.   Ishai, an ultraorthodox Jew, took a high-profile tour on Thursday of a ramshackle Tel Aviv neighbourhood now home to thousands of foreign workers.   Municipal authorities, especially in Tel Aviv, complain they cannot cope with the social, health and crime problems posed by the labourers.   But Nigerians cleaning Israelis' apartments, Thais picking flowers in greenhouses, Chinese construction workers and Filipina nannies heading to church on Sundays have become permanent fixtures in the Jewish state. 
1918 !GCAT !GENT  Just a week after performing in front of 250,000 at one of Britain's largest rock events, superstars Oasis played for a select few at a top secret concert.   Four hundred excited fans who had won tickets for Friday's intimate concert sat on the edge of their seats ready to hear the British band, often described as the Beatles of the nineties, perform their chart-topping favourties.   But the fortunate few were left disappointed when controversial lead singer Liam Gallagher failed to appear on stage.   Instead, he watched the show from a private box.   "Liam is not going to be with us tonight.   He's got a sore throat," brother Noel Gallagher told the selected audience at the Royal Festival Hall in London.   The concert was recorded as part of music channel MTV's Unplugged series, but the company was highly unimpressed by Liam's absence from the stage.   "We are very disappointed," said spokesman Ian Renwick, adding that the music channel had yet to decide whether the concert would be broadcast after all.   Billed as Britain's rock event of the year, the concert had been shrouded in secrecy.   Competition winners were not informed about the location until the last minute.   The exclusive performance was a great contrast to last weekend when the band performed before a quarter of a million fans, one of the biggest audiences for a single act in Britain.   Noel, the band's song-writer and singer, took the lead for the 90-minute performance as Liam looked on.   "It was a real shame Liam couldn't play," said David Mootatamby, a fan from London.   Despite the lead singer's absence, the audience rewarded the band at the end with cheers and a standing ovation.   "It was blinding.   They really are a small venue band and should play more intimate venues," said fan Steve Johnson.   "It's almost better without Liam."   The band is about to embark on a world tour to include the United States, Europe and Australia, on which it hopes to repeat the success it has achieved in Britain. 
1919 !C22 !CCAT !GCAT !GODD  Worried about sex with space aliens, perhaps after a trip to the nerve-rattling American movie "Independence Day"?   A British broker claimed on Friday to have become the first insurer in the world to offer a policy against impregnation by beings from another planet.   It took a nuclear strike by Earth's American-led forces to beat off the aliens in the blockbuster film, but earthlings now can buy financial compensation for the alien sexual embrace.   Specialist broker Goodfellow Rebecca Ingrams Pearson (GRIP) said for 100 pounds ($155) a year adults living in Britain could insure against two sorts of extraterrestrial interference.   Abduction by aliens would net the victim 100,000 pounds and impregnation -- a risk against which both men and woman can insure -- double that sum.   "I personally would not buy a policy of this nature, because I don't think the risk is commensurate with the premium," said GRIP managing director Simon Burgess.   "But if there is the fear of these things out there, we are justified in offering to cover people against them."   Some U.S. insurers, cashing in on "Independence Day" fever, and on recent evidence that life may have existed on Mars, have offered policies covering abduction by aliens.   But until now, Burgess said, it has been impossible to insure against being impregnated by a being from another planet. 
1920 !C12 !C15 !C152 !C17 !C171 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Imperial Tobacco Group will split from conglomerate Hanson Plc on October 1 as one of the most efficient players in its sector, but while the new chief talks of export-led growth, the outlook is clouded by the threat of litigation against tobacco firms.   Imperial is Britain's second biggest tobacco firm after B.A.T Industries and its brands include Embassy, John Player Special and Superkings cigarettes as well as Panama and Castella cigars.   It is one of four arms of the mighty Hanson conglomerate being spun off into separate floated companies to unlock value.   In the ten years since Hanson took over Imperial, it has slashed costs, cut its brands to 33 from 150 and raised productivity by 195 percent.   1995 profits were 348 million pounds on 3.6 billion of sales.   But analysts fear that despite Imperial's impressive track record, marking it as the comeback kid of the tobbaco industry, its shares could face a rough ride once listed in London.   This week saw tobacco stocks hit by a backlash in the United States, with fresh litigation plus tough new curbs from U.S. President Bill Clinton to regulate the industry.   So far, BAT Industries has borne the brunt.   But some analysts believe it is only a matter of time before the U.S. scenario widens its impact and is repeated across the Atlantic.   "If it happens in the U.S. it's subsequently followed in other countries," said Zafar Khan, analyst at Societe Generale Strauss Turnbull.   "Imperial could have been a ripe international takeover candidate.   But the litigation threat means a group buying a tobacco company would have a tough time selling the idea to shareholders now," he said.   UBS analysts agree that the threat of legal action is enough to dampen the company's outlook.   But they warn of another possible dampener on the stock when Imperial starts trading - its heavy reliance on Britain, largely seen as a mature market.   Britain accounts for 87 percent of profits, say analysts.   Imperial has already committed itself to overseas expansion, but there are fears that it will have a tough time muscling in on the U.S. giants which have already made inroads into the markets of tomorrow - India, China and the Far East.   "We see investor concerns on litigation risk combined with the uncertain outlook in the key UK market as implying a 20-30 percent PE (price earnings) discount to the UK average."   This assumes a prospective PE of 9.9 times, UBS said in a note.   It has given Hanson a total break-up value of 164 pence, in a market range of 150 to 200 pence per share.   Hanson shares were down 2 1/2 pence at 159 1/2 by 1033 GMT Friday.   UBS specifically values the Imperial constituent at 39 pence per share or 2.03 billion pounds ($3.14 billion).   However, another investment analyst who declined to be named, said he was more upbeat on Imperial's prospects.   "It's a clean business.   It could become a takeover target and it's also very cash generative," he said.   He values Imperial at 37 pence in a total Hanson break-up valuation of 187 pence per share.   There is some upside to the Imperial story.   Apart from being viewed as a highly efficient player and being the second biggest UK tobacco company with 38 percent of the market, it is also poised to try and tap the vast emerging markets.   Gareth Davis (corrects from Nigel Davis), Imperial's chief executive who joined the company straight from university, told the London-based Evening Standard newspaper earlier this week that he believed the group would continue to build up exports to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.   "Worldwide this industry is buoyant," he said.   Imperial has said in earlier mission statements that it will expand abroad through "organic growth and acquisition."   But with 1.1 billion pounds in debt as part of its Hanson inheritance, industry watchers wonder just how it will finance its much needed expansion.   ($1=.6458 Pound) 
1921 !C12 !C13 !C18 !C181 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has won a temporary court order in Canada preventing mining financier Robert Friedland from taking possession of $152 million in Inco Ltd. stock he was to receive under Inco's takeover of Diamond Fields Resources Inc., Friedland said Friday.   Friedland said he would challenge the order, issued by the Supreme Court of British Columbia this week.   The EPA also won a garnishee order in the U.S. District Court of Colorado on May 25, Friedland said in a statement.   The EPA has been battling Friedland for years over environmental damage at the Summitville gold mine in Colorado.   The EPA took control of the site in 1992 after a cyanide leak there.   Friedland was chairman and chief executive until 1990 of Galactic Resources Inc., which developed the mine, but he has denied any responsibility for the spill.   Galactic subsequently declared bankruptcy in 1993.   The EPA reportedly has already spent more than $100 million on a clean-up at Summitville.   Friedland, who commands a reputation as a shrewd dealmaker, was also founder and co-chairman of Diamond Fields which discovered the vast Voisey's Bay nickel deposit in eastern Canada.   Inco, a nickel mining giant, closed a C$4.3 billion ($3.2 billion) takeover of Diamond Fields on Wednesday for cash and stock.   The court-ordered freeze affects about one-third of the Inco shares that Friedland was to receive in exchange for his stake in Diamond Fields, a spokesman said.   Friedland accused the EPA of "stealth" and resorting to "surreptitious and high-handed tactics" in obtaining the freeze.   The EPA is seeking to confiscate the stock, he said.   Friedland said he would seek to have the order overturned and was considering suing for damages.   Court hearings were held in Vancouver, Toronto and Denver without his knowledge, he said.   "If the EPA thinks I am going to tolerate this high-handed effort to run roughshod over our civil rights, they have been misadvised," Friedland said.   Friedland claims the agency mishandled the Summitville clean-up job and is trying to hold him responsible for its mistakes.   The EPA has "publicly acknowledged" it considers other people unrelated to Friedland responsible for the damage at Summitville in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, he said.   He said the orders freezing his Inco shares were obtained "without disclosure of certain material facts to the court" but gave no details.   Friedland said the EPA told the courts he was hiding from the agency.   "That is simply ludicrous.   The truth is that the EPA has never attempted to serve me with a lawsuit using appropriate legal means," he said. 
1922 !GCAT !GCRIM  A 35-year-old man has been charged with running a pyramid-selling scheme that apparently took in as many as 10,000 investors in Ontario, British Columbia and Europe, police said.   Iranian-born Mehrdad Alibabaie of Toronto was arrested on Wednesday on charges of operating the scheme that police estimate bilked investors of more than C$50 million ($36 million), Toronto Police detective sergeant Chris Hobson said on Thursday.   Investors contributed anywhere from C$20 ($15) Canadian to C$2 million ($1.46 million) each to the scheme, which was dubbed "System B", between May 1995 and August 1996, police said.   The scheme promised investors high returns on their money which, organisers told recruits, was placed on the international currency and commodity markets, provided they spent an amount equal to two percent of their investment at a grocery store chain owned by an associate of Alibabaie.   When the system began collapsing this month, investors contacted police.   Investigations are continuing. 
1923 !GCAT !GENT !GREL  A 16th-century document, the earliest complete example of written Albanian, has disappeared from the Vatican archives, an Albanian newspaper said on Friday.   Gazeta Shqiptare said the "Book of Mass', by Gjon Buzuku, dating from 1555 and discovered in 1740 in a religious seminary in Rome, was the first major document published in the Albanian language.   "We Albanians, sons of Buzuku, believed our language had a written document but now we do not have it any more," lamented scholar Musa Hamiti, told of the loss by the Vatican library.   Tirana's national library has three copies of the "Book of Mass'.   "There is nothing left for us but to be grateful to civilisation for inventing photocopies," Gazeta Shqiptare said. 
1924 !E21 !E212 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Russia said on Friday it will start meeting members of the Paris Club of government creditors individually in early September to negotiate rescheduling debts to them following April's framework agreement.   The Paris Club agreed to reschedule $40 billion of Russian debt, for up to 25 years, including a grace period of six years.   A Russian team will meet Swiss officials in the first week of September to agree the exact amount of debt to be rescheduled and the schedule of payments, Alexei Smirnov, head of foreign credit department at the finance ministry, told Reuters.   The following week officials will meet the German government, Russia's biggest creditor, he said.   Russia has already received draft agreements from Germany and Switzerland, Smirnov said.   Altogether deals must be signed with 18 countries. 
1925 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto met Chile's President Eduardo Frei for talks on Friday aimed at bolstering trade and investment ties between Japan and one of Latin America's most dynamic economies.   The two met for 90 minutes of talks that officials said would include prospects for increasing Japan's paltry investments in Chile, which lag well behind those by U.S., Canadian and European interests.   Hashimoto arrived in Chile from Mexico on Thursday on the second leg of a Latin American tour aimed at raising Japan's profile in a region it used to associate with political turmoil and disasters.   "We are paying more attention to Latin America now, as it has moved toward stability and progress.   It used to be thought of as a dangerous place," a high-ranking member of Hashimoto's delegation said.   "Specifically with Chile, we want to set priorities for our future relationship," the official told reporters.   Chile, with a relatively small population of 14 million, still hopes to become Japan's gateway to the vast markets of Brazil and Argentina by attracting Japanese exporters to its long Pacific coast studded with modern ports.   "There is a certain revaluing of Latin America by the Japanese, and we want them to know that we offer the best conditions to be their bridge into this continent," a top Chilean official said.   He said the Japanese wanted to make their presence felt in Latin America, in part because they were concerned the continent's new prosperity could lead to protectionism later.   "They're not sure where this economic progress is going to lead, so they want to make some commitments now," the official, who asked not to be identified, said.   Although Japan is Chile's second-largest trading partner, it is a distant seventh in the ranking of foreign investors by country, with about $500 million invested.   The United States is No. 1 in both categories.   The two nations have a couple of points of friction.   Chile backs a worldwide moratorium on whaling, opposed by Japan, and has also strongly protested shipments of nuclear wastes through Chilean waters on their way to Japan from Europe.   "Both are areas of disagreement, but we have a civilised dialogue on them.   I wouldn't call them real conflicts," the Chilean official said.   Hashimoto was due to leave early on Saturday for Brazil. 
1926 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  A Chinese appeals court, in a rare move, sharply reduced on Friday to five years a prison sentence for an International Monetary Fund (IMF) employee accused of corruption.   The court's decision followed a brief suspension of technical assistance by the IMF and a Beijing visit by IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus to voice concern over what he described as judicial shortcomings in the case.   The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court sentenced Hong Yang, 44, a Chinese national, to five years in prison for accepting bribes totalling 100,000 yuan ($12,000) in 1993, before he joined the IMF, the Xinhua news agency said.   "The sentence was dealt with leniently... and according to law," Xinhua quoting the court as saying on Friday.   Hong, a former employee of the People's Bank of China, or central bank, was arrested in December while on an IMF mission to China.   He was found guilty on June 28.   Beijing sources said the original sentence was for 10 years, although statements by the IMF in Washington put it at 11 years.   Hong appealed.   Chinese courts rarely cut sentences on appeal, though an admission of guilt may lead to more lenient treatment.   Camdessus has confirmed reports that Chinese authorities pressured the IMF to include Hong, who had been working at the international organisation's headquarters in Washington, on a mission to China.   The Chinese actions created a furore at the IMF and Camdessus said in a letter to the organisation's staff he would closely monitor a second trial.   "I also urged that the second open trial be transparent and complete and remedy the shortcomings of the first trial," Camdessus said after he visited Beijing last month.   Xinhua did not mention the original trial but it highlighted the legality and openness of the second.   It said the case was put on open trial on August 9 and that Hong, his two defence lawyers and four witnesses appeared in court and were involved in the proceedings.   It also said that 200 people, including Hong's relatives and IMF officials, were present.   It added that the man accused of offering the bribe, Fan Honggen, and other individuals from the Agricultural Bank would be dealt with in a separate case.   It did not give further details. 
1927 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  An appeals court on Friday reduced to five years from 10 the sentence of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) member of staff convicted of corruption, the Xinhua news agency said.   The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court sentenced Hong Yang, 44, a Chinese national, to five years in prison for accepting bribes totalling 100,000 yuan ($12,000) in 1993, Xinhua said.    "The sentence was dealt with leniently ... and according to law," Xinhua said, quoting the court.   Hong was arrested in December while on an IMF mission to China and was found guilty on June 28.   The IMF subsequently suspended technical assistance to China but said in July it had resumed the aid after being assured Hong would get a second trial.   In China, courts rarely reduce sentences of defendants who appeal, though an admission of guilt may lead to more lenient treatment. 
1928 !C24 !CCAT !GCAT !GPOL  Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said on Friday it would increase subsidies to local governments which host nuclear power plants, in a bid to promote construction of more such plants.   "In recent years it has become increasingly difficult to obtain land to build nuclear power plants," a MITI official said.   "It is vital to gain local understanding," he said.   MITI has asked for 5.12 billion yen ($47.4 million) to be appropriated for the purpose in the budget for fiscal 1997/98 starting next April 1, he said.   Annual subsidies to local governments with nuclear power plants will be raised to 80 million yen ($740,000) per one million kilowatts.   The MITI official said local governments would be allowed to use the subsidies to invite businesses to set up in their region and to support social welfare.   Under the current system, only economically poor areas receive subsidies, of 40 million yen ($370,000) per nuclear reactor, on condition the reactors have been operating for more than 15 years.   The subsidies can be used only for social welfare.   The decision to increase the subsidies comes at a time when the realisation of Japan's nuclear power policy has come increasingly into doubt.   Public faith in nuclear power crumbled last year after an accident at Japan's first prototype fast-breeder reactor.   Confidence was further eroded when officials in charge of the reactor acknowledged that they had failed to disclose video footage and other information on the accident.   The accident involved a leakage of sodium coolant, though not of radiation, officials said.   Earlier this month, in Japan's first ever referendum, a small northern town of 30,000 people returned a majority "no" vote against the construction of a nuclear plant.   However, the result is not legally binding.   Japan relies on nuclear reactors for 33 percent of its electricity and plans to raise this reliance to 42 percent by 2010.   ($1=108 yen) 
1929 !GCAT !GDEF !GDIP  Indonesia on Friday shrugged off the possible cancellation of a deal to buy F-16 aircraft from the United States, saying it could look elsewhere.   "Since the beginning, President (Suharto) does not give the purchase of the aircraft a high priority," State Secretary Murdiono told reporters.   "If they (the United States) plan to cancel the sale now, it will not be a problem for us.   Many countries sell aircraft," he said.   The New York Times quoted government sources on Wednesday as saying the Clinton administration was debating whether to delay or cancel the sale of nine F-16s to Indonesia in response to a crackdown on political dissent in the country.   The nine jet fighters at issue were from a batch of 28 originally sold to Pakistan, but a U.S. congressional amendment blocked their delivery over Islamabad's nuclear policy.   Murdiono said Indonesia opposed the linking of the sale to this country's domestic affairs.   "We will solve the problems we are facing in our own way.   We will solve political problems we have in a democratic way and according to law," he said.   Riots erupted in Jakarta on July 27 after police raided the headquarters of the Indonesian Democratic Party and evicted supporters of ousted party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno.   At least four people died and scores of buildings and vehicles were set on fire during the violence, the worst in the city for more than 20 years.   U.S. State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said on Wednesday: "There's been no decision made on those aircraft.   We are still seeking to carry out President Clinton's commitment to find an alternative buyer for the F-16s."   The proceeds of a sale would be used to reimburse Pakistan.   Without directly confirming the New York Times report, Davies said: "We're seriously concerned about the events that have occurred in Indonesia and we will be monitoring the situation there and considering carefully how to proceed in light of events."   Davies said F-16s did not fall into the category of items that could be used to stifle internal dissent, such as crowd control equipment and small arms, whose sale would be prohibited under U.S. policy. 
1930 !E51 !E512 !ECAT !GCAT !GDIP  Argentine President Carlos Menem on Friday called for trade links between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the fledgling South American common market, Mercosur.   In an address to Malaysian businessmen, Menem said Mercosur -- formed last year when Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay agreed to set up a common market -- had recently signed a framework accord with the European Union for a free trade area.   "And I would very much like to ask Malaysian and Argentine businessmen to arrive at a similar agreement with ASEAN countries...making it possible to expand trade," he said.   Chile and Bolivia have also signed agreements with Mercosur, creating a market of 220 million people representing a combined gross domestic product of $950 billion and covering two-thirds of the South American land mass, Menem said.   ASEAN -- Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- groups some of the world's fastest growing countries.   ASEAN is also implementing a free trade area in stages over the next decade.   Menem discussed ties between the two regional groups with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad earlier on Friday.   Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi, briefing reporters on the meeting, said both leaders stressed the importance of establishing relations between the two groups.   "I informed the meeting that ASEAN Foreign Ministers have already discussed this and we are now looking on how to further develop relations," Badawi said.   Mercosur would also discuss its relations with ASEAN at a meeting this year in Brazil, Badawi added.   Trade between Malaysia and Argentina has rocketed over the past five years.   Last year, trade rose to $321 million, a 122 percent increase over the previous year, according to Argentine officials.   Argentina exported about $260 million worth of agricultural products, oil seeds, animal foodstuff and vegetable fats and imported $61 million worth of rubber, electrical equipment and industrial machinery.   Trade will get a further boost from agreements signed between Argentine metal equipment and turbine maker IMPSA and Malaysian firms to supply equipment to the 13.6 billion ringgit ($5.5 billion) Bakun dam.   Dam builder Ekran Bhd on Friday awarded a contract to IMPSA to supply turbines, hydraulic equipment and other machinery for the dam in Malaysia's Borneo state of Sarawak.   Ekran executive chairman Ting Pek Khing declined to give an exact figure for the contract at the signing ceremony except to say it was a multi-million ringgit one.   IMPSA signed a second agreement to form a joint venture, IMPSA Malaysia Sdn Bhd, with Malaysia's Hicom Holdings, state investment company Permodalan Nasional Bhd, Kumpulan Pinang holdings and Emir Equity Corporation.   The joint venture is to supply 40 million ringgit worth of equipment for Bakun's hydroelectric turbines and to make container cranes to sell regionally, Argentina officials told reporters.   Menem leaves for Indonesia on Monday. 
1931 !C12 !C13 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  An international software lobby said on Friday it had forced the closure of a Hong Kong Internet site peddling illegally copied software, its first action in Asia against software piracy on the global computer network.   The WorldWide Web site, called Sammy Game Center, offered illegal CD-ROM products for sale and export to the United States, the Netherlands, Sweden and Canada, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said in a statement.   "Sammy Game Center was openly offering a wide range of illegal software products by mail order," BSA vice-president Valerie Colbourn said.   The pirated goods included game, business, entertainment and multimedia software, the U.S.-based alliance said.   The business and entertainment titles were found on CD-ROMs containing between 70-80 titles each, and the BSA valued the software at more than US$20,000 per disk.   The operation was conducted in close cooperation with the Alliance Against CD-ROM Theft (AACT), which combats production, distribution and sale of pirated CD-ROMs in Asia.   The owner of the Web site, Sammy Sam Ka-chi, acknowledged he was dealing in unauthorised software and signed an apology at the request of the two organisations.   The Internet access providers involved, which BSA and AACT declined to identify, have removed the offending Web pages.   The two watchdog groups also had asked the providers to terminate Sam's membership to prevent further infringement, but no agreement had yet been made, said Huey Tan at the Hong Kong office of Baker & McKenzie, solicitors for BSA and AACT.   There are worries in the United States that Hong Kong, an entrepot for China, is the spigot through which pirated CDs and CD-ROMs produced prolifically in China pour out into the world. 
1932 !C12 !CCAT !GCAT !GCRIM  Indonesian police have detained three people over fake transactions in the central bank that caused losses of about two billion rupiah ($854,335), the Jakarta Post newspaper reported on Friday.   It said the three were believed to be employees of Bank Indonesia and police were still searching for another suspect.   A bank spokeswoman confirmed the report gave no details.   "This (probe) is regarded as the bank's success...that our system is good enough that we can detect these irregularities," she told Reuters.   Police were not immmediately available for comment.   "The fake deals actually involved a total of seven billion rupiahm but five billion rupiah have been recovered by the central bank while the remainder has allegedly been spent by the suspects," the Post quoted a police officer as saying.   "Everything is still under investigation and we need to question more people," police spokesman Brigadier-General Nurfaizi told the newspaper.   $1=2,341 
1933 !GCAT !GDIP  Oman on Friday said new U.S. economic measures against Iran would not resolve disputes between Washington and Tehran and urged a dialogue instead, the official Oman News Agency reported.   "This policy of economic pressure and isolation will not lead to an end of the problems but will complicate them," it quoted Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Youssef bin Alawi bin Abdullah as saying.   He said only "dialogue and understanding based on the principle of respect" would end the differences.   He was referring to the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act which U.S. President Bill Clinton signed on August 5 empowering him to penalise non-U.S. firms investing $40 million or more a year in Iran or Libya's oil and gas industries.   Oman, which shares the only entrance to the Gulf with Iran, has a close working relationship with Tehran but is also one of Washington's longtime Arab allies.   "We will not accept anything that will have an effect on trade relations between us and Iran," Abdullah said.   The United States, which accuses Iran of sponsoring international terrorism, has embarked on an economic and political campaign to isolate the Islamic republic.   Tehran denies the charges.   Oman is a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a military, economic and political alliance that also includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. 
1934 !C42 !CCAT !E41 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GJOB !GPOL  An Israeli cabinet minister proposed on Friday taking steps to cut growing dependence on foreign workers who have taken jobs which are off-limits to Palestinians and unwanted by Jews.   "We will propose expelling about 1,000 illegal foreign labourers from Israel a month," Labour and Welfare Minister Eli Ishai said before the cabinet debated the issue at its weekly meeting on Friday.   "The number of legal workers also should be cut," he told Israel radio.   But Ishai's proposal was no blueprint for a mass exodus from Israel of workers from countries such as Romania, Thailand, Turkey and China who now do the low-paying manual jobs of Palestinians barred from the Jewish state for security reasons.   It would take authorities more than eight years to expel all of the 100,000 foreigners he said were working in Israel without a permit -- assuming police could round all of them up and no new illegal labourers slipped into the country.   But Ishai said: "There is a problem here.   (Hiring foreign workers) pays -- it is good for building contractors....We may have to keep a quota of foreign workers.   The question is how many."   Ishai said 200,000 foreigners work in Israel -- half of them illegally.   Many Israelis initially welcomed the blue-collar foreign influx at the height of the six-year-long Palestinian uprising that began in 1987, during the course of which Arab guerrillas knifed Jews in Israeli cities.   But while the Palestinians had been required by Israeli law to return to their homes in the occupied territories each evening, the foreigners who replaced them remain overnight in squalid housing that has become an eyesore.   Horror stories abound.   Israel's Channel Two television showed on Thursday six Turkish workers locked in a shack on an Israeli farm by their employer, apparently over a financial dispute.   "It is just like a ghetto," said an incredulous police officer at the scene.   The Palestinian Authority has demanded Israel allow more of its people in to work, saying an Israeli closure had crippled the economy in the self-ruled areas.   Before the Palestinian uprising, as many as 160,000 Arabs from the West Bank and Gaza worked in Israel.   Israel sealed off the territories and stopped Palestinians from entering in February after the first in a series of Moslem suicide bombings that killed 59 people -- including seven Romanian workers.   Today some 30,000 Palestinians work in Israel.   Ishai, an ultraorthodox Jew, took a high-profile tour on Thursday of a ramshackle Tel Aviv neighbourhood now home to thousands of foreign workers.   "Every resident of Tel Aviv who comes into contact with foreign workers is likely to face health risks," he told reporters.   Municipal authorities, especially in Tel Aviv, complain they cannot cope with the social, health and crime problems posed by the labourers.   But Nigerians cleaning Israelis' apartments, Thais picking flowers in greenhouses, Chinese construction workers and Filipina nannies heading to church on Sundays have become permanent fixtures in the Jewish state.   In one leafy suburb in central Israel, pairs of Chinese looking for gardening work on their day off approach people in backyards with a plaintive request.   "Avoda?"   they ask, using the Hebrew word for "work". 
1935 !C13 !CCAT !E51 !ECAT !GCAT !GCRIM !GDIP  Five top executives from Mexican telecommunications firm Grupo Domos have been officially notified of U.S. sanctions against them for the firm's ties to Cuba, the company said on Thursday.   It reiterated that Domos would not back down in the face of the U.S. threat, and said the five executives "expressed their concern about the evident lack of balance in the new world order that has emerged since the end of the Cold War."   The statement said the executives backed the firm's decision to continue with its 37 percent stake in the Cuban national telephone company, adding that they would not leave their jobs and were preparing actions to defend their legal rights.   The U.S. State Department sent letters to the five Domos executives on Monday saying they and some of their closest family members would be barred from entry to the United States if within the next 45 days the firm did not pull out of Cuba or if the officials did not leave their current posts.   The U.S. action came under the controversial Helms-Burton Law, in which the United States threatened to punish foreign investors it believed were "trafficking" in properties confiscated by the Cuban government.   The Mexican government has sent a diplomatic protest note to Washington over the Domos sanctions, which are part of efforts by the Clinton Administration to tighten the 35-year-old trade embargo against communist Cuba.   Mexico says the United States has no right to interfere in the affairs of Mexican firms.   The five Domos executives included the company president, whose name was not given, and four directors, Reginaldo Cepeda Ortega, Roberto Margain Santos, Reynaldo Reyna Castillo and Bernardo del Bosque Garza.   Domos officials were not immediately available to give the name of the president. 
1936 !E41 !E411 !ECAT !GCAT !GJOB  With joblessness at a 10-year high of nearly three percent, Taiwan on Friday froze new foreign labour imports and launched job training schemes with an eye toward trimming the rate to 2.3 percent.   Taiwan's statistics directorate announced that unemployment inched up to 2.97 percent in July from 2.6 percent in June, the highest since the jobless rate hit 3.11 in August 1986.   The government, whose earlier economic stimulus measures have failed to halt the rise in unemployment, adopted two new measures in a bid to reverse the trend.   "The cabinet just passed proposals to freeze import of foreign labour and spend T$860 million (US$31.3 million) to introduce a series of job training programmes to counter rising unemployment," a government spokesman said by telephone.   A spokeswoman at the Council of Labour Affairs said Taiwan would not accept new labour import applications and would freeze the number of foreign workers at 296,114 unless the jobless rate begins to fall.   She noted, however, that the number of foreign workers already in Taiwan totalled 229,492, well below the limit.   In 1991, Taiwan lifted a ban on the hiring of foreign workers to meet what was then a severe domestic labour shortage, importing workers mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.   More recently, a stubborn slowing of Taiwan's "Asian dragon" economy has turned foreign labour into a political issue.   President Lee Teng-hui told the National Assembly in August that Taiwan had prepared countermeasures to reduce joblessness to 2.3 percent -- including limits on foreigners.   "These measures, especially the one on foreign labour, should help us reach the 2.3 percent target announced by President Lee," a statistics directorate official said.   The directorate attributed July's decade-high unemployment to new inflows of new graduates and summertime job seekers into the labour market and said the rate could move higher.   "The rate should be even higher next month but could begin to decline in September," the directorate official said.   The official said she expected the jobless rate to gradually fall to between 2.0 percent and 2.5 percent once June-to-August seasonal factors are digested.   Nomura Securities economist Amy Huang disagreed.   "The jobless rate should remain high at around 2.7-2.8 percent in the fourth quarter despite the measures the government is taking to deal with the unemployment problem," Huang told Reuters by telephone.   "The jobless problem is mainly caused by a slowing economy, and although the economy is seen recovering in the second half, there will be a time lag before it is reflected in the jobless rate," Huang said. 
1937 !CCAT !GCAT !GDIS !GVIO  Investigators have found scientific evidence that an explosive device was detonated inside the passenger cabin of a Trans World Airlines jet that crashed off Long Island, New York, last month, The New York Times reported in its early Friday editions.   Chemists at the Federal Bureau of Investigation crime laboratory have found traces of PETN, a chemical in plastic explosives, on a piece of wreckage retrieved from the jet's passenger cabin between rows 17 and 27, the newspaper said.    The newspaper cited three senior officials deeply involved in the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity.   TWA's Flight 800 from New York to Paris exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off New York's Long Island on July 17.   All 230 passengers and crew aboard were killed.   While the new finding provides evidence that the plane was destroyed by an explosive device, a senior official noted that PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, was an explosive component commonly found in many bombs and surface-to-air missiles, making it impossible for now to know which type of explosive device destroyed the Boeing 747.   The discovery meets the FBI's previously stated standard for declaring that the plane was brought down by a criminal act, the newspaper said. 
1938 !E12 !ECAT !G15 !G154 !GCAT !M13 !M132 !MCAT  With speculation mounting that Finland may soon link its currency to Europe's Exchange Rate Mechanism, its central bank on Friday unusually joined a European wave of monetary easing.   The Bank of Finland moved faster than normal to follow a key rate cut by Germany's Bundesbank, saying on Friday it was lowering its tender rate, the key tool of monetary policy, to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent.   In the past it has tended to wait days or weeks before following a Bundesbank lead, and economists who had widely expected the cut had thought it more likely next week as a demonstration of autonomy by Finland's central bank.   The markka has strengthened by about four percent against the Deutschmark and seven percent against the dollar since early May.   Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen on Wednesday reportedly said a decision on linking the markka to ERM would come in the fairly near future.   Economists saw this as a clear sign Finland would go ahead and link the markka -- although their estimated timing of the decision focused on the end of September to October-November.   The markka has been floating freely since September 1992.   Bank officials insisted the cut would have come irrespective of any easing by the Bundesbank, but some economists believed it showed Finland edging towards convergence with the rest of Europe on the way to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).   "This was a clear sign that Finland is part of Europe and trends in Europe.   It was a very good move," said OKOBANK Treasury economist Teijo Rantatupa.   Asked if the rate cut was a signal of Finland seriously moving towards closer convergence with core European countries in the run-up to EMU, he said: "This is it."   The Bank of Finland said the cut was based on more signs that inflation -- currently the lowest level in Europe at 0.5 percent in July -- would remain moderate.   Friday's cut brought the key rate down by 275 basis points since October 1995.   Bank of Finland board member and director Matti Vanhala said the cut would have happened whether or not the Bundesbank eased.   "It (the German rate cut) did, of course, not make our decision more difficult ... the operating environment became easier, but our cut would have come in any case," he told Reuters by telephone.   Vanhala also denied that the central bank had cut the rate in response to the markka's strengthening, and said he did not think the bank would feel obliged to act to steer the markka's direction.   The bank's stated policy is to intervene only to stem short-term volatility in the markka, not its trend.   Jukka Lepomaki at Merita Bank said speculation about an imminent ERM linkage is being fuelled by employers anxious to pressurise the Bank of Finland into ensuring the markka does not link to ERM at too strong a level.   Finnish industry fears a stronger markka would undermine its competitiveness, in particular against neighbouring Sweden, which is not expected to link the crown to ERM. 
1939 !C13 !CCAT !G15 !G152 !G157 !GCAT !GDIP  European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert said on Friday a row between the European Union and Germany over aid to German car maker Volkswagen AG had still to be resolved.    "I don't think you can say we were able to overcome the problems today," Van Miert told a news conference after meeting German Economic Affairs Minister Guenter Rexrodt.   The row over public aid to VW erupted last month when premier Kurt Biedenkopf of the eastern state of Saxony overrode Commission objections to the size of the aid package and paid out extra funds.   Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, warned the state stood to lose thousands of jobs in the towns of Mosel and Chemnitz if it did not pay.    VW had suspended plans to develop plants in the two towns after the EU executive in June rejected 241 million marks of the total promised aid package of some 780 million.   Van Miert reacted furiously to Saxony's defiant move, saying the decision to pay 91 million marks in unauthorised support to VW could touch off an EU "subsidy war" if left unchallenged.   He threatened to block other aid to Europe's largest carmaker or excluding it from public tenders.   Bonn has said it accepts Saxony's arguments but it believes the state went too far by defying the order from Brussels.   -- Brussels Newsroom +32 2 287 6810, Fax +32 2 230 7710 
1940 !C17 !CCAT !E51 !ECAT !G15 !G157 !GCAT  European Competition Commissioner Karel Van Miert and German Economics Minister Guenter Rexrodt held talks on Friday to try and defuse a row over public aid to carmaker Volkswagen.   Asked what outcome he expected from the talks, Rexrodt told reporters as he arrived to the meeting: "A good result."   He said there would be a press conference after the meeting, which started at around 1030 (0830 GMT).   It was unclear how long the talks would continue.   The dispute, which has spurred anti-EU sentiment in Germany, erupted last month when premier Kurt Biedenkopf of the eastern German state of Saxony overrode Commission objections to the size of an aid package for VW and paid out extra funds.   Biedenkopf, a Christian Democrat (CDU) ally of Chancellor Helmut Kohl, warned that the state stood to lose thousands of jobs in the towns of Mosel and Chemnitz if it did not pay.   VW had suspended plans to develop plants in the two towns after the European Union executive in June rejected 241 million ($161.7 million) of the total promised aid package of some 780 million marks.   Van Miert reacted furiously to Saxony's defiant move, saying the decision to pay 91 million marks in unauthorised support to VW could touch off an EU "subsidy war" if left unchallenged.   He threatened in a recent German magazine interview that Brussels could raise the stakes by blocking other aid to Europe's largest carmaker or excluding it from public tenders.   Bonn has said it accepts Saxony's arguments that the payouts are justified but that it believes the state went too far by defying the order from Brussels.   According to Brussels, Saxony paid out 142 million marks to VW after the Commission's June decision.   Of this amount, it says 91 million was unauthorised.   In total, Volkswagen has received at least 522 million marks from Saxony, which struggles with a jobless rate of more than 15 percent despite rapid economic growth.   ($=1.4905 marks) 
1941 !GCAT !GSPO  Moroccan Olympic bronze medallist Salah Hissou produced the run of his life to smash the men's 10,000 world record on Friday, pushed on by the beat of an African drum and an ecstatic Brussels crowd.   Hissou ate up the ground of a new track to clock 26 minutes 38.08 seconds at the Brussels grand prix, slashing 5.45 seconds off the previous mark of 26:43.53 set by Ethiopia's Haile Gebreselassie in the Dutch town of Hengelo in June last year.   It was the second world record of a superb meeting which saw Russian double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova break the non-championship women's 1,000 metres, her second world mark in 10 days.    After breaking the world mark for the women's mile in Zurich last Wednesday, Olympic 800 and 1,500 metres champion Masterkova clocked two minutes 28.98 seconds to shave 0.36 seconds off the previous best.   The Russian powered through a fast last lap to improve on the 2:29.34 set by Mozambique's former world champion Maria Mutola in the same stadium in August last year.   Mutola pushed the Russian all the way and took second place in 2:29.66.   Like Hissou, an exhausted Masterkova earned a bonus of $25,000 for the performance.   She paid tribute to her rival after the race.   "That really finished me," she said.   "If it wasn't for Maria, I couldn't have done it.   She pushed me...It was a fast track, a terrific atmosphere.   The Mexican waves in the crowd gave me wings.   "In the last 400 metres I felt Mutola closing in and that drove me to the decisive extra effort."   Gebreselassie defeated Hissou to win the 10,000 at the Atlanta Games and was not competing here.   The 24-year-old Moroccan brought the crowd to their feet when he gritted his teeth on the last lap and forced his way to the line.   Last year, Brussels organisers played African music to spur on the distance racers.   The athletes liked it so much that they asked for it again.   It clearly added an extra stride to Hissou.   Afterwards the Moroccan said he could go even faster.   "I was planning for 13:20 for the first five kilometres and I saw it was 13:25.   This was too slow.   Next time I will be on pace for the whole race," he said.   "I have achieved my main goal to have a world record.   Now I can't think of anything but that it could be faster.   I once thought the record was impossible but about a year ago I realised I could do it...I would do it."    The two records were the highlights of the 20th Ivo Van Damme memorial meeting which saw some superb performances on the new track in front of a capacity 40,000 crowd including great middle-distance names of the past such as Britain's Sebastian Coe and New Zealander John Walker.   Dennis Mitchell upstaged a trio of Olympic 100 metres champions, Kenyan Daniel Komen produced another historic 3,000 metres and American high hurdler Allen Johnson went within 0.01 seconds of the world record despite damp conditions.   Mitchell ran 10.03 seconds to take the scalp of Canada's Olympic sprint champion Donovan Bailey, 1992 champion Linford Christie of Britain and American 1984 and 1988 champion Carl Lewis.   The American champion, who finished fourth in Atlanta, also beat world and Olympic champion Bailey in Zurich last week.   "In terms of 100 metres, I'm still an amateur even though I'm 30.   You can bet my best is still to come," he said.   "I'm in the same shape physically now (as in Atlanta) but in other areas I'm much better."   Olympic champion Johnson defied the wet conditions at the start of the meeting to clock 12.92 seconds in the 110 hurdles, just one hundreth of a second outside the world record held by Britain's Colin Jackson.   Johnson ran the same time at the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta in June to become the second equal fastest hurdler of all time with American Roger Kingdom.   Jackson, the only man to have run faster, could not live with his speed, taking second in 13.24 seconds.   Komen failed to qualify for the Olympics but has run the second fastest 3,000 and 5,000 metres in history since the Games.   On Friday the 20-year-old clocked 7:25.87 for the shorter race, beating Algerian world record holder Noureddine Morceli in the process.   It was the third best time ever but Komen was not satisfied.   Olympic 1,500 metres champion Morceli, who has been suffering with injury since Atlanta, finished sixth in 7:36.81, well outside his world record of 7:25.11.   "The first kilometre was far too slow to beat the record," Komen said.   "And Morceli wasn't really giving any help.   I still think 5,000 is my best distance."    Seven athletes went into Friday's penultimate meeting of the Golden Four series with a chance of winning 20 one-kg gold bars.   The prize, worth $250,000, is shared between athletes who clinch specific events at each of the meetings in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.   With next week's final meeting in the German capital remaining, only Jamaican Merlene Ottey, who finished third in the women's 100 metres, has dropped out of the race.   The athletes still in the hunt are Namibia's Frankie Fredericks (200 metres), Denmark's Wilson Kipketer (800), American Derrick Adkins (400 hurdles), Britain's Jonathan Edwards (triple jump), German Lars Riedel (discus) and Bulgarian high jumper Stefka Kostadinova. 
1942 !GCAT !GSPO  Russian double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova cashed in on her remarkable comeback to top-class athletics with her second world record inside 10 days at the Brussels grand prix on Friday.   After breaking the world mark for the women's mile in Zurich last Wednesday, the Olympic 800 and 1,500 metres champion clocked two minutes 28.98 seconds to shave 0.36 seconds off the mark for the non-championship 1,000 metres.   The Russian ate up the ground in a swift last lap on Brussel's new track to improve on the previous best of 2:29.34 set by Mozambique's Maria Mutola in the same stadium in August last year.   Former 800 metres world champion Mutola pushed the Russian all the way and took second in 2:29.66.   An exhausted Masterkova, who earned a bonus of $25,000 for the performance, paid tribute to her rival after the race.   "That really finished me," she said.   "If it wasn't for Maria, I couldn't have done it.   She pushed me...It was a fast track, a terrific atmosphere.   The Mexican waves in the crowd gave me wings."   "In the last 400 metres I felt Mutola closing in and that drove me to the decisive extra effort.   Masterkova dominated the middle-distance races at the recent Atlanta Games after returning to competition after a three-year maternity break.   In her first mile race at the richest meeting in Zurich, she slashed 3.05 seconds off the previous record, earning a bonus of $50,000 plus one kilo of gold.   After Friday's performance in front of a capacity 40,000 crowd who were all on their feet at the end of the race, the Russian will have earned well over $100,000 in less than a fortnight, taking her appearance money into account.   She celebrated by pointing at the clock in delight after she crossed the line.   Brussels organisers had laid a new track for the meeting comparable to the surface at the Atlanta Games but put down on a softer surface.   It was clearly fast.   Despite damp conditions after a downpour at the start of the meeting, there were some superb performances in both the sprint and distance events.    American Dennis Mitchell upstaged a trio of Olympic 100 metres champions, Kenyan Daniel Komen produced another historic 3,000 metres and American high hurdler Allen Johnson went within 0.01 seconds of the world record despite damp conditions.   Sporting his ubiquitous bright green outfit, Mitchell ran 10.03 seconds to take the scalp of Canada's reigning sprint champion Donovan Bailey, 1992 champion Linford Christie of Britain and American 1984 and 1988 champion Carl Lewis.   Mitchell, who just missed out on a medal in Atlanta with fourth place, also beat world and Olympic champion Bailey in Zurich last week.   "In terms of 100 metres, I'm still an amateur even though I'm 30.   You can bet my best is still to come," he said.   "I'm in the same shape physically now (as in Atlanta) but in other areas I'm much better."   Olympic champion Johnson defied the wet conditions to produce a brilliant 12.92 seconds in the 110 metres race, just one hundreth of a second outside the world record held by Britain's Colin Jackson.   Johnson ran the same time at the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta in June to become the second equal fastest hurdler of all time with American Roger Kingdom.   Jackson, the only man to have run faster, could not live with his speed, taking second in 13.24 seconds. 
1943 !GCAT !GSPO  Nearly 30 people were injured, some seriously, in an accident which halted the opening phase of the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Jyvaskyla, central Finland, on Friday.   Rally organisers said 28 people were in hospital and two were undergoing surgery after Danish driver Karsten Richardt ploughed into a crowd of spectators during a two-km time trial at the event, the sixth round of the world championship.   Richardt and his co-driver Ole Frederiksen lost control of their Mitsubishi, skidded down an escape road and crashed into a cordoned-off area for spectators.   Organisers said Richardt's condition was not clear, but he was not thought to be among those seriously injured and most of the injuries were light, with two already out of hospital.   The Finnish STT news agency said eight people needed surgery.   The time trial was suspended as dusk approached because most of the remaining cars did not have auxiliary lights fitted.   They were therefore given the time of the fastest runner before the stage was stopped, and overnight 60 cars are classified as tied for the lead.   The rally is expected to resume on Saturday.   A young woman was killed at last year's event when she walked in front of a car testing the course before the race began. 
1944 !GCAT !GSPO  Warwickshire's last wicket pair of Ashley Giles and Tim Munton broke a 66-year-old county record on Friday when they put on 141 together in a rain-shortened second day of their championship match against Worcestershire.   Elsewhere, other championship contenders also suffered from bad weather although former England captain Graham Gooch hit an unbeaten 105, his sixth century of the season and 126th of his career, for fifth-placed Essex against Glamorganshire.   The efforts by Warwickshire's last pair enabled the county champions to reach 310 but when Worcestershire had scored 10 without loss in reply rain ended play for the day in mid-afternoon.   Giles made a career-best 83 and Munton reached a maiden championship half-century in beating the previous record of 128 for the last wicket set by Fred Santall and Wilf Sanders against Yorkshire in 1930.   The pair had joined forces at 169 for nine on Thursday and the innings would have folded for 199 but for Giles surviving a missed chance on 20.   In all they were together for 142 minutes before Giles was bowled by Alamgir Sheriyar after hitting 12 fours in nearly three hours.   Munton (54 not out) collected eight fours and a six off 131 balls during only the fourth century stand for the last wicket in Warwickshire's history.   Gooch's century enabled Essex to make up for lost time at Colchester after rain delayed the start until after tea.   He and Darren Robinson progressed from 72 to 194 without loss to leave the title chasers just 86 runs adrift of Gloucestershire.   Gooch had started the day on 33 and was soon driving with his customary power and assurance to complete his half-century with the help of 10 boundaries.   He hit another five fours and a six to complete his hundred which arrived off 162 deliveries.   Robinson was 72 not out at the close.   West Indian Carl Hooper became the first Kent batsman to reach 1,000 championship runs for the season -- but rain again had the final say in their match against Glamorgan at Cardiff as only 34 overs were possible.   Hooper passed the milestone when he reached 38 and promptly celebrated by hitting Neil Kendrick out of the ground and into the River Taff for a mighty six.   Kent, lying second only two points adrift of championship leaders Derbyshire who do not have a match, closed on a commanding 255 for three in their first innings with Hooper 52 not out. 
1945 !GCAT !GSPO  England batsman John Crawley was forced to endure a frustrating delay of over three hours before resuming his quest for a maiden test century in the third test against Pakistan on Friday.   Heavy overnight rain and morning drizzle ruled out any play before lunch on the second day but an improvement in the weather prompted the umpires to announce a 1415 local time (1315 GMT) start in the event of no further rain.   Crawley, unbeaten on 94 overnight in an England total of 278 for six, was spotted strumming a guitar in the dressing-room as the Oval ground staff took centre stage.   There were several damp patches on the square and the outfield and it was still raining when the players took an early lunch at 1230 local time (1130 GMT).   When brighter weather finally arrived, the umpires announced a revised figure of 67 overs to be bowled with play extended to at least 1900 local time (1800 GMT). 
1946 !GCAT !GSPO  Gerhard Berger, who started from pole position in a Ferrari for last year's Belgian Grand Prix, began this year's event in similar style by clocking the fastest time in Friday's opening practice session in his Benetton Renault.   The veteran Austrian, at 36 the oldest and longest-serving driver in the sport, showed his experience by outstripping all his younger rivals with a best lap of one minute 53.706 seconds on a dry surface at the long Spa-Francorchamps track in the Belgian Ardennes.   His time was faster than that with which he claimed pole position last season and was also the only lap inside the 1:54 barrier, proving that both he and the Renault-powered Benetton team are powerful contenders this weekend.   While Berger excelled in the warm weather, the two Williams drivers who are scrapping for the drivers' title -- leader Damon Hill of Britain and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who is 17 points behind -- contented themselves with set-up and familiarisation work.   Hill, seeking the perfect race settings for Sunday's 44-lap showdown, was seventh fastest in 1:55.281 while Villeneuve, taking his first look at the circuit through the forests, was third in 1:54.443, separated from Berger by Briton David Coulthard's McLaren.   Double world champion Michael Schumacher, hoping for a revival of Ferrari's fortunes with their new seven-speed gearbox, finished eighth just behind Hill after recovering from an accident in the morning when he spun off at the fast downhill Fagnes corner.    Berger said he was optimistic for the race, which had been expected to be a showdown between Hill and Villeneuve.   "We have done everything we wanted to and now we have the same aerodynamic set-up as for Hockenheim, which I believe makes the car more efficient.   "I had a perfect lap to finish with, but this is no reason to relax.   We want to stay ahead of the competition."   Villeneuve was delighted with his first look at the Spa circuit.   "It is not an easy track, it's tough to learn, but the car is pretty good.   There are a lot of high speed turns that are very demanding, so it is fun.   "I enjoy this type of track, you can really get into it.   It is very smooth as if driving on water."   Hill, who said his relationship with Villeneuve was no more tense than it had been earlier in the season, was also delighted with the track.   "It is a tremendous and awe-inspiring circuit, there is no question that you have to put more faith into the machinery and your ability at a place like this than anywhere else."    Asked about his accident, Schumacher said: "What happened is a real shame because the car was very good in the quick corners, to the extent that I could take Eau Rouge flat.   "Unfortunately, I made a mistake and I lost control of the car.   When I hit the tyres, my right leg hit the steering wheel and broke it and that is how I hurt myself.   Now I will put myself in the hands of my physiotherapist and tomorrow I plan to be back to normal." 
1947 !GCAT !GSPO  Leading times   after Friday's opening practice sessions for Sunday's   Belgian Grand Prix motor race:    1.   Gerhard Berger (Austria) Benetton 1 minute 53.706 seconds    2.   David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren  1:54.342    3.   Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) Williams 1:54.443    4.   Mika Hakkinen (Finland) McLaren  1:54.754    5.   Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany)  1:54.984    6.   Jean Alesi (France) Benetton 1:55.101    7.   Damon Hill (Britain) Williams 1:55.281    8.   Michael Schumacher (Germany) 1:55.333    9.   Martin Brundle (Britain) Jordan  1:55.385    10.   Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Jordan  1:55.645    11.   Johnny Herbert (Britain) Sauber  1:56.318    12.   Olivier Panis (France) Ligier  1:56.417 
1948 !GCAT !GSPO  Roger Chapman packed his bags and checked out of his hotel before setting out to play Friday's second round of the German Open, convinced that his 129th place after the first round meant he would miss the cut.   But the Briton was able to extend his stay in Stuttgart when he equalled the course record of 62 early on Friday.   Moments later Swede Robert Karlsson eagled the par-five 18th to also equal the course record set by Briton Paul Broadhurst on Thursday.   Chapman had shot a one-over-par first-round 72 on Thursday.   When he saw that 128 of his rivals in the 156-strong field had played to par or better on the opening day he went back to his hotel room to pack.   But, after starting quietly with three successive pars from the 10th on Friday he suddenly exploded into top form.   Chapman eagled the 13th with a drive, three-iron and 20ft putt, then had birdies at the 15th, 17th, first, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth to go from one over to eight under on 134.   Despite his magnificent score Chapman was still only joint seventh.   Karlsson was on 129, 13 under par.   Overnight leader Broadhurst was waiting to start his second round. 
1949 !GCAT !GSPO  Defending champion and second seed Conchita Martinez of Spain beat Nathalie Tauziat of France 6-3 6-4 Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the $450,000 Toshiba Tennis Classic.   "I played well almost the whole match," said Martinez, the 1994 Wimbledon champion.   "I felt pretty confident out there, so I'm pretty happy with the way I played."   Fifth seed Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina turned back Sweden's Asa Carlsson 6-1 7-5 while Katarina Studenikova surprised Slovakian compatriot and sixth (Corrects from seventh) seed Karina Habsudova 7-6 (7-4) 6-2, setting up a quarter-final clash with top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicrio of Spain.   Martinez, ranked third in the world, was in control throughout the one hour, 17 minute baseline battle, relying on her heavy topspin ground attack to defeat her 26th-ranked opponent for the seventh time in nine career meetings.   "I was much more aggressive than the other match," said Martinez, referring to a three-set tussle against Naoko Sawamatsu.   "She likes to come to the net, so I was trying to move her around with my forehand and keep it deep.   It worked quite well today."   Sabatini struggled with her serve, committing seven double faults in each set, but still managed to make it into her second quarter-final of the year where she will meet fourth seed Kimiko Date of Japan on Friday.   Sabatini sailed through the opening set despite her errant serve.   "It's not easy and somehow I have to stay calm," said Sabatini of the rash of double faults.   "I get too anxious with my serve and complicate things.   It starts getting worse rather than calm.   But I'm working on it."   In the second set, Carlsson began to find the mark with her baseline blasts, building a 5-3 lead.   But Sabatini reeled off the next four games to close out the 77-minute straight-sets victory.   "I wasn't happy with the way I played the second set," said Sabatini, who has fallen to a world 15th ranking following a four-month absence with a pulled stomach muscle.   "I really had to fight a lot and wasn't really able to play my game like I was in the first set.   "She was attacking me very well.   I was surprised the way she played.   She went to the court with a a plan and that's what she did.   I really had to fight.   "But I just kept trying.   I definitely didn't want to go to a third set.   I knew that it was important to win it in two sets.   So I just tried to play hard and play each point." 
1950 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the   $450,000 Toshiba Classic tennis tournament on Thursday (prefix   number denotes seeding):   Quarter-finals   2-Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Nathalie Tauziat (France)   6-3 6-4   Second round   5-Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) beat Asa Carlsson (Sweden)   6-1 7-5   Katarina Studenikova (Slovakia) beat 6 - Karina Habsudova   (Slovakia) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2   (Corrects that Habsudova is sixth seed). 
1951 !GCAT !GSPO  Mike Brisky and Mike Swartz shot four-under-par 67s Thursday and were tied for the lead after the opening round of the inaugural Vancouver Open at the Northview Golf and Country Club.   Brisky and Swartz are winless on the PGA Tour and are trying to take advantage of a weaker field with many of the top players participating in the lucrative World Series of Golf.   They held a one-shot lead over Jeff Maggert, Robin Freeman, Emlyn Aubrey, Ronnie Black, Joe Daley and Brent Franklin, a Canadian native who plays out of the British West Indies, who shot opening-round 68s.   Maggert is battling for a spot on the U.S. team for the upcoming Presidents Cup competition.   He ranks 14th, with the top 10 automatically earning berths on the team, which will be announced Monday.   The Presidents Cup pits the United States against an international squad in match-play competition.   The Vancouver Open is the first full-field event added to the Tour since 1986.   The Northview Golf and Country Club course is a par-71 layout measuring 6,900 yards. 
1952 !GCAT !GSPO  Fifth-seeded Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev, driving for a better tennis ranking, reached the quarter-finals of the Hamlet Cup tournament with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Jan Kroslak of Slovakia Thursday.   Medvedev, who held a number four ranking two years ago and is 38th this week, has been shaking off an assortment of injuries to his wrist, knee and back.   "I played well," he said after eliminating Kroslak in one hour.   He won the last three games of the first set and the last four of the match.   He was one of the pLayers who objected strongly to the U.S. Tennis Association's procedure in making the draw for the U.S. Open starting Monday, prompting the USTA to redo the draw Thursday.   "I've increased the level of my game with an eye to the Open," he said.   "But honestly, I still have to improve more.   I'm not yet up to the U.S. Open standards."   Thomas Johansson of Sweden, Adrian Voinea of Romania and American Jonathan Stark, three unseeded players, also reached the quarter-finals.   Johansson beat Fernon Wibier of the Netherlands 6-3 6-3.   Wibier, who replaced injured Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia, never threatened Johansson's service in the 64-minute match.   Voinea rallied to beat qualifier Nir Welgreen of Israel 5-7 6-0 6-2 and Stark edged compatriot Vincent Spadea 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-6. 
1953 !GCAT !GSPO  Twenty-year-old Tiger Woods beat Jerry Courville Jr 3 and 2, then defeated Charles Howell 3 and 1 Thursday to keep his quest alive for a third successive title in the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship.   Woods birdied three consecutive holes on the back nine to overcome a one-hole deficit and close out Courville.   Woods fell behind on the fourth hole when he bogeyed, but came back to even the match with a birdie on the eighth.   He took the lead on the 12th when Courville conceded the hole after hitting into the water, and won the 13th and 14th holes with a par and a birdie.   Woods had a par on the 16th, but won the match when 37-year-old Courville, Woods's teammate on the 1995 Walker Cup team, bogeyed.   Woods is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships.   Prior to titles in 1994 and 1995, he captured three straight U.S. Junior Amateur crowns.   The quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday and the semifinals are Saturday.   The semifinal winners will meet in the 36-hole final Sunday.   The winner of the U.S. Amateur receives a direct entry into next year's Masters and U.S. Open, if still an amateur.   Woods became the youngest U.S. Amateur champion in 1994 and edged Buddy Marruci last year in Newport, Rhode Island. 
1954 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of English first division   soccer matches on Friday:    Portsmouth 1 Queens Park Rangers 2    Tranmere  3 Grimsby 2 
1955 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of a Scottish third   division soccer match on Friday:    East Stirling 0 Albion 1 
1956 !GCAT !GSPO  Close of play scores in four-day   English County Championship cricket matches on Friday:   Third day   At Weston-super-Mare: Durham 326 (D.Cox 95 not out,   S.Campbell 69; G.Rose 7-73).   Somerset 298-6 (M.Lathwell 85,   R.Harden 65).   Second day   At Colchester: Gloucestershire 280 (J.Russell 63, A.Symonds   52; A.Cowan 5-68).   Essex 194-0 (G.Gooch 105 not out, D.Robinson   72 not out).   At Cardiff: Kent 255-3 (D.Fulton 64, M.Walker 59, C.Hooper   52 not out) v Glamorgan.   At Leicester: Leicestershire 343-8 (P.Simmons 108, P.Nixon   67 not out) v Hampshire.   At Northampton: Sussex 389 (N.Lenham 145, V.Drakes 59,   A.Wells 51; A.Penberthy 4-36).   Northamptonshire 160-4 (K.Curran   79 not out).   At Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 392-6 (G.Archer 143 not   out, M.Dowman 107) v Surrey.   At Worcester: Warwickshire 310 (A.Giles 83, T.Munton 54 not   out, W.Khan 52; R.Illingworth 4-54, S.Lampitt 4-90).   Worcestershire 10-0.   At Headingley: Yorkshire 529-8 declared (C.White 181,   R.Blakey 109 not out, M.Moxon 66, M.Vaughan 57).   Lancashire   162-4 (N.Fairbrother 53 not out). 
1957 !GCAT !GSPO  Pakistan flexed their batting and bowling muscles at the Oval on Friday to flatten English hopes of achieving the final test victory they need to salvage a drawn series.   Apart from John Crawley, who collected the extra six runs he needed for his maiden test century, a rain-shortened second day belonged entirely to the Pakistanis who romped to 229 for one in reply to England's first innings total of 326.   Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram set the tone by mopping up the last four England wickets for 43 runs before Saeed Anwar scored a glorious unbeaten 116 to tilt the game drastically away from the home side.   Anwar reached three figures in a mere 135 balls with 16 fours, sharing a destructive opening stand of 106 with fellow left-hander Aamir Sohail at almost five runs an over.   The consistent Ijaz Ahmed eagerly joined in, supplying an unbeaten 58 as the shadows and English expressions lengthened in equal measure.    Anwar, who scored 74 and 88 in the first test at Lord's, missed his side's tour of Australia after contracting a form of typhoid at home in Karachi and has also undergone hospital tests in London on unrelated stomach problems in recent months.   Now 27, he should be viewed as a classic example of not judging a cricketer on first impressions.   His first two test innings both ended in noughts against West Indies in 1990, but his test average has since soared into the 40s and is still climbing.   All the England bowlers felt the full force of his flashing blade and he offered barely a false shot on his merry way to a third test century, his first for two years.   The fit-again Sohail, whose aggregate in the series consisted of just two runs at the start of the day, fell four short of an equally fluent fifty when he drove to short mid-off to give off-spinner Robert Croft his first test victim.   Croft had a succession of other lung-busting appeals turned down, but he and leg-spinner Ian Salisbury will have to make startling weekend contributions if Pakistan, 1-0 ahead in the best-of-three series, are to be reined back on a good batting pitch.   England had hopes of a total in excess of 400 after winning the toss, but only Crawley produced the sort of weighty innings to put pressure on the touring team.   The 24-year-old Lancashire batsman has also suffered more than his fair share of medical problems in the past year, but assured himself a tour place, probably at the expense of Graeme Hick, with his mature 106 spread over four and a quarter hours   He had to wait until early afternoon to resume his innings after rain had washed out the morning session, passing the time by strumming a guitar in the dressing-room, finally reaching his goal with an all-run four through mid-wicket off Waqar.   By then, though, England had already lost nightwatchman Salisbury and Dominic Cork with only six runs added to their overnight 278 for six, and Crawley soon followed to a skidding delivery from Waqar who finished with four for 95.   Last man Alan Mullally swung an entertaining 24 off 12 balls before Wasim claimed his third wicket of the innings and his batsmen took control to leave England as exposed as the male streaker who made a brief appearance.    England coach David Lloyd described his side's performance as their worst of the season.   "You don't offer any excuses, that was a poor day," he admitted.   "We were disappointing with the ball...it's not the sort of thing we want to see too often.   "We'll have to think again about bowling a more disciplined line.   It's going to be very hard to save the series, but there are three days left."   Anwar has set his sights on an even bigger score when he resumes on Saturday.   "I'll start as if I'm on zero and try and make it to 200.   That would be a very special achievement for me," he said.   "The pitch is on the flat side, the ball didn't do much and it was coming onto the bat nicely." 
1958 !GCAT !GSPO  Waqar Younis has agreed terms to return to county cricket next year, but the Pakistan fast bowler is refusing to confirm his destination.   Glamorgan remain favourites for his signature, as they are offering a 200,000 pounds sterling ($310,700) two-year package, which would make Waqar the highest-paid player in English domestic cricket history.   Jonathan Barnett, Waqar's London-based agent, said on Friday: "I believe that Waqar agreed terms this morning but I'm not in a position to say with whom."   Glamorgan cricket secretary Mike Fatkin, who confirmed the Welsh side had made Waqar an offer, said: "We could have an answer within 24 hours, or it might take another two or three days."   Waqar took 232 wickets in three seasons for Surrey -- 1990, 1991 and 1993 -- before back problems interrupted his career. 
1959 !GCAT !GSPO  A notable personal milestone for John Crawley failed to prevent England from losing ground to Pakistan on a rain-interrupted second day in the final test at the Oval.   At tea, the touring team had raced to 62 without loss in reply to England's all-out total of 326 which included Crawley's maiden test century in his 12th apppearance for his country.   The 24-year-old Lancashire batsman made 106, but his side's four remaining wickets disappeared for just 43 runs after heavy rain and drizzle had washed out the morning session.   Waqar Younis took four for 95 and Wasim Akram finished with three for 83, trimming English ambitions of a big total as a prelude to squaring the best-of-three series.   Crawley, 94 not out overnight, had to wait more than three hours to resume his innings as the ground dried out and was seen strumming a guitar in the dressing-room during the delay.   When play did eventually start, his concentration was scarcely helped when nightwatchman Ian Salisbury and Dominic Cork fell in the space of nine balls with only six runs added to England's overnight 278 for six.   But an all-run four to mid-wicket off Waqar finally took him to three figures off 213 balls after four and a quarter rewarding hours.   There was one more four to come, his 12th of the innings, before Waqar bowled him with a ball which kept low to hit off-stump, bringing in last man Alan Mullally for an entertaining cameo of 24 in 12 balls.   England's total was nowhere near the region of 400 which coach David Lloyd had demanded and Pakistan openers Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail set about the home bowlers with ominous relish before tea.   Score: England 326 all out, Pakistan 62-0. 
1960 !GCAT !GSPO  South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock, forced to cut short his first season with Warwickshire to have ankle surgery, has told the English county he would like to return later in his career.   Pollock, who returns home a month early next week, said: "I would like to come back and play county cricket in the future and I don't think I would like to swap counties."   Explaining his premature departure was unavoidable, Pollock said: "I have been carrying the injury for a while and I hope that by having the surgery now I will be able to last out the new season back home." 
1961 !GCAT !GSPO  Scoreboard on the second day of   the third and final test between England and Pakistan at The   Oval on Friday:   England first innings    M.Atherton b Waqar Younis 31    A.Stewart b Mushtaq Ahmed 44    N.Hussain c Saeed Anwar b Waqar Younis  12    G.Thorpe lbw b Mohammad Akram 54    J.Crawley b Waqar Younis 106    N.Knight b Mushtaq Ahmed 17    C.Lewis b Wasim Akram 5    I.Salisbury c Inzamam-ul-Haq b Wasim Akram 5    D.Cork c Moin Khan b Waqar Younis 0    R.Croft not out  5    A.Mullally b Wasim Akram 24    Extras (lb-12 w-1 nb-10) 23    Total 326   Fall of wickets: 1-64 2-85 3-116 4-205 5-248 6-273 7-283   8-284 9-295   Bowling: Wasim Akram 29.2-9-83-3, Waqar Younis 25-6-95-4,   Mohammad Akram 12-1-41-1, Mushtaq Ahmed 27-5-78-2, Aamir Sohail   6-1-17-0   Pakistan first innings    Saeed Anwar not out  116    Aamir Sohail c Cork b Croft 46    Ijaz Ahmed not out 58    Extras (lb-1 nb-8) 9    Total (for one wicket)  229   Fall of wicket - 1-106   To bat: Inzamam-ul-Haq, Salim Malik, Asif Mujtaba, Wasim   Akram, Moin Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Mohammad Akam   Bowling (to date): Lewis 9-1-49-0, Mullally 9-3-28-0, Croft   17-3-42-1, Cork 7-1-38-0, Salisbury 14-0-71-0 
1962 !GCAT !GSPO  England were all out for 326 in their first innings on the second day of the third and final test against Pakistan at The Oval on Friday.   Score: England 326 (J.Crawley 106, G.Thorpe 54.   Waqar Younis 4-95) 
1963 !GCAT !GSPO  Middlesbrough's Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli is to wear his team sponsor's name on the inside of his shirt so it can be seen when he scores.   Every time he finds the net, the grey-haired forward pulls his shirtfront over his head as he runs to salute the fans, and Middlesbrough's sponsors want to cash in on the spectacle.   "Having seen Ravanelli celebrate his goals...we thought it would be fun to have (the name) on the inside of his shirt," a spokesman for the sponsors said.   "It will give the fans something else to look at besides his chest."    Ravanelli aggravated a foot injury in the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on Wednesday and was given only an even chance of playing at Nottingham Forest on Saturday by his manager Bryan Robson. 
1964 !GCAT !GSPO  Newcastle, their early season nerves calmed by a midweek win and a goal from 15-million-pound man Alan Shearer, host Sheffield Wednesday, the only premier league side with maximum points, on Saturday.   Kevin Keegan's Newcastle were routed 4-0 by Manchester United in the Charity Shield and lost 2-0 to Everton last weekend in their first league outing.   But they spluttered into life on Wednesday night, beating Wimbledon 2-0.   Shearer, the world's costliest player, netted his debut league goal for the club and for the first time this season Newcastle looked like the attacking force who so nearly took the title last year.   "I'm reasonably happy," Keegan said.   "One or two things could still be better but our commitment and teamwork are getting there.   It also looks as though something is starting to really develop between Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer."   But Wednesday will be a tough team to beat.   They escaped relegation on the final day of last season but have kicked off this year with successive victories over League Cup holders Aston Villa and Yorkshire rivals Leeds.   Big-thinking manager David Pleat failed in a close-season bid to entice Juventus forward Attilio Lombardo to Hillsborough but so far the Italian has not been missed.   Striker Andy Booth, who signed from first division Huddersfield for a fraction of the price Pleat was prepared to pay for Lombardo, and Sheffield-born trainee Richie Humphries, who scored against both Villa and Leeds, have transformed Wednesday's forward line since last year.   Pleat also expects to have strikers David Hirst and Mark Bright back in contention after injuries.   Defending champions Manchester United take on bitter rivals Blackburn in Sunday's match.   Blackburn, struggling to come to terms with life without Shearer, have lost their opening two games and parted company this week with their director of football Kenny Dalglish, the man who, as manager, guided them to the title in 1995.   "It's the first time I have been unemployed since I left school -- by someone else's choice," a forlorn Dalglish said.   "We came to the same opinion, albeit the club came to it a little bit earlier than me."   United, chasing their fourth league title in five years, will be looking to improve on their midweek 2-2 home draw against Everton, for whom striker Duncan Ferguson scored twice.   On Saturday, Ferguson and Everton travel south to Tottenham, who drew with newly-promoted Derby on Wednesday after starting the season brightly with an away win at Blackburn.   "Our back four has done quite well in the two games," Spurs manager Gerry Francis said.   "But this is a test for them especially after Ferguson's two goals against United.   He will be flying."   Tottenham will be without skipper Gary Mabbutt, who broke a shin bone last Saturday and will be out until after Christmas.   Liverpool, who beat Arsenal earlier in the week, entertain newly-promoted Sunderland, who trounced Nottingham Forest 4-1 away in mid-week, while Ruud Gullitt's Chelsea host Coventry.   Pre-season fears that the premier league's big-spenders would sweep all before them this season have yet to be realised.   With only two matches played, Wednesday are the only team with six points from six.   Newcastle have already proved vulnerable and Manchester United lost their 100 percent home record at the first attempt. 
1965 !GCAT !GSPO  Heavy overnight rain and morning drizzle ruled out a prompt resumption on the second day of the third and final test between England and Pakistan at the Oval on Friday.   With several damp patches on the square and the outfield, there was no possibility of play starting as scheduled at 1100 local time (1000 GMT) and the umpires announced a preliminary inspection at 1030 GMT, provided the rain stopped.   The delay was particularly frustrating for England batsman John Crawley, who needs just six more runs to register his maiden test century when the home side resume on 278 for six.    When rain returned, the umpires ordered an early lunch at 1230 local time (1130 GMT) and said they would make a further inspection at 1310 (1210 GMT). 
1966 !GCAT !GSPO  It was Australia Day at the $2 million Canadian Open on Thursday as three Aussies reached the quarter-finals with straight-set victories.   Unseeded Patrick Rafter recorded the most noteworthy result as he upset sixth-seeded American MaliVai Washington 6-2 6-1 in just 50 minutes.   Todd Woodbridge, who defeated Canadian Daniel Nestor 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4), and Mark Philippoussis, a 6-3 6-4 winner over Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic, also advanced and will meet in Friday's quarter-finals.   Third-seeded Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Tim Henman of Britain 6-4 6-4 after a three-hour evening rain delay and fifth-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden won his third-round match, eliminating Petr Korda of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-4.   Ferreira and Enqvist play in a Friday night quarter-final.   Two Americans, seventh seed Todd Martin and unseeded Alex O'Brien, will meet on Friday after winning matches on Thursday.   Martin overcame Cedric Pioline of France 2-6 6-2 6-4 and O'Brien beat Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden 6-3 2-6 6-3.   "If you really look at the match," said the 12th-ranked Washington after losing to the 70th-ranked Rafter, "I never really got a chance to play because he was serving big and getting in close to the net.   "He was also able to handle my serve pretty easily because my (first) service percentage was only in the 40s.   Put those two things together and you get a loss."   Rafter missed 10 weeks after wrist surgery earlier this year and the time away from tennis has given him a new perspective.   "Before when I was on tour, I always felt I had to be in bed by 9:30 or 10 o'clock and I had to be up at a certain time," Rafter said.   "Now I can go to bed at at midnight or wake up at seven in the morning.   I just don't have as many set routines and it's made me a happier person."   Martin was pleased with his victory over Pioline, his first in five meetings with the 11th-ranked Frenchman.   "It's always difficult to win a match when you lose the first set, especially against someone you have never beaten," he said.   "I got more aggressive in the second and third sets and the wind picked up and that also affected things because Cedric definitely went off a little bit."   The 26-year-old O'Brien, who won the ATP Tour stop in New Haven last week, has now won 18 of his last 20 matches, dating back to qualifying rounds in Los Angeles in late July.   He ranks 76th after being 285th four weeks ago.   "I feel I'm hitting the ball well even though I'm having more mental letdowns than I did last week," O'Brien said.   "But I'm still competing well."   "I got a lot of first serves in," said Enqvist about his victory over Korda.   "I didn't miss that many shots and he was making the mistakes."   Still marvelling at an exciting 64-stroke rally he won in the last game of his second-round match against Javier Sanchez of Spain on Tuesday, Enqvist joked, "Today against Petr there were about 64 strokes in the whole match.   It was mostly short points." 
1967 !GCAT !GSPO  Results from the Canadian Open   tennis tournament on Thursday (prefix number denotes seeding):   Third round   3-Wayne Ferreira (South Africa) beat Tim Henman (Britain) 6-4   6-4   4-Marcelo Rios (Chile) beat Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic) 6-4   6-3   5-Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) beat Petr Korda (Czech Republic)   6-3 6-4   Patrick Rafter (Australia) beat 6-MaliVai Washington (U.S.)   6-2 6-1   7-Todd Martin (U.S.) beat 9 - Cedric Pioline (France) 2-6 6-2   6-4   Mark Philippoussis (Australia) beat Bohdan Ulihrach (Czech   Republic) 6-3 6-4   Alex O'Brien (U.S.) beat Mikael Tillstrom (Sweden) 6-3 2-6   6-3   Todd Woodbridge (Australia) beat Daniel Nestor (Canada) 7-6   (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 
1968 !GCAT !GSPO  Centre Japie Mulder has been ruled out of South Africa's team for the second test against New Zealand in Pretoria on Saturday.   Mulder missed the first test in Durban with back spasms and failed a fitness check on Thursday.   But new Springbok skipper Gary Teichmann has recovered from a bruised thigh and is ready to play, coach Andre Markgraaff said.   Mulder's absence means that Northern Transvaal centre Andre Snyman should win his second cap alongside provincial colleague Danie van Schalkwyk.   Wing Pieter Hendriks is expected to retain his place, following speculation that Snyman would be picked out of position on the wing.   The line-up would not be announced until shortly before the start, Markgraaff said. 
1969 !GCAT !GSPO  Emerging young talent Chen Gang led China's title assault at the $180,000 Malaysian Open badminton tournament on Friday.   Chen beat Hermawan Susanto of Indonesia 15-9 15-7 to reach Saturday's semifinal against Malaysia's Ong Ewe Hock, who ousted Chinese Hu Zhilan 15-2 15-10 in another quarter-final.   Hermawan, the tournament's 10th seed, had stunned top seed and former countryman Fung Permadi on Thursday.   Fung, one of the most formidable players from Indonesia, is now a Taiwanese citizen.   Luo Yigang of China made it to the last four by beating Malaysian Jason Wong 15-5 15-6.   He will face Indonesia's Wijaya Indra, who overcame Malaysia's P.Kantharoopan 15-6 15-4.   Chen, 20, said: "I didn't expect to win but I felt good before the match today.   "My game plan worked positively," added Chen, whose previous best effort was reaching the Indonesian Open semifinals last year. 
1970 !GCAT !GSPO  Results in the Malaysian   Open badminton tournament on Friday (prefix numbers denote   seedings):   Men's singles, quarter-finals   2-Ong Ewe Hock (Malaysia) beat 5/8-Hu Zhilan (China) 15-2 15-10   9/16-Luo Yigang (China) beat Jason Wong (Malaysia) 15-5 15-6   Ijaya Indra (Indonesia) beat P.Kantharoopan (Malaysia) 15-6 5-4   9/16-Chen Gang (China) beat 9/16-Hermawan Susanto (Indonesia)   15-9 15-7 
1971 !GCAT !GSPO  The U.S. Open Tennis Championships begin on Monday and that means in a little more than two weeks Steffi Graf will be hoisting her 21st career Grand Slam singles trophy before an appreciative crowd at the National Tennis Centre.   Sure twice champion Monica Seles, 1994 winner Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and even homegrown American rising star Lindsay Davenport are legitimate contenders.   But Graf, winner of the last six Grand Slams she has entered, is again the prohibitive favourite to claim her fifth U.S. Open crown in an inexorable march toward the all-time record for major singles titles.   There may not be another tennis player in the world -- male or female -- who can match Graf for mental toughness.   Her ability to play through nagging injuries and tune-out personal problems and other distractions over the course of a two-week major is legendary.   And those qualities are never more obvious than at New York's Grand Slam, where the commotion is constant.   Worse news for other title hopefuls is that with all her success and nothing left to prove, Graf still wants to win.   "The fun and the excitement and the motivation is still there," Graf said this week.   "I just need to get a racket in my hand and get on the court and play tennis, that is all that I need to motivate myself.   It's so much fun to be out there and try to play great tennis."   A U.S. Open victory for the German star would mark the fifth time Graf has claimed at least three of the four Grand Slam titles in one year.   This year she passed retired legends Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who each own 18, and is fast closing on Margaret Court's record of 24.   Seles, who shares Graf's number one ranking, and Sanchez each have plenty of incentive to win.   And both come in with the all-important experience of having previously won the toughest of the four majors.   Seles made a triumphant return to the Open last year in reaching the final of her first Grand Slam event following the long layoff after her 1993 Hamburg stabbing.   In Graf's absence Seles won her fourth Australian Open this year, but disappointment at the French and a shocking second-round defeat at Wimbledon has left her hungry for another taste of Grand Slam glory.   "When I lost Wimbledon, that was really hard," admitted Seles, the 1991 and 1992 U.S. Open champion.   That Seles can win the Open is undeniable.   But a shoulder injury that will require surgery and causes pain when the left-hander serves means she will need a little luck to go with her punishing groundstrokes.   "I feel I'm prepared.   I played pretty good tennis in Canada," said Seles of her recent hardcourt title in Montreal. "  (But) I felt good going into Wimbledon and I did terrible, you never know."   Sanchez, like Graf, seems to thrive in the New York chaos, and her unbridled tenacity and will to win always make the second-ranked Spaniard a threat.   "It's a very special place for me to play," she said.   "It's crazy, I know.   It's noisy but I love the atmosphere," said Sanchez, the last person to defeat Graf at a major in the 1994 U.S. Open final.   But Sanchez's role on the women's tour of late seems to be to push Graf enough to make the German earn her titles.   The pair hooked up for thrilling struggles in the French Open and Wimbledon finals this year and last, but Sanchez always seems to wind up the gracious runner-up.   "Chances you always have," she said.   "I guess what counts is that I'm feeling good, I have confidence.   Anything can happen in two weeks."   The one player the top contenders seem to be eyeing with some trepidation is Davenport.   With an Olympic gold medal round her neck and a surprise victory over Graf en route to last week's Manhattan Beach title under her belt, Davenport may be poised for a Grand Slam breakthrough if she doesn't wilt under the trying conditions over two weeks at Flushing Meadow.   "She is definitely somebody to watch out for.   She has really improved in the past few months," Graf said of Davenport.   "I definitely think Lindsay has a great chance.   The way she's been playing has been unbelievable, so she's right up there," echoed Seles.   Then again, the loss that dropped Graf's record on the WTA Tour to 35-2 this year could mean that she is not due for another defeat for about six months. 
1972 !GCAT !GSPO  Stefan Edberg's once stormy and later joyous relationship with the U.S. Open is nearing a poignant farewell as the two-time champion heads toward his retirement at the end of this year.   "The U.S. Open has grown into something special for me," the classy 30-year-old Swede said of the year's final Grand Slam event which begins on Monday.   "It will be a little bit sad going into it.   I know it is my last one and I have accepted it," Edberg said following a spirited two-hour practice session with defending champion Pete Sampras on the Open's stadium court.   Early in his career the laconic Swede could not seem to handle the unique playing conditions of the Open.   Unruly fans, swirling winds and the constant rumble of jets taking off and landing at nearby LaGuardia Airport seemed to play havoc with Edberg's concentration.   "I had a hard time dealing with the Open in the beginning, with all of the things that were going on," Edberg recalled.   His inability to cope with the myriad distractions made Edberg a regular upset victim at Flushing Meadow.   In 1990 as the world number one, Edberg became the first top seed to lose in the first round in 19 years when he fell to Russian Alexander Volkov in straight sets.   Yet somehow Edberg not only came to grips with the Open, but mastered it, putting together impressive back-to-back campaigns that carried him to the title in 1991 and 1992.   "Since winning it, the whole thing changed," he said.   "Now I think the U.S. Open has something that other tournaments don't have, you have a very special feeling being here."   Edberg's chances of a prolonged Flushing Meadow farewell seem to be jinxed, however.   When the draw was first made Wednesday, the unseeded Edberg found he would have to take on eighth seed Jim Courier in a rematch of the 1991 final.   When controversy erupted that led to the draw being done over on Thursday, against all odds Edberg drew yet another top player in fifth-seeded Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek.   Edberg noted an addional irony as he and Krajicek were the player representatives at a meeting with tournament officials who were deciding whether to re-make the draw.   "It's kind of funny," Edberg said.   "The last thing Richard said to me was 'you'll see now we will end up playing each other.'"   Edberg beat the Dutchman en route to his 1992 U.S. Open title but lost twice to Krajicek this year on clay.   "It's tough for both of us," said Edberg of the difficult first-round assignment.   "It's not going to be easy for him and not going to be easy for me."   Edberg has played 19 tournaments on his farewell tour this year with mixed results that reinforced his decision to hang up his racket.   "I've had some good results, some good matches, but the consistency has not been there," he said.   "If I want to play tennis I want to enjoy it."   For the now 28th-ranked Swede who was a mainstay of the world's top 10 from 1985 to 1995, that means having a realistic shot at winning a Grand Slam.   "I think as you approach 31 the chances of winning a Slam is minimal so I don't really see any point in playing," said Edberg, who also owns two Wimbledon and two Australian Open titles.   "When I heard he was retiring I was surprised," noted Sampras.   "He's still got a lot of good tennis left in him.   I think he's leaving the game the way he wants to leave the game -- on his own terms." 
1973 !GCAT !GSPO  Heightened awareness of the threat of domestic terrorism brought on by the Olympic park bombing in Atlanta will result in tough, new security measures at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships over the next two weeks.   "Being an international event ... what happened at Atlanta naturally is going to make you take a hard look at everything to see if you can do anything to improve things," tournament director of operations David Meehan told Reuters on Friday.   Under the new security plan, anyone entering the tournament grounds at the USTA National Tennis Centre -- including players -- will have their bags and packages searched.   Those measures did not slow things down too much for modest crowds out for the qualifying tournament Friday, but it remains to be seen whether they will result in monster bottle necks at entrance gates when some 20,000 fans plus athletes, media and event staff try to pour into the tennis centre each day of the Open.   "We hope to add enough people (manning the checkpoints) that people are not delayed more than several minutes," Meehan said.   "We want the public to feel comfortable and safe without an extraordinary amount of inconvenience, so we are going to do the best we can to put on enough manpower that we can keep people moving."   Last year's security concerns centred around returning superstar Monica Seles in an effort to keep her safe from a repeat of the horrifying knife attack by a deranged fan she suffered in Hamburg in April of 1993.   "This is a much broader scope," Meehan said.   "It's the general safety for the public, the players, everyone involved that's the focus.   It's no particular entity within the event, it's the event itself."   In addition to beefed-up tournament security, an estimated 100 uniformed New York City police officers and a squad of undercover detectives have been assigned to the event, police said.   "We're ratcheting up security in case anybody wants to cause problems," a police source told the New York Post.   "We're aware of the climate of the times."   In the last few days, police were trained by the bomb squad and a joint anti-terrorist task force and a small porition of the unit will be assigned watch out for suspicious packages in restricted areas, police said.   The Queens District Attorney also is dispatching agents to the Open.   "It's a worldwide event and public safety is a main concern," District Attorney Richard Brown said. 
1974 !GCAT !GSPO  Promising 10th-ranked American Chanda Rubin has pulled out of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships with a wrist injury, tournament officials announced.   The 20-year-old Rubin, who was to be seeded 11th, is still suffering from tendinitis of the right wrist that has kept her sidelined in recent months.   Rubin's misfortune turned into a very lucky break for eighth-seeded Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport.   Davenport had drawn one of the toughest first-round assignments of any of the seeded players in 17th-ranked Karina Habsudova of Slovakia.   But as the highest-ranked non-seeded player in the tournament, Habsudova will be moved into Rubin's slot in the draw, while Davenport will now get a qualifier in the first round, according to U.S. Tennis Association officials.   Rubin is the third notable withdrawal from the women's competition after 12th-ranked former Australian Open champion Mary Pierce and 20th-ranked Wimbledon semifinalist Meredith McGrath pulled out earlier this week with injuries.   Men's Australian Open champion Boris Becker will also miss the year's final Grand Slam with a wrist injury. 
1975 !GCAT !GSPO  A trio of Americans -- one seeking to avoid a rare Grand Slam shutout, another aiming to end a seven-year major title drought, and a third basking in the golden glow of Olympic glory -- appear poised for a strong run at the U.S. Open title.   But after a Wimbledon fortnight that seemed to have been planned by Lewis Carroll and the Mad Hatter -- a Richard Krajicek-MaliVai Washington final?   -- anything is possible during the toughest two weeks in tennis.   World number one Pete Sampras, third-ranked Michael Chang and Olympic champion Andre Agassi all take summer hardcourt titles into the Open.   With Goran Ivanisevic's history of New York misery and Thomas Muster's lack of hardcourt success, Dutchman Krajicek, who picked off Sampras en route to his historic Wimbledon win, may be the one player with the confidence to keep an American from claiming the national title -- and he's picking Sampras.   "Sampras is still the favourite, he's on a different level," said Krajicek, who had enjoyed little Grand Slam joy before this year's topsy-turvy Wimbledon.   "I remember last year, he had a terrible summer coming into the Open and he just came here and won.   He hasn't won a Grand Slam title this year so ... I think he will be very eager."   Despite a rocky year marked by injury and tragedy, Sampras remains the best tennis player in the world when on top of his game as he eyes his fourth U.S. Open title of the decade.   Sampras set a remarkable pace for himself in grabbing two of the four major titles in each of the past three years.   But this year he lost to Australian Mark Philippoussis in third round of the Australian Open, fell to eventual champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia in the semifinals of the French and had his three-year Wimbledon reign halted by Krajicek in the quarter-finals.   Sampras missed the Olympics due to injury, but finally appeared to emerge from the emotional black cloud caused by the tragic death of close friend and mentor Tim Gullikson with his victory at last week's Indianapolis tournament.   That win could signal Sampras is back on course in his quest to equal his idol Rod Laver's total of 11 major singles titles by scooping up career number eight.   The first of his generation of American players to make a Grand Slam breakthrough at 17, 1989 French Open winner Chang is still waiting for his second major title.   But Chang is finally knocking at the Grand Slam door again.   After finishing runner-up at last year's French Open and this year's Australian, Chang comes into the U.S. Open as the hottest player on the ATP Tour.   Ranked a career-high third in the world and seeded second at the Open, Chang won Washington and Los Angles and was runner-up in Cincinnati to take a 14-1 summer hardcourt record into this week's Hamlet Cup.   "I like to play in New York.   The U.S. Open surface suits me even though I've not been able to crack through.   However, every year is a new year," said Chang, who has fallen to the eventual champion at four of the last five U.S. Opens.   Agassi's career appeared to be in freefall earlier this year with a slew of early exits, including a second-round loss at the French Open and a first-round departure from upset-mad Wimbledon.   But the 1994 U.S. Open champion and 1995 runner-up finally appears to have his balding head back on straight.   Agassi, who also has Wimbledon and Australian Open crowns on his resume, turned his year around with a gold medal performance in Atlanta that he called "the greatest accomplishment I've ever had in the sport."   He cemented his return to form by beating red-hot Chang in the Cincinnati final and further fine-tuned his New York attitude by doing a John McEnroe impression in getting tossed out of Indianapolis for an extremely audible obscenity.   Unless Krajicek can somehow pull off his second successive major title coup, this will almost surely mark the first year since 1991 that the Grand Slams go to four different players.   Australian Open winner Boris Becker pulled out with a wrist injury and Kafelnikov is nursing sore ribs that could hamper his strokes and movement.   One player known for his graceful, fluid movement will be making the farewell appearance of a most distinguished Grand Slam career at the 1996 Open.   Thirty-year-old Stefan Edberg has decided to call it a day and while the 1991 and 1992 champion is no longer considered a legitimate contender, the classy Swede remains a fan favourite. 
1976 !GCAT !GSPO  Andres Galarraga drove in five runs with a pair of homers and Eric Young had his second straight four-hit game as the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep with a 10-5 victory over the St Louis Cardinals Thursday.   The Cardinals scored four times in the first inning, but Galarraga slugged a three-run shot in the bottom of the frame and capped a five-run second with a two-run shot, his 38th of the season and fifth during a nine-game hitting streak.   "We tried to get things going right away and I got lucky with a homer to right," Galarraga said.   "I feel real good at the plate and am trying to hit it hard and use the other field."   Galarraga is hitting .417 (15-for-36) with 13 RBI during his hitting streak.   He notched his 17th career multi-homer game, and seventh this season for Colorado.   "He is very quietly having an awesome year," coach Don Baylor said of Galarraga.   Roger Bailey (2-2) survived early troubles to record the win, allowing five runs and eight hits over seven innings with four walks and four strikeouts.   The Rockies had lost his previous four starts.   Mike Morgan (4-7) lost his third straight start, allowing eight runs and eight hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts in three innings.   "Today I just got beat by one guy," Morgan said.   "Galarraga single-handedly beat me today."   In Atlanta, Barry Larkin led off the 13th inning with a home run off reliever Joe Borowski to overcome a pair of homers by rookie Andruw Jones as the Cincinnati Reds outlasted the Braves 3-2.   The score was tied 2-2 when Larkin belted a 2-1 pitch from Borowski (1-1) over the centre-field fence for his career-high 24th homer.   Hector Carrasco (4-3) earned the win with two hitless innings, walking three and striking out one.   Jeff Brantley earned his 34th save by retiring the Braves in order in the bottom of the 13th.   Kevin Mitchell also homered for Cincinnati.   In Los Angeles, Eric Karros and Raul Mondesi hit two-run homers and Pedro Astacio won his fourth straight decision as the Dodgers ended a three-game losing streak and averted a sweep with an 8-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.   Astacio (8-7) allowed three runs and eight hits in 7 1/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts to improve to 4-0 in his last seven starts.   He held the Phillies hitless until Kevin Stocker singled with two outs in the fifth, and kept them off the scoreboard before surrendering three runs in the eighth.   Chan Ho Park got the final two outs of the eighth, but Scott Radinsky ran into trouble in the ninth, loading the bases with one out.   Todd Worrell allowed Benito Santiago's run-scoring single and Scott Rolen's sacrifice fly to deep centre before striking out Kevin Stocker for his 32nd save, tying the club record he set last year.   Mike Williams (4-12) took the loss.   The Dodgers have won eight of 12 and moved within two games of first-place San Diego in the National League West.   The Phillies had their three-game winning streak halted.   In Houston, Jeff King hit his fifth career grand slam, his 25th homer of the season, in the top of the ninth as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for an 8-6 victory over the Astros and a split of their four-game series.   Marc Wilkins (3-0) pitched one scoreless inning for the victory.   John Ericks gave up a solo home run to Derek Bell, his second of the game, in the ninth, but notched his fourth save.   Rookie closer Billy Wagner (2-1) took the loss.   Jeff Bagwell hit his 27th home run and Craig Biggio and Bill Spiers also homered for Houston.   The five home runs hit by the Astros matched a club record.   In San Francisco, Sherman Obando's solo homer leading off the eighth snapped a tie and red-hot Jeff Fassero won his fifth straight decision as the Montreal Expos defeated the Giants 5-4.   Obando's homer off reliever Jose Bautista (3-2) snapped a 4-4 deadlock and Montreal's three-game losing streak.   The Expos, who rallied from a 4-0 deficit, also got solo homers from Lenny Webster and David Segui.   Fassero (13-7) remained unbeaten in 11 starts when the Expos score more than three runs and improved to 5-0 over his last eight starts.   He allowed four runs -- two earned -- and 10 hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out five.   Giants superstar Barry Bonds left in the bottom of the third with a recurring left hamstring injury. 
1977 !GCAT !GSPO  Major League Baseball   standings after games played on Thursday (tabulate under won,   lost, winning percentage and games behind):    AMERICAN LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    NEW YORK  72 54 .571 -    BALTIMORE  67 59 .532 5    BOSTON  64 64 .500 9    TORONTO  59 69 .461 14    DETROIT  45 82 .354 27 1/2    CENTRAL DIVISION    CLEVELAND  76 51 .598 -    CHICAGO  69 60 .535 8    MINNESOTA  63 64 .496 13    MILWAUKEE  60 68 .469 16 1/2    KANSAS CITY  58 71 .450 19    WESTERN DIVISION    TEXAS 74 54 .578 -    SEATTLE  65 61 .516 8    OAKLAND  62 68 .477 13    CALIFORNIA  59 68 .465 14 1/2   FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 SCHEDULE   SEATTLE AT BOSTON    MILWAUKEE AT CLEVELAND     CALIFORNIA AT BALTIMORE     OAKLAND AT NEW YORK     TORONTO AT CHICAGO    DETROIT AT KANSAS CITY     TEXAS AT MINNESOTA     NATIONAL LEAGUE    EASTERN DIVISION    W L PCT GB    ATLANTA  79 47 .627 -    MONTREAL  68 58 .540 11    NEW YORK  59 69 .461 21    FLORIDA  58 69 .457 21 1/2    PHILADELPHIA 52 76 .406 28    CENTRAL DIVISION    HOUSTON  68 60 .531 -    ST LOUIS  67 60 .528 1/2    CHICAGO  63 62 .504 3 1/2    CINCINNATI  63 62 .504 3 1/2    PITTSBURGH  54 73 .425 13 1/2    WESTERN DIVISION    SAN DIEGO  70 59 .543 -    LOS ANGELES  67 60 .528 2    COLORADO  66 62 .516 3 1/2    SAN FRANCISCO 54 71 .432 14   FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 SCHEDULE   CINCINNATI AT FLORIDA (doubleheader)   CHICAGO AT ATLANTA    ST LOUIS AT HOUSTON     PITTSBURGH AT COLORADO     NEW YORK AT LOS ANGELES     PHILADELPHIA AT SAN DIEGO    MONTREAL AT SAN FRANCISCO 
1978 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of Major League   Baseball games played on Thursday (home team in CAPS):     American League    BOSTON  2 Oakland  1    Seattle  10 BALTIMORE  3    California 12 NEW YORK  3    Toronto  1 CHICAGO  0 (in 6 1/2)    Detroit  10 KANSAS CITY 3    Texas  11 MINNESOTA  2     National League    COLORADO  10 St Louis  5    Cincinnati  3 ATLANTA  2 (in 13)    Pittsburgh  8 HOUSTON  6    LOS ANGELES 8 Philadelphia 5    Montreal  5 SAN FRANCISCO 4 
1979 !GCAT !GSPO  Former Oriole Jamie Moyer allowed two hits over eight scoreless innings before tiring in the ninth and Paul Sorrento added his third grand slam of the season as the Seattle Mariners routed Baltimore 10-3 Thursday.   Moyer (10-2), who was tagged for a pair of homers by Mike Devereaux and Brady Anderson and three runs in the ninth, walked none and struck out two.   Norm Charlton retired the final three batters to seal the victory.   With one out in the fifth Ken Griffey Jr and Edgar Martinez stroked back-to-back singles off Orioles starter Rocky Coppinger (7-5) and Jay Buhner walked.   Sorrento followed by hitting a 1-2 pitch just over the right-field wall for a 7-0 advantage.   Right fielder Bobby Bonilla was after the ball, which was touched by fans at the top of the scoreboard in right.   "Things fell in for us," said Sorrento, who has six career grand slams and hit the ninth of the season for the Mariners.   "We have over a month left.   We've got to make up some ground."   In the American League wild-card race, the Mariners are three games behind the White Sox, two behind Baltimore and two ahead of the Red Sox heading into Boston for a weekend series.   Moyer retired 11 straight batters between the third and seventh innings and threw two or fewer pitches to 11 of the 29 batters he faced.   "I made some bad pitches at the end but I'm not going to dwell on it.   We won the game," said Moyer.   Coppinger (7-5) was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.   Orioles manager Davey Johnson missed the game after being admitted to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat.   Bench coach Andy Etchebarren took his place.   In Boston, Troy O'Leary homered off the right-field foul pole with one out in the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox climbed to the .500 mark for the first time this season with their fourth straight victory, 2-1 over the Oakland Athletics.   Boston has won 15 of its last 19 games.   Boston's Roger Clemens (7-11) was one out away from his second straight shutout when pinch-hitter Matt Stairs tripled over the head of centre fielder Lee Tinsley on an 0-2 pitch and pinch-hitter Terry Steinbach dunked a broken-bat single into right to lift Oakland into a 1-1 tie.   The run broke Clemens' 28-inning shutout streak, longest in the majors this season.   He pitched his fourth complete game, allowing eight hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts.   Reliever Mark Acre (0-1) took the loss.   In New York, Garret Anderson and Gary DiSarcina drove in two runs apiece in a five-run first inning and Jim Edmonds highlighted a six-run sixth with a bases-loaded double as the California Angels coasted to a 12-3 victory over the Yankees in the rubber game of their three-game series.   The Angels battered Kenny Rogers (10-7) for five runs in the first.   The Yankees have allowed at least two runs in the first inning in six straight games, getting outscored 21-1 in the first inning in that span.   Chuck Finley (12-12) snapped a four-game losing streak.   In Kansas City, Travis Fryman doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth and Melvin Nieves and Damion Easley belted two-run homers as the Detroit Tigers claimed a 10-3 win over the Royals, handing them their fifth straight loss.   The Tigers won their third straight and halted a seven-game road losing streak behind Justin Thompson (1-2), who earned his first major-league win.   Tim Belcher (12-8) was tagged for six runs and nine hits in eight innings.   At Minnesota, Ken Hill allowed two runs en route to his sixth complete game of the season and Rusty Greer added three hits, including a homer, and two RBI as the red-hot Texas Rangers routed the Twins 11-2.   The Rangers, who won for the 11th time in their last 13 games, have scored 45 runs in their last five contests.   Hill (14-7) allowed 10 hits.   He has yielded just seven runs in his last four starts, covering 33 1/3 innings.   In Chicago, Erik Hanson outdueled Alex Fernandez, and Jacob Brumfield drove in Otis Nixon with the game's only run in the sixth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the White Sox 1-0 in a game shortened to six innings due to rain.   Toronto won its fifth straight and handed the White Sox their seventh loss in nine games.   Hanson (11-15) allowed three hits, walked three and struck out four to snap a personal three-game losing streak.   Fernandez (12-8) scattered six hits. 
1980 !GCAT !GSPO  Sporting's Luis Miguel Predrosa scored the first goal of the new league season as the Lisbon side cruised to a 3-1 away win over SC Espinho on Friday.   Predrosa drilled a right-foot shot into the back of the net after 24 minutes to set Sporting on the way to victory.   Although Espinho's Nail Besirovic put the home side back on terms in the 35th minute, Sporting quickly restored their lead.   Jose Luis Vidigal scored in the 38th minute and Mustapha Hadji added the third in the 57th.   The game was brought forward from Sunday when reigning champions Porto and Lisbon rivals Benfica play their first games of the season. 
1981 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of a Portuguese first   division soccer match on Friday:   Espinho 1 Sporting 3 
1982 !GCAT !GSPO  Hamburg side St Pauli, tipped as prime candidates for relegation, produced a stunning second-half fightback to draw 4-4 in their Bundesliga clash with Schalke on Friday.   Schalke, who finished third last season, raced to a 3-1 lead at halftime.   St Pauli pulled a goal back through Andre Trulsen but Schalke striker Martin Max restored his team's two-goal cushion shortly afterwards.   Christian Springer put St Pauli back in touch in the 64th minute and three minutes later they were level, thanks to a penalty from Thomas Sabotzik.   In the night's only other match, Hamburg beat Hansa Rostock 1-0, Karsten Baeron scoring the winner after some dazzling build-up from in-form midfielder Harald Spoerl.   The win put Hamburg in second place in the German first division after three games, though that may change after the other sides play on Saturday. 
1983 !GCAT !GSPO  Morocco's Salah Hissou broke the men's 10,000 metres world record on Friday when he clocked 26 minutes 38.08 seconds at the Brussels grand prix on Friday.   The previous mark of 26:43.53 was set by Ethiopia's Haile Gebreselassie in the Dutch town of Hengelo in June last year. 
1984 !GCAT !GSPO  Summaries of Bundesliga matches on Friday:   Hansa Rostock 0 Hamburg 1 (Baeron 64th min).   Halftime 0-0.   Attendance 18,500.   St Pauli 4 (Driller 15th, Trulsen 54th, Springer 64th, Sobotzik 67th penalty) Schalke 4 (Max 11th, Thon 34th, Wilmots 38th, Springer 64th).   1-3.   19,775. 
1985 !GCAT !GSPO  Summary of a French first division match on Friday.   Nancy 0 Paris St Germain 0.   Attendance: 15,000. 
1986 !GCAT !GSPO  Result of a French first division match on Friday.    Nancy 0 Paris St Germain 0 
1987 !GCAT !GSPO  Results of German first division   soccer matches on Friday:    St Pauli  4 Schalke 4    Hansa Rostock 0 Hamburg 1 
1988 !GCAT !GSPO  Ian Woosnam looks set to knock Colin Montgomerie off his almost permanent place at the top of the European money-winning list after firing a second successive 64 at the German Open on Friday.   Woosnam's total of 128 left him with a one-shot halfway lead over Sweden's Robert Karlsson, who fired a 62.   Fernando Roca of Spain and Briton Ian Pyman, who both had a 64, are joint third on 130.   Montgomerie, an absentee here because his father is ill, has been European number one for the past three years and has made no secret of the fact he wants to extend the sequence to four years.   But Woosnam, number one in 1987 and 1990 and equally keen to top the Order of Merit for a third time, only needs to finish first or second this weekend to go to the front.   Victory and the 116,000 pounds sterling ($180,200) first prize for the Welshman would move him 50,000 pounds ($77,690) clear of Scotland's Montgomerie with the season drawing to a close.   Both London-based Karlsson and Briton Roger Chapman equalled the course record of 62, set by Broadhurst on Thursday.   Karlsson played his last nine holes in 28 to be the early leader but Woosnam, shooting 29 for his last nine, went in front, though only after sinking a six-foot putt on the final green for a birdie.   Roca, second in the Catalan Open earlier this year, had a second round containing eight birdies and only one bogey.   In near-perfect conditions, the halfway cut was made at 137, five under par, equalling the record for the European Tour. 
1989 !GCAT !GSPO  Russia's double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova smashed her second world record in just 10 days on Friday when she bettered the mark for the women's 1,000 metres.   After breaking the world record for the women's mile in Zurich last Wednesday, the Olympic 800 and 1,500 metres champion clocked two minutes 28.98 seconds over 1,000 at the Brussels grand prix meeting.   The Russian ate up the ground in a swift last lap to shave 0.36 seconds off the previous best of 2:29.34 set by Mozambique's Maria Mutola in the same stadium in August last year.   Former world 800 champion Mutola pushed Masterkova all the way, finishing second in 2:29.66.   But it was the Russian who picked up the bonus of $25,000 for the historic run in front of a capacity 40,000 crowd.    Masterkova dominated the middle-distance races at the recent Atlanta Games following her return to competition this season after a three-year maternity break.   In her first mile race at the richest meeting in Zurich last Wednesday, she slashed 3.05 seconds off the previous record.   The record of four minutes, 12.56 seconds in Zurich earned Masterkova a bonus of $50,000 plus one kilo of gold.   After Friday's performance the Russian will have earned well over $100,000 in less than a fortnight, taking her appearance money into account.   Brussels organisers had laid a new track for the meeting comparable to the surface at the Atlanta Games but put down on a softer surface.   Masterkova clearly enjoyed it.   Mutola looked threatening in the final 200 metres but the Russian found an extra gear to power home several strides ahead, pointing at the time on the clock with delight as she crossed the line. 
1990 !GCAT !GSPO  Evolution of the women's 1,000   metres world record (tabulated under time, name/nationality,   venue, date):    2:30.67 Christine Wachtel (Germany)  Berlin 17.8.90    2:29.34 Maria Mutola (Mozambique)  Brussels 25.8.95    2:28.98 Svetlana Masterkova (Russia)  Brussels 23.8.96 
1991 !GCAT !GSPO  American Michael Johnson cruised to a 400 metres victory in 44.29 seconds on Friday in his first appearance at a major meeting since his historic 200-400 double at the Atlanta Olympics.   Johnson, who has been nursing a hamstring injury from the Olympics, could afford himself the luxury of putting up his hands in triumph a few strides from the finish of the race at the Brussels grand prix.   It was not as fast as his victory in Atlanta when he clocked 43.49 but the Belgian crowd rose to their feet as Johnson moved up into top gear with 200 metres to go and powered down the home straight.   Roger Black, Britain's silver medallist from the Atlanta Games, was not in the race and bronze medallist Davis Kamoga of Uganda finished fourth in 44.96.   American Derek Mills was second in 44.78 with compatriot Anthuan Maybank third in 44.92.   Johnson missed last week's meeting in Zurich, the most lucrative in the sport, because of the injury he incurred on the Atlanta track.   Johnson performed in front of the some of athletics' biggest names from the past who came to Brussels to celebrate the Van Damme memorial's 20th event.   They included the great middle distance runners Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram of Britain and John Walker of New Zealand.    Johnson said he planned to run the 200 metres at next Friday's Berlin meeting where he can stop Namibia's Olympic silver medallist Frankie Fredericks from taking a share of a jackpot worth $250,000.   The prize is shared between athletes who win specific events in the Golden Four series in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.   Fredericks has won each of his first three races before the German finale.   Asked how he felt being able to stop Frederick's big payday, Johnson said: "That isn't going to stand in my way.   I don't want to upset his plans but I'm going to Berlin to win the 200 metres.   I'm still coming back from injury so I took it easy out there." 
1992 !GCAT !GSPO  More than 20 people were injured, some seriously, in an accident which halted the opening phase of the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Jyvaskyla, central Finland, on Friday.   Initial reports spoke of 29 injured, and the Finnish STT news agency said at least 10 people had been hurt.   The accident happened during a two-km time trial at the event, the sixth round of the world championship, when Danish driver Karsten Richardt skidded down an escape road in his Mitsubishi and went into a crowd of spectators.   STT said Karsten and his co-driver Ole Frederiksen crashed into the crowd which was standing in a cordoned-off area for spectators.   Finnish television said at least one of the injuries was serious, but the STT news agency said no one had been killed according to initial reports.   The time trial was suspended as dusk approached because most of the remaining cars did not have auxiliary lights fitted.   They were therefore given the time of the fastest runner before the stage was stopped, and overnight 60 cars are classified as tied for the lead.   The rally is to resume on Saturday. 
1993 !GCAT !GSPO  Russian Svetlana Masterkova broke the women's world 1,000 metres record on Friday when she clocked an unofficial two minutes 28.99 seconds at the Brussels grand prix.   The previous mark of 2:29.34 was set by Mozambique's Maria Mutola here on August 25 last year.    The time was officially adjusted to 2:28.98. 
1994 !GCAT !GSPO  Leading second round   scores in the German Open golf championship on Friday (Britain   unless stated):   128 Ian Woosnam 64 64   129 Robert Karlsson (Sweden) 67 62   130 Fernando Roca (Spain) 66 64, Ian Pyman 66 64   131 Carl Suneson 65 66, Stephen Field 66 65   132 Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) 66 66, Raymond Russell 63 69,   Thomas Gogele (Germany) 67 65, Paul Broadhurst 62 70,   Diego Borrego (Spain) 69 63   133 Ricky Willison 69 64, Stephen Ames (Trinidad and Tobago)   68 65, Eamonn Darcy (Ireland) 65 68   134 Robert Coles 68 66, David Williams 67 67, Thomas Bjorn   (Denmark) 66 68, Pedro Linhart (Spain) 67 67, Michael   Jonzon (Sweden) 67 67, Roger Chapman 72 62, Jonathan Lomas   67 67, Francisco Cea (Spain) 68 66   135 Terry Price (Australia) 67 68, Paul Eales 67 68, Wayne   Riley (Australia) 64 71, Carl Mason 69 66, Barry Lane   68 67, Bernhard Langer (Germany) 64 71, Gary Orr 67 68,   Mats Lanner (Sweden) 64 71, Jeff Hawksworth 67 68, Des   Smyth (Ireland) 66 69, David Carter 66 69, Steve Webster   69 66, Jose Maria Canizares (Spain) 67 68, Paul Lawrie   66 69 
1995 !GCAT !GSPO  American Dennis Mitchell upstaged a trio of past and present Olympic 100 metres champions on Friday with a storming victory at the Brussels grand prix.   Sporting his customary bright green outfit, the U.S. champion clocked 10.03 seconds despite damp conditions to take the scalp of Canada's reigning Olympic champion Donovan Bailey, 1992 champion Linford Christie of Britain and American 1984 and 1988 champion Carl Lewis.   Mitchell also beat world and Olympic champion Bailey at the most lucrative meeting in the sport in Zurich last week.   The American, who finished fourth at the Atlanta Games, was fast out of his blocks and held off Bailey's late burst in the final 20 metres before heading off for a lap of celebration.   The Canadian was second in 10.09 with Lewis third in 10.10, ahead of Atlanta bronze medallist Ato Boldon who clocked 10.12 in fourth.   Christie, competing in what is expected to be his last major international meeting, finished fifth in 10.14.   Lewis, making a rare appearance in Europe in a sprint race, left the track with a slight limp.    American Olympic high hurdles champion Allen Johnson defied the wet conditions to produce a brilliant 12.92 seconds in the 110 metres race, just 0.01 outside the world record held by Britain's Colin Jackson.   Johnson ran the same time at the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta in June to become the second equal fastest hurdler of all time with American Roger Kingdom.   He seemed to relish the new track at the Brussels meeting, dominating the race from start to finish with a slight wind at his back.   Jackson, the only man to have run faster, could not live with his speed, taking second in 13.24 seconds.   The rain was pelting down when the women's high hurdlers stepped up for their 100 metres race.   But Sweden's Olympic high hurdles champion Ludmila Engquist, who crashed out of last week's meeting in Zurich after hitting a hurdle, also kept her footing perfectly to win in a fast 12.60 seconds.   Olympic silver medallist Brigita Bukovec of Slovenia could finish only fifth in the race in 12.95.   Jamaican Commonwealth champion Michelle Freeman took second in 12.77 ahead of Cuban Aliuska Lopez.   The Zurich fall cost Engquist a shot at a jackpot of 20 one-kg gold bars which can be won by athletes who clinch their events at all of the Golden Four series in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.   Seven athletes went into Friday's penultimate meeting of the series with a chance of winning the prize and American men's 400 metres hurdles champion Derrick Adkins kept his hopes alive in the competition by winning his event in 47.93.    American Olympic champion Gail Devers clocked a swift 10.84 seconds on her way to victory in the women's 100 metres, the second fastest time of the season and 0.10 seconds faster than her winning time in Atlanta.   Jamaican veteran Merlene Ottey, who beat Devers in Zurich after just missing out on the gold medal in Atlanta after a photo finish, had to settle for third place in 11.04.   American world champion Gwen Torrence, the bronze medallist in Atlanta, was second in 11.00.   It was a costly defeat for Ottey since it threw her out of the race for the Golden Four jackpot. 
1996 !GCAT !GSPO  More than 20 people were injured, some seriously, in an accident at a rally in Jyvaskyla, central Finland, Finnish television reported on Friday.   Initial reports spoke of 29 injured at the 1,000 Lakes Rally and the Finnish STT news agency said at least 10 people had been hurt.    The accident happened during the rally's opening two-km time trial when Danish driver Karsten Richardt skidded down an escape road in his Mitsubishi and went into a crowd of spectators, STT said.   It said Karsten and his co-driver Ole Frederiksen crashed into the crowd which was standing in a cordoned-off area for spectators.   Finnish television said at least one of the injuries was serious, but the STT news agency said no one had been killed according to initial reports.   A spokesman for the rally organisers said on television that the stage had been halted. 
1997 !GCAT !GSPO  Leading results in the Brussels   Grand Prix athletics meeting on Friday:   Women's discus    1.   Ilke Wyludda (Germany) 66.60 metres    2.   Ellina Zvereva (Belarus) 65.66    3.   Franka Dietzsch (Germany) 61.74    4.   Natalya Sadova (Russia) 61.64    5.   Mette Bergmann (Norway) 61.44    6.   Nicoleta Grasu (Romania) 61.36    7.   Olga Chernyavskaya (Russia)  60.46    8.   Irina Yatchenko (Belarus) 58.92   Women's 100 metres hurdles    1.   Ludmila Engquist (Sweden) 12.60 seconds    2.   Michelle Freeman (Jamaica)  12.77    3.   Aliuska Lopez (Cuba) 12.85    4.   Dionne Rose (Jamaica) 12.88    5.   Brigita Bukovec (Slovakia)  12.95    6.   Yulia Graudin (Russia) 12.96    7.   Julie Baumann (Switzerland)  13.36    8.   Patricia Girard-Leno (France)  13.36    9.   Dawn Bowles (U.S.) 13.53   Men's 110 metres hurdles    1.   Allen Johnson (U.S.) 12.92 seconds    2.   Colin Jackson (Britain) 13.24    3.   Emilio Valle (Cuba) 13.33    4.   Sven Pieters (Belgium) 13.37    5.   Steve Brown (U.S.) 13.38    6.   Frank Asselman (Belgium) 13.64    7.   Hubert Grossard (Belgium) 13.65    8.   Jonathan N'Senga (Belgium) 13.66    9.   Johan Lisabeth (Belgium) 13.75   Women's 5,000 metres    1.   Roberta Brunet (Italy)  14 minutes 48.96 seconds    2.   Fernanda Ribeiro (Portugal)  14:49.81    3.   Sally Barsosio (Kenya) 14:58.29    4.   Paula Radcliffe (Britain) 14:59.70    5.   Julia Vaquero (Spain) 15:04.94    6.   Catherine McKiernan (Ireland)  15:07.57    7.   Annette Peters (U.S.) 15:07.85    8.   Pauline Konga (Kenya) 15:11.40   Men's 100 metres     1.   Dennis Mitchell (U.S.) 10.03 seconds    2.   Donovan Bailey (Canada) 10.09    3.   Carl Lewis (U.S.) 10.10    4.   Ato Boldon (Trinidad) 10.12    5.   Linford Christie (Britain)  10.14    6.   Davidson Ezinwa (Nigeria) 10.15    7.   Jon Drummond (U.S.) 10.16    8.   Bruny Surin (Canada) 10.30   Men's 400 metres hurdles    1.   Derrick Adkins (U.S.) 47.93 seconds    2.   Samuel Matete (Zambia) 47.99    3.   Rohan Robinson (Australia)  48.86    4.   Torrance Zellner (U.S.) 49.06    5.   Jean-Paul Bruwier (Belgium)  49.24    6.   Dusan Kovacs (Hungary) 49.31    7.   Calvin Davis (U.S.) 49.49    8.   Laurent Ottoz (Italy) 49.61    9.   Marc Dollendorf (Belgium) 50.36   Women's 100 metres     1.   Gail Devers (U.S.) 10.84 seconds    2.   Gwen Torrence (U.S.) 11.00    3.   Merlene Ottey (Jamaica) 11.04    4.   Mary Onyali (Nigeria) 11.09    5.   Chryste Gaines (U.S.) 11.18    6.   Zhanna Pintusevich (Ukraine)  11.27    7.   Irina Privalova (Russia) 11.28    8.   Natalia Voronova (Russia) 11.28    9.   Juliet Cuthbert (Jamaica) 11.31   Women's 1,500 metres    1.   Regina Jacobs (U.S.)  4 minutes 01.77 seconds    2.   Patricia Djate (France) 4:02.26    3.   Carla Sacramento (Portugal)  4:02.67    4.   Yekaterina Podkopayeva (Russia) 4:04.78    5.   Margret Crowley (Australia)  4:05.00    6.   Leah Pells (Canada) 4:05.64    7.   Sarah Thorsett (U.S.) 4:06.80    8.   Sinead Delahunty (Ireland)  4:07.27   3,000 metres steeplechase    1.   Joseph Keter (Kenya)  8 minutes 10.02 seconds    2.   Patrick Sang (Kenya) 8:12.04    3.   Moses Kiptanui (Kenya) 8:12.65    4.   Gideon Chirchir (Kenya) 8:15.69    5.   Richard Kosgei (Kenya) 8:16.80    6.   Larbi El Khattabi (Morocco)  8:17.29    7.   Eliud Barngetuny (Kenya)  8:17.66    8.   Bernard Barmasai (Kenya)  8:17.94   Men's 400 metres     1.   Michael Johnson (U.S.) 44.29 seconds    2.   Derek Mills (U.S.) 44.78    3.   Anthuan Maybank (U.S.) 44.92    4.   Davis Kamoga (Uganda) 44.96    5.   Jamie Baulch (Britain) 45.08    6.   Sunday Bada (Nigeria) 45.21    7.   Samson Kitur (Kenya) 45.34    8.   Mark Richardson (Britain) 45.67    9.   Jason Rouser (U.S.) 46.11   Men's 200 metres    1.   Frankie Fredericks (Namibia)  19.92 seconds    2.   Ato Boldon (Trinidad) 19.99    3.   Jeff Williams (U.S.) 20.21    4.   Jon Drummond (U.S.) 20.42    5.   Patrick Stevens (Belgium) 20.42    6.   Michael Marsh (U.S.) 20.43    7.   Ivan Garcia (Cuba) 20.45    8.   Eric Wymeersch (Belgium) 20.84    9.   Lamont Smith (U.S.) 21.08   Women's 1,000 metres   1.   Svetlana Masterkova (Russia) 2 minutes 28.98 seconds    (world record)    2.   Maria Mutola (Mozambique) 2:29.66    3.   Malgorzata Rydz (Poland) 2:39.00    4.   Anja Smolders (Belgium) 2:43.06    5.   Veerle De Jaeghere (Belgium)  2:43.18    6.   Eleonora Berlanda (Italy) 2:43.44    7.   Anneke Matthijs (Belgium) 2:43.82    8.   Jacqueline Martin (Spain) 2:44.22   Women's 200 metres     1.   Mary Onyali (Nigeria) 22.42 seconds    2.   Inger Miller (U.S.) 22.66    3.   Irina Privalova (Russia) 22.68    4.   Natalia Voronova (Russia) 22.73    5.   Marina Trandenkova (Russia)  22.84    6.   Chandra Sturrup (Bahamas) 22.85    7.   Zundra Feagin (U.S.) 23.18    8.   Galina Malchugina (Russia)  23.25   Women's 400 metres    1.   Cathy Freeman (Australia) 49.48 seconds    2.   Marie-Jose Perec (France) 49.72    3.   Falilat Ogunkoya (Nigeria)  49.97    4.   Pauline Davis (Bahamas) 50.14    5.   Fatima Yussuf (Nigeria) 50.14    6.   Maicel Malone (U.S.) 50.51    7.   Hana Benesova (Czech Republic)  51.71    8.   Ann Mercken (Belgium) 53.55   Men's 3,000 metres     1.   Daniel Komen (Kenya) 7 minutes 25.87 seconds    2.   Khalid Boulami (Morocco) 7:31.65    3.   Bob Kennedy (U.S.) 7:31.69    4.   El Hassane Lahssini (Morocco)  7:32.44    5.   Thomas Nyariki (Kenya) 7:35.56    6.   Noureddine Morceli (Algeria)  7:36.81    7.   Fita Bayesa (Ethiopia) 7:38.09    8.   Martin Keino (Kenya) 7:38.88   Men's discus    1.   Lars Riedel (Germany) 66.74 metres    2.   Anthony Washington (U.S.) 66.72    3.   Vladimir Dubrovshchik (Belarus)  64.02    4.   Virgilius Alekna (Lithuania)  63.62    5.   Juergen Schult (Germany) 63.48    6.   Vassiliy Kaptyukh (Belarus)  61.80    7.   Vaclavas Kidikas (Lithuania)  60.92    8.   Michael Mollenbeck (Germany)  59.24   Men's triple jump    1.   Jonathan Edwards (Britain)  17.50 metres    2.   Yoelvis Quesada (Cuba) 17.29    3.   Brian Wellman (Bermuda) 17.05    4.   Kenny Harrison (U.S.) 16.97    5.   Gennadi Markov (Russia) 16.66    6.   Francis Agyepong (Britain)  16.63    7.   Rogel Nachum (Israel) 16.36    8.   Sigurd Njerve (Norway) 16.35   Men's 1,500 metres   1.   Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) three minutes 29.05 seconds    2.   Isaac Viciosa (Spain) 3:33.00    3.   William Tanui (Kenya) 3:33.36    4.   Elijah Maru (Kenya) 3:33.64    5.   Marcus O'Sullivan (Ireland)  3:33.77    6.   John Mayock (Britain) 3:33.94    7.   Laban Rotich (Kenya) 3:34.12    8.   Christophe Impens (Belgium)  3:34.13   Women's high jump     1.   Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria)  2.03 metres    2.   Inga Babakova (Ukraine) 2.03    3.   Alina Astafei (Germany) 1.97    4.   Tatyana Motkova (Russia) 1.94    5.   Svetlana Zalevskaya (Kazakhstan) 1.91    6.   Yelena Gulyayeva (Russia) 1.88    7.   Hanna Haugland (Norway) 1.88    8 equal.   Olga Boshova (Moldova)  1.85    8 equal.   Nele Zilinskiene (Lithuania) 1.85   Men's 10,000 metres   1.   Salah Hissou (Morocco) 26 minutes 38.08 seconds (world   record)    2.   Paul Tergat (Kenya) 26:54.41    3.   Paul Koech (Kenya) 26:56.78    4.   William Kiptum (Kenya) 27:18.84    5.   Aloys Nizigama (Burundi) 27:25.13    6.   Mathias Ntawulikura (Rwanda)  27:25.48    7.   Abel Anton (Spain) 28:18.44    8.   Kamiel Maase (Netherlands)  28.29.42    9.   Worku Bekila (Ethiopia) 28.42.23    10.   Robert Stefko (Slovakia) 28:42.26 
1998 !GCAT !GSPO  Portugal's new coach Artur Jorge called up six players from league champions Porto on Friday in an 18-man squad for the opening World Cup qualifier against Armenia on August 31.   Midfielder Paulo Sousa, recently transferred to Borussia Dortmund from Italy's Juventus, is the only leading member of the Portuguese side from this year's European championships who will not make the trip.   It will be Jorge's first game in charge of the national squad since taking over from Antonio Oliveira, who now coaches Porto, at the end of Euro 96.   Squad:   Goalkeepers - Vitor Baia, Rui Correia.   Defenders - Jorge Costa, Paulinho Santos, Helder Cristovao, Carlos Secretario, Dimas Teixeira, Fernando Couto.   Midfielders - Jose Barroso, Luis Figo, Rui Barros, Rui Costa, Oceano Cruz, Ricardo Sa Pinto.   Forwards - Domingos Oliveira, Joao Vieira Pinto, Jorge Cadete, Antonio Folha. 
1999 !GCAT !GSPO  Argetina's Diego Maradona has kicked a long-time drug habit after a 10-day cure in a Swiss mountain clinic, his doctor reported on Friday.   In a statement released through authorities in Berne canton, psychiatrist Harutyan Arto Van said Maradona's treatment "ended successfully on Thursday evening" and his soccer career would now continue.   Maradona, 35, flew into Switzerland on August 13, two days after abruptly quitting his club Boca Juniors and announcing that he wanted to quit taking drugs once and for all for the sake of his two daughters.   Once considered the world's finest player, Maradona's turbulent career has included two suspensions for drug abuse.   He was once arrested in Argentina for possession of cocaine.   Van and colleagues at the Bellelay psychiatric clinic last week outlined a 10-day treatment programme to end Maradona's psychological need for cocaine.   The treatment was in three stages, the first of which involved administering a drug by intraveinous drip that boosted Maradona's natural defences.   The second stage involved sessions with psychiatrists to reduce his "emotional overburdening" -- Van said Maradona was not a drug addict but simply cracked "at fatal moments" under the burden of his worldwide fame.   The third stage, which Van said on Friday had been successfully completed this week, consisted of trying to neutralise his obsession with consuming drugs.   It was not clear whether Maradona had left Switzerland.   Berne officials said that Van, a Turkish-born psychiatrist who is a professor at Berne university and directs the Bellelay clinic, and deputy Giovanni Spano were both abroad.   But the statement said: "The director of Bellelay notes that the sporting career of the famous Argentine footballer continues."   Although Van claimed that the cure had been a success, Spano last week warned that Maradona could always fall back on drugs if he lost motivation.   "This is the first step.   You can't change your life like you can change socks," Spano said.   "A full recovery will take time.   Motivation is important and he wants to quit -- but the possibility of a relapse is always a reality." 
