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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 2000)
« Putin makes first visit to Europe I LONDON (AP) - On his first visit to the West as Russian president, Vladimir Putin pledged Monday that his country would not drift back into isolation, but would seek friendlier ties with Europe - despite sharp differ ences over Chechnya. Putin promised to implement eco nomic reforms, defend property own ers and root out corruption to attract foreign investment, and Prime Minister Tony Blair responded by saying the newly elected Russian “talks our lan guage on reform.” “Of course, one could follow the logic of isolation, but I’m entirely con vinced that such logic is absolutely inappropriate not only in relations with Great Britain, but the rest of Europe,” Putin said at a joint news conference with Blair. The Russian leader later traveled to U I believe the best way to get results is by engaging with Russia, not isolating Russia.” Tony Blair ■ > British prime minister Windsor Castle, where he had a 30 minute private audience with Queen Elizabeth II, before flying to the Ukraine. Putin’s 24-hour Stop in London - the centerpiece ofhis fust foreign trip - appeared to signal a strengthening of ties between the two nuclear powers. Putin already showed signs of cultivat ing Britain by inviting Blair to visit him in St Petersburg last month. —Blair'S aidessaid Britain is ideally suited to provide a bridge not only between Russia and the European Union, but also Russia and the United States, whose relations have deteriorat ed in the past year. “Some say that because of our con cerns about Chechnya, we should keep some distance from Moscow,” Blair said. “I share this concern ... but I believe the best way to get results is by engaging with Russia, not isolating Russia.” Critics argued, however, that Blair was premature in welcoming Putin, a longtime KGB spy who never held elected office until last month’s presi dential vote. They reiterated allegations that Russian troops have used exces sive force and executed civilians in Chechnya. But while demonstrators had promised to dog Putin’s visit, the num ber was smaller than expected. About 50 people carried placards and waved Chechen flags as his black, bulletproof limousine slid out of the Foreign Office parking lot for a quick sightseeing tour of the capital. During the joint news conference with Blair, Putin strongly defended his troops’ actions in Chechnya and said he hoped his visit would put Russia’s views across more clearly to the West, which has condemned with near una nimity Moscow Is hard-line approach in the breakaway republic. Chris Hondros/Newsmakers LAST-MINUTE TAX FILERS PREPARE tax forms at the U.S. Post Office on Monday on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. Income taxes needed to be postmarked by offices around the country. Tax impact less than previous year’s average WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans will work an average of 124 days this year to pay their federal, state and local taxes, according to a study released Monday as millions of people rushed to meet the midnight federal deadline. The Tax Foundation, a private group that analyzes tax impact on indi viduals and business, estimated it will take workers on average until May 3 to make enough money to pay all these taxes and then start earning money for themselves. Last year the day was May 11. Federal income taxes make up the bulk of the tax burden at 41 percent, followed by 30 percent in payroll taxes I-— that fund Social Security and Medicare. Sales and excise taxes at both the state and federal levels made up an additional 16 percent, the Tax Foundation found. Connecticut, Wyoming; New York, New Jersey and Wisconsin were the top five high-tax states. The bottom five were Tennessee, Alaska, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi. The Tax Foundation computes an overall tax burden figure for the nation, which is 33.8 percent this year, and then applies it to the calendar to arrive at its annual “Tax Freedom Day.” Some other groups have taken issue with that calculation, arguing that its use of aver ages distorts the picture. I Nebraskan Managing Editor: Lindsay Young . Questions? Comments? Associate News Editor: Dane Stickney *or aPRrSPrSj^,ff5tl0n ®^rt0r at Associate News Editor: Diane Broderick '40“1 y Opinion Editor: TJ. Harder ore-maildn@unl.edu. Sports Editor: Sam McKewon A&E Editor: Sarah Baker General Manager: Daniel Shattil Copy Desk Co-Chief: Jen Walker Publications Board Jessica Hofmann, Copy Desk Co-Chief: Josh Krauter Chairwoman: (402) 477-0527 Photo Chief: Mike Warren Professional Adviser: Don Walton, Design Co-Chief: Diane Broderick (402) 473-7248 Design Co-Chief: Hm Karstens Advertising Manager: Nick Partsch, Art Director: Melanie Falk (402)472-2589 Web Editor: Gregg Stearns AssL Ad Manager: Jamie Yeager Asst. Web Editor: Jewel Mlnarik Classifield Ad Manager: Nichole Lake Fax number: (402) 472-1761 World Wide Web: www.dailyneb.com The Daily Nebraskan (USPS144-080) is published by trie UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 20,1400 R St, Lincoln, NE 68588-0448, Mondby through Friday during the academic year weekly during the suthmer sessions.The public has access to the Publications Board. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by calling (402) 472-2588. Subscriptions are $60 for one year. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 20,1400 R St., Lincoln NE 68588-0448. Periodical postage paid at LJhcoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 2000 2 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Protests end quietly in negotiated arrests ■ Demonstrators fail to shut down IMF-World Bank meetings. WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - Police clubbed demonstrators and dispersed them with pepper spray outside world finance meetings Monday, but then - in a grace note near the end - quietly negotiated final arrests after three days of con frontation. “Give yourselves a hand,” a police official told protesters. The demonstrators, their ranks thinned in a driving rain, disrupted the government’s workday and pri vate business in a big swath of the capital, but failed to shut down the two days of meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. A day that began with swinging clubs turned more amicable as police and the throngs they were watching orchestrated a good-natured arrest of some 400 demonstrators who want ed to cross a barricade and be taken into custody. Police negotiated for an hour with protest organizer Mary Bull, who wore a plastic foam tree on her head, before proceeding with the arrests. “Give yourselves a hand,” Terry Gainer, executive assistant police chief, told the crowd, which filed through the barricade a dozen at a time. He gave Bull some flowers and then placed her under arrest. The protesters were charged with unlawful assembly and crossing police lines. About 600 arrests were made Monday, not all so peacefully, making a total of more than 1,300 since the protests began. “We view this as a total success,” said Robert Weissman, co-director of Essential Action, one of hundreds of groups in the protest coalition. “We have shined the light on these institu tions as never before in this country.” Earlier, drum-beating marchers vented their fury about the treatment of the poor. They accused the bank and IMF of imposing crushing debts on poor nations, destroying the environment Partly cloudy Scattered thunderstorms ; high 80, low 56 : f: ■■■ high 73, low45 ** We view this as a total success. We have shined the light on these institutions as never before in this country.” Robert Weissman co-director, Essential Action and perpetrating a host of other ills. “World Bank destroys tropical rain forest,” said a two story-banner hung on a building under construc tion. Unlike demonstrations Sunday, when police let protesters take over empty streets, confrontations devel oped Monday over the din of traffic as Washingtonians went to work. Some government buildings and shops never opened. When several hundred demon strators came within a block of the IMF and menaced a police car, black-clad officers with helmets, billy clubs and visors responded with pepper spray and smoke canisters. Tear gas wafted into the crowd after an officer tossed what he mis takenly thought was a smoke canis ter, police said. Protesters, some donning gas masks and tying bandannas over their mouths, were chased down, clubbed and about 90 were arrested. Even so, some protesters credit ed police with being more restrained than during the destructive demon strations in Seattle against the World Trade Organization last fall. “The police seem to be doing a much more stable job than the Darth Vader mode in Seattle,” said a drenched actress-activist Susan Sarandon, who spoke to the demon strators. Police Chief Charles Ramsey said most demonstrators were “just kids with a cause.” ■ Washington, D.C. Clinton approves sale of missile detectors to Taiwan WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton, backed by his senior advis ers, decided Monday against the sale of four Aegis destroyers to Taiwan but approved sale of long-range radar designed to detect missile launches, a senior U.S. official said. The Pentagon had recommended that the administration put off Taiwan’s request to buy new weapons, including the destroyers, submarines and anti-submarine aircraft, in order to avoid angering China, which views Taiwan as a rebellious province. ■ New York Army colonel pleads guilty to hiding wife’s drug deals NEW YORK (AP) - An Army colonel who once commanded the military’s anti-drug operation in Colombia pleaded guilty to a federal charge Monday, admitting that he knew his wife was laundering drug money but failed to turn her in. James Hiett, 48, entered the plea as his wife, Laurie Hiett, sank her face into her hands and sobbed from a bench in the first row of the court room. He faces up to three years in prison and $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced June 23. Federal sentenc ing guidelines call for him to spend between one year and 1 'A years in prison. Hiett said that in April and May 1999, his wife traveled from Bogota, Colombia, to New York City twice and returned home with more than $25,000 in cash. In early June 1999, he said, he was told by Army investi gators that his wife had been sending narcotics from Colombia to New York City. ■ Nevada Cloud-seeding plane crashes; three people killed RENO, Nev. (AP) - A twin engine plane on a cloud-seeding mis sion crashed just after takeoff Monday, killing all three people aboard. An engine on the Navy surplus plane failed after the aircraft left Stead Airport, said John Doherty, a spokesman for the University of Nevada’s Desert Research Institute. The institute had contracted for the use of the plane with Advanced Aviation of Reno for a cloud-seeding mission in the Sierra Nevada south of Lake Tahoe. The institute seeds clouds during storms to increase snowfall and build water supplies for summer. ■ Australia Study: Aborigines’ mortality rate higher than whites’ CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia’s indigenous people die much younger than whites, and fewer than half of Aboriginal men live 50 years, according to official statistics released Monday. Mortality data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the death rate for Aborigines was higher than whites in all age categories, and deaths by suicide and preventable dis eases were much higher, as well. In an analysis of deaths in Australia between 199$ and 1997, the bureau reported that 53 percent of Aboriginal men die before the age of 50, compafed to 13 percent of white men. For women, 41 percent of Aborigines die before reaching 50, compared to 7 percent of white women. Australia’s 353,000 Aborigines now make up only a tiny minority in the nation’s mostly white population of 19 million people.