sSsriKu. News digest
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Clinton, congressional leaders promise end to gridlock
Brian Shellito/DN
I
-Lti l Lt KtAiTv, ATkr —-rrest-~
dent-elect Clinton and Democratic
congressional leaders promised a “new
era” of action on Monday, and said
creating jobs and restoring America’s
economic power would be their top
priorities.
“I will be in a hurry,” Clinton said
atajoinlnewsconfcrcnccwith Demo
cratic lawmakers.
“Gridlock is over and cooperation
and teamwork have begun,” said
House Majority Leader Richard
Gephardt.
Clinton declared an end to “the
Cold War between the Congress and
the White House” and promised,
“Pennsylvania Avenue will run both
ways again.”
—- I
—- i eantsayn or sure wnrcn wiwamt
whai won’t pass within 100 days,” he
said. “I’ll just work as hard as I can
and get as much done as quickly as I
can.”
Clinton said that during his first
meeting with congressional leaders
all hands agreed that “creating jobs,
raising incomes, getting our economy
moving again, and the long-term com
petitive strength of the American
economy” was the No. 1 objective.
Democratic leaders share his com
mitment, Clinton said, to health care
reform and bringing down the deficit.
Those attending Sunday’s session
included Gephardt, House Speaker
Tom Foley and Senate Majority
Leader George Mitchell, Vice Presi
(tent-eJcct A4 uoreano ^untonsw-uc,
Hillary.
“Our dinner last night marks a new
era of cooperation and action in our
nation’s capital,” Clinton said.
The president-elect has said in the
past that a short-term jobs package
might come first on his priority list to
get through Congress.
On Monday, he sought to downplay
expectations for what would emerge
from Congress in his first 1 (X) days,
saying he expected to forward pro
posals on thorny issues such as health
care to Capitol Hill promptly but not
necessarily see them enacted imme
diately.
Clinton brushed off speculation that
Republicans would try to lie his hands,
ana saia tncscopc oi _America n proa- :
lems would be his biggest hurdle. He
cited the “mammoth complexity” of
health care as one of the huge chal
lenges ahead.
In a wide-ranging news confer
ence, Clinton also:
• Said that despite the deficit, he’d
make good on his campaign pledge of
tax breaks for the middle class.
• Reiterated his intention to lift the
ban on homosexuals in the military
despite opposition from military lead
ers and Sen. Sam Nunn, a Georgia
Democrat who chairs the Senate
Armed Services Committee. Clinton
said anew he would consult with op
ponents in working out the details of
his policy.
Roman Catholics unveil
new church catechism
PARIS — The Roman Catholic
Church took a step Monday to bring
doctrine into line with modern life,
unveiling a new catechism that
maintains bans on divorce andabor
tion but urges compassion for ho
mosexuals and condemns low
wages as theft.
The first catechism of the Catho
lic Church in 426 years contains no
new sins and absolves none of the
old ones.
In a retrenchment of orthodox
positions bound to disappoint many
of the world’s 900 million Catho
lics, divorce and abortion remain
forbidden sins. The only contra
ception accepted by the church is
natural.
“We have simply tried to lake
up the commandments again on
how a Christian can conduct his life
today,” said Jean Honorc, bishop
of Tours and the catechism’s French
editor.
Woman priests arc unaccept
able.
The catechism describes homo
sexual acts as “intrinsically disso
lute, contrary to natural law,” and
instructs homosexuals to practice
chaslilv
The church s oncc-sacrosanct
stance on private property has been
modified to state that the Earth is
the heritage of all mankind.
Guidelines on sexual behavior
fall broadly under the Sixth Com
mandment—Thou Shall Not Com
mit Adultery. Sexual union outside
marriage remains forbidden.
“Among the sins gravely con
trary to chastity, one must cite
masturbation, fornication, pornog
raphy and homosexual practices,”
the catechism says. “Adultery and
divorce, polygamy and free sexual
union arc grave offenses to the
dignity of marriage.”
- it
We have simply tried
to take up the com
mandments again on
how a Christian can
conduct his life to
day.
— Honore
bishop of Tours
---ft "
Since most homosexuals do not
willingly choose their lifestyle they
“must be welcomed with respect,
compassion and delicacy,” it says.
“One must avoid all unjust dis
crimination against them.”
The catechism spurred intense
debate among the 3,000 bishops
who submitted some 24,000amend
ments to the six-year project. It is
rooted in the Ten Commandments.
The Seventh Commandment —
Thou Shall Not Steal — is inter
preted as a call for economic and
social justice.
“Any manner of taking and un
justly holding the property of an
other, even if it does not specifi
cally contradict civil law, is con
trary to the Seventh Command
ment,” the catechism says.
Richer nations arc urged to wel
come poor immigrants, price-goug
ing and low wages arc considered
forms of stealing, and the handi
capped have a right to work.
Forging checks is sinful, as is
badly performed work. Going on
strike is a moral right, unless ac
companied by violence.
uiiuu uiv xmil v^uiimiaiiuiiii/iii
— Thou Shalt Not Kill —* the cat
echism does not rule out a stale’s
right to impose the death penalty.
Regarding abortion, the cat
echism says that “human life must
be protected in an absolute manner
from the moment of conception.”
Basic doctrine arc unchanged.
The catechism encodes the de
cision by the Vatican II Council in
the 1960s absolving Jews of blame
for the crucifix ion of Jesus, a teach
ing that spread virulent anti
Semitism.
“We cannot attribute responsi
bility lo all the Jews of Jerusalem,
despite the cries of a manipulated
crowd,” the catechism Says. The
guilt of Judas and Pilate is “known
to God alone.”
Some strictly modem items arc
condemnations of terrorism and
hostage-taking, drug abuse and
drug-trafficking, and the transplan
tation of organ saga in si the consent
of the donor.
The catechism appeared first in
French since that was the working
language of the drafting commit
tee.
Somali ship limps to port
SAN‘A,Yemen—Ashipcrowded
with 2,500 Somali refugees limped
into a remote Yemeni port Monday,
where they received their first food
and water in several days but were
forbidden to go ashore.
There was no immediate confir
mation of reports that as many as 100
people might have died during the
ship’s harrowing six-day, 1,200-milc
voyage from Somalia with little or no
food or water.
Yemeni officials ordered the
Samaa-1 to take its passengers on
from Mukalla to Yemen’s main port,
Aden, some 300 miles to the south
west, where U.N. workers were put
ting up tents and digging latrines on
the beach for the refugees. The au
. thoritics said Mukalla was not
equipped to handle the Somalis.
U.N. officials in Geneva said the
refugee ship might stay at Mukalla for
several days. French naval officials in
Paris said the Samaa-1 sailed Monday
night and was accompanied by the
French corvette Commandant
Ducuing, which arrived from Djibouti
with emergency food, water and medi
cine. They said the Saama’s captain
had not asked for any of the French
supplies.
The refugees reportedly were given
fish, flour and milk from Mukalla.
About 100 of them were reported
to be very sick, said Sylvana Foa, a
spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee
agency in Geneva, which providesaid
for Somalis in Yemen.
She said she had no official word
on whether any refugees had died.
Earlier, sources in Yemen, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, put the
death toll as high as 100. The ship’s
owner, the Pakistani-owned Samaa
Asia Shipping of Dubai, said lOorll
children had died.
Thousands of Somalis have fled
clan fighting and a famine in their
country that has killed at least 300,(XX)
people since January. Two million
more arc said IQ be on the verge of
starvation.
Yemeni authorities have agreed to
accept Somali refugees provided the
United Nations takcscare of them. An
estimated 62,000 are in Yemcn, many
of whom sailed north across the Ara
bian Sea in small boats.
Foa said about 2,500 refugccs were
aboard. Earlier accounts had said as
many as 3,000 people were crammed
aboard the vessel. The refugees in
clude about 400 children.
^ SAUDI ARABIA
Detroit police charged with murder
DETROIT — Two police officers
were charged Monday with murder
and one with manslaughter in the
beating death of black man, a case
that drew parallels with the Rodney
King confrontation in Los Angeles.
A fourth officer was charged with
assault with intent to do great bodily
harm. Three other officers who also
had been suspended after the Nov. 5
beating of Malice Green were not
charged.
Green, 35, died of head injuries
after being beaten on an inner-city
street near a suspected drug house.
“I feel justice is done. ... I think
they handled it very well,” said the
victim’s father, Jessie Green Jr.
“He’s dead, and any charges aren ’ t
going to bring him back. 1 got to live
__ M
on.
Three of the officers charged, in
cluding the two charged with murder,
are white. The one charged with man
slaughter is black.
While the beating of an unarmed
motorist drew parallels to the video
taped beating of King and the rioting
that followed the acquittal of officers
- “-7
He’s dead, and any charges aren’t going to bring
him back, i got to live on.
— Green
beating victim's father
-•• -
in that case, NAACP officials have
said the Detroit case was different.
They credited quick action by Po
lice Chief Stanley Knox in suspend
ing the officers allegedly involved.
And Mayor Coleman Young publicly
denounced the beating. Knox and
Young arc black.
Knox has said he did not believe
the beating was racially motivated
and Wayne County Prosecutor John
D. O’Hair said Monday no racial epi
thets were used during shouting that
witnesses said was going on during
the beating.
Knox had suspended seven offic
ers Nov. 6, a day after Green’s death.
O’Hair said there was not enough
evidence to charge the three other
officers. Those officers remain on
indefinite suspension, police Sgl.
Christopher Buck said Monday.
While the four officers were being
arraigned, about a dozen people dem
onstrated at the site of the beating.
O’Hair refused to give details of
the beating. Witnesses have said it
occurred after Green and police ar
gued when he dropped off a passenger
near the suspected drug house, and
that Green refused to open hisclcnchcd
hand.
Undercover officers Larry Nevers
and Walter Budzyn werecharged with
second-degree murder. They could
get life in prison if convicted.
Sgt. Freddie Douglas was charged
with involuntary manslaughter, which
carries a maximum 15-year sentence,
and willful neglect of duty,
U.N. approves naval blockade of Yugoslavia
UNI lhUNAI IUNS— l he Secu
rity Council voted Monday to autho
rize a naval blockade on the Danube
River and the Adriatic coast to tighten
economic sanctions on Yugoslavia. It
said force could be used to back up the
blockade.
The resolution prods Bulgaria and
Romania to patrol the Danube, which
flows along their borders. It wasn’t
immediately clear to what extent
Western or other governments were
willing to get involved in enforce
ment of the sanctions.
NATO and the European
Community’s Western European
Union each have five frigates along
the Adriatic.
I think we should move from sur
veillance to enforcement,” Willem
van Eekelcn, the Dutch secretary
general of the Western European
Union, said in Helsinki earlier in the
day.
The vote on the resolution was 13*
0, with China and Zimbabwe abstain
ing because they felt the Serb-led
government in Belgrade had no real
control over the Bosnian Serbs.
“The Security Council must adopt
firm measures to deal with the prob
lem,” Russian Ambassador Yuli
Vorontsov said.“Bosnia-Herzegovina
has been devastated.”
Twenty-seven nations supported
the resolution, led by Islamic coun
tries backing the Muslim-led govern
ment of Bosnia. They denounced
Belgrade for fomenting war, captur
ing vast territories in Bosnia and
Croatia, and driving out non-Serbs in
a vicious “ethnic cleansing” cam
paign.
Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Jor
dan and other Islamic countries wanted
the council to lift the arms embargo
on Bosnia so it could rearm and ac
quire heavy weapons, but the council
refused.
Yugoslav Foreign Minister Ilija
Djukic said the war in Bosnia was a
civil and ethnic war fought by para
military groups not controlled by
Belgrade, and by foreign mercenar
ies, Muslims brought in by Islamic
nations.
“Sanctions are hitting the most
vulnerable part of the population” in
Serbia and Montenegro, heisaid, in
cluding more than 300,(XX) Bosnian
refugees.
Until now, ships moving up the
Danube have not been boarded and
searched. Port authorities merely ra
dio the captain to ask what is in the
cargo and where it is bound! After
that, the ship goes on, often all the
way to Belgrade. Other ships unload
at Montenegrin ports on the Adriatic.
Nebraskan
Editor Chris Hoptonspsrgsr
472-1766
Managing Editor Kris Karnopp
Assoc News Editors Adeana Lsftln
Assoc News Editor/ Wsndy Navratll
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1992 DAILY NEBRASKAN
