i£?ss&s.<»~, Digest
Thursday, January 18,1996 Page 2
Russians unleash rocket attack
after losing hope for hostages
PERVOMAYSKAYA, Russia —
Russian forces gave up hope of sav
ing any hostages and unleashed a
scorching barrage of rockets Wednes
day on the tiny village that ground
troops had failed to wrest from
Chechen rebels.
One hostage — an old man whpse
name was not given — escaped from
the village after dark Wednesday night
and said he did not see anyone alive,
the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The assault came despite new ter
rorist threats by Chechen sympathiz
ers, including gunmen who hijacked
a Black Sea ferry in Turkey carrying
200 people and said they would blow
it up unless the Russians stopped the
battle at Pervomayskaya.
In the blowing snow, hundreds of
weary Russian troops pulled back
Wednesday on the steppes around the
ruined village, allowing their com
rades to fire volley after volley from
Grad rocket-launchers.
Pervomayskaya’s cluster of small
buildings was also rocketed by heli
copter gunships and struck by rounds
of artillery shells.
Heavy machine-gun fire in the late
afternoon indicated that the Chechens
were still resisting. The last Russian
rocket attack came shortly after 8 p.m.,
ITAR-Tass said.
Reporters were expelled by Rus
sian military authorities from
Pervomayskaya and neighboring vil
lages earlier Wednesday. The region,
in the republic of Dagestan, is just
across the border from Chechnya.
The Russians began storming the
village Monday, breaking a five-day
standoff and reftising the Chechens’
demands for safe passage to their
homeland. At the time, authorities said
they resorted to force because the gun
men were killing hostages — a charge
denied by separatist leaders in
Chechnya.
In Washington, Defense Secretary
William Perry said Russia was justi
fied in using military force in response
to hostage-takings.
“We reject the right of any group
to take hostages as a means of imple
menting their policies, so therefore we
believe the Russian government is
entirely correct in resisting this hos
tage-taking effort and resisting it very
strongly,” he said.
On Wednesday, Russian officials
again claimed they escalated the con
flict because hostages were being
killed. Maj. Gen. Alexander
u We reject the right of
any group to take
hostages as a means of
implementing their
policies. ”
WILLIAM PERRY
Defense secretary
Mikhailov, a spokesman for the Fed*
eral Security Service, said the gunmen
planned to execute the captives and try
to escape.
Asked about the hostages, he said,
“We have little hope for them.”
Before the Russian assault, the
Chechens were estimated to be hold
ing 70 to 120 hostages, including
women and children.
The hostages were among up to
3,000 seized Jan. 9 when Chechen
gunmen raided a hospital in the nearby
city of Kizlyar. At least 40 people were
killed. Taking some hostages with
them, the gunmen set out for
Chechnya the next day, but were
stopped by Russian troops at
Pervomayskaya.
■ .. — " " ' 1 '*"1
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GOP cancels session,
seeks new budget offer
WASHINGTON — Republican
congressional leaders abruptly can
celed a budget-bargaining session
with President Clinton Wednesday,
saying there was no reason to meet
until the administration presents a
serious new offer.
The decision, further clouding
already troubled prospects for a
budget deal, followed a 40-minute
telephone conversation among
Clinton, Senate Majority Leader
Bob Dole, House Speaker Newt
Gingrich and House Majority
Leader Richard Armey.
Afterward, the GOP leaders is
sued a statement calling the talk
“frank and useful,” and saying they
would meet the president “once he
proposes a firm budget offer that
moves in the direction” of the plan
Republicans offered last week. No
new meeting was scheduled.
But Wednesday’s session was
also called off at a time that several
GOP congressional strategists,
speaking on condition of anonym
ity, describe as one of confusion for
the party.
They say many Republicans
want to end the talks immediately
because they believe Clinton is
merely using them to portray him
self as serious about balancing the
budget. But halting the sessions,
they fear, would let the president
blame them for walking away from
the negotiations, which could alien
ate voters and roi 1 financial markets.
Illustrating their internal indeci
sion, Gingrich, R-Ga., wanted GOP
leaders to attend Wednesday’s
White House session while Dole, R
Kan., wanted to forgo it, said Re
publican participants.
The two sides are separated
chiefly by differences over Medi
care, Medicaid and other domestic
programs and by a dispute over
cutting taxes.
Though the two sides have not
met since Jan. 9, neither would
characterize Wednesday’s cancella
tion as evidence that the long-run
ning talks were dead.
“It’s a recess,” said White House
spokesman Mike McCurry. “The
bell has rung, and the Democrats
are back in class. We don’t know
where the Republicans are.”
I
News g
- m a JM
[Minute*
Planet has ‘broth’ thought ideal for life
SAN ANTONIO —Astronomers have discovered two huge planets,
only the second and third found outside the solar system, and at least
one could have a warm, watery “broth” perhaps ideal for the chemistry
of life.
Geoffrey Marcy, professor of physics and astronomy at San Fran
cisco State University, announced Wednesday that one each has been
found orbiting the stars 70 Virginis, in the constellation Virgo, and 47
Ursae Majoris, a star within the Big Dipper.
He told a national meeting of the American Astronomical Society
that the discoveries open a new era in which scientists can seriously
address, for the first time, a real possibility of other worlds like the
Earth existing around stars other than the sun.
“We are at a watershed ” said Marcy. “There is a dawning of a new
field in science. These new planets offer a challenge to us to compare
them with those in our solar system.”
Abusive man gets veal slap on wrist
STANTON, Mich. —A judge told a man convicted of spousal abuse
to roll up his shirt sleeve, then punished him with a three-finger “slap”
on the wrist and said “don’t do that.”
District Court Judge Joel Gehrke said the real crime-was adultery,
committed by Stewart Marshall’s wife. She acknowledged having an
affair with her husband’s brother, which led to the birth of a child.
Marshall, 38, of Vestaburg was convicted of misdemeanor spousal
abuse after pushing his wife and throwing her to the ground Oct. 31
when he heard what she had done. Gehrke noted that Marshall had no
history of violence.
“In the laws of Israel, if Mr. Marshall had come home and found his
wife in this situation, the question would not be, 'Did you strike her?’ It
would have been, 'Well, are you ready to publicly be the first one to
stone her?”’ Gehrke said at the Jan. 4 sentencing, referring to the Old
Testament.
IRS offers Web site for tax questions
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is on the World
Wide Web, giving 40 million Americans with access to the Internet a
new way to look for answers to their tax questions.
The agency announced Wednesday that its home page has been up
and running since last week and that 220,000 computer users visited it
during its first 24 hours and more than a million in its first week — even
before the debut was officially announced.
Features of the IRS home page include a summary of changes in tax
rules for 1995, an interactive session called “Thx TVails” in which users
answer basic questions to identify their particular circumstances, and
addresses for where taxes should be filed.
The IRS also is exploring the possibility of offering filing over the
Internet but hasn’t announced whether that will be available this year.
The World Wide Web address of the IRS home page is http://
www.irs.ustreas.gov.