Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 1999)
News Digest Thursday, October 28,1999X?Page 2 Russian bombs dropped in Grozny GROZNY, Russia - Russian jets screamed over the Chechen capital Wednesday, bombing houses and killing scores of people as ground forces fought to approach the city from three directions. The attacks were some of the heavi est against Grozny since Russia launched its campaign to wipe out Chechnya-based Islamic militants. President Boris Yeltsin said Russian troops would not stop their offensive until they “destroy the center of interna tional terrorism in Chechnya.” Chechen military headquarters said 116 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Wednesday’s air and artillery attacks, but the figure could not be con firmed. Streams of desperate civilians fled to the countryside. Huge plumes of smoke rose over Grozny as pairs of Russian jets roared over the city. Bombs and rockets destroyed houses and apartment build ings, including the home of warlord Shamil Basayev. Basayev’s fighters were among those who twice attacked the neighbor ing Russian republic of Dagestan in August and September, prompting Russia to launch the campaign to elimi nate them. Russian officials also blame the militants for apartment bombings in Russia last month that killed some 300 people. Russia has repeatedly said its mili tary actions are limited to attacking rebel positions. Air Force Chief Anatoly Komukov said Wednesday that “peace ful civilians both in and outside Grozny are spared missile and bombing strikes.” But Chechen Vice Premier Kazbek Makhashev called Wednesday’s raids “state terrorism ... a slaughter of the people.” Scores of civilians, including women and children, have been killed by the attacks on Grozny and other Chechen towns in recent weeks, according to independent observers. Yeltsin said Wednesday that Moscow was determined to press ahead with its campaign. Yeltsin left Moscow on Wednesday for a vacation, apparently content to let his officials handle the war. Meanwhile, Russian forces in east ern Chechnya took control of four vil lages and surrounded two others, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Gennady Alyokhin said. Russian forces in the region were focusing air and artillery raids on he nearby city of Gudermes, he said. The four captured settlements - Azamat-Yurt, Stepnoye, Nizhni Gerzel and Kadi-Yurt - lie along a strategically important highway running east to Dagestan and just a few miles from Gudermes, the Russian military com mand said. Attack in Armenia kills at least seven YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) - Gunmen seized Armenia’s parliament in a torrent of automatic weapons fire Wednesday, killing the prime minister and at least six other people before holing up in the building with dozens of hostages. At least two of the captives were released early Thursday (late Wednesday CDT), nearly 10 hours after the siege began. The attackers didn’t explain the release. With the bodies of Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and Parliament Speaker Karen Demirchian still on the podium where they rell, the attackers demanded to see the president. “They said it was a coup and called on the journalists to inform peo ple about it. They said they were going to punish the authorities for what they did to the nation,” said one reporter who was in the chamber during the afternoon attack. As day turned to night, police said up to five gunmen held dozens of hostages in the main chamber of the parliament building. A man identified as the gunmen’s leader, Nairi Unanian, spoke in a telephone interview with a local television station. He said the deaths were unintend ed except for Sarkisian, who he claimed had failed to serve die nation. “The country is in a catastrophic situation, people are hungry, and the government doesn’t offer any way out,” Unanian said. Armenian television broadcast footage of the stunning attack, show ing at least two men firing automatic weapons in the parliament chamber. Some lawmakers dove under their desks, others fled into the streets. One of the attackers approached the prime minister and said: “Enough of drinking our blood,” according to reporters present duringihe attack. I The premier calmly responded, “Everything is being done for you and the future of your children.” The attacker - identified by reporters as Unanian, an extreme nationalist and former journalist - opened fire. The other gunmen included Unanian’s brother and uncle, the reporters said. The attack was likely to plunge Armenia into a major political crisis. The country, which became indepen dent following the 1991 Soviet col lapse, has been plagued by political and economic turmoil for the past decade. President Clinton said he was shocked and saddened by the attack. “I condemn the senseless act against individuals actively engaged in building democracy in their coun try,” Clinton said in a statement. “The victims and their families are in our thoughts and prayers.” Hundreds of police and soldiers ringed the parliament building in cen tral Yerevan. Two armored personnel carriers took up positions in the grounds and President Robert Kocharian was personally directing security operations. The gunmen were demanding talks with Kocharian, the country’s top leader, but officials did not say if any other demands had been made. The motive for the attack was not clear, although speculation centered on the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which has dominated Armenian politics for the past decade. The enclave was under the control of the neighboring Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, whose territory surround ed it. The enclave declared indepen dence in early 1988 and drove Azerbaijani troops out with Armenia’s help. -—-1 Presidential candidates begin first debate of series HANOVER, N.H. (AP) - Eager for their first debate of the campaign, A1 Gore and Bill Bradley began spar ring even before the television cam eras were turned on Wednesday night. Both agreed to seek bipartisan cooper ation with Congress. Gore and Bradley were both on stage for their introductions when the vice president took the offensive. “What do we do now?” he said to the town hall-style audience at Dartmouth College. “Why don’t you start asking some question while we’re waiting.” With that, members of the audi ence did. The first question was about bipar tisanship, and both pledged to work with Republicans and Democrats alike. Gore said he would “build person al bridges” with both parties. Bradley, like Gore a former senator, said “it’s about reaching out to people.” They also took questions on Cuba and campaign finance reform before the formal start of the debate. Both men were seated on their debate stools when CNN began its scheduled telecast. The stakes were high for the two men, probably higher for the vice pres ident, who has watched a commanding lead in national and statewide polls shrivel in the face of a spirited effort by the former New Jersey senator. In their pre-debate, Gore pledged to reform campaign finance laws and practice “a different kind of campaign ing,” suggesting that his call for week ly debates would improve the political process. Bradley said: “Politics has become the mechanics of winning too much. What’s been lost is a sense of service.” The campaigns converged for a 60-minute televised forum in which audience members furnished the ques tions. The format allowed little chance of baek-and-forth between the two Democrats. Editor: Managing Editor: Associate News Editor: Associate News Editor: Opinion Editor: Sports Editor: _ .. _ _ . _ A&E Editor: Questions? Comments? Codv Desk Chief* Ask for the appropriate section editor at (402) 472-2588 Photo Chief* or e-mail dn@unl.edu. Design chief: c u Art Director: Web Editor: ■me Daily Nebraston (USPS144480) is published bv the UNL Publications Board, >sst Editor: Nebraska Union 20, f400 R St., Lincoln, NE 685884448, Monday through Friday General Manager: dunng the academic year; weekly dunrw the. summer sessions.The public nas access Publications Board _ , i Publications Board. Chairwoman: Readers are story (teas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan Professional Adviser: „ ,_ „ Subscriptions are $60 for one year. Advertising Manager: Asst Ad Manager: ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1999 Classified Ad Manager: THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Josh Funk Sarah Baker Lindsay Young Jessica Fargen Mark Baldridge Dave Wilson Liza Holtmeier Diane Broderick Lane Hickenbottom Melanie Falk Matt Haney Gregg Steams Jennifer Walker Daniel Shattil Jessica Hofmann, (402) 477-0527 Don Walton, (402) 473-7248 Nick Partsch, (402)472-2589 Jamie Yeager Mary Johnson « Politics has become the mechanics of winning too much. What s been lost is a sense of service Bill Bradley presidential candidate Gore is trying to rejuvenate his presidential bid with a more relaxed, less rigid style on the campaign trail. At the same time, he has sharpened his criticism of Bradley, calling him a “left of center” insurgent who would build an enormous federal deficit with his health care and anti-poverty plans. All but ignoring the barbs, Bradley is sticking to a months-old strategy to portray himself as the candidate of big ideas and Gore the timid practitioner of “trifling things.” While Gore jazzes up his performances, Bradley still wear reading glasses on the stump and avoids sound bytes; his style is a lack of style. Gore advisers cautioned him before the debate to avoid appearing too negative, though he was poised to seize on any question that gave him an opening to question Bradley’s propos als or his rival’s commitment to the party. Bradley’s team had the former senator ready to respond if Gore went on the attack. “We’re not going to just let him mischaracterize us,” said Bradley’s communications director, Anita Dunn. The debate was held in the context of new Democratic polling that under scored Bradley’s surge. A Quinnipiac College survey released Tuesday showed him leading Gore 47 percent to 39 percent in New Hampshire, just outside the margin of error. Bradley has pulled even in New York and has narrowed the vice presi dent’s lead in Iowa. Two polls released Wednesday showed that Bradley trails Gore nationally, though he has gained ground since July and April, respec tively. Other polls suggest that Gore has slowed his slide in national polls this fall. The vice president had expressed no interest in debating until Bradley dashed his hopes for an easy primary contest. Gore now says he wants to debate weekly, though the campaigns have agreed on only a handful of dates before the first votes are cast in Iowa’s late-January caucuses. ■ Minnesota Ventura says he probably won’t run for president MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Gov. Jesse Ventura tried again Wednesday to clear up questions about his presi dential ambitions by issuing a resounding “no.” A day earlier, the Reform Party governor had told Harvard Current magazine that he would consider run ning if Minnesotans mobilized behind him. “I said that I’m not running, that I won’t run, and they said to me, ‘Well, what if it means saving the third-party movement?”’ Ventura told reporters. “And I said, if indeed it got to that point, it would require the people of Minnesota to come out and say, ‘It’s OK, governor, run for president.’” He emphasized, “It does not mean I’m doing it.” ■ Texas Houston beats Los Angeles as smoggiest city in America HOUSTON (AP) - It was proba bly just a chemical belch at a factory on the edge of town.But it was enough to push Houston past Los Angeles to become the smoggiest city in America. A smog day is when the ozone level rises above a certain mark set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Houston and Los Angeles were running neck-and-neck in air pollu tion stakes until Oct. 7, when the nation’s fourth-largest city surpassed the second-largest by recording its 44th smog day of the year. As of Wednesday, the Houston count had reached 46. Los Angeles was still at 43. ■ Colorado Special prosecutor will not be appointed in Ramsey case DENVER (AP) - Gov. Bill Owens said Wednesday he has decid ed not to appoint a special prosecutor to look into the JonBenet Ramsey slaying, saying police are working with new evidence and headed in the right direction. Owens also had strong words for the little girl’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, asking them to “stop hiding behind their attorneys” and return to Colorado to help authorities solve the case. Two weeks ago, a Boulder County grand jury completed a 13 month investigation of the 1996 slay ing without issuing any indictments. District Attorney Alex Hunter said there was not enough evidence to charge anyone, although he and police said the Ramseys remain under suspicion. ■Washington Federal budget at surplus for second year in a row WASHINGTON (AP) - After decades of deficit gloom, the United States posted a record $ 123 billion federal budget surplus last year, marking the first back-to-back sur pluses since Dwight Eisenhower was president. The good news announcement - exceeding all estimates - sparked a battle for bragging rights Wednesday between the White House and the Republican-led Congress, with both sides hoping to reap political divi dends in next year’s elections. President Clinton said American businesses and workers have benefit ed from lower interest rates, a shrink ing national debt and a growing pool of investment capital. Republicans also claimed credit for the surplus.