I
News Digest
Milosevic refuses to allow demonstration
■ The race for presidency continues
as the country's president gets a second
chance at candidacy.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia — Slobodan
Milosevic’s opponents appealed to the
people of Belgrade to pour into the streets
Wednesday, pledging to defend their
apparent victory in the presidential elec
tion despite the regime’s efforts to engi
neer a runoff.
Milosevic’s police refused to permit
organizers to use a central square for an
evening rally and ordered workers to dis
mantle a stage erected there.
Police said the demonstration would
disrupt the work of the State Election
Commission, which is located in a nearby
building.
It was unclear whether the move was
intended to ban any demonstration or
was simply part of a war of nerves
between the opposition and the authori
ties. In response, opposition leaders
moved the venue for the rally to another
square in central Belgrade.
“They are just trying to increase ten
sions,” opposition spokesman Cedomir
Jovanovic said.
In Washington, President Clinton dis
missed Yugoslav government plans for a
run-off as an apparent attempt to steal a
fair election.
“It certainly appears from a distance
that they had a free election and some
body’s trying to take it away from them,”
Clinton said Wednesday at the White
House.
His comments came a day alter
Milosevic defied international and
domestic appeals to step down and
instead announced a runoff election
against challenger Vojislav Kostunica -
who in turn insisted he won Sunday’s
election outright and rejected the possi
bility of a new race.
The election commission reported
Tuesday that Kostunica finished first with
48.22 percent while Milosevic earned
40.23 percent. A runoff is required since
no candidate received more than 50 per
cent. It is set for Oct. 8.
Opposition results showed that with
98.7 percent of the ballot counted,
Kostunica had 52.54 percent of the vote to
Milosevic’s 32.01 percent, Jovanovic said.
The figures are said to be based on reports
by the opposition's poll watchers who
monitor the count at the precinct level.
"Elections are not car races in which a contestant can catch
up in the second round. Our victory is not negotiable."
Cedomir Jovanovic
ODDOsition SDokesman
"Elections are not car races in which a
contestant can catch up in the second
round,” Jovanovic said. “Our victory is not
negotiable.”
A runoff would give Milosevic time to
maneuver, create more favorable condi
tions for himself, clamp down on opposi
tion media and activists and resume his
nationalist campaign portraying
Kostunica as a “NATO lackey and Western
stooge.”
Earlier Wednesday, opposition
activists distributed 10,000 baby rattles in
downtown Belgrade, asking people to
attend the rally and remind the Yugoslav
president that he was “busted” by shaking
the toys. A similar gathering was
announced in Nis, Serbia’s third-largest
city.
An opposition delegation went
Wednesday to the Yugoslav parliament in
an attempt to inspect the returns. They
claim the returns are short 400,000 pro
Kostunica votes.
The guards, however, allowed only
one member to enter briefly.
“There is great fear among the com
mission,” delegate Nebojsa Bakarac said
after coming out.
Bakarac said he could not single
handedly inspect more than 5 million
ballots and called on commission mem
bers to “publish the real results and act
according to their conscience, without
creating tensions.”
In addition to Clinton’s remarks, other
international officials on Wednesday reit
erated calls for Milosevic to accept an
opposition victory.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook
said there was no point in holding a
runoff. “All that is necessary is for
Milosevic to get out of the way. He has
been knocked out, he has now been
counted out, now he should get out,”
Cook said.
Congress'aid
to help with
farmers'losses
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — More than $2 billion in gov
ernment aid will be needed from Congress to com
pensate farmers and ranchers for damages from
drought and other weather problems this year,
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said
Wednesday.
Some $1.4 billion would cover losses from
crops, while another $800 million would go to live
stock producers, many of whom have lost pasture
to drought.
“Those numbers could rise as we watch and see
what happens” with the fall harvest, Glickman told
the House Agriculture Committee.
Most farmers have enjoyed good weather this
year. Growers are expected to harvest record
amounts of corn and soybeans, the nation’s two
biggest crops, but several states, including
Nebraska, Kansas, Texas and Georgia, have been
going through a severe drought.
Nebraska lawmakers have been seeking more
than $500 million in aid for their state alone.
Lawmakers are planning to include money for
disaster payments in the final version of a pending
appropriations bill for the Agriculture
Department. The Senate version of the bill ear
marked about $1 billion for disaster assistance; the
House version had none.
The money is intended to compensate produc
ers for losses that aren't covered by federally subsi
dized crop insurance.
The government is trying to get more produc
ers to buy the insurance. Congress passed legisla
tion earlier this spring that would provide $8.2 bil
lion over the next five years to reduce premiums
and expand the coverage to more crops.
"By and large this is a good deal for American
farmers,” Glickman said.
But he told the committee that private compa
nies that sell and service the policies are making
excessive profits in comparison to other lines of
insurance. Glickman, who leaves office in January,
said his successor should renegotiate the terms of
the government’s contract with the companies.
Last year, companies had an operating profit of
$276 million on the insurance and received anoth
er $500 million to cover their administrative
expenses. Some 18 companies now sell the insur
ance.
* • ‘ 1
TODAY
Partly cloudy
high 79, low 60
TOMORROW
Partly sunny
high 77, low 57
Clinton pushes anti-hate crimes bill
■ Presidential candidates are
hesitant to announce stance on the
bill before November elections.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — President Clinton
accused congressional Republicans
Wednesday of ducking a gay-rights
bill out of fear it might anger some of
the party's bedrock supporters.
“The Republican majority does
not want a bill that explicitly provides
hate crimes protections for gay
Americans,” Clinton said at the White
House.
“I think they think it will split their
base or something,” he said.
Clinton is pushing an anti-hate
crimes bill that would define crimes
against homosexuals in much the
same way as racially motivated crime.
Clinton said the legislation is not
complicated, and could be attached to
any number of bills now moving
through Congress.
“All the surveys show that
over two-thirds of the
American people believe
that no one should be
subject to crime because
of who they are. / just
hope and pray we can do
it."
President Clinton
A spokesman for Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott angrily denounced
Clinton’s remarks as “demagoguery at
. its worst.’’
"Pitting one group against another
in order to gain personal electoral
advantage is bad, even for President
Clinton," Lott spokesman John
Czwartacki said, adding that it “is cer
tainly not our inclination” to put the
bill to a vote.
"We do not have an interest in
telling the families of some crimes that
their sons or daughters are less impor
tant in the eyes of the federal govern
ment than the victims of other
crimes,” Czwartacki said.
Clinton’s plan would add crimes
motivated by sexual orientation, gen
der or disability to the list of offenses
already covered under a 1968 federal
law, and allow federal prosecutoxs-to
pursue a hate-crime case if local
authorities refuse to press charges.
The legislation also provides assis
tance to local law enforcement agen
cies in investigating hate crimes.
Earlier this month, the House, in a
nonbinding 232-192 vote, agreed to
make hate-crimes legislation part of a
defense appropriation bill. The
Senate voted 57-42 in favor of the
hate-crimes provisions in June.
“All the surveys show that over
two-thirds of the American people
believe that no one should be subject
to crime because of who they are,”
Clinton said. “I just hope and pray we
can do it. If we can’t do it, what did that
Senate vote mean? Was it just some
stunt?”
Movie-marketing plan pitched to deter youth
■ Lawmakers blast Hollywood's effort that would end
advertising of R-rated films to young audiences.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Hollywood executives refused to
guarantee to lawmakers Wednesday they would end all mar
keting of R-rated films to underage audiences.
Some acknowledged trying to market adult movies to
children, an effort one studio chief called “a judgment
lapse.”
A day after the industry released its 12-step plan to stop
“inappropriately specifically" targeting children in advertis
ing R-rated movies, lawmakers derided the effort as insuffi
cient and pressed for firmer commitments.
“I don’t understand this language. It is filled with loop
holes,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John
McCain, R-Ariz., who convened the hearing of eight top stu
dio representatives.
Both the Democratic and Republican presidential cam
paigns weighed in, urging movie makers to take more
action.
“To put it as bluntly as I can, they have not done
enough,” said Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph
Lieberman. “They would not say explicitly that they would
stop marketing adult-rated products to our children.”
Lynne Cheney, wife of GOP vice presidential candidate
Dick Cheney, took aim at both the industry and the
Democratic ticket, for its fund-raising efforts in Hollywood.
Vice President A1 Gore and Lieberman decry the indus
try's practices during the day, but “another message is deliv
ered at night with a wink and a nudge,” she said.
She also suggested that the election prompted Tipper
Gore to abandon her prior batde against explicit lyrics in
music.
To put it as bluntly as I can, they have
not done enough. They would not say
explicitly that they would stop marketing
adult-rated products to our children. ”
Sen. Joseph Lieberman
Democratic vice presidential candidate
In the hearing room, lawmakers grilled the executives
about their practices and plans for change.
Mel Harris, president of Columbia Pictures’ parent com
pany Sony, called efforts to try to advertise a violent PG-13
film to a young TV audience “a judgment lapse.” The film
was “The Fifth Element,” an action science fiction story
starring Bruce Willis.
Motion Picture Association of America chief Jack Valenti
acknowledged in a committee appearance two weeks ago
movie executives had made missteps by showing R-rated
movies to focus groups including children as young as 10.
The executives were asked pointedly whether they
would limit not just their marketing of R-rated but also of
PG-13 movies to viewers younger than that.
“We are going to review the appropriateness of all adver
tising," said Rob Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount's
Motion Picture Group, and Warner Bros, president Alan
Horn called it an inefficient use of advertising dollars to tar
get PG-13 to underage viewers.
But senators were frustrated in their attempts to pin
down commitments.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., went down the table, ask
ing the industry executives one by one whether they would
market R-rated films on Web sites popular among children
under 17.
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Gaza bomb injures two soldiers
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NETZARIM JUNCTION, Gaza Strip —
Two roadside bombs exploded next to a
convoy of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip
Wednesday, a settlement leader said.
Channel 2 television reported two sol
diers were wounded, one seriously.
The convoy was accompanied by Israeli
military vehicles and headed for the isolated
settlement of Netzarim, south of Gaza City,
said Netzarim spokesman Shlomo Kostiner.
Netzarim, and the road leading to it
through the Palestinian-controlled Gaza
Strip, have been constant flashpoints with
assailants attacking the vehicles with fire
bombs and rocks.
Kostiner said the convoy was making a
routine trip when two bombs exploded
nearby and the vehicles were fired on. Israel
television’s Channel 2 said two soldiers were
injured, one seriously. The Israeli military
* f
refused to comment
Shlomit Ziv, a settler at Netzarim, said
one settler was slightly injured in the attack.
She told The Associated Press her husband
planned to take the next convoy home.
Armed convoys leave every 40 minutes
to and from Netzarim, where 60 Israeli fam
ilies live in the settlement atop a sandy hill.
The settlers are banned from entering or
leaving without a military escort.
After the attack, the Israeli military
closed off the area and prevented reporters
and Palestinian police from approaching
the scene.
Palestinians demand all Israeli settle
ments be removed from Gaza. Most of them
are along the Mediterranean coast, but sev
eral, like Netzarim, are isolated and sur
rounded by Palestinian-controlled territory.
Israel controls about one-third of the terri
tory, where about 6,500 settlers live. More
than one million Palestinians live in Gaza.
•
The Associated Press
■ Washington D.C
McCain blocks vote for
auto-safety nominee
Sen. John McCain is block
ing a vote on President
Clinton’s nominee to lead the
government’s auto safety
agency, saying Sue Bailey did
not completely disclose to his
committee all the contribu
tions she has made to
Democratic campaigns.
Bailey wrote McCain,
chairman of the Senate
Commerce Committee, on
Wednesday to apologize for
the "most embarrassing over
sight.” She included a com
plete list of her political giving.
"I always intended to pro
vide a complete list of infor
mation about my 10 years of
contributions, and it was an
oversight that that didn’t hap
pen,” said Bailey, the former
assistant secretary of defense
for health affairs who is in line
to head the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
■ NewYoit
Support for Hillary Ointon
reaches SO percent
ALBANY — Hillary Rodham
Clinton has reached the 50
percent support level for the
first time in her Senate race
against Republican Rep. Rick
Lazio, according to a major
statewide independent poll
released Wednesday.
Among the likely voters
questioned, Lazio trailed with
43 percent, according to the
poll issued by the Quinnipiac
University Polling Institute.
A Sept. 12 poll by the insti
tute had the first lady leading
the congressman from Long
Island by 49 percent to 44 per
cent.
“We know this race is going
to be close, but it's nice to hit
the big five-oh,” Clinton
spokesman Howard Wolfson
said.
Lazio’s campaign played
down theftew results.
■ Washington D.C
Bill to make telemarkers
show number on caller ID
The House voted
Wednesday to ban telemar
keters from blocking their
identity on caller ID boxes.
The Know Your Caller Act,
approved by a 420-0 vote,
would make it illegal for any
one making a telephone pitch
to interfere with or try to get
around caller identification
devices.
The Senate has not yet con
sidered the bill.
People who use caller ID
devices to screen or trace calls
had complained that many
telemarketers’ numbers did
not appear on the devices.
Without the name of a
company or the number, the
person targeted by a telemar
keter could not follow up with
a complaint.
■ Washington D.C
Mayor opposed to building
Reagan monument
The mayor of the nation’s
capital is cool to the idea -
backed by the Republican
Congress - of building a mon
ument to Ronald Reagan on
the National Mall, which he
called crowded enough.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams
said Wednesday that what he
called the nation’s most hal
lowed real estate should be
preserved to honor events of
defining significance in the
nation’s history and people of
equal significance to their
eras.
Without saying so, he made
it clear he did not put Reagan
in that category.
Monuments to Abraham
Lincoln and Franklin Delano
Roosevelt honor great person
alities of their respective cen
turies, he said.
He adding that a monu
ment to the nation’s contribu
tions to victory in the Second
World War is also worthy.
The Mall site of a World War
II monument is to be dedicat
ed by President Clinton in
November.
“World War II, like the Civil
War, is a defining moment,”
Williams said in an interview
with Associated Press
reporters and editors.
* %