News Digest
Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Friday, October 6,2000
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World leaders say Milosevic must go
Military force will not
likely be used to push
Milosevic from office.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - As protesters swept through the
streets of Belgrade Thursday, many world leaders
urged Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to step
down, but none threatened to intervene with force.
“Go," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair. “Go
now. Go before anymore lives are lost, before there is
any more destruction.”
President Clinton said the people of Serbia had
spoken out, first in last month’s elections, then on the
streets.
“The people of Serbia have made their opinion
clear,” CUnton said. “They did it when they voted
peacefully and quietly, and now they’re doing it in the
streets because there’s been an attempt to rob them of
their vote.”
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the peo
ple of Serbia “have made a dear choice. They are ask
ing for democratic rule... and I hope that this choice
and their voice will be heard.”
In France, President Jacques Chirac appealed to
Milosevic supporters to recognize the opposition’s
electoral victory and stand aside
“For pity's sake, let’s stop and give the Serb people
back their freedom,” he said.
Russia has offered to mediate between Milosevic
and rival presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica -
’ so far to no effect President Vladimir Putin, speaking
in New Delhi, said:
“We will not overplay our influence and our
importance, but we are not going to underestimate it
either” .
A1 Gore and George W. Bush also urged Milosevic
toga
"We call upon Milosevic to get out of power,” said
Gore, the Democratic presidential nominee. "It
(power) will be taken from him if he does not because
die people of Serbia have spoken, and now they’re ris
ing up.”
Republican rival Bush said it was "dear die people
have spoken. It is time for Mr. Milosevic toga”
Western leaders, while offering moral support
signaled they were unwilling to send military aid to
the protesters in Belgrade.
“We have no intentions of intervention," British
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said.
Said Annan: “I think there have been quite a lot of
statements by U.N. member states who have tried to
move die situation forward. Beyond that I’m not sure
if there is any concrete action one can take in this sit
uation.” • •
Clinton ruled out U.S. military intervention.
“I don’t believe that it’s an appropriate case for
military intervention, and I don’t believe that the
United States should say or do anything which would
only strengthen Mr Milosevic’s hand,” he said.
Several European leaders appealed to the
Yugoslav security forces not to use violence against
the protesters.
“My appeal is: Don’t resort to violence. Don’t
shoot on your own people," German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder said.
Braca Nadezdic/Newsmakers
Vojislav Kostunica, who b claiming victory in the recent Yugoslav presidential elections, talks in front of the Kolubara Kostunica mine where 7,000 work
ers have been on strike for more than a week near Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Milosevic retains power for now despite uprising
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia - Mobs
seeking to topple Slobodan Milosevic
turned their fuiy on his centers of power
Thursday, leaving parliament and other
key Belgrade sites in shambles and
flames.
The 13-year rule of the Yugoslav
president appeared near collapse.
Hundreds of thousands of people
swarmed through the capital to demand
that Milosevic accept his apparent elec
toral defeat by Vojislav Kostunica in the
Sept. 24 election. The uprising devel
oped with stunning speed, swelling as
security forces showed little willingness
to battle the largest anti-Milosevic
protest ever.
Many police put down their clubs
and joined flag-waving crowds as they
surged across central Belgrade through
clouds of tear gas. As demonstrators
charged and riot police cowered behind
helmets and shields, the federal parlia
ment building, the state broadcasting
center and police stations fell in quick
succession.
Protesters tossed documents and
portraits of Milosevic through the bro
ken windows of the parliament com
plex. Smoke billowed from the building
and from the state television headquar
ters nearby.
Dozens of people were injured,
according to witnesses. Some police
who fired on demonstrators were beat
en. Elsewhere in the country, thousands
more people joined smaller rallies in a
number of towns.
“What we are doing today is making
history,” Kostunica proclaimed during
an evening speech in front of Belgrade
city hall, across from parliament
The domino-like successes of the
opposition did not fully erase fears that
Milosevic could still strike back.
Kostunica asked supporters to
remain on the streets until dawn to try to
block any possible counterattack by the
military.
He also appealed to people from the
countryside to stream into Belgrade for
rallies Friday.
The crowd chanted for Milosevic's
arrest Kostunica answered: “He doesn’t
need to be arrested. He arrested himself
a long time ago.”
At the White House, President
Clinton said: “The people are trying to
get their country back.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
"The people are trying to
get their country back.
President Bill Clinton
said of Milosevic: “Your time is up. Go
now.”
Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, on a refueling stop in Ireland en
route home from Middle East peace
talks, was trying to reach Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov to seek his
country’s help in getting Milosevic to
step aside. Clinton has urged Russia,
which has been sympathetic to
Milosevic, to acknowledge Kostunica.
There was no immediate reaction
from Milosevic, and his whereabouts
were not clear. There was heavy police
presence around the Milosevic com
pound in Belgrade’s Dedinje neighbor
hood.
In Washington, Pentagon
spokesman Kenneth Bacon said U.S.
officials believe Milosevic was still in
Belgrade.
In case he tried to flee by land,
Bulgarian officials placed border guards
on extra alert
TODAY
Partly cloudy
high 47, low 31
TOMORROW
^ Partly sunny
high 39, low 26
SUNDAY
Partly cloudy
high 46, low 26
^__
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Shuttle "bolted"
to ground, sort of
■ Protruding bolts on anoth
er shuttle lead NASA to delay
the launching of Discovery.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -
NASA called off Thursday’s
launch of the space shuttle
Discovery because of last
minute concerns over bolts on
the external fuel tank.
The space agency, aiming to
lift off tonight, stressed that the
problem must be solved before
Discovery can fly.
This 100th space shuttle
flight is a crucial space station
construction mission.
“We think it’s prudent to
stand down for a day,” said shut
tle manager James Halsell. "In
other words, we do not want to
get‘go fever.”’
The problem occurred Sept.
8 during the space shuttle
Atlantis’ launch but was discov
ered only Wednesday.
While analyzing mm
returned to Earth aboard
Atlantis two weeks ago, engi
neers noticed that one of the
three bolts between the shuttle
and the external fuel tank did
not retract properly eight min
utes into the flight. Photographs
showed 21/4 inches of the 14
inch bolt sticking out on the
tank.
Engineers reviewed the film
again Thursday but could not
figure out what happened, so
the Discovery countdown was
halted just before the start of
fueling.
The seven astronauts had
not yet boarded the shuttle.
Before launching Discovery,
NASA wants to understand the
bolt malfunction and determine
whether it poses a danger. At
worst, a protruding bolt could
cause the separated tank to tum
ble and slam into the shuttle.
“I think the word you use
would be ‘catastrophic,’” said
Halsell, himself a shuttle pilot “I
would not want to expose astro
nauts to that risk.”
The troublesome bolt is at
the bottom of the Atlantic, along
with what is left of the rest of the
external fuel tank. The 153-foot,
rust-colored tank is jettisoned
once the shuttle reaches orbit
There is evidence of bolt
problems on previous flights,
including Endeavour’s launch in
February, said launch manager
Bill Gerstenmaier. But the bolts
have never protruded like this,
he said.
NASA usually has more time
between flights to review all the
data from the previous mission,
but it has quickened its launch
pace to build the international
space station.
1 he minimum number of
days allowed between shuttle
launches is 21. This gap would
have been 27 days if Discovery
had soared Thursday.
Halsell said NASA remains
committed to launching space
shuttles seven or eight times a
year. Next time, though, the
space agency may try to analyze
the film more quickly, he noted,
v “If there’s a success to be
shown here, it’s that the system
does work and that we’re able to
respond even this close in to the
next launch,” he said.
Discovery holds two new
segments for the international
space station, a girder like truss
and a docking port for future
shuttle visits. NASA wants these
parts installed before the first
permanent crew lifts off at the
end of the month.
Emotions rise
as Columbus
parade nears
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER - The city's first Columbus Day parade
in nearly a decade has stirred fears of violence this
weekend between Italian Americans on one side and
Hispanics and American Indians on the other.
The city hasn't held the parade since 1991 amid
concern that groups who believe Christopher
Columbus was a killer and slave trader would clash
with marchers.
This year, under a federally mediated pact,
Denver's Italian community had agreed to call
Saturday’s celebration an Italian Pride parade and
make no mention of Columbus. But the pact col
lapsed.
Parade organizers and members of the American
Indian Movement have pledged to be peaceful, but
there is fear tempers will boil over.
Parade organizer C.M. Mangiaracina said the
parade will go forward and the protesters “can choke
on it”
“My boys of Italian descent are going to be heard
in this city,” he said Thursday. “They are not going to
do this to us anymore."
American Indian Movement spokesman vemon
Bellecourt, who is based in Minneapolis, said the
organization has called for civil disobedience against
groups and governments that celebrate Columbus.
"If the German Americans were to honor Adolf
Hitler with festivities and parades and march through
Jewish communities, nobody would tolerate that," he
said. “We, as Indian communities, are supposed to
put up with honoring Columbus?”
Some communities have dropped plans to put
their fire trucks in the parade for fear the vehicles
might get damaged and firefighters might get hurt.
Mayor Wellington Webb has pleaded for calm, and
the governor pledged state help to maintain the
peace.
“I understand protest and issues of social justice,”
Webb said. “I also understand that these are highly
emotional issues for both sides. But we need to seek
some common ground.”
Denver’s Columbus Day parades have been
tumultuous. In 1989, the American Indian group’s
Russell Means and three others were arrested after
they threw fake blood on a Columbus statue. The next
year, protesters shouted anti-Columbus slogans as
the parade went through downtown.
The Associated Press
■Northern Ireland
Questions unanswered
over fatal car bombing
OMAGH — A father’s angry
plea for justice marked the end
Thursday of a month-long coro
ner’s inquest into the car bomb
ing of Omagh, an atrocity that left
29 people dead, shattered a com
munity and raised questions
about the price of Northern
Ireland's peace process.
Victor Barker, whose 12-year
old son James was killed in the
1998 attack, condemned the
British government for failing to
drack down on the Irish
Republican Army dissidents
responsible.
The 500-pound car bomb
blewup in the midst of a crowd of
shoppers on Omagh’s main shop
ping street. Victims included
mothers shopping for school uni
forms, a woman heavily pregnant
with twins, two toddlers and a
pair of Spanish exchange stu
dents.
The 29 dead and more than
300 wounded - many of whom
lost limbs, suffered extensive
bums or were blinded - made it
the bloodiest terrorist strike in
Northern Irish history.
■Washington
Congress passes AIDS
prevention bill
Congress agreed Thursday to
provide more than $1 billion a
year for AIDS prevention and
treatment in a bill that factors in
HIV infections as well as AIDS
Gases in determining how federal
money will be distributed.
The legislation reauthorizes
for five years the Ryan White
CARE Act, which expired when
the new fiscal year began Oct. 1.
The House approved the measure
by a 411-0 vote and the Senate by
unanimous consent It now goes
to the president for his signature.
The sponsor, Rep. Tom
Cobum, R-Okla., said the empha
sis on AIDS victims rather than
those infected with HIV the virus
that causes AIDS, has been “dev
astating.”
“While our attention was
placed on AIDS the virus silently
spread through communities of
color, and more and more women
became unknowingly infected,”
he said.
Every year 40,000 Americans
become infected with HIV
Time Warner Inc. and EMI
■ London
Time Warner, EMI Group
call off joint venture
Group have called off their $20
billion joint venture in the face of
opposition from European regu
lators, removing a major obstacle
to Time Warner’s larger combina
tion with America Online Inc.
The Wamer-EMI deal would
have created a giant music com
pany, reducing the number of
major record companies in the
world from five to four. European
regulators had expressed concern
that the new company would
have had a dominant position in
the markets and in the emerging
area of online music distribution.
The two companies offered
several concessions, but in the
end they were not sufficient.
Those remedies were reported to
have included the sale ofVirgin, a
major music label acquired from
British mogul Richard Branson in
1992 for $960 million, as well as
parts of the companies’ music
publishing business.
■ Denver
McCain ads have positive
affect on pollsters
DENVER — Sen. John
McCain, a supporter of federal
legislation to require background
checks at gun shows, is appearing
in TV ads to endorse similar
efforts in Colorado and Oregon.
The ads, which began appear
ing Wednesday, irked opponents,
but pollsters believe the overall
effect will be marginal because
ballot initiatives in both states
have drawn widespread support
in recent polls.
“Our last poll showed it pass
ing by what, 85 percent,” said
Denver pollster Paul Talmey.
“How much more do you want?"
McCain, an Arizona
Republican, said he supports a
similar bill in Congress, but it is
tied up in a House-Senate confer
ence committee and isn’t expect
ed to be put to a full vote this year.