News Digest
GOP slams freezing transition funds
■ Republicans fearthe delay in releasing
federal money will be a detriment to the
new administration.
THE ASSOCIATED PreSS
WASHINGTON - Republican lawmak
ers complained Monday that freezing $5.3
million in federal transition funds could
delay die new administration from getting
its feet off the ground. Democrats balked at
giving funds to the George W. Bush cam
paign before the election’s outcome is cer
tain.
A House hearing on the presidential
transition process highlighted a day when
lawmakers returned from a three-week
recess still needing to finish long-delayed
legislative work for this year, but distracted
by the dispute over who will be president
next year.
Bush running mate Dick Cheney was to
meet with both House and Senate
Republicans Tuesday to brief them on the
election and the status of the transition
effort, which he is heading.
Nearly a month after the election, the
General Services Administration has yet to
release $5.3 million intended for the next
president’s transition expenses.
Republicans, certain that George W. Bush is
the winner, say this delay could seriously
affect a smooth turnover of power.
Those implementing the 1963
Presidential Transition Act “must carefully
consider the implications of their deci
sions,” said Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif.,
chairman of the House Government
Reform subcommittee, which oversees the
GSA. “Time is running out for the next
administration.”
Democrats said pressure on the GSA to
release the funds to the Bush camp was pari
of a strategy of trying to affirm that Bush
won the election. Giving money to the side
that could eventually be declared the loser,
said Rep. Jim Tlimer, D-Texas, the ranking
Democrat on the panel, “could result in a
loss of public funds, waste, duplication,
diminished credibility for the winner and a
breach of proprietary information.”
David Barram, administrator of the usu
ally obscure GSA, emphasized that law does
not authorize him to pick or predict the next
president and with the race so close, “it is
not apparent to me who the winner is."
He said his agency is ready to move
when a winner is declared. He said he has
also asked Congress to extend to 60 days,
‘Time is running out for the
next administration.”
Stephen Horn
California Republican representative
from 30, the period during which transition
funds can be provided after taking office
Rep. Judy Biggert, R-I1L said Congress
should write a law making clear what steps
the GSA must take when faced with a dis
puted election. At the end of the hearing,
Horn and Himer said they would work on a
bill that would give both die Bush and Gore
teams access to transition funding and
would allow the winning candidate to be
reimbursed for any private money spent for
transition expenses.
Yemen: U.S.
to blame in
Cole attack
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN'A, Yemen - The United States itself bears
some responsibility for the attack on the USS Cole
because it helped create the terrorists who now con
sider America their worst enemy, Yemen’s foreign
minister said Monday.
Speaking in an interview with The Associated
Press, Foreign Minister Abdulkader Bajammal also
said Yemen wants to work closely with the United
States to combat terrorism.
“The operation was not Yemeni, not pure
Yemeni,” Bajammal said. “It is a network involving so
many countries. Terrorism has no nation.”
No one has yet been charged in the Oct 12 bomb
ing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 sailors and
wounded 39. Asked if any indictments were forth
coming, Bajammal said he had no information, not
ing it was not his area of responsibility.
But Bajammal said that if any Yemenis are found
to have been involved, they may have simply been
corrupt bureaucrats who provided logistical help in
exchange for “a little baksheesh,”—or payoffs—not
out of ideology.
"We are a victim of terrorism, not a source of ter
rorism,” Rajammal added.
The attack on the Cole followed anti-U.S. and
anti-Israeli protests in Yemen and across an Arab
world enraged by violence in Palestinian areas. Nearly
300 people—mostly Palestinians—have been killed
in Israeli-Palestinian dashes since September
But the roots of anti-American terrorism are older
and deeper, running back to the 1980s when one of
the last-gasp Cold War battles was waged in the
rugged mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.
Bajammal said that because the investigation was
continuing, he could not comment on the possibility
that Yemeni or other Arab veterans of die Afghan war
were involved in the Cole attack.
But, he said, “Terrorism did not appear by acci
dent It is a historical phenomenon. Just as the Soviet
Union created a man like (the international terrorist)
Carlos, the other side created the Afghan Arabs. We
have inherited the remnants of the Cold War.”
In Washington, a senior U.S. official said the
Clinton administration rejects any suggestion that
the United States is somehow responsible for the Cole
attack. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
Yemen, whose central government is struggling to
expand authority over tribal areas, has long been a
haven for Muslim extremists, induding groups linked
to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, a veteran of the
Afjghan war who today is America’s No. 1 terrorist sus
pect
Bin Laden was one of the thousands of fighters
from across the Arab world who went tn Afghanistan
after the 1979 Soviet incursion to fight alongside
Afghan guerrillas, whose chief financial and military
backers included the United States.
After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, many so
called Afghan Arabs turned their anger against the
United States, which they see as a threat to Islam and
to Arab independence.
Weather
TODAY TOMORROW
Snow showers Mostly cloudy
high 24, low 18 high 30, low 21
Tim Boyle/Newsmakers
A large box of Quaker Oats is displayed in a first-floor lobby window Monday at Quaker^ headquarters in Chicago. PepsiCo Inc has struck a deal to buy the
Chicago-based Quaker Oats Co., including its prized Gatorade sports drink, for $13.4 billion in stock, ending more than a month of speculation.
Cap'n Crunch to sail on Pepsi sea
■ PepsiCo gainedGatorade, cereals
and other products with its Monday
purchase of Quaker Oats Co.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK - PepsiCo Inc. shares
rose Monday after it sealed a deal to
buy Quaker Oats Co., the maker of
Cap’n Crunch cereal, Aunt Jemima
pancake products and Gatorade, for
about $13.4 billion in stock.
Adding the popular Gatorade to its
fleet of non-carbonated beverages,
which includes Aquafina water, Lipton
teas and Tropicana juices, will give
PepsiCo the dominant brand in the
$2.5 billion sports drink category.
“This is one terrific moment in the
history of PepsiCo and Quaker,” Roger
A. Enrico, PepsiCo chairman and chief
executive officer, told investors and
analysts in a conference call.
He said the deal will help PepsiCo
grow faster than expected in both rev
enue and profits.
PepsiCo shares, which had slid 6.6
percent on Friday amid reports it was
close to a deal, were up 3.9 percent, or
$1.63 a share, to $44 in morning trad
ing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Quaker shares also were higher, rising
$2.38 a share to $91.
PepsiCo will offer 2.3 of its shares
for each Quaker share under the deal
announced Monday. The boards of
both companies approved the deal
over the weekend, but it’s still subject
to regulatory approval.
Enrico said that when the deal clos
es, Steve Reinemund, PepsiCo presi
dent and chief operating officer, will
succeed him as chairman and CEO.
Chief financial officer Indra Nooyi will
add the title of president.
Robert Morrison, Quaker chair
man and CEO, will be a vice chairman
of the combined company.
Under terms of the deal, Quaker
Oats can back out if PepsiCo's stock
dips below $40 a share for a period of
10 random days in the month before
closing. Under this scenario, PepsiCo
would have to increase the share
exchange ratio in order to keep the
deal alive.
At least two PepsiCo rivals had a
similar thirst to acquire Quaker Oats:
the board of Coca-Cola Co. abandoned
talks to buy Quaker for a reported
$15.75 billion two weeks ago, and
French food conglomerate Danone SA
backed away from a possible bid.
In the end, PepsiCo beat out its
competitors with an offer that essen
tially mirrored the one rejected by
Chicago-based Quaker roughly one
month ago.
“Gatorade would do even better
under PepsiCo than it has under
Quaker Oats because of better market
ing and distribution,” said John Sicher,
a veteran soft drink industry watcher
who publishes Beverage Digest in New
York.
“Gatorade would do even
better under PepsiCo than
it has under Quaker Oats
because of better
marketing and
distribution
John Sicher
Beverage Digest publisher
The deal could raise antitrust con
cerns because of PepsiCo’s ownership
of All-Sport, a competing brand to
Gatorade, albeit with much less market
share. However, PepsiCo has agreed to
get rid of All-Sport in order to keep the
deal alive.
Tom Pirko, who heads the beverage
consulting firm Bevmark in Santa
Barbara, Calif., said a PepsiCo-owned
Gatorade would actually be good for
competition. Under PepsiCo, Gatorade
would benefit from a vast distribution
system and over time would spur
demand for more products in the
sports drink category, he said.
Pirko said the acquisition of
Quaker Oats, and Gatorade in particu
lar, would give PepsiCo a “huge psy
chological edge” in its competition
with Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, the
world’s leading soft drink manufactur
er.
“PepsiCo is building a formidable
‘package of leading brands,’” he said.
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Mad cow disease is back
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European
Union farm ministers on Monday
approved a six-month ban on animal prod
ucts in fodder, part of an extraordinary plan
to stem growing panic over mad cow dis
ease.
The ban is expected to cost $1.3 billion,
but the ministers hope it will return confi
7 dence in the beef industry. Fodder contain
ing animal products is a key suspect in
spreading the disease from Britain four
years ago into ever wider swathes of the
continent
The moves were approved by the 15
farm ministers in an emergency session,
despite misgivings by some countries that
the moves would be too costly.
An EU farm official who asked not to be
named said Germany and Finland voted
against the ban, while Belgium abstained.
EU Health Commissioner David Byrne
conceded the proposals would be expen
sive.
“But it is the price which must be paid
to restore public confidence in our com
mitment to protect public health,” he said
before the final vote.
French Agriculture Minister Jean
Glavany, who chaired the crisis meeting,
argued the ban would "allow Europe to take
a major step forward” in containing mad
cow disease.
A call to temporarily ban all livestock
feed containing meat and bonemeal failed
to find the necessary majority at the last EU
farm meeting.
The ministers were also assessing pro
posals to keep untested animals that are
more than 30 months old out of the food
chain, measures which would further sap
already stretched farm budgets and raise
huge practical problems.
World/Nation
The Associated Press
■Alabama
Driver's'road rage'leads
to manslaughter, prison
COLUMBIANA - A woman
was sentenced to 13 years in
prison Monday for the “road
rage” shooting death of another
motorist on a highway exit
ramp.
Shirley Henson, 41, was
convicted of manslaughter for
killing Gena Foster, a 34-year
old mother of three.
Prosecutors said Henson
tailgated Foster for several
miles on Interstate 65 as the two
women drove from work to
their homes in suburban
Birmingham in 1999.
Circuit Judge A1 Crowson -
who said all drivers have "a little
road rage” in them - said nei
ther probation, as requested by
the defense, nor the maximum
sentence of 20 years was appro
priate.
■Georgia
President Carter injures
shoulder in jogging accident
ATLANTA - Jimmy Carter
fell while jogging in San Diego
last week and underwent sur
gery in Atlanta, a spokeswoman
reported Monday.
The 76-year-old former
president injured his right rota
tor cuff while jogging on the
beach Thursday, Carter Center
spokeswoman Carrie Harmon
said.
Carter underwent surgery
Friday at Emory University
Hospital and was released on
Saturday, she said. She also said
Carter is expected to recover
fully after a few weeks of physi
cal therapy.
Carter had traveled to San
Diego on Carter Center busi
ness.
■Germany
Journalists accused of crimes
against Jews during WWII
RAVENSBURG-An 82-year
old retired journalist went on
trial Monday, accused of gun
ning down seven Jewish con
centration camp inmates dur
ing World War n. He is one of the
last German Nazi war crimes
suspects likely to face justice.
Julius Viel, a second lieu
tenant in a Nazi SS unit during
the war, is charged with seven
counts of murder. As the trial
began, he angrily denied prose
cution charges that he shot the
inmates at the Theresienstadt
camp in Nazi-occupied
Czechoslovakia in the spring of
1945.
“It is an incredible imperti
nence,” said the white-haired
Viel, countering allegations by a
former subordinate who
accused him of the killings and
is expected to testify next week.
The victims from a nearby
Gestapo jail were among pris
oners forced to dig a tank trap as
a defense against advancing
Soviet forces. Viel confirmed
that he helped oversee the
work, but testified that he was
not in the area when the killings
allegedly took place.
■Great Britain
Cleric deemed 'patron saint'
of disputed elections
LONDON - Election drama?
St Chad knows all about it. And
he may have a message for A1
Gore and George W. Bush.
The seventh-century cleric -
who humbly bowed out when
his election as bishop was dis
puted - is enjoying a renais
sance, thanks to the drawn-out
fight for the U.S. presidency.
Officials of St. Chad's church
in Lichfield in central England
report a surge in hits on their
Web site, due to the growing
interest in "chads,” the tiny
pieces of paper produced when
some U.S. voters pierce their
ballots.
Instead of the usual four or
five hits a day, the site is receiv
ing several hundred visitors
after the Washington Post joked
Nov. 21 that Chad “would be the
perfect patron saint for disput
ed elections."
“We are delighted to have so
many visitors,” said the church’s
rector, Rev. Jill Warren, adding
that there may be “a lesson to be
learned from Chad's election as
Bishop of the Northumbrians
1,300 years ago.”