[00:00.00] News No. 12
[00:15.80]I'm Bill Hesser. VOA news.
[00:19.51]12.1 The UN Security Council has extended sanctions against Iraq for 60 days.
[00:18.51]It took action after hearing Chief Arms Inspector Rithard Butler say he has proof
[00:23.24]that Iraq put deadly nerve gas into missile warheads.
[00:26.69]I distributed to the Council the full findings of the laboratory examination of the missile
[00:32.33]warhead remnants in which the degraded remnants of the chemical VX has been detected.
[00:40.82]Mr. Butler says this means Iraq lied when it said it was never able to produce a form of VX stable amount to use as a weapon.
[00:47.82]Iraq denies the charge and is threatening actions against UN arms inspectors unless the sanctions are lifted.
[00:53.15]Former UN ambassador Bill Ritchardson voices concern in light of the report.
[00:57.38]"This is very serious.
[00:58.61]This is extremely serious because it shows that our insistence that UN inspection teams have full access
[01:05.74]and full authority in Iraq has paid off and hopefully today in the Security Council the entire UN Security Council
[01:13.71]will know the extent of these violations by the Iraqi government."
[01:18.02]12.2 President Clinton has again defended his trip to China saying engagement with Beijing is the right course of action.
[01:25.28]"I'm going to China at a time when we are appreciative of the
[01:30.79]discipline with which the Chinese have managed their economy
[01:32.99]and the fact they haven't yet felt the need to devalue their currency."
[01:55.58]12.3 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has sent a special envoy to South Asia to help ease tension
[02:00.50]created by last month's nuclear tests in Pakistan and India.
[02:04.05]Pakistan has welcomed assistance in mediating its dispute with India over Kashmir.
[02:08.85]But New Delhi says diplomatic relations with Islamabad should be handled on bilateral basis.
[02:14.08]UN delegation's first stop is Bangladesh.
[02:17.68]12.4 Indonesia and the International Monetary Fund have signed a new agreement to resume a multibillion-dollar bill out loan to Jakarta.
[02:24.76]VOA correspondent Gary Thomas has the story.
[02:27.51]The IMF-Indonesia agreement says Indonesia will require an additional four to six million dollars of international aid
[02:33.70]in addition to an already agreed upon 41.2 billion-dollar rescue package.
[02:38.43]The agreement was signed Wednesday and made public Thursday
[02:41.19]following a meeting between IMF Asia Pacific Director Mubid Hise and President B. J. Habibie.
[02:46.44]The agreement predicts the gross domestic product will shrink by more than 10% this year and that inflation will top 80%.
[02:52.43]The battered currency,the rupiah, is projected to stabilize at around 10,000 to the dollar by the end of the year.
[02:58.12]In the area of structural reform, the agreement allows for more subsidies for basic commodities,such as food and fuel.
[03:04.39]Gary Thomas,VOA news, Jakarta.
[03:06.98]12.5 Voters in Northern Ireland will begin casting ballots today for a new Assembly giving them more say in running their own affairs.
[03:13.25]VOA Andry Annunzio reports from London.
[03:15.83]The 108-member Assembly will in effect be Northern Ireland's government
[03:19.41]taking care of such issues as health,education and agriculture as well as establishing cross border institutions with the Irish Republic.
[03:26.18]The leader of Northern Ireland's non-sectarian AllianceParty John Albright
[03:29.91]says many people see the Assembly as offering hope for a peaceful future.
[03:33.44]But he says many are also wary.
[03:35.45]"Don't forget there have been many initiatives in the last 30 years, which have come to grief.
[03:39.08]And people are cautious about hoping too much for fear of being disappointed again even at this stage."
[03:43.91]Meanwhile,there was a stark reminder that violence is still very much part of life in Northern Ireland.
[03:48.28]Several people were injured as a bomb exploded in the town of Newton Halton,near the border with Ireland.
[03:53.08]The explosion followed a coded warning from the Irish Republican Army' s splinter group.
[03:56.98]Andry Annunzio,VOA news,London.
[03:59.35]12.6 Campaigning for Cambodia's general election officially kicks off today with 39 parties trying to retract votes.
[04:04.92]More than 90 % of Cambodia's eligible votes have registered for the July 26th poll
[04:09.67]despite complaints of intimidation against opposition supporters.
[04:12.96]UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urges the Cambodian government to ensure the election is free and fair.
[04:19.21]12.7 The US House of Representatives has passed a 250 billion-dollar defense-spending bill,
[04:25.32]but without the money President Clinton wanted to continue funding the US military operation in Bosnia.
[04:30.41]The bill awaits action in the Senate and a possible presidential veto.
[04:33.96]That is because the House measure included a provision that it would require advanced Congressional approval
[04:39.89]before Mr.Clinton could deploy troops in times of conflict.
[04:43.34]I'm Bill Hesser, VOA news.
[04:46.14]I'm Francis Alanzo, VOA news.
[05:13.88]12.8 Russian lawmakers are moving slowly on several major tax reforms
[05:18.40]raising doubt about whether Moscow will be able to begin drawing a crucial international rescue fund.
[05:23.94]In the second of the two-day special session,Russian deputies only passed the general part of a tax code.
[05:29.92]Debate on the top aspects on the austerity package was expected to go late into the evening.
[05:35.01]International lenders want to be sure Moscow is serious about repairing its ailing economy before releasing billions of rescue funds.
[05:42.72]
[05:49.41]Benders Chobera has details from Colombo.
[05:52.10]The parliament member for northern Barbulia District,a member of People's Liberation Organization of Tabuzealan
[05:57.79]was killed returning home late Wednesday.
[06:00.27]Police officials say lawmaker Ashankamaila Tenbaker was caught in a claymore mine explosion.
[06:05.52]He,his son,brother's son and two police constables were killed while his wife and three police constables were injured.
[06:12.13]Mr.Ashankamaila was the third city lawmaker to be assassinated in the past year.
[06:16.97]In an interview to state radio,party leader Distarben blamed Tamil Tiger guerrilla for the killing.
[06:22.32]Other Tamil political parties have condemned the brutal murder.
[06:25.72]Officials say more shops remain closed and the town had a deserted look after the killing.
[06:30.31]Barbunia borders jungle region of Wanni,a rebel's stronghold
[06:33.76]Tamil rebels have been fighting for autonomy in Sri Lanka's North and East since 1983.
[06:39.07]This is Bendera Chobera for VOA news Colombo.
[06:41.99]12.10 An Israeli court has sentenced an Israeli businessman to 16 years in prison for selling chemical weapons materials to Iran.
[06:49.44]The court in Tel Aviv convicted Nomon Nonbier of aiding an enemy State.
[06:53.93]He denied the charges and will appeal.
[06:56.33]The case triggered a political and judicial scandal in Israel
[06:59.57]with defense allegation sharply denied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to influence one of the judges.
[07:05.66]12.11 Sudanese rebels and the Khartoum government have agreed to a one-month cease-fire to allow food aid
[07:10.60]to reach Sudan' s famine-stricken South.
[07:12.71]Sudan's official news agency said the ceasefire is effective immediately.
[07:16.11]It comes less than one day after rebels announced a 3-month truce in the Bahr el Ghazal and Blue Nile provinces,
[07:22.48]where as many as two million people face starvation.
[07:25.15]12.12 President Clinton and R0manian President Imil Consten Reskue meet at the White House today
[07:29.93]for talks on security and economic issues.
[07:32.49]VOA's David Scollas has details.
[07:34.81]Romania was left out of the first phase of NATO expansion last year.
[07:38.49]But Mr. Consten Reskue has been campaigning in Washington for Romania's early admission when the western alliance expands again,
[07:45.21]saying his country's democratization and the role as a stabilizing force in southeastern Europe
[07:50.35]needs to be acknowledged and supported by the United States and its allies.
[07:54.04]White House spokesman Mike Mekiry said as the meeting began
[07:57.38]Mr.Clinton would reaffirm the United States open-door policy with regard to further enlargement of NATO
[08:03.81]and talk about ways Romania can make strongest possible case for membership.
[08:08.14]He also said Mr. Clinton would encourage Romania to stay on the path of economic reform,
[08:13.58]a process Mr.Consten Reskue concedes has not advanced as rapidly as Rom nians have hoped after the fall of the communism there in 1989.
[08:22.12]David Scollars,VOA news,the White House.
[08:24.63]
[08:28.65]by President Clinton Secret Service bodyguards about an alleged affair and covered up by the President.
[08:33.56]The appeal court's decision came shortly after head of the President security detail appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington to testify.
[08:41.00]The court blocked the testimony while consider legal battle
[08:43.93]over the agents should have to answer the questions for the grand jury.
[08:47.33]12.14 And the remains of Russia's last Tsar has arrived inSt.Petersburg,
[08:51.51]where they will be buried in a special ceremony on Friday,the 80th anniversary of his murder.