From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 21:31:58 -0500
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: RHC Weekend-19/20 January 2002
RHC Weekend-19/20 January 2002
Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit
Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 19/20 January 2002
.
*ENRON CHAIRMAN PERSUADED EMPLOYEES TO BUY STOCK
WHEN HE KNEW COMPANY WAS BANKRUPT
*HIDDEN MIKES IN US JET DELIVERED TO CHINESE PRESIDENT
*ISRAELI TROOPS BLOW UP VOICE OF PALESTINE RADIO AND TELEVISION
*PRIEST, CITY COUNCILMAN MURDERED IN COLOMBIA
*RUSSIAN ARMY BELIEVES US PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA IS TEMPORARY
*BRAZIL PUTS TOGETHER AID PACKAGE FOR ARGENTINA
*IN CONGO, THOUSANDS FLEE VOLCANO ERUPTION
*POLITICAL CRISIS IN PHILIPPINES AS US MILITARY ARRIVES
*KU KLUX KLAN RALLY IN NEWPORT, TENNESSEE
.
*ENRON CHAIRMAN PERSUADED EMPLOYEES TO BUY STOCK
WHEN HE KNEW COMPANY WAS BANKRUPT
Havana, January 19 (RHC)--According to reports coming in from US
news sources including the Associated Press, the Chairman of the
bankrupt US energy company, Enron, persuaded employees to buy stock
in the firm when he knew that it was suffering financial problems.
Kenneth Lay pushed Enron's stock telling employees that the company
was in sound financial health three weeks before a massive loss of
$638 million was announced and over 4,000 workers laid-off. The
stock, which at the collapse dropped to $1 a share, was trading at
$25 at the time of Lay's announcements to the workers.
Enron was once one of the largest firms on the United States and it's
collapse is the biggest bankruptcy in the history of the United
States. The scandal is deeper in that not only did its chief
executive officer push effectively worthless stock, but the employee
retirement accounts which were tagged to company stock are also
worthless.
Some 35 members of George W Bush's administration are involved in
Enron, including Vice-President Dick Cheney. Members of Bush's family
are also implicated.
The accounting practices that brought down Enron involved keeping
millions of dollars of debt off the books and paying millions of
dollars in partnership fees into the pockets of the company's
executives.
*HIDDEN MIKES IN US JET DELIVERED TO CHINESE PRESIDENT
London, January 19, (RHC)--A British newspaper has revealed that
China's new, US-made presidential jet is riddled with bugs. Chinese
counter-intelligence forces discovered more than 20 microphones
hidden on board a Boeing 767 jet manufactured in the United States.
The British newspaper, the "Financial Times" reported today that the
aircraft was delivered last August to Beijing, destined for the
personal use of president Jiang Zemin.
Chinese government sources said that their military experts detected
the tiny, satellite-controlled microphones. "Everyone knows the
Americans spy on us," said a Chinese source cited by the Times.
The bugs, hidden throughout the cabin, in the lavatory and in the
headboard above the president's bed, were discovered in September
when technicians noticed a strange static whine during test flights
made shortly after the plane was delivered by the United States.
The Boeing 767 was manufactured in Seattle, Washington and delivered
to China in August, but the VIP interior was outfitted by a US
company whose name was not mentioned by the Financial Times.
The discovery is said to have infuriated the Chinese president as
well as having placed in doubt the holding of a summit planned for
next month between Jiang and George W. Bush, 30 years after the
historic encounter between then US president, Richard Nixon and
Chinese revolutionary leader, Mao Tse Tung.
*ISRAELI TROOPS BLOW UP VOICE OF PALESTINE RADIO AND TELEVISION
Ramallah, January 19 (RHC)--Israeli troops reportedly blew up the
headquarters of the Voice of Palestine radio service and part of the
Palestinian television studio early Saturday.
According to news reports, the Israeli army surrounded the area and
blew it up about an hour later. Eyewitness reports say that the
troops had placed dynamite in the studios and gasoline on the
installation's roof.
Israel reportedly said that the Voice of Palestine Radio and
Television were being used to incite Palestinians against Israel, but
the head of the station accused Tel Aviv of trying to silence them.
On Friday, Israeli tanks surrounded the headquarters of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah. The Palestinian Authority condemned
the action saying that this will only lead to a serious deterioration
of the already critical situation in the region.
In a statement the Palestinian leadership said that Tel Aviv has
crossed every line. They consider this latest aggression
unprecedented. The statement also said that the Palestinian
leadership remains committed to its choice that peaceful negotiation
is the right path to a solution to the conflict.
*PRIEST, CITY COUNCILMAN MURDERED IN COLOMBIA
Bogotá, January 19 (RHC)--Violence continues in Colombia as rebel
and government representatives struggle to get the peace process back
on track. A young priest who promoted human rights and a negotiated
settlement to the country's armed conflict and an opposition city
councilman were both murdered Friday in separate incidents in the
western-central part of the county.
According to Colombian police, the priest, 30 year-old Arley Arias,
was shot dead in the coffee-growing region of Samana, 290 kilometers
from Bogotá, the capital. Two young people who were with him were
also killed. The priest was the leader of a local peace council and
had participated in negotiations to free various people held by rebel
forces and by rightwing paramilitary groups that operate in the area.
The 33 year-old deputy mayor of the city of Arauca, 210 kilometers
northeast of Bogotá, was also reportedly shot and killed on Friday
night on the border with Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Colombian government has presented rebels with a
timetable for cease-fire talks, as the Sunday deadline for an
agreement draws near and heavy fighting was reported outside the
guerillas' safe zone.
The negotiators met with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
known by its Spanish acronym, FARC, in a thatched-roofed hut deep in
the zone. Raul Reyes, a FARC representative, described the meeting as
"very good" and said the insurgents would study the proposal.
If rebels fail to meet the deadline, Colombian president Andres
Pastrana has some 12,000 troops-backed by helicopter gunships and
light tanks- prepared to try and retake the FARC enclave.
The FARC has linked a cease-fire to a cessation of hostilities, as
well as an end to government free-market reforms that rebels charges
have brought widespread poverty.
For the first time, a UN envoy and foreign diplomats were monitoring
the talks.
*RUSSIAN ARMY BELIEVES US PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA IS TEMPORARY
Moscow, January 19 (RHC)--The Russian Army believes that the US
military presence in various former Soviet Asian republics, is
"temporary."
On Saturday the Russian Armed Forces chief-of-staff, Anatoly Kvashvin
said that currently US military presence in the region is transitory.
According to the high-ranking military official, the United States is
just protecting its vital interests by stationing troops in the area
for the time being.
Recently the Russian press has expressed concern over the length of
time the US military will be present in the countries of Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
*BRAZIL PUTS TOGETHER AID PACKAGE FOR ARGENTINA
Brasilia, January 19 (RHC)--Brazil has put together an economic aid
package to help Argentina in the wake of its neighbor's continuing
crisis. The measures include granting flexibility to trade
restrictions and rules between both nations under the Reciprocal
Credit Agreement.
The new policies were implemented after talks between Brzil's
president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and his ministers of the
Treasury, Trade and Foreign Relations. Argentina's president, Eduardo
Duhalde, immediately telephoned his Brazilian counterpart to thank
him for the help.
Due to the fact that Argentina is behind in international debt
payments and consequently has difficulties obtaining credit for its
exports, Buenos Aires has major difficulties trading and its economy
is effectively paralyzed with commercial activity with its huge
neighbor halved.
*IN CONGO, THOUSANDS FLEE VOLCANO ERUPTION
Havana, January 19 (RHC)--Thousands of panic-stricken people poured
across the border from the Congo city of Goma into Rwanda today
fleeing a volcano that has a devastating history in the area.
The Nyiragongo volcano began erupting on Thursday but is now spewing
out lava into the surrounding villages and Goma where is has
reportedly destroyed the airport. A previous eruption in 1977 killed
thousands of local residents with minutes.
Some 300,000 people are reported by the Rwandan authorities to have
crossed the border. However, Kinshasa reports that it is unable to
cater to such huge numbers and have asked United Nations refugee
services to intervene.
The people of Goma have suffered great hardships since the Rwandan
massacres of 1994 when hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the
killing and took up residence in camps set up around the city. More
recently the area has been dragged into the civil war that has made
the Congo one of the most dangerous places in which to live in all of
Africa. Most of those fleeing the volcano have lost all hope after
seeing their houses destroyed by lava flows, reported aid workers on
the scene.
*POLITICAL CRISIS IN PHILIPPINES AS US MILITARY ARRIVES
Manila, January 19 (RHC)-- A political crisis has emerged in the
Philippines as nearly 700 US soldiers have arrived in the country to
allegedly fight terrorism. According to press reports, some Filipino
senators have demanded the impeachment of President Gloria Arroyo and
her vice president.
In an attempt to cover up the political crisis in a country that
eleven years ago voted to end US military presence, Philippine and
American officials reportedly said that Manila will do the fighting
and the Americans will do the advising. But, the Filipino deputy
chief of staff said that there won't be joint operations. Rather, he
said, there will be 100 per cent Filipino content and control in all
military maneuvers.
In an interview on Saturday, Jovito Salongo, who was President of the
Filipino Senate in 1991, told reporters that after the Philippine
Senate ended more than 400 years of foreign military presence, they
are now back to the worse kind of military intervention. The former
Senator added that US military presence once again in the Philippines
is a violation of the Constitution that bans foreign troops and
foreign facilities in the country.
Salonga added that if any US soldier is killed by the Abu Sayyaf
group, there will be tremendous pressure on Washington to broaden the
so called war in the Philippines and could result in another Vietnam.
*KU KLUX KLAN RALLY IN NEWPORT, TENNESSEE
Newport, January 19 (RHC)--Highway patrols in the US city of Newport,
Tennessee were sent to increase security at a rally on Saturday
attended by up to 200 Ku Klux Klan members, two days before the
Martin Luther King holiday.
Other members of the Tennessee community planned a daylong festival
to divert attention away from the Klan members but local officials
are worried about confrontations between the Klan and
counter-demonstrators. The Klu Klux Klan members reportedly denied
burning a wooden cross outside the home of Newport's first black
mayor on Wednesday and denied any involvement in the action.
Newport, Tennessee, is a predominately white community of some 7,000
residents about 40 miles from Knoxville. Although only two percent of
the its residents are African American, Mayor Dykes said Newport is a
tight-knit community with little racial tension.
Joe Roy, intelligence project director of the Klan-tracking Southern
Poverty Law Center in Birmingham, Alabama said 50 to 200 Klan members
from a half dozen states were expected at today's rally. He said that
they think that the KKK are attempting to unify the Klan across the
country.
(c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. All rights reserved.
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