STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Before the summit opened, Bush said he would tell his partners that his massive tax cut and the aggressive credit easing by the Federal Reserve would be enough to lift the U.S. economy out of the doldrums and translate into higher world growth as l as other countries did their part. ''It really begins with each of our own countries making sure our economic houses are in order,'' Bush declared." <A HREF="aol://4344:3167.g8shot.21067426.680112836"> Protester Dies After Being Shot Outside Summit</A> Police Drag away injured demonstrators following clashes Friday during protests against the G8 summit in Genoa, Italty (Photo) Protesters Rampage as G8 Summit Begins Leaders Discuss Economic Slowdown By MARTIN CRUTSINGER .c The Associated Press GENOA, Italy (July 20) - Leaders of the world's leading industrial countries grappled with the global economic slowdown at their annual summit Friday while protesters rampaged through the streets, tearing open an outer security fence before police forced them back with water cannons. President Bush, who had denounced the protesters' ''isolationism and protectionism,'' and his seven counterparts went ahead with their regular summit schedule, even as thousands of demonstrators massed outside the six-mile security perimeter. The leaders focused on ways to keep a severe slowdown in the United States from pushing the global economy into a recession. They also discussed ways to help the world's poorest countries, and planned to formally launch a $1 billion global health fund to combat AIDS and other infectious diseases. At word that the protesters had managed to rip open part of the security fence near Palazzo Ducale, the main summit venue, riot police mobilized - helmets and shields in place - and positioned a bus to block alley access to the palace. After tearing open the chain-link fence, demonstrators used their bodies to try to force open a metal barricade next to it. Police forced them back with blasts of water. Bush and the other leaders smiled for photographers as they were greeted upon their arrival by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, right before the start of their discussions over lunch. Before the summit opened, Bush said he would tell his partners that his massive tax cut and the aggressive credit easing by the Federal Reserve would be enough to lift the U.S. economy out of the doldrums and translate into higher world growth as long as other countries did their part. ''It really begins with each of our own countries making sure our economic houses are in order,'' Bush declared. The demonstrations, which had been peaceful Thursday, turned violent even before the summit began. Protesters tore cobblestones from the street and hurled them at police lines, prompting the police to use tear gas, water cannons and batons to push the crowd back. Protesters were also seen shattering windows and attacking a bank automatic teller machine. This year's meetings were being held under the tightest security of any of the 27 summits with a force of almost 20,000 police and military stationed throughout the city. Before Friday's violence broke out, Bush took a hard line on the protesters, saying, ''I reject the isolationism and protectionism that dominates those who would try to disrupt the meetings in Genoa.'' He said that although the protesters claimed to represent the poor, they were embracing policies that ''lock poor people into poverty and that is unacceptable to the United States.'' Bush insisted that the United States was pursuing the proper policies to jump-start the U.S. economy and provide the power to lift global growth to higher levels. ''I will share with my fellow leaders the fact that I shepherded through a major reduction in income taxes in America'' and the Federal Reserve is doing its part to stimulate consumer demand by cutting interest rates, Bush said. While efforts to stimulate economic growth in the rich nations and the plight of poor countries were the main topics in Friday's discussions, the leaders explored other items on the sidelines of the meeting. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder that he was continuing efforts to persuade Bush to accept the Kyoto treaty to control greenhouse gases. ''We have not changed our thinking that we will do our best to see the treaty take effect in 2002,'' Japanese officials quoted Koizumi as telling Schroeder. Another hot topic the leaders will discuss is Bush's insistence on proceeding with development of a missile defense shield that would abrogate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Even before the formal meetings began, various leaders held bilateral discussions. Koizumi, intent on describing his rescue program to rid Japanese banks of $1 trillion in bad loans, met with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, attending his eighth summit and now the dean of the meetings with the departure of President Bill Clinton. Friday's summit sessions were dedicated to assessing vulnerable spots in the current global economy - a U.S. economy flirting with recession, a Japanese economy probably already in a downturn and growing threats to big emerging economies such as Argentina. It is struggling to avoid a default on its $130 billion in foreign debt. In the economic communique to be issued Friday, the summit leaders planned to address the need to help developing countries boost their growth prospects. One idea the summit leaders will endorse, Japanese officials said, was launching of a ''balanced agenda'' of new global trade liberalization talks under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. AP-NY-07-20-01 1020EDT Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. 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