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Refuting false information appreciated! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [The full text can be found at http://prop1.org/nucnews/9912nn/991204nn.htm} * Prof. Youri Bandazhevsky, Director of the Medical Institute in Gomel, Republic of Belarus, has been imprisoned since July 13th, needs help * FEATURE-Russia, US ignore tensions to ease Y2K fear * Clinton Offers to Vacate Vieques Target Range in 5 Years * China Jails Stanford Researcher for Leaks * China Sentences Scholar, Says He Leaked Secrets * NATO allies emphasise transatlantic link * Europe Plans Bigger Defense Role * Strong Storm Kills 14 in Europe * North Korea Agrees to Resume Talks With Japan * India-Pakistan Fight Hurts Y2K Plan * CORRECTED-Turkey set for first nuke plant * Finnish PM defends EU hopefuls over nuclear plants * Hackers Break Into DOE Web Site * FirstEnergy Completes Asset Transfer With Duquesne Light * Newberg-Perini Awarded $300 Million Contract To Support Entire ComEd Nuclear Power `Fleet' * River Dirge * Y2K-RUSSIA-NUCLEAR * Key Points at the Conference (WTO) * WTO Ends Conference Well Short Of Goals * LatAm Calls for Open Trade * Daley: Too Many Obstacles to Launch Trade Round * Seattle Recovers From WTO Meetings * Keyes: WTO Threatens Liberty * Global Trade Talks End in Failure * Seattle Faces Criticism for WTO Woe * Long Agenda, Short Time Doomed WTO Trade Talks * Internet Plan Falls Victim to WTO Failure * Bad Planning Hit in Trade Talks Collapse * Clinton Singled Out in WTO Blame Game * WTO Failure Setback to Farm Trade Hopes * Nations Call for WTO Reforms * Protesters, WTO Nations Claim Win ---------- * Prof. Youri Bandazhevsky, Director of the Medical Institute in Gomel, Republic of Belarus, has been imprisoned since July 13th, needs help Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 11:00:32 +0100 From: FERNEX - solange.fernex@wanadoo.fr We wanted to ask for your very urgent help in favour of Prof. Youri Bandazhevsky, Director of the Medical Institute in Gomel, Republic of Belarus. Prof. Bandazhevsky has published outstanding research on the chronic effect of low doses of radiation, due to incorporated radionucleides, especially Cs137 and Sr 90 with food, in the region of Gomel, heavily polluted by Chernobyl. More than 20 theses on this topic have been presented by his students and accepted in the Moscow Academy. This spring, Prof. Bandazhevsky criticized heavily-subsidized studies by a Medical Institute close to the Health Minister in Minsk, which supports the new official Belarussian policy of removing all restrictions on food, and leaving citizens with the free choice of taking or not individual precautions for contaminated food and goods. He has been imprisoned since July 13th, he is in very bad health condition (heart and gastric diseases), and has not been informed yet of the charges raised against him. * FEATURE-Russia, US ignore tensions to ease Y2K fear Reuters 09:05 p.m Dec 04, 1999 Eastern By Martin Nesirky http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a2177LBY574reulb-19991204&qt=%2Bnuclear&s v=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Few people doubt Russia has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world but many still need convincing the missiles will stay put when midnight chimes on December 31. The United States and Russia, despite relations being at a post-Cold War low, are both eager to oblige as they prepare for the so-called millennium bug which may cause some computers to confuse 2000 for 1900. ``Doomsday is not going to happen,'' Sergei Rogov, director of the USA/Canada think-tank in Moscow, told Reuters. ``But my television set might go off.'' * Clinton Offers to Vacate Vieques Target Range in 5 Years Washington Post Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A04 By Roberto http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/04/077l-120499-idx.html Offering major concessions to Puerto Rican authorities and protesters, President Clinton yesterday agreed to halt live-fire exercises on the island of Vieques and promised that within five years the Navy will abandon the bombing range, a key training ground since World War II. As part of the deal, Clinton proposed a $40 million aid package for the island's 9,300 inhabitants and promised that the administration would "take all possible steps" to repair strained relations between the Navy and Puerto Rico in hopes of eventually persuading authorities there to allow a resumption of live bombing. * China Jails Stanford Researcher for Leaks New York Times December 4, 1999 By REUTERS http://www.nytimes.com/99/12/04/news/world/china-stanford.html PALO ALTO, Calif. -- A Stanford University researcher who had been an official in China's missile program has been sentenced to 15 years in a Chinese prison after having been convicted of leaking state secrets, Stanford officials said Friday. The president of the university, Gerhard Casper, said Stanford learned this week that the scientist, Hua Di, 63, a research associate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, which is part of the university, had been convicted by a court of leaking secrets and sentenced to 15 years. * China Sentences Scholar, Says He Leaked Secrets Washington Post Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A16 By John http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/04/156l-120499-idx.html BEIJING, Dec. 3-A Chinese scholar has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaking "state secrets" about the country's missile program in research done at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., the university said today. Stanford President Gerhard Casper said the school learned this week that Hua Di, a 63-year-old former official in China's missile program who is also suffering from a rare form of male breast cancer, had been sentenced by a Beijing court to the heavy prison term. Hua was arrested after returning to China last year to attend a family funeral. Chinese authorities had told him in Hong Kong that he would have no troubles on the mainland, sources close to Hua said. * NATO allies emphasise transatlantic link Reuters 07:36 a.m. Dec 02, 1999 Eastern By Douglas Hamilton http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1072LBY591reulb-19991202&qt=%2Bnuclear&s v=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 BRUSSELS, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The NATO allies on Thursday said their missions in Bosnia and Kosovo would have been impossible without the transatlantic link and pledged that nothing would be done to weaken it. At a meeting of defence ministers in Brussels, they issued a communique which also said they remain committed to the central treaties on disarmament and to their implementation. * Europe Plans Bigger Defense Role New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 11:45 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-McCain-Arizona.html BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- For years, the United States pressed its European allies to shoulder more of the burden of their own defense. Now Europe is forging ahead with a plan to do just that, and Washington suddenly is worried it could split the NATO alliance. Tidal changes are washing across the continent. People whiz past borders without even slowing down. Free trade within the European Union is a virtual reality. A single currency was launched by 11 EU countries last January. * Strong Storm Kills 14 in Europe New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 1:31 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Europe-Storm.html HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- A strong storm blasted across northern Europe, killing at least 14 people, injuring dozens more, and leaving thousands Saturday to clean up debris-strewn streets, felled trees and flooded homes.... An estimated 160,000 homes in Denmark and Sweden were without electricity Saturday, local media reported. A nuclear reactor at the Barsebaeck power plant in southern Sweden was shut down overnight. The shutdown was described as routine, and did not pose a safety threat. * North Korea Agrees to Resume Talks With Japan New York Times December 4, 1999 By CALVIN SIMS http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/120499nkorea-japan.html SEOUL -- North Korea, one of the most isolated and bellicose countries in Asia, has made some unexpected diplomatic overtures in recent months, suggesting that its Communist government is itching to come out of its shell, or at least see what the rest of the world has to offer. At a meeting on Friday in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, leaders from North Korea and Japan announced a breakthrough agreement to resume talks on establishing diplomatic relations. The talks have been stalled since 1992. Related Articles North Korean, at U.N., Urges U.S. to Lift Economic Embargo (Sept. 26, 1999) http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/092699nkorea-un.html North Korea Agrees to End Missile Testing in Exchange for Economic Aid (Sept. 13, 1999) http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/091399nkorea-missiles.html Tokyo and Seoul Unite to Confront North Korea Arms (Aug. 4, 1999) http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/080499korea-missile.html * India-Pakistan Fight Hurts Y2K Plan New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 1:28 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/i/AP-Y2K-Nuclear-India.html NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Early this year, when relations were on an upswing, the leaders of India and Pakistan pledged to cooperate on sharing technology and reducing the risk of accidental nuclear war. Three months later, the two countries were engaged in their worst fighting in almost three decades and were on the brink of their fourth full-scale war since both won independence from Britain in 1947. Among the casualties of that episode was a plan for Indian experts to visit Pakistan to work on technical problems, possibly including cooperation on the unpredictable Y2K computer glitch. * CORRECTED-Turkey set for first nuke plant Reuters 08:33 a.m. Dec 04, 1999 Eastern By Ercan Ersoy http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a0694reuff-19991204&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&l k=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Energy-hungry Turkey appears eager to finalise a tender by the end of this month to build its controversial first nuclear power plant, ending a three-decade-long saga fraught by protests and cancellations. * Finnish PM defends EU hopefuls over nuclear plants Reuters 06:07 a.m. Dec 03, 1999 Eastern http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a0825LBY506reulb-19991203&qt=%2Bnuclear&s v=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 HELSINKI, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen criticised the European Commission and Austria on Friday for putting pressure on some EU candidate countries to close their Soviet-style nuclear plants. Finnish STT news agency quoted Lipponen as saying that the EU had no right to make such demands, calling them imperialist. ``It is against EU principles to have different rules for the applicant countries and the current members,'' Lipponen said. * Hackers Break Into DOE Web Site Albuquerque Journal Thursday, November 4, 1999 By John Fleck http://www.abqjournal.com/scitech/1hack11-03-99.htm Cyber vandals calling themselves the "Pakistan Hackerz Club" broke into a computer at the Department of Energy's Albuquerque Operations Office on Monday, defacing the Web site of the nuclear weapons management center with a "Save Kashmir" message. It's the third Internet break-in in a week at the Department of Energy, which is in the midst of a cyber security shake-up in the wake of allegations of lax security and espionage. * FirstEnergy Completes Asset Transfer With Duquesne Light Business Wire Saturday, December 4, 1999 http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=BW0179-19991203&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&lk=no frames&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 AKRON, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1999--FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) announced the completion today of an exchange of 1,436 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity owned by Duquesne Light Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for 1,328 MW owned by FirstEnergy electric utility operating companies. * Newberg-Perini Awarded $300 Million Contract To Support Entire ComEd Nuclear Power `Fleet' Business Wire 11:29 a.m. Dec 03, 1999 Eastern http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=BW1229-19991203&qt=%2Bnuclear&sv=IS&lk=no frames&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1999--Perini Corporation (AMEX:PCR) announced today that it had received a contract valued at $300 million from Commonwealth Edison Co. of Illinois, one of the nation's leading nuclear power generators, to supply construction management services for maintenance and modification work required for all of ComEd's nuclear plants for a five year period. Newberg/Perini, a division of Perini Corporation, will perform the work under an existing 50/50 joint venture with Stone & Webster, Incorporated in support of ComEd's nuclear services program. * River Dirge WHAT ON EARTH? A WEEKLY LOOK AT TRENDS, PEOPLE AND EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD Washington Post Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A11 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/04/049l-120499-idx.html More than half of the world's major rivers have become seriously depleted and polluted, degrading and poisoning the surrounding ecosystems, according to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. This continual damage threatens the health and livelihood of people who depend upon the rivers for irrigation, drinking and industrial water, says the commission, which is sponsored by the United Nations and the World Bank. * Y2K-RUSSIA-NUCLEAR BY MARTIN NESIRKY, GENERAL FEATURE, 1,130 WORDS) Reuters Saturday, December 4, 1999 (Infoseek) With less than a month to go before the New Year, Reuters is taking a look at how the millennium bug may affect various sectors. In the following feature Martin Nesirky reports on Russia's efforts to calm fears about the impact of Y2K on its nuclear arsenal. * Key Points at the Conference Washington Post Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A15 By Steven Pearlstein http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/04/153l-120499-idx.html * WTO Ends Conference Well Short Of Goals Ministers May Resume Talks Early Next Year Washington Post Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A01 By John Burgess and Steven Pearlstein http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-12/04/164l-120499-idx.html * LatAm Calls for Open Trade New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 11:43 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-economy-lata.html * Daley: Too Many Obstacles to Launch Trade Round New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 1:55 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-daley.html * Seattle Recovers From WTO Meetings New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 6:16 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-World-Trade-Scene.html * Keyes: WTO Threatens Liberty New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 4:47 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/p/AP-Keyes.html * Global Trade Talks End in Failure New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 1:33 a.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-issues.html * Seattle Faces Criticism for WTO Woe New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 11:46 a.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-World-Trade-Seattle.html * Long Agenda, Short Time Doomed WTO Trade Talks New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 5:28 p.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-wto-rea.html * Internet Plan Falls Victim to WTO Failure New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 5:23 p.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-internet.html * Bad Planning Hit in Trade Talks Collapse New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 5:24 p.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-leadall.html * Clinton Singled Out in WTO Blame Game New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 5:39 p.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-blame.html * WTO Failure Setback to Farm Trade Hopes New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 5:39 p.m. ET By Reuters http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-wto-agricult.html * Nations Call for WTO Reforms New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 3:06 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-World-Trade.html * Protesters, WTO Nations Claim Win New York Times December 4, 1999 Filed at 12:51 p.m. EDT By The Associated Press http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-World-Trade-Winners--Losers.html ___________________________________________________ Today's Newspapers: http://prop1.org/nucnews/links.htm NucNews Archives: http://prop1.org/nucnews/briefslv.htm Subscribe NucNews: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Subscribe) Submit URL/Article: mailto:prop1@prop1.org (NucNews-Editor) About NucNews: http://prop1.org/nucnews/nucnews.htm Distributed without payment for research and educational purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. 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