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China Bans Video Game Portraying Chinese Army as Terrorists BEIJING, June 18 (AFP) - China has banned a popular US video game after authorities discovered insignia on a terrorist helicopter resembled the emblem of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), a Hong-Kong based source said Friday. 'Delta Special Force', in which US troops crackdown on world terrorism, was pulled from the shelves of Beijing stores this week after becoming a hot seller earlier this year, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said. China's State Press Administration launched an investigation into the video game after fielding ...

Three N. Koreans Defect to S. Korea The Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Three North Koreans have escaped their hunger-stricken homeland and arrived in South Korea to seek asylum, government officials said today. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade identified them as Kim Woo Suk, 38, his wife, Song Ki Sun, 25, and unrelated Kim Suk Hoon, 29. It said Kim Woo Suk served as a government official in charge of earning foreign currency until he and his wife left the North in March. Kim Suk Hoon was a school teacher until he left the communist country ...

Gore Touts Seattle's Economy By DAVID AMMONS The Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) - Bringing his White House campaign to Northwest high-tech country, Vice President Al Gore tried a little flattery. ``The future is being born here,'' he told 500 supporters at a campaign event. Although workers in California's ``Silicon Valley'' or North Carolina's ``Research Triangle'' might take issue, Gore told the locals here ``Of course this area is the world center'' of the technological innovation that can sustain the nation's economy into the new century. Gore used Northwest-centric issues of trade and technology to kick off his presidential campaign in ...

S.C. Democrats Defy National Party By LEIGH STROPE The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina Democrats have defied the national party by advancing the date of their primary election. If that angers the potentates in Washington, then that's just too bad. State Democrats this week voted to join South Carolina Republicans in holding primary elections on February 19. ``We believe this primary, if held on the same day as the Republicans', will allow people to do some comparison shopping,'' state party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said. ``That allows us to build a party.'' Democrats here aren't very bashful about ...

As a firearms enthusiast, lover of liberty, and student of history and human nature, I survey the ongoing issue of guns and US politics past and present, with an eye to the future, and I am filled with anger, disgust and fear. Anger at an opportunistic, thoroughly immoral and perhaps even treasonous president who shamelessly demogogues from atop the bodies of dead school children, pointing the blame for the horror at me and all the other decent, law-abiding gun owners in America. Anger at the national print and electronic news media that unfailingly, consistently and systematically abuses their power under ...

THOU SHALT NOT BE STUPID ------------------------------------------------------------------------ New York Post Lead Editorial 06-19-99 Jerrold Nadler, the New York City congressman, is doubtless a man of many talents, but biblical scholarship is not one of them. "Whose Ten Commandants?" he thundered on the floor of the House during Thursday's vote on amendments to the gun control measure that passed later that night. "Which version? The Catholic version? The Protestant version or the Jewish version?" Umm ... they're all pretty much the same, congressman. You know - thou shalt not kill, honor thy mother and father, that sort of thing. Sure, there are ...

When Bill Clinton and Henry Hyde band together to protect the morals of America's youth, it must be time to lock up our daughters. What brought these two former antagonists together is the tragedy of Littleton -- well, not so much the tragedy of Littleton, but the chance to exploit the tragedy of Littleton for political profit. Polls show that most Americans regard violent pop culture as an unindicted co-conspirator in the massacre perpetrated by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. So why not a quick fix, with or without a toothless dash of gun control, that will accomplish nothing beyond ...

KOSOVO REBELS RAPED SERB NUN, SAY FRENCH OFFICIALS By URI DAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BELGRADE - Three days after NATO troops refused a mother superior's pleas for protection, Kosovar rebels looted her monastery and raped a young nun, officials said yesterday. French commandos and members of the French Foreign Legion arrived as the Kosovar Liberation Army guerrillas were leaving the isolated mountain religious community in Devic, about 30 miles northwest of the Kosovo capital of Pristina. The Post reported Monday how Mother Macaria drove to Pristina on Sunday to plead with arriving British troops for protection for herself, a priest and nine ...

China Extends "Military Diplomacy" in Face of Regional Crises      BEIJING, June 18 (AFP) - The growing number of security crises in Asia has forced China to develop "military      diplomacy" with its neighbours, especially Russia, state media said Friday.      General Zhang Wannian, vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, has just returned from a      10-day visit to Russia and the Xinhua news agency said the two countries had reached an "extensive      concensus." It said the visit was "the latest development in China's busy military exchanges with neighbouring      countries." Senior Chinese military figures have also ...

RUSSIA GETS PEACE OF THE ACTION By MARILYN RAUBER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON - The United States agreed yesterday to let Russian soldiers help keep the peace in Kosovo alongside NATO troops - and Russia agreed to end its siege at Pristina airport. The pro-Serb Russians, after three days of tough U.S.-Russia talks in Helsinki, gave up their demand that they get their own sector to patrol in Kosovo - a demand the White House feared would lead to a back-door partition of the Yugoslav province. But up to 3,600 Russian soldiers do get to spread out through much of Kosovo, where ...

McCARTHY'S EMOTIONAL PLEA FALLS SHORT By BRIAN BLOMQUIST ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON - Few saw Rep. Carolyn McCarthy speak on guns and violence in the wee hours of yesterday morning, but those who did were touched in a way that is rare in Congress. McCarthy, 55, whose husband was killed and son was seriously wounded when a madman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road train in 1993, came to Congress in 1997 with one major goal: passing strong gun control. Early yesterday, as Congress was on its way to killing the gun-control bill, McCarthy (D-L.I.) grew emotional and seemed unable ...

BOULDER -- Police investigating JonBenet Ramsey's murder have been asking witnesses whether the child's mother used diet pills. A former family employee was asked last week by Boulder Police Detective Jane Harmer whether Patsy Ramsey regularly consumed an herbal diet suppressant containing ephedrine, an alkaloid that is a key component of potentially harmful or addictive drugs such as methamphetamine, or speed. That witness, who confirmed her interview with Harmer and asked for anonymity, wouldn't say how she had answered the detectives' questions. Police and prosecutors refused to comment. The child's 1996 death is being reviewed by the Boulder County grand ...

GOV KNOTS A FED LOOPHOLE ON BACKGROUND CHECKS AT SHOW By GREGG BIRNBAUM ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday ordered criminal-background checks on all gun buyers before they can take any firearms from today's huge gun show at the state convention center. Pataki's new restrictions to close the "gun-show loophole" came amid pressure from gun-control advocates to cancel the popular twice-a-year event in Albany after the massacre at Columbine HS in Colorado. Pataki said he had to honor the previously signed contract to lease the Empire State Convention Center to the gun-show organizers for the weekend, but would require criminal-background ...

The article can be found here, Two New Super Heavy Elements DiscoveredI just heard about the new discovery and found Richardson's comments on the situation: Noting that four members of the discovery team are German citizens, U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson, whose department funded this work said, "This stunning discovery which opens the door to further insights into the structure of the atomic nucleus also underscores the value of foreign visitors and what the country would lose if there were a moratorium on foreign visitors at our national labs. Scientific excellence doesn't recognize national boundaries, and we will damage ...

DEMS BLOW AWAY GUN-CONTROL BILL By BRIAN BLOMQUIST ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON - House Democrats voted en masse yesterday to kill the gun-control bill rather than swallow a watered-down Republican version. Democrats said they'd rather take their case to the people than forge a compromise with the National Rifle Association. Democrats acknowledged the bill contained strong new rules, mandating safety locks on new guns and boosting to 21 the minimum age for owning assault weapons, but said they couldn't accept weaker background checks at gun shows. "They took their ball and went home," Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) said of the Democrats' sudden ...

RUDY LOCKING HORNS AGAIN WITH OLD FOE AL D'AMATO By DAVID SEIFMAN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MAYOR Giuliani's tense on-again, off-again relationship with former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato is about to hit a new low - maybe permanently. A senior-level administration source told The PostD'Amato is now persona non grata at City Hall because mayoral aides have firsthand evidence he's trying to block Giuliani's U.S. Senate bid. The source said some contributors to the mayor's $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser in Washington Thursday night reported that they had been urged by D'Amato not to attend. Giuliani aides deemed the event a success since it pulled in nearly ...

Villagers fearing war flee           Punjab           BHIKHIWIND (India): More than 80,000 terrified people from border           villages in India's northwestern state of Punjab have fled to safety           following troop movements along the border with Pakistan, police said           yesterday.           Inspector General of Police (Border) J.P. Birdi said 90% of the population           of about 200 villages had moved out.           "We are trying to persuade them to stay but we can't stop them forcefully,"           he said. "As per our estimate, more than 80,000 people have left."           "We have been seeing troop movements in our area ...

McCARTHY'S EMOTIONAL PLEA FALLS SHORT By BRIAN BLOMQUIST WASHINGTON - Few saw Rep. Carolyn McCarthy speak on guns and violence in the wee hours of yesterday morning, but those who did were touched in a way that is rare in Congress. McCarthy, 55, whose husband was killed and son was seriously wounded when a madman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road train in 1993, came to Congress in 1997 with one major goal: passing strong gun control. Early yesterday, as Congress was on its way to killing the gun-control bill, McCarthy (D-L.I.) grew emotional and seemed unable ...

CITY TEACHERS' COMMANDMENT: KEEP RELIGION OUT By ANGELA C. ALLEN Thou shalt not put the Ten Commandments in the classroom. That was the reaction of educators in the nation's largest school system, who turned thumbs down on the controversial congressional proposal. Conservative Rep. Robert Aderhold (R-Ala.) is pushing to let states decide if they want to display the biblical rules in public schools. The measure was passed by the House Thursday and now goes before the Senate. Yesterday, dozens of educators and administrators from all five boroughs declined to speak out on the thorny issue, but the few who ...

KOSOVO REBELS RAPED SERB NUN, SAY FRENCH OFFICIALS By URI DAN BELGRADE - Three days after NATO troops refused a mother superior's pleas for protection, Kosovar rebels looted her monastery and raped a young nun, officials said yesterday. French commandos and members of the French Foreign Legion arrived as the Kosovar Liberation Army guerrillas were leaving the isolated mountain religious community in Devic, about 30 miles northwest of the Kosovo capital of Pristina. The Post reported Monday how Mother Macaria drove to Pristina on Sunday to plead with arriving British troops for protection for herself, a priest and nine ...