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Deadline Nears at WTO Talks By John Burgess and Steven Pearlstein Washington Post Staff Writers Saturday, December 4, 1999; Page A1 SEATTLE, Dec. 3 – With protesters demonstrating peacefully outside, trade ministers from around the world raced against an evening deadline to reach agreement on a new round of trade talks aimed at creating greater markets abroad for farm goods, services and Internet commerce. As word of tentative agreements emerged from the final session of the World Trade Organization meeting, it appeared that American negotiators had made progress on one key issue – further talks on reducing foreign agriculture subsidies. ...

AS the primaries approach, it would seem that each party has its own two-way race for the presidential nomination. Among the Democrats, Al Gore takes aim at Bill Bradley while, in the GOP, George Bush hopes to fend off an increasingly strong challenge from John McCain. But a curious three-dimensional pattern is emerging. The fortunes of the two front-runners, Bush and Gore, seem to be inversely related. The worse Bush does against McCain, the better Gore does against Bradley. Equally, when Bush gets stronger in the GOP primary field, Gore slips in the Democratic field. Even though they are ...

Baby Organs Probe Launched An independent inquiry into the Alder Hey baby organs scandal has been announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn. He said the move was essential to restore public confidence in the Liverpool children's hospital after allegations that organs were removed from the bodies of up to 850 children. Mr Milburn said in a statement: "It is essential that we now seek to restore public confidence in health services at Alder Hey Children's Hospital. "I am therefore setting up an independent inquiry into the events at the hospital to report to me by the end of March 2000. ...

The WTO has been a pet peeve of mine for years, ever since my in depth introduction to it on a course entitled 'Global Trade'. I'd like to ask any WTO supporters out there, or devotees of Rush Limbaugh to answer the following questions: 1)Does the WTO's status as a supranational body with the 'authority' to strike down American laws concern you? 2)Is this bureaucratic body preferable to bi- or multi-lateral trading agreements / treaties executed and administered by our own elected representatives? I have purposely left out any discussion of whether the WTO's structure and proceedures promote "free trade" ...

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 3 — President Clinton judged the protests that marred the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle this week worthy of condemnation — and laughter.     On at least three occasions, Clinton made light of the violent confrontations in which demonstrators and passers-by were tear-gassed, downtown Seattle businesses had their windows broken and hundreds of people were arrested.      On Tuesday night, before he even arrived in Seattle, the president asked members of a Hispanic group in Los Angeles whether they’d seen the news reports of the clashes.      “Any of ...

In a neglected part of his recent and notorious "isolationism" speech, national security adviser Sandy Berger acknowledged that the United States is often seen abroad as an overbearing "hectoring hegemon." But he concluded that, given the disparity of power and influence in the world today, there is not much we can do about it. Well, one thing we could do is keep President Clinton home and his mouth shut. Instead, he goes around the world smugly telling other people how to improve themselves. Clinton has this irresistible urge to pronounce himself on--and thus thrust the United States into--disputes that ...

James Carville is sorry he called the mayor of New York a thug. "I really shouldn't have used that word," the Democratic strategist concedes. "There is actually a better word: goon. "I was gonna use bully. And tyrant, but that was too regal, too much like George III. Mean-spirited? The Congressional Republicans have already stolen that word. So I'm kinda left with goon." Now comes Washington's pit bull pitted against New York's pit bull. "Giuliani and I -- that's perfect," Mr. Carville exults. "He and I are at about the same level. Yeah, I'm sort of a political goon. ...

Despite the curfew, several hundred protestors are demonstrating at two sites in Seattle tonight: the jail, and the Westin Hotel, where many of the WTO mucky-mucks are staying. Police are keeping a low profile at each site, and the demos are going along peacefully. Traffic patterns are returning to normal in downtown Seattle, except immediately around the convention center, where the WTO has extended their conference another six hours, until midnight.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Congressional Budget Office projects that $19 billion in Social Security surpluses will be spent next year unless savings are found, a prediction that a Democrat says signals trouble ahead. Congress\' nonpartisan fiscal analysis office estimated Thursday that the recent budget deal between President Clinton and Congress will eat into Social Security surpluses by $17 billion in fiscal 2000, which runs through next Sept. 30. The office also said that if this year\'s spending levels continue in fiscal 2001, $19 billion in Social Security surpluses would be spent. That figure could decrease or vanish due to the ...

SEATTLE -- The world's trade ministers moved closer to launching a new series of trade talks late Friday, but there were growing indications that U.S. negotiators would fall short of their goals. After a week in which unruly protests disrupted the pace of talks, forging a final consensus was proving difficult. Throughout the day Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and other key negotiators were locked in a private room, acting as the final referees in the complicated negotiating process among the 135 member nations of the World Trade Organization, which sets and ...

Home - Yahoo! - Help The Intel(R) Pentium(R) III Processor  Home | Asia | World | Business | Technology | Sport | Entertainment | Newspapers  Yahoo! Asia - NewsWorld Saturday, December 4 9:19 AM SGT Promising Leukemia drug could change the face of cancer treatment Promising Leukemia drug could change the face of cancer treatment CHICAGO, Dec 3 (AFP) - A promising new drug could offer thousands of Leukemia sufferers the chance of remission from the deadly disease, US researchers said Friday.The drug may also revolutionise the treatment of this type of cancer (lymphoid Leukemia) the most common cancer in children, they said.The experimental therapy has no known side-effects unlike the conventional chemotherapy therapy ...

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The Republican presidential debate last night was awesome. George W. Bush chained himself to the podium to protest a rule banning use of consultants on stage, while Steve Forbes, who was dressed up as a giant turtle, attacked Captain Nemo's Fast Food Fish Fry restaurant in downtown Manchester . . . Stopstopstopstop. Sorry, we've gotten the debate mixed up with the far more eventful World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. All that excitement over something that used to be called GATT has given the presidential campaigns new hope. If people are taking a genuine interest in ...

What's going on!

Complaints vs. Clinton judges dismissed Friday, 3 December 1999 18:08 (GMT) (UPI Focus) Complaints vs. Clinton judges dismissed WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) - A chief appeals court judge Friday dismissed as "frivolous" complaints against the eight judges appointed by President Clinton to the federal bench in Washington, and against Chief U.S. District Judge Norma Holloway Johnson. A complaint letter to the U.S. court earlier this year accused the eight Clinton appointees of meeting in private for partisan reasons. It also accused Johnson of assigning criminal cases involving presidential friends to Clinton appointees so that the defendants would receive favorable treatment ...

NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE 12.1(B) OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS ON FINDING A SERIOUS INJURY OR THREAT THEREOF CAUSED BY INCREASED IMPORTS NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 12.1(C) OF THE AGREEMENT ON SAFEGUARDS BRAZIL The following notification, dated 29 November 1999, has been received from the Permanent Mission of Uruguay. I have the honour to write in my capacity as representative of the MERCOSUR pro-tempore Presidency and, on behalf of the Federative Republic of Brazil, to notify the Committee on Safeguards of the intention to extend the safeguard measure concerning toys applied by Brazil under Articles 12.1(b) and 12.1(c) of the Agreement ...

Mars Polar Lander - Mars Volatiles and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) MVACS Science Begins TODAY! The Mars Polar Lander is scheduled to touch down near the south pole of Mars at 12:14 PM Pacific Standard Time, today, December 3, 1999. Immediately after touchdown, the spacecraft will deploy its solar panels and carry out other activities to secure itself and prepare for later operations. Two MVACS instruments, the Meteorology Mast (MET), and the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI), will be deployed soon after the lander's medium-gain antenna. The lander will establish an Earth-to-Mars radio link approximately 20 minutes after landing. The spacecraft ...

In a neglected part of his recent and notorious "isolationism" speech, national security adviser Sandy Berger acknowledged that the United States is often seen abroad as an overbearing "hectoring hegemon." But he concluded that, given the disparity of power and influence in the world today, there is not much we can do about it. Well, one thing we could do is keep President Clinton home and his mouth shut. Instead, he goes around the world smugly telling other people how to improve themselves. Clinton has this irresistible urge to pronounce himself on--and thus thrust the United States into--disputes that are ...

December 3 General Ivashov, one of the chiefs of Russian Defense Ministry, has accused the international forces in Kosovo, KFOR, of conniving terror by Albanians against Serbs. Since the KFOR was deployed in the province last June, 400 Serbs have been killed and thousands of Serbs have been driven away from the province. General Ivashov emphasized that the Kosovo Liberation Army has not yet been disarmed and no attempts were taken to persuade the Albanian separatists from declaring independence of Kosovo from Yugoslavia........................... Moscow demands that the United Nations bring to account the commander of NATO forces and head of ...

LOS ANGELES- Proving that indeed white men can jump, and hoping to prove that white republicans can score a victory in the black community, George W. Bush took part in the annual Watts ham shooting contest. Held every year the Watts ham shooting contest is a benefit to raise food for distribution to the needy during the holidays. For the opportunity to take a shot each participant must pay an entry fee of $5.00. Any person who makes a basket from half court wins $250.00. Stunning the crowd of ten, Mr. Bush boldly stepped to the half point line, ...

The following is a compilation of emails I've received from a friend in Seattle over the past several days. I apologize for the delay in posting, but wanted to get my friend's permission to do so first. 11/30/99 12:45pmWell, how about riots, broken windows, a police standoff, tear gas and cordons of gas-mask clad riot police walking up and down the street? It's just nuts! I never thought I'd see that with my own eyes ( I like to stay *away* from trouble spots.... tends to make for a long lifespan ). They were rioting right in front of our ...