The Maoist Shining Path guerrillas who dominate Peru 's Upper Huallaga River Valley have brought their own law and order to a cocaine-corrupted , violence-ridden region . With a system they call `` revolutionary justice , '' they have banned drug abuse , prostitution , homosexuality and thievery from the villages they control . `` Two years ago you could not travel the roads without being held up , but the ` companeros ' put an end to that , '' said cab driver David Nicolas , referring to the guerrillas by the Spanish term for comrades . `` They killed a few bandits and the rest got the message . '' Much of the appeal of the rebels is rooted in their reputation for almost puritanical honesty . Shopkeepers say the guerrillas never fail to pay for the food and supplies they acquire in the villages . The same shopkeepers complain bitterly about the local police who take what they want without ever offering to pay . In a rare conversation with reporters , a Shining Path political officer , who spoke only on condition he not be identified , gave an example of the kind of law the guerrillas have laid down : `` Do not steal so much as a needle or thread and return what you borrow . '' In a nation where economic chaos reigns and few laws are respected , the Shining Path is setting down clear rules and making them stick . `` In a sense they enforce a hyper-Christian morality _ except they kill you if you break the rules , '' said the Rev. Paul Feeley , a Canadian Roman Catholic priest working in Aucayacu , 255 miles northeast of Lima . In late July four young homosexual men who rendezvoused at a bridge a few miles outside Tingo Maria , 35 miles south of here , were set upon and killed by the rebels . Their bodies were dumped into the river . A few months earlier the rebels executed eight youths near Tingo Maria for smoking cigarettes laced with semi-refined cocaine . `` People have had to discipline themselves , '' said Raul Aranda , an agronomist in Tingo Maria , explaining the effects of `` revolutionary justice . '' `` In rural areas a man must be faithful to his wife and is permitted to go drinking only once a week . Violators are warned only once . '' Villagers say they are told , `` The revolution has a thousand eyes and a thousand ears . '' Peru 's elected officials have painted the Shining Path insurgents as lunatic killers . In the bleak Andean highlands , where the rebels launched their insurgency in May , 1980 , they have slain thousands of peasants in attacks on villages they viewed as traitors to the rebel cause . But here in the jungle-cloaked Upper Huallaga Valley , the world 's largest source of coca leaf , the Shining Path _ `` Sendero Luminoso '' in Spanish _ enjoys the support of tens of thousands of farmers because the rebels protect them against a U.S.-funded coca eradication program . Although they prohibit drug consumption , the guerrillas defend coca production as an important source of income for the peasants . Their only condition is that the semi-refined coca paste be sent out of Peru . The rebels charge coca farmers a `` tax '' of 10 to 15 percent on the earnings from the sale of their crops to drug traffickers , who process the leaf into paste and sell it to Colombian cocaine dealers . The Colombians arrive in small planes at dozens of clandestine airstrips throughout the 150-mile-long valley . People in the Upper Huallaga appear to accept Shining Path 's social order . They say they feel protected from the violence of drug gangs , corrupt local officials and `` abusive '' police . `` Why do you think people have joined the Shining Path ? For the coca and for revenge , '' said Carlos Ferrer , a taxi driver who travels the road between Tingo Maria and Aucayacu . `` When the government began trying to wipe out coca , police came and mistreated people . They robbed peasants ; they raped their women . '' That view of the police as corrupt and abusive of their power is widely held in the valley . Even top government officials in Lima say there is much truth to the complaints . `` A cop in the Huallaga Valley expects to be bribed , '' said a senior Interior Ministry official , speaking on condition of anonymity . `` He figures it 's a right coming to him . He gets off the plane from Lima with his hand out for a payoff . '' Official corruption is a problem throughout Peru , but in the Huallaga Valley it seems rampant . A half dozen peasants complained in separate interviews that to obtain a farm loan from the local Banco Agrario they have to kick back 25 percent of the loan to bank officials . `` What I 've heard is that if you want to be named a teacher in the valley , '' said Feeley , `` it 's three months salary as payment . And if you 're a woman , also the bed . '' The Shining Path has been quick to kill local officials they deemed to be corrupt , according to residents of the valley . `` If the Shining Path has the image of an organization that 's fighting corruption in a very corrupt place , that 's going to win them some points , '' Feeley said . A lawyer in Tingo Maria said his caseload had dropped off dramatically because peasants no longer come into town to seek justice . `` Formal justice here is ineffective , corrupt and time consuming , '' he said . `` The Shining Path 's justice is quick , free and very effective . ''

O B I I I O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

maoist shining path guerrillas
peru
revolutionary justice
puritanical honesty
rebels
coca production
corrupt local officials


John Hatch , founder of the non-profit Foundation for International Community Assistance , promotes village banking to encourage private enterprise in the Third World . What he foresees is a body blow to world poverty through bootstrap economics .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O

village banking
john hatch
private enterprise
third world
world poverty


Black Americans suffer six times more tuberculosis than whites do , and one important reason appears to be a genetic susceptibility to the disease , according to a study today . The research found that when living conditions are identical , black people are twice as likely as whites to get infected with the TB bacteria . The relatively high rate of TB among blacks has traditionally been blamed on crowded housing and other conditions of poverty . While social factors undoubtedly play a central role , the study suggests that innate susceptibility also contributes . `` We found that there is a systemic difference between whites and blacks , '' said Dr. William W. Stead . `` Whites seem to be more able to fend off the organism without it 's ever being able to establish an infection . '' Stead , a tuberculosis specialist at the Arkansas Department of Health , discovered the racial difference while analyzing health statistics from nursing homes and prisons . `` It 's a very intriguing finding , '' commented Dr. George Comstock of Johns Hopkins University . `` I never quite believe anything until somebody replicates it . But I do n't know of any real holes in this one . '' At the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , Dr. George Curlin called the findings `` plausible and provocative . '' However , he added : `` I 'm scared to death that people are going to say this explains it all and forget everything else . Of the total six times difference , what proportion is attributable to biology and what to social factors ? I would say that biology is relatively minor . '' Stead 's study , published in the New England Journal of Medicine , was based largely on a review of 25,398 elderly people who were free of TB infection when they were admitted to Arkansas nursing homes . When they were retested at least two months later , 14 percent of blacks and 7 percent of whites showed evidence of new infections . Prison data from Arkansas and Minnesota also found that black inmates were twice as likely as white prisoners to catch the bacteria while incarcerated . Another soon-to-be published study reports the discovery of a racial difference in the way blood cells respond to the TB bacteria , which could help explain why blacks seem to be more prone to tuberculosis . About 22,000 cases of tuberculosis are reported annually in the United States , resulting in 1,700 deaths . In the population at large , tuberculosis is about six times as common among blacks as whites . An estimated 10 million Americans are believed to be infected with the bacteria but not sick . The disease , which attacks the lungs , has long been associated with poor , crowded living conditions . Stead 's study found that blacks got infected more readily than whites , regardless of the race of the person who initially brought the infection into the nursing home . In homes where the initial source of the disease was white , 17 percent of blacks and 12 percent of whites caught the infection . When the primary source was black , 12 percent of blacks and 8 percent of whites contracted the bacteria . This phase of the study also suggests , however , that infected whites are more potent spreaders of the infection than are blacks . Stead speculated that whites have evolved better defenses against TB , because the bacteria has long been common in Europe and parts of Africa north of the Sahara , but is traditionally rare in sub-Saharan Africa . By contrast , blacks are genetically more resistant than whites to malaria , which is common in Africa . In the other study , Dr. Alfred Crowle of Webb-Waring Lung Institute at the University of Colorado found differences in the resistance of germ-eating blood cells called macrophages . In blacks , these cells are more likely to harbor TB infections . `` This helps explain why black people are more susceptible to tuberculosis than are white people , '' said Crowle . At the turn of the century , TB was the nation 's leading cause of death . The number of cases fell steadily in recent decades until 1984 . Experts believe the decline has leveled off in part because of the emergence of the AIDS virus , which weaken the body 's resistance to TB bacteria . Others possible factors include homelessness and immigration of people from areas where the disease is still common .

B I O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

tuberculosis
black americans
whites
infectious diseases
tb bacteria
racial difference


With a third presidential candidate assassinated , Colombia 's government refused Friday to put off next month 's election and vowed to keep up the fight against drug traffickers . A telefaxed communique , purportedly from the Medellin drug cartel , denied responsibility Friday for the assassination of presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro , who died in a hail of bullets Thursday aboard a Colombian jetliner carrying 97 people . But on Thursday , within hours of Pizarro 's assassination , a man had called the national radio network station Caracol and related in detail how the cartel had allegedly ordered the former guerrilla 's killing . The authenticity of neither claim could be verified . That is not the first time there have been contradictory communiques , verbal and faxed , claiming and and then denying responsibility for assassinations and terrorist acts . Friday 's telefax accused police of instigating violence in order to force the government to continue its crackdown on traffickers , and accused the police of putting out false communiques purported to be from the cartel . The August assassination of another candidate , Sen. Luis Carlos Galan of the governing Liberal Party , prompted the government to launch a U.S.-backed crackdown on Colombia 's cocaine cartels . Since then , drug traffickers have killed more than 230 people , including judges , politicians , policemen , soldiers , newspaper employees and two other presidential candidates . Leaders of the leftist Patriotic Union Party , whose candidate was slain last month , urged the government to cancel the May 27 vote . But Interior Minister Horacio Serpa told reporters Friday that the elections will not be postponed or canceled . In a televised speech late Thursday , Serpa said the government will fight terrorists `` without rest . '' On Friday , thousands of men , women and children filed past Pizarro 's coffin , displayed in an open patio in the Congress building . Supporters of Pizarro 's M-19 movement burned buses and threw rocks at police in clashes in several cities . Hundreds of leftist guerrillas belonging to the M-19 rebel group laid down their arms last month and formed a political party with Pizarro as its presidential candidate . Government officials had said Pizarro could have helped mediate peace agreements with other leftist insurgents . Governing party candidate Cesar Gaviria , the presidential front-runner , suspended campaign activities following the Pizarro killing . In a radio interview , he condemned the killing as another act by `` powerful organizations '' trying to impose an `` empire of evil and crime . '' The other candidates are Alvaro Gomez Hurtado and Rodrigo Lloreda , both of the Conservative Party . Gomez , suggesting that Barco does not have the confidence of Colombia 's military , urged the president Friday to name a three-man council to run Colombia 's security forces . He said such a move would help ensure peace in the last month of the presidential campaign . Barco , through a spokesman , rejected the proposal . The Patriotic Union 's presidential candidate , Bernardo Jaramillo , was fatally wounded March 22 at the Bogota airport by an assassin with a machine gun . Pizarro 's killer , 25-year-old Alvaro Rodriguez , was sitting two rows behind Pizarro on the flight and apparently retrieved the machine gun from an airplane bathroom before returning to his seat , Capt. Fabio Munevar told Caracol . Minutes later , he stood up , pulled the weapon from his black leather jacket , leaned forward and fired at Pizarro 's head from about a foot away , Munevar said . Pizarro 's bodyguards immediately killed the assassin . The plane , en route to the Caribbean coastal city of Barranquilla , returned immediately to Bogota . Pizarro died about an hour later at a hospital . The Bogota morgue said he was struck by 13 bullets . Two men with machine guns were arrested at Barranquilla airport , a police spokesman there said . They apparently were part of an assassination squad with orders to kill Pizarro if he survived the flight , police said . In another development , church officials in Medellin said they had foiled a plan to kill Colombia 's Roman Catholic prelate , Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo . The city 's Catholic church said it discovered the plan to kill Lopez Trujillo after intercepting messages on a radio frequency used by the men plotting the crime . Three men disguised as police agents entered Lopez Trujillo 's offices on Wednesday and Thursday asking for the prelate , but he was not in , said the church statement late Thursday . Lopez is archbishop of Medellin , the country 's second-largest city , and chairman of Colombia 's Bishops Conference .

O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O

assassinations
drug traffickers
medellin drug cartel
presidential candidate carlos pizarro
terrorist acts
cocaine cartels
colombia
election


BFN -LSB- Text -RSB- Seoul , May 30 -LRB- YONHAP -RRB- -- The joint military-prosecution investigation team , which probed the assassination of President Pak Chong-hui by then Central Intelligence Agency Director Kim Chae-kyu in October 1979 , had found no evidence that then Army Chief of Staff and martial law commander , Gen. Chong Sung-hwa , was an accomplice in the slaying , a former team member testified recently . Paek Tong-nim , 57 , who served as chief investigator of the Defense Security Command and concurrently as a key member of the joint investigating team , told the prosecution that no concrete evidence of Chong 's involvement had been detected in the course of probing the assassin Kim , according to a spokesman for the Seoul District Public Prosecutor 's Office . The joint investigation headquarters ' announcement on Dec. . 24 , 1979 , charging Chong with high treason was based not on any concrete evidence but on what he did after after Kim killed Pak on the night of Oct. 26 , 1979 , Paek was quoted as saying . The Seoul District Public Prosecutor 's Office is looking into a criminal suit filed by the victims of the Dec. 12 `` coup d'etat-like incident of the Army '' against the perpetrators , including former Presidents Chon Tu-hwan and No Tae-u . Chong Sung-hwa is one of the victims . Paek dismissed as `` not true '' then Defense Minister No Chae-hyon 's statement on Dec. 13 , 1979 , that martial Law Commander Chong was arrested for interrogation because new evidence was discovered in the course of investigating the assassination . The joint probe team felt the need to question Chong because when Kim killed Pak he was nearby and Prosecutor Chong Kyong-sik , a member of the joint team , called on the martial law commander at his office three times to question him about his actions on the assassination day , Paek was quoted as saying . Paek said that without evidence supporting his involvement in the assassination and without then President Choe Kyu-ha 's permission , the joint military-prosecution investigation headquarters , led by then Defense Security Commander Maj. Gen. Chon Tu-hwan forcibly arrested Chong , seemingly because of the headquarters ' `` political motive , '' suggesting that the Dec. 12 incident was a mutiny by the `` new military elite '' to topple the government . The prosecution is considering summoning lawyer Won Kang-hui , who as military prosecutor indicted Chong Sung-hwa on charges of abetting high treason , for questioning . Won recently said there was no criminal evidence against Chong when he indicted him , adding the military prosecution then made `` a different evaluation '' of his actions on the assassination day . The prosecution is expected to shortly conclude its probe into whether Chong was an accomplice in the slaying of Pak Chong-hui in October 1979 .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

military prosecution
assassination
assassin kim
concrete evidence
criminal evidence


THERE are growing signs that Hurricane Andrew , unwelcome as it was for the devastated inhabitants of Florida and Louisiana , may in the end do no harm to the re-election campaign of President George Bush . After a faltering and heavily criticised initial response to the disaster , both the president and his administration seem finally to be getting assistance to those rendered homeless and to businesses and farms that have been destroyed . In the process , Mr Bush has been able to call on the power of incumbency , the one asset denied his presidential rival , Mr Bill Clinton , who is to visit Florida today . This was brought home graphically by the president 's announcement that Homestead Air Force base in Florida - a major local employer virtually destroyed by Andrew - would be rebuilt . His poignant and brief address to the nation on Tuesday night , committing the government to pay the emergency relief costs and calling on Americans to contribute to the American Red Cross , also struck the right sort of note . It was only his tenth such televised speech from the Oval Office , itself a testimony to the gravity of the situation . As if to underline the political benefit to the president , a Harris poll conducted from August 26 to September 1 yesterday showed Mr Bush with 45 per cent support - behind Mr Clinton by just five points - reflecting a closer race than other recent surveys . With Mr Bush constantly in the headlines , Mr Clinton has been left on the sidelines , able to do little more than offer sympathy and sotto voce criticism of the president 's initial stumbling . First responses were certainly found wanting , specifically in the performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency -LRB- FEMA -RRB- set up by President Carter in 1979 to handle disasters such as Andrew . FEMA has , under the Republicans , become the ultimate patronage backwater , with , according to one congressional study , ten times as many political appointees as the typical arm of government . Its current head , Mr Wallace Stickney , is a New Hampshire political associate of Mr John Sununu , the former state governor and White House chief of staff . Contrary to its brief , but confirming a prescient recent report by a House committee that Mr Stickney was ` uninterested in substantive programmes ' , FEMA was caught completely unprepared by Andrew , resulting in unseemly disputes between state and federal authorities over who did what in bringing relief . However , the arrival in Florida of the military and the assignment of special responsibilities to Mr Andrew Card , the young and telegenic transportation secretary , is making a difference . Also increasingly evident is the hand of Mr James Baker , now ensconced at the White House . It was Mr Baker who reshuffled the president 's campaign schedule to make room for visits to the devastated areas and who pushed for a bigger role for the previously obscure Mr Card . It is also Mr Baker who is making the most of presidential powers to dispense largesse . Yesterday , Mr Bush flew to South Dakota to tell farmers of an expansion of the subsidised grains exports programme and then to the General Dynamics factory in Texas to announce an F-16 fighter sale to Taiwan . Both are , of course , intensely political actions . Both involve federal subsidies , as does relief for Andrew , that run counter to Mr Bush 's commitment to reduce the budget deficit . But both may be presented by a president as being in the national interest because they guarantee employment , which is what the election is largely about . US insurers expect to pay out around Dollars 500m in claims as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Andrew in Louisiana , the American Insurance Services Group said yesterday , Nikki Tait reports . This takes the insurance bill from the storm to around Dollars 8bn , making it the costliest disaster to hit the US .

O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O

hurricane andrew
florida
louisiana
president george bush
emergency relief
disaster


GENERAL ACCIDENT , the leading British insurer , said yesterday that insurance claims arising from Hurricane Andrew could ` cost it as much as Dollars 40m . ' Lord Airlie , the chairman who was addressing an extraordinary shareholders ' meeting , said : ` On the basis of emerging information , General Accident advise that the losses to their US operations arising from Hurricane Andrew , which struck Florida and Louisiana , might in total reach the level at which external catastrophe reinsurance covers would become exposed ' . What this means is that GA is able to pass on its losses to external reinsurers once a certain claims threshold has been breached . It believes this threshold may be breached in respect of Hurricane Andrew claims . However , if this happens , it would suffer a post-tax loss of Dollars 40m -LRB- Pounds 20m -RRB- . Mr Nelson Robertson , GA 's chief general manager , explained later that the company has a 1/2 per cent share of the Florida market . It has a branch in Orlando . The company 's loss adjusters are in the area trying to estimate the losses . Their guess is that losses to be faced by all insurers may total more than Dollars 8bn . Not all damaged property in the area is insured and there have been estimates that the storm caused more than Dollars 20bn of damage . However , other insurers have estimated that losses could be as low as Dollars 1bn in total . Mr Robertson said : ` No one knows at this time what the exact loss is ' .

O O O O O O B O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

hurricane andrew
insurance claims
losses
insurer


The accidental shooting death of a young stockbroker by an officer looking for a burglar is one more strike against a police force already struggling with allegations of brutality and racism . Terry D. Barnes , 24 , was shot between the eyes in his apartment . Police said an officer investigating a report of a prowler had entered the apartment at 3:30 a.m. and fired after Barnes got out of bed to see what was wrong . It was the seventh shooting death involving Kansas City police officers this year . In the previous three years , five people were shot and killed . `` I just hope that this case will draw the line on where the police can kill an innocent man . Where do you draw the line ? '' said roommate Andy Brez , 23 , who was sleeping in another bedroom when police entered on Saturday . Barnes was white , as is the officer who shot him ; however , other recent incidents of alleged excessive force involved black citizens . Police said they were told the prowler might have run to the floor on which Barnes lived . Two police officers , whose names were not disclosed , noticed the door to his apartment was not tightly shut and entered , authorities said . An officer encountered Barnes , unarmed , in a T-shirt and boxer shorts , standing in his bedroom , police spokesman Sgt. Greg Mills said . Barnes made `` a kind of lunging motion , '' and the officer fired from about 5 to 8 feet , Mills said . Friends of Barnes questioned whether his apartment door was ajar and whether he would have lunged at the officer . `` We are defending the officers being in that apartment , '' Mills said . `` As for the shooting itself , we will make no assessment of the propriety of that until after the investigation . '' The department has suffered a string of complaints about excessive force and racism since the spring . Police Chief Steven Bishop said before the latest slaying that the department 's standing has fallen in the community , and a `` behavior modification '' program is being developed for offending officers . `` We 're part of the problem out there on the street , and we 've got to get back to good , basic police work , '' Bishop said after Barnes ' death . In June , several white officers bloodied a Nigerian-born Roman Catholic priest with nightsticks as he lay on the ground . The Rev. Joseph Okoye said officers who stopped him on suspicion of drunken driving mistook his foreign accent for drunken speech . In May , another black clergyman was hit on the head with a shotgun by a white officer while lying on the ground . Police said a youth in the car of the Rev. William Fountaine matched the description of an armed robber . Neither clergyman nor the passenger in Fountaine 's car was charged . Both clergymen alleged racism ; Bishop suspended some of the officers involved in the May incident . In another case , three undercover officers were suspended for a shooting this spring that left a young black man crippled . The officers and the victim accused each other of starting the fight that led to the shooting . Also this year , four oficers riddled a man brandishing a barbecue fork with 15 bullets , killing him . And an officer killed a man who was spraying him with a fire extinguisher . No officer involved in the two killings was charged . The officer who shot Barnes was a two-year veteran of the force . He was placed on paid leave pending a police investigation and that of a grand jury . `` This is a tragic chain of events that is regrettable for Mr. Barnes ' family and for this officer , '' Bishop said . `` The officers were reacting appropriately to a number of circumstances which together led them to that apartment . '' `` Terry was a good man . He would have been a good husband and a good father , '' said Barnes ' fiancee , Alison Brady . They had planned to marry in June .

O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

police force
brutality
racism
accidental shooting death
excessive force
black citizens


Language : Arabic Article Type : BFN -LSB- Rafiq al-Zayn report from Beirut -RSB- -LSB- Text -RSB- In less than one month , Lebanese security authorities in coordination with Jordanian authorities have succeeded in unraveling the mystery of the assassination of Jordanian diplomat Na'ib al - Ma'ayitah in Beirut on 29 January . It seems that the Abu-Nidal group is not the only party responsible for the operation . The file AL-WATAN AL - ` ARABI has obtained on the investigation confirms close cooperation and coordination between Fatah-the Revolutionary Council -LSB- FRC -RSB- and Jordanian fundamentalist extremist groups sponsored by Iran . In this investigative report AL-WATAN AL - ` ARABI reveals the details of this network , the secret meetings it held in Tehran , Amsterdam , and Beirut , the names of those who planned and carried out the assassination , the centers where they were trained , their affiliations , and how this leads to exposing dangerous secrets which made the Abu-Nidal group send threat letters to those in charge of the investigation . A few days ago , Palestinian Ahmad Mahmud ` Abd-al-Karim , a prominent FRC official , arrived in Lebanon from Finland on the special mission of following up the investigations the Lebanese authorities are conducting with the Palestinians from the Abu-Nidal group who are accused of the assassination of Jordanian First Secretary Na'ib al-Ma ` ayitah in Beirut on 29 January . Reports confirm that shortly after arriving in Beirut , Ahmad ` Abd-al-Karim left for the FRC 's al-Rawdah camps in Western al-Biqa ' from where he followed the investigation through reports sent to him by people who secretly work for the FRC and who provided him with information in exchange for generous sums of money . Reports say that some officials in the Lebanese security organs have links with the Abu-Nidal group . At the same time , AL-WATAN AL - ` ARABI has learned that the Abu - Nidal group recently sent threat letters to Lebanese officials who are currently investigating its members who are involved in the al - Ma'ayitah assassination . These are : Yusuf Sha ` ban , Bassam Muhammad ` Attiyah , and Yusuf ` Udwani , codenamed Salim Mahyub . Lebanese investigator , Judge Sa'id Mirza ordered the arrest of the three Palestinians and listened to the deposition of three witnesses , including ` Afaf Yusuf -LSB- not further identified -RSB- who reiterated her previous deposition . Reports mention that the first steps in the investigation have revealed that the FRC planned and carried out the assassination in coordination with the Jordanian fundamentalist Islamic Mobilization Youth Organization -LSB- IMYO -RSB- which is financed by Iran . The IMYO was exposed in Jordan by Jordanian authorities on 17 August 1992 when the Jordanian security bodies confiscated weapons and ammunition the organization had been hiding in Jordan to be used to destablize the regime and security in the country . During the trials , this organization tried to claim that the weapons found by the authorities were temporarily hidden in Jordan but were to be smuggled into the occupied territories and given to the Palestinian strugglers there to enhance their ability to confront the Zionist forces and carry out military operations against them . The IMYO also claimed that the weapons that were found were not brought in from any neighboring country but were purchased on the local market . At the time , two members of Parliament were arrested ; Ya ` qub Qirrish anbd Layth Shubaylat on chrages of heading the organization . The security information the investigators have collected on the al-Ma ` ayitah assassination shows that as soon as the IMYO was exposed , Jordanian fundamentalist elements belonging to various organizations such as Muhammad 's Army , the Islamic Liberation Army , and the IMYO and others moved to neighboring Arab countries . Most of the factions left for Lebanon where they found the suitable atmosphere and the appropriate place to carry out their activities in cooperation with Hizballah . The information gathered also shows that some Jordanian fundamentalist elements moved to Iran where they received training courses in the Al-Quds camp and the Kermandi -LSB- name as transliterated -RSB- camp , and courses in intelligence work in the Darjah -LSB- name as transliterated -RSB- institute . Iran has sponsored these organizations to establish Islamic organizations and cells in the countries that have common borders with Israel so they can take power in these countries and turn them into Islamic regimes . Since that time , Iran exploited the elements from these fundamentalist organizations and established the Jordan office in the Liberation Movement 's office . Ayatollah Shakhiry -LSB- name as transliterated -RSB- , the official in charge of the Jordan section in the Iranian intelligence organ , took charge of this office . Confirmed information indicates that in early 1994 , IMYO elements held an important meeting in Amsterdam , the Netherlands , with officials from the FRC . The official in charge of the Jordanian elements was Shakir Abu-Jami ' , a Jordanian national wanted by authorities in his country and one of the most prominent members of the Jordanian fundamentalist Muhammad Army Organization . Abu-Jami ' now lives in Sa ` dah , Yemen , which is home to camps for Afghan and Arab fundamentalists . The information adds that the IMYO made several decisions to attack Jordanian interests and institutions and assassinate Jordanian diplomats in a move to pressure the Jordanian regime . The information says that the scheme was designed some two years ago and the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in Jordan refused to get involved in it because of the danger and because the Brotherhood Movement does not agree with the proposals of other fundamentalist organizations . Iran managed to recruit FRC members to work in the Jordanian fundamentalist extremist organizations by taking advantage of the hostility the Abu-Nidal group has harbored against Jordan and its regime and king ever since the group was expelled from the country . The information confirms that Abu-Nidal group 's leadership agreed to execute the mission for the aforesaid reasons , because of its commitment to the policy of extremism and rejection that aims at torpedoing the -LSB- peace -RSB- process , and because of its ties to Iran within the framework of international terrorism . Detailing this cooperation that lead to al-Ma ` ayitah 's assassination , the security sources note that the al-Ramlah al - Bayda ' area in Beirut contained a secret headquarters for Walid Khalid , the FRC official spokesman who was assassinated in the Lebanese capital on 30 July 1992 . These meetings were conducted in the presence of an FRC official called Amjad ` Ata , a Lebanese member of Abu-Nidal group named Tha'ir , and a Jordanian IMYO official from the Idkaydik family . The plan to assassinate al-Ma ` ayitah was drafted during these meetings . But why did the Abu-Nidal group and the IMYO choose to assassinate Na'ib al-Ma ` ayitah and not any other Jordanian official in the Beirut embassy . To carry out the assassination , an intensive training course was conducted for the Palestinians Bassam ` Atiyah and Yusuf ` Adwani in a secret center run by Abu-Nidal group in Buq ` atah in Lebanon 's al - Shuf area under the supervision of a Palestinian expert in assassinations called A. al - ` Umayri -LSB- not further identified -RSB- . Al - ` Umayri was implicated in the assassination of the FRC official Bahij Abu-al-Hana in July 1992 in Lebanon 's al-Biqa ' area , after he accused him of contacting the ` Arafat-led Fatah movement . Confirmed security information says a Jordanian fundamentalist took part in the assassination of al-Ma ` ayitah . He was charged with observation and backup when the assassination was carried out . The man is called Khalid al-Bishtawi , 34 years old . The security agencies ' information suggests that al-Bishtawi fled to Burj al - Barajinah camp after the crime and then moved to Cyprus where he joined Jordanian fundamentalist elements living there with Tunisian fundamentalists from the Rachid Ghanouchi-led al-Nahdah Movement . The FRC -LRB- Abu-Nidal group -RRB- took immediate steps after al - Ma'ayitah 's assassination . It made changes within the ranks of its officials and moved some of them outside Lebanon and changed the secret apartments it owns in Beirut and the southern part of Sidon . It is worth noting that the Jordanian intelligence service played an important role in revealing the secrets and details of al - Ma'ayitah 's assassination . Jordanian security officials traveled to Lebanon and cooperated with Lebanese officers in the investigations that led to revealing all the details and the arrest of more than 30 members of Abu-Nidal group in Jordan . It seems that the investigations will not stop at this point in Beirut or Amman . In an apparent attempt to prevent the revelation of further details , the leadership of the Abu-Nidal group urged King Husayn to `` give it a chance to explain its position . '' It also hastened to send one of its officials to Lebanon to follow the investigation and try to lessen its repercussions out of fear that al-Ma ` ayitah 's assassination may be one of the fatal mistakes committed by the FRC and may negatively affect the organization 's future in Lebanon and Jordan .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

jordanian fundamentalist extremist groups

abu-nidal group
jordanian diplomat na'ib al- ma'ayitah


THE war in the former republics of Yugoslavia is forcing Slovene enterprises to find alternative trading partners among European Community countries as a means of compensating for lost markets in the region . However , Slovene officials warn that capital inflows will not increase unless Slovenia re-establishes trade links with its southern neighbours . Until 1990 , over 30 per cent of Slovenia 's exports were with the former Yugoslavia , while about 70 per cent were divided between Comecon , the now defunct socialist trading block , and western European countries . But following an embargo by Serbia on Slovene imports in 1990 , and ensuing war in neighbouring Croatia last year , Slovene exports to the former Yugoslavia have fallen to 15 per cent of that previously . The loss of markets in the former Yugoslavia , and the war , has led to a sharp drop in industrial production , which last year fell by 15 per cent , and will fall a further 12 per cent this year . Unemployment has risen to 101,000 , up from 9 per cent to 11 per cent of the labour force . However , inflation is falling thanks to a strong monetary policy implemented by Slovenia 's central bank . Inflation was running at 25 per cent a month last October , but by April it had fallen to 5 per cent . Mr Feri Horvath , head of Slovenia 's Chamber of Commerce , said Slovenia , which declared its independence last June , must seek new markets because the republic is too small to be able to attract large amounts of foreign investment to foster growth . Renault , French car manufacturer , which assembles cars in Slovenia , and Siemens , German-based mechanical and electrical goods maker , which has a joint venture with Iskra , Slovenia 's electronic and telecommunications manufacturer , have used Slovenia as a base for exporting to other parts of Yugoslavia , as well as to western Europe . ` We have recently signed bilateral trade agreements with Croatia and Macedonia , ' said Mr Horvath . ` We want to normalise relations with the other republics , ' he added . In the meantime , Slovene enterprises , particularly those in the furniture , electronics , paper , and white goods sector , are exporting to European Community countries . Exports for the first quarter amounted to Dollars 941m -LRB- Pounds 513m -RRB- , and imports totalled Dollars 752m . Last year , total exports of goods reached Dollars 3.9 bn , and imports , Dollars 4.1 bn . ` Our enterprises are beginning to find new markets , ' said Mr Horvath , adding that Germany , Italy , France and Austria are now Slovenia 's main trading partners . Mrs Vojka Ravbar , Slovenia 's deputy foreign minister , who earlier this week headed a trade delegation to the UK , said enterprises will have to become even more competitive after privatisation . Parliament is now discussing a privatisation bill .

O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O B O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

slovene enterprises
slovene officials
capital inflows
slovenia
former yugoslavia
slovene exports
independence
foreign investment
trade links
european community countries


US INSURERS expect to pay out an estimated Dollars 7.3 bn -LRB- Pounds 3.7 bn -RRB- in Florida as a result of Hurricane Andrew - by far the costliest disaster the industry has ever faced . The figure is the first official tally of the damage resulting from the hurricane , which ripped through southern Florida last week . In the battered region it is estimated that 275,000 people still have no electricity and at least 150,000 are either homeless or are living amid ruins . President George Bush yesterday made his second visit to the region since the hurricane hit . He pledged the government would see through the clean-up ` until the job is done ' . Although there had already been some preliminary guesses at the level of insurance claims , yesterday 's figure comes from the Property Claims Services division of the American Insurance Services Group , the property-casualty insurers ' trade association . It follows an extensive survey of the area by the big insurance companies . Mr Gary Kerney , director of catastrophe services at the PCS , said the industry was expecting about 685,000 claims in Florida alone . It is reckoned the bulk of the damage - over Dollars 6bn in insured claims - is in Dade County , a rural region to the south of Miami . However , the final cost of Hurricane Andrew will be higher still . Yesterday 's estimate does not include any projection for claims in Louisiana , which was also affected by the storm , although less severely than Florida . An estimate of the insured losses in this second state will be released later this week . But on the Florida losses alone , Hurricane Andrew becomes the most costly insured catastrophe in the US . Hurricane Hugo , which hit the east coast in September 1989 , cost the insurance industry about Dollars 4.2 bn . The Oakland fire disaster , in California last year , cost Dollars 1.2 bn . By contrast , insurance claims resulting from the Los Angeles riots earlier this year - the most expensive civil disturbance in the US - totalled just Dollars 775m . Hurricane Andrew leaves the US property-casualty insurers facing their worst-ever year for catastrophe losses . The LA riots and a series of tornadoes , wind and hailstorms in states such as Kansas , Oklahoma and Iowa had already produced insured losses of Dollars 3.9 bn . With Florida 's Hurricane Andrew losses added in , the total rises to Dollars 11.2 bn . This easily exceeds the record Dollars 7.6 bn of catastrophe losses seen in 1989 , when the industry paid out on both Hurricane Hugo and the Loma Prieta earthquake in California . Wall Street , however , has reacted calmly to the record losses expected , and insurers ' shares - although lower initially - have been firming recently . The property-casualty industry is thought to have adequate reserves to cover the disaster .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

hurricane andrew
insurance claims
property claims
insurance industry
insured losses
florida losses


At least four moderate earthquakes rattled parts of the world , but there was nary a tremor Monday along the New Madrid Fault , where a scientist said a earthquake was likely to occur . `` This is just a normal day , '' said Waverly Person , chief of the U.S. Geological Survey 's National Earthquake Information Center . `` We 're not backing the prediction at all . '' Along the New Madrid Fault , some schools were canceled and residents purchased earthquake emergency kits and others left town , just in case climatologist Iben Browning was right . Browning said there was a 50-50 chance for a major earthquake early this week along the fault , which stretches from Marked Tree , Ark. , northeast through New Marid , Mo. , to Cairo , Ill. . He believes tidal forces can trigger earthquakes , a theory most scientists reject . `` There 's just no way to predict an earthquake precisely , '' said Person , who has been with the U.S. Geological Survey for more than 25 years . `` There are no two earthquakes alike . '' The center received more than 50 calls about the New Madrid forecast Monday morning and hundreds last week , said Person , who began doing interviews for radio and television stations just after midnight . As Person talked , 24 seismographs etched out activity recorded by monitoring equipment in different parts of the United States , ranging from Alaska to Tennessee . A needle jumped a few inches across the seismograph connected to monitoring equipment in Tonopah , Nev. . Person scanned the chart and called to a colleague , `` It may be a nuclear test . That 's where they conduct those tests . '' A few minutes later , the needle jumped again . `` That 's not a test , '' he said . `` That 's a quake . '' With a measured eye , he estimated the quake was magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 on the Richter scale . Quick calculations showed the quake was magnitude 3.5 , centered about 30 miles southwest of Ely , Nev. . Between midnight and evening , four moderate quakes were recorded at Golden . Three were in the South Pacific , a 5.9-magnitude shaker near New Caledonia , and quakes of 5.1 and 5.0 in the area of Tonga . The fourth was a 5.9-magnitude temblor in northern Colombia . A quake of that size can cause considerable damage in a populated area , but are n't considered serious in remote spots . About 800 quakes between magnitudes 5.0 and 5.9 are recorded each year , said USGS spokesman Don Finley in Washington . The Richter scale gauges the amount of energy released by an earthquake . A quake of magnitude 2 is about the smallest felt by humans . An earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage in the local area , 4 moderate damage , 5 considerable damage , 6 severe damage . A 7 reading is a `` major '' earthquake , capable of widespread heavy damage ; 8 is a `` great '' quake , capable of tremendous damage . The big San Francisco Bay area quake last year registered 7.1 on the Richter scale . In 1989 , the earthquake center recorded 14,604 earthquakes , with a magnitude 1 or higher , Person said . An average of 30 a day are recorded . This fall , there have been two in the New Madrid Fault area , magnitude 4.6 on Sept. 26 and magnitude 3.5 on Nov. 9 , which `` is not unusual , '' he said . Although earthquakes can be tracked historically , forecasting them is difficult , if not impossible , Person said . Some people watch precursor activity , but that does n't always lead to an earthquake . Other quakes occur in a swarm over a period of time , he said . Over the years , he has heard countless earthquake predictions . One woman called daily , alerting Person that an earthquake was about to occur , based on the number of birds that crossed her windshield as she drove down the street . The job , he confesses , `` is never boring . ''

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

moderate earthquakes
earthquake emergency kits
richter scale
widespread heavy damage
countless earthquake predictions
earthquake center
major earthquake
monitoring equipment


HURRICANE Andrew , claimed to be the costliest natural disaster in US history , yesterday smashed its way through the state of Louisiana , inflicting severe damage on rural communities but narrowly missing the low-lying city of New Orleans . The storm , which brought havoc to southern Florida on Monday and then headed north-west across the Gulf of Mexico , had made landfall late on Tuesday night some 60 miles south-west of the city in the agricultural Cajun country . Although the damage from the hurricane 's landfall in Florida on Monday was much greater than initially esti mated , insurers ' losses there are likely to total less than Dollars 1bn , well below earlier expectations , a senior member of Lloyd 's insurance market said yesterday . In Louisiana , the hurricane landed with wind speeds of about 120 miles per hour and caused severe damage in small coastal centres such as Morgan City , Franklin and New Iberia . Associated tornadoes devastated Laplace , 20 miles west of New Orleans . Then , however , Andrew lost force as it moved north over land . By yesterday afternoon , it had been down-graded to tropical storm , in that its sustained windspeeds were below 75 mph . Initial reports said at least one person had died , 75 been injured and thousands made homeless along the Louisiana coast , after 14 confirmed deaths in Florida and three in the Bahamas . The storm caused little damage to Louisiana 's important oil-refining industry , although some plants had to halt production when electricity was cut . The Lloyd 's member , in close contact with leading insurers in Florida , said that damage to insured property was remarkably small . More than Dollars 15bn of damage may have been caused in all , but was mostly to uninsured property , he said . In north Miami , damage is minimal . Worst affected is one hotel , whose basement was flooded . Most of the destruction occurred in a 10-mile band across Homestead , 25 miles to the south of Miami , where a typical house sells for Dollars 100,000 to Dollars 150,000 . US insurers will face a bill in respect of such properties , but Lloyd 's exposure there is minimal . Many destroyed power lines are thought to be uninsured , as are trees and shrubs uprooted across a wide area . Only one big hotel in that area has been badly damaged , a Holiday Inn . Across Florida , some 2m people remained without electric ity yesterday and health officials were warning the public to boil or chemically treat all water . Hurricane Hugo , which devastated much of South Carolina in 1989 , cost the insurance industry some Dollars 4.2 bn . Further uninsured losses may have raised the total to Dollars 6bn-Dollars 10bn .

B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O

hurricane andrew
louisiana
severe damage
new orleans
tropical storm
uninsured losses
landfall


How

can

civil

servants

mostly

based

in

Washington

best

promote

development

in

the

Third

World

That

is

the

vexing

question

facing

Mr

Lewis

Preston

the

former

chairman

of

J

P

Morgan

the

New

York

bank

who

takes

over

as

president

of

the

World

Bank

this

September

As

bankers

and

finance

ministers

gathered

in

Washington

this

weekend

for

the

spring

meetings

of

the

bank

and

International

Monetary

Fund

there

was

no

shortage

of

advice

The

US

Treasury

wants

the

bank

to

bypass

the

governments

of

developing

countries

and

lend

sizeable

sums

directly

to

the

private

sector

The

bank

is

also

under

pressure

to

follow

the

example

of

Mr

Jacques

Attali

's

European

Bank

for

Reconstruction

and

Development

-LRB-

EBRD

-RRB-

and

attach

strict

political

conditions

to

its

loans

Development

economists

meanwhile

are

urging

the

bank

to

respect

the

rhetoric

of

last

year

's

World

Development

Report

and

focus

more

on

poverty

alleviation

Mr

Preston

may

relax

on

one

count

Few

in

Washington

now

doubt

that

the

bank

is

needed

new

imperatives

such

as

reconstruction

in

eastern

Europe

and

the

Middle

East

have

merely

been

superimposed

on

older

unsolved

problems

Grinding

poverty

is

a

near

universal

condition

in

much

of

the

world

people

live

on

less

than

Dollars

a

day

More

than

Third

World

children

lack

access

even

to

primary

education

Horrific

inequality

abounds

In

Mexico

life

expectancy

for

the

poorest

per

cent

is

years

less

than

for

the

richest

per

cent

What

kind

of

bank

will

Mr

Preston

inherit

from

his

predecessor

Mr

Barber

Conable

Most

reports

are

mixed

It

is

not

an

impressive

bureaucracy

says

Mr

John

Williamson

a

senior

fellow

at

the

Institute

for

International

Economics

The

morale

of

staff

is

lousy

says

Mr

Charles

Flickner

a

senior

analyst

on

the

Senate

Budget

Committee

and

close

observer

of

the

bank

Mr

Conable

a

former

Republican

congressman

arrived

at

the

bank

in

knowing

little

about

either

banking

or

development

Although

now

well-liked

-LRB-

partly

for

championing

causes

such

as

women

's

rights

in

the

Third

World

-RRB-

many

observers

say

he

never

fully

recovered

from

a

rocky

start

involving

a

divisive

internal

reorganisation

of

the

bank

Mr

Percy

Mistry

a

scholar

at

Queen

Elizabeth

House

Oxford

and

former

senior

adviser

at

the

bank

says

it

suffered

from

presidential

failure

during

the

Mr

Robert

McNamara

a

forceful

chief

executive

in

the

built

a

presidential

institution

that

responded

to

firm

leadership

from

the

top

But

neither

Mr

Conable

nor

his

predecessor

Mr

A

W

Tom

Clausen

a

commercial

banker

could

fill

his

shoes

For

a

decade

the

bank

has

effectively

been

run

by

two

senior

and

strong-willed

vice-presidents

Mr

Ernest

Stern

-LRB-

who

nearly

left

last

year

to

join

the

EBRD

-RRB-

and

Mr

Moeen

Qureshi

Mr

Preston

's

first

challenge

says

Mr

Mistry

will

be

to

wrest

control

of

the

bank

from

Messrs

Stern

and

Qureshi

his

second

to

prune

legions

of

useless

advisers

and

install

managers

with

real-world

experience

His

third

one

might

add

will

be

quickly

to

establish

his

independence

from

the

US

Treasury

which

always

browbeats

a

newcomer

What

kind

of

development

legacy

will

Mr

Preston

inherit

In

spite

of

recent

progress

in

a

few

countries

such

as

Mexico

the

past

decade

has

been

one

of

relative

failure

Many

Third

World

countries

have

gone

backwards

Real

per

capita

incomes

have

declined

substantially

in

sub-Saharan

Africa

and

the

Middle

East

and

mildly

in

Latin

America

The

biggest

drag

on

growth

is

the

huge

debt

accumulated

in

the

and

early

Many

optimists

see

the

debt

reduction

strategy

launched

by

Mr

Nicholas

Brady

the

US

Treasury

Secretary

in

as

a

final

solution

to

the

debt

crisis

Under

the

plan

official

agencies

assume

some

of

the

burden

of

developing

countries

private

debts

on

condition

that

they

implement

market-oriented

economic

reforms

The

Brady

plan

is

enough

says

Mr

Williamson

if

developing

countries

are

willing

to

embrace

reform

and

if

it

is

matched

by

greater

forgiveness

of

official

debt

Officials

such

as

Mr

David

Mulford

of

the

US

Treasury

say

the

recent

forgiveness

of

about

half

of

Poland

's

official

debt

will

not

set

a

precedent

for

other

debtors

Mr

Williamson

laughs

In

the

long

run

it

will

be

impossible

to

isolate

Poland

he

says

It

is

not

so

much

more

deserving

than

other

countries

But

why

was

a

Brady-type

solution

not

launched

much

earlier

For

most

of

the

the

First

World

doggedly

refused

to

consider

debt

forgiveness

The

result

of

delay

and

compound

interest

is

a

total

debt

burden

today

of

some

Dollars

bn

compared

with

a

relatively

manageable

Dollars

in

The

bank

failed

to

take

a

timely

leadership

position

on

the

debt

crisis

concludes

Mr

Richard

Feinberg

director

of

the

Overseas

Development

Council

in

Washington

-LRB-

The

IMF

was

equally

short-sighted

-RRB-

As

incoming

president

Mr

Preston

must

review

the

bank

's

strategies

for

promoting

development

The

main

innovation

of

the

was

a

switch

from

project

lending

to

structural

adjustment

lending

Making

finance

conditional

on

structural

reforms

was

supposed

to

transform

the

economic

performance

of

developing

countries

But

studies

indicate

the

results

have

been

fairly

unimpressive

This

is

both

because

countries

failed

to

abide

by

the

loan

conditions

and

because

the

bank

's

policies

were

sometimes

misguided

Professor

John

Toye

director

of

the

Institute

for

Development

Studies

at

Sussex

University

recently

completed

an

exhaustive

analysis

of

bank

programmes

He

concludes

-LRB-

as

do

internal

bank

analyses

-RRB-

that

policy-based

lending

has

achieved

something

particularly

in

relation

to

the

external

account

but

not

nearly

as

much

as

the

bank

and

donor

community

hoped

On

average

programmes

have

reduced

balance

of

payments

gaps

had

a

negligible

impact

on

Gross

National

Product

and

led

to

falls

in

the

ratio

of

investment

to

GNP

Mr

Feinberg

calls

the

decline

in

investment

the

great

shortcoming

of

structural

adjustment

lending

in

the

-LRB-

Investment

to

GNP

ratios

have

fallen

markedly

in

Africa

the

Middle

East

and

Latin

America

-RRB-

He

says

the

bank

was

naive

to

expect

entrepreneurs

to

respond

to

the

austerity

of

adjustment

by

increasing

investment

How

can

the

bank

do

better

in

the

One

problem

is

that

it

has

lost

leverage

over

many

Third

World

governments

The

maturing

of

bank

programmes

and

the

failure

to

expand

lending

much

in

the

has

led

to

a

marked

shrinkage

in

its

net

transfers

to

developing

countries

According

to

Mr

Lawrence

Summers

the

bank

's

chief

economist

net

transfers

over

the

next

five

years

will

be

about

Dollars

per

person

in

the

developing

world

compared

with

Dollars

-LRB-

in

current

prices

-RRB-

in

the

late

For

the

large

number

of

countries

that

do

not

qualify

for

concessional

loans

the

net

flow

will

be

negative

Some

analysts

including

US

Treasury

officials

believe

lacklustre

performance

in

much

of

the

Third

World

reflects

the

inefficiency

-LRB-

and

sometimes

corruption

-RRB-

of

governments

The

EBRD

's

constitution

requires

borrowers

to

be

committed

to

and

applying

the

principles

of

multi-party

democracy

pluralism

and

market

economics

It

also

says

per

cent

of

EBRD

resources

must

be

devoted

to

the

commercial

sector

private

businesses

and

state

concerns

in

the

process

of

privatisation

The

World

Bank

operates

under

very

different

rules

its

charter

requires

it

to

be

non-political

and

only

its

small

affiliate

the

International

Finance

Corporation

-LRB-

IFC

-RRB-

can

make

direct

loans

to

private

businesses

Should

the

bank

's

charter

be

amended

Direct

parallels

between

the

bank

and

the

EBRD

are

dubious

The

EBRD

is

ministering

to

a

region

that

has

historical

ties

with

western

Europe

and

that

has

declared

its

commitment

to

democracy

and

free

markets

Such

values

are

alien

in

many

developing

countries

but

that

does

not

imply

they

should

be

denied

the

means

for

economic

development

If

strict

political

conditionality

had

been

imposed

in

the

past

the

bank

could

not

have

lent

to

a

development

star

such

as

South

Korea

Most

analysts

however

say

the

bank

should

tighten

up

a

little

Mr

Flickner

of

the

Senate

Budget

Committee

says

the

issue

is

not

whether

to

insist

on

Westminster-style

democracy

but

whether

the

form

of

governance

is

such

that

loans

will

benefit

the

majority

of

the

people

Bank

officials

say

greater

attention

will

be

paid

to

issues

such

as

the

rule

of

law

and

transparency

of

decision-taking

Should

a

significant

chunk

of

the

bank

's

loans

be

made

direct

to

the

private

sector

Mr

Conable

to

his

credit

is

resisting

the

US

Treasury

's

pressure

He

says

the

bank

's

main

aim

is

to

combat

poverty

and

that

it

will

seek

a

balanced

relationship

between

government

and

the

market

in

developing

countries

In

reality

much

of

the

most

badly-needed

investment

is

in

spheres

such

as

infrastructure

health

care

and

education

where

governments

play

a

dominant

role

even

in

industrialised

countries

Indeed

one

conclusion

of

Prof

Toye

's

analysis

is

that

policy-based

loans

would

have

a

greater

chance

of

success

if

they

included

measures

to

expand

the

role

of

the

state

in

poorer

countries

alongside

measures

to

promote

economic

liberalisation

Sir

William

Ryrie

the

head

of

the

IFC

says

the

objective

of

a

large

volume

of

public

lending

to

the

private

sector

is

wrong-headed

What

we

are

trying

to

do

is

facilitate

the

flow

of

private-sector

funds

into

sound

investments

Advocates

of

a

switch

to

direct

support

of

the

private

sector

are

surely

not

arguing

for

public

subsidies

for

Third

World

entrepreneurs

but

if

subsidies

are

ruled

out

why

should

the

bank

's

judgment

of

market

risk

be

more

reliable

than

that

of

private

lenders

in

the

west

There

are

alternative

recipes

for

fostering

faster

Third

World

development

During

the

the

bank

placed

great

faith

in

free

market

nostrums

It

wanted

to

impose

on

developing

countries

policies

that

had

become

recently

fashionable

in

the

industrialised

world

But

the

notion

that

economic

liberalisation

alone

is

sufficient

is

increasingly

questioned

The

bank

's

own

research

department

is

highlighting

the

need

to

relieve

poverty

directly

and

to

improve

fundamentals

such

as

education

nutrition

and

health

care

Liberalisation

matters

says

Mr

Williamson

at

the

Institute

for

International

Economics

but

education

is

more

important

He

argues

that

the

best

way

of

stimulating

growth

and

improving

income

distribution

is

to

put

resources

into

education

and

primary

health

care

Mr

Feinberg

at

the

Overseas

Development

Council

broadly

agrees

the

bank

has

got

to

find

a

way

of

melding

equity

and

efficiency

as

it

promotes

development

The

challenge

for

Mr

Preston

is

clear

put

the

sterile

ideological

battles

of

the

behind

the

bank

and

develop

policies

that

put

greater

emphasis

on

the

formation

of

human

capital

Mr

Summers

the

bank

's

economist

says

pessimistically

that

because

development

money

will

be

in

short

supply

over

the

next

decade

the

bank

and

other

donors

will

have

to

concentrate

on

exporting

ideas

Ideas

are

certainly

important

but

they

do

not

build

hospitals

or

schools

More

money

could

be

made

available

a

mere

per

cent

cut

in

western

defence

spending

for

example

would

pay

for

a

doubling

of

official

aid

Rather

than

tamely

accepting

the

status

quo

Mr

Preston

could

use

his

platform

to

promote

a

more

constructive

attitude

in

rich

countries

FALLS

IN

INVESTMENT

Domestic

investment

as

of

GNP

All

developing

countries

Africa

Middle

East

Latin

America

Caribbean

Asia

Source

IMF

WORLD

BANK

DISBURSEMENTS

By

region

-LRB-

Fiscal

-RRB-

Billion

dollars

Gross

Net

Sub-Sahara

Africa

Asia

Europe

Middle

East

and

N

Africa

Latin

America

Caribbean

Source

World

Bank

O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O B I O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O

third world
lewis preston
poverty alleviation
world bank
washington
president
loan conditions


Two years ago , it looked as if a vast part of the nation 's farm empire was burning up as drought and heat parched crops and livestock . But the 1988 drought was n't as bad as it might have been , according to an Agriculture Department analysis . Crop yields plummeted , but commodity prices rose . For those who eked out some production , or had grain stored from previous years , it was n't too bad . The latest postmortem of the 1988 drought 's effects was written by Gerald W. Whittaker of the department 's Economic Research Service . It concentrated on the most severe drought region , centered in nine states of the Midwest and upper Great Plains . All of the information used in the study was from USDA 's annual Farm Costs and Returns Survey , which includes detailed income and expense information derived from personal interviews of farm operators . Basic findings : _ Net farm income decreased in 1988 in the drought region to an average of $ 28,899 per farm from $ 38,122 in 1987 . Income in non-drought areas rose to $ 62,822 in 1988 from $ 50,967 in 1987 . As used by the agency , net farm income includes gross income from farming during the calendar year , including federal payments , minus costs of production . It also includes allowances for changes in the value of inventories and adjustments for depreciation and other factors . _ Despite drought , farms in all areas of the country continued to improve their solvency position in 1988 . _ The number of farms considered financially vulnerable continued to decrease in 1988 in both the drought and non-drought regions . _ Farms in the drought region received lower direct government payments in 1988 , despite an infusion of federal disaster relief . _ The average farm in the drought region survived financially by selling off inventories and taking advantage of higher commodity market prices to redeem price support loans made by USDA 's Commodity Credit Corp. . No state-by-state breakdowns were included in the report . The nine states studied as the `` drought region '' were Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Michigan , Minnesota , Montana , North Dakota , South Dakota and Wisconsin . In the category of net farm income , the report said the share of farms in a `` favorable financial position '' in 1988 held fairly steady at 68 percent in the non-drought region , compared with 69.1 percent in 1987 . In the drought states , 62.2 percent of the farms were said to be in favorable financial position , compared with 62.8 percent in 1987 . `` Even with lower incomes , farmers in the drought region continued to improve their debt position -LRB- in relation to assets -RRB- , '' the report said . `` A major factor in their improvement was the continued upward trend in land values . '' The report noted that higher market prices helped reduce the direct payments to farmers in 1988 under USDA 's commodity programs . Nationally , those payments dropped to $ 9.8 billion from $ 11.5 billion in 1987 . But Congress also provided nearly $ 3.9 billion in emergency drought aid to farmers in 1988 . The nine states in the study collected about $ 2.57 billion , or two-thirds of the total .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

agriculture department analysis
severe drought region
federal payments
solvency position
federal disaster relief
emergency drought aid
1988 drought
favorable financial position
commodity market prices


Egypt honored its slain parliament speaker and four security men today with a state funeral led by a grim-looking President Hosni Mubarak . The government said Iraqi agents or Egyptian Moslem fundamentalists were to blame for the assassination Friday of its second-highest official , Rifaat el-Mahgoub . He was the first Egyptian politician assassinated since Islamic extremists shot President Anwar Sadat at a military parade nine years ago . Four assassins riding two motorbikes killed el-Mahgoub in a car driving by a luxury hotel by the Nile . The death toll from the attack rose to six today with the death of the speaker 's chauffeur . Doctors in a Cairo hospital said the driver suffered bullet wounds in the stomach , back and arm . Hassan Abu-Basha , a former police minister , told the Cairo newspaper Al-Ahram he believed el-Mahgoub 's slaying was the work of Iraqi agents . He said the perpetrators possibly belonged to the Palestinian extremist faction led by Abu Nidal . The funeral was at Nasr City , the same suburban neighborhood where Sadat 's funeral took place . Hundreds of red-bereted military police and white-uniformed policemen sealed off all streets leading to the mosque where the religious service was held . They also lined the funeral procession route , as did hundreds of plainclothes security men . Mubarak , wearing a black suit and sunglasses , and British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd , on a two-day official visit , were in the front row of about 1,000 mourners . They included relatives of the dead , government officials and foreign diplomats . Symbolic units from the military services spearheaded the procession , followed by a military band and two dozen wreath-bearers . Behind them were four military jeeps carrying coffins of the four security men , draped in the red , white and black Egyptian flag . A caisson bearing el-Mahgoub 's coffin followed , also wrapped in the flag . It was drawn by three pairs of black horses . Military officers rode the three horses on the right . Immediately behind came two officers carrying el-Mahgoub 's decorations laid on black-velvet cushions . The procession began from the mosque and stopped about 1,500 feet away . Relatives of the dead then lined up to accept condolences from Mubarak and other mourners . Interior Minister Abdel-Halim Moussa had warned days earlier of such an attack . He said authorities arrested alleged saboteurs who were entering the country with orders from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to assassinate Egyptian officials . Saddam has called Egypt a traitor to the Arab cause for sending its troops to back the U.S. military buildup in the gulf in response to the Aug. 2 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait . The state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram , quoting police sources , reported Monday that local Moslem extremists were collaborating with Palestinian terrorists sent to the country by Iraq on sabotage missions . It said the extremists had provided weapons and explosives to five Palestinians from Abu Nidal 's faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization . Recent reports said Abu Nidal 's Fatah-Revolutionary Council recently moved its headquarters from Libya to Iraq . Police ordered a state of alert at airports to keep the assailants from fleeing and set up security checkpoints along Cairo bridges . El-Mahgoub 's authority extended solely over the 458-seat Parliament , which he had headed since 1984 . He was not active in the gulf crisis , Al-Ahram noted in a front-page editorial today . `` In fact he was assassinated because he was a prominent Egyptian politician . The assasins wanted to tell their terrorist bosses that they pierced the stability of Egypt , '' the newspaper said . In Washington , White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said : `` We are shocked by the assassination of the Egyptian speaker . `` We certainly deplore these kinds of terrorist activities and assassination is the most vile kind of terrorism . We do n't have any indication at this time who was responsible or what their purposes were , '' he said .

O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B I I O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

iraqi agents
egyptian moslem fundamentalists
assassination
islamic extremists
death toll
terrorist activities
egyptian politician
funeral


Sir , Mr James Skinner -LRB- Letters , April 11 -RRB- charges me with misuse of statistics and understanding the debt burden of poor countries . He cites Africa to support his contention . The statistics I used refer to Latin America , the principal thrust of the argument of the Bishop of Oxford , which focused largely on Brazil . The bulk of African debt is owed to official lenders under various aid agreements . The debts represent loans with a substantial grant element . The limiting case is the international development association loans , 50-year loans , unindexed for inflation , at zero interest . The debts of African countries have often been cancelled or rescheduled , frequently several times for the same country . To treat debt as necessarily burdensome also ignores the initial transfer of resources . This is like saying that banks , building societies , and governments issuing saving certificates are burdened when they pay interest . If the funds are used productively , debt service is not a burden in the critical sense that the debtors would be better off if they had not borrowed . I do not know what Mr Skinner has in mind in referring to institutions serving only western interests , and by clear implication inflict suffering on the poor . What I do know is that throughout Asia , Africa and Latin America the level of material achievement declines as we move away from the effect of western commerce . To harp on alleged external causes of Third World poverty diverts attention from the real factors behind this poverty which are domestic , and thereby from the possibilities of addressing these . These factors include , among others , government policies and extensive , often enforced , dependence on precarious subsistence production . It is pertinent also that the poorest are low among the priorities of the local rulers . State help for the poorest , especially the rural poor , conflicts with the political and personal interests of the rulers , and may not accord with local mores . Such considerations are reinforced by ubiquitous civil conflict . An Arab-dominated Sudanese government will not help the poorest blacks hundreds of miles away with whom it is in armed conflict ; the Sinhalese government will not help the Tamil poor , nor will the government of Ethiopia the poor of Tigre . As I said in my letter , harping on alleged western causes of Third World poverty reflects and reinforces feelings of guilt , which is a self-centred sentiment . Encouraging Third World countries to default inhibits the inflow of productive commercial capital , which , together with the skills that went with it , over the last 150 years transformed life in many poor countries , notably in south-east Asia , west Africa and Latin America . Bauer House of Lords , Westminster SW1

O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O

third world poverty
james skinner
debt burden
african debt
government policies
real factors