Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Floods, storms in Cambodia have left 600,000 homeless by Tini Tran Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam— Unprecedentei floods have killed nearly 100 peopli across Southeast Asia — including a teen age boy who drowned Thursday in ffon of the royal palace in Cambodia as hun dreds watched from the riverbank. The floods have forced 600,000 peo ple front their homes in Cambodia, Viet- j nam and Laos. Rescue workers were dis- ~ tributing drinking water Thursday, and ; naval boats evacuated people stranded { by high water. r At least 89 people have died in Cam bodia and eight in Vietnam since the t floods began in July, officials said. Cam- j bodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the level of the Mekong River, one'of three r that mdet in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom c Penh, is higher that any time in the past f 70 years c Nou Vibol, 14, was playing with an inner tube with two cousins in the Ton- j le Sap River in front of the royal palace in Phnom Penh when he was flipped out by the turbulent waters as hundreds of people watched from the I bank, said a cousin, Nou Chan Pisit. “He tried to grab me because he could not swim. I was trying to grab his hand but had no luck,” the cousin said, weeping. “There were many adults around, but they did not help.” State television in Vietnam showed lousands of houses flooded in Dong 'hap and Long An, provinces border tg Cambodia, after the Mekong over lowed there, turning vast areas of sur ounding rice fields into huge lakes. Soldiers, sailors and other rescuers sed boats to pick up stranded vil igers from houses built on stilts. Hun Sen, touring a district about 25 liles from Phnom Penh, warned mer hants against profiteering from the loods, saying many businesses have in reased the prices of rice and gasoline. “I have participated to stop the filing fields, the genocide of Pol Pot... but it is impossible for me to stop the natural disaster,” the Cambodian leader told reporters. About 600,000 people have lost their homes and farmland to the floods en gulfing the region, the International Fed eration of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in Geneva. “Millions of people have been af fected by this year’s unusually wide spread monsoon floods,” it said in a statement. The water level at the meeting point of Mekong, Tonle Sap and the Bassac rivers in Phnom Penh is expected to reach 37 feet on Friday. Officials say Phnom Penh’s streets could be flood ed if the level reaches 38 feet. Seija Tyrninoksa, the Cambodia director of the Red Cross and Red Cres cent Federation, said 500,000 people need emergency assistance such as clothes, food, plastic sheets and blan kets. Another 100,000 people required similar aid in Vietnam, the Federation said. The aid agency appealed for $ 1.13 million in international aid, with $904,000 needed for Cambodia alone. Heavy rain began in the region in July, 45 days ahead of the normal mon soon. The rainfall continued, swelling the Mekong, which flows from Cam bodia to Vietnam to form the Mekong Delta ‘Millions of people have been affected by this year's unusually widespread monsoon floods.’ 11* International Federation of Red Cross Gore denies fund-raising phone call by Pete Yost Associated Press WASHINGTON — In the four years since Vice President A1 Gore was asked to make a fund-raising phone call to a Texas trial lawyer, the attorney and his law firm involved in tobacco industry litigation have funneled $790,000 to the Democratic Party. Memos being reviewed by Justice Department investigators suggest De mocratic officials were concerned that the donor, Walter Umphrey, wouldn’t begin writing six-figure checks until after President Clinton vetoed limits on liability lawsuits. An aide to Gore dismissed the mat ter Wednesday night, saying the vice • president never made the suggested phone call to Umphrey. Gore was asked to make the call in 1995 by a Democratic National Committee official after having had dinner in Texas with trial lawyers — at a time when they were concerned with Republican legislation that would have put limits on lawsuit awards. The recent interest of the Justice Department fund-raising task force in the call sheets was described by a fed eral law enforcement source, speak ing on condition of anonymity. The task force is headed by Robert Conrad, who previously recommend ed a special counsel to investigate Gore in connection with his statements about fund raising. Attorney General Janet Reno declined to appoint, one. At her weekly news conference, Reno refused to say Thursday whether the task force had begun a preliminary inquiry into the call sheets and the do nations. But she advised caution about any such allegation during an election campaign. “As we approach the election, I think there will be more issues like this raised, and we should be very care ful,” Reno said. “We’re going to re view everything that comes up.... I’m Gore seepages Schools sell ads with little oversight by Anjetta McQueen Associated Press WASHINGTON — With little state oversight, schools short on cash and long on needs are making commercial deals — soda machines in hallways, football scoreboard ads, in-house television spots t) — in return for financial support from businesses, congressional investigators report. One of the lawmakers who request ed the study said he did not want to force states to adopt or tighten laws against commercial advertising in schools. Rep. George Miller, worried that the ads may promote unhealthy or inappropriate activities or products for schoolchildren. “It’s not like Americans are adver tising-deprived; maybe schools should be a little bit of a sanctuary,” said Miller, D-Calif. The report by the General Ac counting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said little about whether the school ads were aDDroDriate. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., fciaid Thursday that the most troubling findings were that many companies were gathering such information as addresses, ZIP codes and purchasing habits from students and that sometimes the school officials who contracted with the com panies told GAO they were unaware of the data gathering. “All we’re trying to do is put up a warning sign,” said Dodd, adding that no state regulates market research in schools. “The three R’s should not stand for re tail, resale and rebate.” Most state laws pertaining to school ads were found to be weak enough that the decision of whether to promote a Product on school grounds was left to school boards and principals. School officials struggling with limited budgets and a need for equipment and lessons often are entering agreements with businesses that are attracted by the growing buying power of America’s youth, the report concluded. Also, the officials rarely needed permission from Parents or others to use commercial prod ucts, the report said. Only California, New York, Florida, Illinois and Maine specifically limit cer tain types of advertising and other commercial activity within their public school buildings, the report said. Researchers said only 19 state laws even address school-related advertising. The report looked at how states reg SCHOOL SEE PAGE 8 Israel, Palestine attempt peace ■ France urges countries to show courage by Edith M. Lederer Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — France, the current head of the European Union, is calling on Israel and the Palestinians to show maximum “political courage” to reach a settlement in the next few weeks', warning that failure will in evitably trigger a backlash. The French comments came Wednesday, shortly before a Palestin ian Cabinet minister announced that Is rael-Palestinian talks would resume Thursday in New York. The sides are coming at the invitation of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright for a round of negotiations that Israeli Foreign Min ister Shlomo Ben-Anti called “incred ibly difficult but also promising.” Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat held separate talks with President Clinton and Albright at last week’s U.N. Mil lennium Summit. But talks stalled again over the critical issue of East Jerusalem, which both sides claim. “We simply must leave no stone unturned to take advantage of the short time we have ahead of us,” French For eign Minister Hubert Vedrine told a news conference. “To pull this off, we will have to be extremely inventive when it comes to Jerusalem.” U.S. officials, who have been try ing to broker an agreement, have said only a few weeks remain to secure a peace treaty — first because the U.S. Congress, which would have to fund a treaty, adjourns in early October, and second because Israel’s parliament re convenes in late October and could vote to topple Barak. If there is no agreement, Vedrine said, both sides will have to “wait for a better moment” and try again. “But I do feel that in the absence of an agreement, the backlash will be almost inevitable — so we (have to) do everything we can to avoid that hap pening,” he said. A main crux of the problem is the Temple Mount, a holy site known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary. It is built on the remains of the second Jewish Temple, sacked by the Romans in 70 A.D. Barak has said no Israeli leader would ever accept Palestinian sover eignty over the Temple Mount — “a cornerstone of our identity”—but sug gested he would not necessarily insist on full Israeli control over the sacred compound. Arafat has said anything less than full Palestinian sovereignty over all of traditionally Arab East Jerusalem, in cluding Jerusalem’s walled Old City and its Muslim, Jewish and Christian holy sites, is out of the question. At this week’s U.N. General As sembly debate following up on the Mil lennium Summit, Arab ministers have backed the current peace effort but in sisted that Israel withdraw from occu pied Arab territories — including East Jerusalem. In return for a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab terri tories, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said, Israel will “be in tegrated as a partner in the Middle East, enjoying rights to security, peace and cooperation. ” But Moussa warned that if any Arab territory remains under occupation or if any settlement is “inconsistent with the principles of right and justice, then that would constitute a time bomb ready to explode at any time.” Moussa said flexibility over Jerusalem “cannot by any means mean accepting Israeli sovereignty over the Holy Mosque— Haram as-Sliarif — but could instead mean arrangements for the new Palestinian state to respect the •holy sites, and guaranteeing free access to them, and their protection.” Lower gasoline taxes rejected in Europe by Laura King Associated Press LONDON — Prime Minister Tony Blair, joined by leaders in Belgium and Germany, on Wednesday defiantly rejected demands to lower fuel tax es, despite spiraling protests that have left gasoline pumps bone-dry and disrupted schools, businesses and transport across Britain. “Real damage is now being done to real people,” Blair said on na tionwide television, blaming protesters for fuel shortages that triggered school closings, delayed non-vital surgery in hospitals and even threatened deliveries by Britain’s famously reliable Royal Mail. Late Wednesday, the National Blood Authority went on alert, saying it feared its blood supplies soon could be affected. The government put military fuel tankers on standby in case they are needed to get deliveries through, and banks reassured worried customers they would still be able to cet cash. William Hague, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, urged that Parliament be called back from its summer recess to deal with the crisis, as Blair prepared for more urgent meetings Thursday with top advisers. Europeans — Britons especially — pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the world. British pump prices average $4.31 a gallon, with tax es accounting for three-quarters of the cost. Because of heavy levies, public anger has been largely aimed at the government rather than at the protesters who last week began tying up traffic and strangling fuel supplies with refinery blockades and go-slow convoys. Other European countries, including France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, have experienced traffic-snarling protests in recent days, but Britain was by far the hardest hit. As the flow of gas dried up, so did rush-hour traffic on normally busy London streets. Undertakers said they might have to halt funerals if they can’t find fuel for their hearses. School closures were expected to affect thousands of pupils Thursday. . .~. .Protest# seepages «... Lobbyists defend movie marketing by Matt Kelley Associated Press WASHINGTON — Showing rough cuts of R-rated movies to test audi ences that include 10- or 12-year-olds is wrong and will stop, Hollywood’s top lobbyist promised senators con cerned that the movie, music and video game industries are marketing sex and violence to children. But that was one of the few concessions entertainment industry representatives made Wednesday as they defended the way they market their products. Movie industry lobbyist Jack Valenti told the Senate Commerce Committee that it was “unavoidably wrong” for movie executives to show R-rated movies to focus groups in cluding children as young as 10. The studios use such groups to see how a taiget audience will react to a partic ular version of a film. “Some marketing people stepped over the line of what is acceptable,” Valenti said of the children’s focus groups, which were detailed in a Fed eral Trade Commission report this week. Valenti and other entertainment executives balked, however, at sug gestions that they further police them selves to keep violent or vulgar ma terial out of the hands of kids. “I do not believe either govern ment or any entertainment industry committee has any business telling me and my wife what entertainment our children should be exposed to,” said Danny Goldberg, president and chief executive officer of Artemis Records. “So-called self-regulation achieved by political intimidation is the equivalent of censorship.” Lawmakers at Wednesday’s hear ing, including Democratic vice presidential hopeful Sen. Joseph Lieberman, denounced the nation’s movie, music and video game mak ers in the wake of the FTC report. Senators said the voluntary labels each industry uses should be made clearer, companies that market vio lence to children should be sanctioned and the tax deduction for marketing might be removed for ads that inap propriately taiget children. “The day is fast approaching when the American people may be willing to accept some restriction of freedom of expression in order to protect their children,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R Neb. “The entertainment indus try must understand that we are clos er to that day than they may realize.” Violence seepages News Briefs ■ Alleged Mexican drug cartel leader charged with murder EL PASO, Texas —The alleged leader of a powerful Mexican drug cartel has been chaiged with killing 10 people, sev en of whom were found dead hist year at ranch sites near a Mexican border city, the Justice Department said Thursday. Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, believed • to be in control of virtually all drug traf ficking in the border city of Ciudad Juarez . and nearby El Paso, ordered the killings to silence the victims, Justice Depart-. ■ ment officials said. Carrillo Fuentes, who was already wanted by the federal government for a , 1997 drug trafficking indictment, is still at large. '1 1 ■ Children’s Web sites say new law hurting business SAN FRANCISCO — While feder al officials work out the kinks of.imple- ' menting a law aimed at protecting chil- v dren from online pornography, at least ' one major Web site for kids is saying the measure is hurting its legitimate busi- 1 ness. « Steven Bryan, CEO of Zeeks.com, said Wednesday the costs, of complying 1 ;■ with the 1998 Children’s Online Priva- .■ cy Protection Act are simply too high. > Zeeks.com, the 15th most popular en- <• tertainment site for children according to Media Metrix Inc., will pull its e-mail and chat-room services Oct. 1. and try „ to make up for the predicted 20 percent loss in traffic with additional games. t. ,+t y* ■ LA Times cuts 125 editorial jobs, 45 advertising jobs LOS ANGELES— The Los Angeles Times eliminated about 125 editorial jobs >P in its community news operations and P announced plans to close 14 local news- . ' section inserts that had been a corner- t‘: stone of its former publisher’s plans to , . boost circulation. In addition, 45 jobs were cut as part , _>t of a reorganization of the Times ’ adver- , . tising department. The cutbacks are die ; '• first to hit the Times since Tribune Co. ,,, bought its parent. Tunes Mirror Co., in June. The Our Times sections, launched two years ago by then-publisher Mark Willes in a plan to increase duly circu- j lation to 1 million, never attracted enough advertising to make them a success, Tunes j officials said. ■ Police discover human remains, search for possible mob burial location BOSTON — Police combed through , the sand of a city beach for a second day Thursday after finding human bones in a suspected mob burial site. The remains of one person were found in the course of a federal investi gation into a gang once headed by fugi tive James “ Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi. Bulger has been a fugitive since 1995, and Flemmi has been in prison awaiting trial on a num ber of charges. j ■ Playskool recalls Klackeroo infant toys WASHINGTON-About 550,000 in- " fant toys are being recalled because their small parts may pose a choking hazard ' ’ to young children. ■' Pawtucket, R.I.-based Playskool, in cooperation with the Consumer Prod- '■ uct Safety Commission, is recalling its .? Klackeroo toys. .a The company has received 10 re ports of the toy’s knobs detaching to release small parts, including four reports of a small part from the toy being found in the mouths of infants and young children. There have been no reported injuries. 4