MonitoRadio Early Program; [1997-03-13]

This is Monitor Radio, the worldwide broadcast edition of the Christian Science Monitor on P .R .I. Public Radio International. I'm Steve Delaney. The British unveiled their last colonial budget in Hong Kong with a message of prosperity while Chinese dissidents in the colony contemplate life under the People's Republic. The World Bank takes initial steps to reduce Uganda's death burden. At United Partial Service, welfare recipients pick up the challenge of work. And be able to get my own without saying I needed any help or push from public aid. We'll hear those stories and much more coming up in this half hour, but first this news. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Rex Crum at the Monitor Radio News Desk. Israeli Army Radio is reporting a Jordanian gunman has fired on an Israeli bus killing two people and injuring at least 10 others. The shooting

occurred near the town of Naharim on the Israeli Jordanian border. It's not clear who was on the bus. There are reports the gunman was a Jordanian soldier. I mean, time the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote today on a resolution calling for Israel to drop its plans to build a new Jewish neighborhood in mainly Arab East Jerusalem. Monitor Radio's Jean Hackland reports from the U .N. in New York. The General Assembly vote comes less than a week after the United States vetoed a security council resolution condemning Israel's housing plan, but the U .S. does not have veto power in the 185 member General Assembly, which is expected to adopt a non -binding measure critical of Israel. In Florida Bait Wednesday, Japan's ambassador to the U .N., Hisashi Owata, said the Israeli decision could lead to a crisis of confidence. If that should happen, the resulting mistrust and rancor among the parties could destroy the very structure for peace in the Middle East. Israel and the United States argue the housing dispute should be

resolved through direct dialogue, not outside pressure. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Jean Hacklander at the United Nations in New York. The unrest in southern Albania has now spread to the north of the country. Early today, a military academy was looted of weapons in the capital, Tirana, and there were reports of gunfire in the city. As correspondent Robert Foxx reports from Tirana, another northern city has also become caught up in the violence. The wealth's serious violence in the town of Škoda in northwest Albania overnight when an army arms dump and depot was raided. Four people are reported to have been killed in that, which is very surprising because it is run by right -wing opponents to President Berisha. But throughout the latest crisis, it has been the quietest city of all. Tirana Airport reportedly has been closed, hampering efforts of some western embassies to evacuate staff members. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prime Minister Viktor Cherno

Muredin will meet today to discuss the makeup of the new Russian government. Earlier this week, President Yeltsin asked for the resignation of all but two of his cabinet members after criticizing the government for not taking control of Russia's economic and social crises. Mr. Cherno Muredin said the new cabinet will be younger and will include more market -minded reformers. On the stock markets in Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 282 points today, closing at 17 ,900. The Dow Jones industrial average in New York closed Wednesday at 7 ,039 down 45 points. This is monitor radio news on PRI, public radio international. Zairean soldiers and rebels in the east of the country are said to be preparing for a final battle over the region's main city. A rebel deadline for government soldiers in Kisangani to surrender has passed, but according to the Reuters news agency residents of the city say they have not seen any signs of fighting yet.

Zairean's Prime Minister has denounced the lack of foreign interest in the civil war, while the United Nations relief agency says a battle for Kisangani could be catastrophic for the thousands of refugees in the region. Education is on President Bill Clinton's agenda as he visits two southern states today. UPI's Bill Small reports from Washington. Mr. Clinton today is delivering another in a series of speeches to state legislatures. This one to a joint session of the North Carolina state legislature. Spokesman Mike McCarrie says Mr. Clinton's two main themes will be the same as in previous speeches to state legislatures in Maryland and Michigan. Education with a call for higher education standards and national testing for fourth grade reading and eighth grade math and welfare reform. How we can engage state governments in making welfare reform a success, how we can build support in the private sector so that the jobs are available for dependent women. Later today Mr. Clinton travels on to southern Florida for a few rounds of golf, a fundraiser for Florida Senator Bob Graham, and a visit to an elementary school.

Bill Small at the White House. The Sri Lankan military has begun a large attack on several key Tamil tiger rebel bases in the northeastern jungle. Sri Lankan army officials are saying the assault involves air, naval and artillery forces and the rebels have suffered serious losses. The attack was launched in order to destroy guerrilla preparations for an offensive. The French foreign ministry says 20 westerners working on an oil platform off the coast of Nigeria have been taken hostage by a local tribe. The hostages are employees of a French company and include 16 French citizens. From monitor radio news in Boston, I'm Rex Crum on the This is monitor radio. I'm Steve Delaney. It is no big deal in most

corners of the world when a government budget is released, but in Hong Kong that seemingly mundane task is taken on added emphasis. The fiscal blueprint unveiled yesterday is the final one offered by Britain, which has controlled the colony for more than a century and a half. Hong Kong will revert to Chinese control at the end of June. As Sophie Fisher reports, yesterday's announcement was intended to send a clear message that Hong Kong will stay on a healthy economic track. In line with the Hong Kong government strategy of playing down uncertainties surrounding the hand ever, the message of this budget was business as usual and steady as she goes. Financial Secretary Donald Sung, the first ethnic Chinese to hold the job, called this budget a defining moment in Hong Kong's history. He revealed that in this financial year the colony will post a budget surplus of almost two billion dollars, a huge amount for a population of only six million people. Next year, the surplus is expected to be more than four billion dollars, despite new income tax cuts, which should benefit 96 percent of taxpayers. Three years from now, these surpluses should push Hong

Kong's total reserves to more than 54 billion dollars. Sung said that the huge surplus was a windfall caused by the land price boom and taxes on share dealing. All land in Hong Kong is government owned and the amount released for building is restricted. Despite these huge surpluses, Sung rejected loud calls for increases in Hong Kong's limited social welfare programs, saying the money will be needed for large infrastructure projects like rail lines and the new airport. Sung stressed the need for continuity and prudence, saying he wanted to ensure that Hong Kong was in the strongest possible financial position to face the return to Chinese sovereignty. Sung also took pains to reiterate the guarantees that China has given that it will not interfere with Hong Kong's capitalist system or way of life for the next 50 years. China was consulted about the contents of the budget. Beijing has made no secret of its earlier suspicions that the outgoing British administration might run down Hong Kong's reserves through huge tax breaks or

social welfare payments, but not surprisingly the Chinese have let it be known they're happy with this final budget of British rule. For the Christian science monitor, I'm certificate shown in Hong Kong. Few people have as much at stake in the handover of Hong Kong to China as the Chinese dissidents who have sought refuge there. Before Chinese troops march into Hong Kong on July 1st, most of the dissidents are trying to seek asylum in the West, but not all as Monitor Radio's Peter Herdfield reports. At a Hong Kong bird market people gather to buy and sell pets and swap stories. Colorful buddhaery gars hop around in small wooden cages the size of hat boxes. If they feel trapped it's a feeling familiar to at least 45 other residents at Hong Kong, the humankind. For Chinese dissidents who've come to the colony in recent years seeking a refuge from political persecution, Hong Kong is beginning to resemble a cage. After June the colony reverts to rule by China,

the very country from which they fled. What happens to them? It all depends on how the Chinese authority imposed control on Hong Kong. Law Yok Kai is director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor. He says the basic law, the agreement drawn up between London and Beijing, on how Hong Kong will be ruled after June, guarantees that people of Hong Kong certain rights and a measure of autonomy. But he says the agreement is already being constructively interpreted by Chinese officials. Do you have already tried to interpret the basic law saying that these people who has allowed to stay in Hong Kong by the British government would not be able to become Hong Kong residents, so they are subject to stringent immigration control and got knows what happens to them in the future. But few of the dissidents who fled China believe they'll be protected and most are desperately seeking asylum in the West before the net closes in. Observeers believe Western governments will grant asylum even if at the last minute. But a

small number of Chinese dissidents won't be going anywhere and that's by choice. While other political exiles are trying to escape from China, one of them is trying to get back in. Anybody they have their own decision on their situation and myself, I think this is my way to do what I want to do. And especially as a Chinese trade unionist, I should stay as close as possible to Chinese workers. Handong Fang is perhaps Hong Kong's most famous Chinese dissident. A young man with bright eyes and a prickly haircut, he spent nearly two years in a Chinese prison after leading protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Then the Chinese authorities took away his passport and forcibly exiled him to Hong Kong. Since then, Hand has gone to extremes to try to get back into China. During one attempt he even slept on the bridge that marks the border between Hong Kong and China. He could find asylum in another country. But he prefers to wait here for the Chinese

takeover. I don't know how many times when I take taxi, the taxi driver, they recognize my face, they say, I miss the hand, I am and they say, well why don't you leave? You have the chance to leave Hong Kong, to go to wherever you want. So why don't you leave? And I say, why I would like to stay in Hong Kong, because Hong Kong is close to China. And secondly, I am Chinese citizen, I have the right to stay on my country's land. Although life in Hong Kong is supposed to continue without interference from China, human rights advocates like Law your Kai believe the new Hong Kong authority will crack down on dissent. He's not strongly for human rights this day, at least he shifts that executive destiny, has tried to argue for the Chinese case to emasculate our bill of rights, to review some of the legislation which seems to be fair to protect right to feed them to our

freedom of association and freedom to demonstration. At the Prince of Wales barracks in Hong Kong, Scottish soldiers change guard. The presence of British troops means that this is still a place where dissidents are tolerated and freedom of speech is ensured. But after June, the troops will leave and with them any guarantee for the safety of Chinese dissidents, those who can't find a silent before July 1st, or like Han who choose to stay, could find life very difficult under Chinese rule. Han Dongfang has been called both stubborn and courageous for wanting to stay. He says he has his communist roots to thank for that. When I was very young in primary school, they teachers, they come as part of his hero and they say we should learn from them, they contribute their blood, their life. From the young age, I got that

kind of education, I always keep a dream here with my mind, which was justice. People should keep fighting for the justice. Ironically, the lessons Han learned from his communist masters, he's now using against them. When the Chinese do take over Hong Kong this summer, they'll find Han Dongfang waiting for them. The problem will then be what to do with him. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Peter Hadfield in Hong Kong. Scores of the world's poorest nations have long been caught in what their advocates have called the debt trap. Obligations so large that they must borrow new money just to pay the interest on old loans. This week, boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund advanced a plan to forgive, forget and write off some of the debt they are owed by the East African nation of Uganda. If that deal can be done, about

20 other countries are waiting in line for similar relief. Tony Avrigan is a spokesman for the Development Gap, which keeps track of the disparity between rich and poor nations. He recently returned from Uganda and told Monitor Radio's David Brown why debt relief is necessary. The situation for many countries in Africa and indeed in other parts of the world is absolutely desperate. There has been such an accumulation of debt that there is no way that they would get out of it. They're paying off just the interest and the principle is not being reduced at all. In almost all cases, this is not the fault of any actions by the current generation of leaders or the populations in those countries. How then does a country like Uganda benefit from this debt forgiveness? That is to say, the idea to provide these loans was initially was to make these countries economically free so that they could make the necessary reforms and flourish on their own. I mean, this seems to provide politicians with, if not the incentive, certainly the political cover not to make those reforms.

Well, it's worse than that. The fact is that the reforms that have been demanded by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have not helped development at all. They've actually made the economic situation much worse in all of these countries. Under a package that is generally called structural adjustment that has been a condition for these loans, the economies of these countries have stagnated. There's been a complete deterioration of local production. They've become economically polarized or a few people have gotten very rich. A lot of people have gotten very poor. Also, there's been such an enormous cutback in social services that I was just shocked in my recent tour around Africa by what I began terming a SAP generation, a generation of young people who are intelligent but have gotten an extremely poor education and this is going to affect these countries enormously.

Let's take a closer look at the situation you get. It's my understanding that the World Bank and the IMF will forgive something in the order of like $300 million of a total like $3 .5 billion debt, something in that order. That's right. Which is a small but nevertheless, it's important and we're very much in favor of debt forgiveness. It's absolutely necessary, but we're very much against the conditionality that is attached to it. But without conditionality, I mean, if the World Bank and the IMF were to forgive the total debt here, $3 .5 billion. What does the world get out of it? It doesn't that town amount to basically the world just handing these countries money, why didn't it? The world gets out of it a chance for African countries to develop economically to become more politically stable and this will and more productive and this benefits all of the world. In Uganda, right now, there is such incredible continuing poverty and there are wars going on. The situation in Uganda is not at all

stable. There's a serious war going on in the north of the country that has a lot to do with the lack of economic development in that region of the country and to create that kind of development and stability would certainly benefit the United States and would benefit all of the developed countries of the world. Tony Avergan is a spokesman for the development gap of Washington based organization that's been following the effect of aid and loans to developing nations. Tony, thank you very much. Thank you. It's 19 minutes past the hour. Coming up, at United Personal Service, welfare recipients show they can move at the speed of business and your calls and letters. This is monitor radio. When President Clinton outlined a proposed multi

-billion dollar transit plan yesterday, he said one of its benefits besides better roads and bridges will be thousands of jobs and many of those jobs the president said should go to welfare recipients. The transition from welfare to work is often touted as the key to making the massive welfare reform plan a success for everyone, the recipient as well as the taxpayer. United Personal Service is one of the few private sector firms that's trying to fill some openings with welfare recipients. Monitor radio is Jackie North and visited the UPS plan in Chicago to find out more about the company's welfare to work program. Using all her concentration, Patricia Fein memorizes a series of numbers that appear blinking on a screen before her. The numbers will determine rooting details for a package being shipped for delivery. This is part of a supervisory training class at UPS, United Personal Service. Fein says eight months ago she went to believe she would have been sitting here. That was just before she saw a sign at a local community center saying

UPS was looking to hire welfare recipients. I mean, we call my attention because it's getting on public areas. It's my number one issue and being able to be out here and work hard and be able to get my own without saying I needed any help or push from public aid. 29 -year -old Fein is the mother of five children. She had been on welfare and utter work since the birth of her first child 13 years ago. She says it was difficult returning to the work world. The first few days was really kind of hard. It was hard for me. Each and every day after I got done, I was like, I did it. You know, I'm going to go back and I'm going to do it again this time. I'm going to try to be more efficiency and work more harder at it. Fein is one of 39 welfare recipients hired by UPS at a Chicago Distribution Center over the past few months. UPS is taking part in a pilot program in Illinois that's designed to move some of the state's 200

,000 welfare recipients into jobs. UPS agreed it would provide part -time entry -level jobs starting at $8 an hour for welfare beneficiaries living in the Grand Boulevard neighborhood of Chicago. An area where four out of five residents rely on public aid. Delries Adams is a case worker with the Grand Boulevard Federation, which screens job applicants. She says many of the candidates don't have work histories and struggle to fill out an application. Still, Reese Adams is able to find qualified people. What we look for is someone who has that strength and motivation and want to change, you know, that desire to change and do better. Once on the job, though, applicants face a challenge overcoming the perceptions that many employers have of hiring welfare recipients. Christine Owens, a Chicago district manager for UPS. You're talking about people learning how to come to work every day, how to be on time, how to know that it's not

okay not just to show up for work and not indicate through a call or through whatever. And if you've never held a job, or you haven't held a job in a long time, you don't have that sense of urgency. So we acknowledge in the very beginning that there is that awkward stage where people are truly not understanding that concept. The UPS program seems to be working. Of the 39 people hired in Chicago since last May, 32 were still on the job. Five have gone on to full -time jobs at other companies and only two people have quit. One of those is Sylvester Williams, who decided he wasn't getting enough hours and had problems finding someone to look after his five children when he worked the midnight shift. But Williams found another job in his neighborhood as a mentor. It's much better because I'm working, I'm learning, you know, I'm using my skills. That's good because I'm right there. My kids, I take them back to fourth school. I say no problem, they call me right across the

street. If I can't get no full -time job, I'll just keep this part time job to whatever I have. But with a 90 percent success rate, UPS intends to hire more welfare recipients in the coming months. District manager Cristina Owens. I look at what I get in return for this too. I would be remiss if I let you believe that part of this is not about self and light and interest. I have a business we need to definitely meet the needs of our customers and therefore I am looking for employees to hire. The federal government wants to get other companies on board. President Clinton has proposed about $600 million in tax credits over the next four years that would be used to subsidize the hiring of 120 ,000 welfare recipients by private businesses. Delri's Adam says other companies in Chicago are starting to take notice. Since the president's state of the union address, we've gotten the phone's been ringing off the hook with I guess the tax incentive and things like that. But before I think people were watching to see what happened at UPS and if they failed then that would be their cue

not to jump in there. But the good publicity I think has brought people to solicit the federation. This is what we call an inbound. This is what starts off our day. The trucks come in. Whether it's good government or not, Patricia Fein says her new job was the first step in turning her life around. She remembers how proud she was when she showed her first paycheck to her children. That's like just think, just think. I was like you just think. I said now we were getting there. We're getting out. We're moving on. Under new federal guidelines, Illinois is required to move 10 ,000 welfare recipients into jobs next year and to increase that number by 5 % every year after that. For the Christian science monitor, this is Jackie Northam in Chicago. Occasionally there are news stories that trigger

a more vigorous than usual listener response. Among those is the announcement that a sheep named Dolly had been produced in Scotland through cloning. Jonathan Sheen from Boston thought the comments of ethicists and other analysts were one -sided. All involved seem to find it completely ethically inconceivable that would ever be a good reason to clone a human. I trust that if any of the involved parties ever have a child or other young relatives who's in need of a transplant and worried about rejection factors, that they might want to think then as to whether there is or is not a good reason to clone humans. But from the West Coast, a different conclusion. I think it's silly to think that we won't use that technology in the future to do all sorts of immoral things as a society. It's bound to happen. It's remarkable now if we look back over periods of time what we do now that we wouldn't have done 50 years ago. And our interview with the author of The Dictionary of Global Culture prompted B .D. Fine to write his dismay at the lack of

scope described in the New Work. Specifically, it's avoidance of culture created by, quote, dead white males. I find it striking, the email says, that so few seem horrified by reflexive putdowns of the work of dead white males, even though it is ageist, racist, and sexist, not to mention vitalist. For the sake of our common humanity, let's put our prejudices, regardless of how correct politically, aside, and do our best to judge the work of our species on the basis of quality. Mr. Fine may have missed the point that the dictionary was written to include the cultural contributions of non -Europeans and that the dead white males are well represented in it. Please contact us when you have reactions to the things we cover. Our email addresses radio at csps .com. You're

listening to Monitor Radio, the worldwide broadcast edition of The Christian Science Monitor. I'm Steve Delaney. It's 29 minutes past the hour. Support for Monitor Radio is provided in part by public radio listeners across the U .S. And from the Christian Science Monitor, news from around the world published each weekday, available daily on the web at www .csmonitor .com. On a radio, the worldwide broadcast edition of

The Christian Science Monitor, on PRI, public radio international. I'm Steve Delaney, to clone or not to clone, as Congress debates legislation to ban cloning of humans, the scientist who's to clone an adult sheep tell senators he's opposed to cloning humans. I personally have still not heard a potential use of this technique to produce a new person that I would find ethically acceptable. And I hope that we do not see cloning in our lifetimes. Women only residences in old tradition in New York hangs on, and the connection there really is one between the millennium and corn muffins. We'll hear those stories and much more coming up in this half hour, but first, this news. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Deborah Becker at the Monitor Radio News Desk. Israel Radio is reporting that two people are dead and at least 10 others hurt. After a suspected Jordanian soldier shot at a bus on the

Israeli Jordanian border today, there are conflicting reports about who may have been on the bus. The shooting comes as Israel faces international condemnation over some of its recent proposals. It has vowed to go ahead with its controversial plan to build Jewish housing in East Jerusalem. But as Monitor Radio's Clay Scott reports, Israeli officials may be reconsidering another contested proposal. Israeli officials said they might not close the four East Jerusalem offices after receiving a written promise from the Palestinians that the offices will have no link to the Palestinian authority. Israel says official Palestinian offices should not be allowed in Jerusalem until the city's future is resolved in the so -called final status talks. Meanwhile, Israel has vowed to go ahead on the construction of Jewish homes in mostly Arab East Jerusalem. This comes despite growing international criticism of the housing plan. And Israel has postponed its proposed handover of 9 percent of the West Bank to Palestinian rule. Palestinians have refused to accept the offer, saying they had expected about 30 percent of the West Bank in the first of three scheduled pullbacks. Palestinians have called an international conference in Gaza on Saturday to

discuss the crisis. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Clay Scott in Jerusalem. More unrest is reported in Albania today with gunfire erupting in the capital Tarana, forcing the closure of the city's airport. As the BBC's Bob Simpson reports, the rebellion appears to have spread further into northern Albania. Generalists in Scrodera, the principal city in the north, about 75 miles from Tarana, say that four people have been killed in a series of attacks on arms depots. These are the first such incidents reported from the region, which has till now been generally calm. There's also news from Elbasan, 35 miles south of the capital that a military depot there has been looted. In the suburbs of Tarana, another base was raided, and there was sporadic and sometimes intense gunfire echoing around the city all night. Rebels have taken over several towns in southern Albania, demanding that the government resign. They began their protests in January overfailed investment schemes. President Bill Clinton's policy on Mexico faces scrutiny in the U .S. House of Representatives today. Lawmakers are set to vote on a measure

that would overturn Mr. Clinton's decision to certify Mexico as a drug -fighting ally. White House officials have warned Congress against overturning the certification, which could result in a loss of economic aid to Mexico. A senior Clinton administration official apparently says White House coffees and sleepovers have been put on hold for the time being. The official says a temporary freeze has been put on all such events until President Clinton is assured they comply with the law. Meantime, Democratic Party officials say it will take more time to return disputed campaign donations. This is Public Radio International. Authorities in Burundi are investigating an apparent plot to kill the country's Tutsi military ruler, Pierre Buoyah. Police say five people have been arrested in a foiled plot against Buoyah's life. At least four others were killed when their cars hit anti -tank mines in the Capitol, Buzumbura. It's not clear if the mines are related to the alleged assassination plot. Buoyah took over in a coup in July after ousting a Hutu president. Rebels in eastern Zaire say

they've captured another town in the region as they continue their fight against government forces. A rebel deadline for government soldiers to give up their weapons expires today. Martin Dawes is following the story from Nairobi. The rebels say the southeastern town of Congolo fell without a fight because government soldiers have been drawn off to defend Kisangani, the country's third biggest city. If there, the rebels may have their toughest fight in a five -month -old conflict which has seen them make spectacular gains. The ultimatum for government troops to lay down their arms is aimed at encouraging them to flee as they've done so many times before. A representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency has said that exhausted Rwandan Hutus are dying of disease and hunger as the humanitarian crisis basing 170 ,000 refugees deepens. For the Christian Science Monitor, this is Martin Dawes in Nairobi. China's foreign ministry has criticized the US House of Representatives for approving a bill that calls on Beijing to honor its obligations to Hong Kong. The US approved a resolution

this week that would allow the imposition of trade sanctions if China does not honor its promises when it takes over the British colony on July 1. Los Angeles Police have made an arrest in the January murder of Inus Cosby, the only son of entertainer Bill Cosby. Police will only say the suspect is a young white man believed to be from Los Angeles. From Monitor Radio News, I'm Deborah producing antioxidants such as vitamin E from soybeans and vitamin C from corn, ADM, supermarket to the world. This is Monitor Radio. I'm Steve Delaney. The United States joined other nations

today and ordered all non -essential American government personnel out of Albania. The State Department is evacuating about 160 of its people from Albania, which is collapsing into chaos. In the southern region, some rebel -held territory fell into lawlessness yesterday with armed gangs robbing and shooting, while elsewhere civilians, including women and children, continued to raid arms depots for weapons. There is a new government of national reconciliation and diplomatic efforts to end the crisis continue, but it gets deeper, with rising tensions in Toronto and with anger and violence replacing reason and persuasion. Robert Fox of London's Daily Telegraph has been witnessing all that in Toronto. Mr. Fox, last week you told me that optimism in Albania do not go together. How about energy in Albania? That's the growing disease here. We've had a bad night. There's been a lot of shooting around the capital, Toronto itself, and I think that whether it's psychological or physical, you can say that the battle for Toronto has well and truly begun. We have seen pictures on television of grandmothers and sub teenagers hustling out of armories with two

or three Kalachnikovs strapped across their backs. How many of those weapons do you think will go into Kosovo and if they get there, is there any way to keep them from being used? No. If they go into Kosovo, even a few thousand, they will be used similarly with Macedonia. The other thing is that that stuff is interchangeable with a bag of wheat. A bag of wheat is useful if there is anarchy and you have to make your own bread. That Kalachnikov probably the grandmother won't be so keen to fire it, but it is currency. It is worth between four hundred and five hundred dollars a piece, and there's no doubt about it that the gangs are now marauding much of southern Albania, which for most of history has been a free fire zone for brick and ditch and banditry, and it's currency for them, and I'm afraid you will get lawlessness now. You will get the strong praying on the week, and that is going to have enormous influence in the whole game of the illegal arms trade. They have come, it's been Christmas for the Mafia gangs. They have come across an arms cash that they never imagined

that they would get their hands on only three or four weeks ago. Now, there is a transitional government, and there are ministers from several of the parties, but these transitional governments are inherently unstable. Does this one have any chance of working as long as President Verisha stays in power? I don't think it's got off the starting blocks. No sooner had they announced the government than one of the parties said it was dropping out, because the vital interior ministry, which controls the police, and the secret police, and any electoral process and security process internally, had remained in the hands of Bereisha's men of the Democratic Party. The new Prime Minister 34 -year -old Bachchen Fino did not make an impressive figure in his first broadcast on television. It's not even Band -Aid. You can see the holes all the way through the Band -Aid, because here we have a government that certainly doesn't have an army. Now, it doesn't look as if it's got much of a regular police force either. An Austrian statesman and the Greek Foreign Minister representing European

interest are both still trying to find a Band -Aid to apply to all of this crisis. Are they swimming against the tide? They are swimming against the tide, and it's a very dangerous tide, because I think the thing that hasn't got across with this far -distant country in the remote Balkans is that we are now looking over the edge at a regional conflict, because the problem is this enormous amount of arms, which is a product of the paranoia of the old communist regime of the Tyrant and the Hodja, who spent so much of what little gross product there was in the country just on arms. There are Albanians outside in the region, outside Albania itself, who have virulent nationalist causes in Carthabo, in Serbia, and in Macedonia. If they get armed, then we are in big trouble. It's going to be a different dimension, a different kind of conflict than the Bosnian one, but it will be just as troublesome for international stability and the international community. And that's the reflection I have on this very bright, sunny spring morning in in

Tirana, in Albania, is how on earth, with all they have learned since the fall of the Berlin wall about post -cold war conflicts, how has the international community sleepwalked into this one? The Americans, the British, the French, the Germans, the Italians talked about making sure the conflict doesn't spread, by their ineptitude, by their tirediness, and by their sheer darned laziness, they have walked straight into a new and very dangerous international conflict in the Balkan, because this one even though it stays at the moment inside the Albania's frontiers, it has enormous ramifications for the whole region. Robert Fox of the London Daily Telegraph, thank you very much. Thank you, have a good day. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl held crisis talks today with a leader of the country's mining union. Kohl was hoping to defuse spreading anger among German miners over government subsidy cuts targeted for the coal industry. This past week, Kohl workers have shut down mines, blocked highways and held street rallies in Bonn. Now, in the face of wider

protests, the German government says it has found a way to soften the impact of reducing subsidies and closing mines, as Deutreburger reports from Frankfurt. The Bonn government has not backed down from its intention to cut the number of workers in the mining industry by 50 % in the next decade, but during early mining talks between Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the head of the German miners union, Kohl reportedly promised to slow down the rate of subsidy cuts and invest some of the subsidy money in job creation programs. The change in stance came after a week of ongoing protests by miners who occupied mines and blocked highways to draw attention to this situation. In the industrial rural valley, Kohl and steel workers this week joined together to berate Chancellor Helmut Kohl for ignoring their demands. Their protest did not

fall on deaf ears. Across the political spectrum, German politicians express sympathy for the anger of the miners. They acknowledge the large subsidy cuts could signal a drastic decline in German Kohl production. Although most European countries have substantially reduced Kohl production the past 20 years, Germany has insisted it needs a reserve energy source in case of another oil crisis. Still, despite the popularity of the miners' cause, the Bonn government claims it could no longer afford the expensive subsidies necessary to sustain the mining industry. A ton of German Kohl costs three to four times more to produce than a cost to buy a ton on the world market. That is just too much, according to government officials. Germany is trying to cut its budget deficit enough to meet fiscal guidelines for joining the single European currency. Germany's opposition leaders, meanwhile, charge the government has mismanaged the budget and is punishing miners for its own mistakes. In Bonn, the leader of the opposition social Democrats, Oscar LaFontaine, address protesting miners.

LaFontaine told them it is time for a show of solidarity. To stand up for those in society who are weaker, who have lost their jobs, are who are about to lose them. The ongoing loss of jobs in Germany is a major reason for the escalation of the conflict on coal subsidies. German unemployment is more than 11 percent. In many of the coal regions, it is already as high as 15 percent. Leaders in the miners' union agree many of the current coal jobs must go. Still, they warn of severe social tensions in coal mining areas if unemployment rises even higher. Miners must be given the chance to work in other industries, according to union representatives, who are depending on the government to attract new industry to traditional coal regions. The miners' union hailed the agreement today as a victory for the coal mining industry, but both

sides agree that substantial reductions in German coal production are inevitable. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Dieter Berger in Frankfurt. The European Parliament has called for a worldwide ban on the cloning of humans and strict controls on the cloning of animals. The action came in response to the international operaro with a successful cloning of an adult sheep by British researcher Ian Wilmot in Scotland. Dr. Wilmot is in Washington today to give a lecture about his work. Yesterday, he was the star witness at a Senate hearing on two bills written to ban human cloning in the US. Monica Brady reports on the collision between the hard edge of international science and the hard core of domestic politics. The stuff of sci -fi novels is coming to life in scientific research. On Capitol Hill, some scientists and lawmakers traded views on the ethical, legal, and moral aspects of the newly acquired ability to clone an adult mammal, which has caused a storm of concern worldwide about the implications for humans. Republican Senator Kit Bond of Missouri has sponsored one bill to

prevent human cloning in the US. This type of research on humans is morally reprehensible, and we should not be creating human beings for spare parts, as replacements, or for other unnatural and selfish purposes. This bill that I have introduced is narrowly drafted, so it only affects human cloning research. It does not address the issue of plant and animal cloning research. But the scientist who cloned the sheep called Dolly feared it might. Dr. Ian Wilmot does his research at the Rosalind Institute in Edinburgh. We believe that in the wish to prevent any misuses of the technology. It is important that we preserve the opportunities to take advantage of all of the benefits. Simply, we think it's important that we do not throw out this particular baby with the bathwater. Dr. Wilmot said the scientific benefits from cloning are likely to outweigh many of the drawbacks. And Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa reminded fellow senators that groundbreaking scientific discoveries, like in vitro fertilization, raised similar fears when first made public. But Harkin said there's

no way to stop scientific advances. What nonsense? What utter utter nonsense? To think that somehow we're going to hold up our hand and say, stop. I'll make a statement right here. Cloning will continue. The human mind will continue to inquire into this. Human cloning will take place and it'll take place in my lifetime. And I don't fear it at all. I welcome it. But Dr. Wilmot disagreed. Cloning humans, he said, would be inhumane. I personally have still not heard a potential use of this technique to produce a new person that I would find ethically acceptable. And on that basis, I hope that you're wrong and that we do not see cloning in our lifetimes. National Institutes of Health Director Harold Varmus said he knows of no research going on in the world that focuses on human cloning. In this situation, the discussion is actually running ahead of the science. That we're

not prepared to do human cloning. There are many technical obstacles to doing it at this stage. Many unanswered questions about similar work and animals that would prevent anyone from engaging in such work with human beings this time. Cloning has become a frightening term, not just to those in congressional committee rooms, but in homes and workplaces across the nation. And the feeling here is that Congress will take steps to ban U .S. research on human cloning, joining other nations worried about unchecked scientific research. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Monica Brady in Washington. It's 11 minutes before the hour. Coming up, women's only residences in New York City still do exist and the connection between the Millennium and Breakfast Food does too. This is monitor radio. When young women used to succumb to the lure of the big city

and move to New York, they often lived in residences just for women. Dozens of such places, including the famed Barbizon Hotel for Women, used to be sprinkled throughout the city. They offered a proper, respectable place to live at affordable prices. But times have changed. Most such places have shut down in recent years, including the Barbizon. But some women only residences are holding on in the Big Apple. Monitor Radio's Gene Hecklander recently went to call at one of them. In the classic 1937 movie Stage Door, a character played by Catherine Hepburn is moving into the fictional Women Only Footlights Club in New York. Today 13 dollars would barely buy two extra value meals at McDonald's in New York City,

where rents have shot up 40 to 50 percent in the last three years alone. But that doesn't mean good deals can't be found. This is our dining room. We have a microwave here for the girl and a toaster. They always have food to snack on. You'll see to your left a TV and a VCR, and that's where the girls watch TV. Andrea Dullin is resident director of Catherine House, a seven -story Georgian -style brick building on West 13th Street. Catherine House was founded by the ladies Christian Union in 1910. And here, young women can still rent a single room for an affordable $135 a week. That includes two meals a day and made service once a week. Residents must be between the ages of 18 and 25 years old and earn less than $25 ,000 a year. The minimum stay is three months, the maximum three years. Aspiring actress Alina Coleman has been in New York since January. She says she doesn't know what she would have done if she hadn't stumbled

upon Catherine House. I had been pounding the pavement. I got the village voice and every other publication known to man and had gone down the list meeting with various strange individuals who wanted to share their apartments and I got really scared because I met some macos and they were charging exorbitant rents for places that were really lousy or the apartment would be nice but it was a dangerous neighborhood or not near a subway, not well lit, whatever. So Coleman says she asked about housing options at the acting school where she takes classes. And someone said that they had heard that there was a lady's housing residence in the village and I couldn't believe it. So I actually walked over and sure enough, you know, I mean for the price, it's mind bogglingly wonderful. But there are house rules which might crimp the style of many prospective residents, although the streets of hip -renage village are just steps away. Inside Catherine

House, the Victorian age lives on. Two so -called bow parlors are located to the immediate left and right of the front door. It is here and here only where the building's 80 female residents may entertain visitors, male and female and only until 11 o 'clock at night. Under the watchful eye of a 24 -hour attendant, no one, not even family members, are allowed up to the rooms without special permission. Acting students Susan Timko has lived here for almost three years. In the beginning, I thought it was his horrible stuff, but since I've been here, I love it because it's safe that way. You don't know what kind of friends people have and stuff like that, all hours and different people coming. It's much more safe for that way. You know, it's just the girls up there and I like it better that way. There are other strict rules as well. No alcohol or drug use is allowed. Residents must sign in and out, and all TVs and radios must be turned off at 11 o 'clock p .m. Mandy Peach Tree is a dancer who has lived here for eight months. She says the pluses

far outweigh the minuses. The Catherine House relieves a lot of the stress that I would, you know, have if I were living in an apartment. Just a lot more things to deal with and I can concentrate on, you know, finding my purpose here in this world. A tour of Catherine House includes an expensive second floor common room with high ceilings, antique furniture, a baby grand piano and a fireplace. The residents own rooms are small. None has air conditioning or a private bathroom, but resident Alena Coleman has no complaints. The furniture comes with the room, the lamps. There's some hangers in the closet here. Come on in. I'll show you the, okay. Of course, a sink and a little cabinet, you know, for toiletries and things like that. What else? The bed, the mattress. The mattress is okay. The mattress is great, actually, and I'm picky. There used to be dozens of residences like Catherine House in New York City, but financial pressures have forced all but a handful to close

down. Catherine House relies largely on an endowment from the Joseph Millbank family to keep its doors open, even though it operates at a 100 % occupancy rate. Without advertising, it currently has a waiting list of about 30 names, and most residents say they'd like to continue living here as long as they can, even though the meals might not be what they'd call home cooking. How's the food? The salad is good. Salad is good, so, you know. For the Christian Science Monitor, I'm Gene Hacklander in New York. It is not recorded what commentator Taffy Field thinks about salad, but she does say there's a connection between corn muffins and the millennium. As my personal congealment of molecules heads toward the half century mark and our collective congealment heads toward full century and full millennium marks, I find myself restless with reflection. A childhood friend called last night from California to remind me

of the tree he toppled in my backyard when we were six, and for the rest of the night I was lightly leafing a mental memoir in my dreams. Something last week reminded me of the World News Roundup, a radio show my father listened to every morning driving me to school. The sponsor of the World News Roundup was some kind of corn muffin. I've been hungry for corn muffins ever since. I am unsettled and nostalgic. It is more than ever time to tell our story. At the millennium we should sign in with who we are, where we're from, and where we may be headed, much as we would sign in in the registers along a stretch of trail. I may be somewhat addled by corn muffins, but the voices I find myself yearning for are those of mid -century. Where are E .B. White and James Thurber when we need their wise irony, the soft edges of their observations about the wit and witlessness of their fellow human beings and life in general. We take ourselves too seriously these days, and in so doing it is

difficult to discern the true seriousness of some of what faces us. I fear that jaded and self -important voices of cynicism have left us without the compassion necessary for real understanding, and that these voices will define and limit us. I don't want them to sign me in, because I want to have my vision skewed toward humanity, not away from it. I want to be encouraged to see the gentle comedy and necessary compassion of community. I have traveled far enough to know how painful and unfair life can be. I want the public observers of its shadow side to record it with the kind of underlying faith that nudges me toward investing in improvements instead of distractions. Bob Dunn and David LaValle. I'm Steve Delaney.

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