10
World News
Reports
Courtesy of the Associated Press
♦Arafat, Netanyahu plan
meeting
Washington (AP) Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
agreed Monday to work toward
reaching a West Bank accord at a
mid-October White House summit,
after Netanyahu reported a break
through on how much land Israel
will yield.
President Clinton, acting as
media tor, set up the meeting during
a session Monday with Netanyahu
and Arafat.
Netanyahu expressed opti
mism that the long-sought accord
could be in hand by next month if
the Palestinians reciprocated for
Israel's promised pullback from the
West Bank with stiffer anti-terror
ism measures.
Arafat, meanwhile, hurried
back to New York, where in a speech
to the U.N. General Assembly he
appealed for support for a Palestin
ian state, but pointedly did not
repeat a controversial vow to declare
one unilaterally if Israel did
not go along.
• ■ • ?'■' ''h'j ' '
♦ Helmut Kohl ousted
Bonn, Germany (AP) Gerhard
Schroeder, Germany's future chan
cellor, said today his center-left So
cial Democrats will begin formal
talks Friday on forming a govern
ment with the environmentalist
Greens after ousting Chancellor
Helmut Kohl in a sweeping vote
for change.
The conservative Kohl, who
during 16 years in power oversaw
the reunification of Germany and
helped usher Em-ope toward eco
nomic union, was no match Sunday
for the fresh face of Schroeder,
a Social Democrat 14 years Kohl's
junior.
In a stinging humiliation for the
West's longest-serving leader, Kohl
and his Christian Democrats won
just 35 percent of the vote, which
translates to a loss of 49 of the 294
seats it held in the old parliament.
♦ Minks given freedom
Stockholm, Sweden (AP) Sabo
teurs released about 2,000 minks
from a fur farm in northern Sweden
overnight Monday, a news agency
reported.
No arrests were immediately
made, but suspicion fell On animal
rights activists, the news agency, IT,
said.
About 1,000 minks were set
free earlier this month from the farm
in Sundsvall, 210 miles north of
Stockholm, by vandals who scrawled
Brazil's economy in peril
By Mary Haldeman
STAFF WRITER
The Brazilian economy edged
dangerously close to collapse this
month. The stock mar-
ket was down 50 percent
for the year, and the
banking system lost $25
billion in a single month.
"Money is disap
pearing from Brazil
faster than its
rainforests, as interna
tional confidence in the
country's economy and
its currency, the real,
has collapsed," said BBC
news.
President
Fernando Henrique
Cardoso raised interest
rates to nearly 50 per
cent in a desperate at
tempt to convince inves
tors to keep their money
in the country. The capi
tal flight slowed to about
S2OO million a day.
However, according
to the Washington Post,
"experts cautioned that
the economy is likely to
slip into recession, and
could take the rest of Latin
America down with it if those in
terest rates are not reduced in 60
to 90 days."
The International Monetary
Fund, the World Bank, and the
Institute of International Finance
all pledged to support Brazil with
as much as SSO million in aid.
"Institute [of International
Finance] officials placed particu
lar emphasis on easing the plight
of Brazil, which is the largest Latin
American economy and which has
come to be seen as a fire wall in
the effort to contain the global cri-
Student protests in Myanmar
By Laurence Arnold
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Washington (AP) Safely back
at college after a perilous summer,
Michele Keegan empathizes with
fellow activists who did not share
her quick escape from the military
dictatorship in Myanmar.
"You saw my family's tears,
you saw their fears, but in the end
you saw me free," said Keegan, one
of 18 activists detained in the
former Burma for six days in Au
gust. "Right now, there are thou
sands of Burmese citizens in jail,
and I can guarantee you that a lot
of (them) are being tortured se
verely."
Keegan, a 19-year-old sopho-
World
sis," said the Washington Post
President Cardoso did not
want to openly accept loans from
other countries because he is up
for reelection on Oct 4th. Cardoso
Slippy
BRIAN O'HEAQSEY
needs to give voters confidence
that he can pull the country out of
financial disaster without relying
on foreign aid.
Cardoso announced plans to
cut the budget deficit, which totals
more than seven percent of Brazil's
gross national product. He de
clared that the government would
stop tax evasion and, if necessary,
raise taxes.
The New York Times reported
that "of the estimated 73 million
Brazilians in the work force, only
7.6 million pay income tax, accord
ing to government figures."
more at American University in
Washington, skipped classes Mon
day to appear before a joint hear
ing of House International Rela
tions subcommittees on Asia and
human rights.
The chairman of the human
rights subcommittee, Rep. Chris
Smith, hailed Keegan and other
activists for bringing "the focus of
the world back to Burma, back to
Rangoon."
On Aug. 9th, Keegan and the
other activists visited Yangon to
hand out small cards bearing this
message: "Goodwill Greeting. We
are your friends from around the
world. We have not forgotten you.
We support your hopes for human
rights and democracy. Don't forget,
THE GUILFORDIAN
OCTOBER 2, 1 998
The effect on world economies
would be disastrous if Brazil were
forced to devalue its currency.
Robert Williams, a Guilford
economics professor, explained
that "we have a very frag-
ile financial system."
Economic problems in
one country spread to
the next.
Russia's default and
devaluation of the ruble
in August led to panic
among investors, and
they pulled their money
out of Brazil.
U.S. companies
have more than $26 bil
lion invested in Brazil,
and American banks rely
on Brazil as an important
borrower. According to
BBC news, "If Brazil goes
under, it could even sig
nal the end of six years
of uninterrupted growth
in the U.S. economy."
If Brazil defaults on
its loans, American
banks will have a short
age of cash. This could
cause panic in the finan
cial system and disrupt
the market.
Williams said that the U.S.
could end up with a situation simi
lar to the banking crisis of the
1930s if the financial system is not
prepared.
The Federal Reserve's Open
Market Committee lowered inter
est rates last Tuesday, allowing
banks to borrow money at
low costs.
"In a brief statement, the Fed
said it made the move because the
United States was starting to
feel the effects of the global eco
nomic turmoil," said CNN finan
cial news.
Don't give up."
The last part referred to Aug.
Bth, 1988, the start of an uprising
against military rule that resulted
in a change of leaders but eventu
ally was crushed. An estimated
3,000 people died.
Keegan and two other Ameri
can University students were dis
tributing the cards when they were
apprehended.
During six days in custody,
the students received adequate
food, water, and bedding, Keegan
said, but were "repeatedly lied to"
about their case. The 18 activists
were tried, convicted of sedition
and sentenced to five years in
prison, but then expelled immedi
ately.