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Show ____ TheSalt Lake TribuneNATION/WORLD Tuesday, December1, 1998 AIDS a ge Threat to South Africa United Nationsofficial Says scourge is worse THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. JOHANNESBURG, SouthAfrica — AIDS has rapidly crept up onSouth Africa and posesa trage- Russian Budget’s Double Delay Israel Nixes Shows Government in Disarray Withdrawal MOSCOW — Within hours, Russia's government twice announced delays in the presentation to the Cabinet of the pivotal 1999 budget that had been scheduled for Monday. ‘GumuuietHIV/AIDSae 14.5million “Age under 15 years United Nation’s top AIDS official The clumsy postponement of the budget’s unveiling is another blow to Prime Minister Yevgeny “Weare faced with an unprece- Primakev’s efforts to show that his government is in expert dy worse than apartheid, the New infections _ said Monday head of the U.N. AIDS program He said the scourgeis worse than South Africa’s former system of white minority rule or natural tragedies like drought. ing hottest in Africa, particularly the southern part. About two- thirds of the 33 million people worldwide whoareinfected with the HIV virus that causes AIDSlive south of the Sahara. An estimated 2 million People will die of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa this year, four timesthetotal for the rest of the world. HIVinfection rates in Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe — South African neighbors — hover between 20 percent and 25 percent of the adult population, the United Nations said. Apartheid, which ended in 1994, helped isolate South Africa and madeit a latecomer to the AIDS epidemic. But it is fast the IMF will provide installments of a $22 billion loan that was WW ion catchingupwithits neighbors. An estimated 3.2 million South Afri- © GRAPHIC NEWS community, South Africa could face pronounced damageto its cans are HIV-positive, or about 12 percentto 14 percentof adults. economy as the disease kills off educated andskilled workers. cans will have died of AIDS by 2001, bringing the life expectancy down from 68 years to 48 within nator for South Africa, said the Morethan a million South Afri- thefirst decade of the new millen- nium, the U.N. Development Program said. With its relative wealth and sophisticated business David Whaley, the U.N. coordi- country had “significantly less success than other developing countries” in using its resources to fight poverty, which develop- mentofficials blame for helping spread the disease. Yossi Beilin, from the opposi- Yitzhak Mordechai of “gambling (IMF), today. Russiais still hoping Source. Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS and World Health Organization an early droughtand late, heavy headed International Monetary Fund Austratia &| New Zeeland. MondayaboutIsrael's presence in southern Lebanon, where mounting troop casualties have stirred up a national debate. ished have declined and farm production fell dramatically due to The apparent disarray cast a shadow over the Moscowvisit of Michel Camdessus,directorof the Sub-Saharan Africa:4 million Botswana: One in four adults HIV positive Zimbabwe: One in five adults HIV positive TEL AVIV, Israel — Lawmakers lashed out at one another of its rural villages. Shops and restaurants have closed, imports and the retail trade they nour- budget. The Finance Ministry, noon, the postponement was ex- last week showthecrisis is burn- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Russia’s cities and the dirt roads tended until Dec. 10. be made public Thursday instead of Monday. On Monday after- manyvictims,” he said. Global AIDS figures released The new figures confirmed what is evident onthe streets of unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon, said leaving troops there announcedthat the budget would “None of them will claim so cording to governmentdata rains, Almost three months into Primakov’s shepherding of the economy, plans for pulling Russia out of its tailspin arestill mired in dis- hands. Monday morning,officials dented crisis,” said Peter Piot, From Lebanon then by a scant 0.8 percent, ac ‘THE WASHINGTON POST than apartheid’s evils A3 worked out last summer; it w: by Mikhail ics Ministry predicted that the gross domestic product would shrink by 5 percent in 1999, on topof this year’s decline of 3 percent. Overall, the Russian economy has shrunk by almost 40 percent since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. In only one year, 1997, did the GDP grow, and Mordechai, a former army gen- eral, said Israel’s occupation of south Lebanon is ‘‘dictated by reality,” and ruled out removing his soldiers in spite of the recent death toll in guerrilla warfare there. 20 percent Thechief tax collector, Georgy Friday, the Cabinet approved Boos’ plan and Finance Ministry officials worked all weekend to Russia's economy, which is al- with their lives.” pressed for a low budgetdeficit and fought to maintain the level of value-added taxes, a steady source of government revenue, at The budget delay coincided with official figures that show even darker times lie ahead for readydeep in crisis. The Econom- Israelis in the military, He accused Israeli Defense Minister Zadornov, devalued the ruble and reneged on debt peyments. meant “certain death” for young cord, particularly as regards the Boos,battled to reduce the valueadded tax to 14 percent on the groundsthat a lower rate would puton hold when Russia abruptly tion Labor party who advocates a “Tamgambling with the lives of Israeli soldiers. I fought my whole life here,” Mordechai said after he and Beilin walked out of a prompt tax evaders to pay up heatedsession of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the issue. Israel has patrolled a small make budget projectionsfit. Suddenly, the level was reset at 15 percent, sending the officials strip of land in Lebanon since backto their calculators. 1985in aneffortto halt cross-bor- The Primakov government der attacks by Iranian-backed wants the IMF to blessits negotiations with an array of foreign lenders to reduce debt payments nextyear. Officials have said Rus- Hezbollah guerrillas in Israel’s northern communities. Opposition to Israel’s military much of about $17 billion in debt. er, since seven Israeli soldiers presence hasintensified, howev- sia cannot make payments on were killed there in the past two weeks. Impeachment Panel Wants to Question Freeh About Clinton Fund Raising COMBINED NEWS SERVICES WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House impeachment panel on Monday moved to subpoena FBI Director Louis Freeh and a federal prosecutor as they sought access to secret memos relating to The decision opens up a new avenue of investigation for the impeachment panel, the weirdnessofit all. We've said before, andthis is confirmation,thatthis is an im- pressing to wrap up work on theissue in peachment in search of a crime,” Demo- time for a vote by Christmas on possible cratic committee spokesman Jim Jordan articles of impeachment againstthe presi- said. “This says quite a bit about the confidence Republicans have in the strength of the case they've assembied at this point.” dent. The sources said that in addition to alleged fund-raising irregularities in Presi- demanding Freeh and La Bella submit to dent Clinton’s 1996 campaign, sources depositions, Hyde will press for a vote by said. These committee sources said Rep. Henry Hyde and other Judiciary Committee Republicans want to question Freeh and prosecutor Charles LaBella, as well as gain possession of memos they wrote recommending that Atty. Gen. Janet Reno appoint an independent counsel to investigate campaign fund-raising issues. “Weare just left shaking our heads at at precisely the time that Hyde, R-IIL., is verylikely you'll see the president appear before that committee,” spokesman Joe Lockhart said. @ Meanwhile, a special court Monday granted Reno's request for 60 more days to decideif an independent counsel should in- vestigate whether former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Harold Ickes lied in Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- tanyahuinsisted soldiers must remain in their positionsin order to protect Israeli border villages. ‘Ourheartis withrevery mother and every person who has suffered” because of Israel's mili- tary presence in Lebanon, hetold Israel radio. But “we have the re- sponsibility to do the right thing for the state ofIsrael, not for the The abrupt move by Republicans came Senate testimony about the administra- to comply promptly, but no attempt was contemplated to force Clinton to answer as Hyde sharply attacked Clinton’s answers to 81 questions posed by impeachment investigators. He contended the president “chose to evade” questions in a manner that could force the panel to acceptaliegations against Clinton as fact. next newscast,” he said. Mordechai told reporters that Reno's unexplained action, coming on the deadline of her 90-day preliminary investigation of the Ickes matter, is the second in series of three almost back-to-back opinion of security officials after Republican desperation. tion to have Clinton testify in the panel’s impeachment inquiry. “I don’t think it’s the full committee today to compel Reno to hand over copies of memos written by the two men. Aseparate subpoenaalsowill be sought to demandthat Clinton order Reno questions. Democrats blasted the moveas proof of The White House brushedoff an invita- tion’s role in a Teamsters Union strike. decisions on whether someoneoutside the Clinton Justice Departmentshould probe allegations of Democratic abuses in the 1996 campaign. fund-raising keeping Israeli soldiers there is the only option, and “thisis the they examined all the possibilities.” Beilin stormed out of the committee session, slammed the door, and called Mordechai“‘a liar.” Call stores for special hours. Crossroads Plaza, (801) 322-4200; Fashion Place, (801) 261-4402; Ogden City Mall, (801) 627-1520. To order, call 1-800-695-8000. Shipping charge on mail/phone orders | |