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Show & WORLD sT A4 THE DAILY HERALD (www.HarkTheHerald.com) MONDAY. APRIL 23, 2001 (relates Wodims GL02AL BRIEFING Suicide bomber strikes KFAR SABA, Israel (AP) A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded suburban bus stop Sunday, killing an Israeli doctor and wounding 50 people a day after Israelis and Palestinians met in a bid to prevent such acts of violence. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accused the Palestinian leadership of not doing enough to prevent such attacks, and the slim prospect of renewed security cooperation between the two sides appeared to be evaporating with the latest outburst of violence. "The Palestinian Authority is not adhering to agreements in ' which it obligated itself to prevent acts of terror against Israel,'' Sharon said in a statement released by his office. "Israel views the Palestinian Authority as responsible for the attack." cflospasii irapoirts Families question Peru's version, say plane received clearance By RICKVECCHIO Associated Press Writer LIMA, Peru A plane carrying American missionaries that apparently was mistaken for a drug flight and shot down over the Amazon had received clearance to land and moments later Peru's air force fired on it without warning, relatives said Sunday. The relatives' comments were at odds with a version by Peru's military that the plane failed to identify itself and was flying without a flight plan in an area frequented by drug traffickers. Veronica Missionary "Roni" Bowers, 35, and infant her daughter, Charity, were both killed by the Peruvian gunfire Friday, apparently by a single bullet that passed through the woman's body and entered the child's skull as she sat on her mother's lap, her said. single-engin- e The plane, which was being tracked by a U.S. counter-d- brother-in-la- w surveillance had the contacted plane, air tower in the jungle city of Iquitos and received landing clearance about 10 minutes rug before it was downed, said Richmond Donaldson, father of pilot Kevin military identify possible son, Cory. Don- year-ol- d aldson was reportedly headed to a Philadelphia hospital for surgery. U.S. officials announced late Saturday that drug interdiction flights over Peru were being suspended pending a full investigation. is A key dispute whether the seaplane had a flight plan when it t jok off Friday morning from a section of the Amazon River where Peru, Brazil and Colombia are separated. President Bush said Sunday that U.S. officials at the time of the attack had been helping Peru's Donaldson. "Here was a plane following a regular route. Drug runners do not follow regular routes," he said. "There was the contact with the tower that these other planes should have heard," the pilot's father said. "They should have checked the plane's numbering. It was just recently registered." The husband, Jim Bowers, 37, was debriefed by authorities Peruvian before returning home to North Carolina on Sunday with the couple's 6- - drug smugglers by providing information, such as tail numbers for planes without a flight plan. "Our role was top simply to pass on information," Bush said in Quebec, where he was attending the Summit of the Americas. A U.S. government official in Washington, speakof ing on condition anonymity, said that an surAmerican veillance plane alerted Peruvians that the missionaries' plane was operating without a flight plan in airspace frequented by drug runners. . anti-dru- g Leader chosen It HANOI, Vietnam (AP) wasn't announced until Sunday, but the name of Y.etnam's new ruling party leader was on the lips of shopkeepers, students and people in the streets for days. "It's Nong Due Manh, isn't it?" Tran, a waitress, said last week, several days before the Communist Party told the public it chose Manh as its chief, the country's most powerful post. Manh's selection was made final at a closed-doo- r meeting of the party Central Committee on Tuesday, but Communist officials insisted all week that new boss would be chosen democratically during a four-da- y party congress that ended Sunday. Congress faces calls t. r - M i !v on taxes, w education By court-marti- HOISINGTON, Kan. (AP) Gerald Tauscher was confident the town alarms would give him plenty of warning if a tornado was coming, and he was in no hurry to go to the basement as thunderstorms rolled across the area. The sirens never sounded. Tauscher was killed late Saturday and 28 people were injured by a twister that ravaged an area of town six blocks wide and a mile long. One person remained in critical condition Sunday. Agreement reached ATLANTA (AP) Delta Air Lines and its pilots union reached a tentative agreement on a new contract Sunday, ending fears the nation's airline would be crippled by a strike by the end of the month. The agreement, which requires the approval of the union's came during a weekend of talks with the National Mediation Board in Washington. "This agreement will make Delta pilots the best paid in the industry and will provide other industry-leadinimprovements," company chairman Leo F. Mullin said in a statement. third-large- KVA1S st rank-and-fil- e, Associated Press KLMIOKZThe Things are calmer Inside: A group of protesters gestures toward a line of riot police during demonstrations outside the Summit of the Americas on Sunday. Below, President Bush speaks during an open news conference at the summit. By TONY SMITH Associated Press Writer Leaders of 34 QUEBEC Western Hemisphere nations both rich and poor agreed Sunday to stick with an ambitious plan to create the world's largest e zone by 2005 and penalize any country that strays from the path of democracy. Stepping up to a table in pairs to sign the accord, the leaders left many differences unresolved as sumthey concluded a three-da- y mit that was marred by protests, both peaceful and violent. President Bush headed home from his first international conference to face a tough battle in winning negotiating authority from Congress to complete the deal. "There is no question in my mind that we have challenges ahead. Also, there is no question that we can meet those challenges," Bush said after scrawling his name on the agreement to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas encompassing 800 million people. In scattered incidents of vioe demonstrators lence, bonfires and smashed lighted windows in an area along the St. free-trad- anti-trad- Lawrence River. But streets were mostly quiet on a rainy Sunday, without the angry clashes between police and some demonstrators that had marked the first two days of the session. Since the summit opened Friday, more than 400 protesters were arrested, and at least 46 police officers and 57 demonstrators were injured. The duty-fre- e hemispheric zone stretching from the Arctic to the tip of South America had been embraced at earlier summits in 1994 and 1998 but had lost momentum in recent years. In staying with the 2005 target, the leaders rejected calls to speed up or slow down the completion date. Venezuela signed the accord despite reservations about the timing and a provision called the "democracy clause." All leaders of the hemisphere were present except for Cuba's Fidel Castro, who was excluded. The summit partners added the democracy clause that Could strip a country of membership if it ceased to be a democracy, as in a military coup. The leaders said that any disruption in the democratic order of any country was "an insurmountable obstacle" to membership in the hemispheric d 10-yea- r, Leaders sign on with trade pact al Tornado kills one WASHINGTON A Congress returns to work on school accountability and tax cuts, issues at the heart of the Bush administration's agenda. By midweek, the Senate is to take up a major education bill in line with the president's plan to improve the performance of both the nation's students ,and the public schools they attend. House and Senate negotiators also sit down this week to grapple with differences in their approach to the budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The House voted for a budget that endorsed Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut. The Senate, in its k final act before the Easter break, approved a package that included more spending than the president wants and a $1.2 trillion tax break. A vote on a compromise could come by the end of the week. In what is expected to be a busy five weeks before Memorial Day, Republican leaders hope to send a tax cut package to the president and come up with a long-terenergy plan. The Senate is likely to vote on legislation to raise the minimum wage while giving small businesses some tax relief. Democrats also are pressing on such issues as campaign finance legislation, prescription drug benefits for seniors and patient rights for those in HMO programs. These activities follow the fairly cautious approach taken so far by Republican leaders who finally have a soul mate in the White House but also must deal with a Democratic force of nearly equal strength. Congress this year has passed two major bills. One makes it tougher to declare bankruptcy, the other overturns Clinton administration ergonomic rules aimed at reducing workplace injuries. The House has passed the main parts of the Bush tax plan while the Senate, in a victory for Sen. John McCain, approved limits on campaign contributions. well-reste- Skipper confident HONOLULU (AP) The skipper of the USS Greeneville has been assured his disciplinary hearing today will be conducted "with an open mind" and expects to retire with full pension and an honorable discharge, his attorney said. Cmdr. Scott Waddle plans to travel to Japan after he retires to meet with families of the nine Japanese students and adults killed when the Greeneville collided with the school's fishing boat on Feb. 9, said civilian attorney Charles Gittins. Waddle's commanding officer, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo, will punish Waddle Monday at a hearing known as an "admiral's mast," rather than institute a proceeding. JIM ABRAMS Associated Press Writer two-wee- m TI - ' ' - LYNNE SI.A1)KYThe ' , Associated Press trade club. Noting that "democracy in cer- tain countries continues to be fragile," summit host Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien had words of caution for Haiti for its flawed election last year. The overall trade agreement sets a target of January 2005 for completing negotiations among the nations of North, South and Central America. The pact is to take effect by the end of that year. g Pro-independe- wins PODGORICA, Yugoslavia (AP) Montenegro's movement won a majority in parliamentary elections Sunday, early unofficial returns showed, lending key support to its drive to secede from Yugoslavia and create a new Balkan nation. With 12 percent of the vote counted, President Milo Djukanovic's "Victory Belongs to Montenegro" coalition was leading with 44 percent of the vote, and the "Together for Yugoslavia" bloc was trailing with 38 percent, the state electoral commission announced. Earth Day incites criticism of Bush's policies By The Associated Press Activists, politicians and celebrities gathered for Earth Day celebrations and cleanups Sunday, but the event's founder and others criticized what they fear will be a rollback of environmental progress. President Bush has drawn fire from environmentalists for several environmental policies, including blocking efforts to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and proposing to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. "Tragically, the presi- at reducing heat-trappin- g gases that cause global warming. Bush said the treaty's mandatory pollu- tion reductions were too harmful to the American tions requiring thousands of businesses to report releases of toxic lead. "Each of us understands that our prosperity as a nation will mean little if our legacy to future generations is a world of polluted air, toxic waste, and vanished forests," Bush said Saturday. "As we celebrate Earth Day on this April 22, 2001, I encourage Americans to, join me in renewing our commitment to protecting dent doesn't have any economy. The interest at all in the president has issue," former Senator defended his efforts to Gaylord Nelson, credited strike a balance on enviwith founding Earth Day ronmental issues. In in 1970, said in a speech recent weeks, he has endorsed a treaty seeking Saturday. of-criticized a worldwide phase-ou- t Nelson dozen highly toxic chemBush's decision last month to reject the Kyoto icals and upheld Clinton Protocol, a treaty aimed administration regula the a .1. environment leaving our children and grandchildren with a legacy of clean water, clean air and natural beauty." In Los Angeles, politicians and activists held a rally Saturday to protest Bush's environmental policies. "It's time to kick the bad drug habit of oil and costly energy," said actor Esai Morales, who plays Lt. Tony Rodriguez on the television drama "NYPD and Blue." |