Salt Lake Tribune | 1999-12-29 | Page 5

The Salt Lake Tribune WORLD Wednesday, December29, 1999 France Battered by Second Killer Storm Atleast 115 are dead across Western Europe due to violent weather he said. “Road,rail and air routes THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.N. War Crimes Prosecutor Investigating NATOAirstrikes without electricity, officials at state electricity company EDF waves alongthecoast. Across Western Europe, the said, adding that many people deathtoll from the storms reached 115 on Tuesday. probably won't have powerre- stored before the New Year. Power hit France's southwestern corner, leaving trail of destruction similar to the one that struck the companies from Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain pledged to help north on Sunday: fallen power lines, uprooted trees, collapsed worst crisis in 50 years. EDFovercome whatit said wasits “France has been wounded and roofs and streets strewn with debris, manyFrench are faced with cruel hardship just when they were By dawn Tuesday, the storm about to celebrate the end of the year and the millennium,”Presi- tic had rolled out, leaving weather dent Jacques Chirac said Tuesday. Notrains were running Tuesday from Paris to Bordeaux, and only one in three was servicing theeast. Buttrains running north from the capital were almost back that hadrolled in from the Atlan- conditions calm across most of France. No new stormswere forecast, but much chaos remained. In the Vendee region, on France's western coast, more than ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The U.N. chief war crimes prose- cutor is reviewing the conduct of NATO pilots and their commanders during last spring’s 78-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, her spokesman said Tuesday, Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte’s staff compiled a report on the airstrikes at the urging of several “interested parties,” including a group of Russian parliamentari- ans and a renowned Canadian law professor, said the spokesman, Paul Risley. Thewar crimes tribunal, set up in 1993 by the U.N. Security Council, cannot indict govern- ments or international organizations. But if Del Ponte chooses to press charges against any indi- vidual as a result of the report, it would be a landmark in global justice — and a highly controver- sial one. Never has & Western leader or military figure been hauled before an international tribunal. The NATO alliance janet the bombing campaign in to force Yugoslav Pedent Bi ae boilan Milosevicto halt his crackdown against ethnic Albanians in the rebellious southern province of Kosovo, ‘The contents of the tribunal’s in Belgrade anda strike against a railroad bridge as a passenger 2,000 people were evacuated from NATOspokesman Jamie Shea Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot announced thatextensive on routes to ski resorts in the tigation, saying the organization hasn't been formallynotified ofit. damage to the country’s public Alps. Resorts in the Pyrenees transport network, caused mostly mountains were closed because of by fallen trees or flooding, would notbe totally fixed before the end of the year. “The damageis considerable,” avalanche fears and authorities warned people notto visit forests because manytreesstill risk fall- train was crossing it. refused to commenton the invesPursuing NATO’s conduct would go far in dispelling the belief — prevalentin the Balkans — thatthe tribunal is a tool used by Western leaders to escape account Butevenifevidence of violationsof international conventions on warfare were found,it is highly spent the night in town halls. And Majordisruption was predicted ing over. VERSAILLES, France Virginia tulip tree at Versailles has toppled downa hill, its exposed, soil-clotted roots soggy in the rain. A Corsican pine planted under Napoleon’s or- ders sprawls splintered in a field. Heapsoftattered tree trunks litter the oak-canopied path ways where kings and queens oncestrolled on the grounds of France's mostfamouschateau. The usually peaceful gar- dens at Versailles emerged as oneof the worstbattlefields of the violent storms that killed morethan 100 people in Western Europe and reduced some culturaltreasures to shambles. Alain Baraton, the head gardener, could only stare helplessly from a window early Sunday. “It was like the apocalypse. In onehour,200 years oftrees Three nuclear reactors at a powerstation near Bordeaux re- mained closed Tuesday after water from the flooding Gironde river seepedinto theinstallations. In Paris, the swollen Seine River flooded roads and walkways in several parts of the city. Paris Officials have asked the governmentto declare thecity a natural disaster area. The windsalso have hampered alliance to arrest and hand aroundhalf of the 84 suspects. Del Ponte alluded to this dilemma when a reporter for The Observer newspaper in London asked her whether she would be (em ema prepared to press charges if the investigation turned up incriminating evidence. “If I am notwillingto do that, I am not in the right place: I must give up the mission,” she said in the interview, published last But she was quickto stress that cause I have inquiries about genocide, about bodies in mass 90° saying: “It’s not my priority, begraves. German Chancellor Says Europe Must Unite Against U.S. Dominance tered. Wind gusts peeled sheets of lead off the roof Sunday, blasted windowpanes and lifted up glass skylights like wind-blown papers. But workers quickly made repairs before rain could penetrate the chateau and damageits interi- » ors and artwork. “ Administrators at Versailles now have turned to the arduous task of clearing the grounds. That alone will take weeks, but it will be at least several years before replanted seedlings can grow into mature trees, " Louis XIV, knownas the Sun . King, dazzled foreign courts with his splendid chateau and gardens outside Paris during thefirst fetes here in the 17th century. the cleanup of an oil slick off France's western coast after a tanker broke in two on Dec.12. Violent waves have broken up much of the slick, and oil has washed up on large swathes of beaches. Since Sunday, 17 people have died in Germany and 13 in Switzerland. A sixth person died in northern Spain on Tuesday after herboat capsized in heavy winds. aaa ae Purnece & Air Duct Cleaning ° Powerful Mounted Equipment © We vacuum and brush for the best possible results wale any Bonded & insuredf other investigations would take vilian deaths in what it has de- them historic, were lost. The chateau, too, was bat- If you are a healthy 18-30 year old woman interested in participating in a study in developmentof a vaccine for prevention of cervical cancer, call 585-9874 or 585-5683 Compensation provided University of Utah Health Science Center approved research ers in the Balkans have detained weekend. were destroyed,”’ he said Tuesday. About 10,000 trees, many of VACCINE STUDY FOR WOMEN over suspects. NATO peacekeep- precedence over any NATO probe, scribed as mishaps, including the to normal, and the Eurostar service to London wasunaffected. their homes because offloods and questionable whether the former Swiss federal prosecutor would go so aas to issue any indictments. dling of the report is of Tutor sensitivity for the tribunal, which depends on the mili- report are tial. However, NATO has been criticized for ci- bombing of the Chinese Embassy Marie Antoinette’s much-loved also led to maximum avalanche alerts. Atleast3.4 million homes were The bruntof the regional storm Dirk Stutzki measures the 66-centimeter-long tusks of Antje the walrus on Tuesday at Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany. Every yearthe 200 conducts an animalinventory after Christmas. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sunday, rose across Europe after snowstorms brought on by the lanches Tuesday in western and central Austria, killing 12 people. Heavy snowfall in the French Alps New Year's Eve without electricity after a second killer storm in three days brought fierce winds, torrential downpours and violent This Won’t Hurt a Bit Versailles’ Toppled Trees Witnessed History The death toll, which has weactel 68 in France alone since same weather front caused ava- PARIS — Thousandsof people in France faced the prospect of ChristofStache/TheAssociated Press are affected. We are really in great difficulty.” ce stra| 966-9366 SnaysooY OD @® ial CF > ANTATE RESTAURANT ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BERLIN — Europe must act more like a single country if it wants to challenge U.S. sorpomnle and political dominance, C! baivetherd Schroeder ald Ree ina television interview whether the United States lacked consideration for its allies, Schroeder said: “Yes, that certainly is so. “There is a risk of America locking inward because of its huge economic powerandits huge political weight, and it wouldbe be sean if that process continu Butiuroyean nations have to do their part by uniting behind common goals, Schroeder said, noting the 15-nation European Union's decision this year to appoint a senior diplomatas first step toward a hoped-for joint foreign policy. He portrayed Germany as a European power with growing self-eonfidence, underscoring a more assertive tonein foreign affairs that sets Schroeder apart pe his predecessor, Helmut ‘onl. “Theold theory of Germany as an economicgiantbut a political midget was over with German ee in 1990, Schroeder said. Start your Millennial Celebrations with us! HERBAL BODY ia a sO Please call for information on this evening's special menu 582-8833 Reservations accepted 5-10 pm Canyon Scenery Fireplaces Acoustic Guitar 10 minutes from town - 2 Minutes fromm Hogle Zoo in Emigration Canyon Presidential Candidate In Taiwan Denies Misusing Party Funds ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TAIPEI, Taiwan — One of Taiwan’s main presidential candi- Many of us will never know. 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