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Show THE WORLD Tm Fire strikes at Chernobyl plant KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Fire raced through deserted villages around the Chernobyl nuclear plant yesterday, sending wind-whipped radioactive particles skyward 10 years to the week after the world's worst nuclear accident. Monitors flown in helicopters over the area of the fire recorded only a slight radiation increase, said Nikolai Komshensky, a spokesman for Ukraine's nuclear regulatory agency. "We see no reason to be concerned now," he said. Plant officials said the fire posed no danger to the "' Chernobyl plant, still in ~ operation a decade after a g reactor exploded, killing at § least 30 people outright. u Another 5 million people 5l were exposed to radioactive~ fallout, mostly in Ukraine, i: ___.............._ .. families visiting graves near the village of Tovsty Lis, about six miles northwest of the plant. Old women sobbed and tried to shield grandchildren from the smoke as flames engulfed homes they were forced to abandon to radioactive contamination from the April 26, 1986, disaster. The fire spread quickly through five villages in the 18-mile exclusion zone around the plant, carried by strong winds blowing toward Kiev and its 2.6 million residents. It burned pines and buildings in one of the areas most heavily contaminated with radioactive cesium. The West has long pushed for Ukraine to Belaf1:1S _an~ Russia. A Ukrainian watches as flames race close Chernobyl, but the . No m_1unes '_"Vere reported through a field in Krasny Gorodok, a energy-starved former m the fire, which burn_e d small villagenear Chernobyl nuclear Soviet republic says it several acres before bemg power plant. putoutafterabout71/2 "-~__..c...~~~~~~~~~~~~ needs the electricity and hours. It was not clear how jobs the plant provides. much damage was done to the villages, Dr. Fred Mettler, a University of New Mexico officially off limits since the plant disaster. professor who led a 1990 study into the health Firefighters said the blaze was probably hazards of the ChernoJ:>yl disaster, said the risks started by a cigarette dropped by one of the from radiation were minimal. Assad 'not available' for meeting DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Complicating peace efforts as fighting raged on, Syrian President Hafez Assad made himself "not available" yesterday to meet with Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the latest U.S. cease-fire plan for Lebanon. The U.S. shuttle diplomacy was stalled further when security concerns forced Christopher to cancel a trip to Beirut. With the Lebanon trip off and no reason to remain in Damascus, Christopher returned to Jerusalem for more discussions today with ·Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Christopher has been shuttling between Jerusalem and Damascus since Saturday, hoping to obtain a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon. The fighting continued unabated, with Israeli jets striking a reservoir and Hezbollah guerrillas firing rockets into northern Israel. Both Israel and Syria are pushing for changes in the one-page U.S. plan to end the fighting. France has offered a competing plan for a ceasefire, and French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette is engaging in his own version of shuttle diplomacy. After a brief stop in Jerusalem, de Charette returned to Damascus late yesterday. He said France was willing to participate in an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon if Israel agrees to withdraw. After two meetings Monday with Peres, Christopher had hoped to meet yesterday with Assad. But upon his return to Damascus from Jerusalem, he was told by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa that Assad was "not available," a State Department official said. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns called Assad's cancellation disappointing. He said the Syrian leader apparently did not have enough time for the lengthy meeting that Christopher preferred. Burns said Christopher would try to see Assad after today's meeting with Peres. Goetz jury awards victim $43m NEW YORK (AP) - A jury yesterday ordered subway gunman Bernhard Goetz to pay $43 million to a young black man left paralyzed in the 1984 shooting. The Bronx jury of four blacks and two Hispanics ruled that Goetz acted recklessly and without justification in shooting Darrell Cabey. It awarded the 30-year-old Cabey $18 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages. · The chances of Cabey ever collectm.g are slight. Both sides acknowledged that Goetz's legal bills have left the 48-year-old selfemployed electronics expert with little money. The verdict came nine years after a criminal trial in which a mostly white jury acquitted Goetz of attempted murder and convicted him on a weapons charge. Goetz shot Ca~ey and three other young black men on Dec. 22, 1984, .. I •• •• after they asked him for $5. He said they were about to rob him; they said they were only panhandling. Cabey was left brain-damaged and uses a wheelchair. The verdict came after 4 1/2 hours of deliberations and a two-week trial. Goetz was not in the courtroom for the verdict. In final arguments Monday, Goetz's own lawyer, Darnay Hoffman, said that Goetz deserved to be punched in the mouth for his bigoted remarks but that be is no "cool, calculating racist" and that he was justified in opening fire. Cabey's lawyer, Ronald Kuby, branded Goetz "a bigot with a gun" and urged the jury to bankrupt him. Earlier this month, Goetz took the witness stand for the first time and chillingly recounted the shootings. ~~ WORLD DIGEST U.S., FRANCE SIGN EXTRADITION TREATY TO FIGHT TERRORISM: France and the United States signed an extradition treaty yesterday that officials from both countries said will make it easier to fight international terrorism. The treaty, which replaces an agreement signed in 1909, calls for the extradition of offenders whose crime carries a minimum one-year prison sentence in both countries. Until now, offenders could be extradited only if they violated a list of crimes spelled out in the 1909 Janet Reno accord.The treaty still.must be approved by Congress and the French Parliament. Justice Minister Jacques Toubon and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno signed the treaty in a ceremony in the ornate French Justice Ministry. LEADER OF DOOMSDAY CULT TO GO ON TRIAL IN SUBWAY ATTACK: Only one trial will be held in the entire Tokyo District Court building today - a trial much of Japan has been waiting for. The lone defendant will have 12 attorneys, and 10,000 people will vie for seats. Before he even enters a plea, the court will read the names of his more than 3,000 alleged victims. When doomsday guru Shoko Asahara goes on trial, charged with masterminding last year's deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo's subways, the nation will be.; watching. TERM-LIMITS AMENDMENT DEAD AS SENATE FAILS TO STOP FILIBUSTER: Popular with the public, a proposed constitutional amendment to place term limits on members of Congress died yesterday in a Senate Democratic filibuster. Republicans sought political advantage in the aftermath. On a 58-42 vote, two short of the 60 needed, lawmakers refused to stop debate on the measure. A short time later, Majority Leader Bob Dole pulled it from the floor. "We'll bring it up again next year if need be," Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., said shortly before the vote. TRADE GAP DECLINED IN FEBRUARY EXPORTS AT RECORD HIGH: The U.S. trade deficit shrank by 17.1 percent in February, reversing part of a huge increase the month before, as American exports of services climbed to an all-time high. The Commerce Department said that the deficit in goods and services decreased to $8.2 billion in February, compared to a revised January deficit of $9.9 billion. The improvement was certain to be hailed by the Clinton administration, under Bill Clinton increasing fire in an election year for what opponents oontend are failed trade policies that have cost millions of American jobs. LAFFERTY DEATH SENTENCING DELAYED; PRISON TIME ORDERED ON RELATED: Ignoring a barrage of verbal abuse from Ronald Lafferty, a judge yesterday sentenced the convicted killer to prison but put off for five weeks imposing the death sentence recommended by a jury. Fourth District Judge Steven L. Hansen instead granted a defense motion to delay until May 31 sentencing Lafferty for the 1984 murders of his sister-in-law and her IS-month-old daughter. Defense attorney Linda Anderson claims Lafferty, 55, is mentally ill. DOLE CHOOSES GOV. MIKE LEAVITT TO HEAD PRESIDENTIAL EFFORT IN UTAH: Gov. Mike Leavitt has been chosen by Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole to head up his campaign in Utah. Leavitt, who endorsed Dole in January, will serve as chairman of Utahns for Dole, · the Kansas senator said yesterday. "Mike Leavitt exemplifies why the federal government should turn more responsibilities and decisions back to the states," Dole said in a statement released from Washington. "He has distinguished himself as a leader among governors." ~-················· ~ ..... ... |