[00:00.00] News No. 12

[00:15.80]I'm Bill Hesser. VOA news.

[00:19.51]12.1  The UN Security Council has extended sanctions against Iraq for 60 days.

[00:18.51]It took action after hearing Chief Arms Inspector Rithard Butler say he has proof

[00:23.24]that Iraq put deadly nerve gas into missile warheads.

[00:26.69]I distributed to the Council the full findings of the laboratory examination of the missile

[00:32.33]warhead remnants in which the degraded remnants of the chemical VX has been detected.

[00:40.82]Mr. Butler says this means Iraq lied when it said it was never able to produce a form of VX stable amount to use as a weapon.

[00:47.82]Iraq denies the charge and is threatening actions against UN arms inspectors unless the sanctions are lifted.

[00:53.15]Former UN ambassador Bill Ritchardson voices concern in light of the report.

[00:57.38]"This is very serious.

[00:58.61]This is extremely serious because it shows that our insistence that UN inspection teams have full access

[01:05.74]and full authority in Iraq has paid off and hopefully today in the Security Council the entire UN Security Council

[01:13.71]will know the extent of these violations by the Iraqi government."

[01:18.02]12.2  President Clinton has again defended his trip to China saying engagement with Beijing is the right course of action.

[01:25.28]"I'm going to China at a time when we are appreciative of the

[01:30.79]discipline with which the Chinese have managed their economy

[01:32.99]and the fact they haven't yet felt the need to devalue their currency."

[01:55.58]12.3  UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has sent a special envoy to South Asia to help ease tension

[02:00.50]created by last month's nuclear tests in Pakistan and India.

[02:04.05]Pakistan has welcomed assistance in mediating its dispute with India over Kashmir.

[02:08.85]But New Delhi says diplomatic relations with Islamabad should be handled on bilateral basis.

[02:14.08]UN delegation's first stop is Bangladesh.

[02:17.68]12.4   Indonesia and the International Monetary Fund have signed a new agreement to resume a multibillion-dollar bill out loan to Jakarta.

[02:24.76]VOA correspondent Gary Thomas has the story.

[02:27.51]The IMF-Indonesia agreement says Indonesia will require an additional four to six million dollars of international aid

[02:33.70]in addition to an already agreed upon 41.2 billion-dollar rescue package.

[02:38.43]The agreement was signed Wednesday and made public Thursday

[02:41.19]following a meeting between IMF Asia Pacific Director Mubid Hise and President B. J. Habibie.

[02:46.44]The agreement predicts the gross domestic product will shrink by more than 10% this year and that inflation will top 80%.

[02:52.43]The battered currency,the rupiah, is projected to stabilize at around 10,000 to the dollar by the end of the year.

[02:58.12]In the area of structural reform, the agreement allows for more subsidies for basic commodities,such as food and fuel.

[03:04.39]Gary Thomas,VOA news, Jakarta.

[03:06.98]12.5  Voters in Northern Ireland will begin casting ballots today for a new Assembly giving them more say in running their own affairs.

[03:13.25]VOA Andry Annunzio reports from London.

[03:15.83]The 108-member Assembly will in effect be Northern Ireland's government

[03:19.41]taking care of such issues as health,education and agriculture as well as establishing cross border institutions with the Irish Republic.

[03:26.18]The leader of Northern Ireland's non-sectarian AllianceParty John Albright

[03:29.91]says many people see the Assembly as offering hope for a peaceful future.

[03:33.44]But he says many are also wary.

[03:35.45]"Don't forget there have been many initiatives in the last 30 years, which have come to grief.

[03:39.08]And people are cautious about hoping too much for fear of being disappointed again even at this stage."

[03:43.91]Meanwhile,there was a stark reminder that violence is still very much part of life in Northern Ireland.

[03:48.28]Several people were injured as a bomb exploded in the town of Newton Halton,near the border with Ireland.

[03:53.08]The explosion followed a coded warning from the Irish Republican Army' s splinter group.

[03:56.98]Andry Annunzio,VOA news,London.

[03:59.35]12.6   Campaigning for Cambodia's general election officially kicks off today with 39 parties trying to retract votes.

[04:04.92]More than 90 % of Cambodia's eligible votes have registered for the July 26th poll

[04:09.67]despite complaints of intimidation against opposition supporters.

[04:12.96]UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urges the Cambodian government to ensure the election is free and fair.

[04:19.21]12.7   The US House of Representatives has passed a 250 billion-dollar defense-spending bill,

[04:25.32]but without the money President Clinton wanted to continue funding the US military operation in Bosnia.

[04:30.41]The bill awaits action in the Senate and a possible presidential veto.

[04:33.96]That is because the House measure included a provision that it would require advanced Congressional approval

[04:39.89]before Mr.Clinton could deploy troops in times of conflict.

[04:43.34]I'm Bill Hesser, VOA news.

[04:46.14]I'm Francis Alanzo, VOA news.

[05:13.88]12.8   Russian lawmakers are moving slowly on several major tax reforms

[05:18.40]raising doubt about whether Moscow will be able to begin drawing a crucial international rescue fund.

[05:23.94]In the second of the two-day special session,Russian deputies only passed the general part of a tax code.

[05:29.92]Debate on the top aspects on the austerity package was expected to go late into the evening.

[05:35.01]International lenders want to be sure Moscow is serious about repairing its ailing economy before releasing billions of rescue funds.

[05:42.72]12.9  A Sri Lankan Tamil lawmaker along with four others was killed in a mine explosion in northern Sri Lanka.

[05:49.41]Benders Chobera has details from Colombo.

[05:52.10]The parliament member for northern Barbulia District,a member of People's Liberation Organization of Tabuzealan

[05:57.79]was killed returning home late Wednesday.

[06:00.27]Police  officials  say  lawmaker Ashankamaila Tenbaker was caught in a claymore mine explosion.

[06:05.52]He,his son,brother's son and two police constables were killed while his wife and three police constables were injured.

[06:12.13]Mr.Ashankamaila was the third city lawmaker to be assassinated in the past year.

[06:16.97]In an interview to state radio,party leader Distarben blamed Tamil Tiger guerrilla for the killing.

[06:22.32]Other Tamil political parties have condemned the brutal murder.

[06:25.72]Officials say more shops remain closed and the town had a deserted look after the killing.

[06:30.31]Barbunia borders jungle region of Wanni,a rebel's stronghold

[06:33.76]Tamil rebels have been fighting for autonomy in Sri Lanka's North and East since 1983.

[06:39.07]This is Bendera Chobera for VOA news Colombo.

[06:41.99]12.10  An Israeli court has sentenced an Israeli businessman to 16 years in prison for selling chemical weapons materials to Iran.

[06:49.44]The court in Tel Aviv convicted Nomon Nonbier of aiding an enemy State.

[06:53.93]He denied the charges and will appeal.

[06:56.33]The case triggered a political and judicial scandal in Israel

[06:59.57]with defense allegation sharply denied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to influence one of the judges.

[07:05.66]12.11  Sudanese rebels and the Khartoum government have agreed to a one-month cease-fire to allow food aid

[07:10.60]to reach Sudan' s famine-stricken South.

[07:12.71]Sudan's official news agency said the ceasefire is effective immediately.

[07:16.11]It comes less than one day after rebels announced a 3-month truce in the Bahr el Ghazal and Blue Nile provinces,

[07:22.48]where as many as two million people face starvation.

[07:25.15]12.12   President Clinton and R0manian President Imil Consten Reskue meet at the White House today

[07:29.93]for talks on security and economic issues.

[07:32.49]VOA's David Scollas has details.

[07:34.81]Romania was left out of the first phase of NATO expansion last year.

[07:38.49]But Mr. Consten Reskue has been campaigning in Washington for Romania's early admission when the western alliance expands again,

[07:45.21]saying his country's democratization and the role as a stabilizing force in southeastern Europe

[07:50.35]needs to be acknowledged and supported by the United States and its allies.

[07:54.04]White House spokesman Mike Mekiry said as the meeting began

[07:57.38]Mr.Clinton would reaffirm the United States open-door policy with regard to further enlargement of NATO

[08:03.81]and talk about ways Romania can make strongest possible case for membership.

[08:08.14]He also said Mr. Clinton would encourage Romania to stay on the path of economic reform,

[08:13.58]a process Mr.Consten Reskue concedes has not advanced as rapidly as Rom nians have hoped after the fall of the communism there in 1989.

[08:22.12]David Scollars,VOA news,the White House.

[08:24.63]12.13 A US appeals court has ordered a stay blocking testimony

[08:28.65]by President Clinton Secret Service bodyguards about an alleged affair and covered up by the President.

[08:33.56]The appeal court's decision came shortly after head of the President security detail appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington to testify.

[08:41.00]The court blocked the testimony while consider legal battle

[08:43.93]over the agents should have to answer the questions for the grand jury.

[08:47.33]12.14  And the remains of Russia's last Tsar has arrived inSt.Petersburg,

[08:51.51]where they will be buried in a special ceremony on Friday,the 80th anniversary of his murder.