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The "Bible Belt" loses
another notch. U.S. WARNS Red China ON ANTI-US DEMONSTRATIONS Red Red China is showing its
true colors... again. RED CHINESE RAIL AGAINST U.S., BRITAIN Example of an advanced, educated
nation... CLINTON REITERATES APOLOGY TO Red China WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Clinton apologized anew today for the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, calling it "an isolated tragic mistake." But he said NATO airstrikes will continue against Yugoslavia. Clinton said it was important to distinguish between the accidental bombing of the embassy and Slobodan Milosevic's policy of "ethnic cleansing" to drive ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. He said Milosevic's program was "a deliberate and systematic crime." The president's remarks came after a wave of anti-American demonstrations in Beijing and other Chinese cities. Officials said the embassy bombing was the result of misinformation from CIA target planners. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said tensions in Red China were cooling. "It is considerably calmer at this point," he said, although he declined to say the crisis was over. He said diplomatic personnel who had been trapped in the U.S. Embassy have been allowed to leave and have been replaced by others. "We have received assurances from all levels of the Chinese government that the safety of American diplomatic personnel will be protected and we expect those assurances to be kept," Lockhart said. He said that Clinton was prepared to talk directly to Chinese President Jiang Zemin "once President Jiang is ready." Clinton spoke about the embassy bombing at the opening of an East Room meeting on school violence. "I have already expressed our apology and our condolences to President Jiang and to the Chinese people and I have reaffirmed my commitment to strengthen our relationship with Red China," the president said. "But I think it's very important to remember that this was an isolated, tragic event while the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo _ which has led to the killing of thousands of people and the relocation of hundreds of thousands _ is a deliberate and systematic crime." He said that until Milosevic complies with NATO's demands for withdrawal of Serb troops and other conditions, "the military campaign will continue." But to Red China, he said, "I apologize. I regret this. But I think it is very important to draw a clear distinction between a tragic mistake and a deliberate act of ethnic cleansing." Earlier, a U.S. government official said the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was the result of misinformation from CIA target planners, a U.S. government official says. American diplomatic officials and lawmakers warned that the anti-American demonstrations, which the Chinese government has sanctioned and at times assisted, could seriously affect U.S.-Chinese relations if they are allowed to grow out of control. Those relations took a further downturn today when Red China suspended high-level military contacts with the United States and postponed talks on human rights, arms control, international security and arms proliferation. Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth also canceled a planned visit to Beijing. Red China today delivered to U.S. Ambassador James Sasser, who is trapped inside the besieged Beijing Embassy, a demand that the United States again apologize for the bombing, launch an investigation and punish those responsible. The State Department has issued an advisory cautioning Americans against travel in Red China. The intended target in the air attack Friday was a military supply office. But due to faulty information provided by the CIA and reviewed by NATO and the Pentagon, the pilots mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy several hundred yards away, the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sunday. "They went through all these hoops, but for whatever reason it was not detected," the official said. He said the CIA was reviewing its published and clandestine sources of information to determine how the mistake was made. Another U.S. official said outdated maps showing the Chinese Embassy in a different Belgrade locale played a role in the error but were not the direct cause. The embassy was relocated three or four years ago, and this official said the CIA has determined that the mistake was caused by an analytical misjudgment. Defense Secretary William Cohen and CIA Director George Tenet acknowledged in a joint statement that the bombing resulted from faulty information. But the Chinese government has refused to accept this explanation, and U.S. diplomatic missions in Beijing and other Chinese cities have been besieged by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators, some bused in by the government. Sasser, who, with a dozen embassy employees is trapped inside the embassy in Beijing, said the demonstration came close to being out of control Sunday. "We feel much better about it" today, he said in a telephone interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." "The crowd began breaking the windows in our residence last night. ... It was a very, very terrible situation. We began the procedures of destroying some of our more sensitive materials here. But now I think the situation has stabilized somewhat and we feel like we can last the siege through," Sasser said. "What is happening in Beijing and throughout Red China today is intentional," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., told CBS' "Face the Nation." "This is, unfortunately, going to be a very serious test of our relationship, whether the Chinese exploit this terrible accident." RED CHINA PRESIDENT CALLS ATTACK 'PROVOCATION' RED Red China itself IS
"PROVOCATIVE"! All NEGATIVE! NAT'L PRIDE AT STAKE IN RED CHINA Gov't orchestrated protests
hardly meet "Nat'l Pride". Propaganda is the word. U.S. COMMENTS ON PROTESTS UPSET Red China The US is just as UPSET about
staged protests!! CLINTON, JIANG AGREE TO TALK WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed Thursday to talk, as tensions with Red China over NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade appeared to be easing. Jiang had avoided talking to Clinton since the bombing Saturday, which killed three people. His readiness to talk was conveyed by Chinese Ambassador Li Zhaoxing, who took a condolence book to the White House for Clinton to sign. Earlier in the day, addressing U.S. veterans about the conflict in Kosovo, the embassy bombing was still on Clinton's mind. But he reminded listeners of the reason for NATO's air campaign against the forces of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. RED CHINA URGES DEFIANCE OF U.S. BULLYING BEIJING (AP) - While praising victims of NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade as heroes, Red China's president accused the U.S. Thursday of seeking global dominance and urged nations worldwide to defy American bullying and create a new just order.. The harsh words showed just how much the embassy bombing in Yugoslavia has damaged Chinese political will for smooth U.S. relations - particularly since they came from President Jiang Zemin, who last year claimed credit for engineering a rapprochement with Washington. But in a sign Red China is willing to ease tensions, Jiang also agreed to speak to President Clinton for the first time since Saturday's embassy bombing. WWII SLAVE LABOR REPARATIONS SOUGHT WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration expressed satisfaction with an initial effort to set up a reparations program for tens of thousands of workers subjected to a forced labor campaign sponsored by Nazi Germany during World War II. Many were employed by large German companies, 15 of which have pledged to set up a fund by September to pay the reparations. The State Department played host for two days of talks by government officials from eight countries, as well as business and private groups. The meeting ended Wednesday. Agreement was reached to set up two working groups, one to set eligibility rules for payments from the fund and the other to deal with ways to ensure legal closure for the German companies, said Stuart Eizenstat, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic affairs. SEN. HATCH SEEKS DATA ON HATE CRIMES - HATCH AT IT AGAIN! "Forever the Consumate
Politician...." CELLULAR PHONES TO ADD 911 ROUTING WASHINGTON (AP) - Responding to concerns that cellular calls to 911 do not always go through, federal regulators took action Thursday to eventually increase the chances such calls reach emergency dispatchers. The Federal Communications Commission is requiring new - not existing - analog cellular phones to have software routing a 911 call to another carrier when the customer's own company or one designated to handle "roaming" calls cannot complete the call. Manufacturers selling phones in the U.S. need to make changes to new analog cellular phones and new "dual mode" phones (only for operating in the analog mode) within nine months. ANDOVER, Mass. (Reuters) - Computer maker Gateway Inc. and Internet venture firm CMGI Inc. said Thursday they had formed a strategic alliance and Gateway would take a stake in CMGI. The companies said that they "will seek out collaborative business and investment opportunities on the Internet." The companies said Gateway had agreed to invest $200 million for an ownership stake in CMGI. The alliance is designed to enhance Gateway's Internet and electronic commerce initiatives and provide more products and services to clients. Gateway will integrate products and services within CMGI's network of Internet companies. In addition, CMGI and Gateway will treat each other as a preferred vendor. The two companies will also explore business opportunities with CMGI's majority-owned companies. IBM STOCK SOARS AS CEO SEES INTERNET BLUE-SKY NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of International Business Machines Corp. Thursday climbed 6.5% to record levels, after the top executive of the world's largest computer maker claimed IBM was the main beneficiary of spiraling Internet growth. In comments to Wall Street investors late Wednesday, Louis Gerstner, IBM's chairman and chief executive, said the $82 billion company generates more revenues, and decidedly more profits from the Internet, than 25 of the world's top Internet stocks combined. Noting that $20 billion, or 25% of IBM's 1998 revenues came from demand for its e-business hardware, software and services, he spoke of increasing corporate demand for Internet connections in 2000 and beyond. COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF MICROSOFT WORKERS SEATTLE (AP) - A federal appeals court has ruled that thousands of former temporary workers for Microsoft Corp. should have been allowed to participate in the company's employee stock-purchase program - a decision that could cost the software company millions of dollars. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled late Wednesday that at least 10,000 former temporary workers since 1986 should have been allowed to participate in the stock-purchase plan, which offers discounts on Microsoft stock. It said they must be compensated for appreciation of shares they never got to buy. BRITS DELETE SPY LIST FROM INTERNET LONDON (AP) - British officials said Thursday they deleted a list on a U.S.-based Web site that included the names of more than a hundred people identified as British spies. The list had been released by Richard Tomlinson, a former British agent living in Switzerland, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said. Officials were concerned that copies may have been made and were circulating on other Web sites. Tomlinson, in an e-mail to the British Broadcasting Corp., denied that he had posted such a list. He said any name on his Web site was already in the public domain, the BBC reported. "People are jumping to the wrong conclusion," the BBC quoted him as saying. SINGAPORE TO HOLD HACKERS' CONTEST SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore, known for its tough laws against computer hackers, plans a worldwide hacking competition to raise awareness about computer security issues, a local news report said Thursday. Hackers are invited to try their hand at breaking into a published set of computer addresses which have been protected by security programs designed to prevent unauthorized access, the Television Corporation of Singapore said. Computer wizards who successfully break in - and then identify themselves and explain how they did it - will be given cash prizes of up to $10,000. MICROSOFT, NEXTEL MAKE WEB DEAL RESTON, Va. (AP) - Software giant Microsoft Corp. announced Monday that it is taking the next step toward delivery of wireless services by investing $600 million in Nextel Communications Inc. The partnership will provide Nextel customers access to the MSN network of customized Internet services even when they are away from their computers. The services are expected to include e-mail, which can be delivered and retrieved via a variety of devices; calendars and address books, which can be maintained on line or by phone; and a host of other Web-based services, including timed and triggered notifications of stock quotes, sports results and other information. NBC TO ROLL UP SOME INTERNET ASSETS NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co.'s NBC television unit said Monday it would merge several of its Internet assets with XOOM.com Inc., an e-commerce direct marketer, and Snap.com, a joint venture between NBC and CNET Inc., to create NBC Internet. Called NBCi, the new company will be NBC's exclusive Internet media network, providing Web search capabilities, e-mail, electronic commerce and community interaction services. The NBC Internet properties to be rolled into NBCi include NBC.com, Videoseeker.com and a 10% ownership stake in the new CNBC.com to be launched later this summer, the companies said. CBS, MITSUBISHI INK HDTV DEAL NEW YORK (AP) - The majority of CBS' prime-time lineup this fall will be available in the new HDTV format as the media company continues to make further commitments to digital broadcasting. Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America Inc. will exclusively sponsor the programs, CBS Corp. said Saturday. CBS did not identify which programs would be affected. HDTV, or high-definition television, provides viewers with much sharper images than are available through regular analog televisions. Special sets and tuners costing thousands of dollars are needed to pick up the digital transmissions, however. By Nov. 1, CBS expects to be transmitting digital programming across more than 40 stations, reaching more than 50% of the United States. Currently only 14 CBS-owned and affiliated stations have the capability. USA NETWORKS TO RETREAT ON BID FOR LYCOS NEW YORK (Reuters) - USA Networks Inc. is expected to give up on its three-month-long bid to buy the Internet company Lycos Inc. due to strong shareholder opposition, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, quoting sources familiar with the deal. USA Networks has not decided conclusively to abandon the bid from Lycos, but the cable television network has decided it cannot win the approval for the bid in a vote of Lycos shareholders, according to the Journal report. The vote is scheduled for July, the newspaper said. US WEST PLANS PHONE-COMPUTER HYBRID NEW YORK (AP) - US West plans later this year to become the first phone company to sell two new telephone-computer hybrids that feature one-button dialing to the Internet and other simplified ways to use the Web. The plug-in WebTouch phones made by Alcatel of France, will be available this fall and US West will offer wireless service for Qualcomm's Thin Phone by the end of the year, the Denver-based company said Monday. INTERNET ONLY LIFELINE FOR CYBER-ADVENTURERS LONDON (Reuters) - Can man live by Internet alone? Four volunteers will find out in London Monday as they are locked away with only a credit card, a bathrobe and access to the Internet. The project, organized by Microsoft Corp.'s msn.co.uk Web page, envisages that the cyber-adventurers will be locked in separate rooms for 100 hours and will have to rely exclusively on the Internet to feed, clothe, communicate and entertain themselves, a press release said. The volunteers will also try to continue living their everyday lives. One participant plans to play chess while another aims to find a job. MICROSOFT PLANS VIRTUAL CLINIC REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - James Pittman woke one morning with a strong squeezing sensation in his chest. Suspecting the worst, the 42-year-old Microsoft programmer wasted no time driving 10 miles to his doctor's office only to be told - after "a 2-second diagnosis" - he had pulled a back muscle, probably while painting his home the previous day. "I don't know what a heart attack feels like," he said. "And I completely forgot that I was painting the house." Next time Pittman feels the urge to see the doctor, he may have another option. Instead of driving across town on a workday, he could log on to his computer, make sure the small camera atop the monitor is correctly angled, then point and click to a Web site for "virtual" treatment. BROKERAGE FIRES 19 OVER E-MAIL FLAP ST. LOUIS (AP) - The brokerage Edward Jones & Co. demanded that workers admit it if they sent pornography or off-color jokes over the company e-mail system, then it fired 19 of them for failing to fess up. Another 41 who came forward were disciplined, the company said Friday. The action illustrates the heightened scrutiny that many companies are giving to what they perceive is an abuse of their electronic communications networks. IPOS AVAILABLE ON INTERNET NEW YORK (AP) - A few brokerages are turning to the Internet to find those investors who wouldn't normally buy stock in an initial public offering. It's not easy to get a piece of an IPO. The shares are usually off-limits because brokerages sock them away for their wealthiest clients and large institutional investors. Not anymore. William Hambrecht, one of the pioneers in the field, said his company's Web-based system helps ensure that "a bid from an individual has the same standing as a bid from the largest institutional investor in the world." W.R. Hambrecht & Co. solicits offers over the Internet and awards shares to the highest bidders. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette allocates some of the IPOs it is sponsoring to its online customers. And several companies offer portions of other brokerages' IPOs to their online clients. Y2K PARTY CANCELED OUT OF FEAR MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A celebration billed as the biggest end-of-the-century party in this city is over before it started. Corporations have apparently balked at sponsoring Minnesota Millennium Celebration over fears that the Y2K computer glitch could lead to embarrassing publicity, organizers of the event said. The Design Group confirmed Friday that it has canceled the six-day, $8 million bash that was supposed to welcome in 2000 with concerts featuring national headliners and family activities at the Metrodome and the Minneapolis Convention Center. SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Apple Computer Inc. interim CEO Steve Jobs gave computer programmers a taste of the future Monday, unveiling a faster and more powerful PowerBook laptop for professionals, new speech recognition software and a deal to sell the popular iMac desktop computers at Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores. "I don't think there's ever been a better time to be a Mac developer," Jobs told more than 2,500 programmers at Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference in San Jose. The new PowerBook G3 is 20% thinner and almost 2 pounds lighter than its predecessor. The top models, selling for $3,500, come with DVD players and batteries that last up to 5 hours, allowing users to watch entire movies. MOTOROLA EXECS BID FOR CHIP UNIT SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) - Motorola Corp. stock rose 1.5% Tuesday morning after a group of present and former executives disclosed a $1.6 billion offer to buy the company's semiconductor components unit. At the close of markets Monday, the group asked Motorola's board for "immediate" consideration of the proposal. TFG Acquisition Group said it made an unsolicited offer March 30 for the unit and recently refined it to profess job security for most of the 14,000 workers at plants in nine countries. Motorola spokesman David Rudd said the company would not comment on the offer. MICROSOFT WORKERS TO GET A RAISE REDMOND, Wash. (AP) - Microsoft Corp., known among other things for producing "Microsoft millionaires" and having a chairman often listed as the world's richest man, has decided it doesn't pay its employees enough. Beginning Aug. 1, pay rates will be boosted to the 65th percentile of pay in the software industry nationwide, company spokesman Dan Leach said. Microsoft's pay rates have been at the 50th percentile for the past 20 years. The world's largest software manufacturer also said it would increase the number of non-executive job classifications from 12 to 22, to make promotions more frequent among its 30,200 employees, including 16,000 in the Puget Sound area. Microsoft wouldn't say exactly how the pay-raise move would translate into dollars for an average employee. INTEL STARTS FUND TO PROMOTE CHIP SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) - Intel Corp. has established a $250 million investment fund to urge software companies to develop Internet applications for its new microprocessor technology. Intel aims to increase the market for its Merced chip when it goes into full-scale production, which is expected in mid-2000, The Wall Street Journal reported. The chip processes data in 64-bit chunks instead of the current 32 bits. John Miner, a vice president for Intel's enterprise server group, called the fund "one ingredient" to encourage start-up companies to invest in 64-bit applications, the newspaper said. The fund is expected to target software related to electronic commerce, design, financial applications, infrastructure for the Internet and planning software for large businesses. YAHOO LAUNCHES BROADCAST RADIO SERVICE SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Reuters) - Internet media company Yahoo! Inc. said on Tuesday it was launching Yahoo! Radio, a new service providing direct access to broadcast audio programming. The company said that the service was being carried out through agreements with Web media programmer Broadcast.com Inc. and Spinner.com, an Internet music service. Users of the service, available at http://radio.yahoo.com, can tune into 10 stations of music programming around the clock. THESTREET.COM UP 216% IN IPO NEW YORK (AP) - With a media-savvy money manager at the helm and a "dot com" in its name, TheStreet.com couldn't miss. Shares of the Internet news service soared 216% in the company's initial public offering Tuesday, becoming the latest success story in a market that has embraced most new issues of companies hoping to profit from the Internet. TheStreet.com rose from its opening price of $19 to close at $60 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock rose as high as $73 at one point, as 13 million shares changed hands. TheStreet.com is the brainchild of James J. Cramer, a hedge fund manager who founded the site in 1996. The site itself has become a favorite of Wall Street traders with its chatty, sometimes irreverent stock market commentary. USA NETWORKS' DILLER TO ABANDON LYCOS PLAN NEW YORK (AP) - Barry Diller didn't stand a chance. The media mogul and renowned negotiator will officially abandon his plans Wednesday to buy the top-rated Internet site Lycos Inc., according to people close to the situation. Diller, chairman and CEO of USA Networks Inc., had planned to create a company worth $22 billion by combining Lycos with his Home Shopping Network and Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch Inc., a ticket agency and online entertainment directory. Like Gulliver beaten by the Lilliputians, Diller couldn't win over small day traders who own a major stake in Lycos and trade it in average blocks of 419 shares. CASE: INTERNET A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE WASHINGTON (AP) - Citing figures indicating that blacks and Hispanics have less exposure to the Internet and its countless services, AOL Chairman Steve Case told an audience of civil rights advocates Tuesday that equal access to online services is "the civil rights issue of the 21st century." "It's a question of how we make these tools available to all Americans," Case said at the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights lunch at the National Press Club. Using figures from a 1998 Commerce Department study on minority access to the Internet, Case said whites are more than twice as likely to own a computer as blacks and Hispanics. "I want the Internet to be part of the solution, not part of the problem," he said. MIT AWARDS ONLINE COMMERCE PRIZES CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management has honored six companies as innovators in Web-based business. The awards, presented Tuesday night, were developed by Sloan students as part of the school's electronic commerce and marketing curriculum. The school plans to give out the E-Commerce Awards annually. The award winners included MP3.com Inc., of San Diego. The company is one of the leading sources of music in a digital, MP3 compressed format and was awarded for creating opportunities for customers through electronic commerce. UPDATE: MICROSOFT, SONY MAKE MUSIC DEAL SEATTLE (AP) - Sony Music Entertainment will begin selling music and videos online as well as in stores, marking the recording industry's latest attempt to cash in on the Internet. Sony Music's partnership with Microsoft Corp. is the latest in a flurry of deals as music publishers scramble to balance their desire for getting a piece of the exploding online music market with their fears of copyright piracy on the wide-open world of the Web. Consumers will be able to download music singles beginning this summer, when Microsoft's Windows Media 4.0 software becomes available, the companies said Wednesday. RETAILER UNVEILS APPLIANCE WEB SITE CHICAGO (AP) - Forget the softer side. Sears is now hoping customers will come see its cyber side. The nation's largest department store chain began selling 2,000 major brands and models of appliances Wednesday over the Internet, becoming the first brick-and-mortar retailer seeking to cash in on the big-ticket items over the Web. "Customers are jazzed about the amount of control the Internet affords them - for both research and buying," said Alice M. Peterson, vice president and general manager of Sears Online. The site, www.Sears.com, can walk a user through the various options, including the ability to narrow the search to a particular color, brand or size, check within a price range and determine if a pictured item is on sale. HOUSE OKS BILL LIMITING Y2K LAWSUITS WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Wednesday to limit millennium-bug lawsuits - a measure that businesses say is needed to avoid a year-2000 financial catastrophe. The White House sees it as slanted against consumers and deserving of a presidential veto. The legislation, approved 236-190, would try to stem a potential flood of lawsuits arising from computer breakdowns by establishing a 90-day waiting period before suits can be filed, encouraging mediation, capping punitive damages and limiting class action lawsuits. The bill has the strong backing of business groups and the high tech industry, which warn that problems arising from computers that misread the 2000 date could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in lawsuits. NEW YORK (AP) - Lycos Inc. is close to a deal with a software company that would move it one step closer to competing directly with America Online Inc., the nation's largest online service, people involved in the discussions said Wednesday. The partnership, which is expected to be announced Monday, would give customers software to enable them to access the Internet from desktop computers and go directly to Lycos' news, research, chat groups and retail sites. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to name the software company. The deal is expected to be just one in a string Lycos will announce in the wake of its failed merger with USA Networks and Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch Inc. WHITE HOUSE WEB SITE HACKED, BACK ONLINE WASHINGTON (AP) - The Internet site for the White House reopened Wednesday, a day after officials took it down because of an attack by computer hackers. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said only that the Web site was made unavailable because of problems with people trying to get into the system. "Security procedures provided a response to the incident, which included limiting public access to the system until an assessment could be made," Lockhart said Wednesday. The opening page of the White House site was altered briefly overnight Sunday to show a black Web page with the names of the hacker organizations claiming responsibility, along with messages, "Your box was own3d" and "Stop all the war."
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