RHC Weekend-05/06 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 05/06 January 2002 . *SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL INAUGURATED IN HAVANA *FIVE CUBANS NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY AWARDS *CUBAN AND AMERICAN MEDICAL COMPUTER SPECIALISTS TO MEET IN HAVANA *2001 SAW MAJOR ADVANCES IN CUBAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS *CUBAN BASEBALL SERIES BEGINS ON SUNDAY *ISRAEL BOARDS SHIP PURPORTEDLY BOUND FOR PALESTINE AND SEIZES ARMS *BUSH CHANGES APPROACH ON FOREIGN ECONOMIC BAILOUTS *PERU: NEW PRISON PLANNED FOR FUJIMORI GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION RING *U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HIGHEST SINCE 1995 *LIBYAN LEADER VOICES SECURITY CONCERNS OVER ARAB SUMMIT SITE *COLOMBIAN REBELS TO ANALYZE GOVERNMENT PEACE PLAN PROPOSAL *SPAIN'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES TO 9.23% *OLDEST MAN AND WOMAN IN ITALY DIE WITHIN HOURS OF EACH OTHER . *SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL INAUGURATED IN HAVANA Havana, January 5th (RHC)--The school that will complete the island's 40-year-old integral special education system was inaugurated on Friday by Cuban president Fidel Castro. The school, named after late children's book author Dora Alonso, will serve to train over 50 autistic children, of the 180 that have been reported in Cuba. It will have one teacher and one assistant per every five students. During the ceremony, the Cuban president said that the island is a reference point in Latin America for the work that's being done for children with special needs, and that it could become a world leader in this field. The new school, the first of its kind in the country, and characterized by president Fidel Castro as one of the most humane institutions he has had the privilege of inaugurating, is part of Cuba's efforts aimed at the solution of social problems. *FIVE CUBANS NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY AWARDS Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- Five Cuban artists have been nominated for the Grammys, to be given next month in the US city of Los Angeles, California. Veteran Cuban singer Francisco Repilado, internationally known as "Compay Segundo" -- who won a Grammy in 1997 for his participation in the Buena Vista Social Club album -- has been nominated in the Traditional Tropical Music category, with his "Las Flores de la Vida" CD. The rivals of the 94-year-old artist, in the same category, will be another member of the Buena Vista Social Club, Cuban pianist Ruben González and the legendary Aragón Orchestra, and Colombian Carlos Vives. One of the nominees in the Best Latin Jazz Album is Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes for his performance in the album "Calle 54." Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who is also a world famous Cuban pianist, has been nominated in two categories: Best Latin Jazz Album and Instrumental Composition, for his "Supernova" album and the song "Oren." *CUBAN AND AMERICAN MEDICAL COMPUTER SPECIALISTS TO MEET IN HAVANA Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- Specialists in the use of computerized systems for medical diagnosis from Havana's Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital and professors from two US universities will meet in the Cuban capital from January 20th to the 26th. Over one hundred experts from US universities in New Jersey and California have confirmed their participation in the event, called "Diagnostic Imaging in Cuba." The handling of ultrasound, magnetic resonance, and tomographic techniques in diseases of the head, neck and lungs, and their application in orthopedics, and in congenital and acquired heart diseases are among the main subjects of the encounter. According to the president of the Cuban Radiology Society, professor Orlando Valls, the interest of the US experts on coming to the island this time arose from a previous visit to Cuba of a group of university professors, who had the opportunity to become acquainted with the development of these techniques in the island's health institutions. Urologists, pediatricians, surgeons, cardiologists and orthopedic doctors among other specialists will also participate in the meeting. The inaugural session of this CUBA/US encounter has been slated at Havana's Melia Cohiba Hotel. *2001 SAW MAJOR ADVANCES IN CUBAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- Telecommunications was one of the sectors of the Cuban economy that showed considerable improvement last year, with the installation of over 80,000 new lines in the country. The president of the Cuban ETECSA Telecommunications Company, José Fernández, told the press that Cuba now has five telephones per every one hundred inhabitants. The process of digitalization of the island's telephone services has already covered 70 percent of its territory, after the inauguration of nine new plants in the provinces of Havana, Matanzas, and Cienfuegos. Among other achievements of ETECSA in the year 2001, was the inauguration of the magazine CUBASI, a multi-theme publication with updated information on the island in the cultural, economic and tourist sectors. Fernández also said that the modernization and expansion of the telephone service program will continue during the year 2002, with the installation of another 100,000 lines, 80,000 of them for the population. The company also foresees a 10 percent increase in the digitalization of the national territory. *CUBAN BASEBALL SERIES BEGINS ON SUNDAY Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- Sunday will be a very important day for millions of Cubans throughout the island, for two of the most popular baseball teams will face each other, Havana's Industriales and last year's champions Santiago de Cuba, in the opening of the 41st Baseball Series. The inaugural game will take place in the Guillermón Moncada Stadium, located in the eastern Cuban province of Santiago de Cuba. The opening will also include the ceremony of the throwing of the first ball, and the launching of the new, updated Baseball Guide. The eliminatory program includes 720 baseball games, not including the playoffs, which will run until May 15th. *ISRAEL BOARDS SHIP PURPORTEDLY BOUND FOR PALESTINE AND SEIZES ARMS Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- Israel boarded and overpowered the 13-member crew of a ship purportedly bound for Palestine on Friday, seizing 40 tonnes of arms that Tel Aviv said were being shipped to the Palestine National Authority with the purpose of intensifying the Intifada that began in September of 2000. In what regional observers have said is a propaganda coup for Ariel Sharon's right-wing government, Tel Aviv has invited foreign diplomats to view the seized arms shipment, which it claims originated in Iran. A spokesperson for Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said that the Palestine Authority knew nothing of the shipment and suggested that it was a very convenient occurrence just as US special Middle East envoy general Anthony Zinni was about to embark on a second day of peace talks. Zinni has demanded an explanation from Arafat in a meeting he had with the Palestinian leader in the West Bank city of Ramallah where Arafat is under virtual house arrest due to a military blockade of his headquarters by Israeli forces. Within minutes of Zinni's meeting with Arafat, Tel Aviv held the press conference to announce the seizure leading observers to further speculate on Sharon's timing. Regional sources say that the shipment is likely to be one that was organized by the breakaway Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which does not support Arafat's leadership. However, Israeli security authorities have claimed that the ship was registered to the Palestine National Authority. It is also suspected that U.S. intelligence officials knew about the impending raid several days in advance. General Zinni has not pressed Sharon to abide by his own call for one week of calm before going ahead with a truce drafted by U.S. CIA Director George Tenet. There have been no Israeli deaths in civil violence for over three weeks but Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man near the West Bank city of Nablus early Saturday. Palestinian solidarity organizations have for many years denounced the enormous weapons build-up by Israel with money and arms supplied by Washington -- weapons, they remind everyone, that are used to kill Palestinians. *BUSH CHANGES APPROACH ON FOREIGN ECONOMIC BAILOUTS Washington, January 5th (RHC)-- An article in Saturday's New York Times points out that US president George W. Bush has dramatically changed his approach on economic bailouts. The article notes that while seven years ago, Bush supported then- President Bill Clinton's bailout keeping Mexico from economic default and possible chaos on the streets, he has made the opposite choice regarding Argentina. His aides claim the situation is different: Mexico seemed ready to make reforms but needed time and cash, while Argentina has not heeded repeated warnings that its policies were leading to financial disaster. The Times article notes that while the Clinton administration was willing to back loans to teetering governments in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Russia, Bush's aides have adopted a policy of "tough love," a policy meant to show the world that Washington cannot always be relied upon to prevent fiscal and political collapse. White House and Treasury officials say the hard line was calculated to force officials of developing countries and foreign investors to work out their problems without relying so much on huge aid packages from the International Monetary Fund and from Washington. US experts say that Bush's approach carries considerable risk that Argentina's new government will abandon the free-market leanings the country embraced over the past decade and which many economists blame for the collapse. Meanwhile, Argentina's new government admitted today that multinational companies are pressuring the administration not to convert their fees into pesos, one of the new measures included in the new emergency law, which includes a major devaluation of the national currency. Argentine lawmakers unofficially denounced pressures from foreign companies, banks and governments to modify the de-dollarization of public services and the conversion to pesos of the bank debts of up to $100,000 dollars, according to the newspaper "La Nacion." Debate in Parliament over the controversial "Emergency Law" economic bill was put off Friday afternoon until today, Saturday. *PERU: NEW PRISON PLANNED FOR FUJIMORI GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION RING Lima, January 5th (RHC)--Peru will build a special high-security prison to house members of a corruption ring that operated during the Alberto Fujimori government, which held power between l990 and 2000. Deputy Justice Minister, Pedro Cateriano, told the local press today that the penitentiary will stand in an area owned by the army known as "Piedra Gorda" about 34 kilometers from Lima, the capital. A local anti-corruption judge, Peña Farfón, revealed that so far 1,169 people have been convicted by courts of crimes of corruption connected to former presidential intelligence advisor, Vladimiro Montesinos, who has been incarcerated in a military prison since last June. A year after the opening of Montesinos' trial, the judge indicated that 99% of those tried were convicted on the basis of the now-infamous "Vladimiro tapes" of telephone calls made by Montesinos to public figures in diverse sectors who were involved in acts of corruption. Judge Peña Farfón has stressed that as a result of the trials, more than $60 million has been recovered and an anti-corruption system made up by four judges, a special court, six prosecutors and a specialized police force, has been put in place in Peru. *U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HIGHEST SINCE 1995 Havana, January 5th (RHC)-- The United States unemployment rate is the highest since April of 1995, the US Labor Department reported on Friday. Although many economists said the surge in unemployment appears to be stabilizing, the 5.8% jobless rate continues to indicate a stagnant economy with high job losses. The current recession that the U.S. is experiencing has been blamed on the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington but many analysts felt that it was coming anyway. The economic boom in the last months of the Clinton administration could not possibly have been maintained, they say. Edward Leamer, an economics professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, told the New York Times that consumers would have to adjust to the changed economic situation. He said that his country's debt burden would have to be borne by consumers who would have to start saving. But a lack of consumer spending as the economy slowly recovers may frighten off investors, said Diane Swonk, the chief economist for Bank One of Chicago. The travel industry has suffered the most from job losses as airlines cut back on personnel following the drop in travel demand in the wake of September 11. Black and Hispanic workers have been affected the most, with the unemployment rate for African Americans rising to 10.2% -- twice the rate for white workers. *LIBYAN LEADER VOICES SECURITY CONCERNS AT ARAB SUMMIT SITE Beirut, January 5th (RHC)-- Libya has reportedly requested a change of site for the Arab League Summit scheduled for March 27 and 28 in Beirut, after President Muammar Gadafy received death threats. According to the Lebanese daily Kifah Al Arabi, the Libyan Minister of African Affairs, Ali Abdel Salam Treiki, officially made public his country's position to the General Secretary of the Arab League and the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. According to sources, Gadafy has conflicts with the Lebanese Shiite Organization after the group accused the Libyan government of the 1978 disappearance of their spiritual guide, Iman Musa Sadir in Libya. Sadir founded the Lebanese Shiite Organization in 1970 whose current leader is the President of the Lebanese Parliament. *COLOMBIAN REBELS TO ANALYZE GOVERNMENT PEACE PLAN PROPOSAL Bogotá, January 5th (RHC)-- The leadership of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces rebel organization is scheduled to analyze on Saturday a government proposal aimed at speeding up the bilateral negotiation process. On Friday both sides got together in day two of meetings by the members of the National Table of Dialogue and Negotiation which came to a halt last October when the rebel group demanded among other conditions, the lifting of a military and economic blockade in the five municipalities of the rebel controlled areas. Negotiators were unable to come to an agreement on Friday due to strong criticism from the rebels of the government's position on the control of demilitarized areas of the country. The Revolutionary Armed Forces continues to insist that negotiations are impossible due to the security threat posed by government forces patrolling the perimeter of the demilitarized zones and military aircraft flying over its airspace. Talks may continue on Sunday or Monday. *SPAIN'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES TO 9.23% Madrid, January 5th (RHC)-- The total number of unemployed in Spain reached a high in December of over 1.5 million or 9.23% of the active working population, according to the National Employment Institute. According to the same sources, unemployment in the European country registered an increase of 1.19% per cent in 2001. Experts say that this is a clear example of the deterioration of the Spanish economy despite having slightly grown compared to other European nations. The most significant information is that the number of people added to the unemployment figures in December represent the highest recorded in that month in the last 15 years. The government of President José María Aznar was strongly criticized by the opposition due to its lack of initiative in reducing the number of contracts that can be cancelled without notice, provoking feelings of insecurity among the workers. *OLDEST MAN AND WOMAN IN ITALY DIE WITHIN HOURS OF EACH OTHER Rome, January 5th (RHC)--The oldest man and the oldest woman in Italy have died within hours of each other. Antonio Todde a shepherd who lived all his life in the same house in a village in Sardinia, Italy, once said that the reason for his longevity was a glass of red wine every day. He died at the age of 112, leaving two daughters, aged 78 and 81, and a sister aged 98. Maria Grazia Broccolo died a few hours after Antonio Todde at the age of 110. In Cuba, 121-year0old Benito Martinez Abogan, who was born in Haiti in 1880, still lives in the city of Ciego de Avila at 121 years of age. His name appears in the Guinness Book of World Records. (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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