Ukiah Daily Journal (Newspaper) - January 3, 2000, Ukiah, California 2000 THE DAILY JOURNAL AFTERNOON BRIEFING A quick read of the world Clinton opens second round of talks With President Ginton mediat Syria headed into a fresh round of talks with Israel today with open minds and a truthful desire for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he felt the burden of responsibility to reach an agreement this who has made Mideast peace a top foreign policy goal for cleared his schedule to preside over the first day of nego at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center just outside 70 miles northwest of Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk were expected to focus on four key issues during the talks the normalization of water rights and how much of the strate gic Golan Heights Israel would return to Secretary of State Madeleine who will be closeted with the Israelis and Syrians throughout the cautioned Sun day that there is no done deal yet between the two who have fought three wars since Israels founding in We aTl understand how fateful the decisions Albright said in an interview with The Associated Press in We are at the beginning of a process not at the end of Albright said there may have to be additional rounds of negotia tions to achieve a final knocking down any notion that all that remains is to dispose of some But she added that Barak and as well as Syrian Presi dent Hafez were dedicated to making this work after 50 years of World goes back to work with few delays from Y2K bug The first major business day of the millennium opened with very few signs of Y2K computer and investors in Asia the first region to open for work today promptly sent two stock mar kets soaring to new Not that the Y2K bug was nowhere to be seen Glitches hit gov computers in Hong Kong and mainland Police test ing the sobriety of drivers Hong Kong had to enter birth dates on machine because of an apparent Y2K But there were no reports of calamitous failures as feared and stock markets Hong Kong and Singapore opened and quickly hit new records after ringing out 1999 at Asias biggest the Tokyo Stock doesnt reopen until Chinese stock markets were closed today to allow officials to conduct sys tem In the the stock and key sectors such as telecommunications and air transport were operating smoothly on the first day of said Science and Technology Secretary Filemon All the banks have started operating again and we have good news from everyone so said who heads the Indonesian governments Y2K task force in After the some were downright disappointed by the Nothing its said Barbara a young company executive in Manila whose family stocked up on two weeks worth of and gasoline for Executives at banks and stock markets around the world said their computers kept humming through the millennium rollover at midnight but there was still some apprehension heading into their first live test Although no one would really panic over Y2K the smooth transition proves to remove a psychological said Patrick research manager at Kingsway S W Securities Some Middle Eastern countries were open for business on Sun and no major problems In attention focuses on surviving son Syria A wide road leads from the Syri an coast to the hills where the president was where his eldest son is and where many Syrians nurture their hopes for the nations Basil the son buried in the was widely believed to have been President Hafez choice to succeed him to Since Basil Assad died in a 1994 car the heir apparent has become the next whom most Syrians simply call A 34yearold with a neat mustache and a serious Bashar Assad gave up an ophthalmology practice to enter the Machiavel lian arena of Syrian politics upon his brothers He brushed up on military training and became an army began travel ing the region as his fathers envoy and took on several cial roles his brother had His 69yearold father has been the only president many here have Hafez Assad ruthlessly put down any challenges for nearly three decades and propounded a form of socialism that cemented the peoples dependence on his Now it seems few Syrians can imagine their country without an Assad in Recurring rumors that the president is in poor health increase the attention once paid to Basil and now focused on And with peace talks under way a second round starts out side Washington today Bashar Assad will be watched even more media carry constant praise of Assad and bis usu ally referring to the late Basil Assad as the Hero and bis brother as the Al Basil perched on a hilltop with a view of the 70 or so villages that make op similar praise is Aide says president to renew push for middleclass tax cut WASHINGTON President Clinton will propose a package of tightly targeted tax cuts resembling the billion plan that congressional Republicans rejected last a top aide I think you can expect the president to propose a tax cut in his budget and in his State of the Union White House chief of staff John Podesta said Sunday on CBS Face the I think that it will be about the size that we proposed last Pushing aside Clintons relatively modest the Congress passed a billion package that included board tax elimination of the socalled marriage penalty and estate taxes and reduction in capital gains But that package fell victim to a Ginton The president con tended that the Republican measure would eat into a projected bud get surplus without making adequate provisions for preserving Medicare and Social He also argued that it gave too much relief to the Podesta said Sunday the fiscal 2001 Clinton tax cut proposal would be similar is scope to last years The reason for that as we said over and over again last that weve got an important opportunity now to make invest ments in Social in in modernizing and improv ing our in in these other he For most Putin seems natural winner for upcoming elections MOSCOW For many acting President Vladimir rivals suddenly appear to have turned into a bunch of also and the coming presidential election set for March 26 is look ing like a mere Though the New Years holiday meant public reaction to the news of new position and the news of the early presi election was still a number of people interviewed on streets reflected Russians overwhelmingly positive atti tude toward their new Putin will win by a said Alexander a construction Those old goats have no chance at Weve had enough of who became acting president Friday after Boris abrupt has been leading other presidential candidates by a broad Recent opinion surveys have shown him with the support of more than half of while his nearest rivals Communist chief Gennady and for mer Prime Minister Yevgeny 70 were polling at around 20 The Kremlin is already predicting that Putin will stride to a land slide victory in the Igor deputy chief of the presidential predicted Sunday that Putin will get more than 50 percent of the avoiding the need for a second round in the a taciturn former KGB is the exact opposite of the buoyant Yeltsin who led Russias surge to Yet Putin has managed to match popularity of the early 1990s something no Russian politician has dreamed of since When Yeltsin appointed Putin to the prime ministers post in early the security chief was ridiculed by the political elite and unknown to the broad Attitudes toward Putin quickly changed to adoration after he launched a massive onslaught on breakaway Hoping to regain Ivorians line up behind junta Ivory Coast It was supposed to be the oasis of stability in West For more than 30 Ivory Coasts fondly regarded founding Felix presided over the tropical country rich in cocoa and When he died in power passed nearly seamlessly to a Henri Konan Seemingly steadied against the political and economic upheavals rocking the the nation of 19 million opened its borders to migrant workers and war refugees from neighboring Thou sands of nationals of the former colonial also made their homes among luxury four star restaurants and leafy The comfortable complacency was shattered in three days of wild gunfire and frenzied looting as former army chief Robert Guei seized power in a largely bloodless Christmas Eve In the days that Ivorians from all walks of life have lined up behind the junta in hopes of regaining that lost sense of sta Even Bedies own left leaderless when he fled to nearby has offered its services in a transitional government until democracy is I dont want Ivory Coast to become another banana explained Laurent Dona of Bedies Democratic Party of Ivory I am for Americans head back to work amid signs Y2K bug is a WASHINGTON Ameri cans returned to work and busi nesses and government offices reopened without major comput er problems today as the nations Y2K chief predicted a smooth transition for most of the country but cautioned that some small retailers still cooW have On the first day that most Americans logged on to their office the bank ing system opened so smoothly that billions of dollars in extra currency distributed to banks to avert any financial panic was shipped back to the Federal Were thrilled with how everything has American Bankers Association spokesman John Hall as ATMs worked and balance and loan informa tion appeared to be securities markets were up and down in early trading The Nasdaq market opened sharply higher and then dropped below its yearend while the Dow Jones industrial average opened slowly before losing more than 150 points in the first 90 minutes of The governments chief Y2K John said today he was encouraged that markets and fund transfer sys tems in Asia and Europe opened without Small businesses may not duplicate that he We think a number of small retailers and business who didnt do the business effectively will find some glitches but we dont think any of that is going to accumulate in any way to have a noticeable economic effect on the Koskinen com in an Koskinen said the Y2K center would soon begin scaling down calling the smooth transition a great gift and worth the time and We geared up for a major potential set of problems and I think all of us view it as a great victory that we can sit here and talk Was it money well spent Did we have to do it he Hopes that financial systems and power would con to run smoothly were bol after electronic trading at two Chicago exchanges went off without a hitch late Sunday and overseas markets reported no major Y2K The shops that didnt take precautions and stayed closed over the holiday weekend might experience prob lems with credit card swipe devices that have not been federal officials cau Their judgment were going to wait and what breaks and well fix said The fix be The question is theres a long line of other peo pie who need the The Small Business Adminis tration planned to monitor buji nesses for Y2K problems today through 10 regional and 70 dis While many core services such as automatic teller telephones and com puter networks ran smoothly over the the real test came when businesses reopened Koskinen said he expected minor glitches as the work week began in taxing systems that have been upgraded to Y2K problems but have not been tested with live Systems will be tested with millions of said There will continue to be reports of small glitches jn one place or Banking and securities indus try officials expected no major Phone companies anticipated heavy call volume and data but they were fully Everything has been com said Dave John spokesman for Schools reopening this week could experience More than onethird of all public and secondary school districts were unprepared for Y2K prob lems that could affect food service and teacher pay according to a government report released in Computers guiding every thing from air traffic control sys tems to automatic teller machines sailed the rollover to 2000 with few major The glitches that djd including seven nuclear power plants that reported computer were ly corrected and did not affect Y2K bug infested a com puter at the nuclear weapons plant in Oak but it did not affect opera tions or Energy Depart ment officials said The rollover was not problem A customer returning movie to a rental shop in subur ban was presented with a late fee after computers showed the tape was 100 years Employees at a video rental store in Florida used pen and paper because comput ers An estimated billion was spent on Y2K When no major problems sur some questioned whether it was Check out the IN MOTION classifieds for all the best automotive deals DINNER FOR 2 Now York Steak or Deep Fried Prawns INCLUDES Green Solod and Rota Good Monday Evening SUNDAY 310 Coupon good tm 2000 PRESENT COUPON AS YOU Main Circulation 4684531 Advertising 4683529 4684800 4684826 Ray Editor 4684818 4684823 FOWLER CENTER CMC MAZDA UDMH El Barton Chief Deal Gail JM Victoria Daw Vk b ARDUCCI Ted Carole Marie McKell The Daily Journal if proud to be part of In I Journal 0 Daly Journal at 590 School Phone 707 Court Decree Postage Paid at SUGGESTED SUBSCRIPTION RATES PRICE Motor Mai in Mendocino 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