Reluare joi, 15 iunie 2000

Murdoch Sees Satellites as Way To Keep News Corp. Current

Date: 16 June 2000

By Saul Hansell

Saul Hansell

News Corp, whose chairman is Rupert Murdoch, is expected to sell shares in new media company, which will be valued at more than $40 billion; company, which will use some variation of News Corp's Sky name, is expected to raise about $5 billion, and will be largest media offering in history; Murdoch wants to transform its TV business into interactive technology network involving set-top boxes, which could become hub of network linking various household devices; graph; photo (M)

Full Article

Mr. Putin and the Plutocrats

Date: 16 June 2000

Editorial on unfolding clash between Russian Pres Vladimir Putin and small group of business titans who control much of their nation's wealth; says Russian democracy will remain stunted as long as oligarchs retain stranglehold on economy but problem cannot be remedied by misusing prosecutorial power against them, which seems to be case in arrest of media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky; says Putin must find way to challenge tycoons that does not eviscerate freedom of press and other liberties Russians so recently won

Full Article

Defenseless in the Park

Date: 15 June 2000

By Emma Sussman Starr

Emma Starr

Emma Sussman Star Op-Ed article, expressing empathy with women who were marauded in Central Park, describes her own experience of being harassed and chased by group of men outside Prospect Park in Brooklyn; says best line of long-term defense is that taken by Peyton Bryant, who, when she got no help from police reporters on scene, made sure she got attention of media (M)

Full Article

Will Turk Tell Secrets On Shooting Of the Pope?

Date: 15 June 2000

By Stephen Kinzer

Stephen Kinzer

Mehmet Ali Agca, who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, arrives in Turkey, carrying some of Turkey's darkest secrets with him; Agca, in 1970's, was part of network who believed that it was their mission to cleanse Turkey of leftist influence; considerable evidence has emerged to suggest that network was closely tied to far-right politicians, police commanders and intelliegence officers; Agca was also convicted in absentia of 1979 murder of liberal newpaper editor Abdi Ipekci after he escaped from prison while awaiting trial; Agca has served 19 years of life term in an Italian prison, but was released for extradition to Turkey at urging of the Pope, who had visited and forgiven him (M)

Full Article

Putin Criticizes the Jailing Of a Media Tycoon

Date: 16 June 2000

By Michael R. Gordon

Michael Gordon

Pres Vladimir V Putin of Russia says prosecutors went too far in jailing Vladimir A Gusinsky, owner of Russia's largest independent media company, Media-Most, which has been critical of government; although Putin stops short of saying case against Gusinsky is without merit, his comments raise questions not only about arrest but also about Putin's control over his Kremlin aides (M)

Full Article

A Chilling Prosecution in Moscow

Date: 15 June 2000

Editorial says arrest in Russia of Vladimir Gusinsky, owner of media properties that have criticized government, endangers Russia's fragile freedoms; questions whether Pres Vladimir Putin knew in advance of arrest, in which case he has done a disservice to press freedom he says he supports, or whether it occurred without his knowledge, in which case it is disturbing evidence of palace intrigue and political instability

Full Article

Warm Welcome for 'Putin the German'

Date: 15 June 2000

By Roger Cohen

Roger Cohen

Russian Pres Vladimir V Putin arrives in Germany for first visit since taking power; he is greeted by newspaper headlines like 'Putin the German' that suggest German hopes vested in a Russian president who formerly resided in East Germany; Putin's visit is seen as part of ambitious strategy to hitch Russia firmly to Western Europe, prod Germany to look east as much as west, and, if possible, drive wedge between Europe and United States; Germany's susceptibility to these overtures is certainly limited, given country's fierce attachment to NATO, but Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's government has left little doubt of its determination to strengthen Russian relations; photo (M)

Full Article

For the South, a TV Stunner; in the North, Fanfare Is Lacking

Date: 15 June 2000

By Howard W. French

Howard French

Deluge of remarkable scenes from South Korean Pres Kim Dae Jung's visit to Pyongyang for summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il keeps South Koreans locked to their television sets all day long and far into night; but people in North see only sparse and carefully edited coverage of historic event that includes no quotes from visiting head of state; photo of South Korea's first lady Lee Hee Ho, embracing her former teacher Kim Ji Han in their first encounter in more than 60 years (M)

Full Article

Violence Dogs Rural Candidates In Crucial Election in Zimbabwe

Date: 15 June 2000

By Rachel L. Swarns

Rachel Swarns

Zimbabwe's upcoming elections are depicted on television mostly as contest between Pres Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai but real battle is being fought far from the cameras, in rural hamlets where little-known opposition candidates are struggling to spread their message in campaign characterized by intimidation and political violence; since March, at least 26 people have been killed and about 150 injured, most of them supporters of Tsvangirai's new party, Movement for Democratic Change; Amnesty International has accused government of either instigating or condoning attacks, echoing some Western observers who have warned that climate of fear is making free and fair elections unlikely; for first time in nation's history, opposition candidates are contesting all 120 parliamentary seats that are up for election, and fiercest battles are being fought in countryside; situation in Mutasa, where mob recently torched houses of dozens of opposition party members, described; photo of Mutasa opposition candidate Evelyn Masaiti; map (M)

Full Article

17 Russians Protest Fellow Mogul's Arrest

Date: 15 June 2000

By Michael R. Gordon

Michael Gordon

Seventeen of Russia's most powerful businessmen condemn arrest of Vladimir A Gusinsky, owner of Russia's leading independent media conglomerate, and warn that it threatens nation's hard-won freedoms; with protest, issue becomes more than just freedom of press; it also reflects uneasy relationship that Pres Valdimir V Putin's government has with nation's power elite; Guginsky's supporters say charges of embezzling millions of dollars in government property were trumped up in politically inspired effort to punish media mogul who's independent television network opposed Kremlin in recent elections and presented unvarnished account of war in Chechnya (M)

Full Article