European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 9, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To our readers a a a. The stars and stripes will increase its Price to 35 cents daily and 50 cents on sunday beginning feb 1, the Price is increasing from 25 cents because of the fall in the dollars value a planned troop withdrawals from Europe and other inflationary pressures said col. Gene e. Townsend commander and publisher of the daily newspaper with a circulation of More than 200,000. Stripes last Price increase was on sept. 25,19s6. The non appropriated fund organization lost about $572,000 in newspaper Bookstore and print shop sales for fiscal 1990, said stripes comptroller Chris Ryan. The average Cost to print sell and deliver the newspaper was 44.62 cents per copy during the past fiscal year he said. Bookstore sales traditionally offset losses on the newspaper Side. Without the Price increase the Overall deficit would have increased to about $5 million in fiscal 1991 despite plans to Cut 91 jobs for the most part through attrition and retirement. The readers should be getting More for their Money editor Bernard a Zovistoski said. A i Hope and expect that we can improve the already Good Content of the paper and also improve the presentation of the newspaper so our readers will surely feel they Are getting their Money a Worth no matter what the Price a Zovistoski said. Townsend said the paper took a beating in 1990 because its budget was based on an Exchange rate of 1.80 Marks to the Dollar. Each time the Exchange rate dropped 10 pfennig the stars and stripes incurred $1 million in additional expenses he said. The current budget is set at a rate of 1.50 Marks. A even though we done to like having to raise the Price of the paper we Are still dedicated to providing an important service in All our operations and we intend to keep that commitment to All the people we serve a Townsend said. Authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces Good morning vol. 49, no. 268 wednesday january 9, 1991 a a 25 daily Ait  d 8693 a France May launch initiative if talks fail by the associated press amid a flurry of last minute diplomatic activity tuesday France indicated it might pursue its own peace initiative if today a .-iraqi talks in Geneva fail. Foreign minister Roland Dumas of France said however the Jan. 15 . Deadline for Iraq to auit Kuwait or face possible attack should be maintained. Lie spoke after meeting Secretary of state James Baker in Paris. See related stories and photos on pages 3,9 and 28. Meanwhile tuesday president Bush called bakery a Mission to Geneva a possibly the final chances to resolve the iraqi conflict peacefully. Bush a statement in a videotaped message beamed to 127 nations came As the White House predicted congressional approval of a Resolution for using Force against Iraq. However some democrats indicated they would fight any move to take the country to War. Bush a seven minute speech broadcast in five languages was designed to Shore up Allied support for possible Cheney cancels contract for Navy s a-12 fighter Washington not defense Secretary Dick Cheney cancelled plans on monday to build the new a-12 Navy attack plane the largest weapons program Ever terminated by the Pentagon. The decision which surprised military analysts was Quot announced in a Pentagon statement that said the builders of the $57 billion program had defaulted on the program by failing to a design develop fabricate assemble and test the a-12 aircraft within the contract  the contractors Are Mcdonnell Douglas corp. And general dynamics corp., both based in St. Louis. Both immediately denied that they defaulted on the contract. Both said they would Challenge the ruling. Moments after the announcement general dynamics said it would begin laying off 4,000 workers in fort Worth Texas and Tulsa okla. Mcdonnell Douglas said As Many As 5,000 workers could lose their jobs in the next few Days. Cheney a decision to cancel the radar evading stealth fighter the Navy Stop priority air plane sent an unmistakable signal to both the military Industry and to the armed services that he would not tolerate delays and Cost overruns in expensive programs. A this program cannot be sustained unless i ask Congress for More Money and bail the contractors out a Cheney said in a statement. A a. No one can Tell me exactly How much More it will Cost to keep this program going. A a. If we cannot spend the taxpayers Money wisely we will not spend it a he said. The a-12, known As the Avenger is a Carrier based warplane that is 18 months behind schedule and More than $2.7 billion Over Cost by Pentagon projections. The contractors have made designs and built some parts but have produced no actual aircraft. Pete Williams the Pentagon spokesman said the Navy an artists Conception of the Navy a a-12 Avenger which was cancelled tuesday because of massive Cost overruns in the program. Had a $4.8 billion contract to develop eight prototype planes. He said the Pentagon now estimated the costs would Rise to More than $7.5 billion if the project proceeded. Williams said the Pentagon had paid about $1.2 billion to the contractors. Contractors had incurred costs beyond the $4.8 billion contract before even building the plane. They were trying to get the Pentagon to reimburse them. On dec. 14, Cheney ordered the Navy to prove Yohy the Pentagon should not terminate the a-12 program. In a three hour meeting on saturday the Navy urged him to proceed with the program by buying fewer planes Over a longer period and absorb some of the contractors costs. But the Secretary was clearly not pfc shaded. Military action against iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The president declared that the world could not afford to accept anything less than a Iran s Complete and unconditional withdrawal from  �?o1 know that pressures Are now building to provide Saddam some Means of saving face or to accept a withdrawal that is less than unconditional a Bush said a the danger in this course should be Clear to  Baker holding his final meetings with allies before talks in Geneva with iraqi foreign minister Tariq aziz., said. There was a total and completed agreement on the importance of the deadline. A the chances for peace Are in the hands of Saddam Hussein and Iraq Quot Baker said. He said he remained hopeful the talks could produce a breakthrough but emphasized there would Beno negotiations with Iraq. In Bonn Germany Baker said the Geneva talks Iep see talks on Back Page pan am files for Protection in bankruptcy new York apr pan am corp., which runs one of the nations oldest airlines filed tuesday for Federal bankruptcy Protection because of what it called huge losses and the recent Sharp Rise in Jet fuel prices. The troubled airline. Which said it had scrapped possible merger talks with rival trans world airlines will maintain full flight schedules and customer services worldwide while it reorganizes under chapter 11of the bankruptcy Laws a pan am official in Frankfurt Germany told the stars and stripes. A we will continue to operate As Normal a said Helmut Maassen director of military sales for Europe. A there Are not going to be any interruptions in services service Levels or any schemes to put passengers on other  the filing in Manhattan Federal bankruptcy court protects pan am from its creditors while allowing it to continue operations. A pan am becomes the second airline in As Many. Months to file for chapter 11 Protection partly because of higher fuel prices since Iraq invaded Kuwait in August. Houston based Continental airlines sought bankruptcy Protection dec. 3, pan am spokeswoman Pamela Hanlon said the filing in bankruptcy court a provides us an Opportunity to restructure at a time when recent years of losses including recent fuel Price hikes As a result of the persian Gulf crisis have had a devastating effect on the  am is expected to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings with the help of financing of $100 million from Bankers Trust new York corp. And $50 million from United airlines said Bankers Trust spokesman Thomas see pan am on Back Page