European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes monday August 2,1993 at a glance Small Post offices throughout the United states Are being shut Down and bits of the nation s past vanish with them. See stories on pages 18 19. Short of deficit goal a smaller gasoline tax increase will put the squeeze on medicare an will Likely mean Congress and presi Dent Clinton will fall Short of their deficit reduction Golf. Page 5 probe of elders sought an anti abortion group asked a Senate committee to investigate whether or. Joycelyn m. Elders lied during her confirmation hearing for . Surgeon general. Pages rising tide in St. Louis the High water everyone in St. Louis had dreaded began living up to its ominous Billing saturday after floodwaters gushed through a breached levee. Pager cure reported doctors in Milan Italy have cured a woman with a rare form of cancer by injecting her with genetically engineered White blood cells research ers said. Page 10 Good times for some despite the big three automakers Strong showing in the second Quarter it would be a mistake to expect that Good times in Detroit will trans late into Prosperity elsewhere experts say. Page 16 Index Abby Ann Landers 21" action line. 20 classifieds. .25-28 comics .21-23 commentary 15 crossword 21 faces n places 24 focus. 17-20 Horoscope 27 Jumble 27 letters 14 Money matters 16 sports. 29-36 Vii stings 35 weather 13 leg races to Brussels Belgium a senior european Community officials struggled for a second Day Sun Day to find a Way to end to currency turmoil that threatens the collapse of their 14-year-old monetary system. They were working against a deadline of this morning when the Money markets reopen and the dec s weak currencies could again come under attack from speculators. Several dec currencies including the usually Strong French franc plunged last week As traders sold them off in huge quantities in anticipation of the Curren cies soon being devalued. At stake is not Only the value of the individual currencies but the dec s european monetary system under which currencies Are allowed to fluctuate Only within a narrow Range. The system is the key to the dec s Hopes of establishing monetary Union by the end of the decade in concert with closer Trade and political ties among member countries. We want to we must and we will find a solution said German finance minister Theo Taigel As he entered the emergency meeting with his partners inthe 12-nation trading bloc. Monetary officials met for More than nine hour saturday and sunday before sitting Down with their Bosses finance ministers and Central Bank chiefs to weigh various options. I Hope we can work out some solution today to restore credibility to the system said Irish finance minister Bertie Ahern. It has been generally goo for the last 14  the countries whose currencies Are under attack have the Choice of decreeing an official devaluation or raising their Central Banks interest rates. Raisin interest rates tends to slow Down a country s econ omy and would be an unpopular move during the current european recession. They have to put out something sensible by to Morrow morning or the speculation will continue and the system will break up altogether said Ste phen King economist at James Capel & co., a Lon Don investment firm. If a currency drops too far it can be thrown out of the system s Exchange rate mechanism. The British Pound and the italian lira were forced out under heavy speculative trading in september. Remaining in the system Are the German dutch French belgian danish Irish Spanish and Portu Guese currencies. Money crisis european currency turmoil what it Means background twelve european countries Are hoping to unify their economies to stimulate growth. A key ingredient is one currency replacing pounds Marks francs and others. As a first step they established an Exchange rate mechanism under which each country works to prevent wide shifts in the value of its currency. This helps control inflation and interest rates allows businesses to execute new venture Sand stimulates consumer spending investors such As big Banks and Money managers influence the value of currencies by buying and Selling them for profit just like stocks or Bonds. They buy currency if they think its value will Rise sell if they think it will fall. Current problems Germany the strongest Economy in Europe has Bee faced with the tremendous expense of unifying the former East and West. As a result Germany s Central Bank has kept interest rates High to curb inflation and attract foreign investment for unification. High German interest rates have increased demand for the German mar because Mark denominated investments earn More this has slashed demand for other currencies weakening their value. Other countries Don t want to raise their interest rates to compete with Germany s because they Are in recession and High interest rates discourage spending and borrowing. As an alternative Central Banks in other countries prop up their currencies by buying them and Selling Marks creating demand. But they cant compete with investors fio have much More Money to Trade. As a result countries like England and Spain withdrew from the Exchange rate mechanism last fall and France is now under pressure to do the same. This permitted them to lower interest rates but weakened Europe s vision of single currency. All this could be beneficial for the . Because investors nervous about the european Turrano Irwill Transfer their Money Here. That could mean a Rise in . Stock markets and the value of the . Dollar. A allies from Page 1 Bosnia. In the past the Pentagon Andanto allies assessed the possibility of airstrikes within Bosnia that could hit key Bridges railroads and military storage areas. But if the allies prefer More limited strikes the first targets probably will include the dozens of heavy artillery placements that have pounded Sarajevo Bosnia s capital for months. Much intelligence has been gathered since april from operation deny flight sorties Over the Region. The goal of the nato opera Tion is to suppress unauthorized flights inthe bosnian no Fly zone. Since the bosnian serbs have had Little reason to fear attacks they have left much weaponry in the open and vulnerable to precision airstrikes said military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. If a major air Campaign is mounted Navy f/a-18 Hornet attack planes and a-6 intruder bombers on Board the air Craft Carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Adriatic sea can drop laser guide bombs against such Sites. The Carrier could stage about 150bombing runs a Day with its attack jets minutes away front bosnian airspace. The serbs have several dozen t-54 Andt-55 tanks which would be prime targets for the slow and Low flying a-10 Thunderbolt us of persian Gulf War Fame that Are at Aviano a in Northern Italy. Thea los Are equipped with Maverick infrared guided missiles capable of blowing armoured vehicles to bits. Also hovering acm30 gunships such As those recently used in strikes in Mogadishu Somalia Are now in Italy ready to mount close in 105 my gun at tacks. They have infrared targeting ability that could be used for nighttime strikes. A concentrated attack using such Airpower could deliver a devastating blow to the forces ringing Sarajevo officers say. The officers Are also Quick to Point out that once that line of combat is crossed it is difficult to go Back. You drop those bombs and you have chosen sides said one senior officer who said he saw More risks than advantages to . Military involvement in bos Nia. You hit those artillery Sites you re hitting  death from Page 1 throne is Prince Albert but officials said it has been assumed that Albert would give the Crown to Philippe his eldest son. A special meeting of belgian govern ment ministers sunday was to discuss interim arrangements for the succession Ofa new head of state and funeral arrange ments. Early sunday groups of mourners placed bouquets of Flowers at the Gates of the Royal Palace in downtown Brussels. Tears streamed Down the faces of some. Many were dressed in Black. Some expressed concern for the nation s future. For me the King represented the Unity of Belgium. Now Belgium is finished said a Brus Sels resident who declined to renamed. He did t have much Power but he kept the country United she  i m really  King Baudouin Jacques Delors president of the european Community executive commission so said he was worried about the future of Belgium Home of the 12-nation trading bloc. He was for me the Symbol of belgian Unity for which he worked passionately discreetly and with much influence Del ors said. His influence was great in re cent years in avoiding a crisis for belgian  even if he did t govern he had enor Mous influence he added. Because Oft is stature and 42 years of experience the King left an enormous void that will be hard to fill observers said. There will be a very Tough transition professor Marc Van Den Wing Cert of the Catholic University of Brussels told a National radio station. Experience is gone and continuity is not  news reports said Spain s King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia had broken their Holiday period on the Mediterranean is land of Majora to Fly to Motril and assist Queen Fabiola in the preparations