BETA DAILY NEWS May 24 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit http://www.beta-press.com/bnewsone.htm BETA DAILY NEWS May 24 Dear subscribers: Due to power shotages caused by NATO air-strikes, this edition of BETANEWS is brought to you in condensed form. We hope to be able to bring you more detailed coverage in future editions of BETANEWS, including our regular summery of the latest press reports. Thank-you for your kind understanding. SERBIA BLACKED OUT AGAIN ON MAY 23 -- MORE THAN 20 DEAD, DOZENS WOUNDED IN NATO AIR RAIDS OVER WEEKEND -- DIPUTE BETWEEN YUGOLSAV ARMY AND AUTHORITIES OF MONTENEGRO CONTINUE -- HIGH YUGOSLAV ARMY OFICCER SAYS NATO FAILS TO ACHIVE GOALS FR YUGOSLAVIA SERBIA BLACKED OUT AGAIN ON MAY 23. The lights went out in Belgrade on May 23, as the city braced for a second major blackout in just 48 hours. The Belgrade Crisis Center said for BETA that NATO had struck the Kostolac thermal power generating plant with two missiles. At the same time NATO bombed power distribution facilities in the northern city of Novi Sad and Nis. NATO DISABLES SERBIAN ELECTRICAL ENERGY SYSTEM DURING WEEKEND. On May 22 and May 23 NATO again disabled the Serbian electrical energy system. Serbian Power Industry officials said that the system was recovering slowly and only the most important consumers, such as hospitals, have electricity. Over the weekend NATO did not comment on the attack against the Serbian electrical energy system, but people still remember the words of NATO spokesman Jamie Shea, who at the beginning of May said that "he was holding Serbia's power switch in his hands." The Serbian Power Industry announced that in the early morning of May 23 NATO used destructive projectiles to hit the largest distribution network and generating station at the Nikola Tesla A power plant in Obrenovac. On May 22, NATO also targeted the Kolubara thermal electric power generating plant in Veliki Crljani using destructive projectiles, and that "several of the most important power distribution networks" were hit by bombs carrying highly conductive carbon fibers that cause short circuits. Thirteen employees of the power plant were injured in the NATO air raid. The physician on duty at the Emergency Center in Belgrade, told BETA that five workers were brought to that institution, of whom two, whose injuries were more serious, were admitted for treatment. MORE THAN 20 DEAD, DOZENS WOUNDED IN NATO AIR RAIDS OVER WEEKEND. NATO hit targets throughout Yugoslavia last weekend, unleashing bombs against Serbian power plants and a prison in Istok, where 19 people were killed. The residences of a number of foreign diplomats were damaged when NATO bombed Belgrade. At least 19 people were killed and around a dozen were lightly or seriously wounded when NATO bombed a penitentiary in Istok, Kosovo, on May 21. The prison was again hit on May 23, this time with over 20 missiles. The Pristina Media Center reported fears that there may be more deaths and casualties. Serbian legislature member Dragan Milunovic (Serbian Radical Party) was killed on May 23 when NATO bombed the village of Merdare on the border between Kosovo and Serbia proper. Milunovic is survived by his wife and four young children. A NATO attack on downtown Djakovica left one person dead and four injured. The target was the city's police station, which was abandoned before the air campaign began, along with other buildings located nearby. Seven people, including four children, were wounded when NATO bombed a Jugopetrol depot in the industrial zone of the city of Smederevo. One person was killed and several were wounded when NATO aircraft bombed the city of Sombor in Vojvodina. Two missiles hit a local oil depot, while a third devastated two homes. NATO msy have resorted to a new strategy for bombing Belgrade, as witnessed over the past several days -- making low-altitude flights over the city, leaving residents uneasily awaiting bombs all night long. Its targets were located mostly on the outskirts of the capital: Surcin Airport, Jakovo, Strazevica Hill, Lipovacka Suma, and Batajnica. A Jugopetrol storage facility in the Cukarica district was hit on May 21, damaging the nearby residence of the Swiss ambassador. At the time of the attack the Swiss ambassador was hosting a dinner to celebrate Switzerland's national holiday, Independence Day. The blast shattered windows at the residence. Also hit were numerous cities and towns in the interior of Serbia: Sabac, Leskovac, Kursumlija, Novi Sad, Vrbas, Sremska Mitrovica, Kosovska Mitrovica, Pristina, villages near Prizren, Podujevo, Urosevac, Bor, Kraljevo, Pozega, and Uzice. Also hit were targets along the major highway running the length of Serbia, the E-75. The attacks caused immense material damage, but information on casualties was not available. NATO CONFIRMS TARGETING PRISON IN ISTOK AND CONFESSES TARGETING KLA POSITIONS IN KOSOVO NATO DAMAGES GRACANICA MONASTERY OFFICER SAYS NATO FAILS TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES JOVANOVIC SAYS YUGOSLAVIA SHOULD HELP DRAFT SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION YUGOSLAVIA PROTESTS WITH EU OVER CIVILIAN TARGETS TALKS BETWEEN U.S. RUSSIA AND EU FOR RESOLVING CRISIS CONTINUE IN MOSCOW DIPLOMATS IN BELGRADE EXPRESS DEEP SORROW OVER CIVILIAN VICTIMS SESELJ SAYS G8 PLAN UNDEFINED, OPPOSES NATO DEPLOYMENT RENEWAL CALLS FOR SECURITY COUNCIL TO REACT SOCIAL DEMOCRACY SAYS YUGOSLAVIA MUST ACCEPT SECURITY COUNCIL'S DECISIONS VUCELIC DENIES HE LEFT YUGOSLAVIA POLICE BAN CITIZENS' PARLIAMENT IN CACAK DJUKANOVIC ON REDEFINITION OF MONTENEGRO'S STATUS IN YUGOSLAVIA MONTENEGRIN OPPOSITION BLASTS DJUKANOVIC VUJANOVIC SAYS YUGOSLAV ARMY IN MONTENEGRO MUST ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH CONSTITUTION ARMY CLAIMS MONTENEGRIN AUTHORITIES MALEVOLENT CITIZENS OF CETINJE DEMAND ARMY WITHDRAW FROM CITY RASTODER CALLS ON MONTENEGRINS TO AVOID FRATRICIDE Press review POLITIKA -- NATO SEES DJUKANOVIC, DJINDJIC AND PESIC SAVIORS POLITIKA -- "007" CONDEMNS BOMBING OF YUGOSLAVIA EVENTS OF THE DAY - MAY 24 SKOPJE - German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping in Macedonia. BELGRADE - Noon - Democratic Party of Serbia press conference. dan/vuk (end) ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nyteeu-05.26.99-12:32:25-17222