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BOSNIA Suburban Flight

It's thugs vs. thugs as the Sarajevo outskirts switch from Serb to Muslim control By Rod Nordland

in the messy handover of the serb-held suburbs of Sarajevo to the Muslim government, most of the dirty work gets done at night. An elderly Muslim wom­an, Sadeta Mehanovic, 65, stuck out three and one-half years of Serb tyranny in Grba-vica, only to be tortured and then murdered by a pair of masked thugs in her apartment a week before Muslim authorities were due to take over. Local Serb police did nothing to intervene. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, arsonists torched an apart­ment building—and Italian IFOR troops watched it burn. The Serbs weren't the only bad guys. For weeks, Serb gunmen had tried to bully residents into leaving the frontline suburb of Ilidza; a few brave souls stayed. After Muslims took control last week, burglars looted deserted houses and shops with impunity—terrifying all the re­maining Serbs.

No one expected the handover of the Sa­rajevo suburbs from Serbs to Muslims to be easy. But few thought it would turn this ugly. The Serbs and Muslims are commit­ted under the Dayton accords not only to peaceful trades of territory, such as the sub­urbs around Sarajevo, but also to the right of all residents to stay in their homes. Offi­cials paid lip service to those ideals, then turned the suburban streets over to goon squads. Caught in the middle—or more of­ten, frozen on the sidelines—were the IFOR troops sent to Bosnia to oversee the Dayton accords.

On both sides there's clear evidence that the thuggery was planned, or at least con­doned. In each of the five Serb suburbs transferred during the past four weeks (the last, Grbavica, reverts to Muslim control this week), Serb police simply stopped enforcing the law before the transfer of au­thority. Serb fire brigades refused to re­spond to the widespread torchings. Resi­dents who weren't already packing were told to leave—or else. Officials dismantled and removed whole factories—and burned down many neighborhoods behind them. One carload of drunken policemen pulled out of Ilidza shooting their pistols and toss­ing grenades out the windows.

The crime wave scarcely paused after the handover, especially in Ilidza. Once dark­ness fell, groups of Muslims knocked on Serbs' doors and demanded that residents clear out; some claimed to be refugees from Srebrenica. Looting by Muslim gangs was widespread and so brazen it continued dur­ing daylight in front of TV cameras. Some 300 international police monitors sent to help in the transition—including as many as 30 American policemen—had no guns and no arrest powers. The Muslim-Croat federation police, who were armed and au­thorized to make arrests, were a joke. When they moved into the suburbs, they fell to quarreling among themselves over the colors of their respective uniforms— and did little else.

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Translate the following texts into English.

1 ТУРЦИЯ. В стране вчера прошли досрочные выборы в парламент. Выборы должны были состояться1 в 2004 году, однако были перенесены в связи с расколом в правительственной коалиции. Судя по опросам, наибольшие шансы на победу имеет недавно созданная партия справедливости и развития.

2 США. Американский президент совершает поездку по южным в штатам страны, чтобы поддержать кандидатов от Республиканской партии на предстоящих выборах в Конгресс. Одновременно пройдут выборы губернаторов 36 из 50 штатов.

З ГIрезидент США подписал законопроект2, направленный ва усо11)шенствование избирательной системы США. документ, одобрев11.Ii ранее Конгрессом, должен исключить повторение ситуаций, когда путаница с подсчетом голосов поставила страну на грань политического кризиса.

­ 1. Read the article and Look up the meaning of the words and phrases in the dictionary.

Choosing the nation’s President

Every four years Americans participate in a unique and exciting ritual — the selection of the nation’s President. The summer before the election, each of the major political parties holds a convention. Delegates from every state meet together to choose candidates for President and Vice-President and to determine the party’s program (or platform, as it is called).

The number of delegates from each state is determined by its population and its support for that party in previous elections. After routine formalities, convention business usually begins with creation and acceptance of a party platform. A platform is a very general statement of the party’s philosophy, goals, and position on issues of national and international concern. The next business of the convention is the initiation of prospective presidential candidates. When nominations are completed, votes are taken alphabetically by state. Several roll calls maybe necessary before one nominee wins the majority of votes needed to become the party’s candidate. Once the presidential candidate is selected, his running mate (the vice-presidential candidate) must be chosen. Traditionally, a party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates come from different sections of the country and have somewhat different political views. Thus, the party achieves what is called a balanced ticket, a combination of candidates that will appeal to many different blocks of voters. Actual campaigning traditionally begins on Labor Day. From that time until election day, voters are bombarded from all sides — by radio, television, newspapers and personal communications — with political opinions. Each candidate tries to convince a majority of American voters that he is best qualified to lead the country for the next four years. lkcause campaigning is extremely expensive and a candidate must win a majority of the electoral votes, presidential politics has, to a extent, been limited to two major parties — the Democratic and Repuiblican parties. A great number of votes are needed to win a national coalion. No candidate can hope to survive by appealing to one or two voters. Each party has a familiar symbol.

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, voters cast ballots for President and Vice-President. Some state and local officials are also elected at this time. Thanks to voting machines and computers, Americans usually know the winners by late evening. The President and Vice-President are not actually chosen by popular Its but by electoral votes. That is, the people vote for electors who are, 1 group, known as the Electoral College. This group selects the president and Vice-President. When a citizen casts his vote for a presidential candidate, he is really choosing electors. Each elector is 1wcted (although not obliged) to vote for the candidate who wins the majority of popular votes in his state. The number of electors allotted to each state is equal to the total number of representatives and senators who represent that state in Congress. Thus, states with larger populations have more electoral votes. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes in particular state receives all of that state’s electoral votes. It is, therefore, possible for a presidential candidate to win a majority of popular votes but in a minority of electoral votes, thereby losing the election.

To be elected, candidates for President arid Vice-President must have a majority of votes in the Electoral College. If no candidate wines a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the top three candidates, and the Senate chooses the Vice-President from the top two candidates having the highest number I electoral votes.

Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.

In sweep to victory; midterm elections; high-profile; to solidify one’s hold on smth; to beat; an outcome; the margin of victory to be small; to fall short or the margin; a runoff election; to run well ahead of mb; to prevent smb from doing smth; a nomination; to lose one’s bid for; Ic) take a court ruling; incumbent; to put smb ahead; to withstand; to win a ‘ccond term; to put the best light on smth.

4. Read the text again and finish the following statements.

I) The Republicans have swept to... 2) The Republicans captured...) The Republicans also solidified... 4) Norm C., a Republican, beat a former Vice President... S) In South Dakota the margin of victory of the Democratic candidate was... 6) The Democratic candidate in Louisiana fell a bit short of... 7) The outcome of the balloting Tuesday marked a break...) Democratic opposition prevented president... 9) Kathleen K., a Democrat and a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, lost her...

10) In Alabama, the governor’s race was thrown into chaos so the situation most likely will take...

Il) In Baldwin County the change of the election outcome will put Republican challenger Bob R.

12) In California, the Democratic candidate, Gray D., withstood... 13) Democrats tried to put the best light on...

. Answer the following questions using the active vocabulary.

l) What is the outcome of the midterm elections in the USA? 2) What did the Republicans capture?

3) Did the Republicans lose their positions in the House of Representatives? 4) Did the former Vice President win the elections? 5) Was the rivalry tough in South Dakota? 6) What was the election like in Louisiana? 7) What historic patterns did tile outcome of the balloting Tuesday mark? 8) What did Democratic opposition prevent the US president from? 9) Did the daughter of Robert F Kennedy win her bid? 10) How will the election problem be resolved in Alabama? 11) How did the election go off in California? 12) How did Democrats react to the outcomes of the elections?

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