Rich And Poor

ASMARA, Eritrea -- A rhythmic clamor of pounding hammers, buzzing grinders and clanging metal reverberates from the stone gateway of Eritrea's oldest open-air market. At first glance, the dusty bazaar behind downtown Asmara appears to be little more than a junkyard of rusted car parts, broken appliances and scraps of steel. But this isn't where old metal comes to die. It comes here to be reborn. Used artillery shells are recast as combs for beauty salons. Empty vegetable-oil tins morph into coffee pots.

TOKYO -- The Chinese empire is so vast, so populous, and the inner workings of its power elite so enigmatic, that consolidating and holding power has never been a simple task. Now, that chore falls to President Jiang Zemin, who must hold on to the reins of power he has inherited from Deng Xiaoping.To accomplish this, Jiang must wrestle with powerful forces inside and outside China -- from internal challenges such as rapid economic growth, mass migration, increasing corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor, to such external threats as Taiwan and the jarring onslaught of Western consumer culture.

BEIJING -- For a couple of years, Chen Baohong lived a charmed life.The purchasing manager of a southern Chinese missile factory, Mr. Chen was rich, that blissful state of existence that in the early 1990s economic boom every Chinese was supposed to desire. And as a "da kuan," or "big spender," Mr. Chen did what every "da kuan" was supposed to do: flaunt his money shamelessly.His child was enrolled in a fabulously expensive private school. Mr. Chen bought a car, though he didn't know how to drive.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called for action yesterday to close the ever-widening gap between the world's rich and poor, but he acknowledged that donor countries are suffering from aid "fatigue" that could take years to overcome.Mr. Boutros-Ghali spoke at the opening of the United Nations' seven-day World Summit on Social Development, called to address problems arising from poverty and discrimination.James Gustave Speth, head of the U.N. Development Program, outlined some of the dimensions of the global poverty problem.

How does a frail 90-year-old with no official title cling to all-embracing political power? One way, as detailed by Ian Johnson, The Sun's Beijing correspondent, is to enforceretirement at 70 in the private sector. Especially in the unauthorized religious sector.The incident of goons rising in the capital city's largest Protestant church during service in front of a full congregation and unceremoniously dumping the pastor outside, because of the Rev. Yang Yudong's 73 years, is simply part of a larger campaign against Christian, Muslim, Taoist and Buddhist worship that is flourishing outside the state-created "patriotic" churches.

WASHINGTON -- Despite a growing economy, another 1.3 million people fell below the poverty line last year and the economic divide between rich and poor Americans continued to swell unexpectedly, according to the Census Bureau.Altogether, 39.3 million Americans, or 15.1 percent of the population, lived in poverty in 1993, up from 14.8 percent in 1992 and the highest rate since 1983, when the economy was emerging from its deepest recession since World War II.Maryland fared better than many states.

PETIONVILLE, Haiti -- This place high on a mountainside overlooking Port-au-Prince is one of the few communities shared by Haiti's rich and poor. Still, they hardly meet.Beautiful mansions dominate the view, while ramshackle huts cling to the sides of the cliffs below. Maseratis and BMWs race through crowded, smelly street markets. Fancy restaurants and modern supermarkets share the same blocks with vendors selling stale food on the sidewalks.For fun, people like Katie, an interior decorator, spend evenings with friends at a neighborhood casino.

In constructing his 22-member commission to study state aid to education, Gov. William Donald Schaefer has wisely picked a panel that can get something passed in an election year. The real question is whether it can get something passed that will truly make a difference.The commission, which will report this fall for action by the 1994 legislature, is chaired by Donald P. Hutchinson. As president of the state Chamber of Commerce and as a former Baltimore County executive and state senator, Mr. Hutchinson is familiar with the needs of many constituencies.

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton administration released proposed legislation yesterday that would narrow the gap between rich and poor schools by redirecting federal education aid to give a greater share to poor districts.The "Improving America's Schools Act of 1993" would also increase federal funding to underfunded schools to $7 billion in fiscal 1995, an 11 percent increase from fiscal 1994, and would refocus existing programs to ensure that children from low-income families are encouraged to meet the same advanced academic standards now expected of middle-class children.

There'll be a coming-home party on West Lexington Street tomorrow afternoon. True, the guest of honor is dying of AIDS. True, he has a home detention monitor strapped to his right ankle.But it will be a time to celebrate. Indeed, a large part of 47-year-old Harry B. Johnson Jr.'s story is a Christmas story. It's about coming home for the holidays, about forgiveness and redemption and good will. It's also much too sad for Christmas.H.B. (as some call him; others call him Skinny) has sent more than 150 invitations to this nonalcoholic fest.

The decision by JPMorgan Chase to proceed with plans to spend $138 million on new jets and a hangar to house them, as ABC News reported Monday, fits right into my theory about why the corporate rich continue to indulge and reward themselves despite a public uproar amid financial crisis. Same with the now-shelved plan at Constellation Energy Group to reward executives with about $32 million in performance benefits and retention incentives - I have a pretty good idea why such a feast had been arranged despite the company's near-bankruptcy, its layoff of some 800 employees and its demand for more money from electric customers.

ASMARA, Eritrea -- A rhythmic clamor of pounding hammers, buzzing grinders and clanging metal reverberates from the stone gateway of Eritrea's oldest open-air market. At first glance, the dusty bazaar behind downtown Asmara appears to be little more than a junkyard of rusted car parts, broken appliances and scraps of steel. But this isn't where old metal comes to die. It comes here to be reborn. Used artillery shells are recast as combs for beauty salons. Empty vegetable-oil tins morph into coffee pots.

An escape hatch that lawmakers inserted in an expensive school funding plan is almost certainly illegal, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. said yesterday, a finding that makes it more difficult for the state to back out of a $1.3 billion-a-year education program that no one can agree how to pay for. Curran told lawmakers that a vote they are required to take in March - a resolution affirming or denying that Maryland has enough money to pay for the...

WASHINGTON - The story was heart-warming: A 30-year-old woman gave birth to a baby free of her family's curse of early Alzheimer's disease, thanks to the wonders of medical science. It was hard not to feel the joy of the baby's family, or the hope of the many others who feel helpless by their genetic inheritance. The breakthrough occurred when doctors in Chicago applied genetic tests to batches of human eggs, helping the woman to have a baby free of her family's early Alzheimer's disease.

PHILADELPHIA -- Now that it's over, let's hear it for the casting director. The Republican variety show featured more women and minorities in the acts than in the delegations. If America actually looked like the convention stage, every dot-com would be run by a woman or Hispanic. By the time Dick Cheney and George Bush made their appearances, it was something of a shock to see that the headliners were two middle-aged white guys. But, hey, that's entertainment. Even more bewildering were the cameo appearances of working-class folks and the utter disappearance of Grand Old Plutocrats.

DAVOS, Switzerland -- Amid a sudden wave of angst among corporate and political leaders about the growing gap between rich and poor, President Clinton appealed to them yesterday to make global trade work for the poor. In what amounted to his gospel on globalization, Clinton told an audience of chief executives and national leaders attending the World Economic Forum that if the economic elite who had created, managed and benefited from globalization did not listen to the concerns of those left out, protectionism would return.

TOKYO -- The Chinese empire is so vast, so populous, and the inner workings of its power elite so enigmatic, that consolidating and holding power has never been a simple task. Now, that chore falls to President Jiang Zemin, who must hold on to the reins of power he has inherited from Deng Xiaoping.To accomplish this, Jiang must wrestle with powerful forces inside and outside China -- from internal challenges such as rapid economic growth, mass migration, increasing corruption and a widening gap between rich and poor, to such external threats as Taiwan and the jarring onslaught of Western consumer culture.

BEIJING -- For a couple of years, Chen Baohong lived a charmed life.The purchasing manager of a southern Chinese missile factory, Mr. Chen was rich, that blissful state of existence that in the early 1990s economic boom every Chinese was supposed to desire. And as a "da kuan," or "big spender," Mr. Chen did what every "da kuan" was supposed to do: flaunt his money shamelessly.His child was enrolled in a fabulously expensive private school. Mr. Chen bought a car, though he didn't know how to drive.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called for action yesterday to close the ever-widening gap between the world's rich and poor, but he acknowledged that donor countries are suffering from aid "fatigue" that could take years to overcome.Mr. Boutros-Ghali spoke at the opening of the United Nations' seven-day World Summit on Social Development, called to address problems arising from poverty and discrimination.James Gustave Speth, head of the U.N. Development Program, outlined some of the dimensions of the global poverty problem.

How does a frail 90-year-old with no official title cling to all-embracing political power? One way, as detailed by Ian Johnson, The Sun's Beijing correspondent, is to enforceretirement at 70 in the private sector. Especially in the unauthorized religious sector.The incident of goons rising in the capital city's largest Protestant church during service in front of a full congregation and unceremoniously dumping the pastor outside, because of the Rev. Yang Yudong's 73 years, is simply part of a larger campaign against Christian, Muslim, Taoist and Buddhist worship that is flourishing outside the state-created "patriotic" churches.