September 05, 2001
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W eatherm en Predict W eak El
N ino O ver N ext Few M onths
G EN EV A (A P) — The El
N ino w eath er phenom enon,
w hich cau sed thousands o f
deaths during its last appear
ance, is returning in w eakened
form, United Nations scientists
predicted Tuesday.
“T his com ing event is no
w here near on that scale,” said
M ichael C oughlan, director o f
th e W o rld M e te o ro lo g ic a l
O rg a n iz a tio n ’s clim ate p ro
gram. “ H ow ever, that d o esn ’t
preclude individual events that
may be quite dam aging.”
The last El Nino in 1997-8
set o ff fatal storm s, heat waves,
fires, floods and drought, and
caused an estim ated $32 b il
lion in property damage.
U.N. m eteorologists “have
seen som e indication o f El
N in o ” in re c e n t w e e k s ,
Coughlan said. As yet they
can only predict clim ate trends
until early 2002 and cannot say
whether El Nino will strengthen
or decline nex ty ear, he added.
D uring an El Nino, winds
that norm ally blow east to west
o v er the equator ease, and
surface w aters in the eastern
Pacific warm.
The w arm ing o f the eastern
Pacific O cean, coupled with
changes in air pressure, can
alter the course o f the upper
a ir j e t stre a m th a t ste e rs
w eather m ovem ent, resulting
in changes in precipitation
around the world.
Most typically, rains increase
on the Pacific coast o f Latin
America, while areas like Indo
nesia and northern Australia
have lower rainfalls than usual,
but the phenomenon can affect
weather across the globe.
U ntil returning to a “ neu
tral” situation a few m onths
ago the w orld was in a La Nina
phenom enon — in which trade
w inds in the eastern Pacific
strengthen, resulting in cooler
surface w aters in the eastern
Pacific.
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Little League Star’s Age Prompts Forfeits
av A ndres C ala , AP S taff
W ILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A
Little League team from New York
City, which includedapitcher who
turns out to be two years too old,
will have to forfeit all o f its victo
ries this year.
That announcement was made
by Little League officials Fnday in
Pennsylvania.
L ittle L eague sta r D anny
Almonte is 14, not 12 — a finding
that cost his team its third-place
World Series finish and left his
father facing criminal charges.
All the victories won by his
Bronx, N.Y., team, the Rolando
Polino Little League All-Stars,
were forfeited, and all its records
— including A lm onte’s perfect
game — were wiped out.
“C learly, adults have used
Danny Almonte in a most con
temptible and despicable way,’ ’ said
Stephen D. Keener, president and
CEO o f Little League Baseball in
South W il liamsport, Pa.
But Keener said no action will
be taken against Danny him self
— and that h e’s w elcome to take
part in older divisions o f the youth
baseball organization.
The Bronx league’s founder,
Rolando Polino, also was banned
for life from any association with
Little League, although the team ’s
charter was not revoked.
A birth certificate showing the
ace pitcher is 12 was found to be
false, said Manuel Ramon Morel
Cerda, the president o f the Domini
can Electoral Committee, which is
in charge o f most public records.
T he g o v e rn m e n t p lan s to
charge the boy’s father, Felipe de
Jesus Almonte, with falsifying
documents, and was considering
charges against the mother, Sonia
Rojas Breton, Cerda said.
L.ittle League rules prohibit any
player bom before Aug. 1, 1988,
from competing this year.
Rojas, who lives in the town of
Moca, has a handwritten, photo
copied birth certificate that said
hersonw asbom A pril7,1989. But
Moca’s official records office has
another birth certificate that said
he was bom April 7,1987.
A nother handw ritten docu
ment from Dr. Toribio Bencosme
Hospital in Moca states that a
woman named Rojas gave birth to
a boy there on April 7,1987. Rojas,
who says she gave birth to
Almonte at home in the nearby
town o f Jamao, insists all docu
ments but hers are false.
Victor Romero o f the public
records office in Santo Domingo
investigated Almonte ’ s birth docu
ments in Moca, about 90 mi les north
o f the capital. He also investigated
records from the nearby town of
Jamao, where Almonte’s mother
said he was bom.
Officials found the birth certifi
cate from Jamao to be false after
speaking to the witnesses who
had signed the birth certificate.
The witnesses denied knowing
the family or having signed the
birth certificate. Morel said.
The town official from Jamao
who registered D anny'sage as 12
last year has been suspended, he
said.
“There are a number o f contra
dictions in the second birth cer
tificate,” Romero said, referring to
the document listing the 1989 date.
“Neither the witnesses, the hos
pital, nor the local authorities could
confirm Almonte was bom in
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estado de pobreza en los Estados Unidos. Si usted
fuera pobre, ésta sería su casa.
LA POBREZA.
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Baseball players from outside the United States show team
solidarity during the Little League World Series playoff that was
held from Aug. 1 7 - 2 6 in Williamsport, PA.
Jamao.”
The boy was brought to New
York by his father, who has in
sisted his son was 12.
At a news conference earlier
Friday in the Bronx, Paulino said
he would abide by the decision.
“I trust all the parents in the
league to present original docu
ments,” said Paulino, who was
flanked by team members and
parents — but not the Almontes.
“If the parents lie to the league
that is not my problem. I accept
the information that the parents
gave to me.
Danny Almonte was the most
dominating pitcher at the World
Senes this year, throwing a per
fect game in the opener against
Apopka, Fla. He struck out the
first 15 Apopka batters in the first
perfect game in 44 years at the
tournament.
He followed that with a one-hit
shutout in the U.S. semifinals
against an Oceanside, Calif., team
that came in averaging .333 with
five batters at .500 or better.
He finished the tournament
with 46 strikeouts, giving up only
three hits in three starts. A run
scored in last inning o f his final
game was the only run scored on
Almonte all summer.
Behind A lm onte’s pitching
and a solid defense, the Bronx
team went 4-1 at the W orld Series
and finished third. The team’s only
loss was a rematch against Apopka
in which Almonte couldn’t pitch
because o f a rule that prohibits
pitchers from starting consecu
tive games.
Almonte became a sensation
after throwing 16 strikeouts in the
Mid-Atlantic Regional champion
ship against State College. His
perfect game only added to his
reputation, and major leaguers
Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey
Jr. both contacted Almonte to
wish him luck.
Meanwhile, a U.S. official who
asked not to be identified, said
Almonte and his father are in the
United States illegally. They ap
plied to come to the United States
in J une 2000 and were issued tour
ist visas, but the visas expired six
months after their arrival, theoffi-
cial said.
Little League officials have said
his immigration status did not af
fect his eligibility since all that is
required is thatachildbeofage and
that a parent or legal guardian live
in the community he represents.
Peru looks to extradite
Fujimori from Japan
LIMA, Peru (AP) — W ith ho
micide charges against former
President Alberto Fujimori immi
nent, Peruvian officials are con
sidering how to persuade Japan
to turn over the exiled leader to
account for alleged crimes against
humanity, the prime minister said
Tuesday.
In a special session, Peru’s
Congress voted unanim ously to
lift Fujimori’s immunity so he can
face homicide and forced disap
pearance charges in relation to
two state-sponsored massacres
in the early 1990s.
P ro se c u to rs m u st file the
charges within five days.
But Fujimori has been in his
parents’ native Japan since N o
vember, when his 10-year-old
government collapsed under the
weight o f mounting corruption
scandals, and his extradition to
Peru appears unlikely.
Japan announced Fujimori was
entitled to citizenship shortly af
ter he arrived, and Japanese law
prohibits the extradition o f its citi
zens to stand trial for crimes com
mitted in other countries.
Fujimori, who so far only faces
charges o f abandonment o f office
and dereliction o f duty, denies
any wrongdoing.
Peruvian legal experts argue
that Japan would have to try
Fujimori in its own courts or send
him to an international tribunal for
charges o f crimes against human
ity, in compliance with interna
tional treaties.
But a senior official in the Japa
nese Justice M inistry’s interna
tional division, who spoke on
Former Peruvian President
Alberto Fujimori.
condition he not be named, ruled
out the p o ssibility o f trying
Fujimori in Japan for any crimes
allegedly committed in Peru.
The official said unless the Japa
nese government has jurisdiction
over the crimes in question the
suspect couldn’t be tried in Ja
pan.
Japan signed an international
treaty against torture in 1999, but
it is only obliged to hand over
suspects accused o f torture that
took place after the country joined
the pact, the official said. The
charges this week against Fujimori
will be for death squad killings in
1991 and 1992.
The official also said that since
Japan has not signed the U.N.
treaty on international human
rights tribunals, it would not be
authorized to extradite Fujimori to
an international human rights
court such as the one in The Hague,
Netherlands.
t