user: Problem: New Zealand Teen Admits to Clubbing 23 Seals to Death

A New Zealand teen Monday confessed to clubbing 23 fur seals -- including newborn pups -- to death with a galvanized steel pole on a beach in an attack which shocked the nation, The Marlborough Express reported.

The New Zealand fur seals, which are protected by law, were found slain late last year at a colony of the mammals about 14 miles north of Kaikoura, a township on the northeast coast of the South Island.

Jason Trevor Godsiff, 19, admitted charges of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and willfully ill-treating 23 seals by clubbing them to death. He was remanded for sentencing in the Blenheim District Court in September.

A second man charged in connection with the same incident has not entered a plea.

Authorities believe the seals, some of which were just a few days old, were killed over several days. Some live animals in the area also had injuries.

Under New Zealand law the attackers face up to six months in jail, or a fine of US $191,000, for killing or harming fur seals, plus a fine of $10,000 per animal harmed.

Click here to read more at The Marlborough Express

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Summary: A New Zealand teen Monday confessed to clubbing 23 fur seals -- including newborn pups -- to death with a galvanized steel pole on a beach in an attack which shocked the nation.


Input: INDIA'S ROPE TRICK - PRESERVING U.S. TIES - NYTimes.com
NEW DELHI— As the global perceptions and strategic concerns of India and the United States grow farther and farther apart, officials of both countries are trying to keep the deterioration from undermining a wide range of economic, cultural and scientific links.

There is little doubt that in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Reagan Administration's tough stance toward Moscow, India and the United States are looking at the world very differently. But the two countries retain considerable importance for each other. The United States is India's largest trading partner, with trade this year approaching $3 billion. The Indian Government is encouraging productivity in the private sector and joint ventures with American concerns are booming. Furthermore, virtually every family within the Indian elite has relatives in the United States, where 333,000 residents of Indian descent earn the highest per capita income of any ethnic group. More Indian students are studying in the United States than in any other foreign country.

The conflict and challenge of juggling relations was put succinctly last week by Archer K. Blood, the outgoing American charge d'affairs in New Delhi. Speaking to United States residents, he appealed for a tolerant approach, saying that the embassy would have to ''try to insulate'' the web of mutually valued relations ''from the effects of our current differences on the geopolitical plane.'' Indian and American diplomats agree that differences are sharpening over such issues as India's tolerance of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and its recognition of the Vietnamese-supported Government in Cambodia. Mr. Blood noted that the divergence derived largely from the state of relations between Washington and Moscow. ''When U.S.-Soviet relations are reasonably good, our relations with India are bound to be good,'' the diplomat said, adding that conversely, because of the current tensions between the superpowers, ''there was bound to be a spillover effect on our relations with India.''

Mr. Blood, the senior American diplomat here, said this equation did not mean that India was under Moscow's domination. He noted that the ''recent noncelebration of the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty showed that Mrs. (Indira) Gandhi's Government is determined to maintain somewhat of a distance between itself and the Soviet Union.'' Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Gandhi let it be known that she was too busy to go to Moscow to commemorate the signing of the treaty in 1971.

The diverging perceptions in New Delhi and Washington have been shaped by the difference in their respective roles. India, as Mr. Blood said, is essentially a regional power while the United States has global concerns and responsibilities. While the United States regards the Soviet Union as its main rival, India views the Russians as steady friends who have provided crucial support during its wars with China and Pakistan. Other Western diplomats noted that the Reagan Administration had decided to supply arms to Pakistan largely out of global strategic considerations, while in New Delhi, the arms sale was viewed in terms of its effect on the regional military balance.

Mr. Blood spoke a week after India's decision to bar an American diplomat was disclosed in Washington. The State Department said George G. B. Griffin, who was to have become a political counselor in New Delhi, had been the target of a Soviet ''disinformation'' campaign that identified him as a spy. India said, however, the decision stemmed from Mr. Griffin's activities as an envoy in Calcutt a at t he time of the Bangladesh war. Indian officials described the Griffin incident as unfortunate. One said he was surprised the matter was made public by Washington and noted that at least three S oviet diplomats have been similarly barred from India inthe past 18 m onths.

In an attempt to accent positive relations, a senior Indian Foreign Ministry official echoed many of Mr. Blood's remarks. He said the Gandhi Government hoped to refrain from rhetorical escalation of the differences, and also cited Mrs. Gandhi's refusal to accept an invitation to Moscow. A second gesture, he said, was the virtual abandonment of public condemnations of United States military activity in the Indian Ocean. The official said that India was even willing to liquidate a 30-year agreement on United States deliveries of nuclear fuel to an atomic power plant rather than permit Congressional blockage of the deliveries (because of India's refusal to sign the nonproliferation treaty) to poison relations. The agreement is virtually dead and the Indians say they would like to bury it as gracefully as possible.

Government spokesmen have also gone out of their way to squelch charges by Indian leftist journals that the United States was seeking to impose painful conditions for a record $5.68 billion loan to India by the International Monetary Fund. Officials in the Indian Finance Ministry have said that the United States has not insisted on devaluation of the rupee as it has in previous applications. Also, the Indians said Washing ton had not invoked i ts traditional objections to alloting funds to finance energ y development in the third world.

A number of Indian commentators, some close to the Government, are advocating a grin-and-bear-it response to what they regard as a dismissive attitude toward India by the Reagan Administration. Several noted that India does not have the power to challenge the United States directly and said no purpose would be served by raising temperatures. A corollary was offered by an Asian diplomat who said that it would be fruitless for India to attack the United States for supplying arms to Pakistan, but ''pressuring Pakistan about receiving arms, that is something else again.''

Illustrations: photo of Indians demonstrations in New Delhi
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assistant: As the global perceptions and strategic concerns of India and the United States grow farther and farther apart, officials of both countries are trying to keep the deterioration from undermining a wide range of economic, cultural and scientific links.   There is little doubt that in the wake of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the Reagan Administration's tough stance toward Moscow, India and the United States are looking at the world very differently. But the two countries retain considerable importance for each other. The United States is India's largest trading partner, with trade this year approaching $3 billion. The Indian Government is encouraging productivity in the private sector and joint ventures with American concerns are booming. Furthermore, virtually every family within the Indian elite has relatives in the United States, where 333,000 residents of Indian descent earn the highest per capita income of any ethnic group. More Indian students are studying in the United States than in any other foreign country.