EVENTS

NORWAY'S `NO' DISAPPOINTS EU LEADERS European Union leaders expressed disappointment Nov. 29 over Norway's rejection of membership in the union, and warned that the Nordic country must ``bear the consequences'' of being outside the growing trade and political bloc. Norway said ``no'' 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent in a referendum Nov. 27-28, which followed weeks of bitter campaigning. The decisive rejection was the second time Norway has opted out of the community, following a ``no'' in 1972. It also kept the EU from claiming a clean sweep this year in its campaign to bring in four wealthy newcomers. Sweden, Finland, and Austria all voted to join the bloc. Philadelphia schools

A judge rejected most of a plan to overhaul Philadelphia's racially divided and underachieving schools. Commonwealth Court Judge Doris A. Smith wrote that the schools must create smaller classes, increase parent involvement, and improve teacher training if they are to overcome such problems as a failure rate of nearly 50 percent for ninth-grade students. Communications satellite

After a week's delay, an Atlas rocket blasted into orbit Nov. 29 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., with a satellite that will provide video and data services to North America and Europe. Korean farmers protest

About 10,000 South Korean rice farmers protesting a world trade agreement clashed Nov. 29 with riot police, who fired tear gas and arrested 59 people.

Spain's airports reopen

Spanish airports returned to normal Nov. 29 after management and striking unions at the cash-strapped Iberia airline thrashed out an agreement. The preliminary accord ended a day-long strike that left hundreds of people stranded.

Mexican envoy resigns

The government peace commissioner to the southern state of Chiapas has resigned, handing responsibility for the simmering rebellion to President-elect Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon. The resignation of Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, appointed five months ago by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, was expected. The Chiapas rebellion, launched Jan. 1 by armed Indian guerrillas, is one of the major concerns Zedillo will inherit.

NEC memory chip

NEC Corporation said Nov. 29 that it will invest more than $1 billion to build the world's first semiconductor production line capable of making 256-megabyte computer memory chips.

The chips will have 16 times the capacity of the largest memory chips currently on the market. The new line will be built at the company's semiconductor plant in Kyushu, southern Japan, and will be finished by March 1998.

Dahmer slain

Jeffrey Dahmer was murdered Nov. 28 while cleaning a bathroom at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wis. He was serving 16 life terms for strangling and mutilating 17 boys and men.