News In Brief
The Us
Balkan leaders agreed on a comprehensive settlement yesterday to end the 43-month war in Bosnia. A ceremony to initial the pact was set for mid-afternoon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where the Bosnian, Serbian, and Croatian delegations had been closeted with US, Russian, and European mediators for 21 days. President Clinton said there will be a single state with two parts: A Bosnian Croat Federation and the Bosnian Serb Republic. Clinton also said that Sarajevo will be a united city, and refugees will be allowed to return home. (Story, Page 1.)
A federal judge Monday struck down portions of California's voter-approved Proposition 187 as unconstitutional. In her ruling US District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer said ''the state is powerless to enact its own scheme to regulate immigration,'' and it cannot deny federally funded services, though it can refuse to spend its own money on undocumented immigrants. She also ruled as unconstitutional the requirement that teachers, health-care workers and social workers report information about applicants whose immigration status is suspect.
Both teams in the budget debate got cheers from supporters Monday: GOP governors meeting in New Hampshire approved of Senator Dole's effort; and President Clinton was told the temporary budget deal was ''a winner'' even by some liberal Democrats at a Capitol meeting. But both sides exhorted Dole and Clinton not to give in as the battle escalates starting next week: Republicans consider the $245-billion tax cut sacrosanct; and Democrats ardently defend environment, education and Medicare funding, though Clinton predicted some concessions.
The US Monday congratulated Aleksander Kwasniewski on his election as president of Poland and, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said the US was not troubled by Kwasniewski's Communist past. Also, State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said Lech Walesa, who led the Solidarity trade union which toppled Communism in Poland in 1989, ''has a secure place in history.''
Stalled negotiations between Israel and Syria will be high on the agenda when Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres meets President Clinton at the White House next month. Sources say Dec. 11 is the likely date, but White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry yesterday said no formal date has been set.
Following in the footsteps of Alabama and Arizona, Florida is reinstituting chain gangs but their novel approach has brought mixed reaction. In an effort to get the most work out of the inmates, Florida prison authorities will shackle prisoners individually unlike the usual practice of grouping. Some opinions: it is a security risk; it is inhuman; you can get more work done if people are unchained. Yesterday 90 inmates at three prisons were scheduled to start the program.
A study for Congress found that blacks in the military are less likely to gain promotion and women were more likely. Monday's report by the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, reached no conclusion as to why disparities occurred.
President Clinton would have about the same support he did in 1992, if he were matched up with Senator Dole in the 1996 presidential elections, according to a survey published in the National Network of State Polls Newsletter, Monday. In Electoral College votes, the states where Clinton holds a clear lead would produce 207 votes and the states where Dole holds a clear lead would produce 137 votes the report said.
Every American should have a mailbox in cyberspace even if they do not own a computer, a Rand Corp. sponsored study said yesterday. The benefits: new business opportunities; producing more informed voters, and making sure poor people are not left out of the information age. A problem: how to give out addresses to people with the same names.
One in 9 homeless people is a child, up from 1 in 12 last year, says a survey of 13,000 homeless people by the Kansas City-based International Unions of Gospel Missions. As the federal government reopened, tourists streamed back into National Parks and Monuments yesterday, including the Washington Monument, above.
The World
Shimon Peres is expected to become prime minister and announce his Cabinet today when the Knesset ratifies his government. He formed a new government yesterday, pledging to fight violence in Israel in the aftermath of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. A pact signed with the left-wing Meretz party and right-wing Yeud faction gives him the same government Rabin headed. (See also News In Brief.)
Quebec separatist leader Lucien Bouchard announced yesterday he will seek the job of premier and head of the ruling Parti Quebecois. Bouchard is likely to take the helm of government early next year.
China formally arrested 1995 Nobel Prize nominee Wei Jingsheng yesterday on charges of trying to overthrow the government. Wie is considered China's most prominent dissident and father of its democracy movement. It was the first official word in 20 months on the whereabouts of Wei, who disappeared into police custody after a meeting with a senior US human rights official. Previous to announcing Wei's arrest, China announced it was willing to resume human rights dialogue with the US but told Washington to stop interfering in its internal affairs. (Story, Page 6.) Separately, China approved a landmark purchase of 25 percent of Hainan Airlines by a US firm American Aviation Investment.
Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sirivudh was arrested yesterday for conspiring to murder co-premier Hun Sen. Police say they have a tape of him saying he wanted to shoot Hun. Sirivudh is the half brother of King Norodom Sihanouk and is secretary-general of the royalist FUNCINPEC party. He denied the charge, saying it is politically motivated.
Tens of thousands of Nigerians gathered in Abuja yesterday after the government called a rally in support of its execution of nine minority rights activists. South African President Nelson Mandela, in attempts to isolate Nigeria, called for a regional summit to discuss sanctions against Nigeria. ANC Secretary-General Cyril Ramaphosa, recently returned from Britain where he met with Prime Minister Major, told reporters London planned to freeze the assets of Nigeria's military leaders. And the EU Monday decided to enforce an arms embargo, freeze aid, and impose tighter visa restrictions. (Opinion, Page 19.)
Under a cloak of police secrecy, former Nazi Capt. Erich Priebke arrived in Rome yesterday just a few miles from the site of a massacre of 335 civilians in 1944. Priebke (below) is alleged to have ticked off their names as they were killed. The trial begins next week. Priebke says he was at the massacre but was just following orders. His extradition is only the fourth of many accused Nazi war criminals who escaped to Argentina.
Dozens of prisoners at the Seoul detention center where former president Roh Tae Woo is jailed began a hunger strike yesterday to protest his privileges. Roh has a large cell to himself with a private shower. Also, prosecutors questioned Roh's former economics affairs secretary and planned to talk with a former member of parliament who was in Roh's inner circle. Responding to public outcry over special privileges, South Korea's National Assembly is expected to approve a law to deprive convicted ex-presidents of annual compensation, offices, and other privileges.
India is considering an offer by Al-Faran militants Monday to exchange two ill hostages they've been holding for five months for an imprisoned guerrilla. Earlier statements suggest the hostages in question are American Donald Hutchings and a British captive.
Responding to a BBC interview with Princess Diana Monday night, Buckingham Palace yesterday requested talks with the Princess of Wales on her future role as a British royal. Britons were astonished at her frankness about her love life, health problems, and challenges with the royal family. She said she doesn't want a divorce because of the impact on her sons.
Etcetera
Many record stores stayed open past midnight Monday as fans, who have been bereft of new Beatles' songs since 1970, lined up to buy ''Beatles Anthology I.'' It includes the new single, ''Free As a Bird.'' And 47 million people watched the new song's debut on ABC Sunday night.
One of the great mysteries of the 60s may be solved: A Bolivian general says famed revolutionary Che Guevara is buried in a mass grave in southern Bolivia. The general says he was part of the group that killed Guevara in 1967.
Russian skating champ Sergei Grinkov, who died unexpectedly Monday, won two Olympic gold medals.
Top Ten Movies, Nov. 17-19
1. ''Goldeneye,'' MGM, $28.1 million
2. ''Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls,'' Warner Bros., $20.6 million
3. ''The American President,'' Columbia Pictures, $10.3 million
4. ''It Takes Two,'' Warner Bros., $5.7 million
5. ''Get Shorty,'' MGM/UA, $4.5 million
6. ''Copycat,'' Warner Bros, $3 million
7. ''Powder,'' Buena Vista, $2.3 million
8. ''Home for the Holidays,'' Paramount, $2 million
9. ''Seven,'' New Line, $1.6 million
10. ''Now and Then,'' New Line, $1.5 million
- Reuters
'' The people of Bosnia finally have a chance to turn from the horror of war
to the promise of peace.
- President Clinton announcing the accord forged at the Bosnian peace talks in Dayton, Ohio, yesterday.
