Beyond the Farm
A weekly e-mail news summary - WORLD EDITION
For the week preceding this Saturday, September 2nd, 1995, here's what's happened Beyond the Farm:
1995 has furthered its claim as the year of the merger. Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank announced their intention to merge Aug 28th. The combined bank, which will retain the Chase name, will be the nation's largest with $10 billion in holdings. Then, on Aug 30th, the Turner Broadcasting System announced it was in serious negotiations with Time-Warner to form the nation's largest media company. The final agreement has not been signed, but TBS chairman Ted Turner was said to be "excited" about the prospect of being the vice-chairman of the combined companies.
In the Balkans:
- Thirty-seven Muslim civilians died when the Bosnian Serbs fired five shells into the marketplace area of Sarajevo, the same site where over sixty died last year in a single incident, on Aug 28th.
- NATO launched a huge air strike campaign against the Bosnian Serbs Aug 29th, involving 200 sorties of US, British, and French planes in an attempt to re-establish by force the heavy weapons exclusion zone around Sarajevo. British and French artillery on Mt. Ignman also fired on Serb positions.
- Five UN observers in Serb-held territory were killed Aug 29th, but it was not clear if they were killed by the NATO airstrikes or Serb fire.
- Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's initial response to the NATO bombing was to say that it would only harden the Serbs' resolve.
- The Bosnian Serbs announced Aug 30th that they would turn over the authority to negotiate a peace agreement on their behalf to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevik, creating for the first time a unified position for the Serbs at the negotiating table.
- Russia issued a weak condemnation of the NATO bombing campaign Aug 30th.
- Germany announced Aug 31st that it had participated in the NATO airstrikes, though its planes did not actually bomb. This represented the first combat mission for German forces since World War II.
- US Envoy Richard Holbrook announced Sep 1st that all three sides had agreed to a 51% Bosnian government/49% Serb split of Bosnian territory, and that a conference will be held next week in Geneva to resolve the exact lines of the 51/49 split.
- NATO airstrikes ceased Sep 1st to give the Serbs a chance to take constructive action, and some troops did appear to retreat from the front lines.
- NATO and the UN announced late on Sep 2nd that the Bosnian Serbs must move heavy artillery from the exclusion zone around Sarajevo after an hours-long grace period or face additional airstrikes. The announcement was made after meetings with Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who did not impress the western diplomats with his sincerity.
They're Talking About It:
The tapes former Los Angeles detective Mark Fuhrman made for a screenwriter describing his work as a police officer were shown without the jury present in the trial of O.J. Simpson Aug 29th. In the tapes, Fuhrman repeatedly uses the racial slur "nigger" which he had denied doing in court testimony. He also describes how white officers would beat up blacks, among other clearly racist segments. Judge Lance Ito ruled Aug 31st that only two short clips from the tapes, including samples of Fuhrman using the epithet, would be admissable in court, though witnesses could testify about the contents of the rest of the tapes.
In Shorts:
- 370 commuter planes had their propellers replaced by Aug 27th in the wake of the crash of a commuter plane in North Carolina last month.
- Two people were killed and 35 injured when a bus and an RV collided in Colorado Aug 27th.
- The United States and China announced Aug 28th that they would be holding a summit, probably in Beijing some time in October.
- The three major New York-area airports were shut down for a time Aug 28th because of a bomb threat.
- California governor Pete Wilson (R) officially announced his candidacy for President of the United States with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop Aug 28th.
- Rwandan Prime Minister Faustin Twagiramundu resigned his post Aug 28th over accusations of unfair treatment to Hutus; another moderate Hutu took his place by Sep 1st.
- A car bomb exploded near Georgian Prime Minister Eduard Shevrandazi Aug 28th in an apparent assassination attempt. On Aug 30th, he declared his candidacy for the new post of President in the former Soviet republic.
- Calvin Klein decided to drop its controversial ads featuring scantily clad teenagers Aug 28th.
- Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto offered Aug 29th to hold new elections in the region of Jammu and Kashmir if rebels would agree to a six-month truce.
- Rebels in Colombia killed 17 civilians in Bogota Aug 29th.
- Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev won a referendum to increase his office's powers by an 89% vote Aug 29th.
- Zaire warned the UN that it has until the end of the year to remove Rwandan refugees still in Zaire Aug 29th.
- The Conference on Women for non-governmental organization opened in China Aug 30th with far fewer than the 25,000+ women expected, mainly due to problems with getting visas to enter that nation. However, concerns about censorship appear to be unfounded, with speakers condemning the Chinese record on treatment of women, and only one protest has been organized. It was quickly broken up by authorities Sep 1st.
- Guiana announced the leak of cyanide from the Omai Gold Mine into nearby waters ceased Aug 30th.
- An investigation in Mexico concluded Aug 30th that Bishop Juan Posadas Scapo was killed by drug traffickers.
- Federal judge Royce Lambert overturned the nation's 148-year old extradition law Aug 31st in a huge ruling. It is unclear what the ramifications the ruling will have for the United States' treaty obligations.
- Rep. Mel Reynolds (D-IL) announced Sep 1st that he will resign after being convicted of sexual misconduct.
- Huge protests were held in Tahiti Sep 1st over French plans for nuclear testing to begin on that day.
- French forces seized two Greenpeace vessels that entered French waters where nuclear testing was to begin Sep 1st; Greenpeace has protested.
- A new transitional council took control of Liberia Sep 1st in preparation for elections.
- Japanese ambassador M. Nishimura made a formal apology on the behalf of the Japanese people for World War II during ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Japanese surrender Sep 2nd.
- A British plane crashed at an airshow in Canada Sep 2nd; all seven crew members missing.
- Eight people were killed when a private plane crashed near Mesquite, NV Sep 2nd
Finally:
Steve Beilstein of Minot, ND called up a taxi to take him to town. After the taxi had already driven him near his destination, he realized that he had no money in his wallet. So, he told the driver to go to a nearby hardware store. Upon arrival, he told the driver to wait while he went to buy a flashlight so that he could find the $100 bill he dropped in the back seat. When he exited the store a few minutes later, the taxi was gone.
And that's what happened Beyond the Farm.
Sources this week included All Things Considered (NPR), the Associated Press newswire, the California State Capitol Report (KXPR), CBS radio news, the Christian Science Monitor, KCBS radio news, Larry King Live (CNN), Morning Edition (NPR), Newsdesk (BBC/PRI), Paul Harvey News and Comment (ABC radio), the Reuters newswire, the San Jose Mercury News, and the World News Roundup (CBS radio). Special thanks to Imran Maskatia for information and to Josh Gergely for computer equipment.
Compiled by: Lance Gleich, Bellevue WA
Beyond the Farm is designed to provide a reasonably short summary of all week's events for people who would otherwise have no chance to keep up with current events. Congratulations on keeping up with the world around you!
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