Beyond the farm

For the week preceding this Saturday, September 9th, 1995, here's what happened Beyond the Farm:

The UN Women's Conference began in Huiarou (near Beijing), China Sep 4th. While plagued by poor planning by the host nation and poor weather, the conference has had its moments, including a Sep 5th speech by Hillary Rodham Clinton in which she heavily criticized Chinese family planning policy without mentioning China by name. In another speech Sep 6th, Clinton complained about the organization of the event by the Chinese. Presently, delegates are trying to come up with a conference document.

In the Balkans:

• US envoy Richard Holbrooke called meetings with the Bosnian Serbs "unproductive" Sep 3rd, and the UN set a 5 pm deadline for the Serbs to at least commit to withdrawing their heavy weapons around Sarajevo .

• Bosnian Serbs politicans announced Sep 4th that they would agree to withdraw heavy weapons, but Serb General Ratko Mladic claimed he could not do so without a referendum of all Bosnian Serbs and a vote in the Bosnian Serb parliament.

• NATO resumed airstrikes on Bosnian Serb positions Sep 5th, citing Mladic's response. The Serbs responded by shelling Sarajevo, and the Rapid Reaction force responded by resuming their artillery fire. By Sep 7th, 2000 additional sorties had been flown.

• At the Geneva negotiations, all sides agreed Sep 8th to grant the Bosnian Serbs their own state within a unified Bosnian, a major consession to the Serbs.

• UN artillery fire killed Serb civilians near Pale Sep 9th.

• The Russian Parliament voted Sep 9th to recommend to Boris Yeltsin that Russia withdraw from the NATO Partnership for Peace because of the "continued US actions against the Bosnian Serbs."

They're Talking About It:

In Shorts:

• Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo invited the Zapatista rebels to participate in political reform talks Sep 3rd.

• Taliban rebels in Afghanistan caputred the second-largest airfield in that country Sep 3rd.

• Violence broke out in Detroit Sep 3rd because of the continuing strike against the major daily newspapers.

• James Haffa announced Sep 4th that he would run for the head of the teamsters union; he is the son of the infamous Jimmy Haffa.

• Hurricane Luis struck Barbuda and Antigua Sep 5th, killing at least 19 people and causing tens of millions in damages. It also devastated St. Maarten Sep 6th, but turned away from Puerto Rico.

• Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-RI) announced he will not seek relection Sep 5 th.

• The Senate Ethics Committee recommended Sep 6th that Sen. Bob Packwood (R-OR) should be expelled. To head off this end, Packwood resigned his seat Sep 7th. He immediately had to give up his committee roles, but may continue voting as a Senate member until October 1st.

• Hearings into the Ruby Ridge incident in which government agents killed three of white separatist Randy Weaver's family opened Sep 6th.

• Former Los Angeles Police Detective Mark Fuhrman would only take the fifth amendment when returned to the witness stand in the O.J. Simpson case Sep 6th.

• Cal Ripken, Jr. broke Lou Gehrig's "ironman" record for playing in the most consecutive games without a break Sep 6th by going out on the field for baseball game #2131.

• The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka released 121 of 144 hostages taken last week Sep 7th.

• The House of Representatives approved a $244 billion military spending bill Sep 7th that would allow for the construction of more B-2 bombers as well as continuing funding for other military projects.

• Steffi Graf defeated Monica Seles to retain tennis' #1 ranking Sep 9th.

• An aircraft flying over Colombia crashed and killed at least 20 people Sep 9th.

• Well-known defense attorney William Kunstler died Sep 4th at the age of 76.

Finally:

And that's what happened Beyond the Farm

Beyond the Farm is designed to provide a reasonably short summary of a week's events for people who would otherwise have no chance to keep up with current events. It may be distributed/forwarded/posted anywhere. Comments, criticisms, and requests for e-mail subscription additions or deletions should be e-mailed to "lance.gleich@leland.stanford.edu." "http://www.stanford.edu/~lglitch/btf/btf.html" on the World Wide Web for back issues. Congratulations on keeping up with the world around you!