News beyond the farm

A weekly e-mail news summary - WORLD EDITION

For the week preceding this Saturday, September 21st, 1996, here's what made the News Beyond the Farm:

The bi-partisan Presidential Debate Commission ruled Sep 17th that Ross Perot does not have a reasonable chance to win the presidency and therefore should not be invited to the debates. Critics charged the commission with ignoring the fact that Perot was polling at a similar level in 1992 prior to the debates he did participate in during that cycle, and to his eligibility for Federal matching funds as reasons why he should be allowed in the debates. Supporters of the decision, notably made up mostly of partisans from both major parties, say having the major-party candidates one-on-one will allow a better opportunity to compare Dole and Clinton. On Sep 21st, a proposed schedule was released with presidential debates Oct 6th in Hartford CT and Oct 16th in San Diego CA, and a vice-presidential debate Oct 9th in St. Petersburg FL.

The health of Russian President Boris Yeltsin is very much in question. Russian officials admitted Sep 20th that Yeltsin had suffered a heart attack prior to the presidential election. He has been hospitalized since Sep 13th preparing for heart surgery, but doctors questioned Sep 21st whether he would survive it. An American doctor has been flown in to advise on possible alternate treatments.

They're Talking About It:

Despite some polls showing Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole only eight points behind President Clinton, it is hard to call his past week a good one for Dole. When attempting to mention Hideo Nomo's no-hitter in his speech, he referred to Nomo's team as the Brooklyn Dodgers, despite the fact that the team moved to Los Angeles about 40 years ago. Then, after speaking at Chico CA, he slipped off the stage and nearly injured himself severely. In other tracking polls, Dole is up to 22 points behind the President.

In Shorts:

Umberto Bossi of Italy's Northern League declared the northern party of that nation independent Padania Sep 15th. His decree was largely ignored.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly criticized the government of Egypt's stance on Middle East peace Sep 15th.
Continuing the war of words in the Middle East, Iraq claimed that President Clinton was "retarded" Sep 15th. On Sep 17th, Clinton ordered 3500 more troops to Kuwait and received Kuwaiti approval.
The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Company reached agreement Sep 16th, averting a possible strike.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis was launched Sep 16th (despite a wrench in a dangerous part of the solid-rocket rooster) and made rendevous with the Russian space station Mir to retrieve astronaut Shannon Lucid Sep 19th.
Defense Secretary William Perry visited France and Britain in an attempt to gain support for US actions against Iraq Sep 16th.
2075 Kurds who had worked with the US against Saddam Hussein were airlifted out of northern Iraq to Guam Sep 16th.
Romania and Hungary signed a long-awaited treaty protecting each other's minority rights Sep 16th.
Mother Teresa fell and injured her head but moved on Sep 16th.
Russian envoy Alexander Lebed returned to Chechnya Sep 16th in an attempt to restart a troop withdrawal which had started the previous week.
Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki handled the civil case against O.J. Simpson very solidly Sep 17th, refusing to allow jurors out of the pools with claims of hardship and not allowing the defense to use several arguments which had been heard in the criminal trial.
Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies at Denver's Coors Stadium, a known hitter's ballpark, Sep 17th. Nomo is Japanese.
President Clinton designated 1.7 million acres in southern Utah a national wildlife preserve to prevent mining Sep 17th.
Defense Secretary William Perry accepted full responsibility for the bombing of American facilities in Saudi Arabia Sep 18th, but did not resign.
Bob Dole (R) adopted the slogan "Just Don't Do It," Sep 18th as part of his campaign against drugs. He also started running ads accusing Clinton of allowing anti-drug spending to drop and of setting a poor example.
Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa faced a parliamentary vote of confidence after three days of debate Sep 18th through 20th.
A House Reform and Oversight Committee report released by the Republicans Sep 18th accused the White House of "unprecendented abuse of power" in the travel office firings case. President Clinton passed it off as political.
The House of Representatives overrode President Clinton's veto of the bill outlawing "dilation and extraction" abortions Sep 19th, 285-137. Meanwhile, RU486 moved one step closer to FDA approval.
Arizona implemented the first female chain gang in the nation Sep 19th.
A submarine ran aground between South Korea and North Korea Sep 19th, and after capturing several aboard, South Korea now claims that the North was returning infiltrators in this fashion and filed a protest of the apparent breach of the armistice agreement.
Murtaza Bhutto, estranged brother of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was killed Sep 20th along with five other members of his splinter faction of the ruling party after running a checkpoint.
Three people convicted of attempting to murder Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia received a death sentence Sep 20th.
The prosecutor revealed Sep 20th that Theodore Kaczynski had written diary entries taking responsibility for sixteen bombings.
On Sep 20th, the FBI released the fact that the 747 used on ill-fated TWA Flight 800 had been used in explosive-detection testing two months before, possibly explaining the presence of trace explosives. Meanwhile, Internet rumors of a Navy test missile hitting the plane became much more rampant.
An armed man enroute to "preventing a Jack Kevorkian suicide" was arrested in Southfield MI Sep 20th.
President Clinton signed the "Defense of Marriage Act" early Sep 21st.
Israeli shelled southern Lebanon Sep 21st after clashes with guerillas on the ground.
Virginia Military Institute (VMI) voted 9-8 to admit women starting in 1997 Sep 21st.
7.4 pounds of heroin were found on Colombian President Ernesto Samper's jet bound for the United States Sep 21st, apparently planted there to embarrass the embattled president.
A dramatic fire destroyed a practice sports facility at Auburn University Sep 21st.
Spiro Agnew died Sep 17th at the age of 77.

Finally:

Listeners to either the Dave Ross Show on KIRO-AM in the Seattle area or Dave Ross commentaries on the CBS radio network are probably familiar with "News Read Real Slow." In this feature, intentionally grammatically incorrect, Ross slowly enunciates each word in a key sentence of a story, then provides some humorous meaning to prove "the news always makes more sense when it's read real slow." In reality, this feature is not a joke. The British Broadcasting Corporation, the epitemy of stuffy correctness in news reading, has instituted a feature called "News Read Slowly" on its World Service. Its slogan is almost exactly the same as Ross': "For those who think they would understand the news if it were read more slowly." Fortunately, News Beyond the Farm can be read at any individual's preferred speed.

And that's what made the News Beyond the Farm.

Sources this week included All Things Considered (NPR), the Associated Press newswire, CNN Headline News, Newsday (BBC/SW), and the Reuters newswire. Compiled by: Lance Gleich, Las Vegas NV.

News Beyond the Farm is designed to provide a fairly short summary of a week's events for people who would otherwise have no chance to keep up with current news. It is distrubuted by direct e-mail and is published by Worcester Polytechnic Institute's student newspaper, "Newspeak," when that institution is in session. It may be distributed, re-posted, or forwarded anywhere. Check "http://www.uhra.com/nbtf.html" on the World Wide Web for back issues and further information. Comments, criticisms, and requests for e-mail subscription additions or deletions should be e-mailed to "nbtf@uhra.com." Congratulations for keeping up with the world around you!