News beyond the farm
A weekly e-mail news summary - WORLD EDITION
For the week preceding this Saturday, December 7th, 1996, here's what made the News Beyond the Farm:
A woman may be fourth in line to the US Presidency for the first time. On Dec 5th, President Clinton held a press conference to announce his nominations for his new national security team. Madeleine Albright, presently the US ambassador to the United Nations, was nominated to replace retiring Warren Christopher as Secretary of State. If confirmed, Albright will be the first woman to hold this post which is behind only the vice president, speaker of the house, and president pro tempre of the senate in the line of presidential succession. To replace retiring Defense Secretary William Perry, Clinton nominated retiring senator William Cohen (R-ME), who will become the first Republican in the Clinton cabinet. National Security Advisor Anthony Lake was nominated to be CIA Director, and deputy Samuel Bergen was nominated to replace Lake. So far, all nominations seem to have support in the Senate. Albright, for example, has even been endorsed by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC).
Time may be short for the Serb government of Slobodan Milosevik. On Dec 1st, the nationalist government warned protestors that they faced arrest if they turned out in other cities. 100,000 people took to the streets of Belgrade anyway. On Dec 3rd, despite international pressure, the government closed the two opposition radio stations, B92 and Index Radio, to shut off information on the protests. B92 reappeared on Voice of America Dec 4th, and the goverment allowed the stations to return to the air Dec 5th as the Serb information minister resigned. Daily protests reached their 20th day in Belgrade Dec 7th with a record crowd of 150,000, and union leaders are now threatening to endorse the protests if the government does not re-instate the results of local elections annulled last month.
The situation in Central Africa destabilized considerably again this week. On Dec 1st, localized fighting broke out between Hutus and Tutsis in Burundi. In Zaire, rebels took the city of Walikale Dec 3rd, and had effectively surrounded the strategic city of Bunia. Meanwhile, the fighting in the Central African Republic continued, with the US recommending the evacuation of its nationals Dec 7th.
They're Talking About It:
Call him Minister Bobbit. The same John Wayne Bobbit whose manly member was cut off by his wife some years ago and later appeared in pornographic movies has become a born-again Christian. On Dec 1st, he was ordained a minister and he is now performing marriage ceremonies in Las Vegas.
In Shorts:
- World AIDS day was celebrated Dec 1st.
- The Arab League condemned Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas Dec 1st.
- An Islamist faction forcibly took over the town of Garm, Tajikistan Dec 1st.
- A bomb exploded on a train in Ambala, Jammu, India Dec 2nd, killing twelve people and injuring 37. Sikh separatists were suspected. In an apparently unrelated incident, a package bomb exploded in the same area Dec 5th, killing five; Islamists were suspected.
- A T-34 training aircraft crashed near Maxwell AL Dec 2nd, killing two people.
- Shannon Lucid was presented with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor Dec 2nd.
- Scientists discovered traces of ice on the dark side of the moon Dec 2nd.
- A judge ruled Dec 3rd that Charles Keating will receive a new trial as a result of problems with the jury in his first trial.
- A judge in Hawaii ruled Dec 3rd that the state cannot ban marriages between two people of the same sex.
- A bomb exploded in the Paris subway Dec 3rd, killing two people and injuring 48.
- The Supreme Court heard arguments surrounding the constitutionality of the Brady Bill on handguns Dec 3rd.
- UN Secretary General Bhoutros Bhoutros-Ghali suspended his candidacy for re-election Dec 4th, prompting other African candidates to come forward; no front-runner has emerged as yet.
- Delta and Continental Airlines are apparently in merger talks according to a story leaked Dec 4th.
- The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft was launched by NASA Dec 4th.
- A panel chaired by Stanford economist Michael Boskin concluded Dec 4th that the Consumer Price Index overstates inflation.
- A bomb exploded in Karachi, Pakistan Dec 4th, injuring 11. Islamists are suspected.
- After Alan Greenspan asked the question, "How do we know when irrational exuberance has unduly escalated asset values?" Dec 5th, stock markets across the world fell Dec 6th; Wall Street got off fairly easily, losing only 55.16 points to close at 6381.96.
- The space shuttle Columbia returned to Earth Dec 7th after a record 19-day mission.
- A CBS poll released Dec 7th showed President Clinton with a 60% approval rating, compared with 38% two years ago. The same poll revealed that 50% of Americans believe Congress will be more influential than the President in the next two years.
- The 55th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor passed Dec 7th.
- Philadelphia's Walt Whitman Bridge was closed for two hours Dec 7th while a chemical leak was capped at a nearby facility.
- Herbert Khaury, better known as entertainer Tiny Tim, died of a heart attack Dec 1st; he may have been 66.
- Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle died Dec 6th at the age of 70.
Finally:
A woman from Abilene KS was in a hurry one day and decided to say her prayers while driving. Upon completing them, she noticed flashing lights in her rear view mirror and pulled over. After the officer stated that she was speeding, she responded that she had been praying. "Look lady," said the officer, "When I started work today, I pulled someone over, and it turned out to be a husband with his pregnant wife in labor, so I escorted them to the hospital. Then I pulled somebody else over and it turned out to be a scientist who needed to get a delicate sample to lab in time to test it, so I escorted him to the university. Now, I don't know if you were praying, but something tells me I shouldn't give you a ticket, either. All I have to say is: The next person I pull over is really going to get it."
And that's what made the News Beyond the Farm.
Sources this week included All Things Considered (NPR), the Associated Press newswire, the BBC Newshour (BBC/PRI), the Christian Science Monitor, Face the Nation (CBS), KCBS radio news, Marketplace (PRI), The News Hour with Jim Lehrer (PBS), Newsday (BBC/PRI), Newsdesk (BBC/PRI), Paul Harvey News and Comment (ABC radio), and the Reuters Newswire. Compiled by: Lance Gleich, Stanford CA
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