EVENTS
LORD OWEN BLASTS CLINTON ON BOSNIA
Lord Owen, the European Community mediator working with UN special envoy Cyrus Vance to try to end the war in Bosnia, has accused the Clinton administration in a press interview of prolonging the war through reluctance to sign on to the Geneva peace plan. He faults the US position for keeping the Bosnian Muslims from getting "on board." Bosnia says the plan rewards Serbs for "ethnic cleansing" waged against Muslims. The Bosnian peace talks will resume at the UN in New York today or tomorrow. Clinton helps unions
President Clinton said he revoked two executive orders of President Bush because they amounted to an intrusion into union activities in the workplace. One order prohibited contractors who entered into project agreements with unions from bidding on federal construction contracts. The second order required unionized federal contractors to post a notice in the workplace that workers are not required to join or support unions. US urging talks
The United States is pressuring the Arabs to quickly resume Middle East peace negotiations following Israel's offer of compromise on the issue of Palestinians deported to Lebanon. Washington wants the talks to start again before the Feb. 24 start of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan. But there were no visible signs the Arabs will do so until a more acceptable offer is made on the expulsion. Iraq is offering to sell oil to raise cash to provide supplies for the stranded Palestinians, a proposal Yasser Araf at announced in Baghdad yesterday. A light from space
A Russian spaceship yesterday shined a patch of reflected light onto the dark side of the earth with a reflective solar sail made of Kevlar. If evaluations of `Operation Banner' are positive, it could lead to the development of panels of space mirrors powerful enough to light up nighttime work projects, rescue operations, and sun-starved polar regions with cosmic klieg lights. Serbs in France angry
Two associations of Serbs living in France are seeking a court order to halt an advertising campaign that compares Serbs in the former Yugoslavia to the Nazis. The $2 million ad campaign, sponsored by the relief group Doctors of the World, utilizes a poster showing side-by-side portraits of Adolf Hitler and Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. Poorer nations hurt
Prices for raw materials, on which many third-world countries depend, dropped in 1992 for the fourth year in a row, the International Monetary Fund reported. For all commodities except oil food, metals, minerals, and industrial farm products the drop amounted to $2.50 per $100. Germans raid skinheads
German police in nationwide dawn raids yesterday broke into homes and offices of right-wing, skinhead musicians accused of glorifying violence and inciting racial hatred through songs. Skinhead rock bands are the rage of Germany's increasingly violent far-right fringe, preaching an explosive mixture of Nazi ideology, street fighting, and hatred of foreigners.
