EVENTS
GM FIGHTS VEHICLE SAFETY CHARGES
General Motors Corporation is fighting back against critics who say the nation's biggest automaker manufactured millions of unsafe trucks during a period of 14 years. GM officials plan to claim that NBC-TV and several consumer groups rigged test results to make it appear the design of the gasoline tanks on full-size GM pickups made from 1973 to 1987 were unsafe, according to a published report.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety announced it would launch "Campaign GM Firebombs" today to pressure GM into recalling nearly 5 million pickups.
A GM spokesman denied that the announcement was part of a major public relations campaign. He said GM had previously been unable to respond to allegations that its trucks were unsafe because of a gag order in a court case that ended Thursday with a $105.2 million judgment against the automaker. Bosnia airlift
All-out battles were reported in two eastern Bosnian towns yesterday despite a local cease-fire sought by the UN to get relief supplies to the area. The international aid airlift to Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, resumed yesterday after a two-day suspension. The flights were halted Saturday after antiaircraft fire struck a German relief plane after it left Zagreb, Croatia, injuring one crewman.
Fighting in Bosnia over the past year has claimed at least 18,000 lives. Serbs rebelled after Muslims and Croats voted for independence from Serb-dominated Yugoslavia. US accused of spying
North Korea today accused the United States of using international nuclear inspections to spy on military bases and facilities. The unusually harsh comments were carried by the official North Korean Central News Agency.
They appear to reflect a growing isolation in the world's last Stalinist nation and frustration at its failure to attract foreign investment to bolster its sagging economy. Western nations have refused to provide economic assistance until concerns over North Korean nuclear weapons development are resolved. Personal communicators
The world's leading electronics and communications companies have forged an unprecedented alliance in an effort to set a standard format for so-called "personal communicators." These hand-held wireless devices will act as telephones and as computers with the ability to send, receive, and store data.
Apple Computer Inc., Sony Corporation, Motorola Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Company, Philips Consumer Electronics Company, and American Telephone & Telegraph Company have joined as equity partners in the start-up firm General Magic, which has worked for two years to develop a software and programming language called "Telescript."
The companies hope their joint effort will allow them to dominate this potentially large and lucrative market.
