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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1991)
"^T OTA7C 1 ^ t ft1 Q C1* Associated Press JL V_- VV 3 JL-r Edited by Eric Pfanner Christmas shopping season opens amid little cheer WASHINGTON — Retail sales were stuck in the doldrums as the Christmas buying season began in earnest and the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped toa six-month high in early November, the government said Thursday. The economic weakness did help to keep cost pressures in check with consumer prices rising a barely perceptible 0.1 percent last month, the best news on inflation since March. While the Bush administration continued to insist that the nation is no longer in a recession, private economists said the new reports could only be viewed as a further warning that the country was slipping dangerously close to another downturn. Economists were concerned because the traditional engine for economic growth, con sumer spending, is going nowhere as Ameri cans continue to shy away from purchases of autos and other big-ticket items. TheCommerce Department reported Thurs day that retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month, led by a 0.3 percent decline in auto purchases. Analysts said there was little surprise in the report. , The Labor Department said Thursday that 454,000 Americans filed new claims for job less benefits in the week ending Nov. 2. That was an increase of 33,000 from the previous week and pusned me unemployment Dcncms number to its highest level since May. The Labor Department also said that the inflation-adjusted earnings of Americans fell * by 0.7 percent in October, the biggest setback since July. Many analysts fear that the economic growth in the July-September quarter will be followed by declines either in the current quarter or early next year. 7 77 77 77777k A bomb explosion on the Blast ripped baggage hold njQM0fnec21 1988 Explosive gas. channeled through ni9n* °\yj~n *1 ’ . . the fuselage, blistered plane's skin. killed all 259 people aboard the Pan Am 747 flight 103. B Fuselage ruptured, plane disintegrated The ski- cracked at explosion site and bikiorori sections, it began to peel back. The plane broke apart within 3 seconds. 1 I I UNITED STATES A Libyan agents charged in Pan Am bombing White House won’t rule out military action WASHINGTON — Two Libyan intelligence agents were charged « Thursday by U.S. and British authori ties with planting the bomb that de stroyed Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, killing 270 people. Bush administration officials said high-ranking Libyan officials were deeply involved in the plot and left open the possibility of action against the Moammar Gadhafi government. “We find it very hard to believe this could have been carried out with out the active involvement of higher ups within the government," White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said. The indictment of the two agents returned here by a federal grandjury and the British charges capped what FBI Director William Sessions called “the largest international. terrorist investigation, ever conducted.” The charges against the agents of Jamahirya Security Organization, the Libyan intelligence service, were announced simultaneously in Wash ington by Acting Attorney General William Barr and in Edinburgh by Scotland’s Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllic. The Dec. 21, 1988, bomb blast killed all 259 people aboard the New York-bound Boeing 747 plus 11 people on the ground when debris from the • explosion fell on Lockerbie, Scot land, and the surrounding country side. Fitzwater did not rule out the pos sibility of using military force to ar rest the suspects, who arc believed to be in Libya, saying: “we arc consider ing action and I’ll leave it at that. We don’t rule out any option.” Fraser said the two arc presumed to be in Libya and arc unlikely to be “arrested in the normal way.” Barr, awaiting Senate confirma tion to be attorney general, vowed that the investigation would continue. “We will not rest until all those re sponsible arc brought to justice. We have no higher priority.” The two suspects arc Abdel Basset Ali Al-Mcgrahi, 39, a high-ranking JSO official, and Lamcn Khalifa Fhimah, 35, a covert JSO operative who posed as station manager for the Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta. “It’s great that they’ve got the gun and the gunman, now who bought the bullets and who masterminded it?” said Kathleen Flynn of McLean, Va., whose son John Patrick, a Colgate University junior, was killed in the blast. “A lot of people thought it was I Syrians,” President Bush told a group I of Hispanic-American educators. “The I Syrians took a bum rap on this.” Justice Department officials said I there was no evidence that Syria or I Iran played any role in the plof They I declined to say whether there was any I contact between Syria and Libya about I the bombing. State Department spokesman Rich- I ard Boucher denied that Syria was I exonerated to ensure its continued I participation in the M iddlc East peace I process. ‘‘There was no political influence I over this indictment,” he said, adding I that evidence did not show involve-1 ment by the Syrian-based Palestinian I Front for the Liberation of Palestin-M ian-Gencral Command. Basset was head of the JSO’s air-^B line security section, which placed ■ covert operators in jobs with the Lib-1 yan airlines, the indictment said. The U.S. indictment, which charged I 193 violations of federal law includ-1 ing murder of 189 Americans aboard I the plane, also suggests that high I officials in the Libyan government I were part of the plot. The suspects I could be sentenced to death if con- ■ vie ted. Jobless-benefits bill gains House approval Fired postal worker kills 3, wounds 7 wAbriiiNO i UN — l he House resoundingly approved a S5.3 billion measure Thursday giving extra bene fits to the long-term jobless as Con gress neared an end to its four-month duel with President Bush. Lawmak ers said the first checks could be in the mail by Thanksgiving. By a 396-30 vote, the House sent the Senate the compromise measure, which was crafted after Bush joined a Democratic effort he long resisted. Senate Majority Leader George Mitch ell, D-Mainc, promised to rush it to Bush “as fast as we can.” The president’s promised signa ture meant that 3 million people who will have used up the standard 26 weeks of unemployment benefits during the recession could qualify for up to 20 more weeks of coverage. The action came as the Labor Department announced the highest number of people filing for new job less claims in six months. Claims for tnc week ending Nov. 2 reached 454,000, a 33,000 increase over the ! previous week and a figure that ex perts said meant that layoffs were continuing. Democrats said Bush had changed his stance after noting that his popu larity was dropping. “Heck, if there’s another drop in the polls in the next round, we may pass our whole legis lative agenda,” Mitchell said. “Better late than never,” House Whip David Bonior, D-Mich.,saidof Bush during the floor debate. “Wel come aboard.” “We could have had it last summer if certain leaders up there hadn’t tried to inflict a political defeat on me,” the president said. The Democrats relented on the question of financing. The final ver sion of the bill would be paid for largely by forcing people with high, quickly-rising incomes who pay esti mated taxes to make their payments faster. ROY AL OAK, Mich.—A fired postal worker who colleagues said had vowed revenge on his superi ors sprayed his former post office with bullets Thursday, killing three employees and wounding seven, according to authorities. Employees said Thomas Mcllvanc, 31, of Oak Park, Mich., then turned his rifle on himself. He and three of his victims were hos pitalized in critical condition, au thorities said. Me 11 vane was fired last year for timecard fraud and had appealed his dismissal, Postal Service spokes man Lou Ebcrhardt said in Wash ington. The firing was upheld Wednes day by an arbitrator. ‘‘Everybody said if hedidn’tget his job back, he was going to come in and shoot,” postal worker Bob Cibulka said. “Everyone was talk ing about it.” The gunman was crazy, hc was a wailing lime bomb,” said postal worker Mark Mitchell, who served wilh Mcllvanc in the Ma rine Corps.' Previous threats by Mcllvanc against his supervisors were for warded to Postal Service authori ties, Oakland County Prosecutor Richard Thompson said at a news conference. Thompson said the gunman used a .22-caliber carbine commonly used for hunting. Hc said the weapon's barrel had been sawed off, making it illegal. « Royal Oak police officer Jo seph Hill said seven postal em ployees were being treated at hos pitals, but two hospitals in the Detroit suburb listed six people wilh gun shot wounds and three with un specified injuries. Police said they couldn’t immediately clarify the injuries. Breast implants win OK from FDA panel I NelSra&kan Editor Jana Pedersen Night News Editors Chrle Hopfeneperger 472-17M Cindy Kimbrough Managing Editor Diane Brayton Alan Phelps Assoc. News Editors Stacey McKenzie Dionne Searcey Kara Walls Art Director Brian Shelllto Arts & Entertain- Publications Board ment Editor John Payne Chairman Bill Vobe)da Diversions Editor Bryan Peterson , 476-2859 Photo Chief Shaun Sartln Professional Adviser Don Walton Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan. Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St..Lincoln, NE 66566-0446. Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN _ WASHINGTON — A Food and Drug Administration panel unani mously recommended Thursday that silicone-gel breast implants remain available to women despite finding that safety data submitted by four manufacturers was inadequate. The panel recommended that more safety data on the devices be gath ered. Panel members expressed concern about the lack of safely and durability data on the implants but said (hey were equally concerned that denying these devices to women could also have harmful consequences. “This should send the manufactur ers a message that it is no longer business as usual,” said Mary Davis, a member of the committee and an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at West Virginia JL University. Committee members said they could not conclude that certain groups of women had a greater need for breast implants than other groups. They said they didn’t believe that the implants should be available only to women who have lost a breast to cancer and not to healthy women who want to enlarge their breasts.
