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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1992)
Sss. news digest 17 apparently killed in 2 military crashes HARLEM, Mont. — Twomilitary cargo jets collided after refuel ing dur ing a training flight and crashed, ap parently killing all 13 aboard, au thorities said Tuesday. In another Air Force crash Monday night, a B-l B bomber on a low-level training flight crashed into a cliff and exploded in western Texas. The fate of the four crewmen was unknown. It was the fourth crash of a B-1B, de signed to deliver nuclear bombs, since September 1987. The causes of both crashes were unknown. In Montana, the wreckage of the two C-141B cargo planes was strewn over 21 square miles of the state’s north-central prairie about 30 miles south of the Canadian border. Nine bodies had been found by midaftemoon, said Col. Dick Fanjoy, vice commander of the 43rd air refueling wing at Malmsirom Air Force Base in Great Falls. The planes crashed late Monday while on a training mission with two other C-14IBs and a Washington Air National Guard KC-135 tanker, said Ray Martell, a spokesman for McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Wash., where the transports were based. “A great, big piece fell out of the sky. It looked like a meteorite,” said Brenda Mohar, a teacher from Turner, northeast of the crash area. The KC-135 had finished refueling the cargo planes before the collision, said Lt. Col. Joe Jimenez, a spokes man for Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Wash., where the tanker is based. Master Sgt. David Jones of McChord said it was loo early to say what caused the collision, but no mechanical problem was suspected. Weather also wasn’t believed to have been a factor, Fanjoy said. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lee Fryer in Seattle said the weather was clear at the altitude the planes were flying, 24,000 to 27,000 feet. Large sections of the planes lay on the scorched prairie, including about two-thirds of one fuselage that ap pcared lohavc fallen intactandcrackcd open like an egg. Some wreckage was about a mile from a farmhouse. Mike Bachmeicr, police chief in Harlem, about 10 miles from thccrash, said there were “bodies all over.” Six people were on one of the planes and seven on the other, said Gloria Rayford, spokeswoman for the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord. The four-engine C-141 Starliftcris used to ferry large loads of equipment and troops. It can carry 120 people. In western Texas, the B-1B bomber crashed and burned on a ridge be tween 6,185-foot Capote and Needle peaks in a rugged area of the Sierra V ieja Moun tai ns, about 20 m i les south of Valentine. Wing span: 159 ft. 11 In. Length: 168 ft. 4 in. Source: Jane's All The World’s Aircraft AP Somalian relief workers press for military security MOGADISHU, Somalia — Reliefofficials on Tuesday urged the United Nations to quickly authorize more military muscle to guarantee that aid reaches hundreds of thousands of starv ing Somalis. As the U.N. Security Council debated whether to take up a U.S. offer of a force of 30,000 to deliver the food, some of the officials worried that an influx of foreign troops could spark retaliation against foreigners. Somali gunmen will feel that their liveli hood is threatened. “This is a very complex society with very tough, proud people divided into competitive clans,” said Brigitte Doppler of Doctors With Swift action a must, they say, to reach famine areas oul Borders. “None oflhc relief agencies know how their programs will work under military mobilization.” Without security, said Per Hammcrstcdl of U.N. Operation Somalia, the relief operation is pointless. “Why should we stay here when the food is looted and we can’t even bring it oul of the harbor?” he said. In London, Nicholas Hinton, director gen eral of the relief agency Save The Children, said any U.N. military operation in Somalia must be part of a five-year international com milment to rebuild the shattered African na tion. Hinton said a suggestion that soldiers “can somehow simply go in, clean the place up and get out in two weeks is ridiculous.” By U.N. estimates, at least 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of drought and warfare this year and another 2 million are threatened. As much as half the 200,000 metric tons of food del i vered to the Horn of A frica nation have been stolen by bandits. At least 12,000 metric tons arc stored at port warehouses but cannot be delivered because of banditry in the area. On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali recommended using military force to guarantee food deliveries, in what would be the first full-scale armed U.N. inter vention to support humanitarian activities. In Washington on Tuesday, House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., told reporters the United States is very close to sending ground troops into Somalia. “I think the circumstances warrant it,” Foley said. A major force from the United States or any other country would likely encounter little or ganized resistance from marauding warlords. Economic signs up strongly, but analysts wary WASHINGTON—New reports Tuesday showed the government’s chief economic forecasting gauge, construction spending and manu facturing all up strongly. The Commerce Department’s Index of Leading Economic Indi cators rose 0.4 percent in October, the biggest gain in five months. The department also said construc tion spending in October advanced robustly for the second consecu tive month, reaching the highest level in two years. Since the economy lapsed into recession in July 1990,analysLs have been burned twice by prematurely predicting a return to better limes, once in mid-1991 and again early this year. Each time a dip or a stall in activity prevented the economy from attaining a self-sustaining re covery. Of the index’s 11 forward-look ing indicators, the most positive was a 13.7 percent drop in average weekly unemployment benefit claims, the steepest since Decem ber 1982. George Stcphanopoulos, a spokesman for President-elect Clinton, said no decision has been made about whether the improving economic outlook would cause Clinton to scale back a planned short-term economic stimulus package. “We’re encouraged by the news we’ve seen over the last several weeks and we hope it continues,” Stcphanopoulos said. “But... we just can’t tell yet whether or not we’re going to have a real, long, sustained recovery with job growth and income growth.” Five other indicators in the lead ing index were positive. Two were neutral and three were negative. The other positive indicators were: • An increase in the average work week of manufacturing em ployees. • A jump in unfilled orders at factories, a sign that manufacturers are not as easily keeping up with new orders and may need to hire**, soon. • A rise in orders for business equipment and buildings. World AIDS Day observed Tuesday around globe i nv trv/r'\v r l O I J iKa \rirnc thol aoiicac A T H Q Knn'in u uvn-iiivu^iiiiaguituuir onsiraiors in Santa Claus costumes danced around a giant condom in Town Hall Square. In Russia, doctors gave free con sultations at the Moscow Satire The ater. And in Brazil, protesters called for more government funding. World’s AIDS Day was observed Tuesday in a variety of ways, from whimsical demonstrations to solemn vigils demanding more funds to fight the deadly disease. Hundreds of marchers in Banjul, Gambia, converged to hear speeches and pray for people with AIDS. The West African nation’s health minis ter, Landing Jallow Sonko, warned that AIDS may increase child mortal ity rales by as much as 50 percent in much of sub-Saharan Africa in the 1990s. - it Tnere is a rapidly expanding portion of the popula tion that is mobile and affluent... who patronize prostitutes or use drugs. — Kean World Health Organization official On the eve of World AIDS Day, Indian screen stars marched in Bombay and urged people to “have fun, but don’t forget Nirodh,” a popu lar condom. The World Health Organization has said about 2 million people in Asia could die of acquired immune deficiency syndrome by the year2000. In Tokyo, Japanese baseball star Sadaharu Oh joined other celebrities ww handing out information packets at a rally in the Ginza shopping district. In Beijing, World Health Organi zation official Bernard Kean told a gathering at the Great Hall of the People that the Chinese government must do more to educate people about the disease. At a prison in the Polish city of Wroclaw, 43 inmates infected with hunger strike, demanding regular medical checkups. Protesters gathered outside City Hall in Riodc Janeiro to demand more money for people with AIDS. A local theater held a premiere of the film “Venus of Fire,” which aims to eroticize condom use. In Britain, demonstrators gathered outside the prime minister’s office to demand appointment of a minister for AIDS. A 17-foot replica of a condom lowered nearby at Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. In Israel, a condom dispenser was installed for the day at Israel’s parlia ment building as part of the public awareness program, and radio sta tions told people where to get free tests to see if they arc infected. U.S. plane hit; Bosnian airlift suspended SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The humanitarian airlift to Bosnia was suspended Tuesday after small arms fire struck part of the steering system of a U.S. Air Force transport plane on its landing approach to Sarajevo. Bosnia’s president urged “deci sive stands” by Islamic states to aid his country. The C-130 Hercules that was shot in the rudder while approaching the Bosnian capital wasablc to land safely, unload its relief supplies and return to Zagreb, Croatia, said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for the U.N. High Com missioner for Refugees. Kessler said the airlift to the Bosnian capital was likely to remain suspended at least through Wednes day while U.N. liaison officers inves tigate the source of the shooting. Twenty flights carrying food, medi cine and other relief supplies were scheduled to land Tuesday in Sarajevo, but only 10 arrived before the airlift was suspended. Earlier, Bosnia’s army command had accused the Serbs of shelling the airport runway overnight “with the intention of destroying the radar sys tem and thus slopping the humanitar ian flights.” More than 17,000 people have been killed in the fighting, the Bosnian Health Ministry reported Monday. Bosnia’s Muslim President, Alija Izetbcgovic, appealed for Islamic soli darity and action at a conference ol the 47-member Organization of Is lamic Conference in Saudi Arabia. “International resolutions have re mained empty words and the lime ha come for decisive stands,” Izctbcgovi* told foreign ministers in Jiddah. Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd called for an end to a U.N. arms embargo on Bosnia that has crippled Sarajevo’* defenders. The Bosnian army commander said in a newspaper interview that his forces were “preparing intensively” for an offensive to break the Serbian siege on Sarajevo, site of the 1984 Winter Games. In an interview in Monday’s edi tion of the Oslobodjcnjc newspaper, . Bosnian army chief Gen. Mustafa ’ Hajrulahovic said his forces lacked materiel but were “now capable of some offensive movement.” Parts of Sarajcvocamc under heavy shelling, Bosnian radio reported. It said Serb artillery was continuing “a bloody orgy of destruction” in Olovo, a town northeast of the city. I Yeltsin sidesteps impeachment attempt iviujv.uYY — rrcsiucm dors Yeltsin survived an impeachment at tempt by hard-liners at the rowdy opening of Congress on Tuesday and then proposed a compromise to trim presidential powers but continue mar ket reforms. < His proposal drew strong opposi tion. Early voles indicated that nei ther Yeltsin’s supporters nor oppo nents had the strength to force through their ideas, leaving them groping for middle ground that would avoid a stalemate. Yeltsin urged lawmakers to resist i the champions of “hard-line Bolshe vism” who threaten to “divide the society, to set the executive and leg islative branches against each other in a final clash, lo weaken ihc stale and breed chaos.” His proposal was aimed at generat ing new momentum for his economic reforms by preventing the Congress of People’s Deputies, dominated by hard-liners elected before the col lapse of the Soviet Union, from hob bling the more radical Cabinet. Hard-liners want to slow the eco nomic changes and drop acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar. Gaidar was scheduled to speak Wednesday. In an hour-long speech in the Grand Kremlin Palace, Yeltsin accused law makers of putting ‘‘their own ambi tions, careers, demagoguery and cheap political effects above the truth, the J interests oi the people and the slate. Outside the Kremlin, several hun dred demonstrators carrying red Com munist hammcr-and-sickle banners pushed through a police line and en dured /jcto temperatures to chant anti Ycltsin slogans as lawmakers crossed Red Square. Hundreds of pro-reform coal min ers also shouted at deputies as they entered Spassky Gate. Yeltsin’s compromise proposal drew sharp criticism from the 1,041 - member body. Even reform lawmak ers said prospects were slim for the plan, which would preserve many of the sweeping powers Yeltsin has held since the failed hard-line coup in August 1991. Nebraskan Editor Chris Ho ptensperger 472- 1766 Chairman Tom Massey 488-6761 Professional Adviser Don Walton 473- 7301 FAX NUMBER 472-1761 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board, Nebraska Union 34, 1400 R St, Lincoln, NE. Monday through Friday during the academic year, weekly during summer sessions Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a m and 5 p m Monday through Friday The Dublic also has access to the Publications Board For information, contactTomMassey,488 8761 Subscription price is $50 for one year Postmaster Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34, WOO RSt..Lincoln, NE 68588 0448 Second class postage paid at Llrwoin, NE ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1992 DAILY NEBRASKAN