EVENTS
UN LOOKS INTO GULF WAR TOXICS The United Nations has quietly begun an inquiry into possible health threats to Iraqi and Kuwaiti civilians from uranium-loaded United States ammunition littering the old Gulf war zone, Associated Press reports. The new interest by the UN Environment Program comes as Congress is investigating whether US soldiers in the 1991 conflict were harmed by the toxic, slightly radioactive dust from tank and aircraft cannon rounds made of depleted uranium. Serbs press toward Gorazde
Serb ground forces punched through several defense lines around the besieged Muslim town of Gorazde yesterday, while Muslims and Croats clashed in heavy fighting elsewhere in Bosnia's three-cornered civil war.
The commander of the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR), Gen. Phillipe Morillon, said Saturday that the former Yugoslav republic was sliding into "a state of total anarchy."
This, he said, could force his troops to pull out of Bosnia. His announcement prompted an immediate upsurge in fighting.
Meanwhile in Geneva, international mediators Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg met Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic yesterday in renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. El Salvador drug bust
Three Mexicans arrested in San Salvador during the seizure of more than six tons of cocaine are members of a gang whose leader was arrested in connection with a shootout that killed a Mexican cardinal, police said Saturday.
A special anti-drug unit used dynamite on June 10 to break into a warehouse where they seized more than six tons of cocaine worth an estimated $207 million. The bust was the largest ever in Central America. Nigerian elections
An estimated 30 percent of the registered voters cast ballots in Nigeria's attempt to transfer power from the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to a civilian government. The Saturday election was met with widespread apathy and criticism.
Moshood Abiola, a publishing baron running for president as head of the Social Democrats, won Nigeria's biggest state, partial election returns showed yesterday, while his Republican opponent, Bashir Tofa, lost his home region.
Only two of 30 states reported results early yesterday, and final results were not expected until tomorrow. US warns Israel on arms
Washington has told Israel the Defense Department must approve its future purchases of USarms with American aid, a spokesman for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said yesterday. US officials called for closer control after an Israeli Air Force purchasing chief was jailed in 1990 in a multimillion-dollar bribery and fraud scandal. Perot group picks leaders
Ross Perot's United We Stand America is nominating candidates for the organization's district offices in Florida and California this weekend, but elected officials need not apply.
Organizers are afraid that letting public officials hold office would force the group to comply with federal elections laws.
The two states are the first being formally organized by United We Stand America, Perot's grass-roots organization to put political pressure on Congress, shape national policy, and decide the outcome of elections.
Members were urged to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement and insist on spending cuts before any taxes are increased. The organization has refused to release membership figures. Mickey Mouse goes Saudi
The officially licensed figure of Mickey Mouse will bound over the desert dunes of Saudi Arabia for the first time this fall, Walt Disney Company officials said on Saturday.
Unauthorized Disney videos and other paraphernalia already can be found in many stores in Saudi Arabia. But a new joint venture with a Saudi company marks the first time Disney products will be licensed in the Gulf.
"Disney is perfect for Saudi Arabia. The characters are pure, clean fun for our family-oriented society which places a premium on the well-being of our children," said Ahmed Jawa, managing director of Contracting and Trading, the US-Saudi joint venture.
