EVENTS
YELTSIN VOWS TO CALL ELECTIONS HIMSELF Russian President Boris Yeltsin said yesterday he will call elections this fall to end Russia's political impasse if the hard-line Congress does not set a date for the balloting. Mr. Yeltsin's statement, broadcast on nationwide television, amounted to a threat to step outside the law; under the current Constitution, the president does not have power to call parliamentary elections. Yeltsin repeatedly has said elections should be held in the fall to allow the voters to break the political deadlock between hi s administration and the Congress of People's Deputies. Parliamentary leaders, including Yeltsin's rival, Congress Speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov, have agreed in principle to early elections. But they want new presidential elections at the same time, and they have suggested that both ballots be held in 1994. Bosnia deadline passes
A UN deadline for Bosnian Serb troops to pull back from their positions on Mt. Igman overlooking Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, passed yesterday with perhaps thousands of Serb troops still on the mountain, UN observers said. A full withdrawal of the troops is a condition for the resumption of peace talks between the warring parties in Geneva.
The Bosnian Serb military leadership says they have met the conditions for a resumption of the talks, but the UN was debating yesterday whether to authorize the use of force against the Serbs as NATO troops practised in Italy for possible airstrikes on Serb positions. Cambodia orders retaliation
The Cambodian government has lost patience with the Khmer Rouge and ordered its soldiers to retaliate against continued attacks by the guerrilla group, a senior military official said yesterday.
In the biggest attack this week, government soldiers advanced on a Khmer Rouge position in Kompong Thom Province several days ago, killing 18 guerrillas, arresting 73 others, and injuring countless more, the official said, adding that one government soldier was killed and a number were injured. Philippine death penalty
The Philippine Senate voted yesterday to restore the death penalty and, for the first time, prescribed it for officials who take bribes or steal public money. The Philippines abolished the death penalty in 1987 during the administration of then-President Corazon Aquino.
Under present laws, corruption is punishable by a minimum jail term of six years. No top Filipino official has ever been jailed for taking bribes or looting public money. Shuttle launch scrubbed
An engine shutdown halted the launch of space shuttle Discovery yesterday with just three seconds to go. It was the fourth time the mission has been delayed; an instrument that was supposed to monitor the fuel flow for one of the three main engines apparently malfunctioned.
NASA said the delay was expected to last at least two to three weeks. Discovery could have lifted off last week after major repairs if not for an annual meteor shower that astronomers expected to be the most intense in years. New York limits shelter
New York City is ending a 10-year policy of providing public shelter to virtually every family that requests it.
The move is aimed at easing overcrowding and separating the "truly homeless" from those who are just tired of where they live, the city said.
Under the policy, which takes effect in several weeks, homeless families will have to prove they have no other options, such as staying with a friend or relative. Advocates for the homeless promised Wednesday to sue to block the policy, saying it will force families onto the streets. Pope's US visit
Pope John Paul II was to arrive in Denver yesterday, after a stopover in Mexico, to talk to youths at the Catholic World Youth Day. The pope says he hopes to raise youths' interest in the church and give religion new relevance in their lives. It is his third US visit.
During his visit to Mexico, the pope reached out to the indigenous people of the Americas by acknowledging that Christian colonizers abused native Americans, but said the church now "fully supports these communities."
