EVENTS
L.A. DISTURBANCE NEAR RIOT AREA
Los Angeles police went on citywide alert Dec. 14 after rocks and bottles were thrown from a crowd at an intersection that was a flashpoint of the city's spring riots. At least 12 people received minor injuries and at least 60 people were arrested. Police Chief Willie Williams blamed the disturbance on "organized groups" taking advantage of an earlier, peaceful protest in support of four men jailed for the beating of trucker Reginald Denny after riots erupted on April 29. US repatriates remains
The remains of up to 10 unknown people collected in the search for America's missing in action in Vietnam were repatriated from Hanoi and shipped to a US Army lab in Hawaii Dec. 15 for forensic testing by United States experts. IBM layoffs announced
IBM announced in New York Dec. 15 it would reduce its work force by about 25,000 employees in 1993 and further trim global manufacturing capacity as part of another round of cost cutting. US trade deficit falls
The overall US trade deficit fell 20 percent in the July-September quarter, the largest decline in six months, the government said Dec. 15. The current account is considered the broadest measure of the nation's international competitiveness. Dead Sea Scrolls debate
A new book claiming to offer the translation of 50 documents from the Dead Sea Scrolls was the focal point of an angry debate Dec. 15 over professional ethics at a conference on advances in scroll scholarship held in New York. The controversy stems from the publication this fall of the book by Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise called "The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key Documents Withheld for Over 35 Years," which a group of scholars says uses other s' work without giving credit. French transport woes
Train workers walked off the job Dec. 15, paralyzing service across France to protest the conviction of two colleagues they say were scapegoats in a 1988 crash that killed 55 people. In another job action, Air France employees went on strike over the government airline's plans to lay off 4,000 people by 1994 to slash heavy operating losses. UN asks NATO to get ready
United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has asked Washington and its NATO allies to draw up plans in case the world body endorses military intervention in Bosnia, sources said Dec. 14. The request was discussed at a meeting in Brussels of the ambassadors of the 16 alliance nations, and the envoys agreed to ask senior military planners to draft contingency plans, said an alliance official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Finis to Salvadoran war
A ceremony officially ending 12 years of war between the Salvadoran government and rebel forces was to be signed in a ceremony in El Salvador Dec. 15. The ceremony formally ends the last major conflict in Central America. Korean mayor fired
President Roh Tae Woo fired the mayor of Pusan, South Korea's second-largest city, Dec. 15 after revelations that Kim Young Hwan and other high-ranking officials allegedly conspired to rig the Dec. 18 presidential election. The mayor, who is appointed by the government, is the highest-ranking official to be reprimanded. Tokyo traffic blocked
Farmers clogged traffic with tractors Dec. 15 to demand that the government stand up to pressure from trading partners for an end to Japan's ban on rice imports. Indonesia quake toll
The Indonesian Army began mass burials Dec. 15 for some of the nearly 2,500 people who died in a weekend earthquake that flattened buildings and set off lethal tidal waves that washed over island villages.