EVENTS

January 12, 1993

UN LEADER CALLS FOR GERMAN TROOPS' PARTICIPATION IN PEACEKEEPING

United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in Germany for two days of meetings with Chancellor Helmut Kohl and other leaders, said yesterday that country's "full-fledged participation" in UN peacekeeping missions "is a must." Until now, Germany has refused to commit its troops to combat assignments outside the area covered by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. But Mr. Boutros-Ghali said, "without greater participation, the UN will not be able to fulfill the goals of the international co mmunity." Serbs hint at agreement

Bosnian Serbs edged closer yesterday toward accepting a constitutional plan that could eventually end the country's nine-month-old war, a spokesman for international mediators said. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, attending the talks for the first time, said he was "optimistic" about the peace negotiations in Geneva. Tanker continues to spill oil off Shetlands

Infrared images indicate that the tanker Braer holds substantial amounts of its cargo, a British government official said, but more oil spilled yesterday as a violent storm rocked the hulk. The tanker, carrying 24.6 million gallons of Norwegian oil to Canada, ran aground Jan. 5 off the Shetland Islands after it lost power. Oil has polluted 25 miles of coastline, killing more than 600 birds and other wildlife. Israel refuses UN demand

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin rejected a UN appeal that Palestinians expelled to Lebanon be allowed to return. In a meeting with UN envoy Chinmaya Gharekhan, the Israeli leader warned that action by the world body against Israel would seriously harm Middle East peace talks. Boutros-Ghali has said that he would recommend further steps if Gharekhan's mission failed to persuade Israel to take back the deportees. `Soldier' to pay fortune

The US Supreme Court yesterday let stand a $4.3 million judgment against Soldier of Fortune magazine, a development that could put the magazine out of business. The court, without comment, refused to review the award won by two sons of a murdered Georgia man whose business partner had hired an assassin through a personal ad in the magazine. The magazine's appeal argued that the award violated free-speech rights. Chrysler calls for tariffs

Chrysler Corporation chairman Robert Eaton, picking up where predecessor Lee Iacocca left off, said the Clinton administration needs to get tough with Japan and hike the tariff on imported minivans and sport utility vehicles to 25 percent. That would require reversing a Bush adminstration ruling that the vehicles were cars, not trucks. New box office champ

"A Few Good Men," the military courtroom drama starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, pushed aside the animated "Aladdin," to regain the No. 1 box office position. "A Few Good Men" earned an estimated $9.2 million over the weekend, while "Aladdin" took in about $7.5 million. "Scent of a Woman" was third with $6.7 million in ticket sales.