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Tuesday, December 1, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Offshore earthquake near Alaska prompts thousands to flee coast
PALMER, Alaska — A major offshore earthquake rocked south-central Alaska yesterday, prompting thousands of people to flee low-lying coastal areas for the second time in two weeks.
There were no reports of major damage or injuries in the quake, which measured at least 7.4 on the Richter scale. It shook the ground for a full minute and was felt in
Anchorage and in the Yukon Territory, more than 300 miles from the epicenter.
The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning of a tsunami or giant sea wave, but canceled it 90 minutes later when a 3.3-foot wave was recorded at Yakutat, the community closest to the epicenter.
France, Iran trade diplomats, end standoff
between the two nations.
PARIS — France and Iran ended their 4/2十章 embassy standoff by trading a pair of diplomats yesterday, two days after pro-Iranian captors in Lebanon freed two Frenchmen.
Officials called the events a coordinated effort to mend a rift
Paul Torri, first secretary of the French Embassy in Tehran, and Wahid Gordji, listed as an interpreter at the Iranian Embassy in Paris, were flown to Karachi, Pakistan and turned over to officials of their own countries.
Voters in Poland reject proposed reforms
WARSAW, Poland — In a dramatic upset for the government, voters rejected proposed economic and political reforms that communist leaders said were needed to revitalize the economy, officials said yesterday.
Wojciech Jaruzelski had strongly campaigned for approval of Poland's first referendum in 41 years.
The government of Gen.
Low voter turnout in Sunday's voting contributed to the defeat of the measures, which called for large price increases.
Fountain pens ride new wave of popularity
DETROIT — Fountain pens are making a comeback among the rich and trendy, pen salesmen say. Sales of Parker USA Ltd.'s top-of-the-line fountain pens — priced from $75 to $2,750 — have increased 40 percent in the first six months of the year, said Gene
Rohman, manager of marketing and communications.
"We were able to solve some problems with leakage and ink flow and decided to begin manufacturing them again to meet that resurgence," he said.
From The Associated Press.
Search for South Korean jet goes on Officials puzzled; conflicting reports add to confusion
The Associated Press
KANCHANABURI, Thailand — Searchers trekked through mountain jungles and scanned the Thai-Burmese border from the air yesterday but found no trace of a South Korean jetliner that vanished over Burma with 115 people aboard.
of Kanchanaburi province, said a helicopter crew spotted the wreckage of the plane. The search then concentrated on that area, about 100 miles west of Bangkok.
Officials admitted they had no idea in which country the aircraft might have crashed or why it disappeared Sunday on a flight from Baghdad, Iraq to Seoul. The search was suspended until daybreak today and would focus on both land and sea.
Conflicting reports yesterday from Thai and South Korean officials added to the confusion surrounding the disappearance of Korean Airlines flight 858
At the Seoul airport, hundreds of relatives of passengers burst into tears when KAL officials, after hearing the Thai report, announced that the plane had crashed. Most of the passengers were South Korean construction workers returning from jobs in the Middle East.
Early yesterday, Air Vice Marshal Sommet Sundaravej, spokesman for the Thai air force, said the Boeing jet crashed in Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, along the border.
But later, Lt. Gen. Chitr Boonyachai of Kanchanaburi police told reporters: "We did not spot the wreckage or find out anything about the aircraft. Initial police reports were uncertain."
Later, Col, Punlop Roongsumphun, police chief
Meanwhile, KAL president Cho Choon-kun said the airline's investigation was concentrating on the possibility that a bomb had destroyed the ietliner.
"A bomb may have been planted by terrorists or other impure groups," said Cho, who arrived in Bangkok with a team of investigators and set out
South Korean officials said they were not ruling out the possibility of blacking or sabotage.
"Kanchanaburi is only one possibility, but we're also paying attention to Burmese territory and the high seas. All kinds of possibilities exist," South Korean embassy spokesman Lee Seong-Eon said.
The aircraft, with 113 South Koreans, one Lebanese and one Indian on board, was to have landed in Bangkok for refueling.
Airline officials confirmed yesterday that the missing plane had a history of technical problems. The plane had made two crash landings in the past 10 years, including a belly landing at Seoul's Kimpo airport in September.
The pilot had not reported any problems on the last contact he made with air traffic controllers after entering Burmese air space. The pilot was supposed to make contact with traffic controllers about 20 minutes later but never did, a KAL official said.
Anxieties cause Dow to drop 76 points
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — The dollar tumbled to record lows, and stocks dropped dramatically yesterday, yanking the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 76 points in what traders called a scary reminder of the epic crash six weeks ago.
Waning confidence in the U.S. commitment to cut its huge budget deficit, anxiety over inflation, and fresh fear that intractable Third World debts could cripple the global economy all contributed to the latest drop.
apart," said Robert Brusca, chief economist of Nikko Securities International Inc. in New York. "It's just a projection of confidence that that's occurring."
"It doesn't look like anything's coming together in the stock market. It looks like everything's coming
The Dow average slid from the opening bell on Wall Street and ended the day with a 76.76-point loss to 1,833.72, the eighth-worst point drop in the history of the bellwhet index but nowhere near the historic 508-point dive of Oct. 19.
Broader market indices also dropped drastically. Stocks falling in price swamped rising issues by an 8-to-1 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, where trading volume totaled 268.91 million shares, the
heaviest flow in a month.
The value of all U.S. stocks fell by $93,039 billion, according to the Wilshire Associates, 5,000 Equities Index.
“This, on a smaller scale, is reminiscent of October 19th,” said William Veronda, a portfolio manager for Financial Programs Inc., a Denebased investment firm. “We have financial crises breaking out all over.”
Like the situation that preceded the October crash, Veranda said, a number of events combined yesterday to produce an anxiety attack, dominated by concern that Congress will reject a $76 billion deficit-reduction compromise reached last month
despite exhaustive wrangling with President Reagan.
Hardening his stance on the deficient reduction, Reagan told business leaders yesterday in Washington that he would insist Congress approve the entire package, saying "a partially implemented deal is no deal."
Other destabilizing elements in the market included an apparent lack of international coordination to defend the dollar's value, fear of higher interest rates and intensified concern that debt-ridden Third World countries will act more forcefully to limit or perhaps repudiate their repayment obligations.
Election massacre leaves Haitians stunned
The Associated Press
PORT-AU PRINCE, Haiti — Haitians stayed home yesterday, fearful of deadly streets where men with machine guns and machetes killed at least 34 people in a weekend of terror that destroyed the first free election in 30 years.
Most presidential candidates could not be reached at their homes or offices. The independent Electoral College nine members were in hiding.
Most businesses were closed. Few
cars or public minibuses could be seen and the city's industrial park
Scores of people were wounded Sunday by roving bands that attacked voting stations and people at random in the streets, while the army did nothing to step in. Gunmen shot up the Electoral Council headquarters.
The military-dominated National Governing Council, postponed the first election of a president and legislature since 1957 when Francois
Soldiers patrolled the city yesterday, but had little to do.
"Papa Doc" Duvalier began the family dictatorship that ended Feb. 7, 1986.
The Dominican Republic closed its border with Haiti yesterday because of the unrest. A Dominican air force plane evacuated a dozen Dominican reporters and anyone else who wanted to leave, said the country's foreign minister, Donald Reid Cabral.
The plane also transported the
body of television cameraman Carlos Grullon, who was killed by gunfire Sunday.
In Washington, the State Department said that several airlines had canceled flights to Haiti yesterday but that the capital's airport was open.
Sylvio Claude, a major presidential candidate, asked that an international military force be sent to the poverty-streaked Caribbean nation to supervise a new election.
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Luncheon Special