NATION/WORLD
7
NATION/WORLD BRIEFS
Moscow
University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, November 20, 1991
Shevardnadze returning to foreign minister post
Almost a year after he resigned as foreign minister warning of dictatorship in the Kremlin, Eduard Skwarddazne is returning to the post, it was announced yesterday.
The appointment was likely to boost Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who is struggling to maintain the authority of his cenvoy, as well as foreign confidence in the wobbling Soviet government.
The restoration of Shevardnadze, who as foreign minister helped end the Cold War, came as the ministry he headed for five years was being reorganized, losing half its employees and much authority to the Russian Federation of Boris Yeltsin.
His appointment came as representatives of the seven wealthiest democracies were in Moscow seeking guarantees that the Soviet republics will repay the Kremlin's estimated $81 billion foreign debt.
During years of pioneering negotiations on arms control and human rights issues, he struck close friendships among U.S. leaders and was widely respected for his intelligence and forthright manner.
Shevardnadze, 63, was an original member of the Gorbachev team that began perestroika in 1985.
Shevardnadze had quit as foreign minister on Dec. 20 during a meeting of the Congress of People's Deputies.
Shepherdsville, Ky.
Town evacuated after freight train falls into river
A CSX freight train broke through a railroad bridge near this west-central Kentucky town yesterday, sending 15 cars into the Salt River and prompting evacuation of much of the town, authorities said.
Officials evacuated a one-mile area and worried about the condition of at least two cars containing dangerous chemicals and one car loaded with explosives. They were not thought to be burning, but some other cars were, authorities said.
tive for the Kentucky State Police.
After the 11:25 a.m. CST collapse, flames could be seen coming from the train, and smoke was drifting over Shepherdsville, about 20 miles south of Louisville.
The tanks that were burning held only corn syrup and building materials, said Mike Lynch, a representative for the Division of Disaster and Emergency Services.
No injuries were reported, said Trooper Eddie Lair, representa-
Four schools and the Bullitt County Jail were evacuated. Much of the town of 4,000 people was affected by the evacuation order.
NASA postpones launch of Atlantis for one week
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
NASA delayed yesterday a launch of space shuttle Atlantis for a week because of last-minute trouble with a rocket needed to lift a military spy satellite thousands of miles above Earth.
The countdown was halted just before workers were to begin fueling the spaceship for a rare night liftoff.
The problem was traced to a navigation unit in the rocket attached to the $300 million missile-warning satellite.
Launch director Bob Sieck said
that it would be a week before Atlantis and its payload were ready to fly.
"We may be able to better that," Sieck said. "But that's what it looks like on the surface until we work out the details."
If repairs take longer than a week, the Thanksgiving holiday could be a further complication in scheduling, he said. NASA prefers to avoid extra holiday pay on a launch day, especially given current budget constraints.
From The Associated Press
Iran says kidnappers plan to free hostages
U. N. negotiating unconditional release
The Associated Press
Released hostages Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland savored their first full day of freedom yesterday, and key players in the hostage drama game new indications that the remaining child in Lebanon could be released soon.
At the United Nations, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar—who had said Monday that there was an agreement in principle to free the lives of圣诞节——said yesterday that such a release would be unconditional.
A day after pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim captives freed Waite, 52, and Sutherland, 60, Iranian officials said the kidnappers soon would free the last three U.S. captives and "close this case."
The secretary-general has been trying for months to broker a complex overall swap that would also involve missing Israeli servicemen in
At a rain-swept air base in western England, Waite, the Church of England envoy captured nearly five years ago on a mission to free the other hostages, had an emotional homecoming.
Lebanon and Arab detainees held by Israel and its allied militia in south Lebanon. Yesterday marked the first time he had suggested that the Westerners could be freed even if all the pieces of the complex puzzle do not fall into place.
"After 1,763 days in chains it is an overwhelming experience to come back and receive your greetings," he told the crowd that turned out to welcome him. At Waite's church in London, a candle that had burned throughout his capacity was extinguished.
Waite criticized all who hold prisoners in the Middle East.
"Those who do it fall well below civilized standards of behavior, no matter how much they care."
Soviet Union to receive $1.5 billion in U.S. aid
The Associated Press
The bulk of the package will be loan guarantees to allow the Soviets to buy U.S. grain to help them get through the winter.
Presidential representative Marlin Fitzwater said the announcement was being held up by continued quarrelling between the republics and the central government.
WASHINGTON — A White House official said yesterday that it would move within days on $1.5 billion in food aid for the Soviet Union but that some remained, including how much should go directly to the Soviet republics.
After first saying that the final deal should be ready in two or three weeks, Fitzwater later said that it would be announced in a matter of days.
hood at least, of loan guarantees. This is a follow-up to the some $2.5 billion in loan guarantees in fiscal 91, but it was finally finalized yet. 'Pitwatza said,
Alexander Yakovlev, a senior adviser to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, met with President Bush to discuss U.S.-Soviet issues.
Fitzwater said there had been no final decision on how the loan guarantees would be doled out, citing "concern about the republics' ability to assume debt."
Afterward, Yakovlev said they did not discuss prospects for U.S. aid. But he said there was "a broad U.S. move toward more economic lack in the form of humanitarian aid.
*We're talking about essentially $1.5 billion, or something in that neighbor-
He also said that the United States wanted to be sure there was a food-distribution system to ensure the food aid would get to the people who needed it.
--presents plays with bite...
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