Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.inter From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: inter Fri, Mar 20 1992 Date: Fri, 20 Mar 92 05:44:41 EST Message-ID: 03-20 0000 DECISIONLINE: International News USA TODAY Update March 20-22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PALESTINIANS TOLD TO LEAVE: The Israeli army on Thursday indefinitely banned Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from entering Israel and demanded all Gaza Arabs leave their Israeli jobs and return home. The order, which takes effect Friday, comes in the wake of a stabbing attack on Tuesday in Jaffa by a Palestinian man from the Gaza strip. The attack left two Israelis dead and 20 wounded. CITIZENS TOLD TO LEAVE LIBYA: U.S. citizens have been warned by the State Department to leave Libya now. The government fears that 200 to 1,000 U.S. citizens there could be endangered and stranded if the U. N. Security Council imposes penalties including an air blockade on Libya. The USA, England and France want Libya to extradite two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 and 1989 bombing of France's UTA 772. INSPECTORS TO VISIT IRAQ: U.N. missile inspectors arrive in Iraq this weekend to destroy ballistic missile facilities. Iraq agreed to the demolition as part of its cease-fire pact at the Gulf War's end. But Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has so far refused to comply. If Saddam resists, the Pentagon has reportedly prepared a set of military options for President Bush to choose from. STATE DEPT. DEFENDS RECORD: The State Department, two days after reports surfaced that it muffled reports in the early 1980s of Pakistan's nuclear weapons development, defended its record Thursday. A formerly secret 1983 State Department document states that "Pakistan is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons development program." The State Department said it had reported the fact to Congress at least once. ARMENIANS AGREE TO TRUCE: Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to start a week-long cease-fire Friday in Nagorno-Karabakh, where U.N. special envoy Cyrus Vance planned a fact-finding tour, officials said. Iran, which has sought influence in former Soviet republics with Muslim populations, would supervise the truce, said Mahmud Vaezi, a deputy foreign minister. SEVEN KILLED IN ALGERIA: Algerian security forces Thursday said fundamentalists have slain seven people in the past three days while seeking weapons for a terror campaign. Since Feb. 7, 18 police have been killed and 128 wounded, the security forces say. A total of 76 civilians including a child had died. FIGHTING IN CROATIA CONTINUES: Artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire echoed across eastern Croatia Thursday, within earshot of U.N. peacekeepers taking up positions between warring Serbs and Croats. Croatian radio said 250 artillery shells rained down on Osijek, wounding seven people. Clashes were reported in several other parts of the republic. MANILA GETS HIT WITH EARTHQUAKE: A strong earthquake rocked Manila and the main Philippine island of Luzon Thursday, causing stampedes in one city that injured 25 people, authorities said. Bart Bautista, a seismologist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the quake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. It was centered near the mountain town of Bontoc, 170 miles north of Manila. ALBANIA PREPARES FOR VOTE: Eleven Albanian parties are fielding 521 candidates Sunday in parliamentary voting. The poorest country in Europe, Albania is rebuilding after 41 years of communist dictatorship. Close to 30,000 people crammed into the central square of the crumbling northern city of Shkoder on Thursday to cheer Democratic Party candidate Sali Berisha. LI MAPS OUT PLAN FOR CHINA: An improved economy means China's three-year austerity program, imposed in 1988 to curb runaway inflation, can come to an end, Prime Minister Li Peng said Friday. Li vowed to promote faster and deeper economic reform, but gave warning this could not be allowed to lead to political change and said China would remain a socialist "rock in the East." DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3261.40, after closing up 7.15 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.25, up 0.31. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 402.17, up 1.20. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 625.96, up 1.02. DOLLAR OPENS UP: The dollar opens up on foreign markets Friday. It opens at 0.5855 British pounds, up from 0.5780; 5.6485 French francs, up from 5.6030; 133.54 Japanese yen, up from 131.95; and 1.6710 German marks, up from 1.6500. (As of 3 p.m. Thursday. Source: First American Bank of New York.) International News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM