September 20, 1995
Web posted at: 1:55 p.m. EDT (1755 GMT)
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS (CNN) -- Getting help to Caribbean victims of Hurricane Marilyn is a slow-going process, but the Red Cross said Wednesday it has 600 relief workers on the scene or en route to work with federal disaster officials.
Red Cross shelters are open in St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, caring for at least 1,000 people.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates Marilyn damaged or destroyed 80 percent of the homes in St. Thomas. The number of homes destroyed on St. Croix and St. John is put at 20 percent. In addition, 100 homes were lost on Culebra island, off Puerto Rico.
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The Israeli government Wednesday returned a hijacked Iranian airliner and its passengers to Iran.
However, Israel plans to hold the hijacker for questioning. Government sources in Israel told CNN the hijacker would be handed over later to the Red Cross.
On Tuesday, the Boeing 707 with its 176 passengers and crew landed at an Israeli military base at Ovda after being hijacked by an armed airline steward as it flew from Tehran to the Iranian gulf resort of Kish. The hijacker fired a shot and demanded the flight be taken to Saudi Arabia. Landing was refused by several Arab states before the plane was allowed to land in Israel.
Several passengers asked for asylum but Israel said all would be returned to Iran.
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Gunmen killed at least 24 banana plantation workers Wednesday in northwestern Colombia's Uraba region, an area where more than 600 people have been slaughtered this year as opposing groups battle for control of drug trafficking and smuggling.
Police said victims had their hands tied behind their backs before they were shot one-by-one in the head.
A group called Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia is suspected in the massacre. The dead are believed to belong to a local political party known as Hope, Peace and Freedom.
TOKYO (CNN) -- Japanese authorities rushed to a suburban Tokyo train station Wednesday when four people suffered burning eyes from mysterious fumes.
A terrorist attack? No.
A cleaning woman had poured too much bleach into a toilet bowl.
The incident occurred exactly six months after 12 people were killed and 5,000 others were sickened in a poison gas attack on Tokyo's subway.
September 19, 1995
TABA, Egypt (CNN) -- The Palestinian Liberation Organization
and Israel were back at the bargaining table Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, PLO leader Yasser Arafat walked out of
the talks he was holding with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon
Peres in protest of Israel's plan to re-deploy troops in the
West Bank.
The talks resumed later in the day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher intervened.
Hebron remained a major stumbling block in the talks aimed at reaching an agreement for expanding Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank. The Israeli government needs to ensure the safety of the settlers living in Hebron, while the Palestinians seek a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the region.
BAIDOA, Somalia (CNN) -- One of Somalia's chief warlords
threatened Tuesday to wage all-out war against his main
rival.
Warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid captured the town of Baidoa on Sunday, and rival Mahdi Mohamed Ali is demanding that Aidid give the town up.
The siege was Aidid's biggest military campaign in the last two years. In Baidoa, Aidid's troops were holding about 20 non-Somalis, most of them international aid workers.
A United Nations aid official said the captives appear to be safe.
![[Imagemap]](/WORLD/images/world_nav.gif)
Copyright © 1995 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.