News briefs

December 30, 1995
Web posted at: 10:27 a.m. EST (1527 GMT)

Italian prime minister offers to resign

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Italian Prime Minister Lamberto Dini offered to resign on Saturday, as he had promised to do so once his budget was adopted by the country's parliament.

But Italian President Oscar Scalfaro did not accept the resignation, instead telling Dini to appear before the legislative body for a debate on the country's political future.

Dini was installed by Scalfaro after Silvio Berlusconi's short-lived coalition crumbled. Berlusconi now leads the center-right opposition, which is pushing for elections in February, three years ahead of schedule.

Dini will remain in office until the parliament meets beginning January 3 to decide whether to form a new government or order the early elections. Dini would be a leading candidate to head a new government if the legislature goes in that direction.

Zedillo shakes up Mexican cabinet

MEXICO CITY (CNN) -- Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo announced a shake-up in his cabinet Friday night, answering sharp criticism that his government could be run more effectively.

Carlos Almada Lopez, a former executive of the state oil monopoly, will become presidential spokesman, replacing Carlos Salamon Camara, who will now head the national lottery.

Comptroller Norma Samaniego will become a presidential adviser and Arsenio Farrell Cubillas will take her place as comptroller.

Energy Minister Ignacio Pichardo Pagazo is also on the way out, to be appointed to a diplomatic post and replaced by Jesus Reyes Heroles.

Leeson's lawyers say client will not appeal sentence

SINGAPORE (CNN) -- Lawyers for Nick Leeson said he will not appeal his sentence.

The former Barings Bank trader was sentenced to a six-and-a-half year jail term on December 2 after he pleaded guilty to two charges of cheating on Singapore's financial futures market.

Leeson's disastrous deals brought about the February collapse of Barings -- Britain's oldest bank.

He was arrested in Germany in March and extradited to Singapore nine months later.

One dead, a dozen hurt in Chechen blast

MOSCOW (CNN) -- At least one person was killed and about a dozen were injured in a bomb blast in the Chechen capital of Grozny Friday.

The blast appeared to be aimed at a local police chief. The head of police of the Leninsky district of Grozny and his driver were taken to hospital in serious condition after a bomb placed in a drain went off as their car drove past.

The blast injured around a dozen people, including two Russian soldiers in an armored personnel carrier, and left a huge crater in the road near the interior ministry building.

China excludes pro-democracy members from Hong Kong committee

HONG KONG (CNN) -- Hong Kong governor Chris Patten on Friday said he was disappointed that a committee appointed by Beijing to oversee the British colony's transition to Chinese rule in 1997 was not representative of Hong Kong opinion.

But Patten said his administration would work with the Preparatory Committee, which will draw up the government that will take over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997.

The committee, whose membership was unveiled by China on Thursday, excludes the Democratic Party, the territory's most popular political grouping, whose demands for greater democracy and human rights protection have angered Beijing.

Patten warned that more Hong Kong people might emigrate if Chinese officials on the Preparatory Committee cast doubt on Hong Kong's post-1997 autonomy. Thousands of Hong Kong people have emigrated over the past decade, fearing Chinese rule.