– CBS World News Roundup – September 4, 1995 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
News for September 4th, 20 years ago looked and sounded like this:
Negotiations for the settlement in the Bosnia crisis were underway, but a dizzying amount of conditions being slapped on that settlement ahead of a deadline was making for pessimism a settlement would be reached ahead of a resumption of bombing scheduled to take place 7 hours after this broadcast.
The 4th Annual 12-day United Nations Conference on Women opened in Beijing with a lavish opening ceremony put on by the Chinese hosts. Amid the pomp, protests sprang up, including one very vocal protest over the barring of South African Activist Winnie Mandela, who was invited but arrived late to the conference. The protest got heated and the Beijing police quickly moved to prevent the press from covering it.
Of course, not the only incident which prompted embarrassment to the Chinese. Protests sprang up around the conference site, illustrating the human rights violations China had been repeatedly accused of over the years. Word was, this may be a conference the Chinese might regret having hosted.
Still, the conference was underway and keynote speaker First Lady Hilary Clinton was expected to address the convention shortly.
Meanwhile, back home – even though it was a year off, President Clinton was gearing up for his re-election campaign. Back from a 16 day vacation in Wyoming and a long weekend in Hawaii, President Clinton arrived in Monterey California to begin a tour of California to bolster support.
And the NAFTA controversy was continuing, with a study published by the opposition claiming U.S. jobs had been lost. Citing toy maker Mattel, whose vice-President told a House sub-committee NAFTA would have a very positive effect on some 2,000 workers in the U.S. Instead, Mattel announced they had laid off some 520 workers, the result of imports from Mexico.
Former President George Bush was in Hanoi on an unofficial visit to meet with Communist leaders; the first American President to do so since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
And disgraced former ice-skating star Tonya Harding tried her hand at a singing career with decidedly disastrous results. Singing with her band The Golden Blades at a Portland Oregon fundraiser, Harding was greeted with a veritable cloud of bottles from the audience and promptly left the stage. Her Manager tried to shame the audience into letting her continue, but they weren’t having any of it – and Hardings checkered career ambled on to square Number 3.
All that, and a lot more for this September 4th in 1995 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.
