European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                World thousands Are evacuated in Wake of quake Alert from wire reports Manila Philippines a authorities on saturday began evacuating about 6,000 people living on Taal Volcano after Long fissures and hundreds of Small earthquakes increased fears of an imminent eruption. Scientists recorded More than 400 tremors since Friday on the 1,026-foot-High Volcano about 35 Miles South of Manila. It is historically among the most violent of the More than 20 Active volcanoes in the Philippines. Taal would be the second Volcano near Manila to erupt in less than a year. Mount Pinatubo 60 Miles North of the capital killed at least 700 people after it began erupting in  it s moby Istanbul Turkey a two British divers arrived in Istanbul on Friday As part of an Effort to save a mysterious White whale cruising off turkeys Black sea coast. The sociable Marine mammal found swimming in the nearly landlocked Black sea has been accepting food from fishermen and allowing them to Pat its head the Anatolia news Agency said. Ray Gravener and veterinarian Barclay Hastings both divers told reporters that the warm Waters of the Black sea which have an average temperature of 43 degrees were not suitable for whales whose natural habitat is the colder expanse of oceans. The specialists could not explain How the whale found its Way to the Black sea. They suggested it could have escaped from a circus in a Black sea coastal state. Details of the plan to save the whale were not  kills himself Over love Limassol Cyprus a a teen Ager shot himself on Valentine s Day because his parents forbade him to see the girl he loved police said saturday. Miltiades Chinis 16, stole his fathers Shotgun and went to his school at Dawn Friday. There in the playground he fired a single round into his Chest. Schoolmates found his body when they arrived for morning classes. At his Home a note he left to his parents said a i must die because i cannot imagine myself leaving the classroom during a recess and not seeing and talking to her. A i loved her in the pure sense As i never loved anyone  the identity of the girl was not disclosed but his note indicated she was a  balloon arrives Madrid Spain a two Spanish balloonist sailing High above Columbus half millennium old Trail landed Friday in Venezuela completing the first such East West crossing of the Atlantic. The balloon flight of Thomas Feliu and Jesus Gonzalez Green began in the Canary islands As part of the Celebration to Mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus Landing in America. Spanish television reported the flight took 130 hours and covered 2,550  tax hike of d Bonn Germany a the German government on Friday passed a tax package that includes a 1 percentage Point increase in the sales tax to help developing Eastern Germany. The opposition controlled bundesrat or upper House of parliament made final what had been approved on thursday by the bundestag the lower House. Effective Jan. 1, the value added or sales tax in Germany will Rise to 15 percent the minimum level mandated by the european Community. Lower corporate taxes also Are part of the package. Sunday february 16, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 9 Baker reassures scientists at secret russian arms site Chelyabinsk-70, Russia apr Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii is pledging to help nuclear scientists in the former soviet Union find ways to stay employed and convert their skills to peaceful uses. Baker met Friday with the very scientists who designed the weapons of the cold War As he toured the secret Core of the soviet nuclear arms program in this fortified military City. Chelyabinsk-70 a named for its postal code in Western Siberia a is one of 10 top secret cities hidden by soviet Premier Josef Stalin behind the ural mountains that were used to design and build the soviet Union s military might. The 6,700 scientists at the Institute of technical physics that Baker visited make no More than 1,500 rubles a month the equivalent of $15 at the official Exchange rate said the institutes Deputy director Vladislav Nikitin. Baker told 30 senior scientists at the Institute that he had been discussing with Germany and with russian e. Germans killed premature babies Magazine says Hamburg Germany apr very premature babies born in communist East Germany were drowned in buckets of water to get rid of them a newsmagazine reported saturday. According to Der Spiegel the killings were carried out at a Hospital in the City of Erfurt. One official was quoted by the Magazine As saying he assumed it was Standard practice nationwide. The victims were babies weighing under 1,000 Grams 2.2 pounds. Der Spiegel said the killings were officially listed As a a abortions and helped keep up East Germany a live birth statistics. Quoting a midwife who had worked at Erfurt a women a Hospital in the 1960s and later returned to work there in 1982, Der Spiegel said she had often witnessed the drownings of weak underweight babies in buckets of water. When the midwife found the practice still being used in 1982, she complained to the Hospital director Der Spiegel said. The Magazine quoted the Hospital director Erich Wagner As saying be immediately banned the practice and put out a written order a to no longer use the water  a i was against this water method because every child regardless How old must have a Chance a the Magazine quoted Wagner As saying. Der Spiegel also quoted Wagner As saying he assumed the practice was used throughout East Germany into the 1970s, since proper medical equipment to keep extremely Small babies alive was not available. Der Spiegel said the communists did not consider babies weighing under 1,000 Grams at birth As living human beings even when they showed a sign of breathing or a heartbeat. Instead they were automatically classified As abortions according to Der  surfaces to London apr author Salman Rushdie made a Surprise Public appearance Friday on the third anniversary of an iranian death threat against him and declared a i refuse to. Be an  c % i Rushdie a visit was v greeted by tremendous applause from 300 writers and civil rights Cam Tkv. Paig ners who convened a conference on Freedom of speech in his Honor. His voice shaking with nervous Strain Rushdie spoke for 15 minutes before retreating once again into hiding. Rushdie he has lived under police Protection since feb. 14, president Boris n. Yeltsin the establishment of a Clearinghouse in Russia to find Money for peaceful projects. Aides have been fleshing out the proposal in Washington and will bring their final plan to Moscow on monday so that Baker can present it to Yeltsin said an official travelling with Baker. The West is concerned the scientists might be lured away by hostile nations trying to develop nuclear weapons. Baker made Clear to the institutes senior scientists that any . Help was not a handout but rather was offered in the Best interest of the West. A the More democracy succeeds Here the less americans will have to spend on defense in the decades ahead and the More resources we will have to educate our children a Baker said. Baker journalists and officials travelling with him were the first foreigners allowed into the Institute and City. Heaven on wheels Kevin a mad dog Mudford a former Leader of the a devils disciples motorcycle gang who was charged with murder at age 15, is travelling around Australia preaching christianity. Police in Melbourne however have told Mudford that he will need a License for his Cross which sports a  death decree 1989, when the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced Rushdie a novel the satanic verses a blasphemy against islam. Khomeini called on muslims to kill Rushdie. A i refuse to be an Ungerson a the 44-year-old Rushdie said. A i refuse to forgo the right to publish my  he said a the satanic verses is. Not an evil Book. It is a work of  Rushdie said his future depended on the British government but a it remains to be seen How far will the government  he asked Western governments to demand that Iran lift the death threat. Since Khomeini died in june 1989, Iran a president Hashemi a Sfanjani has been trying to ease relations with Britain and the West in general. But a Sfanjani does not have the authority to rescind the death sentence and no one else has been willing to face the Wrath of fundamentalist radicals by calling for Khomeini a decree to be lifted