A French court sentences former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, 73, to life in prison for war crimes during World War II.

1 Aug.

In Mecca clashes between Shiites and other Muslims on hajj (pilgrimage) leave nearly four hundred people dead.

7 Aug.

Five Central American nations agree to a peace process drafted by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias Sanchez.

1 Oct.

Nicaragua's anti-Sandinista newspaper, La Prensa, resumes publication.

2 Oct.

Great Britain begins tests of the French abortion pill, RU 486.

3 Oct.

Canada and the United States sign a free-trade agreement opposed by Canadian liberals and socialists.

27 Oct.

Peter Shaffer's Lettice and Lovage, starring Maggie Smith, opens at London's Globe Theater.

9 Nov.

A bomb explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka, leaves thirty-two dead and more than seventy injured. The bombing is the latest in continuing ethnic violence between Indians and Tamils.

7 Dec.

Soviet leader Gorbachev arrives in Washington for a three-day summit with U.S. president...