News In Brief

The US

The FBI arrested two men wanted in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing May 2 after raiding a motel in Missouri. Gary Allen Land and Robert Jacks were being held as material witnesses to the April 19 bombing. The FBI said it didn't yet know if Land was ''John Doe 2.'' James Nichols, charged with conspiring to make explosives with McVeigh, was to have a bond hearing the same day. Nichols and his brother Terry are also material witnesses. Search crews, meanwhile, prepared to use machinery to clear away rubble in the federal building. President Clinton urged Americans to denounce antigovernment zealots. Administration law-enforcement officials asked Congress to expand their powers to investigate potentially dangerous groups. (Story, Page 3.)

The White House, rejecting a challenge from House Speaker Gingrich, refused to propose a remedy for Medicare's fiscal woes until the Republicans put their own cards on the table. White House chief of staff Panetta said House Republicans have a responsibility to produce a budget that addresses Medicare's pending bankruptcy. The House Ways and Means Committee was to hear testimony from Health and Human Services Secretary Shalala May 2 regarding the crisis. (Story, Page 1.)

Sales of new homes rose 3 percent in March, reversing direction from February's 12.5 percent plunge, as mortgage rates continued to fall. The market was mixed, however, with sales rising by double-digit figures in the Midwest and West and falling by double-digit figures in the Northeast and South, the Commerce Department said.

The administration said it will allow thousands of Cuban refugees held at Guantanamo Bay to migrate to the US. Officials said the new policy would be announced May 2 as part of an agreement with Cuba. The administration said Cubans trying to reach the US by boats and rafts will be returned to Havana. (Opinion, Page 20.)

The Federal Election Commission said more money was raised and spent in last year's congressional races than ever before. Candidates raised $740.6 million and spent $724 million, breaking records set in both categories during the 1992 election cycle. Candidates raised 12 percent more in the 1994 cycle than they did in 1992 and spent 6 percent more, the FEC said.

The Senate was expected to vote May 2 on extending the proposed cap on punitive damages to health-care providers. The amendment would limit punitive damage awards in malpractice cases to three times the amount of economic damages or $250,000, whichever is greater.

Under a plan released by the Concord Coalition, a balanced-budget lobbying group, 4 out of every 10 Americans who get federal entitlements and earn more than $40,000 a year would have to make sacrifices to help balance the budget. The Concord Coalition said burgeoning federal health-care costs must be addressed or it will be impossible to keep the budget balanced after 2002. The report stopped short of calling for a radical overhaul of the health-care system.

Major League umpires and baseball owners agreed to a new five-year contract May 1, ending a 120-day management lockout. The umpires were due back on the diamond May 3, with raises of 25 percent to 37.5 percent.

A seventh juror in the O. J. Simpson double-murder trial was dismissed, leaving only five alternates. A 28-year-old Hispanic woman was chosen as a replacement. If the number of jurors drops below 12, both sides would have to agree to continue or a mistrial would be declared.

The World

Serb rockets hit the Croatian capital of Zagreb May 2, killing four and wounding up to 70 as Croatia erupted in the worst fighting in two years. Croatia bombed a Serb-held bridge that is the Croatian Serbs' last link to Bosnian Serbs. Croatian armed forces had stormed across a UN cease-fire line May 1, but May 2 the government said the offensive was over. Battlefronts also erupted across Bosnia after a truce expired May 1. (Story, Page 1.)

US trade representative Kantor and Japanese Trade Minister Hashimoto were to meet May 3 in Vancouver to try to break an impasse on sales of US autos and auto parts in Japan. The US, charging unfair practices, has leaked warnings of trade sanctions if talks fail again.

Gaullist Chirac, frontrunner in the French presidential vote May 7, pledged radical budget changes to create jobs and hinted at a higher minimum wage. Rightist Le Pen refused to endorse either Chirac or his opponent, Socialist Jospin. (Story, Page 6.)

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