News In Brief

The US

A House committee approved $9.3 billion in cuts for social programs - from $1 billion in low-income energy assistance to $200 million in Head Start to abolishing the surgeon general's post. Clinton administration officials threatened a veto. (Clinton strategy, Page 1.) Other targets include job training, worker safety, and aid to disadvantaged students. The total funding approved for the social-service departments - Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services - is approved for te social-serive departments - Labor, Education, and Health & Human Services - is $60.7 billion.

The House passed a $12 billion foreign-aid bill Tuesday. On a bipartisan vote, the chamber cut $1.6 billion from this year's aid budget and gave Clinton $2.8 billion less than he requested. The bill includes funds to protect children from the impact of cuts and increases disaster aid. Israel will receive $3 billion in aid, and Egypt will get $2 billion. Foreign aid makes up less than 1 percent of the total budget. The bill now moves to the Senate.

First Chicago Corp. and Detroit-based NBD Bancorp Inc. announced yesterday that they have agreed to merge in a stock deal worth $6.25 billion, the biggest bank merger in US history. The combined company, to be called First Chicago NBD Corp., will have $120 billion in assets and will be the seventh-largest bank holding company in the US. The deal was the latest in a string of bank ''megamergers,'' as financial institutes combine forces to attract more customers.

Health, safety, and environmental regulations will remain intact as a massive regulatory-reform bill moves toward Senate passage. GOP senators sought Democratic support yesterday by narrowing the scope of the reforms. Only regulations costing more than $100 million will be considered in the bill. The legislation requires federal agencies to conduct a cost-benefit analysis when deciding which regulations to pursue.

GOP lawmakers reacted indignantly yesterday to Clinton's move to establish full diplomatic ties with Vietnam. They accused him of betraying MIA families and bowing to pressure from corporate giants. A House Committee began hearings yesterday on the decision and may decide to block funds for an embassy in Hanoi. Clinton said he hoped Hanoi would continue to account for missing Americans, and Hanoi reaffirmed its intent to cooperate. (US Vietnamese community's reaction, Page 3)

Congress may remove the arms embargo against the Bosnian government as early as next week, Senator Dole said, calling it a ''moral issue.'' He blamed the UN for the Serb takeover on Tuesday of the Srebrenica ''safe zone.'' Despite Serb clashes with UN troops, meanwhile, the US has made no extra preparations for assisting in the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers, officials said.

Democratic Senators Boxer and Bryant argued that hearings on charges of unwanted sexual advancements by Oregon Senator Packwood should not be kept private. The Ethics Committee deliberated on the issue Tuesday.

The US should consider the possibility of trade sanctions, Speaker Gingrich said, if China refuses to cooperate on the issue of Harry Wu, a Chinese-American human rights activist arrested there for espionage. Wu's wife said she hopes Clinton realizes that the Chinese government ''only understands strength, not weakness.''

House Republicans abandoned their proposal to reinstate a federal program that would allow criminals to petition to have their gun rights restored. The bill, expected to be approved and sent to the full House, also would abolish Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, cut the White House budget, and prohibit federal employee health insurance from paying for most abortions.

The Senate Commerce Committee was to hold a hearing yesterday on a proposal that would require broadcast and cable TV providers to air violent programs at times of the day when children are not likely to make up the majority of the audience. Broadcast and cable TV executives have repeatedly disputed claims that the number of acts of violence on television is increasing.

Doctors will no longer have to sign a time-consuming Medicare form, Vice President Gore announced. The move will save physicians 200,000 hours and hospitals $137 million annually, Gore said.

The World

Bosnian Serb forces moved into Potocari yesterday, seizing a Dutch base in the village. Dutch soldiers and about 40,000 mostly Muslim refugees sought refuge at the base after Serb troop overran the UN ''safe area'' of Srebrenica Tuesday. It was the first time Serbs have seized a safe area. The Serbs ordered the refugees evacuated to an unknown location, and began separating men from women and children. France would recapture Srebrenica if asked by the UN to do so, President Chirac said. Meanwhile, on Wednesday NATO ambassadors rejected the notion of a UN withdrawal from Bosnia. Serb forces are reportedly close to taking the town of Zepa, a safe area south of Srebrenica. (Story, Page 7.)

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