News In Brief

THE US

While the first US troops headed to Bosnia, senators continued to debate whether to back President Clinton's peacekeeping plan. As Clinton returned from his five-day European tour, he faced remaining questions, including: How and when US troops will exit the Balkans; and specifics of his plan to rearm and train Bosnian Muslim troops to create a balance to the Serbs military power when the US exits. Senator Dole is pressing for passage of his resolution of support for the plan by the end of the week. Also, after the Pentagon said the Bosnia mission will cost $2 billion, - including funds for "hazardous duty pay" - Clinton allowed the Defense appropriations bill to become law. He opposed the $243 billion measure earlier because the amount was higher than he requested.

Saying he wouldn't seek a fourth term, Wyoming's Senator Simpson recalled the words of his father, Milward Simpson, a former Wyoming governor and US senator: "Get out before they throw you out." And upon saying he will retire, five-term Senator Hatfield said, "Thirty years of voluntary separation from the state I love is enough." Also, Rep. Jimmy Hayes of Louisiana became the fourth Democrat to switch parties since the 1994 election, saying there is no longer room for conservatives in the Democratic Party.

The $1 billion Soho satellite is floating toward a position 1 million miles from Earth from which it will observe the sun. It blasted off from Florida on Friday. The 1,400-pound probe will look deep inside the sun and study solar wind, which can disrupt radio communications and cause blackouts on Earth.

Some 41 percent of Iowa Republicans still put Bob Dole as their favorite for the 1996 GOP presidential nomination. But millionaire businessman Steve Forbes has pushed ahead of his rivals, capturing 12 percent of the support in the latest Des Moines Register poll. Senator Gramm took 9 percent, down significantly from his 18 percent September showing.

Emmanuel Constant, head of the now defunct rightist group, Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, says he worked for the CIA for three years and that it never asked about his group's violent campaign against opponents of military rule. The CIA denies the claim.

Anyone who circulates pornography deemed "harmful to children" on the Internet would face criminal prosecution under a deal reportedly struck between Congress, civil liberties groups, and some commercial on-line services. The deal comes as Congress takes up a more restrictive plan that would impose jail terms and fines of up to $100,000 on those who knowingly transmit "filthy," "lewd," or "indecent" material. The compromise deal, reported by The New York Times, gives on-line services credit for attempting to keep sex material away from children.

General Motors agreed to recall 470,000 Cadillacs equipped with what the government called a "defeat device" that caused the cars to emit three times more carbon monoxide than the law allows. GM must pay an $11 million fine, repair the vehicles, and also spend $34 million on anti-pollution programs.

As the Dec. 15 deadline for a new budget agreement nears, the chairmen of the House and Senate budget committees said they weren't opposed to another shutdown. "In the House, we've not yet made up our minds," said Budget Committee chair John Kasich on NBC's Meet the Press. This dampened the expectations that Senator Dole raised by saying the debate would be over by Christmas.

The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint that Senate minority leader Daschle (D), at a friend's request, tried to reduce safety inspections of government-hired air-charter companies. Separately, an independent counsel exonerated several Bush administration aides who allegedly accessed then-candidate Bill Clinton's passport files to see if he had sought ways to renounce his citizenship while he was in college.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's $2,700 worth of legal work on a Little Rock, Ark., real estate property came under scrutiny in continuing Senate Whitewater hearings. The property was owned by the failed Madison Guaranty Savings & Loan. Chairman D'Amato says he will seek Mrs. Clinton's billing records to see if she benefited from the failed S&L.

THE WORLD

Up to 700 logistics, communications, and security specialists could begin setting up a NATO headquarters in Sarajevo today after President Clinton gave orders to send the first US troop contingent to Bosnia. The main body of troops is scheduled to arrive after the Dec. 14 peace treaty signing in Paris. Addressing US troops stationed in Germany, Clinton said they should strike "immediately and with decisive force" if threatened in Bosnia. And in his first public appearance in a month, the leader of the Bosnian Serb army, Gen. Ratko Mladic, blasted NATO troops that were poised to arrive last Saturday.

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