News In Brief
The US
A federal judge sided with federal prosecutors and refused media requests to unseal a search warrant for the Una-bomber suspect's cabin. US District Judge Charles Lovell also gave the first on-the-record confirmation that a completed bomb was found there. And investigators are looking into suspect Ted Kaczynski's failed relationship with a woman. He was fired by his brother, David, from a rubber factory for harassing the unnamed woman the year the bombings began. Investigators discovered a third typewriter in the suspect's cabin. Two other typewriters found there are unlikely to have been used to type the Unabomber's manifesto, officials said. (Opinion, Page 19.)
Commerce Secretary Ron Brown was given a hero's farewell and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A Croatian inquiry into the plane crash found no technical malfunction at Dubrovnik airport, Croatian television said. Also, a bill to dismantle the Commerce Department, set for a vote April 29, may be delayed out of respect to Brown, GOP officials said. Possible candidates to succeed Brown: Mack McLarty, President Clinton's former chief of staff; Stuart Eizenstat, President Carter's chief of staff; Laura Tyson, of the National Economic Council; and Phil Lader, director of the Small Business Administration.
Whitewater witness David Hale testified for the first time that he was informed of a planned meeting at the governor's mansion in which Clinton and James McDougal were supposed to discuss a loan. Records from the governor's office show that a meeting was on Clinton's schedule so that he could sign unspecified personal business papers. The White House had no immediate comment on whether the meeting occurred.
Media giant Time Warner Inc. and CompuServe were expected to announce a major alliance. The deal may include the unveiling of Time Warner's Pathfinder Web site as an online subscription service, analysts said. Open Market, a Cambridge, Mass.-based software company, reportedly is also involved.
Wholesale prices in the US shot up 0.5 percent in March, the biggest increase in three months, fueled by a 2.4 percent jump in winter-related energy costs. Food prices rose 0.6 percent. And on Wall Street, stocks and bonds plunged Wednesday on inflation concerns. Since Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average has dropped almost 200 points, but was flat yesterday morning. (Story, Page 8.)
Four of the nation's biggest banks and credit card companies - Citibank, Chase Manhattan, Mastercard, and Visa - announced a test program for "smart cards." The cards are given a preset amount of "electronic cash" and will be accepted by up to 500 merchants in Manhattan. The companies hope to test the program with 50,000 consumers by the end of 1996.
Rep. James Quillen (R) of Tennessee announced he will not seek an 18th term after serving 34 years in the House. His announcement brings to 45 the number of House members who aren't seeking reelection.
The National Basketball Association slapped a record fine on a player for pushing a referee. The NBA also suspended Nick Van Exel of the Los Angeles Lakers for the final seven games of the regular season. He shoved referee Ron Garretson at a game with the Denver Nuggets.
Small is not beautiful and bigger is not better when it comes to high schools, according to a study to be released at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in New York. Students with the highest reading and math skills come from medium-sized high schools with 600 to 900 students, they study found.
Seven-year-old Jessica Dubroff, a California girl attempting to fly a single-engine plane across the US, crashed on a driveway in Cheyenne, Wyo. She, her father, and her flight instructor were killed.
The World
Israeli helicopter gunships blasted a suspected Hizbullah guerrilla command center in south Beirut - its first raid on the Lebanese capital since 1982. One civilian was killed, and at least two were wounded. Israel also attacked Hizbullah outposts in eastern and southern Lebanon to avenge guerrilla attacks that killed an Israeli soldier and wounded 38 other Israelis.
The US military suspended daytime evacuations in Monrovia, Liberia, because fighting made the operations too dangerous. Evacuations were expected to resume at nightfall. Three US amphibious ships headed to Liberia to help. About 370 foreigners have been evacuated from the capital, which has been wracked by urban warfare for five days.
Exit polls showed South Korean President Kim Young Sam's party headed for victory in parliamentary elections. The New Korea Party was likely to win 175 of the 299 seats - a 25 seat gain. Recent North Korean threats provided the unexpected boost.
France and China signed $1.9 billion in trade agreements, primarily for 33 Airbus aircraft. The French government has been accused of not paying enough attention to human rights in China. (Story, Page 6.)
Iraq still has not given enough evidence to prove it no longer has forbidden weapons, a UN special commission reported. Concerns stem from Iraqi claims to have destroyed prohibited weapons, rather than turn them over to the UN, as required. Iraq needs a clean bill from the commission before sanctions imposed after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait can be lifted.
The US ordered the expulsion of a Sudanese UN diplomat suspected of aiding terrorists convicted of plotting to blow up the UN and other New York landmarks. Ahmed Yousif Mohamed and a colleague are suspected of giving information to terrorist groups in 1993, a US official said. Sudan dismissed the charges.
More than 200 Bosnian Muslim refugees held in Serbia returned home after eight months in detention camps. But Bosnian Serbs took away 13 men as they were boarding the bus, saying they were suspected of war crimes. the UN High Commissioner for refugees has filed a formal protest. Separately, Croatian authorities indicted six Bosnian Muslims on charges of planning to kill a renegade Muslim leader hiding in Croatia, Croatian television reported.
Japan's lower house of parliament passed the $692 billion state budget after more than a month's delay. Meanwhile, Okinawa is considering a petition to hold a plebiscite on whether the bulk of US troops should remain on the island. Rengo Okinawa, an influential labor union behind the petition, has also planned a hunger strike during Clinton's visit next week. Japan and the US are working on an agreement for the return of about 5,000 hectares of base land and possibly a cut in US troops.
EU officials decided to leave a ban on British beef in place - dashing Great Britain's hopes of ending the mad cow crisis. Above, an animal rights activist in Aalten, Netherlands, protests the plan to slaughter 64,000 British calves.
Forty-three African nations pledged to create a nuclear-free continent. Delegates met in Cairo to sign the treaty, promising not to build, test, or stockpile nuclear weapons.
Russia's lower house of parliament decided 285 to 5 to stand by last month's vote denouncing the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russia's neighbors and President Yeltsin condemned the vote.
Workmen flattened the Dunblane, Scotland, school gymnasium where a gunman killed 16 children and their teacher March 13. A garden is being planned for the site, and a memorial is being considered.
Etceteras
Dark stars known as brown dwarfs have turned up in Earth's neighborhood. Astronomers found them by piling photo plates on each other to amplify the weak light that brown dwarfs emit. That revealed about 250 objects, several of them dwarfs only 150 light-years away.
President Clinton has agreed to a cameo role in the TV movie "A Child's Wish," which is about an ill child who wants to meet him. A White House official said the president agreed to the move because it reinforces the importance of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Investigative Reporting And Editing Awards
Here are some of the winners of the 1996 IRE awards.
NEWSPAPERS
David Rohde of The Christian Science Monitor, won for "Bosnia Massacre." Other winners: "Boss Hog" by Pat Stith and Jody Warrick of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. "Medicaid Madness" by Chris Adams of The Times-Picayune in New Orleans.
THE RENNER AWARD
"The Worst Nightmare" a joint effort by CBS News, 60 Minutes, and U.S. News & World Report. Correspondent: Steve Kroft; Producers: Gary Scurka, Michael Gavshon; Associate Producers: Kathy Wolff Scurka, Claudia Weinstein, Carolyn McEwen.
IRE MEDAL WINNERS
"Fertility Fraud" by Susan Kelleher, Michelle Nocolosi, Kim Christensen, and the Orange County Register staff in California. "Military Secrets" by Russell Carollo, Carol Hernandez, and Jeff Naismith of the Dayton Daily News. "Blind Justice: Who killed Jane Fray?" by Rod Hansen of WJR-Radio, Detroit.
- IRE, Inc.
" The Bible tells us though we weep through the night, joy will come in the morning... Brown's incredible life force brought us all joy in the morning. No dark night could defeat him."
- President Clinton's remarks at US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown's funeral.
