News In Brief

THE US

Vendors plan to hawk their latest wares on San Diego's streets during the first day of the GOP convention - T-shirts announcing the Dole-Kemp partnership. Earlier, the pair received a send-off from Dole's home town of Russell, Kan.

Investigators say a brush fire in northern California may have caused a power outage in nine western states, Mexico, and Canada. In Los Angeles, traffic snarled as signals stopped working, and residents were left without air conditioning as temperatures topped 100 degrees. And beaches were closed after a pump quit and sewage was diverted into the Pacific. It was the second major power failure in the past six weeks.

The Clinton administration was expected to announce a pact that would compensate the owner of the New World Mine with land or other federal assets in exchange for abandoning plans to dig for gold near Yellowstone Park's northeast corner. It would be the first such mining swap in US history. The swap sends a message that companies using an 1872 law protecting mining rights need to think twice before undertaking expensive explorations, observers said.

The FBI announced it's expanding its war on crime and terrorism overseas by adding offices in Tel Aviv, Cairo, Islamabad, and Beijing. The FBI now has agents in 23 foreign cities.

The second of four engines from TWA Flight 800 was recovered shortly after National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Francis estimated that more than 50 percent of the jetliner still needed to be recovered. Two more bodies were discovered, bringing the number of victims found to 198.

The Citadel's plan to kick out pregnant women cadets is illegal, and putting latches on women's doors only is discriminatory, lawyers for women entering the military school said. The 21-page plan covers everything from lipstick to dating policies. At least three women plan to make up the school's first female class since the US Supreme Court declared all-male state military schools illegal.

A Florida jury awarded $750,000 to a man who sued the maker of Lucky Strikes cigarettes after struggling with health problems from smoking for 44 years. This is the second time in history a tobacco company has been ordered to pay damages in a civil case. Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles, who has filed a state lawsuit against tobacco companies, says the decision opens the door for future victories against the industry. But tobacco companies are calling the verdict an "aberration" and say they expect it to be overturned on appeal.

An Oklahoma state senator and his sister witnessed the execution of Steven Keith Hatch, who was given the death penalty for the 1979 killing of their parents. Sen. Brooks Douglass and his sister were shot in the back but survived. Douglass wrote the law that allowed them to observe the execution. Earlier, Hatch argued he shouldn't be executed because he didn't pull the trigger. His accomplice received only two life sentences for the murders.

Security guard and suspect Richard Jewell couldn't have made a 911 call about a bomb in Olympic Park in Atlanta, his attorney said. Jewell pointed out a suspicious knapsack only a minute before the call was placed from a phone three blocks away, at least a five-minute walk through crowds, his lawyer said. But investigators say Jewell is still considered a suspect.

The US agreed to allow air service from Venezuela to continue for 30 days while the country works to comply with international aviation safety standards. Flights between the countries were suspended for two days last week after a dispute broke out. Earlier, two Venezuelan airlines stopped in Miami failed FAA inspections.

THE WORLD

Rwanda's parliament passed a law legalizing the trial of 80,000 detainees accused of genocide. The vote ends months of delays in which the detainees were held in overcrowded prisons without being charged. About 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 1994 as part of the militant Hutu government's plan to rid the country of Tutsis.

Iraeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he saw no chance of a deal with Palestinians on the future of Jerusalem. Netanyahu, in his first interview with an Arabic newspaper, also said he envisioned a "broader autonomy" for Palestinians rather than an independent state.

Russia's parliament approved President Yeltsin's choice for prime minister, reelecting Victor Chernomyrdin for a second term. Yeltsin and Chernomyrdin met to discuss fighting in Chechnya. Russian troops reportedly moved to within a half-mile of the city center, but rebels still seemed to control the area. Also, rebels ambushed a Russian convoy in the southeast. The rebels said 150 Russian troops were killed in the attack.

Turkey signed a multibillion dollar gas deal with Iran. This makes Ankara the first country to directly defy a new US law that seeks to punish foreign companies that do business with Iran and Libya - countries the US says sponsors state terrorism. The international community has blasted President Clinton for the new law, and Turkey, the EU, and Russia have all refused to comply with its restrictions.

Turkish troops fired on Greek Cypriot motorcyclists who defied an order by authorities not to cross a cease-fire line to protest Turkey's occupation of north Cyprus, a UN spokesman said.

Northern Ireland's Protestants and Catholics averted violence this weekend in Londonderry when the Protestant Apprentice Boys complied with police and rerouted their parade to avoid Catholic sections of town. Another march is scheduled for this Sunday in Belfast, when Catholics will mark the 25th anniversary of an abandoned government policy to hold suspected guerrillas without trial.

Suspected Hutu rebels killed 22 people in northwestern Burundi, state-controlled radio reported. Also, with the country floundering under sanctions, Washington is urging US citizens to leave while the airport is still open. African nations imposed sanctions after Maj. Pierre Buyoya was installed as president in a July 25 military coup. More than 24,000 refugees have returned since Aug. 1. Repatriations will continue even though Rwanda has closed its border with Burundi.

China said it would select a 400-member committee of Hong Kong representatives to choose the territory's first leader under Beijing rule. The committee would also be empowered to select a provisional council to replace Hong Kong's democratic legislature. Also, a new wave of flooding in China killed at least 250 people and left about 100,000 homeless. More than 2,000 Chinese have been killed in floods since the seasonal rains began in June. And Chinese dissident and former student leader Guo Haifeng was arrested in a move that may be linked to the recent escape abroad of a fellow dissident, a human rights group said in Beijing.

Kuwait dismissed a call by Palestinian President Arafat to put aside grudges over the Gulf war, saying Arafat had first to condemn Iraq's 1990 invasion.

Indian villagers reportedly have seen four Western hostages kidnapped more than a year ago by Kashmiri rebels. The hostages, including Donald Hutchings of Spokane, Wash., appeared to be in good health. A captured guerrilla had told police the hostages were executed.

ETCETERAS

"I was looking for a 10 and I found a 15."

-- Presidential hopeful Bob Dole, showing off running mate and former football player Jack Kemp during a rally in Russell, Kan. Fifteen was the number Kemp wore when he played for the Buffalo Bills.

Some Amish in Intercourse, Pa., found a faster alternative to the horse and buggy - in-line skates, The New York Times reported. Although their religious beliefs forbid cars and bicycles, in-line skates are viewed as a newer version of rollerskates, which they've used for years.

The St. Louis Art Museum filed a lawsuit against the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York after a security guard added final touches to a painting by Roy Lichtenstein in 1993. The guard scrawled "Reggie and Crystal" and "I love you Tushee" on the painting. The undamaged art was worth $1.5 million to $2 million.

For the second time in four years, Kurt Osburn of Costa Mesa, Calif., did a bicycle wheelie for over five hours to claim a world record. Osburn's first try didn't count because he was short a witness. This time his witness took notes and videotaped the stunt.

THE DAY'S LIST

GOP Ice Cream Politics

San Diego's Rachel Shein, owner of Louise & Mousie's Ice Cream, recently held a contest to rename some ice cream flavors in honor of the GOP convention. Some rejected flavors included Impeach Clinton and WhiteWaterMelon.

1. Bob Dole Pineapple

2. Peppermint Pattie Buchanan

3. Ronald Raisin

4. Alan Keyes Lime Pie

5. George Bushel O' Apples

6. Cracker Jack Ford

7. Forbes Flat Tax Fudge

8. Phil Gramm Cracker

9. Haley Heath Bar-Bour

10. Susan's Golden Vanilla

11. Red White and Blueberry

12. GOPeanutbutter

13. Campaign Trail Mix

-- Louise & Mousie's Ice Cream

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