News In Brief

THE US

President Clinton was briefly in New York to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and address the UN. Brandishing the same pen President Kennedy used to sign the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, Clinton signed the measure supporters hope will be a step toward ridding the world of the nuclear threat. Sixteen countries were expected to sign during the morning session. Clinton also appealed to the world community to join together in exhibiting "real zero tolerance" for nations that support terrorism and drug trafficking. Addressing the General Assembly, Clinton urged the world body to maintain international sanctions to isolate "rogue states" such as Iran, Libya and Iraq.

The US and Russia approved in New York the first phase of an agreement clarifying the legality of certain antimissile systems, such as the Patriot and its successor currently in development, under the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov said the agreement will have a positive effect on debate in the Russian Duma on ratifying the START II nuclear arms reduction treaty, which was ratified by Congress.

Reform Party candidate Ross Perot sued a bipartisan commission that recommended keeping him out of presidential debates. Perot said the exclusion would cause his campaign "incalculable harm." His suit asks that he either be included or the debates cancelled. The debate commission prevailed in similar suits in 1988 and 1992.

Consumers remained upbeat about the economy as the Federal Reserve met to decide whether to raise interest rates for the first time in 1-1/2 years. The Conference Board said consumer confidence in July and August was just below a six-year high.

An FDIC report is raising new questions about Hillary Rodham Clinton's role in allegedly fraudulent savings-and-loan transactions. The report concludes that Clinton drafted a real estate document in 1986 that was used by the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan to mislead regulators and hide commissions paid to a prominent businessman.

Clinton signed a law making it a federal crime for stalkers to cross state lines to harass or injure another person. The law also makes restraining orders valid from state to state. The measure was part of a $256.6-billion defense authorization bill for 1997 that included a 3 percent raise for military personnel. The measure was $11.2 billion more than Clinton requested.

Washington's deficit shrank to the smallest level in seven years. The Treasury Department said the red ink is running at $144 billion - 16 percent smaller than a year ago. The deficit at the end of the fiscal year will probably come in at less than $144 billion because of a September surplus due to quarterly income tax.

A jury convicted Sun-Diamond Growers of California of making illegal gifts to former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy and illegal campaign contributions to his brother. The company was also convicted of disguising the contributions and engaging in wire fraud.

Donald Tyson, founder of the food giant, agreed to settle an insider trading lawsuit filed by the Securities Exchange Commission. The suit charges that Tyson informed Frederick Lee Cameron about a pending acquisition two weeks before it occurred. Under the settlement, Tyson would pay $46,000 and Cameron would pay $110,000.

Calif. Gov. Pete Wilson signed a law making California the first state in the country to break up its electric utility monopoly. The measure aims to cut California's electric bills, which run up to 50 percent higher than other states.

Park Woods Apartments in Detroit agreed to pay $475,000 in the largest settlement ever in a federal probe of housing discrimination. The Justice Department said the complex discriminated against minorities and white couples with children.

Prudential agreed to pay at least $410 million to settle lawsuits that allege agents conned policyholders into buying more insurance than they needed, The Wall Street Journal reported.

THE WORLD

Violence erupted in east Jerusalem after Israel secretly broke through the last section of a tunnel that runs along the Western Wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque compound - the fault line of the Israeli-Arab conflict. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called the tunnel, which took the Palestinians by surprise, a "big crime against our religious and holy places." and said it violated the peace process. The tunnel's new exit leads to the Way of Sorrows - the route Jesus is believed to have taken on his way to the crucifixion. Also, Israel said its troops killed two Lebanese guerrilla in clashes in south Lebanon.

The US, Russia, and Norway plan to sign a pact tomorrow in Bergen, Norway, to deal with nuclear and other waste stored or dumped in the Arctic by the former Soviet Union. The projects include joint development of prototype containers for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel and work on technology for treatment of radioactive waste.

Lax supervision at polling stations and an improbably high voter turnout cast doubt on the validity of Bosnia's election results, diplomats and independent monitors said. According to preliminary final results after a recount to weed out duplications, voter turnout was 111 percent for the presidency and 103 percent for the House.

India's Congress Party chose Sitaram Kesri, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, as a stop-gap leader to replace former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, who resigned Saturday. Kesri is the first low-caste Hindu to lead Congress and has served as party treasurer for 18 years. He will hold the post until the party's plenary body meets to select a permanent leader.

South African police fired teargas to break up about 2,000 rival mine workers after clashes in Stilfontein killed 21 people. Police blamed the conflict between the Xhosa and Sotho tribes on the killing of a Xhosa miner.

Russia's Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said there can be no talk at present about President Boris Yeltsin resigning for health reasons. The Kremlin has insisted Yeltsin is able to work, and the two men held a weekly meeting at Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital. Also, six Russian soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a mine in Dagestan, Chechnya.

Colombian troops killed at least 60 guerrillas in fighting and military airstrikes in the northwest province of Antioquia. The fighting broke a rebel blockade of a key highway linking central Colombia and the banana-growing region of Uraba.

Commandos took up positions around key buildings in Yerevan, Armenia, after tens of thousands protested. The main opposition National-Democratic Union said vote tallies were falsified in President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's reelection.

Indonesian officials ordered ousted opposition leader Megawati to close her party office two weeks after it was opened. Residents in East Jakarta complained the building was not being used in accordance with regulations, they said. The office was opened after police evicted her supporters from the party's central headquarters July 27.

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard agreed to meet the Dalai Lama in Sydney tomorrow. Beijing threatened that political and trade ties would be affected by Canberra's hosting of Tibet's spiritual leader. China is Australia sixth-largest trading partner.

A three-week blockade by Earthroots failed to prevent loggers from felling 120-year-old trees about 250 miles north of Toronto. Police have arrested 37 protesters from the group that has tried for more than a decade to obstruct logging in the Temagami, Ontario, region that hosts one of North America's few remaining old-growth forests.

ETCETERAS

"Declaring the election essentially over for all candidates but two before a single debate takes place will only deepen the nation's cynicism about government."

-- Ross Perot's lawsuit against a bipartisan commission that voted to exclude him from upcoming presidential debates.

A Dutch scientist says core samples from undersea sediments corroborate a new claim by archaeologists that humans came to Australia two to three times earlier than thought. Geologist Sander van der Kaars said the samples indicate humans were on the continent as early as 200,000 years ago.

Tramps from around the globe arrived in Mar del Plata, Argentina, for their first world conference. Pedro Ribeira, founder of the Free Tramps' Movement, said the world's work-shy would discuss "the liberation of man from materialism" and "eating cheap on the road." About 300 delegates from as far away as Greece were expected for the week's events, which were to culminate in a big feed.

Paul Erdos, one of the 20th-century's premiere mathematicians, died. "The prince of problem solvers" was so devoted to math that he had no home or personal possessions.

One of the world's most famous boys' clubs will be led by a woman. Agnes Grossman will make history as the first woman to conduct the Vienna boys' choir.

THE DAY'S LIST

Home Run Kings

Baseball players that hit more than 50 home runs in a season, with the team, year, and total:

Roger Maris, Yankees, 1961: 61

Babe Ruth, Yankees, 1927: 60

Ruth, Yankees, 1921: 59

Jimmie Foxx, A's, 1932: 58

Hank Greenberg, Tigers, 1938: 58

Hack Wilson, Cubs, 1930: 56

Ruth, Yankees,1920 and '28: 54

Ralph Kiner, Pirates, 1949: 54

Mickey Mantle, Yankees, 1961: 54

Mantle, Yankees,1956: 52

Mark McGwire, Athletics,1996: 52

Willie Mays, Giants, 1965: 52

George Foster, Reds, 1977: 52

Ralph Kiner, Pirates, 1947: 51

Johnny Mize, Giants, 1947: 51

Mays, Giants, 1955: 51

Cecil Fielder, Tigers, 1990: 51

-- Associated Press