News In Brief
THE US
President Clinton promised to balance the budget, lower crime rates, raise literacy rates and college attendance, and reform welfare and the campaign finance system during his second term in office. During a speech after a landslide victory over GOP nominee Bob Dole, he promised to work together with the Republican Party that maintained control of both houses of Congress. He is the first Democratic president reelected to a second term since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. Clinton won 49 percent of the vote and 32 states, including the District of Columbia. Dole won 41 percent and 19 states. House Speaker Newt Gingrich won reelection in Georgia.
Some new faces are expected to appear on Clinton's Cabinet over the next few days. CIA director John Deutch is a top candidate to replace departing Defense Secretary William Perry. Candidates to replace Secretary of State Warren Christopher include former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright, and Gen. Colin Powell. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor also plans to resign, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros may depart over personal financial problems.
Maverick billionaire and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot vowed to take a break, then "climb back in the ring" in his concession speech. He received about 8 percent of the vote, a substantial drop from the 19 percent he gained in 1992.
Some 19 alternative candidates proved their mettle by capturing some 2 percent of the vote. Harry Brown of the Libertarian Party led the pack, followed by consumer activist Ralph Nader of the Green Party and Howard Phillips of the US Taxpayers Party. Nader ran his campaign on a $5,000 budget.
Voters in California, the nation's most populous state, gave Clinton sound support with some 51 percent of the vote to Dole's 39 percent. They overwhelmingly approved Proposition 209, banning racial and gender preferences in public hiring, contracting, and college enrollments. And they joined Arizonians by legalizing marijuana for medical purposes.
In Colorado, voters turned down a measure that would have put a guarantee in the state constitution that parents have ultimate rights in matters of educating and disciplining their children. And they overwhelmingly voted against a measure to levy property taxes on churches and other nonprofits.
Voter turnout sagged on Election Day. Declines were recorded in every state compared to 1992, Voter News Service reported. The sharpest falloffs came in Oregon, where voter participation dipped 38 percent compared to the last presidential election. Alaska was down by 22 percent, Maine and Washington State by 17 percent, and Michigan and Utah by 15 percent.
Voters faced a record number of citizen initiatives and hundreds of other state and local government measures. Here are results from a few. The environment: Florida defeated a penny-a-pound sugar tax to help restore the Everglades; Maine rejected a ban on forest clearcutting; Idaho rejected an attempt to overturn agreement to dump 110 tons of high-level nuclear waste at Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Gambling: Arkansas rejected a measure to create a state lottery, legalize charitable bingo, and authorize up to three casinos; Michigan rejected a ban on bingo for political fundraising; Ohio rejected a constitutional amendment to allow riverboat casinos. Other states that rejected gambling initiatives were Colorado, Nebraska, Washington, while Arizona, Louisiana, West Virginia approved them. Campaign finance: Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada passed limits on campaign contributions. Hunting: Alaska, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington banned or upheld bans on various forms of hunting, including hunting black bear and the use of leghold traps; Idaho rejected a ban on black-bear hunting. Term limits: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota voted to ask legislators to pledge support of congressional term limits, with their ballots to be noted on election ballots. Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming rejected term limits.
THE WORLD
Russian President Boris Yeltsin took back his powers of office one day after surgery for a heart condition. Yeltsin had delegated the duties to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin prior to undergoing the operation. A Kremlin spokesman said the president also asked to be moved to a less-specialized hospital - a request that analysts suggested had the symbolic value of signalling a quick recovery.
A day after being dismissed as prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto vowed to fight the allegatiions of corruption that forced her from office. Police barricades kept most visitors from entering her home in Islamabad, but the country's new caretaker government said she was free to "carry out political activities and go wherever she likes."
Peru's most-wanted drug trafficker was flown home to Lima after his capture in neighboring Ecuador. Willer Alvarado Linares is expected to stand trial for supplying tons of cocaine paste to the Cal cartel in Colombia and for aiding his own country's leftist guerrillas.
Israel's prime minister warned Palestinians against believing that President Bill Clinton's reelection would bring US pressure for greater peace concessions. Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not be "whipped" by Washington into making compromises. Meanwhile, the US offered new proposals for a redeployment of Israeli troops on the West Bank. But US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said American mediation efforts in the region's peace talks would be withheld for an unspecified period.
Zaire told international relief agencies to end attempts at distributing aid to Hutu refugees on its soil. The government said all efforts to feed the estimated 1.1 million people who fled the fighting in eastern Zaire would have to be conducted in neighboring Rwanda and Burundi - the countries from which most of them came. Meanwhile, Spain and France said they wanted to send a combined force of 5,000 troops to open humanitarian corridors for those fleeing the combat in Zaire.
Serb authorities in Bosnia used a list of Muslim and Croat refugees to locate and blow up their dwellings, the UN said. Spokesman Kris Jankowski said 96 houses in Serb-controlled northwestern Bosnia that were destroyed matched those on its list of refugees who had applied to visit the area from which they were forced during the country's civil war. Under postwar procedures, the list was shared with a Serb mayor in the region. In retaliation, houses in an abandoned Serb village in central Bosnia now under Muslim control were burned.
China freed political dissident Chen Zeming from a 13-year prison a week after sentencing fellow activist Wang Dan to a slightly shorter term. Both men were leaders of the 1989 Tienanmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations. Chen was released on medical grounds, but his case was expected to come up in meetings between Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Chinese leaders later this month.
European aerospace consortium Airbus Industrie landed a contract to build jets for USAir that could be the largest in civil aviation history, The Wall Street Journal reported. Sources told the newspaper that the deal could involve up to 400 planes over a 10-year period at a cost of $18 billion.
Turkish police on the island of Cyprus closed a UN checkpoint to Greeks and Maronite Christians living on the north side of the divided island.The move means that until further notice those affected will be refused permission to visit relatives in the southern part of the island. A spokeswoman said the blockade went up because of Greek plans for a weekend protest to discourage tourism to the Turkish zone.
ETCETERAS
''I got here, my fellow Americans, because America gave me a chance.
That is what all Americans deserve."
-- President Clinton, promising to concentrate on education and children's literacy during his second term in office.
Contractors in Athens hadn't gone 12 feet in digging a subway tunnel before they found artifacts dating to 1200 B.C. The city's new rapid-transit system is expected to cost $42 million more than initial projections as workers detour around the remains of ancient baths, workshops, and cemeteries.
TV newsman John McCarthy taped a commercial in London for a maker of mobile phones, for which he was paid $163,000 and given one of the company's phones. He kept the phone but gave his fee to a charity for torture victims. McCarthy was a hostage of Muslim guerrillas in Beirut from 1986 to '91.
The site at which President Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech has fallen on lean times. Berlin's cash-strapped government has axed hot-water and elevator service to Schoeneberg Hall and is offering to rent it for parties.
THE DAY'S LIST
Basketball's Newest Hall of Fame Candidates
This year's nominees to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.:
Pete Carril, coach
Alex English, player
Alex Hannum, coach
Don Haskins, coach
Dennis Johnson, player
Gus Johnson, player
Bobby Jones, player
Sidney Moncrief, player
Jim Phelan, coach
Jerry Tarkanian, coach
John Thompson, coach
Jo Jo White, player
Jamaal Wilkes, player
Lee Williams, contributor
Tex Winter, coach
- Associated Press
