News In Brief

The US

Monica Lewinsky was said to have reached an immunity agreement with special prosecutor Kenneth Starr. According to unnamed legal sources, Lewinsky has told prosecutors in New York that she had a sexual relationship with President Clinton - but did not say he told her to lie about it to investigators. Clinton denied under oath in the Paula Jones sexual-harassment case that he had such a relationship with Lewinsky, and she filed an affidavit in the suit saying she "never had a sexual relationship with the president."

A federal appeals court said presidential adviser Bruce Lindsey must answer a grand jury's questions, rejecting White House claims of attorney-client privilege. A White House official said a decision would be made later on whether to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Bell Atlantic and GTE Corp. announced in New York a merger agreement that would create a company with revenues of $53 billion and capable of offering telephone calls, wireless services, and Internet access. The deal, a stock swap in which the Bell Atlantic shares would be used to pay for the transaction, was described as a merger in which the new board would be drawn equally from the two companies.

General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers resolved disputes at two strike-bound parts plants in Flint and two other locations, a UAW official said. A comprehensive settlement seemed near, but was still eluding negotiators, he said.

The Senate passed credit-union legislation designed to give millions of consumers access to low-cost financial services. By a vote of 92 to 6, the Senate approved the measure, which would override a Supreme Court ruling and allow credit unions to take in members from various groups.

Ex-CIA agent Douglas Fred Groat pleaded guilty to trying to extort $1 million from the agency in exchange for refraining from giving away US secrets. In a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped espionage charges that could have carried the death penalty. Instead, they reportedly agreed that Groat would receive five years in prison, plus three years of probation.

The Army and Lockheed Martin announced a cost-sharing deal in which the company must achieve three direct missile-to-missile hits in its next five tests or pay $75 million. Under a $15 billion contract, Lockheed is trying to build a system capable by 2006 of blowing up incoming enemy missiles. The cost-sharing deal had been expected after a May 12 test-flight failure, the fifth in a row.

A court-created panel expelled former Teamsters President Ron Carey from the union for not preventing illegal use of funds in his 1996 reelection campaign. Carey said he would appeal the decision. He had told the Independent Review Board earlier this year he knew nothing about a scheme to funnel $735,000 from the union treasury into his campaign during an election in which he narrowly defeated James Hoffa. The review board also ousted former union political director William Hamilton, who has been indicted by a New York grand jury on charges related to misuse of union funds in the election.

Consumer confidence fell almost 3 points in July as Americans became more concerned that the economy will slow and jobs will be harder to find. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence fell to 135.4 in July from a revised 138.2 in June, a 29-year high. The July decline was larger than Wall Street analysts had expected.

Puerto Rican workers were expected to ratify a contract agreement settling a bitter, 41-day strike opposing the sale of the island's state-owned telephone company to a consortium led by GTE Corp.

The World

Apparently headed for defeat in Cambodia's national elections, opposition leaders claimed fraud, vowed to boycott the new parliament, and demanded a new round of balloting. The Constitution requires endorsement by two-thirds of parliament, meaning Premier Hun Sen could not form a new government if the opposition held to its threat. His People's Party shrugged off the boycott vow, with a spokesman saying the current regime would merely remain in power until at least 2003.

Israeli lawmakers prepared to take a three-month recess after the first of four votes on whether to dissolve parliament and hold new national elections. Analysts predicted no immediate passage of the measure, which comes almost at the mid-point of Prime Minister Netanyahu's term. Peace negotiations with the Palestinians have been stalemated for 16 of his 25 months in office. They were to resume yesterday, but senior Palestinians said they would not take Israel's proposals seriously.

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