News In Brief
Hillary Rodham Clinton is "the weakest candidate" and should reconsider her candidacy for the US Senate race in New York, a Democratic office-holder said. Ronnie Eldridge, a city councilwoman from Manhattan, is among the first in her party to say publicly that another candidate could represent the state better than Mrs. Clinton. Ms. Eldridge, who is Jewish, also criticized the role of a Boston attorney in raising funds for the Clinton Senate campaign. Robert Crowe has represented Swiss banks accused of hiding the assets of Holocaust victims.
Vice President Gore has widened his lead over Bill Bradley in the race for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination, a new poll indicated. Newsweek said it found Gore's support at 49 percent, to 27 for Bradley. Three weeks ago, Gore led 40 to 25. The poll also found Gore narrowing the margin between himself and Republican front-runner George W. Bush to 49 to 43 percent from 53 to 39 Oct. 28.
Congress adjourned until Jan. 24 after Senate passage of legislation featuring the final budget bill and a measure that would ensure 9 million adults receiving federal disability payments can continue to be covered by Medicare or Medicaid if they return to work. The latter already has passed the House.
The 100-foot-high center pole that was the main support for a pyramid of logs when they collapsed last week at Texas A&M University will be the focus of the investigation into the accident, authorities said. Twelve students died; 27 others still were being treated for injuries. The pyramid was to have risen to 55 feet and been set afire Thursday during a pep rally before the school's annual football game against arch-rival Texas.
Classes are to resume today under police guard at a middle school in Deming, N.M., after the shooting death Friday of a girl by a fellow student. Reports said the alleged shooter, a US citizen who commuted from a border town in Mexico, also threatened administrators before surrendering. Authorities said they could not corroborate an account by the boy's father that his son intended to commit suicide but was jostled by others, causing his .22-caliber handgun to discharge prematurely.
A Navy vessel currently in Portugal has been assigned to help recover parts of EgyptAir Flight 990 in ocean waters off Nantucket, Mass., federal investigators said. The recovery ship is expected to arrive on the scene about Dec. 1. US authorities over the weekend said again that the Oct. 31 crash may have been deliberate. But they conceded that a copilot saying "I made my decision now" was not on the cockpit voice recorder, as previously reported. Those words led to suspicion that the crash was a suicide mission but now are blamed on confusion among investigators.
An early-morning highway accident killed two people and injured 106 others returning to the Pennsylvania State University from a shopping excursion to New York. Authorities said thick fog covered I-80 near White Haven, Pa., about 1 a.m. when three chartered buses traveling together collided. A fourth bus struck a guard rail. A car and a pickup truck also were involved in the accident.
(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society
