News In Brief

Steve Forbes, after spending more than $28 million of his own money on the 2001 presidential campaign, was expected to announce formally he was quitting the Republican race. He finished a disappointing third in Delaware's primary, which Texas Gov. George W. Bush won by a 2-to-1 margin. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who did not campaign in the state, was second.

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley mapped out a $8.5 billion education proposal - in effect, doubling the amount of current funding - that would allow parents to choose among public schools for their children and allocate more money for charter schools. Vice President Al Gore, who already has outlined a $115 billion, 10-year education proposal, planned to promote a plan giving tax incentives for middle-class families to save for college tuition.

The flagship Web sites of Amazon, Buy.Com, CNN, and eBay apparently fell under computer attacks similar to the alleged hacking that prevented users from gaining access to Yahoo on Monday. The FBI was investigating the incidents, for which no one has claimed responsibility. All the companies said hackers did not gain inside access to their computers or retrieve information about their customers.

An estimated 2,000 students from Florida A&M University protested at the Florida Capitol against Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to end affirmative action, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. While the Republican governor refused to back off his executive order, the students came away satisfied after he agreed to some of their proposals, including a three-year plan to make sure universities admit enough minorities. Students will meet again tomorrow with the governor's staff and the state university chancellor.

In accordance with a request from John Deutch, the director of Central Intelligence from 1995 to 1996, the Pentagon said it would withdraw his remaining security clearances. The CIA had stripped most of the clearances last year after finding he had kept classified information on an unprotected home computer. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, said his panel would hold further hearings on the investigation into the security concerns and would seek testimony from Deutch. The CIA also announced it had requested its own new probe.

Divers seeking clues to the Alaska Airlines crash recovered a damaged jackscrew that moves the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer, the focus of the investigation, federal officials said. It wasn't known if damage to the screw occurred during the flight or as a result of the plane's impact with the ocean off California. Meanwhile, investigators said the cockpit crew - not the autopilot - handled most of the flight, which suggests the pilots ran into trouble they thought they could manage.

In response to the growing demand for high-tech workers, lawmakers are expected to announce plans that would boost the number of six-year temporary visas granted to foreigners. Technology firms have increasingly turned to foreigners - many of whom attend top science schools in the US - to fill positions designing software and equipment.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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