News In Brief
The US
A White House lawyer has a vague memory of Hillary Rodham Clinton wanting to restrict access to the papers of late White House aide Vincent Foster after his suicide. According to the Washington Post, the attorney recalls then-White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum discussing Mrs. Clinton's view. The White House denies the claim. In Whitewater hearings, the GOP continued its search for evidence of a coverup after Foster's death.
''Show time'' was the two-word code that sent federal agents pouring into the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993. Yesterday ATF Director John Magaw was expected to testify in congressional hearings. At issue: why the firearms-enforcement agency proceeded with the raid, despite knowing it had lost the element of surprise; whether the military's help in training ATF agents and lending equipment was justified; and if the use of tear gas precipitated the fire.
President Clinton began adding his two cents to the federal-budget debate. In a speech yesterday, he was expected to emphasize Medicare, education, training, and environmental protection as needing to be saved from the Republican budget ax. White House officials have said he would veto all 13 congressional spending bills in their current form, thereby bringing the government to a halt in October. Clinton has largely been ignored by budget cutters in Congress.
Senator Dole says he will introduce anti-affirmative action legislation this week to ''get the government out of giving group preferences.'' The move comes as the Clinton administration investigates whether the University of California can receive federal funds after dismantling its affirmative-action programs. (Story, Page 3.)
The affordable-housing shortage hit record levels in 1993, a report said. There were 11.2 million low-income renters in 1993 but just 6.5-million low-rent units, according to the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. By comparison, there was a surplus of 900,000 low-rent units in 1970.
Clinton said economic espionage should be a top priority for the CIA, according to the Los Angeles Times. The CIA provided US negotiators with information during recent car trade talks and has helped uncover bribes by rival nations competing with US firms. (Story, Page 1.)
A leading anti-Castro lobbyist influenced Radio Marti to misrepresent US policy in broadcasts to its Cuba. A probe conducted by the US Information Agency found that interference in station practices by Jorge Mas Canosa undermined US Immigration initiatives, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
Noncandidate Speaker Gingrich trekked to Iowa yesterday and was expected to draw bigger crowds than some presidential hopefuls crisscrossing the state.
Senator Dole received a gift on his 72nd birthday this weekend: a Time/CNN poll showed that 75 percent of Americans don't view the his age as an obstacle to his White House bid. 14 percent said he is too old.
Many Americans don't have enough money to sustain them in retirement, says the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. The top 5 percent of pre-retirement white families have $300,000 in assets, while the typical family has $17,300 and the bottom fifth has $800 or less. The typical black or Hispanic household has less than $500 in assets and 4 out of 10 have nothing saved.
O.J. Simpson's bust was stolen from the Pro Football Hall of fame Sunday. The 35-pound life-size statue was apparently stolen by a late-afternoon visitor while the museum was open.
A House plan to eliminate federal support for appeals of death-row inmates, but judges and lawyers say the plan will slow executions and cost more money. The proposal to cut the $19.8 million-program was approved by the House Appropriations Committee last week.
The World
UN human rights envoy Tadeusz Mazowiecki said yesterday witness accounts collected during a week-long inquiry in Tuzla left little doubt separatist Serbs had engaged in ''barbaric acts'' against Muslims after seizing Srebrenica July 11. Meanwhile, some 320 British soldiers of the UN Rapid Reaction Force arrived on Mt. Igman west of Sarajevo yesterday. The White House has said that substantial air attacks will be mounted against Bosnian Serb troops if Serb military action is taken against the ''safe area'' Gorazde. Who holds the command key and under what circumstances NATO airstrikes will take place was to be discussed at an alliance meeting yesterday. (Story, Page 1.)
An apparent suicide bombing of a bus near Tel Aviv that killed seven people delayed peace talks between Israeli and PLO yesterday, and will have to wait until Israel buries her dead. The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, which condemns the peace process as a sell-out, claimed responsibility for the attack. Access between Israel and the Gaza Strip and West Bank was closed yesterday. (Story, Page 8.)
Japan's governing coalition won just over half of the upper-house seats contested in Sunday's elections, falling well short of original expectations. Prime Minister Murayama said the results were so regrettable he considered quitting. Voter turnout was 44 percent, the lowest ever in a Japanese national election. (Story, Page 5.)
ASEAN began meetings yesterday to admit Vietnam to its exclusive Asian group of countries known for some of the fastest economic growth in the world. Long allied with Moscow, Vietnam has the largest army in southeast Asia. Its inclusion in capitalist ASEAN could have profound geopolitical implications for the region. Most ASEAN members are allied with the US.
Russian and Chechen negotiators resumed peace talks in Chechnya yesterday. Chief Russian negotiator Vyacheslav Mikhailov hoped the two sides would sign a joint declaration on political questions later in the day, paving the way for a more formal accord. Meanwhile, Russian President Yeltsin was released from the hospital to continue recuperation at a Moscow-area sanitarium. Separately, a US intelligence report identified 10 nuclear reactors in the former Soviet Union that are at high risk for failure.
More than 175 international legal and environmental scholars have signed a memorandum challenging the legality of the proposed French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Meanwhile, a Greenpeace protester was back on his yacht after two weeks of playing cat and mouse with French security forces at the site.
The worst storm to hit South Korea in 37 years killed 16 people Sunday. Elsewhere, South Korean President Kim was in the US for talks with President Clinton and to help dedicate the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington Thursday.
Colombian police have seized documents and computer disks from Cali that link 2,800 Colombian politicians, Army officers, judges, journalists, and athletes to the city's cocaine cartel, Cali news sources said. The cartel, the country's largest, had a payroll of nearly $4 million a month, the sources said Sunday.
President Mandela's government plans to debate this week whether to postpone South Africa's first nationwide elections since he was elected. His African National Congress has favored continuing the elections set for Nov. 1, despite growing fears that the elections would be vulnerable to error, fraud, and court challenges. Voters would elect new local boards and councils.
Etcetera
When the Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington Thursday, it will be 42 years after the guns were silenced in Korea. The monument depicts 19 American infantrymen, arrayed for combat. They represent the stand around Pusan, the landing at Inchon, the carnage at Heartbreak Ridge, and others.
Rents for prime office space in Bombay are the highest in the world, slightly more than in Tokyo and four times more than in New York.
The bagel is gaining a spot inside America's pantry. According to the trade journal ''Modern Baking,'' half of America knows what a bagel is. For those who don't, a bagel is a leavened, doughnut-shaped roll.
Top Classical Albums, July 21, 1995
1. ''Immortal Beloved Soundtrack,'' (Sony Classical)
2. ''Chant,'' Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos (Angel)
3. ''The Three Tenors in Concert 1994,'' Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti (London)
4. ''In Concert,'' Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti (London)
5. ''Mozart Portraits,'' Cecilia Bartoli (London)
6. ''Pavarotti in Central Park,'' Luciano Pavarotti (London)
7. ''Sensual Classics, Too,'' various artists (Teldec)
8. ''Vivaldi: The Four Seasons,'' Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Shaham)
9. ''Out Classics,'' various artists (RCA)
10. ''Farinelli Soundtrack,'' (Travelling)
- Billboard
'' The Serbs had better understand that we won't give in.''
- French President Chirac
