News In Brief
The US
Chinese President Jiang Zemin told the United Nations Tuesday that no country should use the excuse of ''freedom, democracy, and human rights'' to interfere in the internal affairs of others. Speaking in New York, Jiang said China would work together with others to build a more equitable international order, but no country could give orders to Beijing. The 50th anniversary ceremonies were to end yesterday with a declaration calling for a UN ''equipped, financed, and structured to serve effectively the peoples in whose name it was established.'' The US objected to wording that required payment from member countries ''in full and on time.''
With overwhelming bipartisan support, the Senate passed a measure yesterday to relocate the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by May 1999. Only El Salvador and Costa Rica have embassies in the disputed city of Jerusalem, which both Israelis and Palestinians claim. President Clinton has said he will block the move; in Tel Aviv, 70,000 postcards arrived Monday at the Embassy asking him not to do so.
A meeting between Clinton and China's President Jiang Zemin in New York ran into controversy yesterday. Bowing to Chinese objections, the site was moved from the New York Public Library to the Lincoln Center to avoid the library's human rights display. The leaders are meeting to shore up rocky relations.
Clinton and Russian President Yeltsin reached ''complete agreement'' on a joint strategy for safeguarding peace in Bosnia during a meeting Monday. But the leaders were tight-lipped on details. Still to be worked out by the nations' militaries: how much control NATO generals would have over Russian forces, and if Moscow would pay for their upkeep. (Editorial, Page 20.)
Senate debate on the budget bill is expected to begin today. A vote is expected Friday or Monday. The Senate Budget Committee passed the bill on a 10 to 12 strict party-line vote Monday. The bill includes three-fourths of the cuts - from welfare to student loans - needed to reach a balanced budget by 2002. Dropped from the bill: a provision that would have raised the limit on the amount of money Social Security recipients can earn without losing part of their benefits.
John Sweeny has the edge in his bid to unseat Thomas Donahue in today's AFL-CIO elections in New York. Tensions ran high between the two camps Monday. But both leaders offered unqualified support for Clinton's reelection. In a speech to the group, Clinton repeated his support for increasing the minimum wage and creating a tax credit for the working poor. (Story, Page 3.)
Cuba will never swap communism for capitalism even if the US lifts a crippling trade embargo, Fidel Castro said Monday. Castro dined with high-profile businessmen and policymakers, but details of his luncheon were kept confidential.
Under pressure from Congress, the Internal Revenue Service postponed indefinitely yesterday its plans to conduct exhaustive and random audits of 153,000 taxpayers. The decision was prompted by a $600 million cut in the agency's budget.
After a surprise surge of success, the Mariners baseball team will remain in Seattle. A plan for a stadium they requested was approved Monday by the King County Council. The team will foot $45 million of the $320 million bill. The rest will be raised through the state lottery, county taxes, and other means.
Ross Perot's new Reform Party will meet Tuesday's deadline to qualify for the 1996 California presidential ballot, he announced. His party is required to turn in 89,000 registrations.
The US could run out of money by Nov. 6 if Congress does not raise the nation's credit limit, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said Monday. Republicans have said they would agree to a short-term extension of the debt ceiling to give the White House time to study the budget plan.
A poisonous cloud formed over the scene of a gas leak in Bogalusa, La., yesterday. About 1,500 residents were evacuated after a leaking tank car exploded, sending poisonous gas into the air. Efforts were under way to neutralize the noxious chemicals.
The World
Talks on rebel Serbs returning eastern Slavonia to Croatia are expected to continue today. They adjourned Monday with agreement that the territory would be returned but differed over details: The self-styled Bosnian Serb parliament is demanding only Russian or other ''friendly'' troops as monitors. (Peacekeepers, Page 7; Editorial, Page 20.) Bosnia's warring factions will need more than a year to secure a lasting peace, and NATO forces should not expect a quick mission, Presidents Chirac of France and Izetbegovic of Bosnia cautioned Monday. Also, the war-crimes trial of Bosnian Serb Dusan Tadic was postponed so the defense can seek more funding.
The US should shrink its Okinawa military operations but not trim its 44,000-person force there, Japanese officials said yesterday. This after the US said Sunday it would weigh any downsizing proposal. Separately, the doctor of Aum Shinri Kyo leader Ashahara said yesterday in court that he made sarin gas - the type used in the March Tokyo subway attack - to kill a group member. Ashahara's trial starts tomorrow.
Tanzania threw off three decades of one-party rule with its first multiparty elections. African observers pronounced the elections free and fair yesterday as the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi led with more than half the parliamentary results declared. Party leader Salmin Amour led the two-horse presidential race.
Deposed President Said Mohamed Djohar planned to return to the Cormoros yesterday. But the government set up after a failed coup said he would not be allowed to land ''because the services of the president ... are not yet operational.'' French troops lifted Djohar to safety this month when they squelched the coup.
Cali drug-cartel leader Helmer Herrera Buitrago is ready to surrender, Colombian officials said yesterday. The arrest of his mother and other family members prompted his decision, they said. All six of the other Cali leaders have been arrested within recent months.
US carmaker General Motors reportedly beat out rival Ford in a billion-dollar deal to produce cars in China. Separately, in talks in Beijing, China is balking at demands that it adhere strictly to World Trade Organization rules if it were to join the group. It wants lenient enforcement based on its developing-nation status.
France will recognize Quebec if it secedes from Canada, French President Chirac said in a CNN interview Monday. And Canadian financial markets were shaken Monday by concern that Quebec will vote for independence Oct. 30. (Story, Page 9.)
Mexican authorities arrested Comandante German who they say led the 1994 Indian rebellion in Chiapas. The move threatened progress made in peace talks. Rebels may consider the seizure a violation of a deal to suspend arrest warrants during the talks.
A North Korean spy was captured by South Korean police yesterday, and another escaped. The captured man told police he crossed the border in August. Last week, South Koreans killed another alleged infiltrator.
Brazil and the United States signed an agreement Monday to share information and technology to slow Amazon deforestation and preserve thousands of insect and plant species threatened with extinction.
Etcetera
The French sidewalk cafe is fighting for survival in a society no longer willing to sit and watch the world go by. High taxes are hurting it, but industry insiders say 4,000 bistros a year are going bust because more French are eating fast foods.
Russian cosmonauts could have empty dinner plates soon. The nation's only factory producing food for outer space faces closure because of budget cuts. ''If we don't get help, the plant will stop in a year,'' director Yuri Drigo said Monday.
Zahwa Arafat, the newest addition to Yasser Arafat's family, made her first official appearance yesterday at a party in Gaza marking the UN's 50th year.
Lawyers With the Dough
Forbes magazine ranked 1994 earnings of the top 50 highest-paid trial and corporate lawyers. No women made the list. Here's a sampling:
In millions
TRIAL LAWYERS
1. Joseph Hamail, $90
Houston
2. John O'Quinn, 40
Houston
3. Wayne Reaud, 26
Beaumont, Texas
4. Walter Umphrey, 19
Beaumont, Texas
5. Guy Saperstein, 15
Oakland, Calif.
CORPORATE LAWYERS
1. Allen Grubman, 5
New York
2. Harry Brittenham, 4.5
Los Angeles
3. Kenneth Ziffren, 4.5
Los Angeles
4. John Branca, 4.25
Los Angeles
5. Raoul Felder, more than 3
New York
- Forbes/Associated Press
''We only need to learn a little bit more about capitalism in order to be more efficient. We have to be less paternalistic.''
- Cuban President Fidel Castro in a CBS interview.
