News In Brief
THE US
A US Navy ship carrying an underwater robot was expected to arrive off the coast of Long Island today to help in the search for wreckage of TWA Flight 800. The 300-pound, torpedo-shaped device will use sonar, a color camera, and a digital compass to search for wreckage. Searchers also plan to try again to use sonar to videotape a large object on the ocean floor. Equipment problems hindered earlier attempts. Also, President Clinton vowed to speed up the process of the TWA crash investigation and recovery. And a memorial service was to take place at Smith Point County Park, a point of land closest to the crash site.
"Amateurish" is how Chicago police described a crude pipe bomb found on the tarmac of an air charter service at O'Hare International Airport. The bomb was detonated safely by a bomb and arson squad. The airport was already on heightened alert after several bomb threats that prompted the search of two Mexicana Airlines airplanes. A Delta flight from Atlanta was also searched after a threatening call.
Vice President Gore said the US will meet its year-end deadline for removing all US troops from Bosnia. And there are no current plans for a new NATO peacekeeping mission to replace the one scheduled to complete the mission Dec. 20, he added. Gore made the statements on CBS's "Face the Nation." Last month, Defense Secretary Perry said he would support US participation in a smaller force to complete the mission.
Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D) of Illinois began his 17-month prison term for mail fraud at the federal medical prison, where he was recovering from surgery. He pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in April: He admitted converting office funds for gifts and hiring people on the congressional payroll who did little official work. He also admitted sending House payroll checks through the mail to his district office to pay employees who performed "personal or political service."
A retired DEA agent told The Washington Post he leaked tapes tying Colombian President Ernesto Samper to the Cali drug cartel two years ago. Joe Toft said he disobeyed direct orders from Washington and gave the information to a Colombian TV reporter because he was fed up with US policy in the war against Colombian cocaine traffickers.
The US homeownership rate climbed a record 1.6 points the past two years to reach a 15-year high of 65.4 percent, the Clinton administration announced. As a result, the number of homeowners rose to 66.1 million - the highest level in US history.
Nearly 50 Honda dealers filed lawsuits in federal court against American Honda Motor Company for allegedly failing to act when some of its managers diverted cars to other dealers for kickbacks. Dealers say they lost millions because of the bribes. Honda denies its top executives knew about the kickbacks.
Intel Corp. plans to give away computer software that makes it easier for users to make long-distance phone calls via the Internet, the company announced. The calls cost only as much as the local connection to the global computer network. Until now, both callers and receivers needed the identical software and hardware to connect.
Rescuers continued searching for a worker missing after a sugar refinery explosion in Scotsbluff, Neb., that injured four people. The explosion leveled seven 150-foot-tall silos and scattered sugar up to a mile. It could take several days before the cause of the explosion is known, authorities said.
The State Department authorized families of US government employees to leave Saudi Arabia because of terrorism threats there. Last week, the US Embassy warned it had received reports suggesting such attacks could be aimed at both military and civilian facilities.
THE WORLD
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged a "historic reconciliation" between Arab countries and Israel to create lasting peace. He again pressed for a land-for-peace formula as the only solution. And Israeli intelligence briefed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Syria will not resume talks unless it sees signs of regaining the Golan Heights, an Israeli newspaper said.
The Russian military and Chechen rebels agreed on peace talks, according to Tim Guldimann, head of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe. But the dates have not been finalized. The organization has in the past brokered talks between the two, including the May 27 cease-fire agreement.
All nine Australian states finally agreed to legislate tough and uniform gun laws. The Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Queensland dropped their opposition to a proposed ban on semi-automatic and pump-action rifles.
A bomb blast at Pakistan's Lahore international airport killed six people and injured at least 40. The bomb was slipped through airport security before it was detonated, investigators said. No one claimed responsibility for the blast.
NATO troops intervened to prevent a Muslim mob from attacking a group of Bosnian Serbs near Doboj in Bosnia. And war crimes investigators began excavating the largest suspected grave of Muslims killed by Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica last year.
The US will raise concerns about Burma's human rights record at the Southeast Asian Nations ministerial forum, said Secretary of State Christopher in Jakarta. He also drew attention to a bill that would impose sanctions on Burma and is awaiting action in the US Congress.
Africa must quadruple its food production over the next 50 years in order to feed its surging population, two UN agencies reported. Asia will have to increase production by 68 percent, Latin America by 80 percent, and North America by 30 percent. But Europe won't need to produce as much food as it does now, the report said.
Bjarne Riis won the Tour de France and instantly became a symbol of Danish pride. After 23 days, five countries, and 2,352 miles, Riis pedaled to the finish line to the cheers of an estimated 100,000 Danes at the Parisian landmark, the Champs Elysee. German Jan Ullrich was second.
Torrential flood waters in Quebec started to subside after two days of rains burst a dam and forced some 10,000 people into emergency shelters.
Burundi's Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya broke his silence to condemn the massacre of more than 300 displaced Tutsis by Hutu rebels at the Bungendana camp. Meanwhile, the Army stepped up forced expulsions of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees in Burundi camps.
Incumbent Manuel Trovoada took a slight lead over former Marxist ruler Manuel Pinto da Costa in Sao Tome and Principe's presidential runoff elections. Trovoada had 18,034 votes to Costa's 17,041. The two-island African nation has 47,000 voters.
In a week-long spate of renewed violence in Algeria's civil war, suspected militants killed 12 bus passengers near Keddara, Algeria, witnesses said. No one claimed responsibility.
ETCETERAS
"This is worse than getting out of Vietnam after the fall of Saigon."
-- A reporter commenting on a bus delay at the Atlanta Olympics, which has been fraught with lengthy transportation delays and breakdowns.
When their mother abandoned them, three kittens found an odd replacement - a chihuahua. Tammy Dalton encouraged her dog Fellene - who recently delivered a puppy - to nurse them. The dog "thought they were her own," she said.
What began as a 95-mile cab ride to Santa Barbara for Pasadena resident Pat Fry ended 1,860 miles later after a stopover in Victoria, Canada. "I had cabin fever," she explained. Cabbie Steve Baird estimated the trip would cost $3,500 - unless she got a volume discount.
Tom Dolan churned the natatorium in Atlanta to clinch the first US gold medal at the Centennial Olympics. He won the 400 meter individual medley. The US men's 4-by-200 meter freestyle relay team also struck gold. And France's Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli won the women's road race.
THE DAY'S LIST
Southwestern Ice Cream
Taos Cow Ice Cream in Arroyo Seco, N.M., offers vernacular flavors with a southwestern influence. Here's a sample:
Holstein Sunset - Strawberry with white, milk, and dark chocolate chunks.
Buffalo Chip - Vanilla with chocolate covered coffee beans.
Chocolate Rio Grande - Chocolate with roasted pinions, pecans, and chocolate chips.
Adobe Chunk - Banana with mini peanut-butter cups and peanut-butter swirls.
Cafe Ole - Coffee ice cream with Mexican (cinnamon-flavored) chocolate chunks.
Chocolate Mexican chocolate - chocolate with Mexican chocolate chunks.
Loconut - Coconut ice cream with chocolate covered almond pieces and rum raisins.
Cherry Ristra - Cherry with whole cherries, roasted pinions, and chocolate chunks.
Buckshot Malt - Chocolate malt ice cream with malted milk balls.
Pinion Carmel - Vanilla with roasted pinions and vanilla carmel swirl.
-- Taos Cow Ice Cream/AP
