News In Brief
THE US
Bob Dole was to unveil his economic plan during a speech in Chicago. For GOP conservatives, the plan includes reductions in the capital gains tax rate, incentives for small businesses, and a simplified tax code. For middle-income families, it offers "fairer" taxes, changes in the size and power of the IRS, and a balanced budget. Also, US News and World Report found that 46 percent of those surveyed said President Clinton would do a better job with the economy; 40 percent said Dole would.
Congress passed the welfare, health insurance, and minimum-wage bills, but stalled antiterrorism legislation. The Senate will take up the bill in September after a month-long recess. The GOP refused to go along with a proposed amendment by the Democrats. But Republicans did concede to a provision for a study of whether chemical markers should be placed in bombmaking components. Also, Congress passed a bill providing for $7.6 billion over seven years to protect drinking water. Clinton said he'll sign it.
Clinton was to sign a bill allowing the US to penalize foreign companies investing more than $40 million a year in oil and gas in Iran and Libya. Earlier, he signed bills allowing the government to revamp pesticide laws; create a nine-member commission to study the social and economic impact of gambling; and normalize trade relations between the US and Romania.
Divers were wrestling with how to retrieve the cockpit of TWA Flight 800 from the ocean floor after raising a huge double-decker chunk of the plane - complete with seats, windows, and even a coffeepot. The cockpit is significant because authorities believe a bomb stashed under it might have caused the explosion, sources said.
White House security Chief Charles Easley didn't check Craig Livingstone's background file before giving him a top-secret security clearance. Easley testified before a House committee that he failed to ask for the file after being assured by the White House counsel's office that "there were no problems" in it. Livingstone's file contained references of drug use up until 1985. Easley also testified that the CIA gave Livingstone clearance for data that were even more highly classified after it reviewed his file in 1993. Livingstone was the director of White House personnel security until he resigned in June amid the uproar over his office obtaining FBI background files on hundreds of former Republican White House aides.
Defense Secretary William Perry said US troops in the Middle East can expect future terrorist attacks and will remain on the highest state of alert. Consequently, he's ordered about 700 military dependents and children to leave Saudi Arabia. Perry also toned down recent comments in which he said Iran was "possibly" behind the June bombing that killed 19 US servicemen in Saudi Arabia. Perry now says he has no direct knowledge of any Iranian involvement in the attack.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped Friday to cap its biggest weekly point gain on record - a 206.77 rise. The gain was attributed to news of rising unemployment, which eased concerns that the Federal Reserve Board will raise interest rates this month. The unemployment rate rose to 5.4 percent in July, from June's six-year low of 5.3 percent. The economy created 193,000 jobs in July, well off June's levels. The Dow has recovered more than half of the losses suffered in July.
The US granted political asylum to Iraqi weightlifter Raed Ahmed. He said his defection was sparked by his witnessing of atrocities, including mass murder, when Saddam Hussein crushed an uprising in his home city of Basra.
More than 100 families fled their homes as wildfires swept through several northern California counties. At least 13 homes were destroyed, most in Mariposa County. Vineyards in Sonoma incurred an estimated $2.5 million in damages.
THE WORLD
The EU said it's withdrawing from the Bosnian city of Mostar after nationalist Bosnian Croats ignored Saturday's deadline to accept a Bosnian Muslim election victory that gave them control of the divided city. But US envoy John Kornblum is to return to Bosnia this week and may pick up where the EU is leaving off. Western officials say the separatist agenda must not prevail, or September's nationwide elections may be rendered pointless. Also, The Sunday Times said the US military has plans to seize Radovan Karadzic from his stronghold in Pale and take him to The Hague to stand trial at the UN War Crimes Tribunal. The White House had no comment, but Britain's defense minister said he doubted the wisdom of nabbing Karadzic at this time.
Iranians dismissed as propaganda US Defense Secretary William Perry's charge that Iran may be linked to the June bombing that killed 19 US servicemen in Saudi Arabia. The newspaper Iran News said the US should "shut up" unless it could put up evidence to back allegations that Iran sponsors terrorism. Perry has backed down, saying he has no direct knowledge of Iranian involvement in the attack.
A UN report said Burundi's Tutsi-led Army slaughtered thousands of Hutu civilians in a series of previously unreported massacres. Some 2,100 to 3,000 people were killed in 17 attacks between April and July. The report also lists attacks in which Hutu rebels slaughtered civilians but said "the greatest number were killed by elements of the Burundian Army."
Supporters of late Somali faction leader Mohamed Farah Aideed refused to participate in peace talks with his rival. Mohamed Ali Mahdi, the most powerful politician and militia leader since Aideed's death last week, had called for talks between all factions to end the six-year war.
Israel's Cabinet agreed to lift restrictions on construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. Also, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Yigal Amir, the assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The judges said his lawyer's theories about a second gunman were "rooted in fantasy." And two members of the Islamic Jihad group tunnelled their way out of an Israeli jail, police said.
Efforts are being made to quash an Italian military court's ruling that would free Former Nazi SS Captain Erick Priebke without punishment. The court found Priebke guilty of murder, but cleared him of the charges of premeditation and cruelty needed to circumvent a 30-year statute of limitations. Military prosecutors and lawyers for civil plaintiffs are planning a fresh bid to have the judges disqualified. Two similar attempts during the trial failed. Priebke admitted to killing two people.
The fate of two relief workers in Chechnya remained uncertain after they were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen. Their employer said the kidnappers had made no ransom demands.
Defense chief Adm. Hans Joergen Garde was killed when his plane crashed on approach at the Faeroe Islands off the coast of Denmark. Eight other people were killed. The cause of the accident is unknown, but fog impaired visibility at the airport.
Indonesia's ousted opposition leader Megawati was summoned before a police probe into recent riots. She won't appear before the probe herself, but will send her lawyers instead, an aide said. intl.intl.3
ETCETERAS
"It's like saying I had the best meal of my life because I had seven desserts.
The purpose is to have the whole session productive, not just the last few days."
- Professor Ross Baker of Rutgers University on Congress's busy final week, which ended months of gridlock.
The first fluted spear point found west of the Bering Strait was unearthed near the Siberian city of Magadan. The finding raises questions as to whether fluted points were an American invention, or were made in Asia and then brought across the Bering Strait.
It's lobster-lovers against whale-huggers: The National Marine Fisheries Service will decide Jan. 1 whether to close Atlantic waters to lobstermen for several months a year while humpback and North Atlantic right whales feed and mate there. More than 30 whales got tangled in lobster lines, and 12 died between 1990 and 1994.
Watch out, bosses: 88 percent of US workers think they're at least as smart as, if not smarter, than their employer, a Newsweek survey found. And while about 87 percent believe their workplace is generally pleasant, and 73 percent think their employers value them, more than half don't think they're paid what they're worth.
Eight athletics golds, two swimming successes, and Nigeria's first gold in soccer represent the biggest haul since black Africa first won gold in 1960. Josiah Thugwane won the marathon, becoming the first black South African to win gold. Cuba had an Olympic record of 38 home runs to add to its gold in baseball.
THE DAY'S LIST
Favorite Car Colors
White was the shade of choice in 1995 for buyers of new cars in North America, according to DuPont Automotive, a major supplier of paint to carmakers.
1. White
2. Dark Green
3. Medium red
4. Light brown
5. Black
6. Silver
7. Bright red
8. Purple
9. Teal/Aqua
10. Dark Blue
- DuPont Automotive
