News In Brief
The US
Democrats and Republicans speculated about whether President Clinton might face congressional censure rather than impeachment proceedings. Senate majority leader Trent Lott said on NBC TV that he doubted censure would be adequate. Rep. Jim Moran (D) of Virginia predicted on Fox TV that impeachment proceedings would be held. But Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D) of Connecticut said on NBC that Clinton could still salvage his presidency and should receive no more than censure.
The White House put the best face possible on Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening's decision to cancel two campaign appearances with Clinton - calling it an exception. Glendening, up for reelection and concerned about possible fallout from the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, said he would not ask the president to attend a fund-raiser scheduled in Baltimore next month and would send Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in his stead to a school-renovation event with Clinton set for today in Silver Spring.
The head of the Southern Baptist Convention said Clinton should resign. Paige Patterson, president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination, offered the comment after he had delivered a sermon at First Baptist Church in Linden, N.C. Clinton also is a Southern Baptist.
The Senate braced for another debate and vote on changing campaign-finance laws. Majority leader Lott had been unwilling to resurrect the bipartisan so-called McCain-Feingold bill earlier, but said he had changed his mind following approval in August of a similar campaign-finance bill in the House. Lott said a vote on the measure may take place this week.
The Federal Reserve no longer views inflation as the primary threat to the economy and may cut key interest rates if the world's financial turmoil intensifies, Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan indicated. He spoke at an academic conference at the University of California, Berkeley.
New York City officials and organizers of the Million Youth March traded accusations about whom to blame for violence that erupted after a four-hour rally in Harlem. Malik Shabazz, national coordinator for the event, said police officers incited the rioting by rushing the stage just as Khallid Abdul Muhammad finished speaking at 4:01 p.m. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said police moved in to enforce a court order that set the time of the rally "between 12:00 and 4:00." Other officials said Muhammad should be charged with inciting teenagers to riot and kill. Sixteen police officers and five civilians were injured. About 3,000 officers were deployed. The rally was attended by at least 6,000 people, according to police estimates.
Northwest Airlines and its pilots union were to resume exploratory talks today in Minneapolis. Mediation efforts by federal officials went into a Labor Day recess Sunday without a direct meeting between the two sides. The union is seeking to take back concessions it made in 1993 to help the airline stave off bankruptcy. Northwest has said it cannot afford to meet the pilots' demand for wages that would lead the industry. The strike by the Air Line Pilots Association began Aug. 28.
Republicans vote today in primaries in New Hampshire and Vermont. New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, the state's first woman governor, is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination in a New England state where obseverors give Republicans the best chance of gaining another guberatorial office in the region. Meanwhile, Wisconsin voters select candidates today for two congressional seats central to Democratic efforts to wrest control of the House from Republicans.
The World
Russia's Communist-led parliament rejected Prime Minister-designate Chernomyrdin for the second time in two weeks. Chernomyrdin was criticized as "unfit" for the post because "he doesn't even understand the program he has proposed" to reform the economy. President Boris Yeltsin said he wouldn't nominate anyone else for the post. Meanwhile, the Central Bank chief offered to quit, citing parliament's failure to pass legislation protecting ordinary citizens from the nation's economic crisis.
Political tensions in Cambodia rose another notch as hand grenades exploded in the compound where Premier Hun Sen lives. He was not home at the time, and no injuries were reported. But he ordered ex-Finance Minister Sam Rainsy, a leading opponent, arrested for provoking the attack. The latter was under UN protection in a Phnom Penh hotel, where one supporter was killed by police seeking to enforce the order.
African heads of state meeting to try to bring peace to Congo decided not to hear directly from rebels trying to topple self-appointed President Laurent Kabila. The rebels were to be invited only to "consult" with the mediators at talks in Zimbabwe.
South Korea reacted to the change in leadership in the rival North by calling for resumption of the official dialogue on reunification "as soon as possible." Over the weekend, the North's parliament retired the office of president and installed a Western-style Cabinet to replace the former Administration Council. Senior leader Kim Jong Il was elected chairman of the National Defense Commission, the "highest post" in the state. His late father, Kim Il Sung, was named "eternal president."
New rioting erupted on two fronts in Indonesia as protesters tore down the gates of parliament in Jakarta, while thousands of others vented their anger at Chinese merchants in central Java. Police endured a hail of plastic bottles, but kept students from entering the grounds of parliament to demand that President B. J. Habibie resign over what they call his ineffective handling of the country's economic crisis. The riot at Kebumen on Java left nine Chinese shops in ashes and some of their contents burning in piles in the street.
Hundreds of thousands of Israeli union members ended their four-day-old strike just as it was about to expand to the country's main airport. The powerful Histadrut labor federation and the government reached agreement on wage hikes that were behind the walkout against public-sector installations. But there was no sign of a breakthrough in a week-old strike by schoolteachers.
Urgent research into whether Britain's sheep are afflicted by the same disease that caused the "mad cow" scare two years ago is needed, a top government adviser warned. He said there was a "distinct possibility" that some in the 40 million-strong national sheep herd also are contaminated. But the Agriculture Ministry and Farmers Union insisted it was safe to eat lamb. Hundreds of thousands of cattle were destroyed after the European Union banned British beef exports in 1996.
Taunting riot police, an estimated 10,000 opposition supporters protested in the capital of Ivory Coast against sweeping new powers granted to President Henri Konan Bedie. The opposition has denounced changes to the Constitution approved by parliament in June that extend Bedie's term from five years to seven and enable him to cancel elections.
Etceteras
"It is just not credible that the United States can remain an oasis of prosperity unaffected by a world that is experiencing greatly increased stress."
- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in a speech that indicated the Fed would consider lower interest rates.
Don't tell Rosie Nelson that the Social Security system needs to be saved. She's what you could call living proof of that. Earlier this summer the Charleston, W. Va., resident was notified by mail that since she had died June 21 her benefits would no longer be paid. They were restored after she went to a bureau office to straighten out the mix-up. That's where the matter rested until last week, when another notice came, changing the date of her death to June 29. Said a spokesman for the system: "These things happen."
The rogue device tested some of the world's best air-defense systems to the limit. It crossed Canada, whose fighter jets tried but failed to shoot it down. Then US and British planes took up the chase. Other air traffic was diverted from its path as a precaution. When the thing finally landed on an island in the Baltic Sea, 5,600 miles later, Finnish police put it under guard until its owners arrived to retrieve it. A warplane that had fallen into terrorist hands? No, just an unmanned 25-story Canadian weather balloon whose instrument package failed to separate last week.
The Day's List
Ranking NFL Teams by Prices of Game Tickets
When the 1998 pro-football season kicked off last weekend, the Washington Redskins were not considered a Super Bowl contender. But in terms of average ticket prices the team was a solid No. 1 - almost $10 ahead of its closest competitor, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The teams with the highest average ticket prices - all of which are above the league's average of $42.86:
1. Washington $74.28
2. Tampa Bay $64.58
3. Jacksonville $56.71
4. Carolina $55.47
5. San Diego $53.87
6. Oakland $52.84
7. San Francisco $50.00
8. Tennessee $45.11
9. Dallas $43.48
10. Baltimore $42.93
- Associated Press
