News In Brief
Al Gore quickly capitalized on a report by the Federal Trade Commission that claimed the entertainment industry aggressively markets violent, adult-rated products to children. The Democratic presidential nominee called for a six-month deadline for the FTC's recommendations to be carried out - specifically, that the entertainment industry will practice more self-regulation of its advertising, and that retailers and theaters will enforce rating codes more stringently. If the industry doesn't comply, Gore and his running mate, Joseph Lieberman, vowed to seek tougher measures. Lieberman has been a key critic of violent entertainment and is scheduled to attend a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the subject tomorrow.
If a federal judge approved the deal, nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee was to be released from jail after pleading guilty to just one of 59 counts against him, federal officials said. Lee had been scheduled to go on trial in November for mishandling US secrets. Under the plea bargain, he'll plead guilty to one count of unlawfully gathering national defense information and will be sentenced to the nine months already served behind bars, the officials said. In exchange, they indicated, he'll cooperate with the FBI as it probes what happened to seven unaccounted-for computer tapes.
A group of top economic forecasters revised upward their estimate involving the gross domestic product. Members of the National Association for Business Economics, based in Washington, projected the figure would increase 5.2 percent this year, up from their previous estimate of 4.9 percent. If realized, the gain would represent the strongest growth since a 7.3 percent advance in 1984.
After Indiana University fired volatile basketball coach Bob Knight, hundreds of unruly students marched through Bloomington, prompting the arrests of 10 people on disorderly conduct charges. The firing was defended by IU president Myles Brand, who accused Knight of having a "pattern of unacceptable behavior." The most recent controversy involving the coach occurred last week, when he allegedly grabbed a student by the arm to lecture him about manners. During his three decades at IU, the coach led the Hoosiers to three NCAA championships.
In beating veteran Pete Sampras for the US Open championship Sunday, Russian Marat Safin stamped himself as the player of the future in men's tennis. Safin won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. A day earlier, Venus Williams defeated fellow American Lindsay Davenport, 6-4, 7-5, for the women's title.
NBC's White House drama, "The West Wing," set a record as the winningest TV show in a single season, collecting nine awards at the 52nd annual Emmy Awards Sunday. It elbowed out HBO's "The Sopranos," which had 18 nominations but took only one Emmy - for James Gandolfini as best actor.
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