EVENTS
EXXON MUST PAY FOR LOST FOOD SUPPLY Exxon Corporation has agreed to pay 3,500 Alaska natives $20 million to compensate for the seals, fish, kelp, and other traditional food they can't eat because of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. The settlement on July 25 came as a federal jury deliberated over $900 million in compensatory damages for 10,000 commercial fishermen who claim the spill also ruined their livelihood. Exxon and tanker captain Joseph Hazelwood were already found guilty of recklessly causing the spill. The groups of plaintiffs have asked for up to $15 billion in damages. Israeli Embassy bombed
A car bomb shattered the Israeli Embassy and surrounding buildings in London July 26, injuring at least 11 people. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel blamed Islamic extremists. The blast came a day after Jordan and Israel signed a peace accord in Washington, and eight days after a bomb at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires killed at least 80 people. Whitewater hearings start
The Clinton administration disclosed new details about the way aides to President Clinton handled the federal investigation into a failed Arkansas savings institution as Congress started Whitewater hearings. White House counsel Lloyd Cutler told the House Banking Committee that ``the bottom line'' is that the White House did not influence the federal investigation. Whitewater special counsel Robert Fiske has already said he found no evidence of White House criminal wrongdoing. Arts funding controversy
The United States Senate is ready to go along with substantial cuts in the federal funding for the arts, reflecting concern among many lawmakers over the appropriateness of some of the artistic projects getting taxpayer support. Supporters of the National Endowment for the Arts backed away July 25 from trying to restore $8.5 million that the Senate Appropriations Committee cut from the agency's budget, saying they hoped some of the cuts can be recouped in negotiations with the House. Abortions for rape victims
Arkansas is the fourth state to be ordered to comply with a federal law requiring that Medicaid-funded abortions be offered to poor rape and incest victims. The federal Hyde Amendment takes precedence over an Arkansas law barring abortions except to save a pregnant woman's life, a US District Judge ruled July 25. Mideast water talks
Israel, Jordan, and the PLO agreed in Oslo July 26 on principles for talks on sharing the Middle East's scarce water, Norway's Foreign Ministry said. Water use is a key to lasting peace in the region. EU eases Burma policy
The European Union is easing its isolationist policy toward Burma's military junta in favor of high-level dialogue aimed at pushing that country toward democracy, senior EU officials said in Bangkok July 26.
