News In Brief
The US
The White House planned to release to investigators today up to 100 hours of video and audiotapes of President Clinton at Democratic Party events. The Clinton administration said the clips, which cover about 100 events, would show no evidence of wrongdoing. Attorney General Janet Reno plans to decide by tomorrow whether to push ahead with an inquiry into fund-raising phone calls the president allegedly made from the White House. She also reviewed the videotapes of White House coffees and said she found nothing to incriminate Clinton or other administration officials.
Intel Corp. and Hewlett-Pack-ard Co. planned to unveil the first major new computer chip designs in nearly 20 years during a conference today in San Jose, Calif. The advances are expected to pave the way for how computers will run well into the next century. Production of the chips is two years away, officials and analysts said.
Sworn testimony in Paula Jones's sexual harassment suit against Clinton began in a Little Rock, Ark., courtroom. The president's lawyer, Robert Bennett, said a report from Clinton's annual physical will quash Jones's claim that his anatomy had "distinguishing characteristics" that support her claim.
Chuck Yeager, an Air Force brigadier general, planned to mark the 50th anniversary of his breaking the sound barrier by repeating the feat today over Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles. But he will buckle into a modern F-15 fighter this time rather than the orange X-1 rocket plane, nicknamed "Glamourous Glennis" after his wife.
NASA said it will attempt another launch of its controversial Cassini probe to Saturn tomorrow after last-minute technical glitches and high winds delayed a first attempt. Protesters are opposed to the plutonium-carrying probe, but NASA says the chance of Cassini's radioactive canisters cracking open in a launch explosion are 1 in 1,400, with any release occurring on the ground close to the launch pad.
Colorado prepared for its first execution since 1967 after Gov. Roy Romer refused to grant clemency to convicted murderer Gary Lee Davis. The execution, which was planned for last night, has sparked emotional debate among residents. Some 38 states use the death penalty.
An anti-land mines activist said Clinton sent a "pretty clear" message when he failed to congratulate her for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Jody Williams will share the $1 million prize with her Vermont-based International Campaign to Ban Landmines. The Clinton administration opposes the treaty spearheaded by Williams's group that would ban the weapons. About 90 countries have agreed to sign it.
Clinton urged the entertainment industry to join his campaign against illegal drug use. He signed legislation that included $195 million for a prime- time media campaign against illegal drugs. During his weekly radio address, Clinton challenged business leaders to match the funds, asked the industry to "never glorify drugs," and noted that anti-drug public service ads had fallen by more than a third.
John Denver, who died in a plane crash off the coast of Pacific Grove, Calif., gained worldwide appeal in the 1970s as a singer-songwriter. His hit folk-pop tunes included "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "Rocky Mountain High," and "Sunshine on My Shoulders." Denver was named Country Music Entertainer of the Year in 1975.
The tobacco industry agreed to pay $300 million to create a health research foundation in a landmark settlement. An estimated 60,000 former and current flight attendants and their survivors sued the industry over secondhand smoke. The industry also agreed to pay $49 million in legal and court costs. But the plaintiffs will get no money under the deal and are banned from suing for punitive damages.
Clinton vetoed a bill that would have banned late-term abortions, demanding exemptions for when a mother's health is endangered.
The World
On his first trip to Latin America, President Clinton sought to underscore the need for cooperation between the Americas. He signed a series of agreements with Venezuela on such subjects as the environment, business, and energy during the first leg of his goodwill tour. He will continue on to Brazil, where he will discuss trade differences, and Argentina.
Prime Minister Tony Blair was to become the first British leader in 76 years to meet with members of Sinn Fein. Blair was in Belfast yesterday to meet with Gerry Adams, leader of the political wing of the Irish Republican Army, and members of seven other parties involved in talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
Israel released nine more Arab prisoners as part of a deal cut with Jordan after a botched assassination attempt on a Hamas leader in Amman, Jordan's capital. Israel will free between 50 and 60 prisoners in all as part of an agreement worked out last week, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Jordan has suspended security cooperation with Israel and will not restore it until officials responsible for the attempt are dismissed, two Jordanian officials said. Israeli investigators have launched a government inquiry.
US special envoy to Cyprus Richard Holbrooke opened talks on the divided island yesterday in Ankara amid heightened tension between Greece and Turkey. Greece has charged at least 60 Turkish fighters with violating its airspace in response to a joint Greek-Cypriot military exercise. Turkey denies the claim. The island has been divided since Turkey invaded it in 1974.
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz arrived in the Persian Gulf a day after Iran began major naval exercises in the region. The Nimitz was ordered to the Gulf ahead of schedule after Iranian war planes violated the "no-fly" zone late last month.
Presidents and prime ministers from more than 40 European countries agreed to set up a new court of human rights, ban human cloning, and call for the abolition of the death penalty. The Council of Europe ended its two-day summit in Strasbourg, France, last weekend.
Suspected Islamic militants killed 11 policemen in Minya, Egypt, yesterday, security sources said. It was among the heaviest death tolls suffered by police since militants launched a campaign to topple the state in 1992, and the worst attack since some militant leaders called for a truce in July. The shootings coincided with an announcement that two men accused of killing nine German tourists and their bus driver on Sept. 18 would go on trial in a military court today.
Congo Republic accused Angola of aiding rebels and invading from the south as the struggle for the capital, Brazzaville, continued. Forces loyal to former military ruler Denis Sassou Nguesso have battled government troops since Oct. 7.
An almost-certain victory for President Paul Biya and an opposition boycott caused many in Cameroon to stay home from the polls. Less than 30 percent turned out to cast their vote, state-run radio reported.
Rescue workers scrambled to clean up Mexico's Pacific coast after hurricane Pauline swept through late last week, killing at least 207 people in Guerrero and Oaxaca states. Bulldozers plowed through several feet of mud in Acapulco, where much of the city is without running water. Hundreds of people were still unaccounted for, and thousands more were left homeless.
The son of South Korean President Kim Young-sam was found guilty of bribery and tax evasion. Kim Hyun-chul was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $1.57 million. It's the first time a relative of an incumbent president was convicted.
"Bill Clinton, come on board this treaty, you cannot lead from the rear...."
-1997 Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jody Williams, urging President Clinton to rethink his position against joining a treaty that would ban antipersonnel landmines.
Etceteras
What's in a name? Apparently more than the $8.36 million Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History paid for Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, at auction Oct. 4. A South Dakota fossil-hunting group, the Black Hills Institute of Geology, says it gave the 65 million-year-old skeleton that name, invested more than $200,000 in restoration, and wants to recover the money before it will grant the museum permission to use the name.
In the fiercely competitive world of banking, fast service can mean the difference between survival and failure. But Lockport Savings in Buffalo, N.Y., came out ahead by being slow to deliver. It seems a would-be robber, fed up with waiting for the cash she'd demanded, took back the note she handed a teller, went down the block, and held up a rival bank instead.
In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the finals of a local championship soccer tournament are approaching. Now, admittedly, the teams are made up of players no longer in their 30s, but competition for the top prizes is spirited just the same. And what are the trophies? The winners get a dairy cow. The most senior player will take home a pesticide sprayer.
The Day's List
Minnesota Again Rated 'Healthiest' of 50 States
For the fifth time in the past eight years, Minnesota leads the US in a composite measurement of lifestyle trends, occupational safety, access to health care, and other related factors, according to ReliaStar, a Minneapolis-based insurance and financial services holding company. Louisiana and Mississippi tied for last place in its 1997 survey, which assumes the national average is 0. The top 10 finishers and their scores:
1. Minnesota 20
2. New Hampshire 16
3. Hawaii 15
(tie) Massachusetts 15
5. Wisconsin 13
6. Colorado 12
(tie) Virginia 12
8. Connecticut 11
9. Utah 10
10. Washington 9
