News In Brief
The US
President Clinton's lawyer asked independent counsel Kenneth Starr to let him review any report about possibly impeachable offenses before it goes to Congress. In a four-page letter, David Kendall said "fundamental fairness" required that he and his client be able to review any such document and formulate a response that could be sent to Congress simultaneously. Some Clinton political advisers have argued for weeks that his legal team should prepare a separate report to counter Starr's findings.
The stock market shot higher in early trading. The Dow Jones industrials gained 262 points in opening minutes, as traders joined a global buying surge triggered in part by a shift at the Federal Reserve, which is now seen as just as likely to cut interest rates as to raise them.
About 500 young blacks participated in a Million Youth event in Atlanta. It was organized separately from a similarly named march in New York that was broken up Saturday by police in riot gear. Speakers at this much smaller and subdued gathering included the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Kweisi Mfume, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Susan McDougal was scheduled to stand trial in Santa Monica, Calif., for allegedly embezzling $150,000 from symphony conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife. In addition to embezzlement, Mrs. McDougal is charged with tax fraud in connection with her employment as bookkeeper and personal assistant to Zubin and Nancy Mehta from 1989 to 1992. The case is unrelated to the Whitewater inquiry by independent counsel Starr that has also involved McDougal, a former business partner of the Clintons.
Thunderstorms with hurricane-force winds battered parts of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and southern New England. Two people were reported killed at the New York State Fair in Syracuse, where winds were measured at 75 m.p.h. Hundreds of thousands of New York and Pennsylvania residents experienced power outages, and New York State Police said a state of emergency had been declared in Wayne, Madison, Onondaga, and Monroe Counties, as well as the towns of Oneida and Phoenix.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and an affiliate of Tele-Communications Inc. have reached a tentative deal to acquire control of satellite-broadcaster Primestar Inc. from four cable firms, The Wall Street Journal reported. Citing people familiar with the deal, the Journal said News Corp. and United Video Satellite Group would pay more than $700 million for the a 60 percent stake in Primestar so Murdoch can pursue a major expansion in US satellite broadcasting.
Mark McGwire tied Roger Maris's 37-year-old record, hitting his 61st homer during a game in which he was pitted against Sammy Sosa's Chicago Cubs. McGwire's first-inning drive off pitcher Mike Morgan was his seventh in seven games and 15th in 20 days. The St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman pushed his 1998 total three home runs ahead of Sosa in the first of a two-game series in St. Louis.
Tori Murden ended her attempt to become the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. The Louisville, Ky., social worker and world-class rower was rescued about 950 miles west of Brest, France, by a container ship after her boat capsized 11 times in remnants of hurricane Danielle, her land-based crew said. Murden had rowed more than 2,600 nautical miles in what was to have been a four-month journey that began off North Carolina's Outer Banks June 14.
The World
Russian President Boris Yeltsin huddled with key advisers on whether to nominate a compromise candidate for prime minister. Nominee Viktor Chernomyrdin was rejected overwhelmingly for a second time by the Communist-dominated lower house of parliament earlier this week, and a third rejection would entitle Yeltsin to dismiss legislators and call a new election. Meanwhile, the embattled ruble was trading as low as 20 to the US dollar, and neighboring Norway announced plans to cope with up to 50,000 Russians who might flee their nation's economic collapse.
Angry Congolese rebels stalked out of a meeting aimed at reaching a cease-fire, saying they would not be bound by one because they'd been "excluded" from the talks. At the session in Zimbabwe, Congo President Laurent Kabila refused to meet face to face with rebel representatives, calling them "puppets" of their alleged backers, Uganda and Rwanda. Meanwhile, Congo's capital, Kinshasa, reportedly was reduced to a four-day supply of food and water-treatment chemicals.
In a massive display of force, police in Cambodia's capital broke up an encampment of antigovernment protesters on the orders of Premier Hun Sen. The police fired into the air, tore down tents, beat fleeing women and children with rifle butts, electric prods, and nightsticks, and trapped others with water cannon and fire trucks. In the aftermath of the violence, commercial activity in Phnom Penh came to an almost complete halt. The government backed off its threat to arrest opposition leader Sam Rainsy, but he remained under the protection of UN representatives in a downtown hotel.
The so-called "real IRA" eased the pressure on the peace process in Northern Ireland by announcing "a complete cessation of all military activity." But the dissident faction of the Irish Republican Army did not apologize for the Aug. 15 car-bomb explosion in Omagh that killed 29 people.
New elections for a Kosovo legislature that would be dominated by Albanians were reportedly under consideration by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. An independent newspaper said Milosevic had ordered the drafting of plans for such a vote, within three months, as the apparent basis of an agreement with Albanian leaders in the province. Last week, with the US mediating, Milosevic agreed in principle to a formula for eventual self-rule - but not independence - for Kosovo. But the deal is opposed by the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, and Milosevic repeated his vow not to call off his military offensive there.
The opposition National League for Democracy upped the number of its followers arrested by the military government of Burma (also known as Myanmar) to 220 - 63 of whom are elected members of parliament. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi's group had previously said 110 were detained. The government confirmed the arrests but gave no numbers. It said they were being questioned about the vow by Suu Kyi's group to convene a "people's parliament." Meanwhile, state-controlled newspapers "requested" that Suu Kyi be deported as a foreigner who was trying to destabilize the country.
Leading medical professionals in Finland called for an investigation into allegations that prominent World War II-era physicians - one of whom became a national hero - wanted to copy Nazi policies on race and eugenics. The allegations were broadcast in Part 1 of a two-part documentary on national television. In particular, the program described mistreatment of mentally ill patients and the desire of some prominent doctors to form a department of "racial hygiene" at Helsinki University. Several of the doctors were still influencing public-health policy in Finland as recently as 1970.
Etceteras
"We hope these plans will lie in a drawer forever." - Norwegian immigration official Bjoern Fridfeldt, on a newly announced strategy for coping with up to 50,000 Russians who might flee their country's financial crisis.
In Costa Rica, they're calling Geovanny Escalante "Johnny One Note." And he doesn't mind a bit. With a brace of lawyers and notaries public and a San Jos nightclub crowd looking on, he - um - blew away the world record for holding a single note on a saxophone. Using a method that allows him to breathe and blow at the same time, Escalante continued on (and on and on) for just under 1 hour and 31 minutes. American Kenny G's old mark: 45 minutes, 47 seconds. A videotape of the feat is to be sent to the Guinness Book of World Records in London as proof. Imagine being the staffer who has to listen while the tape plays out.
A "kindhearted" robber in Albuquerque, N.M., who couldn't stand to see a woman cry, gave back the $20 he took from her at an automated teller machine. James Bigger even offered his hand to the victim, saying, "No hard feelings?" Unfortunately for him, there were. Bigger had frightened the woman so thoroughly that she called police as soon as he walked away. He was arrested at a nearby tavern.
The Day's List
'Seinfeld' Pair Laugh Their Way to the Bank
Benefiting from a $1.7 billion sale of syndication rights, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, co-creators of the TV sitcom, rank No. 1 and No. 2 on the Forbes magazine list of this year's best-paid entertainers. Steven Spielberg, director of the World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan," placed third. James Cameron, director of the Oscar-winning movie "Titanic," finished fifth, behind Oprah Winfrey. The top 10 and their estimated 1998 earnings (in millions):
1. Jerry Seinfeld $225.
2. Larry David 200.
3. Steven Spielberg 175.
4. Oprah Winfrey 125.
5. James Cameron 115.
6. Tim Allen 77.
7. Michael Crichton 65.
8. Harrison Ford 58.
9. Rolling Stones 57.
10. Master P 56.5
- Associated Press
