News In Brief

DON'T TALK THAT WAY! Let's say you're the parent of an impressionable young child, whom you don't want viewing gratuitous violence and explicit sex on TV. Such programming can be blocked via the V-chip. But what about violence- or sex-free shows that still contain profanity? Now there's a filter for that, too. Former Medford, Ore., clergyman Leo Wine has developed "Curse Free TV," a device that uses the closed-captioning system for the deaf to bleep out 100 offensive words or phrases. It can be set to strict or tolerant.

SHE WILL NOT BE LEFT BEHIND To prepare for the challenges of the new millennium, Concepcin Fernandez decided it was time to learn to read and write. So last week she began lessons under an at-home program sponsored by the cotton-growing province of Chaco, Argentina. A remarkable story? It is when you consider that she still works the land and passed the century mark 10 years ago.

Return of US aircraft from Balkan theater - first phase

The US supplied 700 warplanes for the bombing campaign - about three-quarters of the allied total. Some already were based in Europe. Their reinforcements now are being pulled back from bases in Germany, England, Turkey, and Italy. The US and European bases scheduled to welcome back the first 124 planes over the next two weeks:

Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. 12 F-117s

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. 2 EC-130s

Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Wash. 4 EA-6Bs

Cherry Point Marine Air Station, N.C. 3 EA-6Bs

Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. 12 F-16s

Brunswick Naval Air Station, Maine 1 P-3

Barksdale Air Force Base, La. 11 B-52s

Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. 6 B-1s

US air base, Lakenheath, England 26 F-15s

US air base, Spangdahlem, Germany 20 F-16s

Various bases 27 KC-135s

- Associated Press

Compiled by Robert Kilborn and Lance Carden