News In Brief
President Clinton became the nation's first chief executive in 63 years to visit an Indian reservation. From South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation - in the poorest US county - he was to announce more than $1.5 billion in new private and public initiatives to aid Indian reservations nationwide. Clinton was on the third day of a cross-country tour designed to call attention to areas relatively untouched by recent economic progress.
The White House said Clinton would remain in California a couple of extra days, extending a scheduled four-day trip through Saturday - in order to attend the final game of the World Cup women's soccer tournament. The contest between US and Chinese teams will be played in Pasadena.
The president imposed sanctions against Afghanistan's Islamic fundamentalist government for harboring Osama bin Laden, the Saudi exile wanted in connection with last year's US embassy bombings in East Africa. The order banning trade with and investment in the 85 percent of Afghan territory under Taliban control follows bin Laden's placement last month on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List with a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
A relatively cool air mass gave relief to much of the East, but a power outage left about 200,000 people in upper Manhattan without electricity overnight. Some utilities in the Northeast had to cut voltage and use rolling blackouts to cope with record-high demand.
Senate majority leader Trent Lott is among three senators blocking the long-delayed nomination of Richard Holbrooke to be ambassador to the UN, congressional and administration officials said. The action by Lott and another Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, was kept secret, the officials said. Sen. Charles Grassley (R) of Iowa announced his "hold" on the nomination late last month. Lott and McConnell were said to be pressuring Clinton to nominate Bradley Smith, an Ohio law professor, for a position on the Federal Election Commission.
A briefing paper used to explain to China the mistakes that led to the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was made public by the State Department. It says an officer trying to locate the Yugoslav Directorate for Supply and Procurement took a 1997 map and marked three prominent buildings for which he had street addresses. He then drew perpendicular lines to the street on which the directorate stood, mistakenly assuming that buildings at intersecting points had the same numbers.
Peacekeeping missions like the one in Kosovo can provide military benefits by boosting morale and providing experience, a new study indicated. The report from the Peace Through Law Education Fund, a nonprofit specializing in foreign policy, quotes senior officers and military retirees as denying that dispatching forces to far-flung trouble spots is reducing military capability. But it acknowledges that - if mismanaged - such missions may sap readiness.
