News In Brief
Saying "I endorse Governor Bush," Sen. John McCain ended weeks of speculation about yesterday's meeting with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The former rivals met to discuss policy issues, but more significant, analysts said, was the political unity they demonstrated after a fierce primary battle. McCain said he would actively campaign for Bush and congressional Republicans in November elections but pledged to pursue his own reform agenda. He also formally declined consideration to be Bush's running mate.
Stopping well short of the UN's call for the West to deploy a rapid-reaction force in Sierra Leone, the Clinton administration will provide air transport for a contingent of peacekeepers from Bangladesh, a senior administration official said. The official also noted the US sent a "fact-finding" team to Nigeria to assess what help the US military might provide if African nations decide to augment their peacekeeping role. The situation in the West African country deteriorated quickly when an estimated 500 UN troops were apparently kidnapped by rebels last week.
Microsoft, which is due today to present its counterproposal to the government's plan to break up the company, scored a victory in another case. A US District judge in San Francisco dismissed a claim by Sun Micro- systems that Microsoft had broken copyright laws in regard to Sun's Java technology. Micro-soft designed a version of the technology that was compatible only with its Windows software. But the judge did not dismiss the claim by Sun that Microsoft's actions constituted a breach of contract.
Two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot is not expected to address the Reform Party convention in August, senior party officials said. The decision widens a rift between Perot supporters and likely Reform nominee Pat Buchanan, whose conservative social views clash with the party's principles. Perot, who founded the Reform Party in 1992, has not supported Buchanan's campaign.
Mexico's two leading opposition candidates for president courted expatriates in California, who they hope will influence friends and family across the border. In appearances in the Los Angeles area, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the center-left Democratic Revolution Party candidate, said the two countries should eliminate barriers against Mexican workers seeking jobs in the US. Meanwhile, addressing the state legislature in Sacramento, Vicente Fox of the center-right National Action Party vowed to improve the environment and implement the rule of law. Fox is in a statistical tie with Francisco Labastida, nominee of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has ruled Mexico for 71 years. Elections are to be held July 2.
In an effort to boost student performance, Philadelphia public schools will adopt uniform dress codes, the city's district school board announced. It's the first big-city school district to do so. The decision, which takes immediate effect, doesn't say the city's 217,000 students must wear parochial school-style attire, but it requires each school to decide how children should dress. Parent protest was limited, but the American Civil Liberties Union said it might challenge the measure.
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