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THE US
Cuba shot down two civilian US planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group that routinely searches the waters between Cuba and Miami for people fleeing Cuba via boat. Four pilots are still missing. Cuba called the planes "pirate" aircraft and said they violated its airspace. But the pilot of a third plane, which escaped unharmed, said the planes flew only over international waters. President Clinton condemned the shootdowns. And US ships and planes are searching for the missing pilots.
All 1,600 planes in the Navy's Pacific Fleet will undergo two-day safety tests after an E-A-6-B Prowler aircraft crashed on takeoff from the USS Kitty Hawk Saturday. One crew member was killed; another missing. The crash was the fourth in recent months. Three were F-14s taking off from Mirimar Naval Air Station near San Diego. Congressional hearings on the crashes are set for this week.
Miami police arrested three suspects in Friday's fatal shooting of a Dutch tourist. The region's $31-billion-a-year tourist industry depends on its image as a safe vacation spot - an image that was tarnished after a spate of tourist killings in 1993. But the area rebounded in 1995, with a record 9.4 million visitors going to the Miami area alone.
Campaigning in California, Clinton urged US schools to consider mandatory uniforms. He said uniforms reduce envy by poor children and cut down on violence - by removing the risk of a child wearing gang colors. Separately, Clinton derided GOP candidate Pat Buchanan's anti-free-trade agenda as he headed into a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto. And in Washington State, Clinton stressed job-retraining programs to help workers adjust to the changing economy. He also bowed to environmentalists' pressure and called for repeal of a law he signed last year that allows logging in old-growth forests.
Publisher Steve Forbes won the Delaware primary, receiving all 12 delegates for the GOP presidential nomination. He was the only major candidate to campaign in the state. Meanwhile, the candidates campaigned hard for Arizona's primary tomorrow - the first test of Western voters' sentiments.
Space shuttle Columbia's crew was set to try an energy-generating experiment again. A computer snafu stopped the test Saturday. Astronauts hope to generate 5,000 volts of electricity by swinging a 1/2-ton silver ball tethered on a 13-mile-long line through Earth's magnetic field. If successful, the plan could be used to power space stations.
Robert Lipka, a former employee of the super-secret National Security Agency, was arrested on spy charges in Pennsylvania. Authorities think he was the agent mentioned in the biography of former KGB chief Oleg Kalugin, who said the soldier "passed on reams of top-secret material."
Former Marine Sgt. Clayton Lonetree is set to be released from prison tomorrow. Lonetree is the only Marine ever convicted of spying. He fell in love with a Russian woman in Moscow in the 1980s. She introduced him to a Russian agent. Lonetree has contended he was duped into confessing to espionage.
The economy grew just 2.1 percent last year, the poorest showing since 1991's recession. Financial markets were buoyed at the news, hoping it will lead to more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Firefighters are struggling to contain fast-moving wildfires burning out of control in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The prairie grass thrived after several years of moisture and then dried up during the recent drought.
About 7,000 mostly black marchers protested at the Louisiana state Capitol against Gov. Mike Foster's anti-affirmative action stance. Meanwhile, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke - who is running for US Senate - held a counter demonstration across town with about 150 people.
THE WORLD
Suicide bombers from the Islamic militant group Hamas killed 25 people and wounded more than 80 in separate bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon, Israel. A bus explosion in downtown Jerusalem, which killed 23 people, was the most devastating attack in Israel since the late 1970s. Hamas said it carried out the attacks to avenge the killing last month of its master bombmaker Yahya Ayyash. Israel temporarily suspended contacts with Arafat's Palestinian Authority, promised retaliation against Hamas, and sealed off the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
NATO agreed to allow Bosnian Serb military trucks to enter the demilitarized Sarajevo suburbs to help evacuate Serbs, who have refused to submit to the rule of the Muslims and Croats. UN relief officials said they won't participate in the evacuations. Any effort to move Serbs robs Sarajevo of its multi-ethnic character, which the Dayton accord seeks to preserve, the officials said. Also, the Bosnian Serb military resumed contacts with NATO.
Talks between the Motherland Party and Islamists to form a coalition government in Turkey collapsed. The two sides disagree about who should control the economy and, more importantly, religion. Concerns arose that Islamic control over religion could undermine Turkey's secular structure. And Motherland leaders reportedly met with caretaker Premier Tansu Ciller in another bid to give Turkey a government following December elections.
Former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan has threatened to name politicians as well as public figures who benefitted from his multimillion dollar slush fund, sources said. Chun's trial begins today. The former president could selectively name those he believes have betrayed him, his aides said.
In renewed violence, suspected Muslim militants killed seven people in a Coptic Christian village near Badari, Egypt. Some 23 people have been killed since Feb. 16 in the Assuit Province, a former stronghold of radical Muslims seeking to overthrow the secular government and replace it with Islamic rule.
Four Bangladeshi opposition leaders were detained as a two-day-old strike to force Premier Khaleda Zia from power brought most of the nation to a standstill. Zia's party easily won the Feb. 15 elections. The opposition boycotted the polls after the government dismissed their demand that a neutral government oversee the election.
US meat growth hormones will be on the menu as EU farm ministers meet in Brussels today. Washington lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization after the EU banned imports of US meat and alleged growth hormones in US meat were a serious health risk. The US denies the claim.
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating gained a boost to his reelection bid. He ratings rose in opinion polls, and his Labor Party surged in a state election in Tasmania. Keating is seeking reelection next Saturday.
The Afghan government will share power with the opposition Hezb-i-Islami party of former Premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, sources said. In the past, Hekmatyar rejected overtures to rejoin President Burhanuddin Rabbani's government.
The Iraqi defectors killed after their return from exile to Baghdad were victims of revenge commonly employed in Iraq, Jordan said. Iraqi state media said Hussein Kamel Hassan and his brother Saddam Kamel were killed by family members.
A plan to replace the French draftee with an all-volunteer force such as these French Legion soldiers marching during a parade in Paris July 14 was announced by President Chirac.
ETCETERA
Patience has its limits."
- A July 14, 1995, Cuban government statement reacting to incursions by Miami-based exile groups into its airspace. On Saturday, Cuba shot down two planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, one such exile group.
A loggerhead turtle named Rosita swam a third of the way around the world - three times farther than any other turtle. A Florida scientist said Rosita traveled between Baja California, in Mexico and Kyushu, Japan, a round trip of about 13,000 miles.
Author Salmon Rushdie has now been in hiding for seven years under a death sentence for his book "The Satanic Verses." Rushdie, who has recently been living more in the open, says he is ready to "warily celebrate" another year.
Susan Sarandon and Nicolas Cage pose with their awards at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.
Second Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Robert Redford.
MOTION PICTURES
Performance by a cast in a theatrical motion picture: "Apollo 13."
Female actor in a leading role: Susan Sarandon, "Dead Man Walking." Male actor: Nicolas Cage, "Leaving Los Vegas."
Female actor in a supporting role: Kate Winslet, "Sense and Sensibility." Male Actor: Ed Harris, "Apollo 13."
TELEVISION PROGRAMS
Ensemble performance In a drama series: The cast of "E.R." Comedy series: The cast of "Friends."
Female actor in a comedy series: Christine Baranski, "Cybill." Male actor: David Hyde Pierce, "Frasier."
Female actor in a television movie or miniseries: Alfre Woodard, "The Piano Lesson, Hallmark Hall of Fame." Male actor: Gary Sinise, "Truman."
Female actor in a drama series: Gillian Anderson, "The X-Files." Male actor: Anthony Edwards, "E.R."
- Associated Press