News In Brief
The US
Senator Dole was expected to beat Steve Forbes and Pat Buchanan in today's New York Republican primary. Dole cemented his lead by sweeping all eight primaries Tuesday. He now has one quarter of the delegates for nomination. And Lamar Alexander and Richard Lugar were set to bow out of the race. (Stories, Pages 1 and 4; Opinion and Editorial, Page 20; List at right.)
Congress was set to pass the bill that punishes Cuba for last week's downing of two US civilian planes. Among other things, it gives Congress a say in whether to lift the embargo on Cuba - a decision that has resided solely with the president. Also, Cuba's foreign minister was at the UN. He says the planes were in Cuban airspace and is urging the UN to address the issue of airspace violations.
Iran is actively supporting Hamas, the group responsible for recent bombings in Israel, Secretary of State Christopher said. Aiming to show US support for Israel, Christopher is pressuring many nations - including Japan and Russia - to condemn the blasts and isolate Iran. (Story, Page 1.)
A commission to study gambling - and its economic and social effects - would be set up under a bill passed by the House. Members of both parties pointed with alarm to the recent expansion of legalized gambling. Critics call the bill an unwarranted intrusion into an area usually regulated by states. The bill must now clear the Senate.
Rep. Enid Greene Waldholtz, tangled in a financial mess she blames on her estranged husband, said she won't run again for Congress. The Utah Republican said it would be hard to campaign while a single mother and while trying to clear her name.
TV program distributors will have to rate their own shows, says Motion Picture Association of America chief Jack Valenti. He said it would be impossible for one organization to rate all 2,000 hours of programs that are broadcast daily. Valenti is heading the effort to develop a voluntary rating system within a year.
The divorce rate is down, finds a survey by the Washington-based Population Reference Bureau. In 1994, the divorce rate was 4.6 per 1,000, down from 4.7 in 1990. Also, nearly 1-in-3 births today is to an unwed mother, but the pace of increase in this rate - nearly 6 percent in the 1980s - has slowed to 2 percent. And the number of two-parent families increased by nearly 750,000 in the early 1990s.
Time to fly? Northwest, USAir, American, and Continental airlines are having spring fare sales. Savings range up to 52 percent.
A federal judge was wrong to prohibit Business Week from publishing sensitive papers from a lawsuit between Procter & Gamble and Bankers Trust, a federal appeals court ruled. It said the judge's action violated the Constitution's free-speech protection. Only documents dangerous to ''fundamental government interests'' should be blocked from publication, the court ruled.
US policy on China is not improving China's human rights record, a State Department report says. The US ''de-linked'' economic issues from human rights questions in China in 1994. Despite its economic reforms, China is disregarding human rights, the report says.
US productivity increased 1.1 percent in 1995 - the best showing since 1992. Raising productivity is key to increasing living standards.
Farms, nurseries, and other agricultural firms would be able to import workers for short periods and on short notice under an immigration measure approved by a House panel. Employers say they will need access to temporary workers as the US tightens immigration restrictions.
The World
Palestinian President Arafat approved a life sentence with hard labor for Abu Wardeh, the man accused of masterminding three of four suicide bombings that rocked Israel. He was earlier arrested by Palestinian police. Wardeh, a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas, later told Palestinian radio the bombings were a mistake and harmed the Palestinian cause. Palestinian police raided Gaza's Islamic University and seized the school's mosque - the 16th Hamas-affiliated mosque to be taken over. And Israeli soldiers continued to arrest wanted Palestinian militants in the West Bank. (Story, Page 1.)
Chechen rebels reportedly seized parts of Grozny, Chechnya's capital, in the fiercest fighting in 13 months with Russian troops, witnesses said. And the Russian military said rebel commander Salman Raduyev died of bullet wounds in a Chechen hospital. In January, Raduyev took about 200 people hostage and held them for a week before Russian troops intervened.
Faced with a threat of NATO force, 18 unauthorized Croat policemen left the Serb-held Sarajevo suburb of Hadzici hours before it was scheduled to be transferred to Bosnian-Croat federation control. The Croats accused Muslims in the federation of dominating the decisionmaking process.
The IRA is ready for another 25 years of war unless London and Dublin offer an alternative peace plan for Northern Ireland, said Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA's political wing, Sinn Fein. The IRA opposes the timing, format, and content of the present proposal for all-party peace talks set for June 10, Adams said after secret talks with guerrilla leaders. Also, the IRA asked its pro-British Protestant rivals not to follow its example by breaking their cease-fire.
The deadlock continued in Japan's parliament over an unpopular $6.5 billion bailout plan for housing lenders. Opposition lawmakers maintained their blockade of a meeting room in parliament and insisted the bailout plan be dumped before beginning any debate on the general budget.
Presidential elections in Benin ended in a stalemate, forcing a second round of voting March 17. In a neck-and-neck race, former dictator-President Ahmed Kerekou won 32 percent of the vote while incumbent President Nicephore Soglo obtained 31. Once the African nation with the most coups, Benin has since become a beacon of democracy.
Drug lord Jose Santacruz Londono was shot and killed by police near Medellin, Colombia, two months after he escaped from a maximum-security prison in Bogota. Reputedly the No. 3 man in the Cali drug cartel, Londono carried a $2 million price on his head.
Haiti's parliament approved Rony Smarth as the country's new premier. The Chamber of Deputies backed a unanimous Senate approval of Smarth with a 54-to-3 vote. Smarth and his 15-member Cabinet was expected to be inducted into office yesterday by President Rene Preval.
London-based Saudi dissident Mohammed al-Masaari was fired by the group he founded - The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights. CDLR said it will disclose the reasons at a later date. Earlier, a British judge ordered Britain to reconsider Masaari's deportation, which he has been fighting since January.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia proposed more talks with Bangladesh opposition parties in an effort to end a two-year campaign demanding her resignation. But her opponents staged another general strike in Dhaka, making a breakthrough in the standoff unlikely. Zia's party swept last month's elections.
Etceteras
Newly declassified cables show Soviet spies had contacts in the FBI, among scientists working on the atomic bomb, and at a US intelligence agency during World War II. The messages reportedly reveal more than 100 wartime spies. But many of the documents remain uncorroborated.
Chinese scientists have made progress in their efforts to save the endangered crested ibis, a bird native only to China and Japan. Through intensive breeding and protection programs, China has managed to increase its ibis population to more than 60, up from only seven in 1981.
Final Primary Results
Here's how the candidates fared in Tuesday's contests. (See also US In Brief, and Delegate Count, Page 4.)
Colorado: Dole 44% Buchanan 22 Forbes 21 Alexander 10
Connecticut:
Dole 54 Forbes 20 Buchanan 15
Alexander 5
Georgia:
Dole 41
Buchanan 29
Alexander 13
Forbes 13
Maine*:
Dole 46 Buchanan 25 Forbes 15 Alexander 7
Maryland:
Dole 54
Buchanan 21
Forbes 13
Alexander 5
Massachusetts*:
Dole 48 Buchanan 25 Forbes 14 Alexander 8
Rhode Island:
Dole 67
Alexander 20
Vermont*:
Dole 41 Buchanan 17 Forbes 16 Alexander 11
* 99% of returns counted. All others are 100%.
- Associated Press
'' No one can now challenge Dole after a victory of this magnitude.
Anyone who stays in after this only invites disgrace on himself.''
- Charles Dunn, a Clemson University political scientist, on Dole's string of primary wins.