News In Brief
THE US
Both the polls and the judges agree: President Clinton won his first matchup against Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole. A CNN/Gallup survey found 51 percent of respondents thought Clinton emerged the victor; 31 percent favored Dole. But 74 percent said Dole did better than they expected. An ABC poll showed both candidates appeared to benefit from the debate: Clinton's support rose to 55 percent from 51 percent, while Dole's edged up to 41 percent from 40.
Both candidates hit the campaign trail for a busy week drumming up votes. Dole began a two-day bus tour through New Jersey. Clinton was campaigning in three New England states where polls show him ahead but which are typically dominated by Republicans: Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Running mates are to take the podium tomorrow in their only scheduled debate. Vice President Al Gore is to square off against Jack Kemp in St. Petersburg, Fla. Gore has a reputation for being a stiff public speaker, while Kemp has spent time on the motivational-speech circuit.
The Supreme Court denied without comment Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski's appeal to be freed because news leaks have poisoned the case against him. The court also rejected former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker's and two associates' arguments that independent counsel Kenneth Starr exceeded his authority by accusing them of plotting to hide profits from a multimillion-dollar cable TV deal. Also, the justices rejected a challenge by Wisconsin anti-abortion activists to a federal law that protects access to abortion clinics. And the court passed on the chance to decide whether teachers violate federal law when they fail to stop students from sexually harassing others.
Most of Florida's west coast was under a hurricane warning as tropical storm Josephine neared landfall. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm could dump five inches of rain on the region. Small craft from Brownsville, Texas, to Anclote Keys, Fla., were advised to stay in port.
The US has asked Swedish diplomats in North Korea for help in gathering information on the status of Evan Carl Hunzike. The Pyongyang government says Hunzike was arrested in August while crossing into North Korea from China as a spy for rival South Korea. Espionage carries the death penalty in North Korea. South Korean officials say Hunzike is a missionary, not a spy, but does have South Korean ancestry.
Jury selection began in Pennsylvania for a trial with parallels to the Rodney King case. Afri-can-American motorist Jonny Gamage died last October after three white police officers in suburban Pittsburgh stopped him for driving erratically. Black leaders say Gammage was a victim of police brutality. The defense is expected to argue that Gammage made threatening gestures.
The Dow Jones industrial average broke the 6,000 barrier for the first time in early trading yesterday. The milestone extends the Dow's 800-point recovery since a July selloff.
Texaco, Shell, and the Saudi oil giant, Aramco, will neither confirm nor deny a report that they'll merge their US operations. The Wall Street Journal says discussions on the $10 billion deal have been under way since spring. Local Texaco and Shell stations would keep their present affiliations.
Tiger Woods won his first professional golf tournament - and a $297,000 paycheck - by edging Davis Love III in the Las Vegas Invitational. The tournament was only his fifth as a pro after winning three US amateur championships.
Former Christian Science Monitor editor Katherine Fanning has been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists and by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors for career achievement in journalism. Also honored with Yankee Quill awards were Boston Globe photographer Stan Grossfeld and Kenneth Grube, former managing editor of The Day, in New London, Conn.
THE WORLD
As Israelis and Palestinians went back to the negotiating table in the Gaza Strip, Israeli President Ezer Weizman nudged the peace process forward by inviting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for a private visit. Arafat is expected to travel by helicopter today to Weizman's home in Caesarea.
US Secretary of State Warren Christopher left Israel for a five-nation tour of sub-Saharan Africa. He plans to focus on democracy, dispute resolution, and aid to victims of conflicts and natural disasters while visiting Mali, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, and Angola.
A Taliban militia offensive against Ahmad Shah Masoud, Army chief under Afghanistan's ousted government, appeared to stall in the Panjsher Valley. The Taliban urged Uzbek Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum to stay out of the conflict. Dostum, who controls six northern Afghan provinces, indicated to the BBC that he might become involved unless the Taliban stopped fighting.
Former Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao won a temporary reprieve from the nation's Supreme Court by requesting anticipatory bail, which amounts to legal protection against arrest. A New Delhi court had issued an arrest warrant. Rao is accused of conspiring to use forged documents to defame former Prime Minister V. P. Singh, who was at the time an opposition leader campaigning against Rao's Congress Party.
Indonesian President Suharto and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad agreed during a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands should decided who has sovereignty over two small islands. The countries have tried to resolve a dispute over Sipadan and Ligitan off the east coast of Borneo for five years.
A Swiss and an Australian scientist won the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine. Rolf Zinkernagel and Peter Doherty will share the $1.12 million prize. This year's prizes are the largest ever awarded.
Russian Security Chief Alexander Lebed met NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana in Brussels to discuss NATO plans to expand eastward. Solana proposed that Russia and the alliance permanently station liaison officers in their respective military commands.
Zulu nationalists in South Africa reversed an earlier decision and again pulled out of constitutional negotiations with the African National Congress. The Inkatha Freedom Party wants its leaders, usually tribal chiefs, to maintain local control. But the ANC wants voters to choose their leaders.
US Defense Secretary William Perry joined North, South, and Central American defense ministers in Bariloche, Argentina, for a three-day conference on security issues. Argentine officials said they would resist any calls from the US for the region's armed forces to join the fight against drug trafficking.
Some 1,000 North Koreans are believed to be starving every day, and even those in the privileged military are facing food shortages, South Korean President Kim Young Sam told leading politicians in Seoul. Near-famine conditions also have been reported by International Red Cross workers in North Korea.
More than two-thirds of the British people apparently do not want the country to adopt a single European currency, if it is launched in 1999. A Gallup poll published in the Daily Telegraph found 56 percent of respondents rejecting the idea and 26 percent in favor.
Another 6,000 Canadian auto workers went on strike, joining 15,000 who are already on strike against General Motors.
ETCETERAS
''My concern is that they [the candidates] never went to the core problems.
The core problem is that we have two parties that control our government."
- Reform Party nominee Ross Perot, who was excluded from the presidential debate in Hartford, Conn.
Teens can no longer shop til they drop at the Mall of America in Minneapolis - at least not on weekends. The mall began enforcing a 6 p.m. curfew for youths under 16. On winter nights, the mall was overrun by up to 2,000 unsupervised teens.
Retired contractor Lewis La Salle's latest project is for the birds. It has 16 rooms, a dozen gables, and is 28 inches high. His birdhouse is on display at a museum in Merced, Calif. The hardest part? Shaping 2,000 tiny shingles for the roof.
THE DAY'S LIST
Where the New Jobs Are
The 12 US metropolitan areas with the highest rate of job growth from January 1990 to July 1996. Figures indicate the percent of net job growth for the entire period.
1. Las Vegas 38%
2. Austin-San Marcos, Texas 34
2. Boise, Idaho 34
4. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark. 30
4. Provo-Orem, Utah 30
6. Salt Lake City 27
7. Albuquerque, N. M. 26
8. Green Bay, Wis. 23
8. McAllen-Edinburg- Mission, Texas 23
10. Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. 21
10. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. 21
10. Orlando, Fla. 21
- Forbes Magazine