News In Brief
The US
An FBI SWAT van full of weapons - including two grenade launchers - and thousands of rounds of ammunition was stolen from a hotel parking lot in Memphis, Tenn. Agents were staying at the hotel to attend a domestic terrorism training exercise.
A former hostess for Democratic fund-raiser Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie said she would invoke her Fifth-Amendment rights if questioned about campaign financing, Senate aides said. Trie, an international business consultant to President Clinton, has left the US and said in one newspaper interview that he would not return to cooperate with the probe. Also, a federal grand jury began investigating whether the White House sought to help Democratic Party fund-raiser Roger Tamraz, who is wanted in Lebanon on charges of embezzlement.
Clinton planned to announce his choice of Richard Holbrooke as US envoy to Cyprus. Holbrooke helped negotiate an end to the war in Bosnia. Meanwhile, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Jesse Helms (R) of North Carolina said he's opposed to the choice of Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) for ambassador to Mexico. The committee must review the appointment.
Ford Motor Company said it plans to make 250,000 vehicles that can run on either gasoline or ethanol. Environmentalists claim the plan allows Ford to avoid fines for selling gas-guzzlers and does little to improve air quality.
Clinton signed a reauthorization of a 22-year-old law that guarantees children with disabilities a free and appropriate education. The reauthorization includes several changes to the original law that raise educational standards for disabled children and helps parents to track their progress.
The National Bioethics Advisory Commission plans to recommend that Congress pass legislation allowing creation of cloned human embryos for research, but will urge a ban on cloning human babies, the Washington Post reported.
Emergency officials in Jarrell, Texas, said the tornado-battered town has no more room for donations of food and clothing. Instead, they're asking contributors for money to help rebuild houses and pay for funeral costs.
Factory orders rebounded 1.2 percent in April, the third rise in four months, the Commerce Department said. The orders were bolstered by strength in transportation equipment, industrial machinery, and metal products.
Drug traffickers are hiring former intelligence officers and spending huge sums on the latest technology to spy on and elude authorities, law-enforcement officials said at a conference in Key West, Fla. Technology has become so advanced that traffickers can make bathtubs and furniture out of materials containing cocaine and then extract it chemically, they said.
World Times Inc. may become the successor to Monitor Radio. The Christian Science Publishing Society signed a letter of intent that permits World Times to assume production of the Monitor's public radio broadcasts on June 30. The takeover has several contingencies, including the need for a sufficient number of stations to carry the World Times broadcasts. David Cook, editor of The Christian Science Monitor, said: "We are pleased to have found an organization that shares our views on the importance of high quality journalism, and that may provide jobs for many of our talented [Monitor Radio] staff." World Times, based in Boston, has published The WorldPaper since 1979. The weekly, printed in six languages, has a circulation of more than 1.5 million.
The World
Heavily armed soldiers and police took up positions around polling stations in Algeria's capital as voters prepared for today's national election - the first in more than five years of sectarian violence. An estimated 60,000 people have died in a campaign by Islamic fundamentalists to destabilize the country after a 1992 election they expected to win was cancelled by the military. The government has called for a high voter turnout. The outlawed Islamic Salvation Front has urged a boycott.
Another 1,200 foreigners boarded US military helicopters for evacuation from strife-torn Sierra Leone as Nigeria sent in fresh troops to "flush out" the leaders of the May 25 coup. Those leaders said they were releasing 313 Nigerian troops who had surrendered as a "goodwill gesture."
Prime Minister Netanyahu outlined a "permanent" peace agreement that would allow Israel to keep more than half of the West Bank, news reports from Jerusalem said. They said the plan called for Israeli control over Jewish settlements ringing the capital, plus the Jordan valley, and major clusters of settlements on the West Bank. Palestinian Authority officials called the proposal "a plan for conflict," not for peace.
As expected, Israel's opposition Labor Party chose former chief of the armed forces Ehud Barak as its new leader. Unlike Netanyahu, whom he once commanded, Barak does not oppose a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. He succeeds former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who lost last year's election to Netanyahu.
Leaders of the militant South Korean students who have staged violent street demonstrations in Seoul said they would turn over those involved in the death of a suspected police collaborator if authorities promised a fair investigation. The group admitted responsibility for beating Lee Seok, the second person to die in clashes over President Kim Young Sam's alleged violation of campaign spending laws. The leaders also announced a suspension of the protests, but speculation mounted that the violence would bring a crackdown on student movements.
In Beijing, the anniversary of the crushed 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy movement passed quietly, with tight security keeping most visitors away. But in Hong Kong tens of thousands of people massed for an annual candlelight memorial to the massacre - the last such gathering while the colony is still under British rule. Democracy leaders vowed to attempt another rally next year when Hong Kong is under Chinese control to test Beijing's tolerance. The Chinese government has branded some of the Hong Kong organizers as subversives.
New French Premier Lionel Jospin was expected to announce his Cabinet after the Communist Party said it would help him to govern. But the Communists said their leader, Robert Hue, would not accept a Cabinet position. Meanwhile, Jospin's defeated predecessor, Alain Juppe, said he would seek reelection as leader of the Rally for the Republic at a party conference in September.
Iran feels no need to export its Islamic revolution, the country's most powerful religious leader said. Ali Khamenei told a massive crowd at ceremonies in memory of the revolution's founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, that no such action by Iran was needed because "Muslims in all corners of the world feel a deep affinity" to the movement that toppled the late Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979.
A Saudi dissident allegedly involved in last year's bombing of a US housing compound arrived home after being deported by Canada. Bandar Fahd al-Shihri was taken by police for questioning and probably "will be released in a couple of weeks," officials said. The US also had sought al-Shihri's deportation after Canada turned down his request for asylum. He is suspected of helping to carry out the June 25 explosion in Dhahran, which killed 19 Americans and injured scores of others.
Etceteras
"We will be here every year until the Chinese government recognizes it was wrong."
- Hong Kong merchant Wang Degao, vowing to help perpetuate annual ceremonies in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
A couple of enterprising Hong Kong businessmen are making money from what they call the last gasp of the British empire. They sell sealed cans of air from the colony that reverts to Chinese control at 12:01 a.m. July 1. The price: $7 each. But if you buy one and open it for a whiff, be advised: There are side effects. Inhaling, the label warns, can lead to a stiff upper lip.
Westport, Conn., is a posh community, but you can't blame folks there for feeling down in the dumps when they visit the local library. One corner of the structure, which was built on an old landfill, is sinking.
The Day's List
Colleges Are Accused of Slighting Female Athletes
The Washington-based National Women's Law Center has filed complaints with the US Education Department, accusing 25 colleges and universities of violating a1972 law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in colleges receiving federal funding. Unlike a recent Brown University case that dealt with participation in sports, this one deals solely with athletic scholarships. The 25 institutions:
Bethune-Cookman College
Boston College
Boston University
Bowling Green State University
Brigham Young University
College of William and Mary
Colorado State University
Coppin State College
Duke University
Hampton University
Liberty University
Northeastern University
South Carolina State University
University of Colorado
University of Maine at Orono
University of New Hampshire
University of North Texas
University of Oregon
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Toledo
University of Tulsa
Utah State University
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Wofford College
- Associated Press