News In Brief
The US
Antitrust restrictions already placed on sales of Micro-soft's Windows software do not extend to Windows 98, a federal appeals court in Washington ruled. But Sun Micro-systems asked a US judge in San Jose, Calif., to force changes in Windows 98 or block its release. In addition, the Justice Department and a group of states investigating Microsoft were reportedly preparing a new antitrust complaint that could interfere with this week's planned shipment of Windows 98 to computermakers.
Rep. Dan Burton took to the House floor to defend his embattled probe of campaign-finance abuses. Democrats repeated their calls for the Indi- ana Republican to step aside as chairman of the House inquiry, saying they would seek today to have another Republican take his place. Democrats on the panel were expected to vote a second time against granting immunity to four potential witnesses. They initially blocked granting immunity, which requires a two-thirds vote, two weeks ago.
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said he planned hearings as early as this week into what he called the "colossal failure" of US spy agencies to note preparations for India's nuclear tests. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama said the $27-billion-a-year US espionage establishment was caught completely off guard.
The Senate voted 92 to 8 to make food stamps available again to legal immigrant families, a step conservatives warned would undermine the 1996 welfare-reform law. A compromise of earlier versions passed in each chamber, the bill now goes to the House.
The Senate tobacco bill ran into a procedural problem that could indefinitely delay or potentially kill efforts to pass a comprehensive bill to reduce teenage smoking. The Finance Committee demanded the right to consider or rewrite the measure. Some conservative Republicans said if the panel's jurisdiction was not recognized, they would use procedural moves to postpone debate, due to begin Monday.
Guatemala's attorney general sued several tobacco companies, seeking to recover for his country the costs of treating smoking-related illnesses. The suit was filed in Washington against Philip Morris and British American Tobacco Co., parent of Brown & Williamson Corp., which dominates the Guatemalan cigarette market. The suit also named as defendants the Liggett Group and some industry-sponsored trade organizations.
A bill to allow the mixing of banks, securities, and insurance companies drew fire from the Clinton administration and some lawmakers as the House approached a vote on it. The measure would permit financial-services firms to conduct a wide range of activities, but only through bank holding companies - not through subsidiaries. Holding companies would be regulated by the Federal Reserve rather than the Treasury Department.
President and Mrs. Clinton's assets in 1997 ranged from $1.3 million to $5.8 million, an annual financial-disclosure report indicated. That's up from their last report, which listed assets ranging from $760,000 to $1.7 million. The Clintons owe $1 million to $5 million to the law firm representing them in the Whitewater inquiry.
Prices charged by factories and other producers rose in April for the first time in seven months, the Labor Department said. The 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted gain in the producer price index was the first since September. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rebounded strongly in April from a lethargic March.
Nike Corp. bowed to criticism of poor working conditions in its Asian shoe factories. Chairman Philip Knight said the minimum age for workers would be raised from 16 to 18, air quality would be improved, more independent monitoring would be allowed, and free education classes would be offered to employees.
Smoke moving across the Rio Grande Valley as far north as Dallas prompted Texas officials to issue a health warning for 50 counties. The smoke reportedly blew in from fires in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
The World
India's nuclear tests are over, were never intended to cause fear, and violated no international treaties, senior government officials said. After a second day of underground explosions, Vice President Krishna Kant said India now was prepared to "consider" signing some parts of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. He dismissed sanctions ordered by US President Clinton, saying: "We'll be able to bear it."
Pakistan is "absolutely surprised" that US intelligence failed to detect signs that India was about to explode nuclear test devices, especially after being warned that they were impending, Foreign Minister Ayub Khan said. Despite a phone call from Clinton immediately after he signed the sanctions order against India, Pakistani officials have yet to say what their response to the tests will be. Experts say Pakistan could conduct its own tests within a week if it chose to.
Indonesian President Suharto cut short an official visit to Egypt and flew home to deal with the growing street violence in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and other cities. Another protester - the seventh in two days - was killed in the rioting. Meanwhile, analysts warned that if the unrest topples Suharto - with the Army seizing power - it also could wreck the $38 billion international bailout of Indonesia's battered economy.
With his predecessor saying there is no choice but to compromise, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in Washington for difficult discussions with Secretary of State Albright on reviving the stalled peace process with Palestinians. The US extended its deadline for Netanyahu to agree to a 13.1 percent pullback from the West Bank, and Albright said there would be no "watering down" of the American position. Shimon Peres, whom Netanyahu succeeded in office, said there is no hope of achieving peace if Israel does not make a more complete withdrawal.
Although "neither side made any substantive changes in its position," Yugoslav President Milosevic and Albanian-separatism leader Ibrahim Rugova have agreed to open talks on the future of Kosovo, US envoy Richard Holbrooke said. But he warned that the talks, scheduled for tomorrow, may not result "in an immediate de-escalation of violence." Rugova demands independence for the 90-percent-Albanian province; Milosevic has offered only to restore the autonomy he withdrew in 1989.
Fifty years after the Berlin airlift signaled the start of the cold war, Clinton met with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl to set "new directions" for Europe. They were expected to discuss Bosnia, Kosovo, and other issues before leaving for the annual Group of Eight summit of industrialized democracies in Birmingham, England. The overseas trip is Clinton's third in less than two months.
South Korean President Kim Dae Jung pleaded for labor peace, saying badly needed foreign investment would never come "if they see strikes erupting." He spoke as the 500,000-member Confederation of Trade Unions vowed to go ahead with a massive rally planned for this weekend, to be followed by a nationwide walkout early next month. Kim ordered the arrests of 106 workers involved in a clash with riot police May 1.
For reasons apparently unrelated to next weekend's national election, students rioted in Dakar and St. Louis, Senegal - the nation's two largest cities. Police dispersed the rioters in Dakar, the capital, with tear gas after they'd burned government vehicles, disrupted traffic, ransacked the home of a Cabinet minister, and attacked the state radio-TV building. The rampages were blamed on excessive use of force to quell a student protest in St. Louis May 5.
Etceteras
" If it doesn't come up next week, we're in big trouble. Big tobacco wins."
- US Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa, after conservatives threatened to delay debate on the $516 billion tobacco bill.
When the long-awaited final episode of "Seinfeld" airs tonight on NBC, fans of the series will be watching at a special goodbye party in a Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel. And the guest of honor will be none other than Jerry Seinfeld himself. Well, no, not that Seinfeld. The one in question is his namesake, a retiree who lives in nearby Henderson. The two met once, back in the early 1980s, long before the comedian and his show became world famous.
If you're planning to attend this weekend's graduation ceremonies at Karval (Colo.) High School, don't be late; handing out the diplomas will take hardly any time at all. That's because the class of '98 consists of exactly two people, Brian Sorensen and Craig Schurman. At that, they're only tied for the fewest graduates the school has produced in a single year. The class of '93 was the same size. If the entire junior class graduates a year from now, there will be 11.
Ranking US Foundations On Value of Total Giving
Foundations, often ranked according to assets, also can be compared on the basis of total giving - including grants, scholarships, and employee matching gifts. Either way, the Ford Foundation is at the top of the list, as compiled by the New York-based Foundation Center. The 10 largest US grantmaking foundations ranked by total giving in fiscal year 1996 (in millions):
1. Ford Foundation (N.Y.) $332
2. W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Mich.) 255
3. Robert W. Woodruff Foundation (Ga.) 253
4. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (N.J.) 229
5. Pew Charitable Trusts (Pa.) 175
6. Lilly Endowment (Ind.) 168
7. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Ill.) 137
8. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (N.Y.) 113
9. David and Lucile Packard Foundation (Calif.) 103
10. Annenberg Foundation (Pa.) 97