News In Brief

SOMETHING DIDN'T RUB OFF Can you identify the people who spoke the following words? Hint: They're from the same family. Referring to the US on Nov. 18, 1956, one boasted, "We will bury you." On May 24, 1999 - four days ago - the other said: "We like it here, and I believe that when you're living in a country like this, you have to become a citizen." Give up? The first was Nikita Khrushchev, general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. The second: Sergei Khrushchev, his son - an eight-year resident of the US and a lecturer at Brown University in Providence, R.I., who, with his wife, Valentina, plans to take the oath as a naturalized American June 23.

New 'Star Wars' film may be 4th to hit all-time sci-fi list

As reported in this space earlier, "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace" already has set moton-picture industry single-day ($28.5 million) and five-day ($102.7 million) box-office records in its first week in release. That suggests the newest segment of the "Star Wars" saga eventually will enjoy a lofty perch on the list of science-fiction film hits. But it has some distance to go. Each of the following - the current science-fiction Top 10 - has taken in more than $400 million worldwide:

1. "Jurassic Park" 1993

2. "Independence Day" 1996

3. "Star Wars" 1977

4. "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" 1982

5. "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" 1997

6. "Men in Black" 1997

7. "The Empire Strikes Back" 1980

8. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" 1991

9. "The Return of the Jedi" 1983

10. "Batman" 1989

"The Top 10 of Everything 1999"