News In Brief

The US

Rumors and false leads abounded as the FBI combed the country for ''John Doe 2,'' a suspect in the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. Officials cleared an Army deserter arrested in California. Mark Koernke, who broadcasts a militant radio show and distributes militia videotapes from Michigan, acknowledged he sent a cryptic fax to Congressman Stockman the morning of the bombing but denied knowing suspect Timothy McVeigh and any involvement in the bombing. Two lawyers defending McVeigh asked to be taken off the case and said it should be transferred out of state. Rescue workers continued their search for victims. (Story, Page 1.)

Lawmakers from both parties promised swift action on antiterrorism legislation. The Senate was expected to pass a resolution April 25 condemning the Oklahoma City bombing and supporting Clinton's call for the death penalty for those responsible. Arab-American and Islamic leaders called for a meeting with Clinton to warn against the proposed bill, which they fear would trample civil rights.

Security reviews got under way at 98 day care centers in federal buildings in 31 states. Some centers have asked to be temporarily relocated. About 6,000 families use the centers.

A serial bomber known as the ''Unabomber'' is the likely suspect in Monday's mail bombing at the offices of a timber industry lobbying group in Sacramento, Calif., the FBI said. One person was killed. The Unabomber is responsible for 15 bombings around the country in the past 17 years, the FBI said.

American workers' wages, salaries, and benefits rose 2.9 percent in the year ended March 31, the Labor Department reported. It was the smallest increase on record. Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.8 percent in March, the first advance in three months, the National Association of Realtors said. Consumers are feeling better about the present and have improved expectations, a Conference Board report showed. Slower gains in health care and other benefits for workers kept a lid on overall pay increases in the first quarter of the year, the Labor Department said.

In an effort to make government regulations less cumbersome, Clinton ordered agencies to waive some penalties on small businesses. He also asked each agency to cut in half the frequency of regularly scheduled reports the public is required to provide the government. The steps are part of the administration's attempts to show it is serious about regulatory reform while opposing GOP efforts to put more-drastic limits on new federal rulemaking.

The Senate began debate on a bill to limit punitive damages for injuries caused by defective products.

Clinton vowed to protect some farm price supports from GOP budget-cutters as he opened a national conference in Des Moines aimed at examining problems of rural America. Clinton's proposed 1996 budget would make $1.5 billion in cuts in farm spending over five years.

The standoff between Chrysler Corp. and Kirk Kerkorian over control of the automaker resulted from a ''colossal misunderstanding'' between the two sides, the Detroit Free Press said. Chrysler's board formally rejected Kerkorian's $22.8 billion buyout offer.

The Supreme Court bolstered a get-tough-on-crime stand taken by some states, saying they can increase the time between parole hearings for certain prison inmates. The high court also ruled that people who, under protest, pay federal taxes owed by someone else may sue for refunds.

The World

Turkey pulled another 20,000 troops out of northern Iraq, while the remaining 12,000 soldiers continued their attack on rebel Kurds. Turkey is under considerable pressure from its NATO allies to end the incursion, but Ankara has not given a date for final withdrawal. Germany and the Netherlands have frozen military aid to Turkey.

Britain said it would begin ministerial peace talks with Sinn Fein, ending a stalemate about discussions on disarming the party's IRA guerrilla supporters. The talks will mark the official entry of Sinn Fein into negotiations to modify or end British rule of Northern Ireland. But London said the IRA must get rid of its weapons before ''main political talks'' can take place. Seven rebel lawmakers, meanwhile, accepted British Prime Minister Major's peacemaking offer on EU membership and returned to the Conservative Party fold in Parliament.

The dollar moved higher against the yen and the mark early April 25 on rumors the G-7 nations, meeting in Washington, might try to boost the currency, but fell again. There was no sign the US would raise interest rates, however, as IMF Director Camdessus had requested. The meeting was the first chance for the seven leading industrial nations to discuss Mexico's peso crisis, which has strained the world's financial markets.

Rwanda mostly completed its efforts to return 250,000 Hutus to their homes from camps, the government claimed April 25. Three days earlier, some 2,000 Hutus were killed by soldiers trying to move them out. Amnesty International called for a speedy independent forensic probe of the slaughter.

Some 6,500 German police fought off hundreds of protesters as a rail shipment of nuclear waste approached its final destination in Dannenberg in northern Germany April 25. A day earlier, protesters damaged millions of dollars in power lines in an attempt to halt the shipment.

Preliminary results from Japanese local elections April 23 showed candidates without party affiliations making inroads against mainstream parties, according to Japanese news reports. The candidates took more than 7,000 seats in the 375 municipal assemblies up for election -- the highest level in more than 16 years. Meanwhile, Japan reportedly will issue an arrest warrant for the leader of the sect suspected in the March 20 nerve-gas attack on Tokyo's subway.

The wives of two Americans imprisoned in Iraq will be allowed to visit their husbands, Baghdad said. The men were sentenced to eight years in prison for mistakenly crossing Iraq's border.

An Islamic militant, Abdel-Samad Hassan Harizat, died April 25 after interrogation by Israeli security agents. Human-rights organizations and relatives said he was tortured to death.

Canadian and Mexican officials plan to push for quick inclusion of Chile in NAFTA, a step the US also favors, Canadian officials said.

Russia joined the US in urging the world's nations to approve an unlimited, no-strings-attached Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. President Yeltsin appealed for more government help for radiation victims on the eve of the anniversary of the 1985 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. (Story, Page 5.) Yeltsin said he would order a halt in combat operations in Chechnya for two days during celebrations in May marking the end of World War II. Yeltsin will host some 55 world leaders May 9 marking the defeat of Nazi Germany. He will hold a summit with President Clinton May 10.

Malaysians voted April 25 in general elections expected to keep Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's National Front coalition in power. The Front has ruled Malaysia since it won independence in 1957.

Etcetera

A new elementary school opened in Hanoi, thanks to $75,000 in private US contributions. Newsman Terry Anderson, a hostage for 6-1/2 years in Lebanon, co-chaired the American group that organized the project. He described it as a gesture of healing between Vietnam and the US.

US bandleader Glenn Miller is on the record charts again more than 50 years after his passing. As Britain prepares to celebrate the end of World War II in Europe, an album of rediscovered Miller recordings entered the British album charts at No. 22, according to record industry executives.

Fire destroyed three-quarters of the wooden buildings in Tucson, Ariz., that formed the backdrops for hundreds of US westerns from ''Rio Bravo'' to ''The Three Amigos'' and many TV series. At least 200 firefighters battled the blaze.

A moo is not just a moo, researchers at the University of Missouri at St. Louis say. A mother cow's moo serves as a beacon for her calf, for instance. And every calf knows its mom when it hears her.

IMF Forecasts for Economic Growth

1994 '95*

WORLD

OUTPUT: 3.7% 3.8%

G-7 INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES: 3.0 3.0

US 4.1 3.2

Japan 0.6 1.8

Germany 2.9 3.2

France 2.5 3.2

Italy 2.5 3.0

Britain 3.8 3.2

Canada 4.5 4.3

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: 6.3 5.6

Africa 2.7 3.7

Asia 8.6 7.6

Middle East and Europe 0.7 2.9

Western Hemisphere 4.6 2.3

TRANSITION COUNTRIES: -9.4 -3.8

Central and Eastern Europe -3.8 0.4

Russia -15.0 -9.0

* Projected growth of real gross domestic product

International Monetary Fund

''There are places where the poorest of America's poor families have become concentrated.... The landscape of public housing will literally change before their eyes.''

Housing Secretary Cisneros on administration plans for public-housing reforms

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