News In Brief

THE US

President Clinton arrived at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida's Panhandle to attend a memorial service for 19 Americans killed in a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. He was expected to meet with family members and speak at the service before heading to Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach for services there. Twelve of the 19 servicemen killed in the attack were based in Florida. Earlier, Clinton assigned a retired Army general to assess security at US military bases throughout the Middle East.

Anthony Marceca, an Army detailee who gathered hundreds of FBI files for the Clinton White House, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. And Secret Service agent Arnold Cole testified at Judiciary Committee hearings that former White House security chief Craig Livingstone told him in early June the White House was at fault in collecting the files.

Only 12 percent of Americans think less of Hillary Rodham Clinton because of her imagined talks with deceased women leaders, a Newsweek poll found. The same poll shows President Clinton with a 16-point lead over presidential hopeful Bob Dole.

Human rights advocates welcomed a government report that several CIA agents were involved in serious human rights abuses in Guatemala after 1984. Credible evidence shows the agency knew about the activities at the time they occurred, the Clinton presidential panel said. The activities included extrajudicial executions, torture, and kidnappings. All of the agents have since left the CIA, the report said. Clinton ordered the panel to conduct an investigation after allegations last year that the CIA engaged in such activities in Guatemala.

Meeting in Chicago, Democratic Party officials vowed to create an army of 50,000 precinct captains to turn out voters in 20 key states this fall. Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh and California Sen. Barbara Boxer were named to head up the National Precinct Leaders Program.

Many airline crashes and problems over the last 30 years might have been avoided, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report quoted by the Dallas Morning News. The Federal Aviation Administration failed to pay attention to 532 NTSB recommendations over the last three decades - about 16 percent of the total made during that time. Among the rejects: stricter icing tests. The FAA says it hasn't ignored recommendations, but created its own solutions to the problems.

The Senate passed legislation that would eliminate much of the ability of states to regulate the booming mutual-fund industry and large securities offerings. The responsibilities would be taken up by the Security and Exchange Commission. The bill also would allow mutual funds to offer new funds that invest only in shares of other mutual funds. The Senate also broke a deadlock and agreed to vote by Sept. 14 on ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty outlawing most chemical weapons.

The Citadel military school in Charleston, S.C., voted unanimously to admit the first qualified women who apply. The decision came after the US Supreme Court declared the all-male admissions policy at Virginia Military Institute unconstitutional.

Theodore Kaczynski was charged with three more Una-bomber attacks in Utah, Tennessee, and Michigan, which wounded four people. The government unsealed the indictments obtained secretly years ago against an unknown man it called "John Doe."

The US revoked the visa of Colombia's ambassador to Mexico. Gustavo de Greiff, a former top prosecutor in Colombia, is the latest of more than a dozen Colombian officials whose US visas have been revoked for alleged ties to drug traffickers.

Ruth Owens unveiled a statue of her husband at the Jesse Owens Memorial Park while the Olympic torch passed through Oakville, Ala. Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics.

THE WORLD

Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic stepped down as president. The move came in the wake of pressure from the international community, which threatened Bosnian Serbs with renewed sanctions if Karadzic remained in power. He transferred his powers to fellow hard-liner, vice president Biljana Plavsic. Also, citizens of Mostar voted in elections that will decide the fate of their divided city. Preliminary results are expected today.

Immediate action is being taken to provide US soldiers in Saudi Arabia greater security following Tuesday's bombing in Dhahran that killed 19 US citizens, US Defense Secretary William Perry said. Perimeter barriers have been moved to 400 feet outside the complex - a request Saudi officials denied twice before the bombing, US Brig. Gen. Terryl Schwalier said. Also, FBI agents investigating the explosion have found the chassis and serial number of the exploded fuel truck. And Saudi authorities reportedly have the license plate number and are expected to release composite sketches of two suspects.

Russian President Yeltsin warned about the danger of a protest vote in runoff elections July 3. "It will be a disaster if we allow our grievances and tiredness to vote on July 3," he said. Also, new security chief Alexander Lebed proposed restoring the post of vice president, possibly with himself in mind to fill the slot.

Shortages resulting from six years of UN sanctions caused the death of more than 700,000 Iraqis since 1990, Iraq's official newspaper al-Thawra reported.

Thousands of nomads traveled on horseback to polling stations across Mongolia to vote in parliamentary elections. The results are expected to reduce the ruling ex-Communists majority in the 76-seat parliament.

Supporters of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won a clear majority in parliamentary elections. With 90 percent of the vote counted, Museveni's backers claimed 140 of the 180 seats.

Dominicans voted in presidential runoff elections to decide between Jose Francisco Pena Gomez of the center-left Dominican Revolutionary Party and centrist Leonel Fernandez of the Dominican Liberation Party. Polls gave Fernandez a five-point lead over Pena Gomez.

The Group of Seven industrial nations ended their annual summit in Lyon, France, with a warning for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to step down; a plea to Middle East states to resume talks on trading "land for peace;" and a pledge to fight terrorism and organized crime. President Clinton called terrorism the primary security challenge of "our generation's time" and said measures taken by world leaders would strengthen their ability to fight the problem.

Iceland's former finance minister Olafur Ragnar Grimmson claimed victory in presidential elections. The presidency is an apolitical, primarily ceremonial role. Grimmson, who will be inaugurated Aug. 1, is replacing Vigdis Finnbogadottir, the world's first popularly elected woman president.

Necmettin Erbakan, Turkey's first Islamist prime minister since its independence, said his new coalition government would honor all prior commitments and pledged increased cooperation with both East and West. Erbakan's moderate plan is far from his often-radical manifesto, easing establishment and military fears that his government would impose religion on public life and break with NATO's Western camp.

More than 1,300 Burundian Hutus fled to Rwanda from the troubled Cibitoke Province, following military reports that the Tutsi-dominated Army killed 31 Hutu insurgents in a gunfight.

ETCETERAS

"A stunning victory for the women and the state of South Carolina."

-- Val Vojdik, lead attorney in the successful 3-1/2 year campaign to allow women to attend The Citadel. The military school's board voted to admit women after the Supreme Court declared all-male admissions policies unconstitutional.

Able to leap high bids in a single bound: A rare 1938 Superman comic book landed in a collector's hands for nearly $62,000 at Soth-eby's annual comic book and art auction in New York.

Two children sifting through rocks in Australia's outback unearthed one of the world's most valuable fossils, experts say. The fossils show amphibians lived in Canberra 330 million years ago, and indicate Australia may be where fish first crawled out of water to begin land-based life 160 million years before the first dinosaurs.

Actors Michael Douglas and Sophia Loren brought Hollywood glitz to Germany's Ruhr Valley at the opening of Warner Bros. Movie World. The theme park, based on Warner Bros. movies and cartoons, features Looney Tunes and Batman rides, Rick's Cafe from "Casablanca," and a 3-D cartoon theater.

THE DAY'S LIST

Sporting Trends

The 10 sports with the greatest increase in participation in 1995, according to a survey by the National Sporting Goods Association of people 7 years of age and older. The sport is followed by the percent increase from the previous year.

1. Roller Hockey 43.0

2. Ice Hockey 29.2

3. In-line Skating 22.6

4. Rock or Mountain Climbing 18.8

5. Mountain Biking 16.5

6. Bicycle Riding 13.0

7. Bowling 12.2

8. Snowboarding 9.6

9. Calisthenics 9.4

10. Tennis 8.5

- The National Sporting Goods Association

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