News In Brief
THE US
The US sent more warplanes into the Persian Gulf region after Saddam Hussein's military fired two missiles at a pair of US F-16s over northern Iraq. Neither jet was hit. Pentagon sources said they might also send a second aircraft carrier into the region and perhaps F-117 "Stealth" fighters capable of carrying bombs.
The Senate approved a bill placing federal curbs on same-sex marriages 85 to 14 and rejected a bill prohibiting job discrimination against homosexuals 50 to 49. It also passed a $256.6 billion defense authorization bill for fiscal 1997 that includes a 3 percent raise for members of the military. President Clinton said he would sign the measure that allocates $11.2 billion more than he requested. And a Senate Appropriations subcommittee approved a $65.7 billion bill financing education, health, and labor programs. Clinton, unhappy about the education allotment, has threatened a veto.
The next stop for hurricane Hortense appeared to be the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, forecasters said. It will likely miss Florida and the southeastern US coast and take a northerly course. Puerto Rico began tallying Hortense's damage, which left at least eight people dead there and thousands homeless. Also, Clinton plans to visit North Carolina Saturday to survey the damage from hurricane Fran. Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinans are still without basic services there.
Ross Perot announced Pat Choate as his running mate in a TV infomercial. Choate is a protectionist opposed to the North American Free Trade Agreement. He co-authored a book with Perot after the candidate's unsuccessful 1992 presidential bid.
New Jersey joined 14 other states by filing a lawsuit against the tobacco industry for violating consumer protection laws with deceptive and misleading ads. New Jersey estimates it spends $1.1 billion annually to treat tobacco-related illnesses.
Primaries were held in three states to determine US Senate seat races. In Minnesota, voters chose Rudy Boschwitz (R) to run against incumbent Paul Wellstone (D), who ousted Boschwitz from office six years ago. In Rhode Island, Republican state Treasurer Nancy Mayer (R) and Rep. Jack Reed (D) will compete for the seat of Sen. Claiborne Pell (D), who is retiring after six terms. In New Hampshire, Rep. Dick Swett narrowly defeated businessman John Rauh for the Democratic nomination. Swett will now run against first-term Republican Sen. Bob Smith.
Prudential Insurance Company of America lost a health-care contract worth $4.5 billion with the American Association of Retired Persons in a bidding contest with three other insurers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The contract was won by United Health Care Corp. of Minneapolis because it offered more flexibility and a willingness to tailor products to members seeking home care instead of hospitals or nursing homes, the AARP said.
The Justice Department asked the Fourth US Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., to return a case involving Virginia Military Institute to federal courts. The state-supported military school is refusing to accept applications from women despite a Supreme Court rejection of its male-only admissions policy as unconstitutional, it said. The Justice Department is seeking an injunction barring VMI from continuing exclusionary practices.
Striking machinists voted on the latest contract offer from the McDonnell Douglas Corp. The machinists are concerned about the company's growing use of subcontractors and nonunion plants. If the contract is rejected, the 105-day-old strike could continue into the winter, some union and company officials said.
Irish Prime Minister John Bruton called for an unequivocal end to Irish Republican Army violence and an early start to substantive peace talks on Northern Ireland during a speech to Congress. Bruton met with Clinton earlier to discuss the talks.
THE WORLD
Iraq fired missiles at a pair of US F-16s that were patrolling in the north, the US military said. Both jets returned safely. This is the first time the US has detected Iraqi fire, despite Baghdad's claims over the last week that it has repeatedly fired on the US. Also, Iraq is defying US warnings not to rebuild military sites destroyed in last week's missile attacks, the US said. About 5,000 Kurdish refugees crossed over to Iran, and the UN revised their count of Kurds fleeing Sulaymaniyah to 50,000 - down from 300,000. And President Saddam Hussein lifted travel restrictions that have been in place since the Gulf war, and offered a general amnesty to all Kurds.
The US and other nuclear powers are likely to begin signing a treaty banning nuclear tests in about two weeks. The UN approved the treaty, but opposition from India must be overcome if it's to become law. India, Pakistan, and Bhutan were the only three nations to vote against the treaty.
The convicted assassin of Yitzhak Rabin and two other men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder the Israeli prime minister. Yigal Amir, his brother Hagai, and a friend, Dror Adani, all face a maximum of 29 years in prison. The defendants' lawyers said they would appeal. Amir is already serving a life sentence for the Nov. 4 murder.
The Taleban, a radical Islamic militia made up of religious students, captured the eastern town of Jalalabad in Afghanistan.
Britain issued a report that Swiss banks have more than $6 billion in gold stolen by the Nazis from occupied countries during World War II. The report says much of the money came from Jewish individuals, prompting renewed cries from Jewish groups for compensation.
Hutu rebels in Burundi launched two attacks that killed 16 people, a military spokesman said. The country's Catholic archbishop was killed in one ambush. Joachim Ruhuna was an outspoken critic of the ethnic violence besieging the country. Military ruler Pierre Buyoya ia pleading for calm in the wake of the attacks.
Former South African Defense Minister Magnus Malan went free after being acquitted of 13 apartheid-era murders.
The European Commission said a British program to slaughter 147,000 cows is essential to the gradual lifting of the worldwide ban on British beef. The announcement came after Prime Minister Major said British ministers would review the planned cull of cattle most at risk from mad cow disease.
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said he's willing to offer troops for a follow-up NATO military mission in the former Yugoslavia. Kohl said he couldn't imagine German peacekeeping troops leaving the area when the mandate for IFOR forces runs out in January.
Belarus's parliament gave President Alexander Lukashenko until Sunday to rescind a string of decrees struck down by the courts or face impeachment.
Police detained human rights activist Fu Guyong in central China for alleged illegal political activities, family members said. Fu's sister, her husband, and their employees were also detained for several days.
Prince Ranariddh, Cambodia's first prime minister, said he and his co-premier Hun Sen asked the king for a royal pardon for dissident Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary for his role in the murder of up to 2 million Cambodians in the 1970s.
A US soldier confessed to the murder of a South Korean prostitute. Priv. Eric Munnich is currently in US Army custody. Crimes involving US soldiers often trigger widespread protests about the US military presence in South Korea.
ETCETERAS
"Now I can understand why he's working so hard to keep his day job."
- Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mike Luckovich,
after looking at a caricature President Clinton drew of himself at Luckovich's request.
Golfers at Tatnuck Country Club near Worcester, Mass., should have no trouble getting in 18 holes before work. A team broke the world record for the fastest round of golf there in 9 minutes 28 seconds.
The hole in the ozone layer has reached a size roughly equal to its maximum last year in an apparent slowing of its recent rapid growth rate, the UN weather agency said.
THE DAY'S LIST
1996 Media Moguls
Bill Gates bumped Rupert Murdoch from last year's first-place slot in Vanity Fair magazine's 1996 "New Establishment" list of media leaders.
1. Microsoft founder Bill Gates
2. Media baron Rupert Murdoch
3. Walt Disney Company head Michael Eisner
4. Time Warner Inc. chairman Gerald Levin
5. Intel Corp. president Andrew Grove
6. Allen Company chief Herbert Allen
7.. Tele-Communications Inc. president John Malone
8. Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone
9. IBM head Louis Gerstner
10. DreamWorks SKG cofounder David Geffen
- Associated Press
