News In Brief
In a rousing farewell speech, President Clinton urged delegates to continue the policies of "progress and prosperity" by electing Al Gore. Extolling his own record and the work of his wife and Gore, Clinton challenged Republican allegations of ineffective Democratic leadership.
Also noteworthy:
*Although protests outside the convention center were mostly peaceful, violence flared when police fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at about 40 youths who attacked them at an outdoor concert.
*More than 2,000 people protested the influence of business on politics. A smaller group marched against Gore's stock holdings in Occidental Petroleum, a firm whose drilling plans upset environmentalists.
*Gore and running mate Joseph Lieberman campaigned in St. Louis ahead of a planned rally with Clinton in Michigan.
*Teamsters President James Hoffa said the 1.5 million member union won't endorse either Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan or Green Party nominee Ralph Nader for president. Hoffa's remarks raised Democratic hopes that the union will back Gore.
An economic policy adviser for Gore said the candidate was considering a proposal for a global environmental organization to protect wildlife and address concerns about trade and natural resources. Laura Tyson, former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said the organization would be similar to the function of the World Trade Organization in global commerce. The plan, analysts said, could help Gore address criticism that his free trade policies endanger the environment.
US vessels are ready to join Russia's efforts to rescue a damaged submarine, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. But he indicated no requests for assistance have been made.
Test scores for non-English speakers jumped in California, two years after the state largely ended bilingual education. State officials said scores for limited-English students went up as much as scores for fluent students. Supporters of the 1998 Proposition 227 that strongly diminished bilingual education argued the recent figures vindicate their cause, but opponents said the test is not an accurate gauge of English knowledge.
Total industrial production grew 0.4 percent in July, the Federal Reserve reported. Analysts said the continuing manufacturing growth doesn't change their expectation that the Fed won't alter interest rates when it meets next Tuesday.
Dry lightning sparked new fires in Montana, as thousands of firefighters there eagerly awaited the arrival of experienced crew bosses from Australia and New Zealand. A lack of supervisors to direct fire crews has hampered efforts to squelch the 23 large blazes raging across the state. Montana Gov. Marc Racicot (R) closed as many as 8 million acres of land over the weekend as a protective measure and to prevent new outbreaks.
An Algerian man pleaded not guilty in New York to charges he aided terrorist plans to bomb millennium celebrations in the US. Mokhtar Haouari and codefendant Abdelghani Meskini were indicted for providing terrorist support, transferring fraudulent identification cards, and trafficking fraudulent bank and charge cards.
(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society
