News In Brief
THE US
President Clinton planned to announce new airline security measures to make air travellers less vulnerable to attack. Earlier, he met with families of those killed in the TWA Flight 800 explosion. The relatives vented frustrations about the slow pace of the effort to recover victims' bodies: Only 114 of 230 bodies have been recovered. Hours before Clinton landed in New York, divers found the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, which were described as battered but usable. Later in the day, Clinton was expected to fly to Atlanta to watch some of the Olympics.
The House planned to vote on a bill to end federal support for the light-water-reactor program, established to produce safe nuclear energy. The project is due to received $17 million next year, adding to a five-year price tag that exceeds $300 million. Much of the money has gone to Westinghouse Corp. and the General Electric Co. The House was also expected to pass a $19.4-billion measure financing energy and water projects for next year. The bills were the last of 13 spending measures for 1997 taken up by the House. Earlier, the House approved $500 million for the Department of Commerce, Justice, and State to reinforce federal crime- and drug-fighting efforts. Also, Clinton is expected to sign a new law passed by the Senate that revamps pesticides laws.
Past drug use shouldn't be a barrier for those interested in public service, National Drug Control policy Director Brian McCaffrey said. White House and GOP lawmakers have been sparring over the drug histories of politicians in both parties. And earlier this month, the Clinton administration revealed that some current White House employees are regularly tested for drugs because FBI security checks showed "extensive and-or recent" drug use in their backgrounds.
The Drug Enforcement Administration briefed congressional staffers on investigations into claims by five drug traffickers that Castro allowed them to use Cuban waters as a stopover for one of the largest cocaine shipments into southern Florida. The claims were made by a Colombian and four Cuban Americans arrested last January in the Miami area with large caches of cocaine and Cuban cigars. A photo of one of the men with Castro was seized by the DEA, The Miami Herald reported. Cuba denied the claims, calling them "outrageous lies."
The US ended a blanket ban on arms trade with six former Soviet republics. Kazakhstan, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were removed from the list, but applications for arms exports will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, the State Department's Nicholas Burns said. Ukraine also may be removed "very shortly," he added.
Sales of previously owned homes slid 2.3 percent in June as mortgage rates reached the highest average in more than a year. The decline was just the second in 1996. Only the South experienced increased sales. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.32 percent in June.
The Federal Communications Commission planned to propose rules that would pave the way for broadcasters to offer digital TV. Experts say digital TV provides a movie-quality picture and CD-quality sound. Also, The FCC approved rules to open a new range of frequencies for a low-power radio service.The service would support portable devices for short-range broadcasts for the hearing-impaired, officials said. Police could also use the system to find stolen property.
Colombia should throw the book at drug traffickers if it wants better relations with the US, the State Department said. The comment was made before a fence-mending meeting with Colombia's Foreign Minister Maria Emma Mejia. Relations between the countries are strained.
Four women were accepted as cadets at The Citadel, and at least two have reserved rooms for the fall, the South Carolina state school announced. They will be the first female cadets since the school dropped its male-only policy.
THE WORLD
Heavy gunfire erupted after Burundi's Tutsi-led Army announced it had overthrown the government and reinstated former military leader Pierre Buyoya. Earlier, Tutsi Prime Minister Antoine Nduwayo agreed to resign, state radio reported. Also, Nduwayo's Uprona Party and seven other pro-Tutsi parties withdrew from the government - effectively bringing down the ruling coalition. Hutu President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, who has taken refuge in the US ambassador's residence, asked his country to ignore the coup. Also, the secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity warned a coup would be met by force. And the UN considered plans for a Burundi mission.
Security forces overwhelmed the lone hijacker who seized a plane in Oran, Algeria, Algerian state TV reported. All 232 passengers were freed unharmed. The hijacker's aim and identity were not disclosed.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in a rare official visit. The meeting followed Arafat's talks with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy. Arafat said he carried a message from Levy offering to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Sharaa "any place, any time." Syria has yet to respond to the offer.
UN war crimes investigators unearthed at least 20 bodies near Nova Kasaba, Bosnia. That's the area depicted in US spy photographs shown last year to the UN Security Council as part of the evidence that a massacre had taken place. Also, the EU gave Croats in Mostar until Aug. 4 to end a boycott of the newly elected city council.
Flood waters began receding in central and southern China after monsoon rains caused an estimated $11 billion in damage. At least 1,522 people died in the floods. China's Red Cross appealed for $3.6 million in aid. Many communities are without clean drinking water, and relief workers are bringing supplies in by boat for those still trapped on the roofs of their houses. More than 6 million people in Hunan and Hubei Provinces are battling flooding along the Yangtze River. Foreign countries have donated more than $600,000 in emergency aid, and the US airlifted 16 tons of supplies into Shanghai.
Sri Lankan police detained 27 suspected Tamil rebels for questioning after two bombs exploded on a train, killing 63 people and injuring more than 450. The rebels denied responsibility for the attacks.
More than 2,000 people gathered outside an Istanbul courthouse to protest the deaths of six Turkish hunger strikers. Nearly 2,000 prisoners nationwide have been on a hunger strike for nearly 70 days - protesting beatings, transfers to remote facilities, and the cancellation of visiting rights. Inmates have seized control of three large prisons. More than 50 prisoners were in critical condition in 33 prisons across the country. Ankara said it would not make any concessions to end the strike or force strikers to eat.
South Africa's highest court unanimously ruled that the truth commission can grant amnesty to people who committed apart-heid-era abuses. Their decision ends a challenge to the commission by relatives of three slain activists. The relatives argued that those responsible for the deaths should be punished. The amnesty clause was considered crucial to getting black and white negotiators to agree on the interim constitution that ended apartheid.
Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's minority government survived a vote of confidence when opposition Social Democrats handed him the victory by walking out of parliament.
One of Ukraine's nuclear power plants suffered two accidents in three hours - sparking renewed concerns about safety. A small amount of radiation was released outside the plant, and one worker was killed.
ETCETERAS
"Your revolutionary trumpet will have turned into a piccolo."
-- Rep. David Obey (D. of Wis.), urging anti-deficit Republicans to end federal support for the light water reactor program, established to make safer nuclear energy. Obey claims the funding supports one of the wealthiest industries.
Anthropologists found the most complete skull known of a 60-pound fruit-eating ape that lived between 18 million and 5 million years ago in Ankara, Turkey. Studying the fossil may help anthropologists learn more about the common ancestor of humans and great apes.
Eat your worms! That's what Idaho hatcheries are demanding their trout do after anglers complained they ignore bait when released into the wild. The pellet-fed trout had "never seen a worm in their life," said Jeff Dillon of the Fish and Game Department. His new trout education project includes a shock diet of nightcrawlers before fish are released.
A Georgia man left $70,000 to five store clerks who befriended him during his daily trips to their supermarket. "He liked them a lot ... and thought they could probably use the money," the man's financial adviser said.
Ireland's Michelle Smith won her third gold medal for the 200-meter individual medley. Russian Denis Pankratov broke his own world record in the 100-meter butterfly. German Christian Klees set a new world record to win the gold in the 50-meter free rifle prone shooting event.
THE DAY'S LIST
Personal Income Growth
Top 10 percentage changes in personal income, by state, from the 1995 fourth quarter to the 1996 first quarter. Michigan, with a change of - 0.6 percent - was the only state with a negative change. The overall national percent change: +1.2.
Percent change
1. Idaho +3.6%
2. Washington +2.7
3. Kansas +2.3
4. Nevada +2.3
5. Utah +2.3
6. Georgia +2.1
7. Arizona +2.1
8. Oregon +2.1
9. New Mexico +2.1
10. Wyoming +2.0
-- Associated Press
