(238,2,'Democrats who hope Sen. Lloyd Bentsen will help the ticket win his home state of Texas and perhaps the presidential election could do well to regard the fate of Henry Gassaway Davis. In case anyone doesn\'t remember, Davis was Democrat Alton B. Parker\'s running mate when Parker ran for president against Republican Teddy Roosevelt in 1904. The voters chose between Roosevelt and Parker, and their choice was Roosevelt by a 3-2 margin. Experts concede that the vice presidential debate in Omaha, Neb., on Wednesday between Bentsen and Republican Dan Quayle may make a difference, but they say the voters\' final decision will come down to a choice between the top of the tickets, Democrat Michael Dukakis and Vice President George Bush. ``Unless Quayle is absolutely destroyed in the debate with Bentsen, I don\'t think it will hurt Bush,\'\' said Leo Ribuffo, a specialist in political history at George Washington University in Washington. ``People will be looking for Quayle to blow it,\'\' said Samuel H. Kernell, professor of political science at the University of California at San Diego. ``If he can get through the debate in a competent fashion where he looks unexceptional, it will be a real success for him.\'\' Eddie Mahe Jr., a Republican political consultant, said, ``I think it is reasonable to suggest that George Bush would have won Indiana (Quayle\'s home state) without Mr. Quayle, and with Mr. Bentsen, Mike Dukakis is still not going to carry Texas. So you wash that out.\'\' ``I think the odds are that Quayle will have little or no effect on the ultimate choice,\'\' said Thomas Mann, program director for governmental studies at the Brookings Institution here. Elspeth Rostow, a political scholar at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin, said Bush\'s choice of Quayle ``doesn\'t seem to have too much effect on the voters, at least so far.\'\' ``I don\'t think, if indeed Bush was disposed to choose Quayle to appeal to women, that so far it has had that effect,\'\' Ms. Rostow said. ``I think the conventional wisdom that the selection of a running mate is rarely decisive one way or another is absolutely true,\'\' said Ribuffo. A survey conducted this year by the Hearst Corp. supports this view. Eighteen percent of the 1,001 voters surveyed said they had changed their minds about a presidential candidate at one time or another because of their opinion of his running mate. Of those, 70 percent said they voted against that ticket. Political experts agree that if a running mate has any effect, he is more likely to hurt than help. Examples cited include President Ford\'s selection of Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas, who was criticized for his slashing debating style in 1976, and Walter Mondale\'s choice of Geraldine Ferraro, who suffered from examination of her family\'s finances in 1984. ``Clearly in my opinion Bob Dole in 1976 in that debate (with Mondale, Jimmy Carter\'s running mate) cost Jerry Ford votes,\'\' Mahe said. ``Clearly in 1984 in my opinion, Geraldine Ferraro cost Walter Mondale votes probably.\'\' In Richard Nixon\'s unsuccessful campaign of 1960, some thought that Republican vice presidential candidate Henry Cabot Lodge hurt the ticket\'s chances by pledging that Nixon would appoint a black to the Cabinet _ a statement Nixon disavowed. Lodge, a former ambassador to the United Nations, also was criticized for taking naps and not campaigning hard enough. ``Some have thought that if he had used his prestige from the U.N. more effectively, Nixon might have edged out Kennedy,\'\' Ms. Rostow said. There are exceptions to the rule that running mates don\'t help much, the experts said. While there is disagreement over whether Lodge hurt Nixon in 1960, almost everybody agrees that Lyndon B. Johnson helped Kennedy by enabling him to carry Texas. ``I don\'t think Kennedy would have won without Johnson,\'\' Ribuffo said. Also, Ribuffo said, Mondale may have helped Carter win election in 1976 by imparting legitimacy to the former Georgia governor in the eyes of skeptical liberals. Then there was the running mate that Republicans chose in 1900 to help the colorless William McKinley win a second term against the dynamic Democrat, William Jennings Bryan. The ticket of McKinley and Roosevelt became known as ``the kangaroo ticket because it had a kick in the tail,\'\' Ms. Rostow said. There haven\'t been many tickets in any other year, including 1988, with that much of a kick in the tail, the experts agree.\r\n'),(239,2,'Israel\'s phone-tapping scandal widened today amid reports that private investigators illegally tapped phones of more than 20 journalists and possible witnesses in an investigation of a Cabinet official. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri is being questioned on suspicion of illegally funneling public funds to religious institutions that he controls. He is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party. Israel army radio said today that police would complete their investigation in about two weeks and were expected to recommend charges against Deri. The report did not name the possible charges. If Deri stands trial, it could rattle the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. A coalition, led by Shamir\'s right-wing Likud bloc, has a 62-seat majority in the 120-seat Parliament and needs the five seats of Shas to govern. Police believe three private investigating firms tapped phone lines in municipal officials in Jerusalem and newspaper offices in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to today\'s media reports. But a Tel Aviv police official denied the stories, saying they were ``nonsense.\'\' She spoke on condition of anonymity. The bugging scandal surfaced last week with reports that five people had been arrested on suspicion of tapping the phone of Mordechai Gilat, an investigative reporter for the Yediot Ahronot newspaper. Gilat had written a series of exposes on Deri in June. A tape allegedly containing a recording of a conversation between Gilat and Police Commissioner Yaacov Turner was discovered earlier this week. Reports said Turner\'s phone may have been bugged as well. Deri, meanwhile, suggested the left-of-center Labor Party was responsible for the investigation. He indicated it could have started as an attempt to prevent the formation of Shamir\'s coalition on June 11. ``Somebody decided to torpedo the formation of a right-wing government,\'\' Deri told the weekly newspaper Kol Hair. ``Only six days before the formation of the new right-wing government did police start to investigate accusations against me. Only one day before the new government was presented, investigators confiscated material from the Interior Ministry,\'\' Deri said. Shas was responsible for toppling the previous Likud-Labor coalition on March 15. During the subsequent wrangling for power, both Labor and Likud tried to lure Shas onto their sides.\r\n'),(240,2,'Girl Scout cookies bound for sailors aboard the USS Midway were shipped off to Japan today after a persistent Brownie troop squeezed their shipment past Japanese tariffs through diplomatic means. The cookies, which had been sitting in an airline ticket office since they were returned from an April 26 shipment to Tokyo, left this morning, said Jean Titus, general manager for American Airlines in Corpus Christi. Troop 807 in Beeville had sold 402 boxes of cookies to the crew of the USS Midway, stationed in Atsugi, Japan, with free shipment provided by the airline. But Japanese customs officials said they would have to levy a duty on the cookies, and they were returned to Corpus Christi International Airport. Japanese officials have denied that they said the duty would be $2,000. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, went through diplomatic channels to clear the matter up and sent a telegram to the Brownie troop on Wednesday. ``An officer on the USS Midway tells me that he is ready to go pick up your shipment of Girl Scout cookies when they arrive in Japan this Friday,\'\' the telegram said. ``Everybody who was supposed to be getting the cookies was really upset when they didn\'t get them,\'\' said Petty Officer 3rd Class Sig Woolford, who was in Beeville on Wednesday while on leave from the aircraft carrier. Woolford, son-in-law of Brownie troop leader Marchetta White, said sailors have been waiting for the cookies from home for more than two months. The cookies were scheduled to connect with a flight in Dallas, then catch a flight to Narita Airport near Tokyo, where representatives of the U.S. Navy will be allowed to take the shipment duty-free. ``I think it\'s great and I\'ll tell the girls this afternoon at our regular meeting,\'\' said Ms. White. ``I\'m sure you\'ll hear a cheer go up.\'\' Japanese officials issued a statement Tuesday denying that the tariff ever was as high as originally reported. The Japanese Consulate in Houston reported that the airline made an inquiry in Tokyo about the cookies, but did not say that they were intended for U.S. servicemen stationed on a ship.\r\n'),(241,2,'Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski today opened a two-day meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee with a plea for national reconciliation and a promise that more independent groups will be legalized. But he appeared to rule out talking to the outlawed Solidarity trade union, which Polish authorities have maintained accepts money from the U.S. government. ``We can talk to anyone, as long as he is not a client, especially a paid one, of a foreign court,\'\' Jaruzelski said. The plenum was the first meeting of the 230-member Central Committee since Poland was shaken by strikes in April and May, and it was expected to give important signals of the authorities\' future moves to prevent more unrest. Jaruzelski, first secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, said upcoming nationwide elections for municipal and provincial councils offer Poles an opportunity to chose active candidates who could represent their needs. The elections Sunday are structured in a way that assures in advance that the Communist Party and its allies will dominate the councils. But Jaruzelski said more seats have been set aside for non-party members. He said those independent people who refused to join the councils were ``another case of missing the train of history.\'\' The party leader, who also is president of the Council of State, said a government-social commission should be established to monitor price increases in Poland and said across-the-board price increases such as were introduced earlier this year should be avoided in the future. Jaruzelski confirmed that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will visit Poland next month and said the trip will be important for Poland\'s future. And the Polish leader spoke at length about the disenchantment of youth with the Communist Party and called for redoubled efforts to win the allegiance of the younger generation. Referring to the strikes between April 25 and May 10, Jaruzelski said they increased the chance for national understanding because they showed the majority of Poles displayed ``a front of realism.\'\' Strikes took place in five factories, with brief stoppages or strike threats in 25 others. But the labor unrest did not spread out of control to factories around Poland as it did in 1980, when Solidarity was born. A new law on associations is awaiting enactment, said Jaruzelski, but that should not stop new groups from being legalized in the meantime. He mentioned no specifics, but there have been official hints that at least three independent groups _ a Warsaw-based pro-private enterprise Economic Society, the dormant Polish chapter of the PEN writers\' club and the Dziekania political discussion club in Warsaw _ may soon be legally registered. Jaruzelski also suggested a ``round table\'\' meeting of representatives of existing and proposed associations to discuss solutions to Poland\'s problems. He gave no details on who would convene the meeting, who could be invited or when it might take place. ``National reconciliation and one of the goals of the socialist renewal,\'\' Jaruzelski said. ``It is broader today than in past years.\'\'\r\n'),(242,2,'Stock prices recovered slightly and the U.S. dollar edged lower against the Japanese yen in Friday morning trading. The Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues, which plunged 431.69 points Thursday, the third largest single-day decline this year, was up by 30.74 points at 26,965.00 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Dealers said share prices started to recover as the foreign exchange market stabilized. The dollar, which rose 1.73 yen on Thursday, opened at 136.25 yen, down from the previous day\'s close of 136.70 yen. The dollar\'s decline on Friday morning was due partly to a 0.20-yen loss overnight in the United States, according to a foreign exchange dealer at the Bank of Tokyo. ``The dollar-buying drive in the market is still strong, but the rate is not moving that quickly,\'\' he said on condition of anonymity. ``Until the scheduled report of U.S. unemployment figures later today, there is a wait-and-see mood among investors, which slows down dollar-buying,\'\' he added.\r\n'),(243,2,'The president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference led a court-ordered race relations seminar Saturday for four former Ku Klux Klansmen, and said the response was better than he\'d expected. ``I didn\'t anticipate the tremendous experience we had,\'\' the Rev. Joseph Lowery of Atlanta said after he and other SCLC representatives met for two hours with the ex-Klansmen in a hotel. However, one of the ex-Klansmen, Roger Handley of Steele, called the session ``a wasted two hours.\'\' ``He didn\'t change my feelings,\'\' said Handley. ``I told Lowery he ought to take his message of brotherly love into the projects where there are drugs, rapes and murders.\'\' Another former Klansman, Terry Tucker of Cullman, called the session ``a learning experience.\'\' ``We\'ve got a lot more common ground than people would think,\'\' he said. ``I never have hated blacks and I don\'t think they hate us.\'\' The session was ordered last year by U.S. District Judge E.B. Haltom Jr. as part of a settlement of a lawsuit stemming from Klan violence against black marchers in Decatur on May 26, 1979, in which gunfire wounded two whites and two blacks. Black marchers were protesting the conviction of Tommy Lee Hines, a retarded black man found guilty of raping a white woman. Klansmen attacked the marchers and shots were fired, wounding four people. As part of the court settlement, the men were ordered to leave the Klan, perform community service and pay varying fines. Lowery said he talked to the four ``about the oneness of the human family, self-respect, the economics of race _ how all poor people are taken advantage of, about the futility of violence and violent resistance to racial progress, how darkness can\'t hold back the dawn.\'\' Cross-burnings have been a dreaded symbol of the KKK over the years, but Lowery said he told them ``the cross is a symbol of our faith, and we hope it would be used for that.\'\' Tucker finished serving a two-month prison sentence for the violence in March 1989 and said he\'s had no contact with the Klan since. ``I feel there are different ways of going about things,\'\' he said. As for his role in the Decatur melee, Tucker said: ``I probably was just a young person sowing bad oats, that\'s all.\'\' Another of the four attending the seminar, Doug Berryhill of Huntsville, said it was ``a productive meeting and I learned quite a bit.\'\' Herbert Campbell of Tuscumbia, using a newspaper to shield his face from news cameras, was asked if he learned anything. ``I learned to keep a newspaper with me,\'\' he said. Handley said he would have no reservations about rejoining the Klan. A fifth Klansman, Derane Godfrey of Wylam, was ordered to attend the session but didn\'t show up. Elizabeth Johnson, a lawyer from the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which brought the lawsuit against the Klan, said she wasn\'t sure what would be done about Godfrey\'s absence. Lowery said that at the end of the two-hour course, all but one of those present held hands while prayers were offered. He declined to say which one. Among the blacks at the session were Lowery and his wife, Evelyn; an SCLC aide, Ralph Worrell of Atlanta; the Rev. John Nettles of Gadsden, Alabama SCLC president, and the Rev. Abraham Woods, president of the Birmingham SCLC chapter.\r\n'),(244,2,'A proposal to give $11.1 billion in new tax breaks to small corporations is being criticized as opening the door for wealthy investors to duck their share of federal taxes. The Bush administration is pushing the new incentives as a substitute for the capital gains tax cut that congressional leaders refused to accept. Some of those leaders are suspicious of the substitute, which actually includes a small capital gains reduction. The proposal is attached to the $500 billion, five-year deficit-reduction agreement that President Bush and congressional leaders reached this week. The tax break proposal ``has very serious flaws,\'\' Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said Wednesday. ``I think it will lead to a substantial increase in tax shelters and great abuse.\'\' Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, also has reservations. If the proposals ``are growth incentives, he thinks they promise only to help tax shelters grow,\'\' an aide said. Public outrage about tax sheltering was a major factor in the sweeping income tax overhaul in 1986. Before then, many wealthy individuals and profitable corporations were able to cut their taxes to almost zero by making investments - many with no chance of success - that offered huge up-front deductions. A Chamber of Commerce official said the new provisions could be drawn tightly enough to avoid reviving such tax shelters. Bush said the plan would provide ``powerful new incentives for productive investment in the kinds of companies that account for much of America\'s job growth.\'\' The key part would allow a person to deduct 25 percent of the first $50,000 invested in a year in a ``small corporation.\'\' Such a corporation would be defined as one with non-borrowed capital of $50 million or less. Critics said the definition is so broad it could cover some giant companies so heavily in debt that stockholder equity falls below the $50 million threshold. Others noted the possibility a big company could split into smaller divisions in an effort to attract investors looking for tax breaks. ``It\'s an outrage and probably stands a shot at being knocked out of the budget package,\'\' said Robert McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice, a labor-financed group. ``We don\'t see the need to encourage people to invest their money in ways that don\'t make sense for them in the absence of a tax incentive.\'\' The special deduction and several other small-corporation incentives were written into the budget agreement at the administration\'s insistence. That occurred after congressional leaders refused to accept Bush\'s proposal to cut the capital gains tax, on grounds that nearly 80 percent of the benefit would go to those with incomes over $100,000 a year. Capital gains, the profits from the sale of investments, are fully taxed at the same rates as other income. One of the proposed incentives is a new capital gains tax cut - albeit a narrow one. It would allow an investor in a small corporation to avoid tax on up to half the price for which the stock was sold, as long as it was held at least five years. Steve Entin, an analyst with the conservative Institute for Research Into Economics of Taxation, who wants a broad capital gains cut, said the incentive package is so narrowly drawn that it would benefit ``only a handful of well-to-do people who could afford to sink a substantial portion of their money into risky small companies.\'\' Ordinary investors have to diversify to reduce risks, Entin said, and there is little in the package for them.\r\n'),(245,2,'Farmers Insurance Group Inc. agreed to discuss a $4.9 billion buyout offer from Batus Inc., but warned it still has reservations about the proposed friendly merger. On a separate front in the eight-month takeover battle, the insurer vowed to appeal a ruling by regulators in Illinois Tuesday giving a tentative green light to a Farmers-Batus merger in that state. Farmers\' offer to negotiate was the first significant easing of the company\'s opposition to a buyout by Batus, a Louisville, Ky.-based tobacco and retailing company. Despite the offer of negotiations, Farmers has a number of objections to a merger, said Leo E. Denlea Jr., Farmers\' chairman and chief executive. ``Farmers\' board of directors has made no decision concerning a sale of the company,\'\' Denlea said in a news release. ``...We will have to address the issues being raised in the insurance regulatory hearings, and the concerns of our insurance exchanges, in a comprehensive fashion if there is to be any prospect for a transaction.\'\' A Batus spokesman said the company had no immediate comment but was preparing a statement. Batus, a subisidiary of BAT Industries PLC of Britain, is seeking to acquire Farmers to gain a foothold in the American financial services business. Farmers is the nation\'s third biggest auto and home insurer and seventh biggest property and casualty insurer. Top management of Farmers declined to negotiate after Batus announced its initial proposal early this year, and Batus took its offer directly to shareholders with a cash tender offer. That offer now stands at $63 a share, or about $4.4 billion. Last week, Batus announced it would be willing to pay $72 a share for the company if Farmers\' management agreed to back the bid. It was the latter proposal, which values the company at approximately $4.9 billion, that won Farmers\' agreement to negotiate. Farmers has contested Batus\' overtures in mailings to shareholders, in court, and in hearings before insurance regulators in nine states where authorities must approve such a merger. On Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Insurance approved a takeover by Batus as long as the company agreed to maintain Farmers\' fees and various lines of insurance, and to continue non-smoker discounts. Batus spokesman Wilson Wyatt said the company has already agreed to meet those conditions. A Farmers spokesman said the company intended to appeal the decision. In the various insurance hearings, Farmers, noting Batus owns the company that makes Kool and Viceroy cigarettes, has suggested a buyout could bring an end to the company\'s insurance discounts for non-smokers. Though Batus officials have maintained they would do no such thing, Farmers\' representatives have suggested an insurer owned by Batus would de-emphasize anti-smoking policies and advertisements. Ohio regulators have approved the merger with conditions similar to those made by Illinois, and Arizona regulators also approved the deal. Idaho, Washington and Oregon have rejected it and decisions or hearings are pending in Texas and Kansas. California regulators rejected the merger, but that decision was overturned by a state court. Most of the decisions are in various stages of appeal. Farmers has 68.4 million shares outstanding, and employees hold options to buy an additional 1.5 million new shares, bringing the total of shares likely to be bought in an unfriendly takeover to 69.9 million.\r\n'),(246,2,'A five-alarm fire today consumed the landmark high school that inspired the hit movie and TV show ``Fame,\'\' injuring 30 of the 200 firefighters battling the blaze in freezing temperatures and high winds. The third, fourth and fifth floors and a section of the roof of the six-story former High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan collapsed, forcing officials to pull all firefighters out of the building, said spokesman Efrain Parrilla. Some firefighters were sent back into the building about two hours later because there was no other way to get to the blaze, Parilla said. The fire was declared under control by 5:30 a.m., nearly five hours after it was reported, Parrilla said. Pockets of flame were expected to continue burning through the morning, but firefighters were expected to be able to keep it from spreading. Four firefighters were sent to hospitals with minor injuries, Parrilla said. Twenty-six others were treated at the scene for sprain, cuts, and other minor injuries. The fire at what is now Liberty High School near Times Square was reported at 12:38 a.m. The blaze started on the third floor and burned up to the roof, Parrilla said. High winds and slippery conditions due to recent snow and rain hampered firefighters, the spokesman said. The National Weather Service reported winds gusting to 28 mph and wind chills of minus 7. The high school was designated a city landmark in 1982. The performing arts school, part of the public school system, combined with the High School of Music and Art about three years ago and moved to a new home. Although the Board of Education did not permit film crews to shoot scenes for ``Fame\'\' inside the high school building, the facade was seen in the 1980 film and the TV series.\r\n'),(247,2,'The stock market took a tumble today, faced with revived upward pressure on world oil prices. The price of oil climbed as pessimism spread about chances for any early resolution of the crisis in the Persian Gulf. Crude oil futures for October delivery jumped about $1.70 a barrel, to well above $31 a barrel, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In addition, analysts said buyers were holding back awaiting the Labor Department\'s report Friday morning on the employment situation for August. The figures are expected to show continued weakness in the economy. Speculation has begun to spread on Wall Street that the data might encourage the Federal Reserve to adopt a more stimulative credit policy in an effort to ease strains on the economy and the banking system. But Wall Streeters are not entirely convinced that long-term interest rates would automatically fall in response to such a move. In fact, some say, rates could rise in that setting if fears increased that the Fed was softening its stand against inflation. That, in turn, would stand to leave the central bank in an even worse policy bind than it has to contend with now.\r\n'),(248,2,'The Senate on Wednesday wished the crew of the space shuttle Discovery ``Godspeed, good luck and a safe journey home\'\' on their mission scheduled to take off Thursday morning. In a resolution introduced by the body\'s leadership and passed by voice vote, the Senate congratulated the men and women of the U.S. space program for the work they had done on the mission and wished good luck to shuttle commander Rick Hauck and rest of the Discovery crew. The measure was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., and Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan. Co-sponsors included former astronaut, Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Sen. Jake Garn, R-Utah, first congressional observer to fly in space. The flight will be the first since the explosion of the shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. Dole said that since the Challenger crash, ``Our space program has been under intense scrutiny. Tomorrow will be no different. The successful launch of the Discovery will be the beginning of a new era in America\'s exploration in space.\'\'\r\n'),(249,2,'For 20 years, Barth Green struggled with his frustration, doctoring crushed and twisted spinal cords while knowing paralysis was permanent and irreversible. Spinal cord injuries doomed active, healthy people to spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs. In the worst cases, they can\'t out of bed, pull on socks or underwear, brush their teeth, comb their hair, lift a forkful of food to their mouths or scratch an itch. But Green made a lousy fatalist. In 1985, he founded the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, dedicated to reversing one of the most catastrophic conditions in medicine by solving the mystery of one of the most complex structures in biology. Today it is the country\'s largest and most comprehensive spinal cord research unit. ``No one\'s ever had the guts to say we want to cure paralysis, (but) I\'m committed to eliminating wheelchairs. It\'s a world war against paralysis,\'\' said Green, a neurosurgeon. ``Our philosophy is to approach it like the Manhattan Project to split atoms to stop Hitler, or the Apollo Project to put a man on the moon in the space race.\'\' In an era when miracle drugs, transplant surgery, laser beams and artificial body parts have made medicine seem capable of solving almost anything, paralysis remains stubbornly unconquered. Researchers have made progress toward regenerating nerves in animals\' spinal cords with transplants of cells from fetuses, electrical pulses and genetic engineering. But some say the challenge may be tougher than building atomic bombs or space ships. ``Those were engineering problems with a general consensus it could be done. Those guys had blueprints. We don\'t have any blueprints,\'\' said Dr. Walter Levy, a researcher at the Miami Project. ``We\'re in the Wright brothers stage. What\'s required is a space shuttle,\'\' said Dr. Michael Kliot, a neurosurgeon at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. ``There\'s a ray of hope. But we\'re very, very far away from curing spinal cord injuries.\'\' An estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people in the United States are paralyzed as a result of injuries, according to the Department of Health and Human Services; an additional 10,000 to 15,000 people are hurt each year. No agency keeps precise count. Auto accidents account for about half the paralysis cases. Other causes are dives, falls, and accidents with guns and knives or while playing sports. The average age of victims is 19. Marc Buoniconti, son of former All-Pro football linebacker Nick Buoniconti of the Miami Dolphins, was 19 when his neck broke and crushed his spinal cord as he made a head-first tackle, paralyzing him from the neck down Oct. 26, 1985. ``I knew I broke my neck right away,\'\' said Buoniconti, who had played football since he was a 75-pound 7-year-old. ``My right arm flopped to the turf. I couldn\'t move. I couldn\'t get my breath back. I couldn\'t talk. ``In one second, I went from the best shape of my life to the worst,\'\' Buoniconti said. ``I was taking my last steps doing my favorite thing. It was on a football field, the place I love the most.\'\' Now, from his wheelchair at home in this Miami suburb, the 21-year-old Buoniconti is tackling paralysis as national spokesman for the Miami Project. The project\'s logo is a four-frame sequence of a stick figure standing up out of a wheelchair, matching the can-do grit of Buoniconti\'s personalized license plate that reads ``I\'LL WALK.\'\' ``It\'s not a question of `if.\' That\'s not in our vocabulary. It\'s a question of when,\'\' said Steve Towle, the project\'s executive director and a former Dolphins linebacker. ``I\'ve seen what it takes to win. It can be done. It will be done.\'\' The spinal cord, encased in the bony armor of the spinal column, is as wide as a thumb and has the consistency of jellied candy.\r\n'),(250,2,'The Polisario Front announced Saturday it is sending a top-level delegation to meet Morocco\'s King Hassan II. It would be the first such encounter since Polisario guerrillas went to war with Morocco 13 years ago. No date for the meeting or names of delegates were given. The statement issued here by the Polisario Front said the initiative follows a declaration by the Moroccan monarch to the French press that he was ready to meet Polisario officials. The group called Hassan\'s statement ``a constructive position taken in response to repeated calls by the Polisario for dialogue.\'\' The talks would be the first direct contacts between Morocco and the Polisario or its political structure, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic, since the guerrilla group began fighting Morocco for independence for the Western Sahara, annexed by Morocco in 1975. The Polisario statement said the group would cooperate fully with the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations, which have been seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict. Both Morocco and the Polisario have agreed in principle to a referendum on the future of the Western Sahara. However, the statement reiterated Polisario\'s stance that Moroccan troops and administration in the disputed territory remain an obstacle to the process and should be removed. Polisario declared the Western Sahara a republic in February 1976. It has since been recognized by 45 countries, 27 of them Organization of African Unity members. Morocco quit the group in 1980 when the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic became a member.\r\n'),(251,2,'Gang members returning from a friend\'s funeral allegedly used two rented limousines in a drive-by shooting that wounded one man, police said. The unidentified man was treated for a gunshot wound to the foot at Brotman Medical Center in Culver City after the 2:30 p.m. Thursday shooting, Sgt. Bob James said. James said no arrests were made immediately, but the limousines were impounded and the drivers questioned and released. ``These drivers don\'t know what these people are doing,\'\' James said. ``These people are in the back partying. The drivers don\'t know what\'s going on.\'\' On Tuesday, gang members opened fire from a limousine and killed 19-year-old Robert Lewis Riley Jr., police said. Both shootings were under investigation.\r\n'),(252,2,'Hubert de Givenchy wound up an exciting week of summer haute couture with a parade of his gala couture clothes for women who want to look on the sexy side. Spanish-born Paco Rabanne won the Golden Thimble Award for his amusing, lively collection that made full use of ``new\'\' materials like fringed raffia, crystal-globe embroideries and sequined leather. Two-time winner Christian Lacroix finished a close second in the semiannual prize awarded by an international jury of fashion journalists. Givenchy\'s show, on Thursday, was magnificent. From caramel leather shorts topped by fresh and airy white linen blouses to the most extravagantly opulent evening wear, the show ranked as one of best this master of the fine art of couture has ever produced. His narrow rustic linen suits or belted knee-revealing dresses in shades of bright blue, rust, peach, and golden sand with their bold silver buttons couldn\'t be faulted for daytime. Givenchy brought out plenty of trouser suits, tailored in soft gabardines or shiny linen tweeds. He solved the dilemma of see-through chiffon blouses with a white-dotted transparent black number sporting a big floppy bow to hide bosom details. The sharp Givenchy silhouette with padded shoulders in suits was softened up with considerable sexiness for late-day wear. Even the bridal number was barely more than a sprig of pastel silk flowers on a prancing nude. But the main elements of style were there. Almost every evening outfit was a show-stopper. His enormous-flowered gazar and organza evening gowns were breathtaking. The fabrics featured bold poppies, daisies, lilies of the valley or daffodils on hot-colored backgrounds of kelly green, citron, tomato, purple or fuchsia. Some white faille bustier gowns with black-lace embroidery glowing with siren-red chiffon or affeta wraps were dynamite, guaranteeing a grand entrance. Valentino, who has shown luxury ready-to-wear for 10 years in Paris, has finally abandoned Italy as a showcase, choosing a Trocadero museum auditorium for his second Paris couture show. On Wednesday night, he brought out a dazzling show of glamorous clothes for rich women, the outfits looking particularly light and young. He led off and ended with swingy, short clothes in his original signature color of white, suits cut with longer jackets and short skirts, waves of accordion pleats around for dancing skirts. Otherwise, Valentino spiced the show with lots of his favorite hot reds and soft tones like celdadon, wisteria, peach and silvery gray in the softest of fabrics like cashmere, silk crepe and acres of flounced chiffon _ a Paris must for couture. Valentino used a lot of tricky latticework in his late-day toppers and the sumptuous evening wear included all kinds of elaborate draping, pleated transparent capes, sequined pastille embroideries on chiffon, and tiers of lace. Per Spook as usual went his own way in a simplified, sporty view of couture that has nothing to do with pretension or grandiose entrances. Except for a few charming buttoned jersey short shift dresses, he seemed allergic to leggy looks. His trouser outfits were cut a bit baggy around the ankle and he often topped these with cute layered styles from a bustier top to a blouse-jacket. But if the 1990s are going to be full of color and feminine clothes as most couturiers seem to think, Spook\'s best contributions are in some of his bright print sporty toppers and adorable evening wear.\r\n'),(253,2,'President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has acted to restore the rights of victims of Josef Stalin, under whose rule millions of peasants died of starvation, were shot or sent to labor camps as ``enemies of the people.\'\' In his toughest condemnation yet of Stalin\'s forced collectivization of agriculture, which began in the late 1920s, Gorbachev said Monday that thousands of innocent people still bore a ``stain of injustice.\'\' In a sweeping decree, Gorbachev said the ``repressions conducted ... during the period of collectivization\'\' were ``unlawful and contradictory to the main civilian and economic rights of human beings.\'\' He condemned repressions against ``all citizens on political, social, ethnic, religious and other motives in the 1920s through the 1950s,\'\' and moved ``to completely reinstate the rights of these citizens.\'\' Gorbachev said the Soviet Union was taking this action now, because ``our society ... has chosen the path of moral revival, democracy and legality.\'\' The decree orders the government of the Soviet Union and its republics to submit, before Oct. 1, proposals to legislatures on restoring the rights of repressed citizens. Gorbachev also empowered his top advisory group, the Presidential Council, to supervise the actions. The decree, however, excludes those ``lawfully sentenced for crimes against the motherland and against the Soviet people\'\' during World War II and in the prewar and postwar years. It orders the Soviet government to draft legislation defining the crimes that are not subject to rehabilitation. The decree also does not consider what compensation, if any, victims should receive. An informal political group, called Memorial, has demanded compensation and restoration of rights for Stalin\'s victims. A special commission to study the victims of Stalinist repression has already rehabilitated thousands. ``But even now, thousands of cases haven\'t been considered,\'\' Gorbachev said in his decree. ``A stain of injustice hasn\'t been removed from the innocent Soviet people who suffered during forced collectivization, who were sentenced, deported with their families to remote regions without means of existence, without a right of appeal, and without even being aware of the term of their sentence.\'\' The decree urges specifically that clergymen and citizens persecuted for religious motives should be rehabilitated. Under Stalin, thousands of priests were shot and religious worship was sharply curtailed. In a landmark speech in November 1987, Gorbachev accused Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union from 1924-53, of ``enormous and unforgivable\'\' crimes. But in that speech, he also called Stalin\'s collectivization ``a transformation of great importance.\'\' In Monday\'s decree, there was no such equivocation. ``Thousands of people were subject to moral and physical torture,\'\' it said. ``Many of them were annihilated. The lives of their families and next of kin were turned into one of humiliation and suffering without any hope.\'\' Western historians say as many as 20 million people were shot, starved to death in famines the Kremlin did everything to encourage, or simply vanished into the gulag during Stalin\'s reign of terror. Thousands of Stalin\'s victims were released from labor camps and rehabilitated after Nikita S. Khrushchev denounced the dictator in a secret speech to the party in 1956, three years after Stalin died.\r\n'),(254,2,'Two crosses made from lilies for separate Easter flower shows were rearranged into pillars after the American Civil Liberties Union objected that the displays promoted religion on public property. The crosses, part of the annual Spring and Easter Flower Show at the Garfield Park Conservatory and the Lincoln Park Conservatory, were altered Wednesday, said Nancy Kaszak, general attorney for the Chicago Park District. Ms. Kaszak said she was contacted Tuesday by an ACLU attorney who contended the crosses were a display of religious symbols on public property. Because of the protest, park workers converted the crosses at both conservatories into pillars of flowers, she said. Jane Whicher, staff counsel for the ACLU in Illinois, said the diplays were brought to her attention by a staff member who visited the Lincoln Park Conservatory. ``My concern is that the cross put up by a public body on public property was a violation of the First Amendment,\'\' Whicher said. ``It shouldn\'t have been erected in the first place, but I commend the park district on removing it so quickly.\'\'\r\n'),(255,2,'Two seamen were executed Monday on charges of killing their captain and three other crewmen in a mutiny aboard a Taiwanese trawler last year, prison officials reported. Hsu Guohsin, 29, from the Chinese province of Fujian, and Taiwanese Yu Tien-shou, 36, were executed after the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty imposed by the Taipei District court last year, the officials said. The men were shot in the back. The seamen were convicted of killing crewmen of the trawler Tung Chung in June last year while it was fishing near Indonesian waters. The two said they mutinied because the captain abused them and gave them too much work to do.\r\n'),(256,2,'Do all things get cheaper by the dozen _ even children? Things are starting out that way for Vicki and Stephen Kesler. Valley View Hospital, where Mrs. Kesler had delivered six of her most recent children, provided its services free when she went there for her 12th. The child, Breanne Marie, was born in July. ``I thought it would be nice to do something for them because they had supported us so much over the years by having their children here,\'\' said John Johnson, the hospital administrator. Betty Mahan, a hospital spokeswoman, said Saturday she did not know how much the free services were worth. The couple have lived in Rifle, in western Colorado, for 10 years. He is an engineer and she is a homemaker. Mrs. Kesler said that anytime she has to fill out a form that asks about her employment, she writes, ``The Kesler home, as mother of 12. That should be sufficient.\'\' The children range to age 19.\r\n'),(257,2,'The night he was arrested on a cocaine possession charge, Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr. made repeated sexual advances to the woman reported to have helped the FBI lure him to the room, law enforcement sources said Thursday. Barry, who the FBI says was videotaped buying and smoking crack cocaine, kissed and touched Rasheeda Moore during his visit to her hotel room, the law enforcement sources said. She rebuffed him, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. According to an FBI affidavit filed in connection with the misdemeanor drug possession charge, agents used a surveillance camera located in an adjacent room during Barry\'s 45-minute visit to Ms. Moore\'s room at the hotel Thursday night. During the visit, the mayor spoke in a decisive voice while conducting city business on the telephone, said one source. The account of sexual advances was first published Thursday in The Washington Post. Barry on Monday checked into a rehabilitation center in West Palm Beach, Fla., after turning over his duties to city administrator Carol Thompson. In developments Thursday: _ Prosecutors delayed the appearance of two of Barry\'s bodyguards before a grand jury. A scheduling conflict with federal prosecutors investigating Barry\'s ties to a convicted drug dealer forced the postponement, a source familiar with the probe said. Four members of the mayor\'s security detail, who are assigned to the mayor on a round-the-clock basis, have been subpoenaed to testify about whether they have knowledge of any Barry drug use, said law enforcement and city government sources. _ Business, labor and community leaders were meeting Thursday night to discuss plans to encourage Jesse Jackson to become a candidate in the November mayoralty election. Meanwhile, however, Jackson complained in comments in The New York Times that the mayor\'s position had ``zero political leverage.\'\' _ Former comedian Dick Gregory, who spent several days immediately following Barry\'s arrest at the mayor\'s residence, said in Las Vegas that Barry\'s closest friends were ``tickled to death\'\' to see that he was seeking help. However, Gregory said at a Las Vegas meeting that he was angry that the federal government has spent so much time and effort in arresting the mayor. _ Bush administration drug policy coordinator William J. Bennett said Barry\'s arrest ``might be one of these watershed kind of events that changes peoples\' attitudes and makes people really realize they have to do something.\'\' Law enforcement and other sources say Ms. Moore, 38, had a longstanding romantic relationship with the mayor but began cooperating with the FBI\'s investigation several weeks ago following her arrest on a drunken driving charge near her home in Burbank, Calif. She had been told by the FBI not to have sexual relations with Barry during Thursday night\'s sting operation, law enforcement sources said. She also was instructed not to smoke any crack or to make any suggestion about using illegal drugs, to avoid any subsequent defense claim of entrapment, the sources said. Barry himself raised the subject of drugs, and purchased a small quantity of crack cocaine from an FBI undercover agent posing as a friend of Ms. Moore, according to a court affidavit and sources. Ms. Moore began cooperating with the FBI after her arrest in North Hollywood, Calif. Jan. 1. The FBI, which had lodged a ``material witness warrant,\'\' was put in touch with her, authorities in California said. She agreed to cooperate in the sting operation after being confronted with grand jury testimony she gave last spring during which she denied using cocaine with the mayor, sources said. They said she told investigators that she and Barry used drugs on repeated occasions over a number of years, including a March 1988 weekend trip to the Virgin Islands. Her story corroborates testimony by convicted drug dealer Charles Lewis, who said he used cocaine with Barry during the Virgin Islands trip and at a downtown hotel in the nation\'s capital. Law enforcement sources say prosecutors are trying to build a perjury case against the mayor, who denied in sworn grand jury testimony that he ever used illegal drugs. The grand jury has called additional witnesses, including members of the mayor\'s security detail. A native of Washington, Ms. Moore graduated from modeling school here and has posed in the past for such national magazines as Essence. She was employed by the city government as a social worker in 1987 and 1988, according to a statement this week by the mayor\'s office.\r\n'),(258,2,'The case of a 23-year-old American photographer, tried Saturday on charges of drug smuggling, has hightlighted differences between the legal systems and national customs of Spain and the United States. Conan Owen, a 1986 graduate of Syracuse University, was charged with smuggling more than four pounds of cocaine from Chile to Spain in a false-bottomed suitcase. He received the suitcase from a travel agent near his home in Annandale, Va. Both prosecuting attorney Teresa Calvo, who asked for a 10-year jail sentence, and presiding Judge Jose Presencia Rubio expressed incredulity that a university graduate would accept a job from a passing acquaintance and agree to carry a suitcase halfway around the world for someone he hardly knew. In Spain, the custom is only to do business with people you know. During his year in Barcelona\'s 85-year-old Model Prison, Owen said he didn\'t understand why he had not been freed on bail pending trial. Bail was denied because Owen was a foreigner caught with a substantial amount of relatively pure cocaine. When U.S. law enforcement agents testified Saturday that Owen had provided them with information leading to a half dozen indictments of members of a suspected cocaine smuggling ring, the judge called it all ``very interesting\'\' but said he was only interested in Owen\'s case. Attorney General Edwin Meese III even delivered copies to Spanish judicial authorities of a statement made by George Barahona, the man who hired Owen, and who early last month received a two-year suspended sentence for narcotics violations from a federal court in Virginia. In the statement made in a plea bargain agreement, Barahona said Owen knew nothing about the drugs and had been used as a carrier. But plea bargaining does not exist in Spain. In her summary, Calvo implied that plea bargaining was a less-than-honorable institution. U.S. officials faced a similar problem several years ago when a Spanish court was considering U.S. and Spanish requests for extradition of Colombian cocaine baron Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez. The U.S. indictment of Ochoa, who was arrested in Madrid in November 1984, was based on extensive testimony obtained through a plea bargin. The Spanish court instead sent Ochoa back to Colombia in July 1986. He went free a week later.\r\n'),(259,2,'Customs agents detained a plane chartered by Air Panama to search for any U.S. currency being taken illegally out of the country Wednesday but found none and sent the aircraft on its way, a spokesman said. ``U.S. Customs had some information that there might possibly be an outbound currency violation connected with the flight,\'\' spokesman Michael Sheehan said. The chartered Boeing 707 was scheduled to carry military and police-type uniforms, small machinery and other merchandise to Panama City, Sheehan said. It was detained for four hours Panama\'s national currency is the U.S. dollar, and the cash supply has been drying up because of a dispute over control of the Panamanian government. Panama keeps an estimated $50 million on deposit in American banks, but U.S. judges froze assets in banks in Miami and New York to prevent the government of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega from withdrawing funds.\r\n'),(260,2,'The Census Bureau is increasing the number of telephone help lines, after receiving nearly 50,000 calls over the weekend, the agency said Tuesday. The toll-free service for people with questions about the census opened Friday with 390 lines available. The total is now being increased to 460 lines. Lines for Spanish-speaking callers were a particular problem, officials said, and they are being increased from 88 to 160. ``The volume of calls we\'re receiving means there is a high degree of awareness and support for the census. But obviously we don\'t want people to get a busy signal when they call and we\'re taking steps to make sure that they don\'t,\'\' said census director Barbara Everitt Bryant. The assistance lines are staffed from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., local time, seven days a week. The numbers are: English: 1-800-999-1990. Spanish: 1-800-283-6826. Cambodian: 1-800-289-1960. Chinese: 1-800-365-2101. Korean: 1-800-444-6205. Laotian: 1-800-888-3208. Vietnamese: 1-800-937-1953. Thai: 1-800-288-1984. Hearing Impaired: 1-800-777-0978.\r\n'),(261,2,'Inflation slowed last month to an annual rate of just 3 percent, the government said today, as clothing prices fell for the first time since August and food prices stabilized for the first time since last February. The Labor Department said its Consumer Price Index, after seasonal adjustments, rose just 0.3 percent in November, compared with a 0.4 percent gain a month earlier. Before the seasonal adjustments, prices rose just 0.1 percent, the department said. The monthly inflation figure, rounded off in the announcement to 0.3, was actually 0.25, adding up to 3 percent annually. The new figures slowed the annual inflation rate from 4.6 per cent for the first 10 months of the year to 4.4 percent for the first 11 months. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater commented, ``Consumer price inflation appears to be moderating.\'\' He noted that inflation has been lower in the second half of the year than the first half. With only December left, another month similar to November could enable the Reagan Administration to finish its last year in office meeting its inflation target of 4.3 percent for 1988. The Commerce Department said today that the gross national product, the broadest measure of economic health, expanded at a moderate annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter, held back by the summer drought. For the same period, the department reported that after-tax corporate profits rose 3.9 percent, down from a robust 8.9 percent increase the previous quarter. Food prices, which had risen at an annual rate of 10.9 percent from April through September because of the summer drought, were unchanged in November after rising only 0.2 percent in October, the Labor Department reported. Clothing prices that had jumped a total of 4 percent in September and October with the introduction of new back-to-school and fall fashions fell 0.3 percent last month. `Widespread promotional sales for footwear and women\'s and girl\'s clothing were largely responsible for the November decrease,\'\' the Labor Department said. Housing and shelter costs, including residential rents, rose another 0.3 percent, the same pace they have maintained over the past nine months. Natural gas and electric rates were up 1.8 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, from October, more than offsetting a 2 percent drop in prices for more heavily purchased home heating oil, the government said. The November decrease was the sixth in a row for heating oil. Its price is now 10.8 percent below what it was last spring. Seasonally adjusted gasoline prices were unchanged from October but remain 0.2 percent less than they were at the end of last year and 28.1 percent below their peak level of March 1981. Excluding food, energy and shelter, consumer prices for other items rose an average 0.2 percent in November compared with a jump of 0.7 percent the previous month. The November increase raised the CPI to 120.3 from 120.2 in October, meaning that a marketbasket of goods costing $100 in a 1982-84 base period would have cost $120.30 last month. In November 1987, that same marketbasket would have cost $115.40. New car prices declined by 0.2 percent, reflecting the introduction of rebates on some of the new 1989 models after rising by more than a full percentage point in September and October. However, auto financing and insurance costs continued to advance dramatically, with the former up 1.5 percent and the latter 0.9 percent above October. Airline fares also jumped a dramatic 1.1 percent. Medical costs, meanwhile, rose 0.4 percent last month and are up at an annual rate of 7 percent so far this year. Other goods and services also rose 0.4 percent and are 7.1 percent higher than they were a year ago, the government said. Food buyers last month found seasonally adjusted meat, poultry, fish, egg and fresh fruit and vegetable prices lower than they were in October. However, prices were higher for canned and dried fruits and vegetables, restaurant meals and alcoholic beverages.\r\n'),(262,2,'A judge Wednesday ordered the man charged in the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane to be removed from Bellevue Hospital and returned to Rikers Island jail. The judge, Ira Gammerman, ruled that El Sayyid Nosair\'s wounds and other ailments were not serious enough to keep him at Bellevue, as his lawyer, Michael Warren, had requested. ``You don\'t have to keep a patient in a hospital because he has wax in his ears and stiffness in his neck,\'\' Gammerman said. He said Nosair could be treated at the hospital as an out-patient. Nosair, 35, an Egyptian immigrant who lives in Cliffside Park, N.J., was shot in the neck by a federal officer Nov. 5 as he fled the Manhattan hotel where he allegedly shot Kahane to death after the Zionist rabbi had given a speech. The judge ordered an examination of Nosair by a private doctor after Warren disputed a Bellevue report that his client could return to the jail\'s general population. Warren charged that the city doctor was biased. Bail of $300,000 for Nosair was suspended and a hearing to set a new bail scheduled for Dec. 18.\r\n'),(263,2,'British Columbia gave an art contest, but nobody won. Jurors decided the entries just weren\'t good enough. ``It was a difficult situation but it wasn\'t a difficult decision,\'\' said Willard Holmes, director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Holmes was among the jurors who decided that none of the 380 entries deserved any of the $10,000 in prize money. But the show will go on. Even though prize money has not been awarded, the 20-odd finalists will be displayed at an exhibition opening Oct. 11. The contest was organized by the Federation of Canadian Artists and sponsored by Canadian Forest Products Ltd. The theme of the competition, for which only British Columbia artists were eligible, was ``water and its usefulness to industry.\'\' About 380 entries by 300 artists were submitted. ``We didn\'t see any work which we felt we could support for the prizes,\'\' Holmes said Tuesday. ``I had reservations about taking part in this event and those reservations have been confirmed.\'\' He said the jurors first looked at color slides of all the entries and couldn\'t reach a decision. They then looked at the originals of about 20 potential winners without success. Canada Forest spokesman Gordon Armstrong said his company was disappointed with the jury decision but has told the artist federation to keep the prize money and use it as it sees fit.\r\n'),(264,2,'Soviet troops are delaying their pullout from Kandahar, Afghanistan\'s second largest city, Western diplomats said today. Kandahar, population about 200,000, has been under siege for several weeks and Moslem guerrillas are reportedly preparing for another major offensive against Soviet-Afghan troops stationed there. Reports reaching Islamabad say Afghan insurgents have pushed government troops to defensive positions around the outskirts of the city. The Soviet Union in 1979 sent troops to Afghanistan to support the Marxist regime. On May 15, the Soviets began a withdrawal, which has been slowed by attacks from guerrillas. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Soviet regiment was told to cancel plans to leave Kandahar, reflecting Soviet fears over the city\'s vulnerability. Soviet forces reportedly have left Ghazni, on the road from Kandahar to the Afghan capital of Kabul, but some soldiers remain in Jalalabad, where the Soviet withdrawal was launched in May. There have been reports of heavy fighting in the northeastern province of Baghland. The Salang highway, stretching 200 miles north of Kabul to the Soviet border, is becoming increasingly dangerous, sources said. It was closed to civilian traffic for five days ending Sunday to allow departing Soviet troops to move north. Diplomatic sources say the convoys have been attacked by guerrillas and that up to 100 Soviet soldiers were reported killed in recent clashes. The official Kabul radio, monitored in Islamabad, continues to broadcast a list of guerrilla defeats and atrocities. It claimed Monday that 93 guerrillas were killed and as many injured in recent clashes in seven of Afghanistan\'s 28 provinces. The various reports cannot be independently confirmed.\r\n'),(265,2,'President Bush on Friday signed into law measures to upgrade airport security and to encourage volunteerism and community service. Bush signed the bills as he hurried to finish domestic business before an eight-day foreign trip. The Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990 directs the government to develop guidelines to warn passengers of terrorist threats. It implements safety recommendations of the Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism appointed by Bush after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The bill sets regulations on airport use of metal detection devices. It requires airlines, airports and travel agents to relay any security threat immediately to government officials. Airline and airport employees with access to security areas will have to undergo background checks and new training. In signing the bill, Bush said he had reservations about a provision requiring the State Department to negotiate agreements with other nations to achieve the enhanced security measures at foreign airports. Bush said he believed that provision intruded on his presidential authority to conduct foreign policy and said he would direct officials to interpret it so as not to conflict with that authority. The National Community Service Act of 1990 provides $287 million for community service programs, including $5 million to begin a Thousand Points of Light Foundation to encourage volunteerism, taking its name from Bush\'s phrase for volunteers. It provides money for programs encouraging youth community service through schools or community organizations; grants to state education agencies; expansion of youth corps teams for such projects as environmental cleanup and helping the poor; and a test program for a civilian national service corps that would provide $5,000 in education assistance in return for a year\'s full-time service at a subsistence wage. Bush signed the measure despite attacks by Republicans that it included wasteful spending at a time when the government was raising taxes, and budget constraints prevented full funding existing programs for children and the poor. Bush also on Friday signed the Excellence in Mathematics, Science and Engineering Education Act to establish a variety of fellowships, training programs and grants to foster and improve education in those fields. The bill authorizes $150 million for such programs in 1991. The president vetoed the Indian Preference Act of 1990, which would have established a program to direct contracts and grants to Indian enterprises. Bush said the bill ``would impose new, expensive, and often duplicative program responsibilities\'\' on the Interior Department, which administers Indian reservations. Bush said in a statement that he supports the bill\'s goals and is ``committed to helping alleviate the widespread unemployment and underemployment on Indian reservations.\'\' He said the bill\'s issues ``deserve a full airing in both Houses of Congress. He said he would direct Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan to take steps to address problems with contracting programs involving Indian enterprises. Bush took the action before departing Friday night for Prague, the first stop of an eight-day trip that will also take him to Paris, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.\r\n'),(266,2,'President Mikhail S. Gorbachev today proposed a government overhaul that would give republics more influence and could force out Prime Minister Nikolai I. Ryzhkov, who has resisted swift reform. The move appeared to be a concession to Gorbachev\'s main rival and frequent critic, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, who had demanded a coalition government and Ryzhkov\'s resignation. Speaking to the Supreme Soviet legislature, Gorbachev also said an emergency program will be drafted within two weeks to deal with growing food shortages. He did not give details. In today\'s 12-minute speech, Gorbachev elaborated on some of the ideas he introduced in a speech Friday. That speech came at the demand of lawmakers, who insisted the president give an emergency report on the state of the union. Gorbachev\'s proposals aim to calm growing discontent over the country\'s collapsing economy and the increasing rebelliousness among the republics, all but one of which have made declarations of sovereignty. ``I appeal to citizens of all 15 republics to support these undelayable measures,\'\' Gorbachev said today. The separatist movement must be stopped, he said. ``We cannot break up (the union). We cannot go down this path.\'\' Gorbachev did not make it clear whether he could implement the proposals on his own or if they needed ratification by Soviet lawmakers. But Anatoly Lukyanov, chairman of the Supreme Soviet, told legislators that the 2,250-member Congress of People\'s Deputies, which meets next month, would have to approve any constitutional amendments for government restructuring. Under Gorbachev\'s proposals, the Council of Ministers headed by Ryzhkov would be replaced by several bodies under direct presidential control. The principal ruling body would be the Federation Council, which would include representatives of the republics. Legislators generally welcomed the proposed elimination of Ryzhkov\'s job, but unless the republics agree to join the Federation Council, the restructuring is unlikely to solve the paralysis of power in the country. Initial reaction from some republics was negative. An Estonia lawmaker said her republic and the two other Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania would not join the council. ``We will not take part in any old or new institution which is an institution of federation,\'\' Marju Lauristin, deputy speaker of Estonia\'s parliament, told reporters. She suggested the restructuring was an attempt to establish a dictatorship. ``It is concentrating all power in the economy in politics in military affairs in one (person\'s) hands,\'\' she said. The Baltics have said that their incorporation into the Soviet Union in 1940 was illegal and have launched independence drives. Gorbachev said the Federation Council, formed in March, would be strengthened and would meet more regularly. ``Out of a consultative body it should be transformed into an effective structure to coordinate the efforts of the center and the republics,\'\' he said. Many republics have nullified national legislation and presidential decrees and have declared their laws supreme. The new structure was designed to end such conflicts. Ryzhkov told reporters he had no idea what new role he might have in the new structure, and said he learned of it only 20 minutes before Gorbachev\'s speech. But he said his job was being eliminated. ``I understood that the position of chairman of the Council of Ministers won\'t exist. There will be presidential rule, a presidential Cabinet,\'\' Ryzhkov said. Politicians, demonstrators and commentators have demanded Ryzhkov\'s resignation for at least a year. Yeltsin has said the country cannot solve its economic crisis as long as Ryzhkov and his Cabinet were in place. Asked if he were willing to remain in a government job, Ryzhkov told reporters, ``I will work as long as the people need me.\'\' Ryzhkov, 61, was appoined head of the Council of Ministers in September 1985. Previously, he was director of the Uralmash machine building complex in the Ural Mountains city of Sverdlovsk. The Federation Council, comprised of the leaders of the 15 republics and headed by Gorbachev, has been meeting only sporadically and has not taken a major role in policy-making. Gorbachev said that with the strengthening of the Federation Council, the 18-member Presidential Council, created last March to implement domestic and foreign policy, would be eliminated. To strengthen law and order, which many Soviets have complained is breaking down, Gorbachev said that presidential representatives will be appointed and sent to regions of the country. Under recent constitutional amendments, Gorbachev has the power to impose direct presidential rule in restive areas of the country. The Soviet leader appeared to be moving closer to this step with the announcement of the stationing of his representatives in those areas.\r\n'),(267,2,'The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh said his showcase of communal living in Oregon would set an example for the world, but at his death Friday his commune was vacant and unwanted, his followers scattered, his memory reviled. Rajneesh came to Oregon in 1981. By the time he was thrown out of the country in 1985, authorities were calling him the most notorious figure in Oregon history. ``He was both a charlatan and a very evil person,\'\' said Vic Atiyeh, the governor during the guru\'s years in Oregon. ``Evil in the sense of the kind of people he gathered around him and what he allowed them to do, and his own personal arrogance. He was above everything.\'\' U.S. Attorney Charles Turner, who prosecuted the guru on immigration fraud charges, said the 400 sham marriages among Rajneesh\'s disciples that led to the immigration charges, the poisoning of 750 people at restaurant salad bars and the commune\'s vast electronic eavesdropping network were the largest cases of their kind in American history. ``The legacy of crime that this man left here is unparalleled in American jurisprudence,\'\' Turner said. The bejeweled guru brought his gospel of meditation and free love to the United States on the pretense of obtaining treatment for a bad back. He never underwent that surgery, but moved to a 64,000-acre ranch his followers had purchased in the remote high desert of central Oregon. Their stated intent was to farm the land on Rancho Rajneesh, but they built homes, a hotel, restaurants, shops, an airport and a meditation hall, and then incorporated as the town of Rajneeshpuram. After it all fell apart, an insurance company foreclosed on Rancho Rajneesh, but has been unable to find a buyer. At its height, some 4,000 red-clad disciples lived at the commune. The gathering swelled to 15,000 when followers from around the world came for summer festivals. Between morning and evening meditation sessions with Rajneesh, disciples toiled 12 hours a day. In the early afternoon, they would stop work and line the dusty roads for the guru\'s daily ``drive-by\'\' in one of his more than 90 Rolls-Royces. Singing and swaying, the disciples tossed roses onto the car\'s hood while armed guards hovered overhead in a helicopter. Sect members won political control of the nearby community of Antelope, renaming it City of Rajneesh, and attempted to control voting in Wasco County by busing thousands of homeless people to the commune in 1984. After state officials ordered eligibility hearings for all new voter registration applicants in the county, the Rajneeshees and their transient guests boycotted the election. ``At the time we were going through it, we didn\'t realize how extraordinary it was,\'\' said Norma Paulus, who was secretary of state at the time. ``I can\'t think of any comparable incidents in American history.\'\' Rajneesh\'s acid-tongued secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, was a fixture in the state\'s media as she accused anyone who opposed the commune of bigotry. Lawsuits were filed by and against the Rajneeshees on issues ranging from slander to the constitutionality of Rajneeshpuram\'s incorporation. Rajneeshee-loathing spread throughout the state. Caps bearing the guru\'s likeness inside a rifle target were hot items. In September 1985, Sheela and about a dozen disciples left the commune abruptly. Rajneesh made accusations against her that triggered federal, state and local criminal investigations. Rajneesh was arrested the next month during a stopover at Charlotte, N.C., on a flight to Bermuda. He pleaded guilty to two counts of immigration fraud and returned to India under an agreement with federal officials. Sheela, now 39, was arrested in West Germany and returned to Oregon, where she pleaded guilty to charges that included the attempted murder of the guru\'s physician with a poison-filled syringe. She also admitted poisoning several county officials and masterminding the salad poisonings at restaurants in The Dalles, the county seat. She pleaded guilty to creating an electronic eavesdropping system at the commune and to setting fire to the county planning office. A guilty plea to immigration fraud stemmed from charges that she helped arrange sham marriages to allow Rajneesh\'s foreign disciples to remain in the United States. Sheela, a native of India, was deported in December 1988 after serving 2{ years in federal prison. Rajneeshees say about 200 of the guru\'s followers remain in Oregon, but keep a low profile. Attorney General Frohnmayer says the Rajneeshee episode resulted in the clarification of state laws in several areas. ``We learned from it,\'\' he said. ``It would be harder for a group bent on breaking the laws of civil government to move in to Oregon now.\'\'\r\n'),(268,2,'The $2.6 million spent by a Toyota auto plant in Kentucky to train 545 workers who did not qualify as needy is just one of many questionable expenses within federal job training programs, Labor Department investigators say. Many of the workers at the Scott County, Ky., plant were working fulltime and therefore ineligible for the Job Training Partnership Act program, the department\'s inspector general\'s office said in documents submitted to Congress on Wednesday. But Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole, testifying before the documents were addressed, said the $3 billion-a-year program has been ``remarkably free\'\' of fraud and abuse. Loopholes in federal law resulted in such examples as officials in Portage, Wis., spending $22,000 of federal job training money on dinner cruises and Christmas parties, Mrs. Dole told the House Education and Labor Committee. In that case, officials put job-training advance funds in the bank and then spent the interest, she said. The Senate has already passed a measure to clarify that interest earned on federal job training funds must be spent on job training, she said. Other questionable expenses outlined by the inspector general\'s office included: _$718,768 spent by the Houston Job Training Partnership Council for enrolling and training security guards at a cost of $3,000 each. The contractor billed for nearly 400 hours of training for each participant, even though Texas only requires 26 hours of training for registration as an armed security guard, auditors said. _$33,801 paid to a subcontractor in Michigan for placing college students in jobs they had found themselves, or with employers for whom they had previously worked or in jobs in which the employers would have hired them without federal assistance. _$640,000 spent in Louisiana to install a high-tech training center at Northwestern State University. Purchases included television cameras, satellite disks and computers. No dislocated workers were served, the auditors found. _$90,155 for inflated placement claims at the Full Employment Council of Kansas City, Mo. Another $90,000 was questioned because employers could not or would not provide payroll records to support on-the-job-training claims. Mrs. Dole said that of the thousands of private businessmen who have helped administer JTPA funds, there have been only 24 allegations of conflicts of interest. ``We believe this is an impressive record,\'\' she said. The overall operation of the program has been ``remarkably free of instances of fraud, abuse or other wrongdoing,\'\' the labor secretary said. However, she said misuse of funds was ``inevitable\'\' in a program as large as JTPA, which has received $21 billion since it was created seven years ago. Mrs. Dole, who supports tougher record-keeping requirements, also called on Congress to tighten eligibility requirements so the neediest cases would benefit from the program. She said she backed narrowing the requirements so the program would be more focused on people who lacked basic skills, those who are high school dropouts or those with disabilities. ``We must target ... the tougher cases, the ones who are not going to make it without our intervention,\'\' Mrs. Dole said.\r\n'),(269,2,'``There\'s recognition of the fact that now demands are being made for the release of people, and that, I think, is the definition of hostages.\'\' _ President Bush, explaining why he finally started referring to the thousands of Westerners trapped in Iraq and Kuwait as ``hostages.\'\'\r\n'),(270,2,'Gen. Cesar Barrientos, minister of the treasury since Gen. Alfredo Stroessner siezed power in a 1954 coup, died Friday, the government announced. He was 82. The cause of death was not reported but Barrientos had not appeared in public since late last year and had received medical treatment in recent months in Argentina. Barrientos was an army administrative officer when Stroessner came to power and appointed him to the treasury post. Stroessner, 75, recently was elected to an 8th consecutive term in balloting that his critics claim was rigged.\r\n'),(271,2,'Seeking greater operating efficiency, Westinghouse Electric Corp. and the Swiss firm ABB Asea Brown Boveri plan joint ventures in their multibillion-dollar electric generation, transmission and distribution businesses. ``With the entrenched fixed costs and relative slow rate of growth in those industries, a partnership is the way to go,\'\' said Julian Manear, an analyst in Chicago for Pershing & Co. ``There\'s a sharing of resources, so you don\'t have a duplication.\'\' The two companies announced Tuesday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding to proceed. Westinghouse will have a 55 percent interest and ABB a 45 percent interest in each of two partnerships. ABB also will pay Westinghouse about $500 million. One partnership will make, sell and service steam turbines and generators for U.S. and Canadian utilities. The businesses have current annual sales of about $700 million and employ about 5,000 people. ``Generally, joint venturing is considered an alternative to divesting,\'\' said H.P. Smith of Smith Barney in New York. ``They take a business, cut it back as far as they can, then if it\'s still not meeting the goals, they consider\'\' selling it or finding a partner. Westinghouse\'s turbine business ``hasn\'t earned a lot of money for quite a number of years now. The market is depressed and will stay depressed,\'\' Smith said. The other partnership will involve transmission and distribution products, including transformers, meters, controls, and switchgear, now sold in the United States and Canada. The businesses have annual sales of about $1.4 billion and employ about 11,000 people. The partnership allows ABB to buy the transmission and distribution joint venture or Westinghouse to force the sale in 1990. Smith said Westinghouse improved its transmission and distribution equipment business ``to a point where it was making OK money, but still well below the corporate goals.\'\' In both cases, the partners will combine plants and engineering and marketing organizations in fully developed industries that show reduced growth potential. Manear said he does not expect wholesale employee layoffs or plant closings, but foresees delays in capital spending. John C. Marous, who became chairman and chief executive of Westinghouse in January, recently told securities analysts the company\'s goals for 1988 include sales growth of 8.5 percent and operating profit margins of at least 10 percent. Westinghouse recently announced joint ventures in factory automation with the West German electrical equipment giant Siemens A.G. Smith said the joint ventures under Marous ``are showing this new administration is not going to sit back and rest on the laurels\'\' of Westinghouse. ABB, headquartered in Zurich, was created Jan. 1 with the merger of Asea AB of Sweden and BBC Brown Boveri Ltd. of Switzerland. With sales of $18 billion and 180,000 employees worldwide, the company is one of the world leaders in electrical engineering. Westinghouse, based in Pittsburgh, had 1987 sales of $10.7 billion in electrical equipment, defense electronics, broadcasting and other businesses. The company employs about 110,000 workers.\r\n'),(272,2,'Donald Trump said Saturday he and partners will raze the landmark Ambassador Hotel, site of Robert Kennedy\'s murder and a faded glamor palace, to build a major office, hotel and residence complex. The New York billionaire\'s plan and endorsements by Mayor Tom Bradley and two key city councilmen seemed to spell doom for the once-grand edifice, which closed a year ago. Residents concerned about vanishing cultural heritage had urged preservation of the hotel and school district officials wanted to buy the 23-acre site on Wilshire Boulevard for a badly needed new high school. The project, which was portrayed as in the earliest stages of planning, will probably include a hotel, office space, shopping areas and residential buildings, Trump said. The New York City-based real estate magnate revealed his investment in the project at a news conference in the East Garden room of the 494-room hotel, which opened in 1921. It was in an Ambassador kitchen on June 5, 1968, that Kennedy, a New York senator and Democratic presidential candidate, was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan moments after claiming victory in the California primary. Though it once counted U.S. presidents among its guests, and its famous Cocoanut Grove nightclub was a watering hole for Hollywood legends, the lobby area was now the only place fit for people to gather, Trump said. The hotel site was purchased last September for $64 million by Wilshire Center Partners, who include Irish real estate developer Robin Power and New York developer and investor Scott Malkin. Trump, whose involvement was rumored a month ago, was announced as the new managing partner of what is now Trump Wilshire Associates. He would not estimate the project\'s cost but anticipated no problem in financing it. ``I\'ll be investing a substantial amount of money in the project over a period of years,\'\' he said. ``I think we\'re going to have a very, very easy time getting the financing.\'\' The only specific structure envisioned by Trump is a 50,000-square-foot ``Cocoanut Grove Ballroom\'\' to fill what he said was the need for a really big ballroom in Los Angeles. It would be twice the size of the biggest ballroom here. The plan was firmly backed by Mayor Bradley, Councilman Nate Holden, whose district includes the Ambassador, and Council President John Ferraro. The officials characterized the plan as a way to revitalize the declining neighborhood a few miles west of downtown and link the downtown business district with the Century City complex on the city\'s west side. ``I believe it has great potential. This stretch of Wilshire Boulevard needs to be reborn,\'\' said Bradley. He noted he had asked the developers to help find an alternate site for a school in the area. ``Why did it take you so long to find L.A.?\'\' Ferraro asked Trump. Trump and Holden said the land was too expensive for a school, even if the Los Angeles Unified School District sought to acquire it through eminent domain. ``You would have the world\'s most expensive school,\'\' Trump said. Trump said it was ``very unlikely\'\' that any portion of the original structure would be preserved, and soundly bashed what remained of the Ambassador\'s character. ``This is not a good building to be in if there was an earthquake. It is an old structure and from the safety standpoint ... you wouldn\'t be allowed to build a building like this today,\'\' he said. ``Second of all it\'s not, according to most, the aesthetic building that really we should have at this site. It\'s so old and so dilapidated and so run down, and ... it\'s been leaking. ... It\'s really in very bad shape.\'\' He said virtually every world class architect was vying for the job of designing the new project and he expected cultural heritage buffs would ``love\'\' the result.\r\n'),(273,2,'A group of property owners filed a damage lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the thousands forced to evacuate their homes after a train derailment and phosphorus fire. Named as defendants in the Christian County Circuit Court lawsuit were CSX Corp. and a subsidiary, CSX Transportation Inc. The complaint alleges negligence on the part of both companies, said Tim Futrell, attorney for the nine plaintiffs, residents of the Crofton and Nortonville areas. ``We are talking in terms of hundreds of millons of dollars in damages,\'\' Futrell said. ``Under the rules of civil procedure, you are not permitted to specify a specific amount in the complaint.\'\' Futrell said he believed at least 15,000 people could be affected by the case, noting that the accident on June 22 drove about that many people from their homes in seven western Kentucky counties. Lloyd Lewis, spokesman for CSX Transportation, said Tuesday he had no comment. A CXS Transportation tanker carrying phosphorus was among 34 that left the tracks in a ravine near Crofton. The phosphorus spilled from the ruptured tanker and burned more than 12 hours after the crash. There was no fatalities. Futrell said one of the ``reasons we are filing so quickly is because CSX has dispatched representatives to the area to get people to sign releases for a pittance of what they are due.\'\' Futrell said some people complained about scratching and itching and difficulty in breathing, and he said there was damage to tobacco and hay crops ``and perhaps to the soil itself.\'\' ``Virtually all of the plaintiffs were displaced for at least three days. They lost wages and will be seeking compensation for that.\'\'\r\n'),(274,2,'A federal judge apologized Thursday to an attorney he had scolded and threatened with jail when she insisted on using her maiden name and the courtesy title ``Ms.\'\' in court. ``I have always referred to married women by their married name. This is the way my generation was taught,\'\' said Senior U.S. District Judge Hubert Teitelbaum, 73. ``I recognize your right to be addressed in any manner in which you see fit, and I apologize for my comments and the resulting situation,\'\' the judge told Barbara Wolvovitz and three other attorneys involved in the trial of a race discrimination suit against PPG Industries Inc. On July 8, Teitelbaum told Ms. Wolvovitz, whose husband is University of Pittsburgh law professor Jules Lobel: ``From here on, in this courtroom you will use Mrs. Lobel. That\'s your name.\'\' The judge originally threatened her with jail when she resisted his instruction, and when her co-counsel, Jon Pushinsky, protested, Teitelbaum found him in contempt for ``officious intermeddling\'\' and gave him a suspended 30-day jail sentence. Ms. Wolvovitz, representing two black men suing PPG, moved Monday for a mistrial, which Teitelbaum rejected. When she again stated her preference, he said: ``What if I call you sweetie?\'\' The judge said he would settle for calling her ``counselor.\'\' He also vacated his contempt order for Pushinsky. The jury began deliberations Wednesday afternoon and was still out when the judge made his apology, which was officially entered into court records. Teitelbaum said that if Ms. Wolvovitz still wanted to press for a mistrial, he would grant it before the jury returned with a verdict. Teitelbaum said the parties would be ``stuck with that verdict\'\' if they declined his offer. The attorneys agreed to not seek a mistrial. Hours later, the jury decided against Ms. Wolvovitz\'s clients, who had charged they were harassed at work because of their race. Ms. Wolvovitz, 36, who has practiced law for 10 years, and Pushinsky did not want to comment further after the judge\'s apology, Pushinsky said Thursday. ``I think that he did what he had to do, and thank God he did it,\'\' said National Organization for Women President Molly Yard, a Pittsburgh resident who is familiar with Teitelbaum. ``I think it\'s raised everybody\'s consciousness and that\'s fine.\'\' Tom Hollander, president of the Allegheny County Bar Association, said: ``I think it was big of him to apologize.\'\' JoAnn Dempler, Teitelbaum\'s law clerk for eight years, said the judge ``is not sexist ... does not discriminate against woman ... does not demean women.\'\' ``He\'s a tease,\'\' she said Thursday. ``His sense of humor is such that he likes to tease and joke and kid around, and if people do not know that, they could easily misconstrue what he\'s doing or saying. ``Even in court, because we\'re dealing with very serious matters, every once in a while to just sort of inject a little levity or reduce tension he will make a lighthearted remark, and people who know him realize he doesn\'t mean to offend anyone,\'\' Mrs. Dempler said. Teitelbaum said he wasn\'t teasing when he told Ms. Wolvovitz she would ``sleep in the county jail tonight\'\' if she refused to be addressed as Mrs. Lobel. ``I unfortunately lost my temper and the matter then got out of hand,\'\' he said. The judge also said he misstated Pennsylvania law when he told Ms. Wolvovitz she was legally required to use her husband\'s last name unless she had court permission to do otherwise. ``I was wrong,\'\' Teitelbaum said. ``I made a mistake.\'\'\r\n'),(275,2,'``Good evening. Tonight\'s forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of rain and a 10 percent chance of a big earthquake.\'\' Californians may be tuning into such bulletins soon as seismologists put their computer models to work to issue warnings after ominous rattles of the Earth. The seismologists have gathered enough data on major fault systems in California to be able to predict, to some degree, the probability of a quake of 6.5 or more on the Richter scale within certain brief periods. After a foreshock of magnitude of 4.0 or greater is registered, the model will go into work, determining whether there is, say, a 5, 10 or 25 percent chance of a quake within the next three days. The developers of the model are ready to put it into use but are discussing with the state how the predictions will be used _ whether they will be released publicly as earthquake warnings or provided to state agencies so they can prepare. The model is a mathematical formula that uses data on fault activity and the probability of major shocks, Lucile M. Jones of the U.S. Geological Survey said at a meeting Wednesday of the Seismological Society of America. Seismologists long have known that big quakes generally are preceded by less powerful shocks, but the new system is more precise, Jones said. Jones said a study of the major faults in California indicates, for example, that in the relatively quiet Carrizo Plain southwest of Fresno the chance that a 5-magnitude quake will be a foreshock to an 8-magnitude quake is 24 percent. Jones, who developed the formula with Duncan C. Agnew of the University of California-San Diego, said scientists will probably never be able to predict with absolute certainty. But the percentages she can deliver are enough to let people take action to prevent damage or injury, Jones said. ``As scientists we feel that sharing information is always better than withholding information,\'\' she said. The state could use the information to cancel vacations for disaster personnel, Jones said. Fire stations could move trucks outside. Daycare centers could leave gates unlocked in case they need to evacuate quickly. Residents could fill bathtubs with water for drinking, put away dishes and prepare emergency supplies. ``Each individual group can start making those sorts of decisions,\'\' she said. ``We aren\'t at a really high level (of accuracy), but people have been trying to get us to make these statements because there are useful things to do. And as we get better, the probabilities are going to head up.\'\' Geologist Jim Davis of the California Division of Mines and Geology said he is talking with the Office of Emergency Services about whether the agency should announce earthquake warnings. Davis said he didn\'t think quake forecasts would unduly alarm people or otherwise cause harm. The prediction system has been worked out so far only for California, whose seismic activity has been closely studied by scientists.\r\n'),(276,2,'Michael Owen Perry\'s medicine could restore his sanity, but it has one enormous side effect: It could speed his death. Perry is a prisoner on Death Row, and his fate will be argued Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court. The state of Louisiana wants to force him to take psychiatric medication; if he is legally sane, he can be executed. Perry\'s lawyers argue that forcible medicating would be a cruel and unusual punishment that ignores Perry\'s rights to avoid unwanted medication. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association say treating Perry to aid in his execution would turn the healing art on its head. Perry\'s sentence should be commuted to life in prison, they suggest. ``We\'re saying the cost here, which is really a fundamental realignment of the role of medicine, is a very high cost, and the state\'s interest in the difference between capital punishment and life imprisonment without parole doesn\'t justify that cost,\'\' said attorney Joel Klein. The state says giving him the drug is simply a necessary step for carrying out a death sentence, a justifiable limitation on a condemned man\'s liberties much like strapping him into the electric chair. Besides, the state is required to provide medical care, and the medicine is good for him, Louisiana says. Perry, 35, suffers from schizoaffective disorder, causing him delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking. He was sentenced in 1985 for shooting his parents and three other family members to death. Louisiana\'s supreme court affirmed the conviction and the sentence but suggested a review of Perry\'s mental competence to be executed. There is a tradition in Anglo-American law that people should not be executed while insane. This doctrine, which dates back to medieval times, was adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1986 decision. ``Insanity\'\' is a legal term, not a medical one. In this case it refers to mental illness so severe that the prisoner is not aware of the impending punishment and why he is to suffer it. The Louisiana court ruled Perry was sane, but only while on medication. It also ordered that Perry be medicated even over his objection. After the state supreme court refused to hear a challenge to that decision, Perry\'s lawyers appealed to the federal high court. Lawyers for both sides declined to be interviewed on the record, but their Supreme Court briefs lay out their arguments in detail. Lawyers for Louisiana say the death sentence wiped out any legal power Perry would have to refuse the medication. Forced medication would not be a ``cruel and unusual\'\' punishment because Perry would benefit medically from it, the state says. ``Common sense dictates that the State does not violate the Eighth Amendment by doing something good for a prisoner.\'\' In fact, Louisiana is required to medicate Perry because the Supreme Court has declared that deliberately ignoring a prisoner\'s serious medical need itself constitues cruel and unusual punishment, the brief says. Perry\'s attorneys say the forced medication would be unconstitutional punishment rather than treatment. The court order gives no consideration to Perry\'s medical needs nor physician judgment, they say. The order also ignores the ``very real\'\' prospect of serious side effects, raising the prospect of taking a ``drooling, incontinent and tremulus\'\' man to the execution chamber, they wrote. In any case, Perry\'s lawyers say, Perry\'s response to medication is sporadic and unpredictable, making it impossible to say whether he would be competent on the day of his execution. ``With this instability and unpredictability, how is Michael\'s execution to be carried out?\'\' the lawyers asked. ``Can the state wait until a `good day\' and execute Michael? Can Michael be executed if his `good days\' outnumber his `bad days\' by some amount? What amount? And what happens if the date set in the death warrant is a `bad day?\' \'\' The AMA and psychiatric association, meanwhile, say the death sentence does not outweigh Perry\'s interest in avoiding unwanted medication, an interest especially great ``when the injection sets the prisoner directly on the road to execution.\'\' Involuntary medication was not part of Perry\'s sentence, nor is it generally authorized by confinement, the associations argue. Prior court decision support the idea that involuntary medical treatment is not permitted if it runs against a person\'s medical interests and is not necessary to treat a condition that may harm other people, they say. As for the argument that the medication would help Perry, any benefit ``would be both fleeting and purchased at the cost of his life,\'\' the associations said in a brief. Outside observers are split on their reaction to the case. Dr. Gary Glass, an associate psychiatry professor at Temple University and lecturer in law at Villanova University, said he personally hopes that the court would not allow execution of a person who is incompetent when not treated. But his ``utilitarian, practical\'\' answer is that nobody should be allowed to make a competent decision to avoid execution by becoming legally incompetent, he said. If a death sentence is imposed, ``people ought not to be able to use their mental health and illness to manipulate that decision,\'\' he said. Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Minnesota, calls it ``fundamentally wrong for any health care professional to give anybody psychiatric medication against their will for a non-therapeutic purpose.\'\' If authorities are intent on executing a man while he is sane in such cases, they should specify medication as part of the sentence and not pretend it is medical treatment, he said.\r\n'),(277,2,'American textile and fiber makers are talking tougher. They have dumped the celebrities who grinned as they flashed the ``Made in U.S.A.\'\' labels for the cameras in those old buy-American commercials. In a new round of ads that debut this weekend on NBC\'s telecast of the Miss America Pageant, they show shoppers making excuses for buying imports while workers cart their belongings outside a plant closing for good. In another commercial, a mother explains to her bewildered young son that they are moving because his father\'s plant shut down. Why did the plant close, the boy asks. ``Because a lot of people are buying clothes made in other countries, not ours,\'\' Mom replies. Welcome to the sober new world as seen by the Crafted With Pride in U.S.A. Council, a non-profit organization set up in 1984 to encourage sales of U.S.-made clothes and home furnishings, and its ad agency, Warwick Baker & Fiore. Robert E. Swift, executive director of the council, said the group decided on the new approach in reponse to surveys that indicate consumers are growing more concerned about their reduced standard of living. Imported clothing, for instance, accounts for nearly 60 percent of all clothing sales in the United States, he said. But when Americans are asked about imports, he said they usually cite the car market, where foreigners have captured only a one-third share. Swift said he hopes the ads get American consumers to think about what impact imports are having in apparel and furnishings as well. The council estimates that nearly 500,000 jobs have been lost in the U.S. apparel and textile industries since 1980. Swift said the new ads should make consumers aware that job losses and plant shutdowns not only hurt American workers, but hurt the community tax base and their own standard of living. Swift declined to say how much the council would spend over the next year to run the ads on television. But he said the new campaign will start off with more support than the council has spent in launching any earlier campaign. The celebrity campaign that kicked off the council\'s ``Made in U.S.A.\'\' campaign in 1985 was useful in calling attention to the quality and value of American-made products, Swift said. While imports\' share of the clothes market rose to 59 percent last year from 47 percent in 1985, he said the pace at which the imports\' share was rising has slowed considerably.\r\n'),(278,2,'Mathias Rust, the West German aviator who a year ago slipped across one of the world\'s most secure borders and landed a plane at Red Square, remains jailed at Lefortovo Prison with hopes fading for an early release. The dramatic May 28, 1987, flight shook the foundation of Soviet security and oiled the way for the ouster of Defense Minister Sergei L. Sokolov and Air Defense chief Alexander Koldunov, but Soviet citizens still grin at the audacity of the young pilot and his success in putting one over on the mighty Kremlin. Soviet jets scrambled when Rust crossed into restricted airspace over the republic of Estonia, but the Soviet Air Defense forces took no action to halt the flight. Then, with apparently no warning to security forces in the nation\'s capital, the single-engine Cessna swept toward the heart of Soviet power and buzzed Kremlin landmarks such as Lenin\'s tomb and Spassky Tower. Rust, now 20, was sentenced Sept. 4 to four years at a general-regime labor camp on charges of malicious mischief. By mutual consent with the Soviet government, he is serving his time at the infamous Lefortovo Prison in eastern Moscow, which in the past contained American journalist Nicholas Daniloff and U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. A source close to the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rust asked to remain at Lefortovo rather than transfer to a less restrictive penal institution because the little-used KGB facility is more easily accessible to his parents and West German diplomats who are allowed to make regular visits. At Lefortovo, Rust has been allowed more visits than he is officially entitled to. His parents, Karl-Heinz and Monika Rust, and his 16-year-old brother Ingo, have visited Lefortovo at least five times since June. Under Soviet corrections regulations, prisoners are allowed one visit every three months. A representative of the West German Embassy is allowed to visit once each month to bring mail, books and special foods to augment the prison diet. Rust\'s appeal of his four-year sentence was turned down late last year. The young amateur pilot from suburban Hamburg has issued a personal request for clemency that does not require a formal reply. To date, there has been no reply. Soviet officials have commented privately that Rust will likely serve at least half of his term, to show that the Kremlin does not take such stunts lightly and to discourage any similar incidents in the future. Rust was accused during his two-day trial of endangering the lives of thousands of airline passengers when he piloted his borrowed Cessna 172-B from Helsinki, Finland through the flight paths of foreign airliners headed for Moscow\'s Sheremetyevo Airport. Witnesses testified that he could have injured some of the hundreds of pedestrians at Red Square on the cool, sunny evening when he landed. Rust told the court he felt ``remorse and deep repentance\'\' and never intended to endanger or insult anyone. Before landing in the square, Rust piloted his blue and white craft at a low altitude through more than 500 miles of closely guarded Soviet territory. The dramatic stunt was followed by a short-lived moment of glory for Rust as tourists and Muscovites crowded around the plane that came to a rest between St. Basil\'s Cathedral and the red-brick wall surrounding the Kremlin. They asked for the pilot\'s autograph and took his picture as he reclined against the fuselage before his arrest. Less than 48 hours later, the ruling Politburo met in special session and sent Sokolov into retirement and fired Koldunov for negligence.\r\n'),(279,2,'Sen. John H. Chafee has become the third Rhode Island politician in danger of losing his ballot position because of a minor problem on his candidacy papers. John J. Staradumsky, an independent candidate for Chafee\'s seat, has filed a formal objection to Chafee\'s candidacy, meaning the state Board of Elections must decide whether to throw Chafee off the ballot, board Chairman Joseph R. DiStefano said Wednesday. The two-term Republican senator listed his Warwick address on his filing form as 1128 Ives Road, while his voter registration card omits the house number. State law requires the two forms to match exactly. Similar discrepancies already have jeopardized the candidacies of Republican Rep. Claudine Schneider and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bruce G. Sundlun. Gov. Edward D. DiPrete said at the time he would call a special session of the General Assembly if necessary to get them back on the ballot. Michael Ryan, a Chafee aide, said Wednesday homes on Ives Road were not numbered when Chafee registered to vote in 1953. ``We expect common sense to prevail, hopefully in all cases, but certainly in this one,\'\' Ryan said. The elections board will hear Chafee\'s case July 26. It has scheduled a July 25 hearing on the Schneider and Sundlun cases. If the board rules against Chafee, he would hae to run a write-in campaign against Democrat Richard A. Licht in the Nov. 8 general election. Chafee is unopposed for renomination. DiStefano has refused to predict what his board will do, but said it has ruled ``time and time again\'\' against lesser-known candidates who made similar mistakes. ``Everybody knows what the precedents are,\'\' he said. ``We\'ve indicated that quite clearly.\'\'\r\n'),(280,2,'One of the nation\'s longest and most bitter takeover battles formally ended Friday _ the last business day of the year _ with the $1.48 billion merger of Irving Bank Corp. with Bank of New York Co. Inc. The merger was approved by Irving\'s shareholders at a special meeting, the Bank of New York said. Bank of New York said it expected that the principal banking subsidiaries of the two holding companies, the Bank of New York and Irving Trust Co., will be merged in the first half of 1989. ``All our efforts will now be directed to forging both institutions into a major force in U.S. and worldwide banking,\'\' J. Carter Bacot, chairman of the merged company, said in a statement. The two banks ended a year-long feud Oct. 7, when Irving\'s board of directors voted to end its resistance and drop all lawsuits and anti-takeover measures. In return, Bank of New York sweetened its offer by about $200 million by slightly increasing the stock portion of its bid and adding stock warrants. The Federal Reserve Board removed the last formal obstacle to the merger Nov. 28 by approving the deal. The board originally gave conditional approval in February, extending it four times as Irving battled the takeover. The merger will nearly double Bank of New York\'s size, vaulting it close to the top 10 of the nation\'s largest banking companies. The two banks had a combined $47.8 billion in assets as of June 30. Bank of New York\'s bid, launched Sept. 25, 1987, was the first hostile takeover attempt among American banks.\r\n'),(281,2,'The doctor for three AIDS-exposed brothers who were ostracized in their hometown has retracted his diagnosis of AIDS-related complex for the oldest boy. Jerry Barbosa testified at a hearing Tuesday that he earlier made the diagnosis for 11-year-old Ricky Ray because he felt compelled to under a judge\'s order. AIDS-related complex, or ARC, often is a precursor to acquired immune deficiency syndrome. There is no known cure for AIDS. ``The way I interpreted the order, I had no choice but to label this patient as having ARC against my clinical judgment,\'\' Barbosa told U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth A. Jenkins. The purpose of Tuesday\'s hearing was to clarify earlier reports that the physician had diagnosed ARC in the youth weeks before reporting it to the court. On Jan. 29, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich modified an earlier order and required Barbosa to report the progress of ``any AIDS, AIDS symptomology, or other AIDS-related syndrome.\'\' Her wording prompted him to say in his Feb. 2 report that Ricky had developed ARC, Barbosa said. But Ricky has not exhibited physical symptoms necessary for such a finding, although the boy\'s blood tests might support an ARC diagnosis, the doctor said. He also cited April 1987 guidelines issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta that prohibit labeling any child under age 13 as having ARC. ``It doesn\'t mean much to the court that somebody has or doesn\'t have ARC,\'\' Ms. Jenkins said. ``When material changes in the boys\' health occurs, it is not up to the court to try to look behind the medical reports to see what is there.\'\' When Ms. Kovachevich ruled Aug. 5, 1987, that the DeSoto County School system had to readmit the Ray brothers to regular classes, she ordered AIDS testing of the boys every six months and said any changes in their condition had to be reported to her. Ms. Jenkins told attorneys for the Rays and the school board to devise an improved way to keep the court informed about the hemophiliac brothers\' medical conditions. The attorneys must submit the plan by Monday. Ricky, Robert, 10, and Randy, 8, were banned from regular classes after they tested positive for the AIDS antibody in August 1986. Doctors say the children were apparently exposed to the AIDS virus through infusions of blood products that aim to promote clotting. Soon after the boys began school in Arcadia last fall, amid a boycott and protests by other students\' parents, an arsonist torched the Ray home. Since then, the family has moved to Sarasota, where the Ray children have attended public school without incident.\r\n'),(282,2,'Grain and soybean futures closed mostly lower Tuesday on the Chicago Board of Trade amid slack export demand and forecasts for showers and cooler temperatures in the Corn Belt later this week. Corn futures prices fell nearly 10 cents a bushel, the permitted daily limit. The corn market was the leader in a session that featured relatively light trading and wide price swings in the soybean pit. Soybean futures, which are limited to moves of 30 cents a bushel, have recently provided direction to the grain markets. But soybeans lost traders Tuesday to the lower-risk corn pit, said Steve Freed, a grain analyst in Chicago with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. Despite a record-melting heat wave that threatens further damage to the drought-stressed soybean crop, Freed said speculators shied away from the soybean market when prices for near-month delivery approached $9 a bushel Tuesday morning. Meteorologists predicted cooler temperatures would begin moving into the Midwest on Thursday. The forecasts, plus a lack of substantial export business, left the markets with little bullish news. ``It\'s still a bullish market, but it\'s a market that has trouble finding itself on days like today,\'\' Freed said. At the close, wheat was 1{ cents to 3} cents lower with the contract for delivery in September at $3.90{ a bushel; corn was 4} cents to 9} cents lower with September at $2.87{ a bushel; oats were 4{ cents to 9} cents lower with September at $2.78{ a bushel; soybeans were 21 cents lower to 20 cents higher with August at $8.66 a bushel.\r\n'),(283,2,'Police today detained about 10,000 Hindu students on their way to a protest rally in the Kashmir Valley, where a day earlier 21 Moslems were killed in a reported shootout. The caravan of buses and trucks that was stopped in Udhampur, 45 miles north of Jammu, was headed toward Srinagar, where the Hindu activists of the All India Students\' Federation had planned to hoist Indian flags. The government, fearing violence, had appealed to the Hindu activists not to hold their procession to Srinagar, a Moslem stronghold in Kashmir, the northern sector of Jammu-Kashmir state. The students, based in Jammu in a predominantly Hindu sector, had ignored the official pleas. The Hindu students are opposed to a Moslem secessionist movement that is attempting to get independence for Jammu-Kashmir state, the only Indian state in which the majority of the population is Moslem. The students were arrested without resistance, one official said, speaking under condition of anonymity. They were expected to be released after a few hours without charges being pressed. In Srinagar, shops were closed and traffic stayed off the roads today in response to a general strike call given by Moslem militants. The strike was to protest the deaths of 21 Kashmiris Tuesday during a shoot-out with paramiltary troops near Srinagar. The government claimed all the victims, including 17 people in a bus which exploded and caught fire, were militants. A government statement said the bus exploded when a stray bullet hit a pile of ammunition inside it. At least 1,175 people have ben killed in Kashmir since January, when the government started a crackdown on the secessionists. About 64 percent of Jammu-Kashmir\'s 6 million people are Moslems. About 82 percent of India\'s 880 million people are Hindus while Moslems account for 12 percent.\r\n'),(284,2,'Florida investor Paul Bilzerian has acquired 2 million shares of the Hadson Corp. as part of Hadson\'s agreement to purchase HRB Holdings Inc., a Singer Co. division, company officials said Monday. Stephen Houghton, president and chief executive officer of the Hadson Corp., said an agreement for the purchase of HRB Holdings Inc. from Bilzerian was announced in February and a final agreement was completed earlier this month. He said Hadson acquired the company for $137 million in cash and 2 million shares of common stock. Houghton said Bilzerian\'s acquisition of the stock was for investment purposes only. Bilzerian took Singer private earlier this year and has been selling off a number of its assets.\r\n'),(285,2,'Less than a year after Namibia was ablaze with a war and wracked by seemingly insurmountable ethnic differences, the territory is ready for a peaceful transition to independence from South Africa this week. The diverse people of this vast, arid land have set aside their weapons and begun working together to transform Africa\'s last colony into one of the continent\'s few democracies. Independence officially begins Wednesday. ``We confounded the doubters,\'\' said Sam Nujoma, the territory\'s designated president, who led the South-West Africa People\'s Organization during its 23-year guerrilla war against South African rule. Black nationalist guerrillas and right-wing whites who once fought each other have been preaching reconciliation in what has been a remarkably smooth approach to independence for Namibia, formerly known as South-West Africa. ``We have accepted that South-West Africa as we knew it will be replaced by an independent Namibia,\'\' said Jan de Wet, leader of the right-wing National Party. ``We are glad to offer our skills and resources to this country if we are welcome.\'\' SWAPO often was depicted by whites as a ``Marxist-terrorist\'\' organization during the war. But since winning U.N.-supervised elections in November, the leftist organization has made numerous compromises in an attempt to accommodate the 11 distinct ethnic groups that make up Namibia\'s 1.3 million people. SWAPO\'s support comes predominantly from the northern Ovambo tribe, but Nujoma also has named blacks who are not Ovambos to key positions to allay fears that SWAPO will be a tribal-based government. He also has appointed whites and businessmen from opposition parties to his Cabinet. ``The future government wants to ensure that ... policies and laws will be supported by the widest possible cross-section of the population,\'\' said Otto Herrigel, a German-descended Namibian who will serve as Nujoma\'s finance secretary. Opposition groups also have been in a conciliatory mood. Seven parties won seats in the elections, and they have sharp ideological differences. But within weeks, the 72-member constitutional assembly unanimously agreed on a democratic constitution that guarantees fundamental rights and regular elections. It also limits the president to two five-year terms, rare on a continent where most leaders serve for life. SWAPO, which was committed to socialism while in exile, now speaks more often of working with the white business community that controls the mining, farming and fishing industries. Those industries, along with South African aid, have made Namibia one of the few African countries to achieve an annual per capita income of $1,000. However, the wealth is in the hands of the 75,000 whites, who make up only 6 percent of the population. Meeting black expectations without alienating whites will be one of the biggest challenges facing the government. There have been no signs of a mass exodus by whites, who easily could go to white-ruled South Africa as thousands did when the United Nations announced Namibia\'s independence plan in 1978. The U.N. plan sat on the shelf for a decade as South Africa refused to relinquish control of the territory, which it captured from Germany during World War I. But in December 1988, South Africa agreed to grant independence to Namibia under a regional peace treaty. At the ceremony when the new Namibian constitution was adopted in November, several speakers said South Africa should take inspiration from Namibia\'s harmonious independence process. Many South Africans were relieved at the Western-style democratic constitution adopted by a constituent assembly in Namibia. But others said they would withhold judgment, since neighboring Zimbabwe also began its black majority rule with a democracy and British-inspired constitution. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is now in the process of turning the government into a one-party state. The long-delayed independence plan in Namibia almost collapsed the day it began _ last April 1. Hundreds of SWAPO guerrillas crossed into northern Namibia in violation of the U.N. plan, igniting three weeks of fighting. More than 300 guerrillas died, and 27 members of the South African-led security forces were killed. Since peace was restored, there has been sporadic violence. In September, Anton Lubowski, SWAPO\'s highest-ranking white member, was assassinated. But there have been no wide-scale outbreaks of violence, and the more than 6,000 U.N. civilian and military personnel in Namibia are scheduled to leave in early April. That will end the $450 million U.N. operation, the most extensive ever conducted by the United Nations.\r\n'),(286,2,'American soldiers practiced military maneuvers Sunday on a Honduran airstrip just 21 miles from the Nicaraguan border, but U.S. officials said the threat from Sandinista troops had subsided and combat appeared unlikely. Nicaragua formally protested a Honduran bombing raid on Sandinista positions Saturday as an unwarranted act of aggression. It has denied that its troops crossed the jungle-choked border dividing the nations.\r\n'),(287,2,'The archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, on Friday announced his his support of Roman Catholic calls for Christians to boycott a new American film about Jesus Christ. But a conservative London newspaper praised a ruling by a senior government law officer that the film, ``The Last Temptation of Christ,\'\' does not violate Britain\'s blasphemy law. ``Christians have been under attack for almost 2,000 years,\'\' the Daily Telegraph said in an editorial Friday. ``It is not emphatically a faith so shallow as to be put at risk by the frivolity of Hollywood.\'\' The film, which has raised angry protests in Britain, the United States, and other places, includes a scene in which Christ hallucinates about marrying prostitute Mary Magdalene . The movie by Martin Scorsese has been playing to packed theaters in the United States. It is due to be screened in British movie theaters starting Sept. 9. Runcie, the spiritual head of the Church of England and 70 million Anglicans worldwide, said Friday that parts of the movie cause ``great offense and distress.\'\' He said there were ``sensible arguments for wishing the film wasn\'t shown in this country.\'\' Asked about a call last month by Cardinal Basil Hume, the eader of 5.2 million Catholics in England and Wales, for Christians to avoid the movie, Runcie said: ``I think that is a reasonable position, and I would support him.\'\' Runcie spoke at London\'s Heathrow airport on his return with his wife Rosalind from a vacation in the United States. He told reporters he had not seen the film while in the United States but said, ``I have been reading the newspapers sometimes on holiday, and obviously there is much debate about it. ``I don\'t think that I shall see it (in Britain) .... It\'s not something that I want to see on the basis of what I\'ve read and heard about it.\'\' A senior government official, Director of Public Prosecutions Allan Green, ruled Thursday that the movie does not violate Britain\'s blasphemy law. Activists opposed to the movie have said they will continue trying to get it banned in Britain. Mary Whitehouse, president of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, has said she would try to persuade local authorities to block screening of the movie. Theaters around the country operate under a system of local licencing.\r\n'),(288,2,'Up to 3,000 Olympics slides which were to make up the bulk of photographs in the next issue of Sports Illustrated magazine were stolen Thursday, officials said. ``It\'s the biggest athletic event of the year and this is our picture record of it. They\'re our life\'s blood,\'\' said Joe Marshall, director of photography for the magazine. The pictures were stolen from the front seat of a locked, parked van enroute Thursday to the magazine\'s offices in midtown Manhattan, said Louis Slovinsky, director of public affairs for Time Inc. Marshall said pictures often are hand delivered by staff members but were sent via an air freight company as the games continued in South Korea. The stolen slides, chosen from 50,000 pictures shot by nine magazine photographers on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, included pictures of shamed 100-meter sprinter Ben Johnson, Greg Louganis\'s second gold medal in diving and the U.S.-Soviet basketball game, Marshall said. Slovinsky said the magazine would pay an unspecified reward and ask no questions if the pictures were returned. ``These are extremely valuable pictures for Sports Illustrated, but they are of no value to anybody else,\'\' Slovinsky said. The slides are each clearly marked as belonging to Sports Illustrated and being from the 1988 Summer Olympics, he said. Slovinsky said photographs belonging to the Black Star Publishing Co. Inc., a photo agency, also were stolen from the truck.\r\n'),(289,2,'Here is a list of the political stories that have moved for this cycle:\r\n'),(290,2,'A policeman in the Medellin cartel\'s hometown goes to work each day with an assault rifle, a bulletproof vest and a prayer. The drug lords will pay $4,300 to anyone who kills him. So far this year, more than 130 have been slain. Policemen say they live on nerve and in fear of being the next victim. Some routinely arrive home with pistol drawn in case an assassin lurks in the shadows. Dozens of of the victims were murdered while off duty. Police in Medellin are part of a national force of 80,000 men, which is part of the military and under Defense Ministry jurisdiction. The government, which declared war on drug traffickers last year, has sent 1,800 reinforcements in recent weeks to augment the normal force of 2,600. The killings continue at an average of one a day in this city of 3 million, Colombia\'s second-largest. If the same percentage of police officers was killed in New York City, which has a force of 26,000, the total would surpass 1,000. An Associated Press reporter talked with 30 Medellin policemen and accompanied seven on a patrol of a dangerous part of Medellin. An officer pointed out the spots where six comrades had been killed in the past two months. ``I get scared out here,\'\' one said. ``I see a movement in the shadows or hear a motorcycle moving toward me and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. I wonder if this is it. I wonder if I\'m the next victim.\'\' None wanted his name used, figuring it would be a death warrant. High-ranking Medellin police officials refused to be interviewed about the dangers their men face. The patrolmen said the drug cartel\'s tactics had caused 300 police resignations in three months and recruiting was difficult. ``I\'m ready to quit if I don\'t get a transfer out of here soon,\'\' a 20-year-old policeman said. ``We\'re just statistics.\'\' He and the others said they were frightened, and exhausted by working up to 18 hours six days a week, but most said they would not quit. ``You can die of hunger, too,\'\' a 12-year veteran commented. Their families are destroyed along with the policemen. An officer\'s widow gets only half his $95 monthly salary as a pension, said a spokesman for the national police in Bogota. Three widows said they could not support their children on that. ``My children don\'t get milk, they don\'t get meat, they don\'t know what eggs taste like,\'\' Ruth Duque said. ``When they get sick, we just pray. There isn\'t any money for medicine.\'\' Mrs. Duque\'s situation is even worse because she gets no pension at all. Her husband was killed March 23, 1988, before the pension law was passed. She said she makes the equivalent of about $102 a month working in a drugstore. She feeds her son and daughter, aged 4 and 3, one meal a day of rice and beans. Colombia\'s minimum wage equals about $100 a month. A quart of milk costs 75 cents and a one-pound loaf of bread $1. Unemployment is over 30 percent in Medellin, according to sociologists at the local university. The government says the rate is 10 percent, but doesn\'t count thousands of people who mow lawns, work as sidewalk peddlers or have other part-time jobs. ``I\'ve been looking for a job ever since my husband was killed,\'\' said Socorro Rua. Her husband was killed May 19 by a man who stuck a gun in his ribs on a crowded bus. Her 15-year-old daughter, Liliana, turned her head away and tears coursed down her cheeks. Mrs. Rua also has a 6-year-old son, Carlos. They live in an apartment complex built by the government for policemen. The shabby three-room apartment costs only $20 a month, but even that may be out of reach because officials have told her the pension paperwork will take a year. Another widow, Carmen Montoya, said she had high hopes for their children when her husband was alive, but ``now we just try to get by day to day. My little boy wanted a toy car for his birthday. I cried when he asked me, because I knew I couldn\'t afford it. They don\'t get anything at Christmas.\'\' ``My little girl used to chatter and sing all the time before her daddy was killed,\'\' she said. ``Now she just stares and hardly says a word. ``I asked the police department to pay for a psychologist to see her, but they told me there is no money for that.\'\' Mrs. Montoya has two children _ Lina, 5, and Alexander, 3. She receives about $80 a month because her husband had 20 years on the force.\r\n'),(291,2,'Air Wis Services Inc. rejected as inadequate a $121 million takeover bid from a Connecticut investment firm, but left the door open for a higher offer. The offer of $16.365 a share from Cove Capital Associates Inc. of Greenwich, Conn., is the fourth takeover bid for the airline holding company since last November. Cove represents Transmark USA Inc., an insurance holding company based in Jacksonville, Fla. The offer rejected Wednesday includes $14 a share in cash and $2.36{ in preferred stock. The Air Wis board of directors said it would reconsider its stance if a higher, all-cash offer were made. Air Wis officials questioned how much cash Cove and Transmark could bring to the table without borrowing against assets of Air Wis, whose Air Wisconsin subsidiary operates United Express airline. ``Your proposal to utilize a form of preferred stock to finance a significant part of your acquisition costs suggests to our board that Cove Capital and Transmark USA may not have sufficient resources to effect an acquisition of the company at a reasonable price without borrowing significantly against the company\'s assets,\'\' Air Wis President Preston Wilbourne told Cove. Wilbourne said an acquisition that involved heavy borrowing could impair Air Wis\' plans to expand and to acquire new equipment, bring route cutbacks and cause defaults on existing financial agreements. Last November, a group headed by Citicorp Venture Capital and two former executives of United Airlines offered $11.50 a share for Air Wis. That was followed by a bid from former Air Wis chairman Arthur Hailand and John J. Louis Jr., a director, for $14 a share. Hailand and Louis later raised their bid to $17 a share, comprised of $14 in cash and $3 in debt. All three bids were rejected by the Air Wis board. Hailand was removed as chairman when the board turned down his first offer.\r\n'),(292,2,'President Reagan on Friday signed into law a measure that for the first time requires commercial fishing vessels to carry life rafts and other emergency equipment. The signing caps a three-year campaign for approval of safety regulations for an industry whose safety record is the worst in the United States. Rep. John Miller, R-Wash., who attended the private signing ceremony and was one of the original sponsors of the measure, said Reagan called it a ``good bill that will save lives.\'\' The measure requires that commercial fishing vessels carry life rafts, survival suits, emergency transmitters and medical supplies. Among the leading proponents of the legislation were Robert and Peggy Barry, whose son Peter drowned when a 70-year-old fishing vessel from Seattle sank off Alaska in the summer of 1985. The vessel did not carry life rafts, radio equipment or survival suits, and investigators concluded the ship should not have been at sea. ``The fact the bill was finally signed into law is a great relief to all of us who have lost relatives or friends in the fishing industry,\'\' said Robert Barry. He said more needs to be done, including manadatory inspections on a regular basis, licensing of operators and training of crews. An average of about 80 fishermen die annually in accidents involving commercial fishing vessels, according to Coast Guard statistics. Rep. Mike Lowry, D-Wash., said the rate of accidental deaths for commercial fishermen is twice that of miners, whose occupation is the second most hazardous.\r\n'),(293,2,'Sexual harassment of women in the Marine Corps remains a problem that can be remedied by emphasizing that the practice will not be tolerated, according to a Marine Corps report released Sunday. The Task Force on Women in the Marine Corps said existing directives and the corps\' primary grievance system are ``appropriate tools to implement Marine Corps policy on this issue.\'\' However, the commandant of the corps must convey that sexual harassment will not be tolerated in the service, according to the executive summary of the final report. ``The (commandant) will improve sexual harassment awareness training in formal schools and at the recruit depots,\'\' said the report, which will be released Monday. The task force, formed in September 1987 at the request of then-Secretary of Navy James Webb, said the corps did not have a ``significant problem\'\' with fraternization. ``Fraternization is not a gender-specific issue,\'\' the report said. ``No corrective action was recommended.\'\' In February, Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci responded to a Pentagon report by ordering expanded job opportunities for women in the Marine Corps and the Air Force, including the assignment of female Marines to embassy guard duty. Women account for about 10 percent of the nation\'s 2.1 million military personnel. By law, they are excluded from combat. The content of the Pentagon report provided the basis of the Marine Corps report released Sunday. The report also recommended certain steps to improve the quality of life for female Marines, including solving the problem of shortage in uniform items and lengthy delays in filling special orders, ensuring full investigation when homosexual conduct is suspected and allowing a pregnant Marine to request a 30-day delay in the notification of her commander by the medical officer. The task force also recommended that the Navy surgeon general review the policy regarding the assignment of obstetricians and gynecologists to combat service units, and the commandant review the number of women medical and dental personnel assigned to various units. The Navy surgeon general also should publish information regarding oral contraceptives for men, recreational programs should be expanded and additional child care centers be built, the report said. The commandant approved all the recommendations with the exception of pregnancy notification and oral contraceptives for men.\r\n'),(294,2,'Comic Phyllis Diller says she\'s had a habit of dressing as a nun in public for the past decade to avoid being recognized, especially when she\'s out shopping. ``People tend to leave nuns alone, so I\'m able to do my shopping dressed that way. It prevents people from asking me for my autograph,\'\' Diller said in this week\'s People magazine. ``I\'m able to buy all the crazy things I like to wear because I pretend to be the nun in charge of the drama department at Marymount College, so they think it\'s for our little play,\'\' said the 71-year-old Diller, who is appearing in the musical ``Nunsense\'\' at San Francisco\'s Marines Memorial Theater.\r\n'),(295,2,'Federal authorities said Thursday they had smashed a 30-member cocaine-smuggling ring whose leader buried $43 million in drug money on a farm in Puerto Rico. The case caused a sensation last spring when it was disclosed that residents of the Vega Baja coastal area had unearthed barrels filled with $10, $20 and $100 bills and kept their windfall secret for weeks. In all, residents made off with $11 million, which they put in their bank accounts and bought everything from VCRs to luxury homes before the authorities stepped in, according to the FBI. In a statement Thursday, the FBI said it had arrested or issued warrants for 30 alleged members of the drug ring that amassed the buried treasure in drug-running operations from Colombia since 1985. Fifteen suspects were charged Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Juan and four others were already in jails in Puerto Rico and New York, said FBI spokeswoman Juana Arriazola. Another suspect arrested Thursday in New York was awaiting extradition, and two others were charged in Puerto Rico on Wednesday, she said. Among the eight suspects still at large were reputed drug kingpin Ramon Torres Gonzalez, on whose farm the cash-filled barrels were hidden, and Iris Janet Concepcion Perez, alleged co-leader of the drug ring, the FBI said. All 30 are accused under a 27-count federal indictment with criminal enterprise and conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances. The indictment was returned Nov. 1 by a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico. If convicted, the suspects face a minimum penalty of 60 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, as well as a fine of up to $10 million. U.S. Magistrate Jesus Castellano released seven of the defendants who came into court Thursday on bail totaling $625,000 and jailed the others without bail. He set a court hearing for Nov. 21. The indictment alleges that Torres and his drug organization had imported and distributed more than 4.5 tons of Colombian cocaine into Puerto Rico and the United States since 1985. William Mitchell, head of the San Juan office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said most of the cocaine was shipped to Puerto Rico by way of neighboring Dominican Republic. ``Some (cocaine) was for the local market, but the majority went to the states, principally New York and Philadelphia,\'\' he said. The drug ring amassed a fortune, of which $43 million in cash was buried in 22 plastic drums on Torres\' 9.7-acre farm in Vega Baja, about 35 miles east of San Juan, authorities said. The FBI got involved in the case in April after authorities learned that local residents had been using large amounts of cash to buy houses, cars, VCRs, motorcycles, boats and jewelry. Residents took $11 million of the money before Torres allegedly removed and hid the remaining $32 million, which has not been found, the FBI said. The FBI said it had confiscated $4.5 million in cash and property purchased with the stolen money. None of the residents were arrested.\r\n'),(296,2,'The family of Gen. Michel Aoun drove to Beirut\'s airport today to board a flight for Paris, but France and Lebanon remained locked in a dispute over the fate of the defeated rebel commander. Witnesses said a convoy of six French Embassy cars accompanied by four Lebanese military police jeeps left the embassy compound in the eastern suburb of Hazmiyeh and drove to the airport in Syrian-controlled south Beirut. Two Air France executive jets had flown in earlier to evacuate Aoun\'s wife, Nadia, and their three daughters - Mireille, 22, Claudine, 19, and Chantal, 17 -and transport them to France, where they will live in exile. Aoun remained in the French Embassy, where he has been granted asylum. The Lebanese government has refused to allow Aoun to leave the country, insisting that he face trial for a variety of crimes and the alleged theft of at least $75 million from the ailing state treasury. Earlier today, President Elias Hrawi accused Aoun - who took refuge in the French Embassy with his family on Saturday - of ordering his troops to continue fighting even after he broadcast his message of surrender. ``I\'m in the French Embassy. The outcome (of the battle) will be favorable to us. Go on. Go on fighting,\'\' Hrawi quoted Aoun as telling his forces last week in a radio message. ``These were the orders Aoun radioed to his forces, even after his message of surrender was broadcast,\'\' Hrawi said in remarks released by his office. Hrawi\'s government also denied press reports that scores of Aoun\'s defeated soldiers were massacred after surrendering to the Lebanese and Syrian forces who ended Aoun\'s 11-month mutiny on Saturday. Prime Minister Salim Hoss said France\'s call for a United Nations investigation of reports of such killings was based on ``biased rumors.\'\' The Defense Ministry said in a communique that reports that Aoun\'s troops were massacred after surrendering were ``absolutely baseless.\'\' The communique said Aoun\'s troops who died ``fell in the military operation.\'\' The eight-hour, air-and-ground assault killed 350 people and wounded 1,200 by police count. Police said the fatalities included at least 100 Syrian soldiers. But The New York Times, citing doctors at East Beirut hospitals and Syrian officers, said in today\'s editions that the death toll was at least 750. Military sources speaking on condition of anonymity described ``ferocious hand-to-hand fighting\'\' between the advancing Syrian troops and Aoun\'s forces on the eastern edge of his 80-square-mile enclave in the Christian heartland. One source said that after Aoun\'s address was broadcast, one of his officers told the Syrians he was surrendering, but then opened fire when the Syrians came forward. The Syrians responsed by pounding the Aoun forces\' position with rocket launchers and tank cannons, then stormed it with tank-led forces, according to the source. The Defense Ministry\'s communique came a few hours after France urged U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar to investigate reports of summary executions of Aoun\'s vanquished troops in the enclave northeast of Beirut. French and British press reports said about 100 of Aoun\'s 15,000 troops were killed after surrendering. The French Foreign Ministry said France was trying to obtain information about the reports but also wanted a U.N. probe. French opposition leaders today demanded tougher French action in response to the allegations. One of them - Alain Juppe, secretary-general of the conservative Rally for the Republic party - said the government should demand an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council in order to force the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. A police spokesman in Lebanon said on Thursday that by the time police examined the bodies of the slain troops they found ``no solid evidence that the soldiers were liquidated.\'\' ``None of the corpses we examined had hands tied behind the back and very few of the dead soldiers were hit in the skulls with bullets,\'\' said the spokesman, who could be named in line with regulations. Associated Press photographer Ahmed Azakir, who visited the government hospital in suburuban Baabda on Tuesday, reported seeing more than 50 bodies of Aoun\'s troops in the morgue. He said none had their hands tied. Most of Aoun\'s troops declared allegiance to Hrawi\'s army under Gen. Emile Lahoud, a Maronite Catholic like both the president and the defeated general. The leftist newspaper As-Safir - in a front-page, eight-column headline - said the call for a U.N. investigation was part of a French effort to ``distort the operation of unifying Beirut.\'\'\r\n'),(297,2,'House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt said today he opposes the use of military force in the near future to oust Iraq from Kuwait, urging President Bush to follow a policy of ``patient strength.\'\' ``Stay the course. Stick with the sanctions. Do not try to mount an offensive military action in the near future,\'\' the Missouri Democrat said in a speech. Gephardt\'s opposition to any congressional resolution authorizing use of force is the first public break among the Democratic leadership, who said last week that Bush would have a better chance of winning congressional approval for the use of force in the Persian Gulf if the United Nations first backed such a move. His remarks came as the Senate Armed Services Committee began its second day of hearings on the prospects of U.S. military action against Iraq. Democrats on Tuesday demanded that Bush give Congress the same opportunity as the United Nations to debate a resolution authorizing military force. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told the panel today he did not believe the United States could sustain nearly 430,000 troops in the gulf for an extended period of time. ``The issue in Arabia is not American staying power but the host country\'s domestic stability. Conditions in the gulf are not even remotely comparable to Europe or Northeast Asia,\'\' Kissinger said. The former Nixon administration official contended that the sanctions and the possible use of military force are not successive phases of the same policy. ``They will prove mutually exclusive because by the time it is evident that sanctions alone cannot succeed, a credible military option will probably no longer exist,\'\' Kissinger said. Gephardt, in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said, ``Before we resort to offensive military action, Congress and the American people will need to be convinced that the policy of pressure, isolation and sanctions has failed. President Bush has yet to make such an argument,\'\' ``The policy of patient strength is, I think, our best hope,\'\' Gephardt said. Gephardt made his comments while two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff bolstered the Democratic challenge to Bush to give United Nations sanctions time to work. ``My main concern with this latest scheduled reinforcement isn\'t that we might choose to fight, but rather that the deployment might cause us to fight - perhaps prematurely and perhaps unnecessarily,\'\' David C. Jones told the Armed Services Committee. Both Jones and retired Adm. William Crowe said the sanctions are the best option at this time and expressed concern about the long-term effect of military action in the Middle East. ``I counsel patience. War is not neat, it\'s not tidy. It\'s a mess,\'\' Crowe said at the hearing. President Bush\'s press secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, declined to respond directly to the statements by Gephardt and the former chairmen of the joint chiefs. ``Obviously there are going to be different opinions,\'\' Fitzwater told reporters. Fitzwater said Bush does not plan to ask Congress for authority to launch hostilities under the War Powers Act. The president maintains he has the authority to take such action with or without congressional approval. In later testimony today, Crowe said he saw no ``significant breaks\'\' in the international sanctions and urged the administration and Congress to give them a year to 18 months to take effect. ``The issue is not whether an embargo will work, but whether we have the patience to let it take effect,\'\' Crowe said. The retired admiral said he believed the American people, who waited out 40 years of the Cold War, have the patience for the sanctions. ``It would be a sad commentary if Saddam Hussein, a two-bit tyrant who sits on 17 million people and possesses a gross national product of $40 billion, proved to be more patient than the United States, the world\'s most affluent and powerful nation,\'\' Crowe said. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., the president pro tem of the Senate, agreed that the American people have the patience. ``When we view grandmothers and grandfathers who lost not one but two, three grandchildren and they feel we took the action too hastily, I think we\'ll all have the time to be sorry,\'\' Byrd said. ``The American people are willing to sacrifice,\'\' he added. On Tuesday, committee chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., told the hearing that an expected U.N. resolution authorizing the use of military force to eject Iraq from Kuwait ``is not a substitute for fully informing the American people of our own nation\'s objectives and strategy.\'\' Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., the No. 2 Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters he believed Bush should send an emissary to Baghdad to make sure Saddam isn\'t ``confused\'\' about the U.S. position. While agreeing that no talk of compromise can be made until Iraq withdraws from Kuwait, Hamilton said ``a strong argument can be made to talk to him directly or indirectly. I don\'t see we have a lot to lose.\'\'\r\n'),(298,2,'Lt. Gen. Basilio Olara Okello, a Ugandan rebel leader who had been living in exile in Khartoum for four years, has died from diabetes complicated by malaria. He was 61. His family did not say when he died. Okello participated in the five-year civil war in Uganda that was ended by President Yoweri Museveni in 1986. After Okello fled to Sudan, Museveni accused him of human rights abuses in the Luwero triangle area near the Ugandan capital of Kampala, where thousands of civilians were reported to have been massacred in the early 1980s. Some Ugandan rebels said as many as 300,000 had been massacred during the civil war. Okello was the general commander of the Ugandan People\'s Democratic Army, the military wing of the Ugandan People\'s Democratic Movement, which has been fighting Museveni since he took over power. Okello\'s family said he would be buried in Khartoum, at a time to be determined. They said they feared that Kampala authorities would treat him as a criminal and not give him a proper burial.\r\n'),(299,2,'A fire department medical truck hit an 8-year-old boy who darted between parked cars, but the driver saved the boy\'s life by resuscitating him, officials said. Thomas Adkins, 8, was injured so severely in Saturday\'s accident that he went into cardiac arrest, police said. The driver, Gary E. Warren, 36, the second in command of the Baltimore County Fire Department\'s medical division, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and saved the child\'s life, police said. The boy was reported in stable condition Monday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He sustained two broken legs, a broken collarbone, head and stomach trauma and bruised lungs. Warren was ticketed for driving 43 mph in a 25 mph zone. ``He had been through a lot in the emergency medical technician field,\'\' said Officer John Emerick of the police traffic investigation unit. ``But actually hitting that child accidentally really tore him up.\'\'\r\n'),(300,2,'Here are the latest, unofficial results in the Democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico on Sunday.\r\n'),(301,2,'Actress Anne Ramsey, whose grotesque character in ``Throw Momma From the Train\'\' won her an Oscar nomination and a following in the twilight of her career, died of throat cancer. She was 59. Her husband of 34 years, actor Logan Ramsey, was at her side when she died Thursday evening at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she had been for about a week, hospital spokeswoman Peggy Shaff said Friday. The actress often appeared with her husband in projects, including Clint Eastwood\'s ``Any Which Way You Can,\'\' scheduled to air Friday night on CBS-TV. She appeared in two Barbra Streisand films, ``Up the Sandbox\'\' and ``For Pete\'s Sake\'\' and played Nick Nolte\'s addled mother in ``Weeds.\'\' In ``Goonies,\'\' she uttered the line, ``Put that kid\'s hand in the blender and hit puree.\'\' Mrs. Ramsey\'s television credits included roles in ``The Young and the Restless,\'\' guest appearances on ``Hill Street Blues,\'\' ``Night Court\'\' and ``Knight Rider,\'\' and movies-of-the-week roles in ``White Mama,\'\' ``The Boy in the Plastic Bubble,\'\' ``Blind Ambition\'\' and ``Marilyn.\'\' However, it was her role opposite actor-director Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal in the dark comedy about matricide, ``Throw Momma From the Train,\'\' that put her on the fast track. After 37 years in show business, she became famous as the actress with the face of a mother no one could love. ``Some people say I\'m not a very pretty woman, but I\'m a very beautiful woman inside,\'\' she said when asked about her appearance. As the murder-provoking harridan of ``Throw Momma,\'\' the diminutive hunch-shouldered actress played her most tormented and tormenting role. DeVito, as brow-beaten son Owen Lift, tries to arrange a swap of murder victims: He will kill his writing teacher\'s ex-wife if the teacher (Crystal) kills his mother. ``She became such a cult hero to young people after `Throw Momma\' that the kids wouldn\'t leave her alone. But she loved kids. She enjoyed it all,\'\' said her publicist, Stan Rosenfield. ``I loved that woman. I loved everything about her,\'\' DeVito said. ``I was so delighted over the success she achieved over the past year. She was a woman of courage and should be admired by all.\'\' Mrs. Ramsey was nominated for an Academy Award for ``Throw Momma,\'\' but lost to Olympia Dukakis of ``Moonstruck.\'\' She will be seen in four still-to-be-released films: ``Dr. Hackenstein,\'\' ``Scrooge,\'\' ``Good Ole Boy\'\' and ``Homer and Eddie.\'\' It was the removal of part of her tongue during throat cancer surgery three years ago that gave her the speech impediment evident in ``Throw Momma From the Train.\'\' She began chemotherapy treatments when the cancer recurred in April. During filming of ``Throw Momma,\'\' Mrs. Ramsey was undergoing oral surgery and was enduring intense pain, said DeVito. He said the actress never asked to be excused from work. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Ramsey is survived by a brother and sister, Rosenfield said. A private burial was planned in Omaha, Neb., but the family kept the date and location secret, Rosenfield said. A public memorial service will be held Aug. 20 at St. Michael & All Angels\' Episcopal Church in Studio City, he said.\r\n'),(302,2,'A television station Friday accidentally broadcast an emergency bulletin, prompting immediate calls from viewers, an official of the station said. Oran Gough, director of operations for Fox Broadcasting Co. affiliate WTTE, said the bulletin telling viewers to stand by for emergency information ran for about 30 seconds before it was disovered. ``A guy put the wrong tape in the machine,\'\' Gough said. ``Obviously, we didn\'t do it on purpose.\'\' Gough said the message, broadcast during the movie ``Send Me No Flowers,\'\' is a standard emergency announcement that television stations are required to have as part of the Emergency Broadcast System. The message includes the phrase ``Stand by for emergency information.\'\' Gough said the announcement was interrupted when the mistake was discovered, and the station resumed the movie with a superimposed message that the bulletin was broadcast in error. He said he did not know how many people called the station. ``We got calls from people right after it happened. They wanted to know for sure that it wasn\'t for real,\'\' he said.\r\n'),(303,2,'A defendant in what is believed to be the longest federal criminal trial in American history wanted special consideration because of his sleep disorder, so he asked the judge about his ``sleeping motion.\'\' ``I thought we had put that to bed,\'\' U.S. District Judge Harold A. Ackerman replied to the laughter and groans of the defendants and attorneys in his Newark courtroom. On another day, Ackerman angered some when he called one motion ``creative nonsense at best.\'\' Ackerman, 60, spent nearly two years with the Herculean task of handling the U.S. v. Accetturo, et al. case. The trial ended Friday when the jury, after 21 months of proceedings but only 14 hours of deliberations, acquitted all 20 defendants of racketeering charges. The defendants, alleged to be members of the Lucchese crime family, had been charged with organized crime activities in New Jersey. During the trial, 20 litigators, including some of New Jersey\'s most highly regarded lawyers, and two defendants representing themselves filled Ackerman\'s courtroom. He acted as referee to a throng of egos, and sometimes one of his toughest tasks was just keeping the courtroom quiet. He made more than 100 rulings on legal motions. Legal papers from the case fill 15 feet of file drawers. Ackerman\'s judicial record includes a landmark decision in a civil racketeering case brought by the government against Teamsters Local 560. In 1984, Ackerman ruled that the Union City local had been dominated by organized crime for a quarter century and placed it under a trustee\'s control, the first such action in the nation. Earlier this year, because of comments he had made in news reports in his typically outspoken fashion, ousted union officials sought to have Ackerman removed from the case. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused. At about the same time, the appellate court was considering another Ackerman matter. The judge had ordered a lawyer and his firm back into the Lucchese trial after a key defendant\'s attorney contracted cancer. The lawyer fought his appointment in appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost. Along the way, though, the 3rd Circuit mildly chided Ackerman for the ``leisurely pace\'\' of the trial. The judge then lengthened trial days and reduced delays. Ackerman attended Seton Hall University and Rutgers University, where he received his law degree in 1951. The former sportswriter served as a judge in the state Division of Workmen\'s Compensation and was a state judge in Union County before President Carter nominated him for U.S. District Court in 1980.\r\n'),(304,2,'Guy Hunt became Alabama\'s first Republican governor of this century in a 1986 landslide that his critics viewed as a fluke. In a bid for re-election, Hunt is locked in a close race against Democratic challenger Paul Hubbert, executive secretary of the 67,000-member state teachers\' union. Hunt is trying to put his name in the history books alongside George Wallace as the only Alabama governors elected to two straight terms. Hubbert is trying to become the first National Education Association member elected governor of a state, according to NEA records. Hubbert has tapped the state teachers\' union\'s political war chest and its state-wide volunteer network. Several top aides to former governor Wallace also are working in the Hubbert campaign. Hunt has warned business interests that Hubbert is a pro-union candidate who would carry out a liberal agenda. Former President Reagan visited Alabama to attend a Hunt fundraiser and rally. Hubbert says the governor of Alabama is elected by the white, middle-class, working male and that by watching what pickup trucks carry ``as far as bumper stickers are concerned, you\'ll see what direction the race is going.\'\' But ``the guy in the pickup truck ... I think he\'s more of a Hunt voter than a Hubbert voter,\'\' says Margaret Latimer, a political science professor at Auburn University. Hunt, a north Alabama fruit farmer and a Primitive Baptist preacher, was Reagan\'s campaign chairman in Alabama in 1976 and 1980. He never went to college and sold Amway products while struggling with a six-figure debt left from a losing 1978 campaign for governor. A bitter Democratic primary four years ago alienated many traditional Democratic voters and propelled Hunt from GOP obscurity to victor. Like Wallace of the 1960s, Hunt bristles at criticism of the state. In June, he seethed at a national magazine article that depicted Alabama as chained to a political history preventing it from enjoying New South prosperity, tax reform and educational advancement. In contrast, Hubbert says Alabama must recognize it rivals many Third World countries in its pockets of poverty, infant mortality rates and dismal health care in backwater communities. Hubbert, also from rural Alabama, holds a doctorate in education. He became known as ``governor\'\' in the 1970s by building the biracial teachers\' union into a major political force. Despite his ties to liberal and progressive wings in the Alabama Democratic Party, Hubbert has billed himself as fiscally conservative and tough on crime. The ethics of both candidates are a campaign issue. Democrats produced a check showing that Hunt\'s campaign organization paid a personal mortgage note held by Hunt and his wife. Hunt said the mortgage was tied to debts left over from his losing 1978 campaign. Hubbert said the Hunt camp pilfered a document from Hubbert\'s headquarters. The document says the Democratic nominee should focus on the question: ``Is Guy Hunt a crook?\'\' Hubbert is running a ``dirty tricks\'\' campaign, Hunt asserts. Hunt ran an attack ad showing Hubbert sitting in a car with his top associate, a black political organizer from the Alabama Education Association. The ad ``reminded me of the campaigns of the early\'\' Wallace years, said political science professor Latimer. Deliberately or not, she believes the Hunt ad ``will play racist.\'\' The governor\'s campaign press secretary says the ad is simply an attempt to point out Hubbert\'s base of support, the state teachers\' union. Hubbert\'s campaign is his first race for statewide political office and it comes one year after he received the liver of a 15-year-old boy in a transplant operation. A Hunt supporter has injected the issue of Hubbert\'s health into the campaign. ``I\'ve had doctors tell me that anybody who has a liver transplant can become very sick, very quickly,\'\' said former state attorney general Charlie Graddick. Hubbert, 54, is ``healthy as a horse,\'\' retorted Hubbert spokesman Michael Tucker. ``We\'re seeing an attack by a thoroughly discredited hatchet man.\'\' Graddick switched to the Republican Party after unsuccessfully seeking to become the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in the bitterly contested 1986 primary.\r\n'),(305,2,'Ames Department Stores officials, struggling to revive the ailing discount retail chain, say a new $250 million loan agreement is the first step toward restoring confidence in the company. ``This is what it\'s going to take to start this company on the road to recovery,\'\' said Michael Cook, the lead attorney representing Ames in hearings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where the credit was approved Tuesday. Ames also said it had cut the number of store closings planned immediately from 74 to 33, but said it still is reviewing its operations and could close more stores later. The nation\'s fourth-largest retailer filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on April 25 after many suppliers who had not been paid for earlier deliveries stopped shipping merchandise. The company also was unable to get a new credit agreement from its lenders to ease a cash flow crunch. Officials said the new $250 million line of credit will allow the company to pay vendors on time and keep merchandise coming into its 680 stores. ``I believe it was what we needed to hear to give the trade (vendors) the security to feel free to ship us the goods we need,\'\' said Ames President George Granoff. The agreement approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Howard C. Buschman III allows Ames to borrow up to $250 million from Chemical Bank. Buschman authorized the financing after a group of 33 banks withdrew its objection to the plan. In his order, the judge said Ames did not have sufficient working capital to finance its operations. ``Absent such availability, the debtors cannot supply their retail stores with the inventory they need in order to ensure adequate sales levels and continued customer loyalty,\'\' Buschman said. Stephen L. Pistner, Ames\' new chief executive officer, confidently predicted the company would make a comeback with the new financing. ``If we want to save this company, it takes money and competent business. I know how to do the rest,\'\' Pistner said. Buschman postponed a final hearing on Pistner\'s appointment as CEO until May 24. Creditors had asked for more time to review terms of his contract, which could pay him up to $8 million in salary, bonuses and benefits over three years. A bank group headed by New York\'s Citibank withdrew its objection to the $250 million loan after reaching an agreement with Ames early Tuesday. Ronald DeKoven, an attorney for the banks, said the agreement allows the banks to split with the company $91 million in cash collateral Ames has in its account. He said the agreement also resolves a dispute between Ames and the bankers over outstanding letters of credit totaling $65 million. Ames owes the Citibank group about $450 million. The banks had objected to Ames\' request to borrow the further $250 million because Chemical\'s loan would have a higher repayment priority than the Citibank group\'s debt. Antonio Alvarez, a principal in a New York consulting firm that helped Ames negotiate the loan with Chemical, told the judge that the company has been unable to convince vendors to ship goods. He said if the trend continued, the company could see sales drop 40 percent or more. The court earlier had approved $25 million in credit from Chemical Bank. Ames, which claims it has been losing more than $10 million a week, said it needed the additional $225 million to pay vendors and assure the company of merchandise for the critical back-to-school and Christmas sale seasons. ``The company has literally been bleeding to death,\'\' said Cook. An attorney representing a committee of Ames creditors said the group was satisfied with the new financing arrangement. ``Our committee did want this approved, because the company needs the money to keep operating,\'\' said the attorney, John M. Friedman Jr. ``I think this will be a big help in getting back to a sense of normalcy with the vendors.\'\' Also Tuesday, Ames said it lost $228 million, or $6.41 a share, in the year that ended Jan. 27. The loss, which the company predicted last month, compared with earnings of $42 million, or $1.07 a share, in 1989.\r\n'),(306,2,'Jesse Jackson, declaring that statehood for the District of Columbia was a ``mainstream\'\' issue, launched a new effort Monday to gain the district\'s admittance to the union. ``D.C. statehood is a mainstream issue,\'\' Jackson said. ``We need to go to work ... mobilizing people all over the country. We want democracy and not tyranny.\'\' Jackson said the campaign, which began on the national holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, ``would give substance to the dream\'\' that King espoused. Jackson, who moved to the district last year, was joined at the opening of the Rainbow Coalition\'s D.C. Statehood office by local and national politicans, local labor leaders and mayoral hopeful Sharon Pratt Dixon. The campaign will focus on persuading those who voted for Jackson in the 1988 Democratic presidential primaries to rally behind the statehood effort, the two-time presidential hopeful said. Roughly 7 million voters backed Jackson in the primaries. The civil rights leader said he has already met with Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and House Speaker Thomas S. Foley to push the statehood issue. He said statehood supporters will write to each member of Congress and senator by Feb. 1 to determine who supports the idea. The Republican and Democratic parties will also be asked to help, and Jackson expressed confidence that he will be able to meet with President Bush to discuss the statehood issue. ``Surely, if he can send our men and women to fight and die for democracy in Panama, he will not deny democracy where he lives,\'\' Jackson said. ``If Mr. Bush can stand for Puerto Rican statehood, surely he can stand for D.C. statehood, too.\'\' In his State of the Union address last January, Bush promised to have party officials explore the possibility of making Puerto Rico a state. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ron Brown, a former Jackson aide and D.C. resident, noted that statehood for the nation\'s capital was a plank in the 1988 Democratic platform. ``We\'ll be behind it,\'\' said Brown. ``We will be putting our resources behind this _ mostly organizational help.\'\' Jackson has been rumored as a possible mayoral candidate, but has publicly said he would not oppose Mayor Marion Barry in the upcoming election. Barry indicated he may include funds for two ``shadow\'\' senators and a ``shadow\'\' representative in the budget he will send to the city council next month. Those elected to the largely ceremonial, non-voting positions would lobby for statehood in Congress. The district currently has one, non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives.\r\n'),(307,2,'PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) _ Looters hauled away carloads of television sets and other appliances while vigilante squads guarded some homes Sunday during the chaos of an armed uprising by Moslem extremists. Fires broke out in several parts of the capital, Port-of-Spain, and a thick cloud of acrid smoke hung over the city. A government-imposed curfew took effect in mid-afternoon, and the streets were deserted _ except for looters. ``Everybody is trying to secure themselves because people don\'t know what\'s going to happen,\'\' said Trinidanian Ian Mckenzie, who was watching looters on the outskirts of Port-of-Spain. ``We don\'t want our country this way. We are a democratic country.\'\' In middle-class and upper-class neighborhoods, residents banded together to stave off attacks. Several homes in the Westmoorings suburb, about six miles northwest of the capital, were ransacked, and residents fenced off the area to keep intruders away. A witness said he said two men _ armed with 12-gauge shotguns and a .38-caliber revolver _ trying to shoot open a large safe by the side of a road. Widespread looting broke out along the Churchill-Roosevelt highway, the main artery between the airport and the capital. People pulled their cars up to warehouses and filled them with refrigerators, televisions and radios. Supermarkets, pharmacies, clothing, hardware and appliance stores were systematically stripped by convoys of vehicles. Looting also spread outside the capital to the villages of Barataria, San Juan, Mount Hope and El Socorro. Anglican Bishop Clive Abdullah broadcast an appeal over government-run radio for looters to stop. ``My heart goes out to those who are hungry and have to enter places to take foodstuffs. I can perhaps ask God\'s forgiveness for this,\'\' he said. ``But when you line up a convoy of vehicles to take away items like refrigerators, television sets and videos, that is not right.\'\' Army and police patrolled downtown Port-of-Spain around the Parliament building, known as Red House, where Prime Minister Arthur Robinson was being held hostage by black Moslem rebels. But in many parts of the city, no police were visible. Some people kept an eye out for police while friends looted stores. On Saturday, a witness in the Picadilly area of eastern Port-of-Spain said about 50 policemen fired shots into the air to stop the looters. But people ignored them and continued to plunder stores.\r\n'),(308,2,'The Environmental Protection Agency outlined hazardous waste cleanup procedures and standards on Monday that it said could cost private industry as much as $42 billion to carry out. EPA administrator William K. Reilly called the plan ``a pragmatic approach for correcting existing problems\'\' and said it will ensure ``to the extent practical\'\' prevention of releases that might threaten human health and the environment. The proposed standards and procedures, affecting a wide range of industries and federal facilities regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, will be published later this month in the Federal Register. The public will have 60 days from publication date to comment on them. Public hearings have been scheduled in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. in October. EPA said the new regulations would affect 3,000 to 4,000 facilities, including several hundred owned by the federal government. The agency estimated it could cost privately owned facilities between $7 billion and $42 billion to meet the requirements. The price tag for federal facilities would total $3 billion to $18 billion, EPA said in a statement. ``The scope of the work that needs to be done under this program underscores the value of preventing, rather than having to clean up, pollution,\'\' Reilly said. The wide range of the cost estimates is due to markedly varied conditions from site to site involving uncertain levels of ground water monitoring and cleanup, the agency said. EPA said its plan allows corrective actions to be tailored to site-specific conditions and sets health-based standards for the cleanup of pollutants. The plan also contains requirements on how wastes must be stored, treated or disposed of during cleanups. Remedies would have to be consistent with those required under the agency\'s Superfund cleanup program. Industries affected would include petroleum refiners, wood preservers, metal finishers and auto manufacturers. Further information on the proposal can be obtained from EPA by calling 1-800-424-9346.\r\n'),(309,2,'Several unions went on strike Monday, including teachers and miners, and students marched into downtown Niamey to protest the killing of three students by police last week. President Ali Saibou\'s military Cabinet, continuing an emergency meeting begun over the weekend, praised ``the valor of the forces of law and order\'\' who opened fire Friday to disperse a rally of about 3,000 high school and university students. The government says police killed three people and wounded 33. Students put the death toll at 12. A government statement said the Cabinet ordered all secondary schools and Niamey University closed. Police did not interfere with Monday\'s march. The students also denounced the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and government for an unpopular austerity program that was a causes of Friday\'s demonstration. Saibou\'s government said in its statement the Cabinet ordered an investigation ``to unmask agitators and trouble-makers.\'\' It claimed students were being manipulated by ``traitors to the national cause pursuing personal ambitions.\'\' Striking teachers said they also were protesting the arrests of two colleagues detained on suspicion of encouraging student unrest. Leading politicians invited to the Cabinet meeting said the government had agreed to meet with student representatives. No date was given. In the past, the government has accused students of being greedy in demands for larger grants, better-equipped libraries and laboratories and guarantees of government jobs. The government has put a freeze on public jobs. Government officials say the demands are excessive in one of the world\'s poorest nations. The unrest is the worst in Niger since Saibou won a new seven-year term Dec. 10.\r\n'),(310,2,'Overweight children have greater long-term success controlling their weight if their parents provide early support for exercising and eating right, researchers said. Ten years after participating in a weight-loss program as 6- to 12-year-olds, children whose parents got similar weight-control training were significantly less obese than those whose parents received less training, according to a study published in Wednesday\'s Journal of the American Medical Association. ``We think the important finding is in the modeling,\'\' said psychologist Leonard H. Epstein, head of the University of Pittsburgh\'s Childhood Obesity Clinic and leader of the research team. ``If you have children who you don\'t want to eat potato chips, you can\'t sit in front of them eating Ho-Hos.\'\' Epstein\'s group also concluded that pre-adolescent weight loss had no effect on height development, contrary to the findings of several shorter-term studies. Two other childhood obesity experts called Epstein\'s results surprisin because previous research has shown that fat children will grow into fat adults and that weight lost in treatment programs is quickly regained. Those experts said further study was needed on whether treatment of obesity in childhood can produce effects that persist into young adulthood. In Epstein\'s project, an initial group of 75 obese children and their parents were randomly assigned to three groups. Study criteria required the children be more than 20 percent over ideal weight for their age, height and sex; both parents living at home, one of whom had to be obese; and one parent willing to attend treatment meetings with their child. All subjects were to attend eight weekly treatment meetings followed by six monthly meetings, then by 21-month, five-year and 10-year meetings. All were instructed to follow a regimen that included a 1,200-to-1,500-calorie-per-day diet and an aerobic exercise program. In the first group, both parents and children received reinforcement for losing weight and were trained to praise other family members for changing eating and exercise habits. In the second group, only the children received reinforcement for losing weight but were similarly trained to praise family members for weight-control behaviors. Parents and children in the third group received reinforcement only for attending the meetings. They received information about social reinforcement without specific training in how to use the method. All subjects lost weight initially. At the 10-year mark, the children in the first group were, on average, 7.5 percent less overweight than at the beginning of the study while those in the second and third groups were 4.5 percent and 14.3 percent fatter, respectively. Parents in all three groups were more obese after 10 years than at the start of the study. In a journal editorial, Dr. Albert J. Stunkard of the University of Pennsylvania medical school and Dr. Robert I. Berkowitz of the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic cautioned that the ``treatment did not prevent obesity, it limited it.\'\' They called Epstein\'s results surprising, perhaps because of his relatively small study sample: intact, middle-class families in which the parents were likely to be very supportive of their children\'s efforts. They said replication of Epstein\'s study ``is clearly needed\'\' before the findings can be embraced.\r\n'),(311,2,'Stock prices fell today, pressured by new evidence of sluggish business conditions. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials dropped 23.02 to 2,897.77 by 2 p.m. on Wall Street. Losers outnumbered gainers by about 2 to 1 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed issues, with 472 up, 941 down and 518 unchanged. The Commerce Department reported that the gross national product grew at a 1.2 percent annual rate, after adjustment for inflation, in the second quarter of the year. The figure came in below most advance estimates. In addition, analysts noted that a significant amount of the increase stemmed from inventory expansion, a negative portent for production. Open-market interest rates declined in response to the news. For stock traders, however, the data seemed primarily to emphasize recent worries about the outlook for corporate profits. Many big-name stocks have run into selling of late on earnings reports that didn\'t live up to expectations. Walt Disney, for instance, dropped 4&lsqb; to 116~ after posting a 23.3 percent quarterly earnings gain that evidently disappointed some traders. Elsewhere, energy stocks were mostly higher on reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had agreed on a new oil production ceiling and reference price of $21 a barrel for the rest of the year. Exxon rose { to 49&rsqb;; Atlantic Richfield { to 124|; Amoco | to 54, and Texaco { to 62\\. The NYSE\'s composite index of all its listed common stocks fell 1.46 to 193.09. At the American Stock Exchange, the market value index was down .79 at 355.54. Volume on the Big Board came to 105.17 million shares with two hours to go.\r\n'),(312,2,'Members of the ruling Politburo flew to the restive Baltic republics Friday, and one warned residents against pushing too hard for economic and cultural autonomy from Moscow, local journalists reported. Dissatisfaction in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has been fueled by political reforms proposed by President Mikhail S. Gorbachev. Baltic residents say the changes will void their constitutional right to secede and give Moscow control over their economy and other aspects of life. The Politburo, the Communist Party\'s supreme body, promised Thursday to hold a discussion on expanding the rights of the 15 constituent Soviet republics. But the dispatching of three of its members to the Baltic region indicated the Kremlin wants to draw the line now on what sort of political changes can be contemplated. The 1,500-member Supreme Soviet parliament is to meet in special session in Moscow on Nov. 29 to approve Gorbachev\'s blueprint for political change, which also increases the powers of the presidential post and creates a new national legislature. Viktor M. Chebrikov, the former KGB chief who now heads a party Central Committee commission on legal and judicial reform, opposed demands for local economic independence in comments to workers at a plastics factory in Tallinn, Estonia, according to Tarmu Tammerk, an Estonian journalist. ``He said very strong words against economic independence. He said the whole of the Soviet economy is so tightly linked that one cannot speak of independence for one of its parts,\'\' Tammerk, who works for the newspaper Homeland, said in a telephone interview. Chebrikov\'s remarks were broadcast on state-run Estonian radio in an attempt to give them the widest possible exposure. ``His words sounded like a grim warning to people here,\'\' Tammerk said. ``Economic Independence\'\' has been the watchword of a widespread movement in Estonia called the Popular Front, which seeks greater control by Estonians over the affairs of their Switzerland-sized republic. Estonians say the fruits of their labor are siphoned off by Moscow to subsidize poorer regions of the country, including the giant Russian federation, the largest Soviet republic. Two of Chebrikov\'s colleagues on the Politburo traveled to the other Baltic states, ideology chief Vadim M. Medvedev to Latvia and Nikolai N. Slyunkov, who is in charge of formulating the party\'s social and economic policy, to Lithuania. Their arrivals were reported by state-run media in the Baltic republics, journalists there said. Later, the evening television news program Vremya broadcast brief reports on the visits. Tass, the official news agency, said Medvedev outlined limits to political activity in meetings with workers at two factories in Riga, the Latvian capital. Tass said Latvians agreed with Medvedev on the need ``to subordinate group ambitions to the interests of society as a whole in the conditions of perestroika.\'\' However, during his visit to the Norma factory in Tallinn, Chebrikov heard Estonians object to elements of Gorbachev\'s political reform plan, Vremya said. The westward-looking Baltic republics, independent states until the Soviet Union absorbed them in 1940, have become a proving ground for bold economic reforms that are part of Gorbachev\'s drive for ``perestroika\'\' or restructuring. Granting a greater degree of autonomy to the small republics on the Soviet Union\'s western edge is fraught with political risks, since many residents resent Moscow\'s control and some openly say their ultimate desire is complete independence. The Estonian Popular Front and a similar organization in Latvia have condemned Gorbachev\'s political reform plan, which is embodied in proposed amendments to the 1977 Constitution. The Lithuanian Restructuring Movement is to meet Sunday in Vilnius, the republic\'s capital, to consider the issue. Members of the three popular fronts are now gathering signatures on petitions asking that the amendments be dropped and rewritten, Algimontas Vaishnoras of the Lithuanian group said in a telephone interview. The Estonian Supreme Soviet, or parliament, has scheduled a meeting on the political reform issue for Wednesday, and Lithuania\'s legislature will meet the next day. The 12-man Politburo, in a report on its Thursday night meeting, said authorities will consider changing the draft constitutional changes in response to more than 80,000 suggestions and comments from citizens and organizations. Friday night the Central Committee announced it would hold a special plenary meeting in mid-1989 to review policies dealing with the country\'s more than 100 ethnic groups. ``The task of perfecting relations among nationalities is acquiring special importance and urgency,\'\' a Central Committee statement said according to Tass.\r\n'),(313,2,'The 28 crew members of a 600-foot Greek freighter that sank in the Pacific Ocean should arrive Wednesday aboard a Coast Guard cutter, authorities said. The Vulca went down Sunday morning, 800 miles northeast of Hawaii after efforts to pump water from its two forward holds failed, the Coast Guard said. The ship was carrying scrap metal from Los Angeles to South Korea when it began taking water Thursday. The Philippine crew members and Greek officers fled unharmed to the cutter Sassafras on Saturday evening. The cause of the original flooding was not determined, and there was no estimate on the value of the ship and its cargo, officials said.\r\n'),(314,2,'Nine months after a Yugoslav freighter ran aground and destroyed a 500-foot swath of live coral off Key West, the state and the ship\'s owner and captain have reached a tentative $3.3 million settlement. Tuesday\'s agreement, which must still be approved by Gov. Bob Martinez and the Cabinet, came just one day before a lawsuit filed over the grounding would have gone to trial in Key West. ``We think it\'s a very, very good settlement,\'\' John Costigan, chief of environmental litigation in Attorney General Bob Butterworth\'s office. Allen Von Spiegelfeld, a Tampa attorney who represented the freighter Mavro Vetranic, owner Atlantska Plovidba and captain Zdravko Berana, said his clients agreed to the proposed settlement late Monday by telephone from Yugoslavia. The ?3.3 million will go to the state\'s coral reef restoration fund, which finances research and other activity to preserve and revitalize the reefs. The Florida barrier reef, a tract of about 6,000 coral reefs extending from Miami along the Keys to the Dry Tortugas archipelago west of Key West, is the third-longest barrier reef in the world. It\'s home to 52 coral species and 10 times as many fish. It can take 100 years for a coral to grow one yard. The grounding last Oct. 30 was the second of three such incidents in less than three weeks in the Florida Keys. The federal government filed a $9 million lawsuit alleging that the Mavro Vetranic was unseaworthy and its crew incompetent when it ran aground. But government attorneys later conceded that the reef was in state territory and stepped aside to let the state handle the suit, Costigan said.\r\n'),(315,2,'Lockheed Corp., the nation\'s eighth largest defense contractor, reached a tentative labor agreement with the union representing about 20,000 workers for the aerospace firm. The tentative contract reached early Sunday still must be ratified by rank and file members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. A nationwide vote was scheduled for March 4. ``We feel it\'s the best contract that we can negotiate at this time, especially with government audits,\'\' union negotiator Bob Gregory said Sunday, referring to government monitoring of Lockheed\'s hourly compensation costs. Tom Goff, spokesman for the Calabasas-based Lockheed, confirmed that the two sides had reached a tentative agreement. A week earlier, union members rejected management\'s latest offer by a 98 percent margin. The union said Lockheed\'s earlier offer was inadequate and set up a two-tier wage structure. As part of the tentative agreement, both sides declined to disclose terms of the contract until the rank-and-file votes. The union workers have been operating under an extension of the previous three-year contract that expired last October. The present contract offer will be retroactive to October and runs through March 1, 1993, Gregory said. The union\'s Local District 727 represents 6,000 workers in Burbank and Palmdale. The contract also covers workers at Lockheed plants in Sunnyvale and Marietta, Ga. Contract talks had resumed Thursday in Florida and concluded early Sunday. Asked about changes in the contract offer\'s pension plan, Gregory said that it establishes an employee stock ownership plan for union members. Lockheed set up an employee stock-ownership plan for salaried employees last April. The plan, designed to strengthen the company against take-over attempts, gave salaried workers control of 17 percent of the company.\r\n'),(316,2,'Mozambique rebels said Saturday they attacked and occupied army barracks 15 miles from the South African border and killed an undisclosed number of soldiers. The Mozambique National Resistance said it attacked the barracks in Moamba on Tuesday and ``destroyed three battalions of the 2nd brigade\'\' of the Mozambique army. Moamba is about 30 miles northwest of the capital, Maputo. A rebel statement distributed in Lisbon said the survivors of the attack fled toward South Africa. The statement also denied any responsibility for reported massacres of civilians over the past 15 days. The rebels, also known as RENAMO, have been fighting since 1977 to topple Mozambique\'s Marxist government.\r\n'),(317,2,'Hyosuke Niwa, a former Japanese labor minister, died Friday of heart failure caused by excessive bleeding at age 72, nearly two weeks after he was stabbed by a mental patient at a military ceremony. Niwa, a 12-term member of the governing Liberal Democratic Party in Parliament, was labor minister from December 1988 to June 1989 in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita. Niwa was attacked Oct. 21 while walking to a military ceremony at the Moriyama military base in Nagoya, 170 miles west of Tokyo. He was stabbed with a knife by a 47-year-old mental patient.\r\n'),(318,2,'A 17-year-old high school student held a classmate hostage at gunpoint Monday after taking over a classroom and then freeing his teacher and five other students, officials said. The student, Eli Dean, made no demands and fired no shots. Negotiators were communicating with him over the school\'s intercom system, said state police Sgt. Marvin Jenkins. ``The important thing is we don\'t want anybody injured and we don\'t think he does either,\'\' Jenkins said. The rest of the 643-student school was evacuated onto the school football field. Hostage negotiators were at the school, and two state police chaplains were flown in. Members of Dean\'s family also were present, including his father, Robin, a civilian employee of the state police. Jenkins said snipers were positioned around the school, but that officials were keepings their options open. ``We\'re not making a move ... We\'re not in any great rush to do things,\'\' he said. The student, a senior, had been suspended from school twice during the past two weeks. He returned to the school late Monday morning with a handgun, officials said. Dean let his teacher leave first, and then later let most of the students go. The youth\'s stepfather, Rocky Williams of Charlestown, said he believed Dean had taken his .44-calibre pistol to the school. State police said they did not know what type of weapon the boy had. Williams said his stepson was suspended about two weeks ago after he accidentally set off a fire alarm. He was suspended again last week for breaking a window, Williams said. ``He was falling behind in his school work and was upset,\'\' his stepfather said. Police refused to speculate on Dean\'s motives. ``Maybe the fact that he\'s 17 years old is as much reason as anything,\'\' Jenkins said.\r\n'),(319,2,'BLACK SINGLES 1.``Paradise\'\' Sade (Epic) 2.``I\'m Real\'\' James Brown (Scotti Bros.) 3.``Roses are Red\'\' The Mac Band featuring the McCampbell Bros. (MCA) 4.``The Right Stuff\'\' Vanessa Williams (Wing) 5.``I\'ll Prove It to You\'\' Gregory Abbott (Columbia) 6.``Joy\'\' Teddy Pendergrass (Elektra) 7.``If It Isn\'t Love\'\' New Edition (MCA) 8.``Don\'t Be Cruel\'\' Bobby Brown (MCA) 9.``Keep Risin\' to the Top\'\' Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew (Reality) 10.``Sign Your Name\'\' Terence Tent D\'Arby (Columbia) 11.``Shoot `Em Up Movies\'\' The Deele (Solar) 12.``I Can\'t Complain\'\' Melba Moore & Freddie Jackson (Capitol) 13.``Let Me Take You Down\'\' Stacy Lattisaw (Motown) 14.``Off On Your Own\'\' Al B. Sure! (Warner Bros.) 15.``Alphabet St.\'\' Prince (Paisley Park) 16.``Mamacita\'\' Troop (Atlantic) 17.``Knocked Out\'\' Paula Aboul (Virgin) 18.``Groove Me\'\' Guy (Uptown) 19.``Parents Just Don\'t Understand\'\' D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (Jive) 20.``Symptoms of True Love\'\' Tracie Spencer (Capitol)\r\n'),(320,2,'In some ways, imprisoned Vietnam vets do differ from other inmates _ they tend to be more cooperative, more reclusive, less involved with gangs, said Wilson, the Cleveland State professor. While some are hardened convicts, he said, others have no criminal mentality but their post-war lives have unraveled. Wilson said there\'s a direct link between post traumatic stress and drunken driving, disorderly conduct, assault and weapons charges. Reibel, who was found guilty but mentally ill of child torture, said his anger simmered for years. Records show he had a history of assaulting his son before his arrest. ``I thought about (Vietnam) everyday for 10 years and was afraid to say anything,\'\' he said. Some also say the public\'s intense anti-war feelings made their return all the more traumatic. ``Everybody that came back from World War II was a war hero,\'\' Armstrong said. ``When I come home, (I thought) `Man, I\'m a war hero.\' (But) you\'re one of the four horsemen. You\'re death riding on a horse.\'\' Most Vietnam vets readjusted well, but Armstrong and others got into bar fights, drank heavily, drove recklessly. Some called it their death wish. Others say Vietnam destroyed their priorities. ``Things that were important before I left weren\'t important anymore _ friends, family, success,\'\' said George Fisher, who robbed a shoe store to support a drug habit he picked up in Vietnam. The notion of right and wrong blurred, too. ``When you grow up and they teach you ... don\'t hit a girl ... when you get over there ... what if this little 16-year-old kid happens to be a girl and firing that Mauser at you?\'\' asked inmate Ken Everhart, convicted of criminal sexual conduct against his wife, from whom he was separated. ``People look and say, you\'re ... sick, pathetic,\'\' said Everhart, who\'s been married five times. ``I say, you beat me down. You\'ve got me down. I\'m tired. I\'m tired. I\'m 41 ... years old. I\'ve been fighting Vietnam for 21 years now. Vietnam destroyed my value system.\'\'\r\n'),(321,2,'Authorities are investigating whether a former federal prosecutor manufactured threats against herself and a magistrate during the extradition case of two Sikhs accused of terrorism in India, the U.S. attorney said Monday. A search of former prosecutor Judy Russell\'s house revealed similar threatening messages in a travel bag, said U.S. Attorney Samuel A. Alito Jr. An FBI laboratory analysis concluded that typewritten characters on envelopes containing the threats matched those on the prosecutor\'s 1983 application to the U.S. attorney\'s office, Alito said. The typewriter matching the print also was found in her house, he said. Ms. Russell was in charge of handling the Sikhs\' case as an assistant U.S. attorney until leaving the office last summer to enter private practice. She received a temporary appointment as a special assistant after that, so she could continue to handle the case. She had submitted sealed information to U.S. Magistrate Ronald J. Hedges during the weeklong hearing about the extradition in February. Alito revealed Monday that they consisted of three typewritten envelopes containing the messages and one handwritten envelope, all purportedly mailed to her Newark law office. One of the letters addressed to Ms. Russell said: ``Don\'t get dead. Don\'t go to court.\'\' Hedges also received a threatening letter, two weeks before the extradition hearing, Alito said. The revelations that Ms. Russell was under investigation came during a court session requested by Alito to ``correct and supplement\'\' the record regarding the threats. Robert J. Fettweis, Ms. Russell\'s attorney and former colleague in the U.S. attorney\'s office, said she was in a private hospital. He would not comment on any aspect of the case or the nature of her illness. Alito said Ms. Russell had not been charged. The Justice Department\'s Department of Public Integrity was handling the investigation, he said. The extradition hearings took place Feb. 1-5 under extraordinary security, including sharpshooters on rooftops, which federal officials said was prompted by ``intelligence\'\' received by investigators. Hedges ordered that the men, Ranjit Singh Gill, 25, and Sukhminder Singh, 26, could be extradited. That ruling was being appealed. Alito said the revelation about Ms. Russell\'s alleged involvement in the threats had no affect on the outcome of the extradition case, but said he would seek a new hearing ``only because we want to avoid any appearance of impropriety.\'\' The Indian government charges that Singh plotted the revenge assassination of a retired general who led the bloody 1984 assault against Sikh militants occupying the Sikhs\' holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Gill was charged in the killing of a Parliament member. Singh\'s attorney, Ronald Kuby, called the affair ``clearly the most astounding thing I\'ve heard.\'\' He has accused the Indian government of being behind the ``threats\'\' to poison the atmosphere against the two Sikhs.\r\n'),(322,2,'Television watchers of the 19th annual New York City Marathon followed the step-by-step progress Sunday of the leaders, but many spectators on the course scanned the thousands of runners for a familar face. The winner in the field of 23,478 _ largest ever for a marathon _ was Steve Jones of Wales, who finished in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 20 seconds, only seven seconds off the course record. Grete Waitz of Norway won the women\'s division for a record ninth time in 2:28:07. Marybeth Torpe was hoping another runner would run fast _ her boyfriend Tony Giannelli. She and several others had staked out the corner table at a restaurant on First Avenue to get a good view of the runners as they romped off the Queensboro Bridge. Their hopes on seeing Giannelli depended on how fast the Yonkers native ran. ``We have to leave this table by 12:30. The manager\'s kicking us out,\'\' said one of Giannelli\'s friends, Pete Koogan. Torpe was eager for Giannelli to finish, too. ``I\'m going to ask him to marry me today,\'\' she said, holding up the rose she planned to give him. Crowds cheered for the those in the lead packs and the also-rans on the warm, sunny autumn day. Lynne Avery, a sophomore at Morristown (N.J.) High School, waited on First Avenue near 60th Street hoping to catch a glimpse of her English teacher, Robert Paciorkowski. But she was not taking any chances on missing him. ``Mr. Paciorkowski told us if he saw a television camera, he\'d wave to us,\'\' Avery said _ as she held a small portable television in her hand. All along the marathon route, volunteers handed drinks to runners, but Rick Fairlamb of Glen Rock, N.J., had prepared a special elixir of carrot juice. He handed them out to the 50 or so runners in the ``Natural Living\'\' running club who passed his table at 61st Street and First Avenue. ``Last night I went into Brooklyn and got 500 pounds of carrots from a food co-op. We juiced them starting at 5 this morning,\'\' he said. In Central Park, Richard Borrego stood on the railing with a bullhorn, waiting for his favorites in the race to pass. He didn\'t have any trouble finding them. ``I\'m cheering for Grete and Steve Jones,\'\' Mr. Borrego said, referring to the winners. ``They\'re both so courteous, full of good sportsmanship. They always help other runners. They never knock other runners,\'\' Borrego said. ``And that\'s the way it should be.\'\' In Washington, D.C., more than 13,000 people from 23 countries and 49 states ran the Marine Corps Marathon, which offers no prize money and prides itself on being the ``people\'s race.\'\' Jim Hage, a lawyer from Lanham, Md., who had never won a major marathon, pulled away from two-time champion Brad Ingram in the last half mile to win in 2:21:58.\r\n'),(323,2,'A 9-year-old boy and his aunt drowned in the Lehigh River as family members watched in horror after the two were swept away while wading across a shallow area below a dam, authorities say. Emisilda Santana, 41, and her nephew Lizandro Santiago were pronounced dead of accidental drowning Sunday despite efforts by rescuers who pulled the victims from the water and administered emergency aid on the shore. The woman\'s husband, Jose Santiago, and the boy\'s mother, Maria Pacheco, both of Allentown, were comforted by friends at the scene. The victims were among a group of six who were walking through the rapids ``when the water came and took us,\'\' said Esperanca Santiago, 10, a cousin of Santiago and Mrs. Santana\'s niece. Esperanca\'s brother, sister and another cousin also were in the group, she said, but all survivors escaped injuries. One child was hanging piggy-back on Mrs. Santana as the group struggled to shore, Esperanca said. She said Lizandro could not swim and had to be pulled from a public swimming pool earlier this year. Robert Dougher, 41, of Bethlehem, a Conrail policeman, said he was nearby when children came running from the wooded bank crying for help. He ran down to the river and saw Mrs. Santiago floating face down near the shore. Dougher said he pulled her ashore and gave her mouth-to-mouth and cardiopulmonary resuscitation but ``I couldn\'t get any vitals.\'\' Other rescuers arrived and tried to resuscitate the woman while two police officers tied to ropes searched for the boy in the 5-to-6-foot deep water. Two fishermen in a boat downstream found the boy in about 6 to 8 feet of water. The victims were taken to two different hospitals, where they were pronounced dead.\r\n'),(324,2,'Sen. Bob Dole, kicking off a Wisconsin campaign swing Sunday, flipped two coins into a wishing well, thinking perhaps of a badly needed win in Wisconsin\'s April 5 primary. As he strolled around a sports exposition at the city\'s convention center, Dole was asked by reporters about a Milwaukee Journal poll suggesting Vice President George Bush led him by a margin of nearly 3-1 among Wisconsin voters considered likely to vote in the Republican primary. ``There are no secrets,\'\' he said. ``I\'ve got a lot of hill to climb before April 5,\'\' he said later in an interview. ``I met a lot of friendly people out there. It\'s tough when you\'re losing. It\'s a lot more fun when you\'re winning,\'\' he said. ``But I still have a lot of supporters out there. And we want them to know Bob Dole is a fighter, that we\'re going to stay in this race.\'\' The Kansas senator said, however, that he would have to reassess his standing if he lost in Wisconsin. ``We shouldn\'t be into this game about are you going to run or are you going to drop out,\'\' he said. But he added that after Wisconsin, he would have to do some thinking about whether to stay in the race. ``We\'ve been hearing the end is near, but people forget George Bush stayed in eight weeks after he began losing to Ronald Reagan,\'\' Dole said. ``Eight weeks was enough for him to lose. But I think eight weeks would be enough time for me to turn some things around.\'\' At the sports exposition, he was presented with a fishing rod and fisermen\'s vest, and viewed a tank that served as an artifical fishing pond containing trout. A demonstrator cast a few lines but came up empty. Dole was also visiting a Veterans Administration hospital on Sunday. On Monday, he was attending a farm day in northwestern Wisconsin, visiting a vocational school in Eau Claire and touring a brewery in La Crosse. Dole\'s state campaign chairman Michael Grebe said he expected the senator\'s visit to be ``the kickoff to a strong effort in Wisconsin.\'\' ``We expect to have a direct mail effort, radio and television advertising and continuing volunteer effort and volunteer phone banks,\'\' Grebe said. Dole was trounced by Bush on Super Tuesday, and lost again last week in Illinois. He has indicated he intends to remain in the race at least through the Wisconsin primary. The Milwaukee Journal poll of 732 Wisconsin residents showed 69 percent of those planning to vote Republican preferred Bush, 25 percent chose Dole and 6 percent chose Pat Robertson.\r\n'),(325,2,'An Ohio prison inmate who took two guards hostage at gunpoint and fled in a rented Cadillac with his wife and 9-year-old stepdaughter was captured Friday, crossing from Mexico into El Paso, Texas. Michael Day, 31, of Athens, who escaped Sunday from the Ross Correctional Institution in Chillicothe, was arrested without incident about 6:30 p.m. EDT as he crossed the Santa Fe-Juarez bridge, officials at the prison said. His wife, Sylvia Carraveo Day, had been arrested about 2 p.m. as she crossed the same bridge, and Mrs. Day\'s daughter was also in custody, the FBI\'s El Paso office said. Day and his wife were in the El Paso city jail Friday night and will be arraigned Tuesday before a U.S. magistrate, authorities said. The FBI, El Paso police and authorities from Ohio and Indiana took part in the arrest. Day, serving an 18- to 25-year sentence for burglary and othger felonies, escaped with a pistol officials said was sent to him in a television set. Karen Albert, 29, of Athens was arrested and charged Monday with sending the gun. Day took his two hostages in a prison jeep to a Holiday Inn here, where his wife and stepdaughter waited with a getaway car. He handcuffed one guard to the jeep and the other to a towel bar in a room registered to his wife. A blue Cadillac that Mrs. Day rented Sunday night at the Columbus Airport Sunday night was found Friday morning near the international bridge, Ross Correctional spokeswoman Sandy Price said. Authorities staked out the area near the car and waited for the Days to return, Ms. Price said. She said authorities believe Mrs. Day has relatives in Texas and possibly in Mexico. Ms. Price said the stepdaughter would be released to Mrs. Day\'s parents. Day was convicted of attempted abduction, burglary, receiving stolen property and carrying a concealed weapon after a felony conviction, Ms. Price said. He had been at the Ross prison since June 1987 and had served at the Chillicothe Correctional Institute and Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield since April 1985, and married while he was in prison.\r\n'),(326,2,'BLACK SINGLES 1.``Joy\'\' Teddy Pendergrass (Elektra) 2.``One More Try\'\' George Michael (Columbia) 3.``Alphabet St.\'\' Prince (Paisley Park) 4.``Paradise\'\' Sade (Epic) 5.``I\'m Real\'\' James Brown (Scotti Bros.) 6.``Little Walter\'\' Tony! Toni! Tone! (Wing) 7.``Keep Risin\' to the Top\'\' Doug E. Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew (Reality) 8.``Dirty Diana\'\' Michael Jackson (Epic) 9.``I\'ll Prove It to You\'\' Gregory Abbott (Columbia) 10.``Parents Just Don\'t Understand\'\' D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (Jive) 11.``Most of All\'\' Jody Watley (MCA) 12.``Just Got Paid\'\' Johnny Kemp (Columbia) 13.``Run\'s House\'\' Run-D.M.C. (Profile) 14.``Roses are Red\'\' The Mac Band featuring the McCampbell Bros. (MCA) 15.``Everything Your Heart Desires\'\' Daryl Hall & John Oates (Arista) 16.``The Right Stuff\'\' Vanessa Williams (Wing) 17.``Shoot `Em Up Movies\'\' The Deele (Solar) 18.``Should I Say Yes\'\' Nu Shooz (Atlantic) 19.``Let Me Take You Down\'\' Stacy Lattisaw (Motown) 20.``I Can\'t Complain\'\' Melba Moore & Freddie Jackson (Capitol)\r\n'),(327,2,'President Reagan heard arguments Monday for and against U.S. participation in a treaty aimed at freezing emissions of an important precursor of acid rain. The pollutant in question, oxides of nitrogen, accounts for about one-third of the acidity in rainfall in the eastern United States and Canada. The Cabinet\'s Domestic Policy Council, with Reagan presiding, was briefed on a proposal coming from a United Nations-sponsored negotiation that would freeze emissions until 1996, pending further research on the effects of nitrogen oxides and how to reduce them. Reagan made no decision, but participants expect one soon. Oxides of nitrogen are formed in the combustion of fossil fuels in industry, utilities and motor vehicles. In the air they may be transformed into nitric acid. In urban areas they are an essential raw material for making smog. U.S. emissions have been roughly steady since 1980 and according to EPA projections should remain that way until about 1995, when slow increases should start. The 21.3 million tons emitted in 1986, the most recent year available, were 8.5 percent below the peak year of 1978. According to two participants in discussions over the issue, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, the Environmental Protection Agency supports joining the treaty while the Energy Department, supported by the Interior and Commerce departments and the Office of Management and Budget, opposes it. EPA spokesmen declined to discuss their agency\'s participation in the meeting. The telephone of an Energy Department official to whom questions were referred did not answer. The United States in 1985 declined to join a similar international agreement calling for a 30 percent reduction in emissions of the other major precursor of acid rain, sulfur dioxide.\r\n'),(328,2,'Diplomats from Eastern Europe used to have a hard time getting inside the heavily guarded NATO complex. Now they are given up-to-the-minute briefings on the Persian Gulf crisis. ``A year ago, just walking around NATO headquarters . . . would have been either illegal or certainly incredible,\'\' said Tibor Kiss, the Hungarian charge d\'affaires in Brussels. He is among diplomats from Eastern European countries that accepted an invitation from North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders to a ``regular diplomatic liaison\'\' with the Western alliance. At their July summit in London, President Bush and the other NATO leaders said the West wanted to share ``our thinking and deliberations in this historic period of change.\'\' They made the offer to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, all members of the Warsaw Pact, the crumbling Eastern military alliance. The seventh Warsaw Pact member was East Germany, now part of united Germany, which belongs to NATO. The Soviet Union and Hungary were the first to accept, telling NATO their ambassadors to Belgium would represent them, and the others followed. Diplomats from the six countries have had about half a dozen briefings at NATO, mostly on the gulf crisis. A senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the briefings illustrated ``the new post-Cold War era that we\'re in. . . . We are no longer adversaries.\'\' Henning Wegener, assistant secretary-general of NATO for political affairs, gave the diplomats information on two meetings in August and September of foreign ministers of the Western alliance\'s 16 member nations. Separate sessions have been held with American officials, including the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, and Condolezza Rice, a Soviet specialist at the National Security Council in Washington. No NATO secrets were divulged, said those attending the discussions. ``I would not say these briefings are more informative than the press conferences,\'\' one diplomat said, on condition of anonymity. Others described them as helpful, especially the ones given soon after Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2. Kiss said Hungary ``certainly took into account whatever was said by the West\'\' in determi ning its position on the invasion. NATO is wrestling with the question of how far it should go in contacts with the ambassadors, known in NATO-speak as interlocutors. William H. Taft IV, U.S. representative to the alliance, would like to see the links expanded. ``I would hope . . . that we would at the least go well beyond the idea of simply keeping these new friends advised of major developments when they occur,\'\' he said in a recent speech. ``The point of liaison is surely something more - indeed, to keep in touch before major steps are taken and to benefit from consultation . . . before decisions are taken.\'\' Some European countries, notably France, are more cautious. One NATO diplomat, who would not let his name be used, said the invitation was a symbolic gesture ``intended to end the kind of distrust the six countries had concerning NATO. It was important to tell them our door was open.\'\' Making the contacts more formal, by opening a new NATO office for the purpose or granting the diplomats observer status at meetings, would change ``the real objective of this measure,\'\' he said. ``We have to have first a real debate in the organization about what we want to do,\'\' the NATO diplomat said in an interview. Andrei Keline, first secretary at the Soviet Embassy, doubts he ever will observe high-level NATO meetings. ``This is an alliance,\'\' he said. ``We are not part of it.\'\' Still, Keline said Moscow feels the links offer potential for military, scientific and economic cooperation. ``NATO is an important organization,\'\' he said. ``What we want (is contacts that are) business-like. They should be deep, and they should give as much as possible for both sides.\'\' Hungary, which plans to leave the Warsaw Pact\'s military arm next year, wants to deal with NATO on its own, not in a group with the other pact members. Could the initial contacts eventually lead to one or more of the Warsaw Pact countries applying for membership in the Western alliance? ``NATO isn\'t seized with that question because nobody has asked,\'\' the senior NATO official said. Keline commented: ``I wouldn\'t bury the (Warsaw Pact) right now.\'\'\r\n'),(329,2,'The House on Thursday rejected a constitutional amendment to protect the American flag from desecration, heeding opponents who said it would risk damage to the Bill of Rights. The 254-177 tally left the amendment, which was supported by President Bush, 34 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution. Republicans voted 159-17 for it, Democrats 160-95 against. The vote followed a sometimes impassioned day of debate featuring more than 100 speeches, including a rare address by the speaker of the House, Rep. Thomas S. Foley, D-Wash. ``We should not amend the Constitution of the United States to reach the sparse and scattered and despicable conduct of a few who would dishonor the flag and defile it,\'\' said Foley, who also cast a rare speaker\'s vote to register his opposition to the amendment. By tradition, the speaker does not normally engage in debate or vote. Countered Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill.: ``Let us take the flag out of the gutter where the counterculture has dragged it and is smearing it. We have 10 amendments that guarantee us all sorts of rights. How about one amendment that gives us a duty?\'\' Foley told reporters that Thursday\'s vote would be the last one on the amendment this year in the House, but Republicans promised to keep the issue alive. ``I am confident this debate is going to go on for a long time,\'\' Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., told the chamber. Asked about the Bush\'s efforts on behalf of the amendment, Gingrich said ``it was very hard for the president in two days to override the speaker.\'\' Supporters of the amendment, backed by veterans\' groups seeking more time to lobby, had tried to delay Thursday\'s vote until next week but were defeated 231-192. Rep. Rep. G.V. Montgomery, D-Miss., the chairman of the House Veterans Committee and the amendment\'s prime Democratic sponsor, said of the proposal, ``I think we owe it to the brave Americans who have died for this country.\'\' But Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., decried the attempt to modify the First Amendment. ``When I look around the politicians today, I see more people who remind me of Daffy Duck than Thomas Jefferson,\'\' he said. The strength of the opposition was larger than expected and was aided by the unexpected support of some conservatives. ``Up until 24 hours ago, I was a sponsor of this amendment,\'\' said Rep. Tim Valentine, D-N.C. ``But over the rhetoric of the past few days, I finally heard the voice of my own conscience.\'\' The amendment read, ``The Congress and the states shall have power to prohibit physical desecration of the flag of the United States.\'\' It was first proposed in 1989 after the Supreme Court ruled that flag burning was a form of protected free speech. The issue was revived last week when the court rejected last year\'s attempt to pass an anti-flag-burning law that the court could accept. After the vote on the amendment, the House also rejected a new statute _ not a constitutional amendment _ to ban flag burning. The bill, narrowly drawn in hopes of avoiding court rejection, would impose fines and jail terms for people who burn flags to promote violence or who burn flags on federal property or belonging to the federal government. Republicans voted overwhelmingly against it after their leadership called it a ``fig leaf\'\' to protect Democrats who opposed the constitutional amendment, and it lost 236-179. The Senate is expected to vote next week on the amendment, which would require a two-thirds vote in both chambers, and approval by 38 of the 50 states, for ratification. Foley said the House would not vote again this year. Regardless of the outcome on Capitol Hill, Republicans promise to raise the issue in this fall\'s campaign. The House majority leader, Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., acknowledged the political tightrope members were walking. Several members decorated their speeches with flags and other props. Rep. Gary Ackerman, trying to highlight the difficulty of enforcing legislation to protect the flag, held aloft a wide variety of household items and gags decorated with the stars and stripes. ``How about American flag napkins,\'\' he said, holding one. ``What if you blow your nose in one. Have you broken the law?\'\' Although Ackerman said he was not trying to trivialize the debate, Rep. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he was offended. Most Republican speakers supported the amendment; the bulk of opposition came from Democrats. There also was a noticeable generational tilt in the debate. House Minority Leader Bob Michel, R-Ill., a decorated World War II veteran, co-sponsored the amendment and called it ``a measured, prudent, limited thoughtful approach to the problem.\'\' ``Surely this is something different from the `assault on the Bill of Rights\' some critics say it is,\'\' he said. Rep. James H. Quillen, R-Tenn., another World War II vet, used photographs of the famed Iwo Jima flag raising and of a flag-burning protest in New York\'s Central Park to dramatize his support for the amendment. But Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., a Vietnam veteran who said he would ``never forget the sacrifices that have been made so that our flag can fly proudly and freely,\'\' was a leader of the opposition. ``In 200 years of our history, these basic freedoms have never been amended, never. And if we start now, who knows what freedoms will be next? ... Where will it end?\'\' he asked.\r\n'),(330,2,'Explorers bored a 250-foot shaft through the Greenland icecap to a B-17 bomber buried since World War II, said a sponsor who was awaiting word today of their findings. ``They\'re going to try to enlarge the hole to get into a hatch,\'\' Pat Epps, president of the Greenland Expedition Society, said Wednesday. One plan was to use hot water from the thermal borer that cut through the Arctic ice to enlarge the bottom of the shaft. If that doesn\'t work, ``somebody has to go down there with electric chain saws and carve around the airplane,\'\' Epps said. Epps, who had been on the icecap with the expedition until last week, heard by radio from Greenland on Wednesday morning that the expedition succeeded in reaching the plane. The bomber is one of two B-17s and six twin-engine, P-38 Lightning fighters that crash-landed when they ran out of fuel after being decoyed by false radio transmissions from German submarines while en route to Europe in 1942. Epps and Atlanta architect Richard Taylor formed an expedition to find and salvage the planes. This year, the third consecutive year the men flew to the icecap, a team led by Taylor used a thermal borer to drill the 42-inch diameter shaft to the B-17 named Big Stoop. A second team, led by Angelo Pizzagalli of Burlington, Vt., used a huge auger to bore a hole 16 feet in diameter toward a P-38. Epps, who hopes to fly one of the P-38s off the icecap, said plans call for getting all six fighters out by Sept. 1. The eight planes crash-landed July 15, 1942. Their crews camped in one of the B-17s for nine days until rescuers arrived on dog sleds. In the early 1970s, Col. Carl Rudder, one of the P-38 pilots, mentioned the planes to Roy Degan, a commercial airline pilot who brought the idea of an Arctic expedition to Epps. The explorers eventually obtained search and salvage rights from Denmark, which administers Greenland. In 1988, the society found the aircraft using low-frequency subsurface radar. Last year, expedition members drilled down to the B-17 and brought back poker chip-size pieces of its skin. Epps estimated his group will have spent $800,000 to $1 million by Sept. 1, financed by fund raising and Rolls Ltd., Pizzagalli\'s non-profit corporation in Vermont.\r\n'),(331,2,'Automobile innovator Malcolm Bricklin is seeking to evict a business associate from his northwestern Colorado ranch in a lawsuit that has brought bitter allegations from both sides. A jury trial in the Combined Courts of Rio Blanco County is scheduled to begin Wednesday in the civil suit brought by Bricklin Industries Inc. against John Avery. Bricklin, 49, wants to remove Avery, his wife and three children from a refurbished home on a ranch Bricklin owns nine miles south of here and about 225 miles west of Denver. Earlier this year, several small businesses filed liens of more than $100,000 against Bricklin-owned property in Colorado. Bricklin paid off his debts by early May, however, after he received the proceeds from the sale of his stake in Global Motors Inc. Global was the parent of Yugo America Inc., which introduced the cut-priced Yugo automobile to the United States in 1985. But Bricklin is best known for his failed attempt in the 1970s to popularize a plastic, gull-wing sports car bearing his name. In the latest dispute, he contends that Avery, 38, is not doing the job he was hired for. The millionaire had paid Avery $8,000 a month to act as ranch manager and also paid him as a real estate consultant. His suit follows a lawsuit filed by Avery earlier this year in federal court. Avery\'s suit contends that Bricklin has not lived up to terms of a verbal agreement under which Avery was allowed to buy 500 acres of Bricklin\'s 8,000-acre Franklin Ranch and invest $40,000 in a ranch house on the property. Bricklin says the agreements covered only rental of the property. Joseph Coleman, Avery\'s lawyer, said Bricklin cut off payments to his client and sought to get out of the verbal agreement in August 1987. ``When John filed a lawsuit, Bricklin responded by trying to take his home away,\'\' he said Tuesday. In an interview in the Rocky Mountain News on Tuesday, Bricklin said: ``People can\'t do the job, then they turn around and ask you for more money. It\'s something that wouldn\'t be happening if it wasn\'t me, because I\'ve got some money. And if it wasn\'t me, it wouldn\'t be news.\'\' However, Coleman said bank accounts for the initial land purchase bear both men\'s names, indicating a partnership existed and supporting the verbal agreement.\r\n'),(332,2,'Little Rock Police Chief Jess F. ``Doc\'\' Hale, suspended following his arrest on theft charges, died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday, authorities said. Lt. Bert Jenkins said Hale\'s wife, Jean, found Hale, 47, shot in the head in the laundry room of his home. Hale, of Cabot, was suspended as chief pending the outcome of his trial on a charge of theft of less than $200 from a cash register in a Little Rock drug store. He was arrested March 10 outside the store. Hale\'s trial was to begin May 24 in Pulaski County Circuit Court. He pleaded innocent to the charge March 11 and was released on his own recognizance. In a statement, Little Rock City Manager Tom Dalton said the gunshot wound ``appears to be self-inflicted.\'\' ``Our entire city is shocked and stunned as we share this tragedy and sorrow,\'\' Dalton said. ``We extend our deepest sympathy to Doc\'s family.\'\' Hale was charged after state police made secret videotapes in the store, which is a favorite hangout for local politicians and police. Chief Deputy Larry Jones of the Lonoke County sheriff\'s office said notes on several sheets from a yellow legal pad were found in Hale\'s residence, but he did not know the contents. However, Sheriff J.O. Isaac said Tuesday night that Hale didn\'t leave any note that would explain his death. ``There was not a note found in the vicinity of where the body was. Any businessman or law officer keeps notes and that\'s what these were,\'\' Isaac said of the sheets from the legal pad. Isaac said he expected results of an autopsy conducted late Tuesday would be released Wednesday by the state Crime Laboratory. The sheriff said he would not know until then whether Hale\'s death was a suicide. He said tests were also being conducted on a pistol _ not Hale\'s service revolver _ that was found near the body. Radio station KARN, quoting sources who insisted on anonymity, reported late Tuesday that a settlement of the Hale case was being negotiated. Under the settlement, KARN said, the charges against Hale would have been dropped if the chief resigned. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Piazza declined comment on the report, and attorneys for Hale and the store owner could not be reached at their homes or offices Tuesday night. Hale was hired as chief Oct. 20, 1986, after running the Medicaid Fraud Division of the state attorney general\'s office. He had joined the attorney general after a long career with the Little Rock Police Department.\r\n'),(333,2,'Wilfred LePage saw his first zebra mussel Feb. 1. By September, thousands of the tiny molluscs jammed the intake of the water treatment plant he manages, cutting the flow 20 percent and nearly sparking a water emergency. ``There is no cheap solution to it and there\'s no real cure to the problem,\'\' said LePage, water treatment superintendent in Monroe, Mich., on Lake Erie\'s western edge. At the eastern end of the lake, in Dunkirk, N.Y., the green-and-yellow striped shellfish first appeared Oct. 3, and now infest a Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. generating plant. December\'s deep freeze stopped them from clogging water intakes but they quickly settled inside the plant. ``They like it where it\'s dimly lit, they like it where it\'s warm, and they don\'t like a lot of turbulence. This place is ideal for them,\'\' said Robert C. Henderson, a chemical lab supervisor at the plant. ``By July, we\'re going to have a massive problem with them.\'\' Three years after they were introduced to North America and after only one year in Lake Erie, zebra mussels have spread throughout the lake and have been spotted at the entrance to Lake Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River. It\'s an invasion scientists say could affect farming, fishing and daily life along virtually every body of fresh water in North America in the next few years. The mussels are mostly about a half-inch long, although they can reach 2 inches during their five-year lifespans. They eat by filtering microscopic food particles from the water, and love intake pipes of water and power plants because the current brings them a steady supply of fresh food. A mussel can filter more than a gallon of water an hour, said R. Warren Flint, a scientist with the Great Lakes Program at the State University of New York-Buffalo. As a result, they will leave water cleaner than before. ``From an aesthetic perspective, that would certainly be a benefit, I guess,\'\' he said. Europeans have used zebra mussels to clean algae-choked ponds, and the shells can be used to add calcium to livestock feed, said Charles O\'Neill, with the Sea Grant program at the State University College at Brockport. The mussels also are a good source of food for diving ducks and some kinds of fish, including sturgeons and eels, Flint said. But with millions of them at work filtering microscopic food, they could deplete the supply for the small fish that support the billion-dollar walleye- and bass-fishing industry. And the bad news could spread beyond the lake and its shoreline. Farmers and golf courses that draw irrigation water from the lakes can expect problems, and beachgoers will have to wear shoes because of the shells, O\'Neill said. ``It can affect everything from the electricity at your outlet to the water at your tap,\'\' O\'Neill said. ``It\'s not just an environmental problem.\'\' Like their distant cousins, the blue mussels, zebras ought, in theory, to be edible by humans, Flint said. But when Canadian researchers tried steaming a bunch, O\'Neill said, ``What they got was a stench that cleared the lab.\'\' The mussels have plagued Europe for more than a century and are believed to have arrived in North America on a freighter that emptied its ballast tanks in Lake St. Clair, upstream from Lake Erie, in 1986. Scientists are studying the possibility that the Lake Erie infestations came from several ships rather than that single 1986 event, O\'Neill said. But Flint said one colony could have infested the lake because one mussel can lay 30,000 to 50,000 eggs a year and the larvae can swim for up to two weeks before growing shells. ``They could easily get across Lake Erie or Lake Ontario in that period of time,\'\' he said. For public water systems, controlling the mussels is a matter of applying chlorine, ozone or other disinfectants at the mouth of the intake pipe rather than waiting until the water is inside the plant, say scientists and plant operators like LePage who have already faced the problem. Power plants have a different problem, because officials are reluctant to let them put chlorine or other disinfectants in cooling water discharged back to the lake, Henderson said. Niagara Mohawk and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are negotiating a solution. James Sell, chief operator of the Dunkirk water plant, is studying ways of getting chlorine to the pipe\'s mouth, like building a platform over the intake or running a smaller chlorine pipe out through the intake. ``We\'re better off than the people in the western end of the lake,\'\' Sell said. ``At least we have some time to do something by spring.\'\' The City Council hasn\'t been persuaded to pay up to $100,000 for the plans, but Sell, who keeps three living mussels in a jar to show visitors, said, ``I don\'t see much option for them if they want a water supply.\'\' Farther inland, many water officials are unaware of the problem or not prepared to do anything about it. Michael Burke, director of the state Health Department\'s bureau of public water supply protection, said the department was studying the problem but doesn\'t see the need to issue warnings. ``I think the word\'s getting to them, particularly those with large surface intakes in the Great Lakes. It is coming out in industry papers and things of that sort.\'\' O\'Neill and other scientists said the state should do more to get the word out, because it is only a matter of time _ and not necessarily very much time. ``The chances of them getting into the western reach of the Erie Canal is good,\'\' O\'Neill said. ``The canal is an ideal place for them to live. It\'s warm. It\'s shallow. Most of it has rock riprap to attach to.\'\' Pleasure boats can also carry mussels and their larvae in their engine housings and other places where water collects. Once the mussels get into Lake Michigan, they will almost certainly spread through the Chicago River and into the Mississippi River basin, O\'Neill said. ``Any area in North America that is utilizing surface water should be concerned.\'\'\r\n'),(334,2,'Arizona Sen. Dennis DeConcini wrote an aide in 1986 asking what ``we can do to bring heat\'\' on a federal banking regulator who was opposed by savings and loan owner Charles H. Keating Jr., the Senate Ethics Committee was told today. The senator\'s memo to his staff aide, Laurie A. Sedlmayr, was written in December 1986, after Keating had made clear his opposition to top bank regulator Edwin Gray, who wanted Keating\'s thrift to adhere to investment limits. Committee special counsel Robert S. Bennett cited the memo in questioning Sedlmayr as the panel held its fifth day of hearings into allegations DeConcini and four other senators improperly intervened with regulators on behalf of Keating, a financial contributor. Sedlmayr said she was aware Keating wanted Gray out of office. DeConcini wrote her a memo on Dec. 11, 1986, citing press accounts of potential financial and ethical problems facing Gray and asking, ``Anything we can do to bring heat?\'\' She said she responded five days later saying it was ``probably unnecessary\'\' for him to take action and suggesting the senator ``stay out of this.\'\' Sedlmayr, under questioning by Bennett, said Keating was more aggressive than many other businessmen she dealt with. ``I found him to be something of a zealot and I wasn\'t comfortable with that,\'\' she said. ``I think the senator probably thought I was overstating the case,\'\' she said. Keating, who owned the now defunct Lincoln Savings and Loan, and his associates contributed $1.3 million to the senators\' campaigns or favored causes. As the panel began its fifth day of hearings in three weeks, DeConcini, D-Ariz., was the only one of the five senators under investigation who attended the session. The other four are Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrats Alan Cranston of California, Donald Riegle of Michigan and John Glenn of Ohio. Sedlmayr was questioned about a memo she wrote to DeConcini in 1987 suggesting a possible deal with the government on behalf of Keating\'s savings and loan. DeConcini denies he offered a deal or tried to negotiate for Keating in the April 2, 1987, meeting. Sedlmayr testified that DeConcini went to the April 2 meeting with three other senators and Gray despite being warned by an aide that the session was a ``political mistake.\'\' She testified that she was not concerned about the propriety of the meeting, but was concerned Gray ``would misrepresent it\'\' later. ``I told him I didn\'t think it was a good idea and could later be misinterpreted by the press,\'\' she said. ``I thought ... it was a political mistake.\'\' Sedlmayr and other aides were not included in the meeting, but she said that when it ended, DeConcini ``said he was pretty disgusted.\'\' She said DeConcini recounted that Gray had said, ``I don\'t know anything about Lincoln, I don\'t have any information and you\'ll have to meet with the regulators in San Francisco.\'\' Riegle, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, did not attend that meeting. However, he did attend a session on Lincoln a week later with the other senators and San Francisco-based federal regulators. The question of whether DeConcini offered a deal on Keating\'s behalf is considered crucial to the ethics investigation. Bennett, told the panel ``there is overwhelming evidence\'\' DeConcini asked Gray to withdraw a regulation opposed by Keating in exchange for a promise by Lincoln to make more home loans. The regulation limited Lincoln\'s ability to make risky investments in speculative real estate ventures. Sedlmayr\'s memo to her boss detailed ``What American Continental wants from Gray for concessions,\'\' and ``What American Continental is willing to do.\'\' American Continental was Lincoln\'s Phoenix-based parent company, controlled by Keating. A sworn statement by another Senate aide says that DeConcini took the Sedlmayr memo with him to the April 2 meeting and ``made verbal references to the subjects discussed in the memorandum.\'\' That statement was by Mary Jane Veno, administrative assistant to Glenn. She said she was told of the memo\'s use by Gene Karp, DeConcini\'s administrative assistant. When the meeting was over, she said, McCain asked DeConcini to explain what he had been talking about and in response DeConcini gave McCain a copy of the memo. But Karp said Friday he did not know if DeConcini actually referred to the memo and could not recall what he told Veno. ``As I remember it now, Gray said at the very beginning he didn\'t know anything about Lincoln and DeConcini never got into the subject matter of the investigation or anything about that,\'\' Karp said in an interview with The Associated Press. ``Whether there was any specific reference made, I can\'t answer. Only the principals that were there can answer it.\'\' Gray has said DeConcini offered a ``quid pro quo\'\' proposal and that Gray believed the meeting was improper. No aides attended the April 2 meeting, and Bennett said there is evidence DeConcini\'s office instructed all to come alone. Lincoln was the object of a bank board examination at the time of the meeting. Bennett said the senators were there ``with varying degrees of intensity, to pressure the board to end promptly the Lincoln examination.\'\' Lincoln was seized by the federal government in April 1989 at a potential bailout cost to taxpayers of more than $2 billion to cover insured deposits.\r\n'),(335,2,'Share prices closed lower Monday after a day of choppy trading on the London Stock Exchange. The Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index fell 8.4 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,794.3. Trading volume was moderate at 479.3 million shares, compared with the 708.7 million shares traded Friday. The market sank at the onset of trading, reflecting concerns about how the administration of President-elect George Bush would handle U.S. economic problems. But it rose sharply by midday on bargain-hunting by big investors, only to sink on the release of disappointing British economic statistics. The Financial Times 30-share index fell 8.7 points to 1,452.5. The Financial Times 500-share index fell 6.68 points to close at 1,021.95.\r\n'),(336,2,'A British judge sentenced an Arab man to 11 years in prison for keeping a cache of explosives for the Palestine Liberation Organization in his home. Judge Christopher French of Old Bailey\'s Central Criminal Court told Ismael Sowan on Thursday that the sentence was the very least he could give for his ``extremely grave offences.\'\' Sowan, 28, was convicted Wednesday of storing explosives, rifles and grenades in his home in the eastern port of Hull. In announcing the sentence Thursday, the judge said, ``we were reminded ... only yesterday of the appalling use to which these materials can be put.\'\' The reference was to a bombing in Northern Ireland that killed six soldiers and wounded 10 civilians Wednesday. Sowan was arrested last August when police were investigating the shooting death of an Arab cartoonist, Ali Naji Awad Al-Adhami. Although he was arrested in Hull, Sowan\'s trial was held in London at the Old Bailey court because cases involving security and terrorism usually are tried there and because Scotland Yard had participated in the investigation. Sowan testified that the weapons found in locked suitcases in his bathroom belonged to Abder Mustapha, a known PLO guerrilla suspected of organizing Al-Adhami\'s murder. Police said that Mustapha fled to the Middle East after Al-Adhami was shot in the head. Sowan, a university research assistant, is not a suspect in that crime, although he was a friend and associate of Mustapha. After his arrest, Sowan claimed to be funneling information about Mustapha to the Israeli secret service Mossad. Officials at the Israeli Embassy in London confirmed that Sowan was in contact with them, and that he had told them that he had Mustapha\'s weapons. British police and intelligence agencies said they did not know about the spying operation and did not receive information from Mossad about the weapons cache during the investigation. David Cocks, Sowan\'s defense attorney, said the Israeli factor made his client innocent.\r\n'),(337,2,'A top IBM executive has confirmed that the company has offered its state-of-the-art computer chips for sale to other companies, according to a report published today. IBM\'s vice chairman and highest-ranking engineer, Jack D. Kuehler, denied industry speculation that the company was acting to prevent its American competitors from becoming dependent on Japanese suppliers for chips, The New York Times reported. The chip is the core technology in advanced computers. Kuehler acknowledged that for more than two years the company has offered small supplies of advanced chips to fewer than a dozen American and European computer makers. The company did so ``to sharpen our own competitiveness\'\' by letting other computer makers choose between IBM\'s chips and those offered by Japanese companies, he said. ``Sometimes we found we were deficient and we have worked to correct that,\'\' he said. ``Sometimes we found we were truly leaders.\'\' But the Times reported that other industry officials suspected that International Business Machines had other motives in acting as a chip supplier to competitors, such as driving down its own production costs. ``IBM is in the unusual position of having to worry about the global competitiveness of American chip technology,\'\' said Richard Shaffer, editor of the Technologic Computer Letter, which follows the computer and semiconductor industries. IBM officials have said the company\'s own health depends on maintaining a strong domestic ability to produce chips, train a large number of microelectronic engineers and sustain a strong semiconductor equipment manufacturing business so IBM will not need to depend on Japan for the most up-to-date technology. Reports that IBM offered to sell chips to an archrival, Digital Equipment Corporation, surfaced about 10 days ago and industry sources then revealed the offers were more widespread. The company also has said it was selling only its chips, not its underlying designs or process technology.\r\n'),(338,2,'Sir Eric Gairy, the flamboyant former prime minister, failed Tuesday in his comeback attempt in Grenada\'s second election since the 1983 U.S.-led invasion, complete but unofficial returns indicated. However, all four political parties opposing Gairy also failed to gained a parliamentary majority, creating uncertainty over who will lead the tiny Caribbean island\'s next government. With final but unofficial results in from all 15 parliamentary constituencies, the National Democratic Congress of Nicholas Brathwaite led with seven seats in the House of Representatives, or parliament, one short of the necessary majority to form a government, Radio Grenada reported. Gairy\'s Grenada United Labor Party won four seats, but Gairy himself was defeated in his parliamentary district, the radio said, citing the Electoral Commission. Gairy had dominated the island\'s politics for three decades before he was ousted in a Marxist revolution 11 years ago. Radio Grenada said The National Party of acting Prime Minister Ben Jones and the New National Party led by Keith Mitchell won two seats each. Jones and Mitchell were both returned to parliament. The leftist Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement failed to gain any parliamentary seats. Radio Grenada said the results were complete but unofficial. Official results were to be announced Wednesday. Although the outcome was inconclusive, Brathwaite, 65, a moderate who led a 13-month interim government after the 1983 invasion, was in a strong position to become the next prime minister. He said before the election that he would not be interested in forming a coalition government, but most observers thought it likely Brathwaite and Jones would merge their parties to form a government. There was no immediate comment from any of the candidates. Turnout was estimated at 60 percent of the 58,296 eligible voters, sharply below the 85 percent recorded in the 1984 election. The election happened to fall on the 11th anniversary of the Marxist coup that toppled Gairy\'s authoritarian government on March 13, 1979, and brought to power the People\'s Revolutionary Government of the late Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. A rift in Bishop\'s government led to his assassination, along with 10 other people, on Oct. 19, 1983. Six days later, U.S. Marines and paratroopers, along with a small regional force, invaded the island and ousted a Marxist junta that had seized power. The Reagan administration, already alarmed by Bishop\'s close ties with Cuba and the Soviet Union, said the invasion was necessary to protect hundreds of medical students and prevent the island from becoming a bastion of Communist aggression in the region. Gairy, 68, and apparently nearly blind with glaucoma, earlier said he would not contest the election unless a ``miracle\'\' improved his sight. Last month, however, he said ``a source greater than I\'\' ordained that he once again lead Grenada. He also said the election came on the anniversary of his ouster not by coincidence but because it had been ``arranged cosmically by a divine force.\'\' Gairy, who was Grenada\'s first prime minister after independence from Britain in 1974, was widely regarded as repressive and corrupt. As early as 1961, Britain dissolved Gairy\'s pre-independence government because of alleged financial irregularities. Gairy\'s party won 36 percent of the vote in the 1984 election but gained only one seat, which it later lost in a party defection. The merged New National Party won 14 seats, with 58.5 percent of the vote, but later split into three groups. The election followed the death of conservative Prime Minister Herbert Blaize in December.\r\n'),(339,2,'Earthquakes continued to rumble under Redoubt Volcano and oil producers shut down their platforms amid fears the tremors could send floodwaters cascading over an oil terminal on the Cook Inlet. Redoubt has been erupting since mid-December, sending corrosive ash as high as eight miles into the sky and melting glacier ice, producing muddy torrents of water that have overflowed the banks of the Drift River. The Drift River storage terminal, with 38 million gallons of oil stored in its tanks, sits on the banks of the inlet in the shadow of the volcano 115 miles southwest of Anchorage. The terminal has been closed since Tuesday, and officials planned to remove most of its oil. Redoubt\'s last eruption was Monday, but seismologists said the volcano remains active, and that more flooding was possible in future eruptions. ``The quake activity indicates the volcano is relatively quiet for now and it does not appear to be building toward stronger eruptive activity,\'\' geologist Steve Brantley of the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Wednesday. Still, a major eruption like Monday\'s is possible, he said. Ten of the 15 platforms that pull oil from the Cook Inlet send their crude to the Drift River terminal for storage. With the terminal closed, eight of the 10 platforms have been forced to shut down, said Bill Lamoreaux, a regional supervisor with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. ``The other two platforms are (operating at) very low volume,\'\' Lamoreaux said. There have been fears the flooding could breach storage tanks, causing a spill of the dimensions of the March 24 wreck of the tanker Exxon Valdez, which released 11 million gallons of North Slope crude into Prince William Sound. Harold Mouser, manager of Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co., which operates the terminal, said the tanker Sansinena was standing by to remove the terminal\'s oil as soon as the procedure is ready. ``We do not have our equipment operational yet for loading the tanker. People there are working on it and have been working through the night,\'\' Mouser said Wednesday. Cook Inlet Pipeline Co. and the state agreed Tuesday to shut down the terminal and remove about 80 percent of the oil. The terminal probably will not resume operations until the company and the state can agree how to operate it safely under the continuing threat of Redoubt, Lamoreaux said. ``They recognize they had a heck of an inventory of crude oil,\'\' he said. ``The facility sits right on the shoreline of Cook Inlet. The tank farm is on the back side, but there\'s nothing to stop it if the contents were lost.\'\' ``I\'ll be feeling a lot better when the total volume is reduced.\'\' The production halt could cost the state of Alaska some money, said Chuck Logsden, a petroleum economist with the Department of Revenue. The affected fields contributed much of the $23.3 million in royalties Alaska collected last year from Cook Inlet production, he said.\r\n'),(340,2,'A controversial hardliner in the guerrilla war against Nicaragua\'s leftist government has become the first military man to win a key role in the rebel leadership. Col. Enrique Bermudez, who survived an ouster attempt in April, joins a seven-member Contra directorate that oversees the U.S.-backed insurgency against the Sandinista government. The 56-year-old professional soldier, a former colonel in the Nicaraguan National Guard under ex-dictator Anastasio Somoza, was elected by a 44-2 vote Monday by an assembly of rebel delegates meeting here. Three of the 54 assembly members abstained and five were absent when the vote was taken on the second day of the assembly\'s three-day meeting in this Caribbean capital. Bermudez ran unopposed as an independent candidate for a one-year term on the directorate, which sets overall policy for the Nicaraguan resistance. He pledged to unify the exiled movement, which has been split by infighting and has struggled to stay financially afloat since Congress halted military aid in February. ``Today, more than ever, I offer my spirit and goodwill ... to strengthen our movement,\'\' Bermudez said. ``To our Marxist-Leninist enemy, we promise a hard battle.\'\' The Contras have been fighting a seven-year war to overthrow the government of Nicaragua\'s President Daniel Ortega. Bermudez insisted he would confine himself to military affairs. Although all seven directors have equal power under assembly rules, senior director Adolfo Calero had been widely regarded as the movement\'s de facto political head. Calero was re-elected with 36 votes to 16 for his conservative rival, Fernando Aguero Rocha, with two abstentions. There had been some speculation that he could lose his seat in a power struggle with Bermudez. Calero, 56, said he expected Bermudez to confine himself to military matters, and said he was satisfied with the election results. Bermudez\' position was strengthened with the defeat Monday night of incumbent director Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, who lost his seat by a 31-20 vote with three abstentions, to Wilfredo Montalvan, 42. Chamorro and Calero tried but failed to strip Bermudez of his military command in April when Bermudez fired six regional Contra commanders for mutiny. Chamorro said talk of making Bermudez a defense minister for the directorate was a ``mask\'\' for the military chief\'s ambition to gain absolute control of the movement. ``I don\'t think he has total control yet, but that is clearly his intention,\'\' Chamorro said after the election. Bermudez\' closest ally on the directorate, Aristides Sanchez, was re-elected, along with Alfredo Cesar, who has supported the military leader\'s candidacy. The other newly elected directors were Roberto Ferrey, replacing his sister, Azucena, who decided not to seek re-election; and Wycliffe Diego, who fills a vacant seat representing the Atlantic Coast Miskito Indians and Creoles.\r\n'),(341,2,'NASA finished testing the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope aboard Discovery and started final pre-countdown work Thursday, raising the space agency\'s hopes for a timely launch next week. It is the most comfortable NASA officials have felt about Tuesday\'s launch date since a power outage interrupted the testing Monday, said George Diller, a spokesman for the space agency. ``Basically, the work\'s done. We\'re just down to the things you can\'t do before now anyway,\'\' Diller said. ``We\'re essentially on or near schedule on all of that work. I\'m really not aware of anything that\'s unusually shaky,\'\' he said. The countdown is scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon. Early forecasts show an 80 percent chance of weather favorable for launch Tuesday, with the weather worsening slightly during the next two days. Functional testing of the telescope and shuttle was completed early Thursday, and the launch pad was cleared of all non-essential personnel for final preparation of the payload and orbiter. Technicians were in the middle of the 52-hour test when a power outage at Kennedy Space Center knocked out air conditioning and forced the shutdown of heat-sensitive computers. Testing resumed Tuesday evening and had to be completed by Thursday morning for the mission to stay on schedule. As soon as the testing ended, technicians began the routine procedure of placing explosive devices on the shuttle\'s solid rocket boosters, external tank and the orbiter itself to be used in the event of a serious malfunction, said NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham. Power was turned off to the telescope and shuttle so that the hazardous work could be performed. Charging of the telescope\'s nickel-hydrogen batteries also was halted and was to resume. The telescope\'s batteries will be charged until the shuttle\'s payload bay doors are closed two days before launch. The 24,250-pound, 43-foot-long telescope, named for the late American astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, is the most expensive unmanned spacecraft ever built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It originally was scheduled for launch in 1983, but was delayed due to technical problems and the 1986 Challenger explosion. Discovery\'s five astronauts plan to deploy the telescope on the second day of the five-day mission. The Hubble will orbit 380 miles high for 15 years, enabling astronomers to study stars and galaxies so distant that their light has been traveling to Earth for 14 billion years. It will be capable of detecting objects 50 times fainter and with 10 times greater clarity than the best ground-based observatory.\r\n'),(342,2,'The stock market snapped out of last week\'s slump Monday with a rally led by blue chips. But trading set its slowest pace in more than two months. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down 38.59 points last week, rebounded 30.19 to 2,892.57. Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 5 to 3 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks, with 918 up, 563 down and 516 unchanged. Volume on the floor of the Big Board came to 119.55 million shares, down from 142.60 million in the previous session and the lightest total since a 114.97 million-share day on April 9. Analysts said traders were doing some selective ``bargain-hunting\'\' in the blue chips while they awaited a broad array of economic reports due from the government this week. Among the monthly statistics on the agenda for Wall Street are the producer price index of finished goods, due on Thursday, and the consumer price index and the nation\'s trade balance, both on Friday. If all goes as expected, brokers say, the data will support the popular view that economic growth is plodding along at a pace slow enough to permit inflation and interest rates to ease. However, they add, any surprises in the numbers could unsettle some of the optimism generated during the rally that carried stock prices to new highs as recently as last Monday. Nationwide, consolidated volume in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 145.41 million shares. Boeing led the active list, up 3 at 58{ on turnover of more than 2.3 million shares. The stock, which was split 3-for-2 effective with Monday\'s trading, reponded to word of a $4.8 billion order from Korean Airlines for Boeing 747-400 jets. Energy stocks attracted buyers after dropping last week in line with falling oil prices. Exxon gained ~ to 47~; Chevron 1&lsqb; to 70|; Atlantic Richfield 2 to 116~; Amoco ~ to 51{, and Texaco &rsqb; to 57~. Elsewhere among the blue chips, International Business Machines rose 1&lsqb; to 119~; Coca-Cola { to 44{; General Motors | to 49&lsqb;; American Telephone & Telegraph \\ to 42\\, and DuPont { to 39|. Microcom Inc. tumbled 8{ to 9} as the most active issue in the over-the-counter market. Late Friday the company projected a loss for the fiscal quarter ending June 30, saying major domestic distributors were overstocked with its software and modem products. As measured by Wilshire Associates\' index of more than 5,000 actively traded stocks, the market increased $22.14 billion, or 0.64 percent, in value. The NYSE\'s composite index of all its listed common stocks gained 1.37 to 197.42. Standard & Poor\'s industrial index rose 3.79 to 421.22, and S&P\'s 500-stock composite index was up 2.92 at 361.63. The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market added 1.92 to 462.79. At the American Stock Exchange, the market value index closed at 362.32, up 1.15.\r\n'),(343,2,'Francis A. Keating II, selected for the No. 3 job at the Justice Department, is a former FBI agent who has spent much of his time in the Reagan administration going after big banks who launder money for drug smugglers and other criminals. Keating, assistant Treasury secretary for enforcement, pursued various cases against banks for neglecting, either intentionally or inadvertently, a 17-year-old law requiring that the institutions to inform the government in writing whenever they handle a cash transaction of $10,000 or more. The Treasury crackdown assessed multimillion-dollar penalties against some of the nation\'s biggest banks, including a record $4.75 million fine paid by the Bank of America. The crackdown on money laundering was started by Keating\'s predecessor in the job, John M. Walker Jr., who is now a federal judge in New York, but Keating continued the effort when he took over at the Treasury Department in December 1985. As head of enforcement, Keating, 44, oversees the Secret Service, the Customs Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Keating was one of the officials charged with implementing the administration\'s stepped-up efforts at halting the flow of illegal drugs into the country. Keating, who will replace Associate Attorney General Stephen Trott, was praised by Attorney General Edwin Meese III as someone who ``can hit the ground running\'\' in the Justice Department\'s work in combating illegal drugs. Trott is leaving Washington to become a federal appeals court judge in California. At Treasury, Keating also has headed the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency charged with implementing economic sanctions imposed against Cuba, Libya, Iran and South Africa. Before joining the administration, Keating was a partner in an Oklahoma law firm. He also served as a U.S. attorney from 1981 to 1983 for the Northern District of Oklahoma. From 1972 to 1981, Keating was a member of the Oklahoma legislature, starting out in the House of Representatives and then winning a seat in the state Senate, where he served as Republican leader. Keating is also a former state prosecutor and FBI agent. He graduated from Georgetown University in Washington in 1966 and received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1969.\r\n'),(344,2,'A projected $55 million-plus lottery prize that would return the North American title for big jackpots to the state is making Californians\' gambling fever rise again. Lottery officials and merchants said ticket sales for the Saturday drawing were running about double the usual pace for Thursday\'s sales. The official estimate of ``over $55 million\'\' for the drawing is conservative, based on similar situations in the two-year history of California\'s computerized Lotto 6-49 game, said lottery spokesman Bob Taylor. On June 4, California\'s lottery paid out a $51.4 million jackpot, North America\'s largest at the time. That jackpot was eclipsed Sept. 3 by a $55.1 million prize in Florida. The state-run lottery\'s policy is to estimate the jackpot conservatively, then revise the projection upward as sales soar. It all depends on how wildly Californians react to the 1-in-14-million chance of winning the jackpot. ``The jackpot is going to generate an awful lot of sales,\'\' said Taylor. The size of the jackpot depends on sales and jackpot rollovers, which combine to produce heavy gambling periods, dubbed ``lottomania\'\' when they first struck other state\'s games. When nobody picks all six winning numbers out of a choice 49, the jackpot is rolled over, or added, to the top prize for the next twice-weekly drawing. Four rollovers, including the rollover of a $33.4 million jackpot Wednesday night, produced the current record prize estimate. The exact size of the jackpot will depend on how many tickets are sold. Of every $1 ticket, 20 cents goes into the jackpot. Each time the jackpot climbs, so do sales, pushing the total still higher, generating even more sales. Historically, most of the sales occur in the last few hours before the televised drawing at four seconds before 7:57 p.m. Sales are cut off at 7:45 p.m. By 2 p.m. Thursday, sales hit $1.2 million, which is normally the total for the entire 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. sales period on a Thursday, said Taylor.\r\n'),(345,2,'The United States has completed withdrawal of its military force that invaded Panama on Dec. 20, the White House said today. The U.S. troop strength in Panama is at 13,504, below the 13,597 stationed in the Central American nation before the invasion, said presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwater. More than 14,000 troops had been rushed from bases in the United States for the invasion. While the troop levels have fluctuated by a few thousand over recent years, the 13,000 level is considered in the normal range, he said. That includes, however, the 2,000 extra personnel President Bush sent to Panama following an election last May 7 that was invalidated by now-deposed Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega. ``The efforts of all the U.S. military personnel in Panama were key to helping put Panama on the road to democracy,\'\' Fitzwater told reporters. ``The president commends the efforts of these brave men and women. Their task is something of which all men and women should be proud.\'\' The Panama invasion resulted in the combat deaths of 23 U.S. soldiers and the wounding of 324, with 314 Panamanian troops killed and 124 wounded, according to Pentagon figures. In addition, 202 civilians were killed in the fighting. The United States has no plans to withdraw its permanent force in Panama. However, the troops are shifting their emphasis from the traditional one of concentrating on the Panama Canal to help train a new national police force for Panama. Noriega\'s Panamanian Defense Force was effectively put out of business by the invasion and his ouster, but thousands of its members have signed up for the new police force. Fitzwater said the number of U.S. troops will likely continue to fluctuate in the years to come. Presence of the invasion force was a thorn in the side of Panama\'s Latin American neighbors who saw the invasion as an unwarranted use of U.S. muscle. President Alan Garcia of Peru initially said he would not attend this Thursday\'s drug summit in Colombia with President Bush as long as the invasion troops remained. Last week, however, as the U.S. troop withdrawal continued, he announced he would attend.\r\n'),(346,2,'The search for a teen-ager suspected of slaying a college student whose body was found in her bathtub spread through New England Monday as reported sightings flooded the police station of this wary town. ``We\'ve even had people call in sightings that turned out to be farmers walking down dirt roads and of one little girl on a road,\'\' said Police Chief David McCarthy. Tensions had been running high for days in the town of 18,000, especially since published accounts quoting sources as saying the suspect had a fascination with a Halloween horror movie. A cinema agreed to suspend the showing of a new horror film, ``Halloween IV,\'\' and selectmen voted Friday to hold trick-or-treating in broad daylight Sunday, a day early. McCarthy said he has sent out 1,000 photographs of Mark Branch to other police forces in New England. Branch, 19, disappeared shortly after the stabbing death of Greenfield Community College student Sharon Gregory, 18. Her body was discovered in her tub on Oct. 21 by her sister. ``This subject should be considered armed and dangerous,\'\' said a state police bulletin, according to The Recorder of Greenfield. ``Info received ... indicates this subject may kill again.\'\' The bulletin said Gregory was stabbed in the back and head with a knife that McCarthy said has not been found. He said Gregory was not sexually assaulted. The chief described Branch as ``a loner. He was a different type of individual,\'\' adding: ``A lot of people didn\'t like the kid.\'\' He stressed, however, that investigators have found no link between Branch\'s alleged taste for horror films and the slaying. A state police investigator said sightings were reported as far away as Enfield, Conn., 50 miles to the south of the western Massachusetts town. Police have searched for Branch since his car was discovered abandoned on a back road in nearby Buckland a day after Gregory\'s body was found. Over the weekend, however, a manhunt in Buckland was called off because 30 searchers and trained dogs turned up nothing. ``I think it would be very reasonable to assume Branch has gone from the area,\'\' McCarthy said. ``Twenty-five hours elapsed between the time of the murder and the time we found his car.\'\' Newspapers have reported that Branch was a fan of the ``Friday the 13th\'\' movie series, in which a character named Jason committed a Halloween night massacre. And they cited unnamed sources as saying police found Jason costume paraphernalia in Branch\'s home, including a hockey goalie mask and black boots. Police have refused to comment on their search and the search warrant they used has been impounded. McCarthy said his detectives reviewed the ``Friday the 13th\'\' movies to try to find a connection with the slaying. Police have no evidence that Gregory\'s slayer may have acted as Jason, ``no paraphernalia left at the scene of the crime, no notes, nothing,\'\' McCarthy said. ``This was a brutal murder, but it had nothing to do with any ritual involving Satanism, Jason, Friday the 13th.\'\' McCarthy said he tripled the number of police cars on patrol for Halloween, but expected no trouble. ``I spent four days trying to clear up the fear frenzy that has run rampant in this town,\'\' he said. ``I think by now the town has come off this fear thing.\'\'\r\n'),(347,2,'The dollar surged against the Japanese yen Monday, and stock prices were sharply lower due to concern over higher oil prices and the possibility of a U.S. interest rate increase. At the end of trading, the dollar was quoted at 122.00 yen, up 0.85 yen from Friday\'s close of 121.15 yen. It opened higher at 121.60 yen and moved between 121.58 yen and 122.00 yen throughout the day. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues, a 43.06-point loser during Saturday\'s half-day session, fell another 380.27 points or 1.3 percent to close at 28,983.32 points. A dealer at the Bank of Tokyo said the dollar ``was being bought in expectation that U.S. monetary authorities may (raise) prime lending rates and the nation\'s discount rate,\'\' the rate the Federal Reserve Board charges on loans to commercial banks. Meanwhile, Bank of Japan Governor Satoshi Sumita told reporters that Japan\'s central bank was closely watching for a possible move by the Federal Reserve, Kyodo News Service said. The dollar\'s strength paralleled the firmness of the British pound despite an increase in British interest rates after news last week of London\'s wider-than-expected current account deficit, the dealer said. The firmer dollar, expectations of a move by the Federal Reserve and higher oil prices encouraged investors to take profits from the recent rally on the Tokyo stock market, pushing prices lower, analysts said. Volume during morning trading was a relatively heavy 750 million shares, with most activity in heavy industrials like Kawasaki Heavy Industries, said Nick Ganner of Citicorp Scrimgeour Vickers International Ltd. Steels and heavy industrials were mixed, while the broader market was weaker. Fisheries were helped by press reports over the weekend that said the Soviet Union\'s state-owned fish processing company and Taiyo Fishery have reached an agreement to set up a joint venture on the Soviet island of Sakhalin to process catches from Japanese and Soviet vessels.\r\n'),(348,2,'U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh said Monday he has no reason to believe he will be selected as Republican George Bush\'s running mate, and that it would be ``presumptuous\'\' to say whether he would accept such an offer. ``I\'ll be back on the job tomorrow in Washington,\'\' Thornburgh, the former two-term, Pennsylvania governor, told reporters at a rally sponsored by his state\'s GOP convention delegation. Thornburgh said he was in town only to hear President Reagan\'s address to the convention Monday night. Asked how he would respond to an offer from the all-but-certain nominee for the vice presidency, Thornburgh hesitated before replying: ``That\'s a presumptuous kind of a statement to make. I have no reason to think that\'s going to happen.\'\' Thornburgh was sworn in as the successor to former attorney general Edwin Meese III on Friday. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a member of the Judiciary Committee that heaped praise on Thornburgh during his confirmation hearing, said senators would understand if Thornburgh left after less than a week on the job. ``Obviously the Justice Department is very important. We pushed hard to move things quickly (with confirmation),\'\' Specter said. ``But my sense is people would feel this is important _ if the vice presidency gives him a higher calling, that\'s that,\'\' he said. Specter, who favors Kansas Sen. Bob Dole for the No. 2 spot on the ticket, said he did not know what Thornburgh\'s chances were of getting the nod.\r\n'),(349,2,'The House on Tuesday rejected legislation to protect homosexuals from harassment after an ugly debate in which one lawmaker labeled colleagues bigots and others called gay men and lesbians perverts. The House defeated the measure 118-80. Its sponsor, Rep. Babette Josephs, a Democrat, said after the vote she was unsure what move to take next, but vowed not to let the issue die. Under the measure, the same state law that gives special protection to religious, racial and ethnic groups would have been extended to include homosexuals. The bill would have extended the tougher penalties for bias crimes to protect people who are thought to be homosexual. ``We have a growing and serious problem of violence against people perceived to be gay or lesbian,\'\' Ms. Josephs said. ``The problem is real, pervasive and growing.\'\' In one of the most impassioned speeches of the debate, Rep. Thomas Murphy Jr., said he was disturbed by discussion and jokes around him on the House floor slamming homosexuals. ``This is bigotry in action. You don\'t have to go a local bar or sports stadium to hear bigotry, you can sit on the House floor and listen to it,\'\' Murphy said. ``Your snickers say you\'re bigoted. You don\'t condone a different lifestyle.\'\' Opponents of the bill criticized not only the measure, but also homosexuality. ``I feel in my heart and in my gut that to pass this bill is wrong,\'\' said Rep. Howard Fargo, a Republican. ``It\'s wrong to do anything legislatively to promote sexual perversion. It\'s wrong to do anything legislatively that would lead to the further deterioration of the traditional family and its values.\'\' Supporters said the issue was not one of morality, but of law and order. One group lobbying in favor of its passage, the Pride of Philadelphia Election Committee, which supports gay rights candidates, had distributed a pack of letters from supporters including Gov. Robert Casey\'s administration. Rep. Karen Ritter, a Democrat, said Pennsylvania had the most homosexual-related murders in the nation last year. ``We are not providing special treatment to perversion as has been suggested. Bigots who are unsure of their own sexuality have already singled out homosexuals for special treatment through violence,\'\' Ms. Ritter said.\r\n'),(350,2,'Gov. Jim Martin has ordered that Confederate flag bumper plates no longer be sold through privately run businesses that also sell North Carolina license plates and validation stickers. The rebel flag plates had been sold at many of the 125 offices. Martin decided to limit sales of the plates after being questioned about them last week by a group of black business leaders in Winston-Salem, Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner William Hiatt said Wednesday. Asked whether the plates being sold at the license plate agencies were in good taste, Martin said, ``Probably not.\'\' The motor vehicles commissioner can cancel a contract with a private license-plate agency with 60 days\' notice and without reason, Hiatt said. State license plates go on the backs of vehicles, and motorists often attach other plates on the front bumper.\r\n'),(351,2,'New Mexico Republicans chose from among four candidates Tuesday to try to unseat first-term Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman. State Sens. Bill Valentine and Joe Carraro, party activist Corky Morris and former U.S. Interior Department official Rick Montoya each argued that he was the right candidate to mount a successful challenge to the man Republicans believe is too liberal for New Mexico. In the presidential primary, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was favored over Jesse Jackson in the race for 24 Democratic delegates. Vice President George Bush was unopposed for 26 Republican delegates. In the state\'s 1st Congressional District, Republican Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. was retiring after 20 years. Three Republicans sought the nomination, including Lujan\'s younger brother Edward, the former state GOP chairman. Eight Democrats sought their party\'s nomination, including former state Land Commissioner Jim Baca.\r\n'),(352,2,'The state-owned Aeromexico airline cancelled 270 flights Tuesday after 7,500 airline ground crew workers struck to protest the planned sale of 13 aircraft and anticipated firings of workers by the troubled carrier. Aeromexico\'s 43 aircraft were grounded in airports in Mexico and abroad after unionized ground workers walked off their jobs at 2:00 p.m. EDT, said Enrique Gutierrez Ortega, spokesman for the Aeronave de Mexico parent company. Gutierrez Ortega estimated during a telephone interview that revenue losses would amount to more than $2 million for each day of the strike. The strikers, members of the Aeromexico National Technical Workers Union, were demanding a halt to company plans to sell 13 aircraft and lay off an unspecified number of airline workers to cut operating losses. Some 17,000 airline passengers had their flights cancelled because of the walkout, Gutierrez Ortega said. ``The passengers most affected are those who had flights to New York and Paris\'\' and were unable to quickly arrange alternative connections, he said. Union spokesman Rene Arce told The Associated Press the strike would continue ``indefinitely as long as the company doesn\'t revoke its decision to sell the planes and terminate union workers.\'\' Aeromexico officials were appealing to the federal Conciliation and Arbitration Commission to declare the strike illegal, Gutierrez Ortega said. The government did not plan to take over the nation\'s second-largest airline to keep it operating, the Communications and Transportation Department said in a statement released Tuesday.\r\n'),(353,2,'You can stomp grasshoppers, spread poison, bash \'em with shovels, or burn the critters if you have to. Now, the Agriculture Department says computers are the latest weapons. If some new software being evaluated by USDA experts, state and county extension agents, consultants and ranchers proves out, the computer programs should ready for general use in another year. Officials at the Grasshopper Integrated Pest Management project in Boise, Idaho, said managing range livestock is so complex that grasshopper control requires a huge amount of information. The computer program under development and testing is intended to put information into the hands of range managers, including the latest on grasshopper population forecasts, timing and selection of control options, range condition assessments, weather data and an economic analysis of management practices. Jim Berry of the department\'s rangeland insect laboratory at Bozeman, Mont., said in a recent report that many potential users of the new software package have had little experience with computers. ``In fact, some may have an initial reluctance to use a computer-based system,\'\' he said. ``Therefore, the system is primarily menu-driven, responds quickly, and requires little knowledge about computers to evaluate a variety of management options.\'\' Meanwhile, the threat to western rangelands and crops is real, not part of a computer program that can be turned on and off by somebody punching buttons. A relative of grasshoppers _ the Mormon cricket _ is merrily chewing its way through parts of Utah and Idaho. These pests, named because they attacked crops of Mormon settlers in Utah in 1848, are also being targeted by USDA scientists. Last week the department\'s Agricultural Research Service said a one-celled microbe that infects and kills Mormon crickets was being released in field tests in southern Idaho. Entomologist John Henry of Montana State University, Bozeman, said the microbe, a protozoan, was found naturally infecting Mormon crickets in Colorado and Utah. Once it infects a cricket, the organism acts slowly, taking up to 12 days to multiply. The microbes then kill the crickets by consuming body fat. ``It could be the most promising long-term weapon against them,\'\' Henry said. Aside from the possibility of seagulls appearing and devouring the crickets, as they did in 1848 to save the crops of Mormon settlers, the best bet for immediate action against destructive insects still appears to be pesticide-laced bait and aerial spraying. The anti-grasshopper lobby in Congress has been active lately, including pushes by lawmakers from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota for more action. As a result, the Senate Appropriations Committee has added $6.8 million to an emergency spending bill to help control an expected grasshopper surge this summer in drought areas of the northern plains. The USDA budget for 1990 includes only $8.7 million for control of hoppers and crickets, primarily on grasslands. Sen. Quentin Burdick, D-N.D., chairman of the agricultural appropriations subcommittee, said only eight grasshoppers per square yard can cause economic losses and that some areas are reporting 1,000 or more hoppers per square yard. The Environmental Protection Agency has been asked to approve an emergency request for the farm use of a pesticide called Asana-XL on grasshopper eggs. The EPA has the request under review.\r\n'),(354,2,'Nancy Reagan says doctors should be more circumspect about commenting in public on the health problems of presidents and their families. In a television interview to be broadcast Friday night, Mrs. Reagan recalled an instance when she and President Reagan were watching television while he was in the hospital recovering from an operation ``and some doctor came on and said, `Well, I\'ll give him about four or five months.\'\'\' ``I thought to myself: Doesn\'t it ever occur to these people that we might be sitting watching?\' What a terrible, terrible statement to make!\'\' She said Reagan did not react adversely to the doctor\'s comment but she said he reasonably could have wondered at that moment whether information about his health was being withheld from him. ``It would be a normal reaction,\'\' she said. Mrs. Reagan made her comments in an interview with Barbara Walters for a segment of the ABC-TV News ``20-20\'\' program. By coincidence, the program is being shown on the Reagans\' 36th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Reagan did not say in the interview what the president was recovering from at the time the gloomy prognosis was broadcast. Nor did she provide any further details. Reagan has undergone several operations during the seven years of his presidency. Recalling her bout with breast cancer, the first lady also said she did not understand the criticism directed at her when she chose to have her breast removed rather than to undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatment. ``I really don\'t understand the people who criticize,\'\' she said. ``It was my choice to make. So don\'t criticize me for making what I thought was the right choice for me. ``You know the whole point about feminism is that you have a choice, that women have a choice. ... ``And I think having doctors who know nothing about the case, who know nothing about you, and know nothing about the case at all coming on giving their opinion, I don\'t think that\'s right.\'\'\r\n'),(355,2,'Lawmakers looking for ways to trim the federal deficit can cut defense spending and even raise taxes if they have to. But they have found they\'d better not touch Social Security. This year, Social Security will dispense about $265 billion - more than one-fifth of all federal spending. But the program was untouched in the deficit-reduction package enacted last month. And new budget rules make Social Security virtually untouchable in the future. The reason has much to do with the political power of the elderly, but also with the program\'s overall popularity, analysts and lawmakers say. ``It\'s a real gut issue,\'\' said Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va. Both Social Security and Medicare, the health care program for the elderly, are ``enormously popular programs,\'\' noted Henry Aaron, director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution. ``The public opinion polls indicate that people would prefer to cut the deficit in any other way.\'\' That explains why, as lawmakers were voting billions of dollars in new taxes and defense cuts to cut the budget deficit last month, Social Security recipients being were told their benefits would increase 5.4 percent in January. The Bush administration announced this month it was looking at ways to shift government benefits from the wealthy to the poor, but it specifically excluded Social Security. Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., noted that ``members of Congress are still pretty sensitive\'\' after having to repeal the Medicare catastrophic illness program last year after an outcry by senior citizens who didn\'t want to pay for it. The program was designed to protect the elderly from financial ruin if they were struck by a devastating illness. A fight over Medicare cuts was one issue that delayed last month\'s budget agreement. In the final version, Medicare takes a $42 billion hit over five years. About $10 billion of that comes from beneficiaries\' pockets. Social Security and Medicare are widely considered the most effective government programs ever to improve the lives of senior citizens. A 1988 Census Bureau report said Social Security benefits lifted 15 million elderly citizens out of poverty in 1986 and cut the poverty rate among the elderly from 47 percent to 14 percent. ``It\'s done a fantastic job of reducing poverty among the elderly,\'\' said Robert Ball, former Social Security commissioner. ``About two thirds of beneficiaries get more than half their income from Social Security.\'\' Social Security and the hospital part of the Medicare program are funded in the same way - with a payroll tax held in a trust fund earmarked solely for that program. Neither program is run like welfare; benefits are given to rich and poor alike. Rather, the criteria are related to age or disability, plus a person\'s lifetime contributions to the program. ``It\'s precisely the fact that they\'re not programs for the poor that gives these programs their unifying force,\'\' said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at Brookings. ``People think they have paid and now they\'re entitled\'\' to benefits, Aaron said. Judy Schub, senior economic lobbyist at the American Association of Retired Persons, said the elderly tend to think of their Social Security benefits as money that was put away for them, ``that there\'s a piggy bank with my name on it.\'\' However, the system is an inter-generational plan, with today\'s recipients receiving far more than they ever paid into the system. Current workers are paying those benefits. After financial troubles in the early 1980s, Social Security benefits were scaled back in 1983 and other changes were made to keep its trust fund solvent. Now there\'s a large surplus, and Sen. Daniel Moynihan, D-N.Y., tried this year to reduce the Social Security payroll tax so that money from the program would not grow so quickly and be used to mask the size of the federal budget deficit. His effort was unsuccessful, but others in Congress did succeed in removing the program from the calculations used to determine the federal deficit. That means that cutting Social Security won\'t help the deficit. Medicare, however, is facing mounting pressure, as inflation in medical costs continues to outpace overall inflation. The reserves in the Medicare hospital insurance trust fund are shrinking and the fund faces bankruptcy in 13 to 15 years unless action is taken, according to the 1990 annual report of the program\'s Board of Trustees. Ball said he is mindful of Social Security\'s popularity and the political risk in touching it. ``Changes should be made in Social Security from time to time ... to bring it up to date and make it a better program,\'\' said Ball, a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee at the Department of Health and Human Services. But, he said, ``The changes should be made for sound Social Security policy, not to reduce the deficit.\'\'\r\n'),(356,2,'A former health minister has called for the legalization of brothels to help fight AIDS, and a poll made public Saturday suggested most French people think it\'s a good idea. Condemnations have come from across the political spectrum, including women\'s rights advocates who say lifting the 44-year ban on brothels would amount to state-sanctioned slavery. But a Louis Harris poll indicated strong public support for the suggestion by the former health minister, Michele Barzach, one of the few women with a high profile in French national politics. Of the 1,008 people surveyed, 80 percent said reopening brothels would help control AIDS by allowing closer medical supervision of prostitutes, according to the poll. According to unofficial estimates, France has 75,000 to 90,000 full- or part-time prostitutes. About 10,500 cases of AIDS have been recorded in France since 1982. Ms. Barzach, a 46-year-old gynecologist, was health minister from 1986 to 1988 in the conservative government of Premier Jacques Chirac, and many of her policies stirred controversy. During her tenure, she helped launch campaigns to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption, denounced surrogate motherhood, cut back on state-paid medical benefits and led a campaign against AIDS that included scrapping a ban on condom advertisements. The current furor was set off by an interview published Thursday in the newspaper Le Monde, in which Ms. Barzach discussed the AIDS threat. ``The current situation is unacceptable and frightening,\'\' she said. ``It\'s necessary to reopen the licensed brothels. Let\'s install a genuine health system.\'\' Licensed brothels were shut down on April 13, 1946, under the ``Marthe Richard law,\'\' named for its legislative sponsor, a World War I spy and World War II resistance member. Ms. Barzach now is a deputy to Chirac, mayor of Paris. He took pains Friday to say the brothel proposal was only her personal opinion _ not a position of their Rally for the Republic party. Within the ranks of the governing Socialists, reactions varied from cautious to caustic. Michele Andre, secretary of state for women\'s rights, said she was ``deeply offended\'\' by the proposal to ``lock up women and use them as merchandise.\'\' Health Minster Claude Evin said the problem of acquired immune deficiency syndrome extended far beyond prostitutes and homosexuals, but added: ``I am ready to consider anything that would help stop the spread of AIDS.\'\' French police officials in the past have expressed support for relegalizing brothels, but they made no formal endorsement of Ms. Barzach\'s suggestion.\r\n'),(357,2,'One of the hardest times to stick to a low-fat diet is when confronted with a restaurant menu. What\'s really in all those dishes described so temptingly? Since the average American eats several meals a week away from home, it\'s important to know. A new pocket-size book can provide some guidance. The ``Guide to Low-Cholesterol Dining Out\'\' by Harriet Roth (Signet, $1.95), focuses not only on the animal products that contain cholesterol but on high-fat foods that can raise the level of cholesterol in the body. Roth advises diners to ask questions and make requests (such as sauce on the side). More and more restaurants are willing to comply with health-conscious eaters\' wishes, said Roth, former director of the Pritikin Longevity Center Cooking School. There are general guidelines and lists of foods to enjoy and avoid at 17 kinds of restaurants, in take-out foods, among beverages and when traveling. She also includes a brief list of requests (such as ``I am on a special low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.\'\') in French, Spanish, Italian and German. ---\r\n'),(358,2,'Here are the winning numbers picked Saturday night for the California Lottery\'s twice-weekly ``Lotto 6-53\'\' game: 9, 38, 6, 29, 7, 20, and the bonus number, 27.\r\n'),(359,2,'A three-judge federal panel on Thursday upheld the authority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine the level of discharges from a Missouri River reservoir in South Dakota and North Dakota. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned a lower court order that releases from the Oahe reservoir be reduced, as had been requested by the drought-stricken states. The appeals panel said it had serious reservations about whether courts have jurisdiction over such decisions by the corps. In a brief order, the panel said it would spell out its legal reasoning later in a formal opinion. The tug-of-war over water rights pitted the corps and the states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri against North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana over whether water flow should be reduced from the reservoir, which stretches from Pierre, S.D., to near Bismarck, N.D. U.S. District Judge Patrick Conmy in Bismarck had ordered the corps to reduce the discharges by one-third until June 1 so the hatch of walleye pike could be completed in the 232-mile long reservoir. The appeals panel granted an emergency stay of that order last Friday. The corps said the lower water level would threaten barge traffic between Sioux City, Iowa, and St. Louis, a 730-mile shipping channel, and also would jeopardize two species of birds protected by the Endangered Species Act. State officials on both sides of the issue said they were not surprised by the ruling. ``It was expected, anticipated that the judges would rule in our favor. But nonetheless it is good news,\'\' said Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr in Omaha, Neb. ``The downstream states have to protect our interests from the states upstream,\'\' she said. North Dakota Attorney General Nicholas Spaeth, who argued the case Wednesday before the panel, said in Bismarck that there probably isn\'t time to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. ``We don\'t have many options,\'\' said Spaeth. ``It\'ll be almost impossible to get Supreme Court review in the two weeks we have left.\'\' North Dakota Gov. George Sinner, speaking from Washington, D.C., expressed strong disappointment with the ruling. ``The upper basin states have continued to give and give and give. We gave up huge amounts of our most fertile land for flood protection for the lower basin states,\'\' he said. ``Now we\'re being asked to give up recreation for the lower basin navigation. ``It\'s patently unfair and we will seek every avenue that we can to get restitution for our people,\'\' Sinner added. Despite the defeat, South Dakota Gov. George Mickelson said in Sioux Falls, S D., ``it was a battle that had to be fought.\'\'\r\n'),(360,2,'Tropical Storm Klaus, which strengthened after being downgraded to a depression, threatened the Bahamas and contributed to flooding along Florida\'s Atlantic shores Monday. The National Hurricane Center in suburban Coral Gables was also tracking Tropical Storm Lili, which formed in the central Atlantic but posed no immediate threat to land. At 6 p.m. EDT, Klaus had top winds of 40 mph, just over the threshold of storm strength. Its center was near 22.2 degrees north latitude and 70.8 degrees west longitude, or about 470 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas. Klaus was moving northwest at 15 mph and was expected to continue on that track for the next day or two, forecasters said. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the central Bahamas in the Caribbean, the northern Bahamas were under a tropical storm watch and a coastal flood watch was in effect for Florida\'s east coast and Keys. Some increase in strength was likely during the next day for Klaus, which at one point was strong enough to be the sixth hurricane of the season. The storm was expected to strengthen, but wasn\'t expected to move over Florida, said Bob Sheets, director of the hurricane center. ``We think it\'s going to move on a northwest course and most likely will not move over Florida, particularly South Florida.\'\' However, Klaus-related winds were already partly responsible for beach erosion, rough surf and potentially deadly rip currents along Florida\'s eastern coast, and heavy winds and rain elsewhere in the state, the center said. Klaus killed at least six people and left 1,500 homeless in the northeastern Caribbean before being downgraded Saturday to a typical storm when its top winds dropped below 73 mph. It was downgraded late Sunday to a tropical depression when its winds dipped below 39 mph. Meanwhile, tropical storm Lili at At 6 p.m. was located near 32.7 degrees north latitude and 47.5 degrees west longitude, or about 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Azores, a group of islands off Portugal. Lili, with top winds near 65 mph, was expected to strengthen during the next day as it moved southwest at 7 mph, forecasters said.\r\n'),(361,2,'President Bush said today that the Middle East crisis and the resulting increases in oil prices have not reduced the necessity for a significant deficit-reduction agreement. ``I still think it\'s absolutely essential to get a budget agreement (with Congress) and that\'s going to require a lot of principle,\'\' Bush told a news conference. Congressional leaders and the administration have made little progress in devising a deficit-reduction plan, agreeing only to resume efforts next month. Bush implied that he soon will resume public criticism of Democrats\' negotiating posture. ``I don\'t feel bound by an agreement that I\'ve told the congressional leaders is no longer in effect,\'\' he said, apparently referring to an earlier concession to tone down political rhetoric about the negotiations. Congressional Republicans are unhappy that Democrats have refused to put forth a specific proposal, even after Bush backed away from a campaign pledge to oppose tax increases. Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole told reporters today the administration is still seeking a $500 billion, five-year deficit-reduction plan. He added, however, that there is little chance of raising gasoline taxes as part of that plan and questioned how deeply defense spending could be cut in light of U.S. military involvement in Saudi Arabia. Key members of Congress say they see no reason to ease up on efforts to reach an agreement. ``If the economy begins to look really bad, every element of the deficit-reduction package will be threatened,\'\' Rep. Bill Frenzel, R-Minn., ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, said Tuesday. ``Right now, the major effect is to make an energy tax less likely.\'\' A military face-off with Iraq also could fuel arguments that slashing the $300 billion defense budget is a bad idea right now. ``It\'s living proof there are mean people in the world and we need a respectable national defense,\'\' said Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas. However, Senate Budget Committee Chairman James Sasser, D-Tenn., said the proposed $10 billion to $15 billion in military cuts ``really aren\'t that deep in the first place.\'\' Petroleum prices have jumped several dollars closer to $30 per barrel since Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait last week. Fuel costs in the United States are already rising, along with prices for other goods and services such as airline tickets and electricity. Bargainers concede that with fuel prices rising, raising taxes on gasoline or other sources of energy becomes less palatable. ``I think it probably will kill any effort to have a broad-based energy tax,\'\' Gramm said. Congressional leaders and Bush administration officials have struggled inconclusively since May to forge a package of tax increases and spending cuts totaling $50 billion for next year and $500 billion over five years. The summit talks are on hold for Congress\' August recess. Iraq\'s takeover of Kuwait _ and resulting military and economic moves by the United States and its allies _ means the American economy could be weaker when the bargainers reconvene in September. Negotiators said they would watch economic performance closely. ``Anybody who thinks we\'re not being forced into a re-evaluation these next few weeks is kidding themselves,\'\' said House Budget Committee Chairman Leon Panetta, D-Calif. If the economy seems shaky, one option would be to lower the amount of taxes and spending cuts slated for fiscal 1991, which starts Oct. 1. ``Under any circumstances, we need to focus on significant deficit reduction over five years,\'\' said Panetta. But budget bargainers said no reasons have yet surfaced to shoot for a less ambitious deficit-cutting package. ``I don\'t think we can see clearly enough into the future to know how much we\'ll be affected,\'\' said Frenzel. ``I think the summiteers ought to go forward with the plan we\'ve been discussing.\'\'\r\n'),(362,2,'Police said Wednesday they are checking into reports that the fiery crash of a small plane may have been the result of a suicide-bound passenger who struggled for control of the craft. The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle streaked over the foothills west of Boulder on Sunday, slammed into a tree, then destroyed a vacant house, four garages and six parked cars, engulfing a large section of the residential block in flames. Killed were Gordon Larry Hood, 45, and the pilot, James Wilford ``Bill\'\' Layne, 56, police said. Eyewitnesses reported that the plane flipped onto its side and went into a power dive, behavior that might reflect a struggle going on in the cockpit, said police spokesman David Grimm. ``Was the pilot overpowered, was the pilot shot, was the pilot stabbed? We just don\'t know,\'\' Grimm said. ``As far as we can tell right now, the pilot just happens to be the unfortunate person who got hired that day.\'\' Police asked the National Transportation Safety Board to allow them back into the crash site after two out-of-state acquaintances told investigators that Hood was suicidal, Grimm said. ``The sources gave us information when we spoke to them that there were indications made to them that Mr. Hood was potentially contemplating suicide and in a manner similar to what occurred,\'\' Grimm said. ``We thought we were investigating an air accident, and it has turned into something else.\'\' Authorities released Hood\'s identity Wednesday, saying he is believed to be from Atlanta, but had recently moved to the Denver area. They believe Hood was a photographer. Layne, an employee of Intensive Air Care, a Denver-based private charter company, had taken Hood to Granby, a mountain community about 80 miles northwest of Denver, and the two were returning to Denver when the plane crashed. ``We don\'t necessarily get the impression that there was physical struggle going on,\'\' Grimm said. ``It could simply have been a struggle over control of the aircraft.\'\' Autopsy results released Tuesday showed Hood and Layne died of injuries suffered in the plane crash and not from other causes, according to Tom Faure, chief medical investigator of the Boulder County coroner\'s office. Grimm said Hood was seen carrying a briefcase into a post office in Granby, and investigators believe he mailed some cards or letters there. Police are asking anyone who may have received mail from Hood to contact them.\r\n'),(363,2,'President Reagan, the target of embarrassing disclosures in books by former aides, says he probably will write a book of his own to ``straighten out the record and tell things as they really are.\'\' However, the president indicated he wasn\'t happy about the idea. ``I don\'t look forward to it. I wrote a book once and found it was quite a chore,\'\' said Reagan, the author of a 1965 autobiography entitled ``Where\'s the Rest of Me.\'\' Reagan revealed his plans in a televised interview with two Soviet journalists, broadcast Saturday night in the Soviet Union after being taped last week in the Oval Office. ``I\'ve been thinking very seriously about writing a book. In view of the fact that several people who have left government have written some books, I think maybe I better straighten out the record and tell things as they really are,\'\' Reagan said. He said the presidential library to be built in southern California after he leaves office will house the papers and memorabilia that he collected. ``So there will be a record that is open for public view. But I\'ll probably get around to writing a book.\'\' ``For the Record,\'\' a recent book by former White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan, portrayed Reagan as a hand-off leader whose schedule was guided by astrological forecasts followed by his wife, Nancy. Former White House spokesman Larry Speakes also drew an unflattering portrait of Reagan in his book, ``Speaking Out,\'\' and said he made up quotes for the president at the Geneva summit with Gorbachev because Reagan was losing the public relations battle. Speakes said he also took words from Secretary of State George P. Shultz and attributed them to Reagan after the Soviet Union shot down a Korean airliner. Speakes said Reagan didn\'t have anything to say on his own at meetings with key aides.\r\n'),(364,2,'A federal judge Friday sentenced a former state auditor general to six years in prison for racketeering and tax fraud related to ``a sickening pattern of soliciting, accepting and paying bribes.\'\' Al Benedict, a one-time gubernatorial hopeful, also was fined $20,000 by U.S. Middle District Senior Judge Malcolm Muir, who said the sentence was intended as a deterrent for other public officials. The judge ordered Benedict to surrender to U.S. marshals on March 14. Benedict, 58, pleaded guilty last month to charges of racketeering and tax fraud. The racketeering charge encompassed 10 state bribery-related charges, which the government said occurred between April 1976 and November 1984. Benedict acknowledged accepting bribes in return for hiring and promoting state workers and for awarding no-bid contracts. He also admitted making a $6,000 payoff to a lawmaker in return for a bigger state appropriation for his department. ``I could never express to you how I feel ... the pain, suffering, embarrassment, humiliation,\'\' Benedict said in court. ``All I can attempt to do is atone for my transgressions and sins.\'\' Benedict refused to answer reporters\' questions as he left the courthouse. His lawyer, Arthur Goldberg, said Benedict was surprised but not angered by the sentence. He could have been sentenced to up to 23 years in prison and $125,000 in fines. Federal prosecutors asked for a light sentence, citing Benedict\'s cooperation in a continuing investigation of state-government corruption. The defense, in a memorandum filed by Goldberg, asked for a one-year sentence with early parole and a term of public service. The memorandum portrays Benedict, a former television commentator who became de facto head of the state Democratic Party during two terms as auditor general, as a broken, humiliated man. It also places the blame for Benedict\'s predicament on his former top aide, John Kerr, who was convicted of masterminding the job-selling scheme. Kerr was sentenced to two to five years in prison and remains free on bail. He led investigators to Benedict late in 1986. Among the spectators at the sentencing was Joanne Dwyer, widow of state Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer. Her husband killed himself during a news conference last year, one day before he was to be sentenced by Muir on bribery-conspiracy charges. She criticized the plea-bargaining system that allowed Benedict to shorten his prison term and said her husband never got a chance to bargain because he was innocent and had been framed.\r\n'),(365,2,'Drug cases have clogged urban courts, delayed civil matters, overcrowded jails and stirred new debate over the best possible solution _ legalization or more judges. ``If you want to look at the largest single cause of caseload glut, drugs are it,\'\' said Albert Alschuler, professor at the University of Chicago Law School. ``We\'re having fewer and fewer trials, particularly on the civil side. No one can afford to wait. The system\'s just become unworkable.\'\' Much of the impact is on state courts, which process about 97 percent of drug arrests. But the federal system also is feeling the crunch. Consider: _ Drug cases in federal courts increased by 280 percent since 1980, Chief Justice William Rehnquist said last December in his annual end-of-the-year report. He urged Congress to act immediately on a proposal to create new judgeships. In July, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a measure to create 77 new judgeships. The bill is pending in the Senate. _ Federal drug cases represented more than 26 percent of new criminal filings, and up to 60 percent in some districts, Rehnquist said. Nearly 55 percent of criminal appeals involved drug offenses, compared with 30 percent in 1980. _ The drug caseload rose by 56 percent in 17 big-city courts between 1983 and 1987, according to a 1989 report, ``The Impact of Drug Cases on Case Processing in Urban Trial Courts.\'\' Among the major increases: Boston _ 175 percent; Jersey City, N.J. _ 114 percent; the Bronx borough of New York City _ 109 percent; and Oakland, Calif. _ 95 percent. _ Drug-related cases made up about a quarter of felonies disposed of in 26 big-city courts in 1987, the report said. It noted that number actually is low because it doesn\'t count incidents in which drugs were involved but didn\'t constitute the most serious charge. The situation has turned even grimmer since then; in Detroit, the percentage of state court drug cases more than doubled from 1987 to 1989, said John Goerdt, the report\'s co-author and senior staff attorney at the National Center for State Courts. Drug cases, he added, are ``starting to show up in family courts, in juvenile courts, with abused and neglected kids.\'\' When courts are stressed, ``nobody can render the same quality of justice,\'\' said James Fyfe, a criminal justice professor at American University in Washington, D.C. ``We all know the old saw that justice delayed is justice denied. ... Evidence disappears. Recollections grow dimmer.\'\' Complicating matters, experts say, are new mandatory sentencing laws, leading some defendants to seek trial rather than pleading guilty, adding to the backlog. In Goerdt\'s report, jury trials in the 26 big-city courts disposed of only 6 percent of all felonies in 1987. While some propose more staff, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet in New York last year became the first federal judge to publicly advocate drug legalization. The burden is so great, he said, that in September 1989, no federal juries in Manhattan were available to hear civil trials. Others who have previously supported legalization include Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and conservative columnist William F. Buckley. Regardless of different proposals, experts agree the impact is enormous. ``The taxpayers are spending lots of money to warehouse people in jail,\'\' Alschuler said. ``(Inmates) are sleeping on floors on mattresses. ... Everybody in the system suffers.\'\'\r\n'),(366,2,'Students barricaded inside a building at the University of the District of Columbia say they may give some members of the school\'s board of trustees until March 31 to resign. Leaders of the protest, which began Wednesday, had said the students wouldn\'t leave the building unless the 11 mayoral appointees to the 15-member board submitted letters of resignation immediately. However they softened that demand on Monday. ``That gives everybody six months to determine whether or not there are some members we want to reinstate or some we want to replace,\'\' protest leader Mark Thompson said. The protesters are demanding extensive changes in the way the 12,000-student university is run and improvements in several athletic and academic programs. They say the board has allowed the quality of the school to decline and put the accreditation of some of its departments in jeopardy. The students and the board have reached agreement on nearly all of the students\' other demands. But negotiations remain stalemated on the issue of resignations, with most of the board refusing to quit. ``It would not appear to be in the best interests of the university for them to quit,\'\' UDC spokesman John Britton said. ``We\'ve made progress, and honestly, the dialogue has become a bit more candid and a bit more cordial, but we\'re still discussing and neither side has really bent any,\'\' Thompson said. Thompson said about 500 students remained in the building Monday, down from the 1,000 he said participated in the demonstrations this weekend. Trustees have estimated the number of students involved from 150 to 300. Thompson said protesters were successful in persuading most students to stay away from classes Monday, despite administrators having officially opened the university for the first time since demonstrations began. ``As far as we are concerned, school is still closed,\'\' Thompson said. All buildings except an administration building occupied by the students were reopened. But instructors were seen conducting classes with fewer than 10 students each. Two trustees have agreed to resign for personal reasons, Britton said, but the protests had not forced the actions. A third trustee has agreed to quit because of illness, Thompson said. Trustee Nira Long has agreed to step down as board chairwoman but has refused to leave the board.\r\n'),(367,2,'Russian sailors danced in this remote American outpost during a shore-leave blowout celebrating the recent U.S.-Soviet fisheries agreement. More than 600 Soviet sailors, many clutching fistfuls of dollars, arrived late Tuesday in this Aleutian Island town of about 1,900 people 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. They were treated to rock music, mounds of food and gallons of various beverages, welcome sights and sounds for Soviet sailors who had been at sea more than six months. ``This is the first time I meet Americans,\'\' said Alexander Cherkov, first mate aboard the vessel Semiozernoye. ``Americans are very nice people.\'\' ``These people are real people,\'\' an American fisherman who identified himself only as Captain America slurred as he staggered off, his arms around two Soviet seamen. ``Just like you and me. Can you believe it?\'\' The party was held partly to celebrate the fisheries agreement President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed during last week\'s Moscow summit meeting. The agreement allows U.S. vessels to fish in Soviet waters and use Soviet ports, and joint fishing and conservation in the North Pacific. Soviet seamen have been coming here for the past three years or so, but Mayor Paul Fuhs said he could not remember when more Soviets had visited at one time. ``This is great, just great,\'\' said a beaming Fuhs, who also played with one of the rock bands. ``Where else could this happen?\'\' Fuhs finished the evening with a red carnation tucked behind his ear. ``It was one of those nights,\'\' he said. As the party picked up steam, a Soviet maritime officer in full uniform tried to make his way across the windblown town dock jammed with hundreds of dancing people, but was beseiged by giggling children. He stopped, put down his coat and began playing games with them. Soviet sailors showered toys, candy and other gifts on any child in sight. Americans and Soviets struggled to converse, and traded pins, hats and anything else not nailed down. While music blared from the rusty flatbed trailer that served as a bandstand, the Soviets showed old flickering black-and-while films of Lenin and Soyuz space launches on a screen dangling from the side of a ship. Soviet sailors lined up to have their pictures taken with police officers. Off to the side, a young Soviet seaman quietly played a guitar for an American girl. By night\'s end, the sailors had to help one another back aboard their vessels; many townspeople were in no better shape. ``The party was a success,\'\' Harbormaster Gary Daily said early Wednesday. ``Everybody seems to have survived.\'\' ``This is the greatest thing that\'s ever happened to Soviet-American relations,\'\' said Dianna Matthias, lead observer of the Soviet fleet for the National Marine Fisheries Service. ``I never, never again want to hear that these people and Americans can\'t get along.\'\' ``I love these guys,\'\' said Ed Cameron, a fisherman from Tacoma, Wash. ``This is the fishermen\'s summit. ... I could never raise a hand or gun to any of them. If we ever have a war with them, I\'ll be a conscientious objector.\'\' The Soviets started coming ashore at Dutch Harbor for crew rests around 1985, said Mark Dudley, Dutch Harbor manager of Maritime Resources Co. International, a joint U.S.-Soviet fishing venture. ``Word spread like wildfire in the Soviet fleet,\'\' Dudley said, yelling to be heard over the music. ``And every year after that there have been more and more calls.\'\' He said his company expects its Soviet vessels to make about 30 port calls by year\'s end. Town officials said they expect perhaps 10 additional Soviet ships. Each ship\'s crew is given up to $20,000 to spend here, Dudley said. The sailors come ashore to buy American and Japanese goods. Before the party, they descended on stores to stock up on such goods as music tapes, portable radio-tape decks, solar powered watches, ice cream and gum _ lots of gum. ``My kids call it hooba booba,\'\' said Alexander Mokhov, captain of the Mys Chassavoi, a 285-foot fish processor. ``They want nothing else. If the gum sticks to your hair, they know it is good gum.\'\'\r\n'),(368,2,'Here are highlights of Monday\'s Supreme Court actions.\r\n'),(369,2,'The 10 men who flew the two Arizona-based planes fired on over Mauritania were a close-knit group dedicated to ridding western Africa of locusts, their families said. One of the planes was shot down Thursday and officials said all five people aboard were killed. A second DC-7 was damaged in the anti-aircraft missile attack but was able to land at a remote airstrip in Morocco. No injuries were reported among those aboard. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. A co-owner of the downed DC-7 identified those who were killed as: Joel Blackmer, 46; his son, Frank Kennedy, 21, of Phoenix; Bernard Rossini, 49, of Tempe, Ariz.; Frank Hederman, 47, of Cody, Wyo.; and Wes Wilson, of Hershey, Neb. Sergio Tomassoni, 64, a co-owner of T & G Aviation in Chandler, Ariz., said in a telephone interview from Agadir, Morocco, that he was aboard the other T & G Aviation DC-7. ``We were just flying along at about 11,000 feet when, all of a sudden, the first airplane was hit,\'\' Tomassoni said. ``We saw the smoke and a big ball of fire. One of the engines was in flames. The plane started losing altitude, and then the right wing blew off. I knew they were in trouble, but we had problems of our own.\'\' The planes were under contract to the U.S. Agency for International Development to spray locust swarms in Senegal, he said. They were fired on near where Marxist rebels have been fighting Morocco for an independent Western Sahara. ``All my dad wanted to do was take some of his skills to help other people,\'\' said Kara Rossini, 22, of St. Paul, Rossini\'s daughter. ``He was the kind of guy who would look at the little Ethiopian kids with the big bellies and cry. He ends up getting shot by a bunch of creeps who probably are going to get some of the food from this effort,\'\' she said. The 10 men who made up the crews were friends who loved to spend time talking shop about airplanes and aviation, Tomassoni said. Tomassoni\'s wife, Lydia, of Chandler, said her husband survived another tragedy in 1986 on another pesticide-spraying mission in Senegal. His plane, another DC-7, developed engine trouble and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, she said. Three others died, but Tomassoni survived. ``Nothing bothers those idiots,\'\' Mrs. Tomassoni said. ``They\'re all ex-servicemen. That\'s their life.\'\'\r\n'),(370,2,'The City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved the construction of a $25 million biomedical laboratory on the site where Malcolm X was slain, provided a substantial portion of the building is preserved. That includes 40 percent of the Audubon Ballroom, including the stage on which the black nationalist leader was shot o Feb. 21, 1965. In May, the commission had deferred a decision on a plan to demolish the ballroom at Broadway and 165th Street, across from Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. Followers of Malcolm X objected. Applicants for the research building were Columbia University and the city. It is to get funding from the Municipal Assistance Corp. and state urban development aid. The project still has to be approved by the city\'s Board of Estimate. Malcolm X headed the Harlem mosque of the Black Muslims but split with Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad in 1963. Malcolm X then formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which promoted black nationalism but admitted the possibility of interracial brotherhood.\r\n'),(371,2,'The owner of the building that housed an illegal social club where 87 people were killed in a fire has been accused in lawsuits by his brother and sister of ruining the family real estate business. The Daily News and The New York Times reported in their Sunday editions that the siblings of Alex DiLorenzo III accuse him of making speculative commodities investments, buying failing businesses and acquired buildings in need of repairs. Alex DiLorenzo last week surrendered to authorities on 43 arrest warrants for outstanding building code violations, including one violation at the Happy Land social club in the Bronx, where the fire occurred last month. The other 42 concerned citations at various Manhattan properties. DiLorenzo\'s brother, Marc, and sister, Lisa, sued to wrest control of two family partnerships which have about 250 holdings valued in court papers at as much as $1.2 billion, the Times said. At the family\'s request, the pending case has been sealed. In one decision before the sealing, Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Harold Baer credited Alex DiLorenzo with increasing the success of the family business. Baer in December rejected Marc DiLorenzo\'s motion to have Alex removed as head of the business. Among the non-real estate transactions questioned in the lawsuit, the News said, was Alex DiLorenzo\'s involvement in a firm that began to sell frozen cow embryos and bull semen to Third World countries. Five brokers who have worked with the DiLorenzo family said Alex failed to follow his late father\'s pattern of buying established, expensive properties, the Times said. The DiLorenzo business was left in trust to the three children when their father died in 1975. Alex DiLorenzo administered the trust. Several years ago, Marc DiLorenzo, under terms allowed in the trust, asked that the partnership be broken into three equal parts and distributed. Alex DiLorenzo refused and his siblings sued.\r\n'),(372,2,'State health officials complained Friday that the Agriculture Department has left them to their own devices in the fight against salmonella enteritidis, a potentially fatal form of bacteria found in raw or undercooked eggs. ``The absence of a coordinated federal response has left states with no alternative but to take strong action to protect their citizens from contaminated food often produced in other states,\'\' John J. Guzewich of the New York State Health Department told a congressional oversight panel. Robert Flentge of the Illinois Public Health Department complained about ``mixed signals at the federal level\'\' and interference with his department. A.B. Park of the Maryland Agriculture Department said state officials began tracing eggs and testing chickens while federal officials were debating whether salmonellosis is a poultry disease. The witnesses appeared before the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The panel\'s chairman, Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Mich., alleged that the Agriculture Department was late in recognizing the growing number of outbreaks traced to the bacteria and withheld information from the Food and Drug Administration, which also regulates the food supply. Poisoning from the enteritidis form of salmonella has been increasing steadily since 1982 and is most likely to be fatal among the very old, the very young and others whose immune systems are weak, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The agency says the increase is directly related to contamination of Grade A eggs that are eaten raw or undercooked. Infection has been spread through scrambled, poached and over-easy eggs, as well as in home-made ice cream, cole slaw, sauces and dressings. Since 1985, there have been 217 outbreaks responsible for 7,370 cases of infection. Of those cases, 44 resulted in death, CDC says. Health officials say tracing the food poisoning to a particular flock is by nature difficult and is made more difficult by the lack of effective regulation. Even an infected flock may produce only one contaminated egg in 1,000, said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control. Testing all chickens before allowing their eggs to be shipped is also impossible for now, he said. Organ cultures are required to find the bacteria. The problem can become worse when the eggs reach a restaurant, nursing home or institution, said Tauxe. One contaminated egg can contaminate a bowl of 500, he said. The state officials complained that federal inspections are limited to brood hens that produce the laying hens, even though environmental contamination remains a real risk. They also complained that no recall provision exists for eggs that have reached the market, and that no effective way exists for tracing eggs.\r\n'),(373,2,'Iraq on Friday ordered all foreigners in occupied Kuwait to report to authorities or face punishment, and announced it would ration gasoline to save imported chemicals used in refining fuel. The gasoline rationing was the latest indication that international trade sanctions against Iraq are having an impact. The U.N. embargo was imposed two months ago to force Iraq out of Kuwait, which it invaded Aug. 2. In New York, there was good news about oil. Prices were down $2.00 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange to $34.70. Traders said prices eased after conciliatory remarks by an Iraqi official. Iraq\'s deputy prime minister, Taha Yassin Ramadan, said Thursday in Amman, Jordan, that he thought both sides in the crisis were reassessing their positions and that peace talks could be in the offing. But in Washington, President Bush said he saw no chance for compromise in the Persian Gulf crisis. ``I am as determined as I was the day the first troop left, that Saddam Hussein\'s aggression not be rewarded by some compromise,\'\' Bush said in a meeting with Italian-American leaders. Bush met later with a Soviet envoy, Yevgeny Primakov, who said he agreed that the world should not relax its insistence on an unconditional Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. ``One cannot allow a situation where actions that are incompatible with a civilized society would be in order,\'\' Primakov said after the meeting. A report published in Iraqi newspapers Friday said all foreigners in Kuwait must register with local authorities before Nov. 5. Those who fail to do so ``will be responsible before the law, and their residency cards will be canceled,\'\' the report said. Under Iraqi law, foreigners found without residency cards are punished with fines and imprisonment. The exceptions are citizens from Arab Cooperation Council nations - Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. About 400,000 foreigners are believed in Kuwait, including 2,000 Westerners that the U.S. State Department says are hiding from Iraqi soldiers. Hundreds more are held in Iraq, many at strategic sites to deter attack by the multinational force. About 200,000 U.S. soldiers and thousands from other nations are facing an estimated 430,000 Iraqi troops in the region. Saddam\'s forces overran his southern neighbor in a dispute over oil, land and money. With Kuwaiti oilfields, his share of world reserves increased to 20 percent, second only to Saudi Arabia. Despite Iraq\'s vast reserves, the Oil Ministry announced Friday gasoline rationing would begin next week. The U.N. embargo on Iraq has squeezed Baghdad\'s supply of imported chemicals used in refining oil. ``There is nothing to get worried about. ... The rationing is just a precaution,\'\' said oil minister Issam Abdul-Rahim al-Chalabi.``There is a lot of waste and by introducing the rationing we are going to cut that waste.\'\' Iraq is already rationing food staples such as milk, meat and bread. Baghdad says there are shortages of all such products - and many more. Car owners were ordered to pick up ration coupons at special centers, although the minister did not say how much gasoline would be allocated to each person or how long the rationing would last. Iraqis rushed to gasoline stations to stock up on gasoline Friday and long lines formed outside gas stations. In Moscow, U.S. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney praised Soviet cooperation in bringing diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on Iraq and said ``we have not given up on that policy.\'\' ``I have also made it clear ... that we have not ruled out other options,\'\' said Cheney. He declined to speculate on possible U.S. military steps. Cheney later traveled to Paris for three days of talks with the French government on cooperation in the gulf crisis. France has deployed 13,000 troops in the gulf, the second-largest Western contingent after the United States. At the United Nations, the Security Council was considering a resolution that would allow nations hurt by Iraq\'s invasion to seek reparations from Baghdad\'s frozen assets abroad or against its future oil earnings, diplomats said. The resolution also threatens Baghdad with unspecified ``further enforcement measures,\'\' condemns Iraq\'s human rights violations in Kuwait, and demands that Iraq release all Western hostages, the diplomats said. No vote has yet been scheduled on the new resolution, they said. It would be the 10th U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Iraq. In other developments: -U.S. military officials in Saudi Arabia said there had been 2,500 interceptions, 240 boardings and 11 ``diversions\'\' of commercial ships since the embargo against Baghdad was imposed. -Iraqi troops have placed explosives at oil fields, gas and gasoline storage tanks as well as on bridges and viaducts in Kuwait, according to Sheik Mishal Mohammed al-Sabah, a member of the emirate\'s exiled ruling family. He was quoted as telling the Amsterdam newspaper De Telegraaf that Iraq plans to blow up the facilities if its soldiers are forced to withdraw. -Canada suspended operations at its embassy in Kuwait, Ottawa said Friday. Saddam ordered embassies in Kuwait closed after he annexed the emirate, and although only the British, French and U.S. embassies now remain open, most nations still recognize Kuwait as a separate nation.\r\n'),(374,2,'About 90 campers, some in trees, were rescued Saturday after heavy rains caused a creek of the Mineral Fork River to rise and flood several campgrounds, authorities said. ``You could see them hanging in the tops of the trees, waving flashlights and screaming for help,\'\' said Dennis Spradling, a firefighter for the Potosi Fire Protection District. Dozens of people, including Washington County sheriff\'s deputies, firefighters from about 15 area departments and volunteers, used boats to help rescue campers near this eastern Missouri town, Spradling said. The water was over Highway 21, hampering rescuers\' efforts, he said. The river already had been high, following persistent rains through most of May. The call for help came in about 12:30 a.m., Spradling said. People were rescued from four campgrounds just south of Washington State Park, about 13 miles north of Potosi. They were taken to a nearby school. There were no major injuries, Spradling said. Three boats sank in the rain and fast-moving water. By mid-afternoon Saturday, the high water was receding and authorities were checking campers, other vehicles and camping equipment. There were no reports of missing people, Spradling said. The area got about 2.5 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at John Feldt of the National Weather Service said the area got about 2.5 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. Saturday. He said the heaviest rain was in central Missouri, with Iberia getting about 6 inches in that period.\r\n'),(375,2,'Q: Mr. President, given the weakness of the dollar and the turmoil in the financial markets and the recent poor economic indicators, what are you going to do to calm the economy _ calm the markets and keep the economy from sliding into a recession? A: Well, one thing I\'m not going to do is comment on levels of the market, except to say that there\'s been a substantial increase over the last year, and some are reading the recent couple of days as corrections, although I gather it recovered a little bit yesterday, and the market has always been an indicator, and it\'s been one that\'s been read quite positively. But I don\'t want to get into market levels. What I do want to do is establish sound policies, and I\'m convinced that if we can get the cooperation of Congress that we need on reducing the deficit, that that will go a long way, not market prices but in terms of the fundamentals on the economy. It\'s slowed down a little. There\'s a lot of prediction that it will be slow for a while and then have a rather robust step-up come summer. But I don\'t know. All I know is that we\'ve got to not bash anybody but get out there and try to enact policies that will help keep the longest recovery in modern history going. Q: You said that you felt that there was room for further reduction of interest rates. Given the need to attract foreign investment from overseas where rates are high, how do you square that with your call for lower interest rates? A: You mean to attract -- Q: Attract foreign investment to cover the U.S. deficit and yet though we\'re competing against the foreign investment _ A: I think that people see U.S. _ the U.S. still, regardless of what\'s temporary out there, as the safest haven for investment anywhere in the world, and I want to conduct the fiscal policies of this government so they will continue to see it that way. John, then Charles, then we\'ll take -- Q: Going back to the vote on the Chinese student visas, you and your people have been trying to get that vote delayed. Is that because you have some indications from the Chinese that they may soon release Fang Lizhi ... A: No. Q: ... and if this vote goes against you, it could hurt his chances? A: No, it is not, but I don\'t think it will help his chances. But I would love to see that step taken by the Chinese. But it isn\'t _ there\'s not a _ I think we\'re reconciled to the fact that the vote will go forward tomorrow in the Senate. Q: When you try to defend your China policy, one thing you never do is talk about the ``China card.\'\' You seem to hate that expression, even though when Kissinger and Nixon were doing it, it was considered a master stroke of foreign policy, playing the Chinese off against the Soviets. If Gorbachev does fall from power and is succeeded by men whose role model is Joe Stalin, aren\'t you going to have to play the China card, too? A: I don\'t think you ``play a card.\'\' I think that\'s gratuitously offensive to the Soviets and to the Chinese. But one of the reasons I want to stay engaged is that there are geopolitical reasons to have good relations or improved relations even under these unsatisfactory conditions. And it\'s going to be hard to do because of the human rights setback. But I want to have some contact. I want to retain contact because, as you look around the world, take a look at Cambodia. Take a look at Japan. Take a look at a lot of countries in the Pacific. China is a key player. And I\'d like to think that our representations will have them move forward on the human rights side so we can have a more normalized relationship with them. Q: Mr. President, regarding the Soviet Union, have you in the course of these events going on in Baku, or any of your senior people _ I see General Scowcroft is here _ been in touch with Mr. Gorbachev or his people to discuss how severe it is, and ... A: Well, we\'ve had contact with them. I don\'t remember when my last contact was with Mr. Gorbachev, but it didn\'t relate specifically to the Baku. Q: Could I then follow, sir, to ask you to reconcile, if you can, the position that you\'ve taken that you say you want Mr. Gorbachev to survive and succeed, and on the other hand, you have areas of the Soviet Union such as the Baltics that you do not recognize as being part of the Soviet Union, and where you say you favor an independent pursuit of their own destiny. Does he succeed if they secede? A: Well, he _ that\'s again, at this juncture the U.S. position is well known, and you\'ve stated it correctly, that we have not recognized the status of the Baltics. However, what I say that we want to do is to encourage Mr. Gorbachev\'s stand that peaceful change is the order of the day. And he\'s sorting out some very difficult internal problems in these three Baltic countries. And I don\'t think it helps facilitate things for us to fine tune all that. They know our position. I talked to him about this, incidentally, at Malta. But the thing I think is that, in looking at the Soviet scene there, that he is still adhering as best he can to the concept of peaceful change in the Baltics. And that\'s got to dominate.\r\n'),(376,2,'An Israeli court today sentenced John Demjanjuk to be executed for war crimes committed as ``Ivan the Terrible,\'\' a sadistic Nazi guard who ran gas chambers where about 800,000 Jews died. ``He was a chief hangman who with his own hands killed tens of thousands with cruelty ... We sentence him to death,\'\' said Judge Zvi Tal. Onlookers clapped and shouted as the sentence was announced. Some chanted ``Bravo.\'\' Others shouted: ``Death, death.\'\' Last week, the court convicted the 68-year-old retired Ohio autoworker of Nazi war crimes. It said he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews at the Treblinka concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland. About 800,000 Jews died in 1942 and 1943, when ``Ivan\'\' worked at the camp. Only one man has ever been executed in Israel\'s 40-year history. Adolf Eichmann, architect of the Holocaust, was hanged in 1962. Court Spokesman Yossi Hassin said Demjanjuk would most likely be hanged. ``If the sentence is upheld on appeal, the expectation is he would be hanged,\'\' Hassin said. Demjanjuk attended today\'s sentences in a wheelchair, complaining of back problems. He entered the courtroom moments before the verdict was read, shouting in Hebrew: ``I am innocent.\'\' A Christian, he was seen making the sign of the cross and whispering to himself, apparently praying, during arguments from prosecutors who demanded the death penalty. After the verdict he was wheeled away, expressionless and ringed by riot police. Demjanjuk\'s lawyers have said they will appeal his conviction to the Supreme Court. Today\'s sentence followed a trial that lasted 14 months. Yosef Czarny, a Treblinka survivor who testified against Demjanjuk, said that although ``a thousand deaths cannot compensate for what happened ... at least we have judged one of the Angels of Death.\'\' ``I feel like a burden has been lifted,\'\' said Pinchas Epstein, another Holocaust survivor. Tal\'s statement after three hours of judicial deliberation drew applause and whistling from hundreds of Israelis in the audience, including survivors of the Holocaust. Several hundred onlookers crowded into the converted movie theater to hear the verdict. Earlier, longtime observers said they expected the death penalty because of the sweeping guilty verdict which discounted each defense argument. ``There is no forgiveness in the law or the heart ... (Holocaust) victims are still crying out to us,\'\' said Tal, who was born in Poland. ``Even a thousand deaths cannot compensate.\'\' Demjanjuk\'s son, 22-year-old John Jr., said his family had expected a death sentence. ``It amounts to nothing less than the judicial murder of an innocent man,\'\' he said. ``It will bring shame to the state of Israel, the Israeli Justice Department, the U.S. Justice Department, and most unfortunately the six million victims of the Nazi Holocaust.\'\' Earlier in the day, his father told the three-judge panel it was making a ``very, very, very big mistake.\'\' The Ukrainian-born Demjanjuk has consistently alleged he is a victim of mistaken identity, although he admitted lying on his American emigration papers about his past. He contends he was held in a Nazi prisoner of war camp during the critical period in question. ``I am not Ivan the Terrible, and to that God is the most just witness. He knows I am innocent,\'\' Demjanjuk told the court today. He spoke in Ukrainian. The court adjourned briefly after Demjanjuk spoke to allow the judges time to consider the arguments. The defense also had pleaded against a death sentence. ``There is also a question of an individual\'s holocaust,\'\' said defense attorney John Gill of Cleveland. ``The taking of any innocent human life is a holocaust.\'\' Opening the proceedings today, prosecutor Yona Blattman told the three judges that Demjanjuk ``was not a small cog in the Nazi machine, he was a major criminal, an arch-henchman.\'\' ``We maintain the only punishment that can be imposed on the accused is the death penalty,\'\' Blattman argued. Demjanjuk pointed to his chest, shaking his head no, as Blattman alleged that Demjanjuk had ``distinguished himself by the sheer brutality of his behavior ... beating Jews mercilessly with a sword or whip.\'\' Gill said the conviction could be shown at a later date to have been incorrect and he cited previous wrongful convictions. The problem with the death penalty, he said, is that it ``is in fact irrevocable.\'\' In its verdict last week, the tribunal convicted Demjanjuk ``without hesitation or doubt\'\' of being the brutal guard at Treblinka. The three judges said Demjanjuk ``killed masses of human beings with his own hands,\'\' frequently exceeding the brutality ordered by Nazi commanders. Nazi war crimes and terrorism are the only offenses punishable by death in the Jewish state. During the trial, five Holocaust survivors identified Demjanjuk, of suburban Cleveland, as the Nazi guard who operated Treblinka\'s gas chambers. Justice Minister Avraham Sharir had urged the death penalty for Demjanjuk, saying ``a man convicted of such terrible crimes deserves no other sentence.\'\'\r\n'),(377,2,'Republican National Convention officials said Friday their $15 million makeover of the Louisiana Superdome is already about 20 percent complete just five days after they took over the massive arena to prepare for next month\'s convention. ``We are on schedule or ahead of schedule on every phase,\'\' convention manager Bill Phillips told reporters during a guided tour of the dome. Work was being done on the framework of a huge, $570,000 podium from which President Reagan, Vice President Bush and other dignitaries will adress the 31,000 people expected to attend the convention, which runs Aug. 15-18. Phillips said the Republican Party is spending about $9 million on the convention. The city of New Orleans is raising about $5.5 million through private contributions to pay for the sound and light systems and other projects. ``Basically, we\'re looking at a $15 million operation,\'\' Phillips said. Best known as an indoor football stadium, the dome is looking less and less like the home of the New Orleans Saints and more and more like a media center. Four television networks will have tall, multi-level booths near the podium. Carpenters and electricians worked to convert suites known as skyboxes, which overlook the floor from the perimeter of the stadium, into broadcast booths for other radio and television broadcasters. Arising on either side of the podium was the framework for the structures from which print journalists will observe the proceedings. Still to come is the hanging of the nine-story high, three-ton blue curtain that will serve as a room divider for the dome. Public convention business will be conducted for the cameras on one side while trailers, used as offices, will be driven onto the floor behind the curtains. Phillips said construction should be completed by Aug. 10, giving convention officials plenty of time to run tests on equipment before the convention begins. Once the convention ends, the construction work begins again _ in reverse. The Republicans\' agreement with the Superdome calls for the stadium to be restored to its original condition by Aug. 25.\r\n'),(378,2,'The U.S. trade deficit, bloated by a record demand for foreign oil, worsened dramatically in January, climbing to $9.3 billion, the government said today. The Commerce Department said the January deficit was 20.5 percent larger than December\'s $7.7 billion imbalance. Most of the deterioration came from a 44 percent surge in oil shipments. The January deficit was an ominous beginning for the new decade. Many analysts believe America\'s trade woes will worsen in coming years as U.S. dependence on foreign oil grows. For January, exports climbed to an all-time high of $32.1 billion, 4 percent above the December level. However, this gain was swamped by a 7.3 percent surge in imports, which increased to $41.3 billion. The trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, was the largest since a $10.1 billion imbalance in November. At the White House, presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the January increase showed export growth has been outpacing growth in imports. ``These numbers are pretty much as expected due to the deficit drop in December, which was the lowest in five years. Everyone seemed to realize they couldn\'t maintain that low level, and so it was expected that there would be an increase in January,\'\' Fitzwater said. The U.S. trade deficit has been improving for the past two years, falling to $109 billion last year, down 8 percent from 1988. But many economists predicted the 1990 deficit could begin rising again because of the oil bill and gains in the value of the dollar. A stronger U.S. currency makes imports cheaper for Americans and U.S. products less competitive on overseas markets. The huge 44 percent surge in oil imports did not come as a surprise, with analysts blaming the rise on December\'s record cold weather, which caused oil companies to import heavily in January to restock depleted supplies. The total volume of oil, 291,278 barrels, was an all-time high, topping a previous record set in August. Prices shot up to $20.13 per barrel, pushing the total oil bill to $5.86 billion, the highest total dollar amount snce August 1982, a month when the volume was less but the price per barrel was higher. The American Petroleum Institute has reported that foreign oil accounted for a record 54 percent of consumption in January as domestic production fell to its lowest level in a quarter century. Another factor swelling the deficit in January was a 31 percent surge in imports of clothing, which totaled $3.1 billion in January. As usual, the deficit with Japan was the largest of any country. However, at $2.9 billion, it was at the lowest level since December 1984. The Bush administration has been pressing the Japanese to do more to purchase U.S. exports as a way of reducing the huge annual deficit of $49 billion that America is running with Japan. Other big deficits included Taiwan, $1.2 billion; China, $800 million; Canada, $600 million, and the countries of Western Europe, $300 million. Many economists are worried that the deficit will worsen even further in coming months. Michael Evans, head of a Washington forecasting company, said he was looking for the deficit for all of 1990 to total between $120 billion and $125 billion, which would make it the second worst imbalance on history. The all-time high was a $152.1 billion deficit in 1987. ``Without a weaker dollar, we are just not going to get an improvement in trade,\'\' Evans said. ``We are destined to have bad trade numbers for some time.\'\' Such a forecast could spell trouble for the Bush administration, which is counting on further gains in exports to help boost the fortunes of American manufacturers and dampen protectionist sentiments in Congress. Last month, President Bush held a hastily arranged meeting in California with Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu to press demands that Japan do more to reduce its trade gap with the United States, which amounted to $49 billion last year. Kaifu promised to make reduction of trade tensions a top priority, but U.S. critics question whether the verbal commitments will be turned into significant market-opening moves. Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Senate trade subcommittee, said Monday that Japanese officials he met with in Tokyo last week appeared to be more willing to address U.S. complaints about their closed markets. ``There was a recognition that the time had come to redress the grievances we had,\'\' said Danforth, who has been a leading critic of both Japanese trade practices and the way Bush and former President Reagan addressed them. But Danforth told reporters, ``I remain skeptical that the ... talks are going to lead to the kind of concrete results we hope for.\'\' He said the talks will have to produce more specific sales of U.S. products to Japan as well as a broader general commitment by Tokyo to removing impediments.\r\n'),(379,2,'Ten years ago, three days before Christmas, Dr. Robert Stein was getting ready for bed when the phone rang. It was a routine call for a medical examiner _ police had found two bodies. But there was nothing routine about the case that began unfolding that night, when Stein was called to the home of John Wayne Gacy. Stein looked out a window and grimaced at the snow that was burying Chicago, then dressed warmly for the drive to Norwood Park Township just east of O\'Hare International Airport. He walked into Gacy\'s ranch-style home and caught a whiff of trouble. ``It was the odor of death,\'\' Stein said, recalling that two evidence technicians had found two decaying bodies in the crawl space. ``I said, `Oh brother, let\'s stop right here.\' I was convinced there were more bodies. Gacy later drew a diagram on a piece of paper and showed that there were many, many bodies.\'\' In the crawl space alone, 29 bodies were found. Four more were dumped in nearby rivers. Ten years ago this week, Gacy _ successful building contractor, decorated Jaycee, amateur clown, Democratic activist _ became king of the mass murderers apprehended in this country. Gacy told police he strangled all but one of his 33 male victims by wrapping rope around their necks and twisting it with a stick. He had sex with some of them before killing them. The murders were committed over a three-year period beginning in 1975. In 1980, he was convicted of 33 murders _ more than anyone before or since. Gacy, 46, received death sentences for 12 of the killings and life in prison for each of the remaining 21. In September, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the convictions and the sentences. Execution is scheduled for Jan. 11, but is almost certain to be delayed by appeals. Illinois\' last execution was in 1962. Today, Gacy sits in a 46-square-foot cell on death row at Menard Correctional Center in Chester, a small town in southern Illinois. He is allowed to exercise an hour a day and to spend another 60 minutes in the prison law library. ``He\'s not a disciplinary problem,\'\' says Nic Howell, spokesman for the state Department of Corrections. ``He was painting landscapes the last time I saw him.\'\' Gacy\'s name surfaced briefly in this year\'s presidential campaign when a pamphlet distributed by Illinois Republicans claimed that Gacy would have been eligible for weekend passes had he committed his crimes in Massachusetts under Gov. Michael Dukakis\' administration. Dukakis labeled the pamphlet ``garbage,\'\' and Gacy later wrote to state GOP officials complaining about the ``sleazy\'\' tactic. At Gacy\'s request, corrections officials no longer relay oral requests for interviews. The uneasy memories of Gacy and the crimes that stunned the world remain close to the surface. ``What I especially remember was the ghoulishness of people on the outside of the house,\'\' said Stein, who is still Cook County medical examiner and owns two Gacy paintings. ``Just like counting down the seconds in a basketball game, they were counting up the bodies that were pulled from the ground.\'\' Gacy, a Chicago native, lived in Springfield and Iowa before returning in the early 1970s to start his own business, specializing in remodeling work at retail stores. He often hired teen-age boys. Joseph Kozenczak, chief of detectives in Des Plaines who is now police chief, had been looking for Robert Piest, a 15-year-old who disappeared after telling his mother he was going to see Gacy about a summer job. A few days later, the detective got a search warrant for Gacy\'s home. ``We never suspected we were in the middle of mass murders _ we were looking for one kid,\'\' Kozenczak said. Eight of the bodies were so badly decomposed they were never identified. At a funeral where authorities hoped they might get clues to the identities by watching the mourners, this was the final prayer offered for them: ``Lord, you alone know the names of these brothers, names you have written on the palm of your hand. We praise and thank you for the gift of life you gave them. We are sorry for the violence which took away their mortal lives.\'\'\r\n'),(380,2,'Shanghai residents wanting a new aluminum pot will have to surrender an old one under regulations to curb profiteering and panic buying, the official China Daily said today. The price of aluminum in China has more than doubled since January. Only newly married couples who produce their marriage certificates will be exempt from the old-for-new rationing system, the newspaper said, and those couples will be limited to two sauce pans and one tea pot. It said the rationing would counter the rising price of aluminum caused by a shortage of supplies and ``the meddling of profiteers.\'\' Aluminum is selling for the equivalent of $4,324 per ton, compared to $1,892 in January. The China Daily said Shanghai speculators have been illegally buying price-controlled aluminum cookware and then selling the utensils outside the city for large profits.\r\n'),(381,2,'Here is a look at events Thursday in the Soviet Union:\r\n'),(382,2,'Syrian troops today entered Hezbollah\'s south Beirut stronghold but a source said they would not occupy the pro-Iranian militia\'s main barracks, where most of the 18 foreign hostages are believed held. Meanwhile, civilians, who had fled their homes in the southern slums began trickling back to piece together their shattered lives. The first Syrian soldiers moved into the 16 square miles of tin-roofed huts and cement-block apartments on Friday, putting an end to a three-week battle between Hezbollah and the mainstream Shiite Moslem militia Amal. Sources at the Syrian command said the troops started moving at midday. One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the plan does not cover Hezbollah\'s main barracks in Hay Madi, where most of the foreign hostages are believed held by Shiite extremists under Hezbollah\'s wing. The source said the barracks is considered part of the demarcation line with Christian east Beirut _ the only area of south Beirut where Syria will allow either militia to maintain gunmen. A Lebanese security source, speaking privately, said the Syrian deployment in Hay Madi will ``tighten the grip on Hezbollah. It means the kidnappers will not be able to move the hostages from one place to another.\'\' The hostages include nine Americans, three Britons, a West German, an Italian, an Irishman, an Indian and two unidentified men. The two-phase Syrian deployment, implementing a cease-fire agreed to by Syrian and Iran, ended fighting in the slums narrow alleys that police say left 300 people dead and 1,000 wounded since it began May 6. Abdul Hadi Hamadi, Hezbollah\'s security chief and a reputed kidnapper, escorted Syrian officers into south Beirut Friday. His public appearance stole the spotlight from the Syrian move. Hamadi\'s brothers, Mohammed Ali and Abbas, are held in West Germany on terrorist charges. Mohammed Ali is accused of the 1985 TWA hijacking in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed and 39 Americans were held hostage for 17 days. Abdul Hadi, who represents Hezbollah on a four-party committee set up Friday to supervise the truce, is believed to have mastermined the January 1987 abduction of two West Germans to swap them for his jailed brothers. One of the Germans, Alfred Schmidt, was released last September. The other, Rudolf Cordes, 53, is one of the 18 foreign hostages. A 900-strong force of Syrian infantry men set up five checkpoints Friday along a disengagement line between the Shiyah neighborhood, held by Amal, and the Hezbollah-controlled Ghobeiri district. The demarcation line stretched through two miles of gutted shops, smoldering cars and bullet-scarred cement block shanties. Broken power cables dangled the streets, littered with glass shards and used cartridges. The Syrians also erected checkpoints at key road junctions in two Hezbollah-controlled neighborhoods. Civilians today started returning to the Syrian-policed districts of south Beirut to check their property. ``My life\'s earnings have gone,\'\' said Azzam Sadeq as he inspected his gutted apartment that overlooks Hezbollah\'s positions across the street. A helmeted Syrian soldier, armed with a Soviet-designed AK-47 assault rifle, guarded the entrance to the six-story apartment building. The soldier, who refused to be named, only allowed residents into the building to ``prevent looting.\'\' ``All the doors to the apartments are open. They were either shot open by gunmen or opened by the pressure of exploding shells,\'\' the soldier said. Sadeq said fire ``destroyed\'\' everything in his third floor apartment. ``I don\'t have furniture anymore. My (two) daughters\' books and clothes were also burned. We don\'t have enough money to repair the damage and buy new furniture and clothes,\'\' he said, his eyes filling with tears. Sadeq said he, his wife and two daughters, fled the apartment shortly after the fighting broke out. Hezbollah took more than 90 percent of the slums in the fighting. ``May God\'s wrath burn the gunmen, all the gunmen,\'\' shouted a gray-haired, middle-aged man as he inspectged his demolished one-story house. ``They fought in my house. Both Amal and Hezbollah took turns occupying my house.\'\' A young man, an apparent Hezbollah member, told him the party\'s spiritual guide Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah ``will compensate for your losses.\'\' ``Neither Fadlallah nor Allah can compensate,\'\' the man shouted back. ``May you all roast in Hell.\'\' Syria has 25,000 soldiers in eastern and northern Lebanon and about 7,500 patrolling Moslem west Beirut. President Hafez Assad of Syria has become Lebanon\'s main power broker during 13 years of civil war, but Iran has used Hezbollah to challenge Syrian influence among the 1.2 million Shiites, the largest sect in Lebanon.\r\n'),(383,2,'Susan Butcher, bundled against biting winds and subzero temperatures, widened her lead and seemed assured of an unprecedented third straight victory in the 1,150-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Butcher, who left this checkpoint just as her closest competitor arrived Tuesday, was expected to cross the finish line in Nome today. If Butcher wins, it will be the fourth consecutive year that a woman has won the 16-year-old race. Libby Riddles of Teller won in 1985, and Butcher won in 1986 and 1987, setting a course record each year. Butcher left Elim, 123 miles from Nome, at 5:11 p.m. Tuesday, after stopping in the Eskimo village for two hours to feed and rest her dog team. Martin Buser of Big Lake arrived two minutes before she left. Butcher, a resident of Manley, took the lead early Tuesday and has not yielded it. She left Elim with 10 of the 17 dogs she started with March 5 in Anchorage; the others were dropped at checkpoints along the trail. Buser was traveling with 12 of his original 20 dogs still in harness. Subzero temperatures and biting winds continued to hinder the leaders, and weather forecasters said the wind chill factor could sink to minus 70 degrees along the trail\'s final miles. In each of her two previous victories, Butcher proved the strength and endurance of her team in the final, windswept miles along the barren Bering Sea coast. Her elapsed time last year was 11 days, 2 hours. Her closest rival last year was four-time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson of Two Rivers, who ran neck-and-neck with Butcher until his dogs refused to continue just 22 miles from the finish. This year, Swenson was about six hours behind Butcher at last report, leaving Koyuk at 2 p.m. Tuesday in third place. Running in fourth was Joe Garnie of Teller. Herbie Nayokpuk of Shishmaref was fifth. Seventy-year-old Joe Redington of Knik, who took an early lead and held it for more than 400 miles, was sixth. Redington, known as the ``Father of the Iditarod\'\' for organizing the first race in 1973, has run all but two races and placed as high as fifth, but has yet to win. The first musher to Nome collects $30,000 of a $150,000 purse; the next 19 finishers split the rest. Five of the 52 teams that started the race have dropped out.\r\n'),(384,2,'Elizabeth Taylor ignored her ex-boyfriend in court Wednesday as their lawyers began selecting a jury to decide a multimillion-dollar dispute over the rights to her ``Passion\'\' perfume. Miss Taylor walked across the courtroom surrounded by her lawyers and made no acknowledgement of former beau Henry Wynberg, seated at the opposite end of a table. A panel of 50 prospective jurors sat with their eyes riveted on the actress, dressed in purple, as the judge explained what the trial was all about. Miss Taylor won permission earlier in the day to tell jurors about Wynberg\'s criminal record after her lawyers said it would explain her decision to keep him out of her perfume business. Lawyers for Henry Wynberg sought to prevent jurors from hearing that Wynberg - who courted Miss Taylor between her two marriages to Richard Burton - once pleaded guilty to statutory rape, providing drugs to underage high school girls in return for sex and taking pornographic photos of young girls. They called the evidence ``irrelevant, inflammatory and prejudicial.\'\' But Miss Taylor\'s lawyers argued that those issues were crucial to proving that she was justified in breaking off her business relationship with Wynberg ``because any reputable cosmetics company would refuse to deal with Wynberg.\'\' Superior Court Judge Coleman Swart declined to bar the evidence. Wynberg claims he conceived the actress\' line of ``Passion\'\' perfume, and he\'s seeking a hefty share of the profits. He says he created the fragrance under the Elizabeth Taylor Cosmetics Inc. banner. At stake: about $70 million a year in profits. Litigation has produced volumes of depositions and affidavits about Wynberg\'s claim that he had a contract with Miss Taylor for exclusive rights to her name and likeness for promotion and sale of cosmetics. Wynberg sued in 1986 for 72 percent of ``Passion\'\' profits. Court documents show Wynberg\'s two-year romance with the violet-eyed actress ended in August 1975, when Miss Taylor said, ``I\'m going back to Richard, Henry. I\'ll see you later.\'\' Burton and Miss Taylor remarried in Africa, and Wynberg returned to California. Court records show that a short time later, Miss Taylor and Wynberg signed the cosmetics agreement in Switzerland, with Burton as a witness. Wynberg said he spent years consulting with chemists and manufacturers, smelling perfumes and looking for the perfect bottle. ``I wanted sparkling little lights like stars in there, and I wanted it to look like money, feel like money,\'\' Wynberg said. According to Wynberg, Hen he presented the actress with the heart-shaped bottle and fragrance in November 1983, Miss Taylor said: ``Let\'s let bygones be bygones, Henry. Let\'s split 50-50 on the perfume deal.\'\' In a deposition, Miss Taylor denies Wynberg\'s assertion. ``I didn\'t want to do any business with him,\'\' she said. Miss Taylor contends that Wynberg\'s failure to follow through on the project violated the contract and made it invalid. In 1986 she signed with the Chesebrough-Ponds Inc. cosmetics company to market ``Passion\'\' using her name and likeness. It went on to be a big seller.\r\n'),(385,2,'In an election-year bow to an agency that serves one-third of all Americans, the Senate voted Tuesday to give the Veterans Administration a seat in the president\'s Cabinet. The bill was passed by an 84-11 vote. The House approved similar legislation last November, a week after the idea was advanced by President Reagan. Negotiators from the the Senate and House will work out minor differences between the two bills. The Department of Veterans\' Affairs would become the 14th in the Cabinet and the fifth addition since 1960. The change would take effect Jan. 1, 1989. Sponsors said veterans and their dependents deserve to be heard in the highest councils of government. Opponents called the bill another example of congressional pandering to special interests. ``In recent years the VA has frequently been relegated to a relatively insignificant role within the executive branch, with the administrator having little or no access to the president or other top officials in the White House,\'\' said Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Veterans\' Affairs Committee. Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., who has been promoting a veterans\' department since 1975, said his support is not aimed at getting more money for veterans. ``Given the nature and scope of the VA, it is appropriate that we make it an executive department ... (to) ensure that these federal dollars are more effectively administered.\'\' Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., a former Veterans Committee chairman, opposed creation of the Cabinet seat. He bitterly criticized some veterans\' service organizations for supporting the bill while they fought another measure, passed Monday by the Senate, that would allow courts to overturn some VA decisions on veterans\' benefits. ``If anybody believes veterans needed a stronger voice ... than they already have, then I\'ve missed something in the nine years I\'ve been year,\'\' Simpson said. Sen. Gordon Humphrey, R-N.H., called the bill ``absurd... silly... goofy... illogical ... irresponsible. This is rubbish. This is unprincipled (prostitution) after special-interest groups.\'\' According to the Veterans\' Affairs Committee, VA serves 27 million veterans and 49 million dependents or survivors with a budget of $30 billion, making it the largest independent federal agency. It will dispense $14 billion in income maintenance and $626 million for education and rehabilitation assistance this year. The agency and its 240,000 employees administered 90,000 patient beds in 534 health facilities and will see 20 million outpatients this year. It runs 109 national cemeteries and will bury 300,000 veterans this year. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that converting the VA into a Cabinet department would cost $33 million over five years. The biggest part of the cost would go for changing signs on VA buildings. The bill would reorganize VA operations and allow the secretary of veterans\' affairs to name up to four assistant secretaries and 15 deputy assistants. The legislation requires that the top operating officers _ the chief medical director and chief benefits director _ be selected on the basic of expertise and without regard to politics. Voting against elevating VA to the Cabinet were Sens. William Armstrong, R-Colo.; Dan Evans, R-Wash.; Jake Garn, R-Utah; Humphrey; Nancy Kassebaum, R-Kan.; James McClure, R-Idaho; William Proxmire, D-Wis.; Dan Quayle, R-Ind.; Warren Rudman, R-N.H.; Simpson, and Steven Symms, R-Idaho. Not voting were Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; Jesse Helms, R-N.C.; Paul Trible, R-Va., and John Warner, R-Va.\r\n'),(386,2,'Lawyers for Juan Ponce Enrile asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to free the opposition senator, who was arrested on charges of backing December\'s failed coup. Vice President Salvador Laurel described the arrest of the former defense minister as an attempt to silence the opposition. Laurel broke with President Corazon Aquino in 1987 and later joined Enrile in forming the opposition Nacionalista Party. ``It could only be the beginning,\'\' Laurel told reporters. ``It is not the end. We are bracing for that. We are prepared for the worst. ... I think Mrs. Aquino is exacerbating the fragmentation and disunity of the nation.\'\' Enrile, who played a key role in bringing Mrs. Aquino to power in a 1986 uprising, was arrested Tuesday, held overnight at the National Bureau of Investigation, and transferred early Wednesday to police headquarters in suburban Quezon City. He faces charges of ``rebellion with murder.\'\' Military dissidents claimed the arrest of one of the administration\'s sharpest critics was a prelude to martial law. In a petition filed Wednesday, Enrile\'s law partner, Renato Cayetano, claimed the arrest was illegal and violated the senator\'s rights. The petition asked that Enrile be freed. Court officials said no hearing had been scheduled. Also Wednesday, three senators filed a proposal asking judicial authorities to place Enrile under the custody of the Senate\'s sergeant-at-arms to allow the lone opposition senator to attend sessions. Enrile, who was among seven people indicted Tuesday, denied any role in the Dec. 1-9 coup attempt that left at least 113 people dead and wounded more than 600. Indicted with 66-year-old Enrile, were dismissed Lt. Col. Gregorio ``Gringo\'\' Honasan; Rodolfo Aguinaldo, suspended governor of Cagayan province; ret. Brig. Gen. Felix Brawner; retired Lt. Col. Billy Bibit; and businessman Rebecco Panlilio and his wife, Erlinda. In the northern province of Cagayan, a local government official said Aguinaldo, a former army lieutenant colonel, was reported to have gone in hiding after learning late Tuesday that an arrest warrant would be served on him the next day. Enrile is the most prominent figure charged in any of the six coup attempts since Mrs. Aquino was swept to power in February 1986 by the military-popular uprising that drove the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos into exile. Troops went on alert in the Manila area Tuesday to prevent possible reprisals after the arrest, according to presidential spokesman Tomas Gomez. On Wednesday, police defused a homemade bomb outside a shopping center in Manila\'s financial district of Makati. Police said they did not know who placed the bomb. Enrile was defense minister under Marcos but turned against him and led the military mutiny that prompted the uprising. He kept the post under Mrs. Aquino, but he was fired in November 1986 after a coup attempt by his followers. A spokesman for soldiers involved in the December coup said the nation ``should brace itself for the imminent declaration of martial law.\'\' However, in a radio interview Wednesday, Gomez said the charges were justified because Enrile led ``the numerous attempts at a coup d\'etat to destroy this government of ours.\'\' Enrile was arrested after three witnesses claimed they saw Honasan and about 100 rebels at Enrile\'s home on the first day of the failed coup. The senator claims not to have seen Honasan, his former protege, since 1987.\r\n'),(387,2,'Striking submarine builders at Electric Boat could torpedo their futures if they don\'t acknowledge the increasing competitive marketplace and tightening military budget, analysts say. Despite a low unemployment rate and shortage of skilled workers, conditions that should favor the union, defense industry analysts say Electric Boat holds the upper hand in the 6-week-old strike by the 10,000-member Metal Trades Council. The union struck over Electric Boat\'s demand that employees accept lump-sum bonuses instead of wage increases in a three-year contract. The company says it needs to bring down labor costs to become more competitive with its Virginia rival, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. The union said the offer doesn\'t take into account Connecticut\'s higher cost of living. In only the second negotiating session since the strike began, the company Thursday offered bonuses of 5 percent and 4 percent in the first two years and a 3 percent wage increase in the third year, in addition to a $600 bonus. The union, which said the offer was not even worth putting to a vote, has asked for wage increases of 5 percent the first year and 4 percent the final two years of the contract. The company said that as of Friday, 668 workers had crossed picket lines. During a five-month strike in 1975, only 150 workers were reported to have done so. Electric Boat\'s efforts to hire replacement workers, which have included placing full-page ads in newspapers, have produced meager results. Only 20 people have signed up, about the number of workers the sub builder loses each week through attrition. Electric Boat could hurt itself more by acceding to the union\'s demands and settling quickly than by holding out, despite the low jobless rate and shortage of skilled workers, analysts say. Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics, has lost six attack submarine contracts in the last two years to Newport News. Electric Boat was awarded only one of three this year; Newport News had bid on only two. In all, Electric Boat has contracts for seven Trident subs and nine attack subs. The company is the only builder of the Trident. First-class mechanics, a job classification covering more than 85 percent of Electric Boat\'s sub builders, earn $12.02 an hour. The same workers at Newport News earn $1.24 less an hour in wages and benefits, according to Electric Boat. ``The Navy is going to the lowest bidder, and that has predominantly been Newport News. I don\'t know what the union expects the Navy to do,\'\' said Paul Nisbet, analyst for Prudential-Bache Securities. While Electric Boat is making money on the production of Trident submarines, it has not been making money on attack subs for some time, which is ``a further reason for them to hold out longer,\'\' Nisbet said. ``I don\'t think the union has much bargaining strength,\'\' said Gary Reich, an analyst at Shearson Lehman Brothers. Also working in the company\'s favor is the tightening military budget, said Phil Friedman of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Electric Boat has reassigned about 1,800 salaried workers to jobs performed by strikers. It has also shifted work to yards in Quonset Point, R.I., where all sub construction begins, and in Charleston, S.C. While certain vendors and small groceries around the shipyard here have suffered, the heavy tourist trade has kept business brisk elsewhere, said Audrey Golub, head of the regional Chamber of Commerce. ``No one has said to me yet, `God, the strike is really hurting.\' If the strike continues into the fall and winter then we would begin to be able to see an impact,\'\' she said.\r\n'),(388,2,'The publication of Claude Monet\'s cookery notebooks reveals the father of Impressionism as a tyrannical gourmet who could fly into a rage over a sauce. ``Monet\'s Cookery Notebooks,\'\' by Claire Joyes and published recently by Editions du Chene, is a delightful look at the private life of the man who immortalized haystacks in the haze and water lilies floating under a quaint Japanese footbridge. The book is to be published in the United States in the spring by Prentice Hall. A must for art buffs and food lovers alike, Monet\'s cookbook _ with recipes tested and adapted by award-winning chef Joel Robuchon _ is an authentic record taken from family notes. Like a social and cultural chronicle of the half century Monet spent at his Normandy country home in Giverny from 1883 to 1926, the notebooks detail Monet\'s likes and dislikes, what he served to his friends and what his second wife Alice had prepared for their eight children (two were his, six were hers) on ordinary days and holidays. It even tells how tables were set for picnics. Joyes, an art historian, found the handwritten notebooks tucked among letters, photographs and other Monet archives inherited by her husband, Jean-Marie Toulgouat, a great-grandson of Alice Hoschede Monet. ``Claire was the storyteller, Jean-Marie had the memory,\'\' said Benedicte Servignat, Joyes\' editor at Chene. ``He never knew Monet, but he spent all his childhood vacations at the Giverny farmhouse and remembered the cook Marguerite and, of course, Monet\'s step-daughter Blanche, who carried on all the culinary traditions after Monet\'s death.\'\' Toulgouat, an artist, and Joyes live in the village of Giverny, near Vernon, but have nothing to do with Monet\'s renovated farmhouse, now open to the public as a museum. Monet was a solid, middle-class bon vivant, but his daily routine was strictly regimented and it revolved totally around painting. He rose before dawn to capture the variations of early morning light, took a cold shower and breakfasted English-style _ on eggs and bacon, grilled tripe sausages and cheese, toast and orange marmelade. He would spend the morning working on his studio-boat with Blanche, also an artist. Back by 11 a.m., they were ravenous and impatient to sit down to lunch. Joyes decribed Monet as ``a demon for punctuality. A first, then a second stroke of the gong would assemble the scattered family in the dining room for lunch, which was served at 11:30 precisely. Monet would cough irritably on the very half second, causing panic in the kitchen,\'\' she wrote. Lunch invariably was a five-course extravaganza, which included a fish course, meat dish, salad, cheese, a different homebaked dessert every day and cakes at 4 p.m. _ all prepared by the family cook Marguerite. Monet never lingered over his food. Service had to be quick so he could get back to work. He even ordered servants never to pass dishes around twice when his American stepson-in-law Theodore Butler was lunching with them since Butler\'s slow eating habits drove Monet mad. Lunch was a social affair, often with guests. Tea was served under the lime trees, always at 4:00. Friends were never invited for dinner because Monet was always in bed by 9:30. The uninvited, even close friends, were politely turned away. Though Alice ran the house, she consulted Monet in planning menus, which revolved around the fruit and vegetables in season and which catered to the special tastes of a roster of illustrious guests like Renoir, Cezanne and Premier Georges Clemenceau, who loved the waterlilies. Monet and his family arrived in Giverny in May in 1883. Despite their precarious financial situation, they immediately set about renovating the kitchen and landscaping the wild gardens which sloped gently down to wide meadows and a small pond. Monet was obssessed with order in his flower gardens, but he was fanatical about the picking schedule of his fruit and vegetables grown and nurtured in a 2{-acre walled kitchen garden on the other side of the town. Constantly looking to expand and improve an impressive array of herbs and vegetables, he would spend evenings leafing through scholarly publications to find new seeds to test in the rich and often wet Norman soil. Joyes described Monet as equally fanatical about the poultry he was served, spending an ``inordinate amount of time choosing ducks and hens to be used for breeding stock.\'\' He just didn\'t trust local farmers.\r\n'),(389,2,'Dennis Day, the Irish tenor of radio and television fame, was sent home Monday from St. John\'s Hospital and Health Center, although he remains in critical condition, a hospital spokesman said. ``According to his physician, he was discharged because his care can be continued in a home setting,\'\' said Armen Markarian, a hospital spokesman. ``He\'s surrounded by his family there, and he\'ll be more comfortable in a home setting.\'\' Day was admitted to Saint John\'s on June 5, and continues to suffer from a recurrence of pressure on the brain, publicist Kitty Davis said. The 71-year-old singer was diagnosed last summer as suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressively degenerative nerve disorder also known as Lou Gehrig\'s disease. On March 9, Day suffered a head injury in a fall at his Bel Air home, and underwent emergency treatment to relieve the pressure caused by bleeding in the brain. He remained in the hospital until April 12, Markarian said. Day appeared regularly with comedian Jack Benny on radio and television as well as in films. Born Eugene Denis McNulty in New York, he assumed the name Dennis Day when he joined Benny\'s radio show as a singer in 1939 and quickly grew into a comic foil for the host.\r\n'),(390,2,'The hotel and motel industry is a growing industry in need of help. ``There are simply not enough people to meet the requirements of a constantly expanding industry,\'\' says Roger Saunders, president of the American Hotel and Motel Association. ``Young people will find abundant openings as never before, in administration, computer technology, food and beverage, sales, room management, housekeeping, accounting _ you name it,\'\' says Saunders, who is also chairman and chief executive officer of the Saunders Hotels Co., Boston. Saunders says the travel business is now the nation\'s second biggest employer and ``in just 10 years, by the turn of the century, travel will be the nation\'s No. 1 employer, with one out of every seven people in the work force.\'\' He advises young people considering a career to look into hotel schools to prepare for the business. But it is not a career only for young people, he says. ``There are excellent income potentials for students and mothers of young children, or women whose children are grown. The same is true for senior citizens who want to work _ whether 50, 60 or over 70. They are reliable, dependable workers and serve as role models for young people. ``The same is true for the handicapped who can and want to work.\'\'\r\n'),(391,2,'Typhoon Yancy skimmed the northern tip of the Philippines\' main Luzon island today with wind gusts of up to 91 miles per hour and was approaching southern Taiwan, the Manila weather bureau said. In a weather bulletin issued at noon (midnight EDT Friday), Yancy was centered 175 miles northeast of Basco City, the capital of Batanes province, an island group about 410 miles north of Manila. No casualties or major damage have been reported. Forecasters said Yancy gained strength overnight with sustained winds of 81 mph and gusts of 91 mph. Yancy also slowed down and was moving west-northwest at 7 mph, forecasters said. Senior weather forecaster Daniel Dimagiba said that if Yancy maintains its present course, the sixth major weather disturbance to strike the country this year will move out of Philippine territory by Sunday morning and hit southern Taiwan. Dimagiba said Yancy has a radius of 375 miles, which would mean its effect could be felt as far as the central Philippines. Provinces in the entire Luzon island, including Manila, have been placed on storm alert because of this, he added. Sea travel in the typhoon\'s path was ``extremely dangerous\'\' and the weather bureau had advised ships and smaller seacraft to stay in port. Philippine Airlines canceled eight flights from Manila to the affected areas. About 20 typhoons and storms hit the Philippines yearly.\r\n'),(392,2,'South Africa released seven black nationalists from prison today, including the nephew of African National Congress leader Walter Sisulu. The releases raised to 42 the number of political prisoners freed from Robben Island prison since the end of an 11-day hunger strike there in early March. The strike ended after a meeting between lawyers of the 346 hunger strikers and government officials. The details of their agreement have never been made public, but the pace of releases has increased since the meeting. The ANC, the leading black anti-apartheid group, has demanded the release of all prisoners convicted of politically motivated crimes as a condition for its participation in formal negotiations on a new constitution. The prisoners freed today included five members of the ANC and two members of the Black Consciousness Movement. Among the prisoners released was Jomguzi Sisulu, 31, who was sentenced in May 1986 to five years for treason. The father of two small children said he was shocked when authorities told him Thursday he would be freed the next day. ``I couldn\'t believe it, it was so unexpected,\'\' he said. Sisulu\'s uncle, Walter, was freed from the same prison in October after serving 25 years of a life term for plotting sabotage to end white rule. President F.W. de Klerk will hold talks April 11 with top ANC leaders, including Nelson Mandela, to work out a framework for constitutional talks.\r\n'),(393,2,'Nearly a year after he began his firsthand study of the capitalist system, Soviet economist Mikhail Popov says he\'s ready to put his knowledge to work as part of the sweeping reform in his homeland. ``I will use the ideas of American scholars,\'\' said Popov, a regional economist for the Siberian Branch of the Soviet Union\'s Academy of Sciences. ``Many of them are new and up-to-date and not available in the Soviet Union.\'\' Popov has studied such capitalist cornerstones as rents, interest rates and prices since his arrival last September at West Virginia University\'s Regional Research Institute under an international exchange program. ``When I look at things in the United States, I usually think `How can I use them to restructure our economy?\'\'\' Popov said. ``I also look at the history. What worked and what didn\'t?\'\' During an interview on the eve of his scheduled Fourth of July departure, the 35-year-old expert on Soviet industrial production said he was anxious to share his experience with colleagues who are intimately involved in ``perestroika\'\' _ Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev\'s effort to overhaul the Soviet system. Popov said his study of the decline of the steel industry in Pittsbugh and of coal mining in Appalachia could help ease the transition of the Kuzbass region of Siberia, where much of the country\'s heavy industry once was centered. ``We have similar problems in some areas and wanted to look at the tremendous changes that have occurred in Pittsburgh, for example, and study the optimal way to shift from basic industries to high-tech,\'\' Popov said. Gorbachev began pressing for the restructuring of Soviet society shortly after taking office three years ago. Last week, during a national meeting of the Communist Party, he called for democratization, economic reform and changes in the Soviet political system that he said would make perestroika ``irreversible.\'\' ``Perestroika really is an expression of our society,\'\' Popov said. ``It just didn\'t happen with a change of leadership. It was inevitable, a natural evolution of the socialist system. ``We couldn\'t have avoided it,\'\' he concluded. Some commentators in the U.S. have said Gorbachev\'s attempts to introduce market mechanisms into the Soviet system prove that communism is doomed. Others in the Soviet Union say Gorbachev has gone too far too quickly. Popov, an unabashed Gorbachev supporter, said he disagreed on both counts. ``I\'m not afraid that we will lose the main ideas of socialism,\'\' said Popov. ``If someone is willing to produce much more than the other guy and works harder, he deserves to be rewarded. ``That doesn\'t threaten socialism at all.\'\' During his stay, Popov also has presented several papers on the Soviet economy, visited Penn State University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technolgy and given dozens of lectures.\r\n'),(394,2,'With the symbolic passing of a small cross made of grape vines, the Rev. Jesse Jackson ended a three-day fast and vowed to wage a continuing boycott against California table grapes. Jackson, who received the cross from Cesar Chavez as the president of the United Farm Workers Union ended a 36-day water-only fast, ended his fast Wednesday and passed the cross to the Rev. Joseph Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Lowery, of Atlanta, said he will fast until Saturday, when he will hand the cross to actors Martin Sheen and Robert Blake, who will fast. ``I have fasted with Cesar Chavez,\'\' Jackson said. ``I have shared the pain. I want to be a better person. I want to be an even more committed person to the workers and the abandoned families who harvest the food we eat.\'\' Wednesday\'s ceremony occurred outside a Jewel Co. food store, but Jackson and other demonstrators stressed they were not calling for a boycott of the supermarket chain _ only a boycott of the grapes, which the UFW maintains are treated with pesticides dangerous to farm workers. The union contends pesticides contribute to cancer, miscarriages and birth defects among those who pick grapes. California table grape growers acknowledge that four pesticides are used, but say the same chemicals are sprayed on other vegetables and fruits and pose no health risk. A spokesman for California table grape growers said Chavez is targeting the industry because the union does not have any contracts with growers. ``That\'s the bottom line,\'\' spokesman Adam Ortega said from Los Angeles. ``They\'re accusing stores of selling poisoned grapes. That\'s not true. They\'re scare tactics.\'\'\r\n'),(395,2,'The leaders of this all-male monastic republic declared a state of emergency Thursday as a 10-day-old forest fire raged out of control. The fire had burned over 2,250 acres of chestnut trees and thick brush by Thursday night, according to fire brigade officials. At one point it threatened three of the 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries on the forested peninsula that reaches into the Aegean Sea. Premier Constantine Mitsotakis ordered the Defense Ministry to dispatch more troops to help combat the fire. Under the state of emergency, the military will coordinate firefighting efforts. Authorities said 1,300 soldiers were battling the fire with the community\'s 1,400 monks, hundreds of civilian volunteers from neighboring regions and the crew of 10 fire engines. Strong winds kept firefighting planes from the peninsula Thursday. Two warships were anchored nearby in stormy seas, ready to evacuate monks and priceless treasures from the monasteries if needed. The fire brigade said it was difficult for land firefighting forces because of the lack of roads and firebreaks on the densely wooded, 30-square-mile peninsula. Cause of the fire was unknown. The Mount Athos religious comunity was founded in 963. It enjoyed administrative independence under the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and was made a theocratic republic under Greek suzerainty in 1927. It is governed by a civil administrator and a council of monks. Women and female animals are barred.\r\n'),(396,2,'Chairman Lee Iacocca went to school, He wanted to groove on that golden rule. Got to rapping with the gang And the Rich Academy guys gave him some slang: ``He left Ford Motor Company with a plan on the double. Became Chrysler\'s CEO, found out they were in trouble. He designed a new automobile, they called the `K.\' His new car and charming wit surely saved the day.\'\' Student Chris Longino got in the entrepreneurial way: ``I\'m going to keep this (song). I might make some money off this one day.\'\' Translated: The Chrysler Corp. chairman visited the 9-year-old alternative school on Thursday. During his visit, Longino and fellow student Aaron Bolton performed their ``Iacocca Rap.\'\'\r\n'),(397,2,'Pro-democracy activists accused the ruling party Tuesday of harassment after police refused to give them permission to hold a mass rally this weekend. Vernon Mwaanga, a spokesman for pro-democracy campaigners, charged that ruling party officials have intimidated opposition supporters. He said ``thugs and hooligans\'\' tore down posters announcing upcoming rallies. Mwaanga described the postponement of Saturday\'s rally as an attempt to frustrate the opposition campaign for a multiparty democracy in this one-party state. The rally was rescheduled Sept. 8. Mwaanga said heads of the Frontline African states bordering South Africa are to meet in Lusaka on Saturday and police said they did not have the manpower to supervise both events simultaneously. ``It has been a consistent feature of our campaign that the authorities have frustrated our efforts to hold meetings,\'\' Mwaanga said. In a separate press statement Tuesday, Arthur Wina, chairman of the National Interim Committee for Multiparty Democracy, said he was disappointed that the government ``continued to operate on the basis of giving priority to foreign and international images rather than domestic affairs and national welfare.\'\' Earlier Tuesday, a longtime political associate of President Kenneth Kaunda said he would aggressively campaign to end one-party rule. Legislator Humphrey Mulemba, a former ruling party secretary-general, told reporters in Lusaka the scrapping of the one-party system was vital for the future well-being of Zambia, one of Africa\'s poorest nations. ``It is time we had political structural changes by removing one-party and introduce multiparty politics in Zambia,\'\' he said. As secretary-general of the ruling party for four years, Mulemba was No. 2 in the party hierarchy after Kaunda. He is the second ruling party legislator to openly attack one-party rule. ``With immediate effect I am going public and I am appealing to all Zambians for support,\'\' he said. Kaunda imposed a one-party system in 1973, when his ruling United National Independence Party became the only legal political organization in Zambia. Mulemba blamed one-party rule for ``inertia, corruption and lack of competition.\'\' On Monday, Frederick Chiluba, head of the powerful Zambia Congress of Trade Unions made his strongest attack yet against the ruling party. Addressing pro-democracy supporters, Chiluba accused Kaunda of being a dictator and criticized the ruling party for being out of touch with the people. A referendum on the political future of Zambia is scheduled Aug. 13, 1991.\r\n'),(398,2,'College students prefer periodic tests or term papers to big final exams and learn more from teachers who give them substantial, immediate feedback, a Harvard University study found. For example, a ``one-minute, low-tech, no-cost\'\' technique is to ask students at the end of each class for a quick, one-paragraph summary of what they learned, said Richard J. Light, author of the three-year study issued Monday. The study concludes that modest shifts in academic policies can create major improvements in college classrooms. Light, a professor at Harvard\'s Graduate School of Education and Kennedy School of Government, based the study on in-depth interviews with 360 Harvard undergraduates _ conducted by their fellow students _ and seminars that included faculty and administrators from Harvard and about 20 other institutions. Among the conclusions of ``Explorations with Students and Faculty about Teaching, Learning and Student Life\'\': _Students said they learned the most in classes with periodic tests, oral presentations and papers that let them know how they were doing ``mid-course,\'\' rather than a big exam at the end of the course. In particular, students indicated they preferred opportunities to rewrite term papers after ``red-penciling\'\' by faculty. ``Students said they learned more from doing the fourth draft than by doing the first draft,\'\' Light said. _Students found small study groups of up to six people meeting outside the classroom particularly effective. Light said teachers should encourage formation of such groups. _Students in outside activities such as athletics or clubs, jobs or volunteer work for up to 35 hours a week ``are by far the happiest students,\'\' Light said. He said teachers should urge students to ``get involved.\'\' While only Harvard students were involved in the study, Light said the in-depth questionnaires and the information from the seminars made the results applicable to other institutions, including high school and graduate school. Light said he was surprised by some of the differences found between male and female students. For example, although there is no substantial difference between the grades of male and female students, 39 percent of the females said they were not happy with their academic performance, compared with 19 percent of men, he said. Also, although both groups indicated that study groups were effective, males were more likely to join one or form one, Light said. Twelve undergraduate and graduate students were trained by Light and other colleagues before they conducted interviews with the 360 randomly selected Harvard students. They used a 23-page questionnaire that included many open-ended questions. Follow-up interviews were done five to six months later. R. Eugene Rice, senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, said the Harvard study ``confirms a lot that we know about learning, in fact, just about human work in general _ the importance of feedback, its regulation and its timing.\'\' Rice said he hoped that faculty heeds the study\'s recommendations, but he noted that universities must then ``reward faculty for putting their time into this kind of teaching which take away time for work on research.\'\'\r\n'),(399,2,'Political television ads grew more negative as well as more plentiful Thursday with Sen. Albert Gore Jr. and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis going on the attack for the first time less than a week before Super Tuesday. Gore, Dukakis and Vice President George Bush all sent out critical ads in many of the 20 states holding primaries and caucuses next week. Gore launched the first TV attack of his campaign, a pointed 60-second excerpt from the Feb. 18 Democratic debate in Dallas. Within those 60 seconds, Gore accuses Gephardt of voting against minimum wage increases, against creating the Department of Education, for tuition tax credits and for Reagonomics _ and reversing his positions on all four issues. ``The next president of the United States has to be someone the American people can believe will stay with his convictions. ... You\'ve got to be willing to stand your ground and be consistent,\'\' Gore says. A Gephardt spokeswoman said there would be no direct response to the Gore ad. Gephardt has been running commercials criticizing both Gore and Dukakis for several days in Super Tuesday states. Dukakis began responding Wednesday night with an ad assaulting Gephardt\'s populist message that ``it\'s your fight too.\'\' The Dukakis ad consists of a rolling list of corporate political action committees that have contributed to Gephardt\'s campaign. ``Is Dick Gephardt really fighting your fight, or theirs?\'\' asks the narrator. Dukakis does not accept PAC contributions. Gephardt, making a stop at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, called the Dukakis ad ``absolutely ridiculous\'\' and said only 5 percent of his overall contributions are from PACs. He said all of his PAC contributions were fully disclosed, and he charged that Dukakis has received millions of dollars ``from special interests who do business with the state of Massachusetts.\'\' ``It raises the specter of a serious conflict of interest,\'\' Gephardt said and added that his campaign would release a partial list of those contributors Friday. Responding to Gephardt\'s response, Dukakis aide Leslie Dach said, ``The Dukakis campaign does not take a dime of corporate PAC money or any money from a lobbyist registered in the state of Massachusetts.\'\' Bush also joined the negative fray with an ad appearing in South Carolina, which holds a GOP primary on Saturday. The ad denounces Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole for not being able to get Judge Robert Bork\'s Supreme Court nomination confirmed by the Senate. And it says Dole has failed to vote with the Reagan administration 30 percent of the time. The candidates stepping up their media campaigns in the final stretch included Bush and Dukakis with their bulging campaign coffers and Jesse Jackson who has borrowed money to keep his presidential drive going. Dukakis put TV ads in six additional Super Tuesday states between Wednesday and Thursday, bringing his total to nine _ North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Washington, Florida, Texas and Maryland. Bush\'s ad director, Sig Rogich, said the vice president has been running ads in Florida, Texas, South Carolina and most other Super Tuesday states. ``You\'ll see more of our ads now in the last few days before Super Tuesday,\'\' he said. Jackson planned to start $100,000 worth of TV ads Friday in eight Southern states. The TV purchase, Jackson\'s largest so far, targets Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Dole\'s latest negative ad attacks Bush for supporting Reagan\'s veto of a protectionist textile trade bill and mocks his explanation: ``C\'est la vie.\'\' Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., chairman of the Republican National Committee, said the Bush-Dole match has become ``pretty rough\'\' but that that is not all bad, as long as they keep their advertising accurate. ``In many ways I\'ve welcomed what\'s happened,\'\' Fahrenkopf told reporters in Boston. ``In January I was concerned with the lack of fire in the belly.\'\'\r\n'),(400,2,'A prison officer was killed today by a bomb planted in the car he was driving in Belfast, police said. The bomb exploded as the officer was driving through predominantly Protestant east Belfast, said the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the province\'s police force. The victim was not immediately identified, but police said he was a prison officer in his mid-40s. Police said children from a nearby elementary school were walking home for lunch when the bomb exploded nearby, but escaped injury. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing. Prison officers are among the targets of the Irish Republican Army in its campaign to rid Northern Ireland of British rule and unite it with the Irish Republic. It was the 81st killing in the province this year, and brought the official death toll since Northern Ireland\'s present strife erupted in 1969 to 2,699.\r\n'),(401,2,'A 9-year-old runaway driving a van on Interstate 95 fled police at speeds up to 100 mph before crashing into a guardrail while his teen-age companions slept in the back, state police said. The boy was in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital today with head and chest injuries, while his 14-year-old brother and their 12-year-old friend were in satisfactory condition, police said. The boys\' names were not released because of their ages, and investigators were to meet with the youngsters\' parents this morning, Maryland State Police Sgt. James Black said today. The three boys, from suburban Trenton, N.J., apparently were en route to Florida on Thursday in the van owned by the 12-year-old\'s parents, police said. The older boys were asleep in the back of the van during the chase, Black said, and are not cooperating with investigators. State police said they were told that a van was being driven erratically on the Delaware Turnpike, just across the Maryland line. The chase began when a Maryland trooper signaled the van to stop and it accelerated to speeds of up to 100 mph. The driver lost control, and the van veered across the median strip, slamming into a guardrail and overturning on the northbound lanes about 10 miles north of downtown Baltimore, police said.\r\n'),(402,2,'Radio dispatcher Jani Kochever received a very special early morning call from Clark County Sheriff\'s Deputy Greg Chaney, known on the air as code number 140. ``Control 2, 140,\'\' Chaney said Tuesday. ``Personal request.\'\' ``Go ahead,\'\' replied Ms. Kochever, known on the radio as Control 2. ``Jani, will you marry me?\'\' Chaney asked. ``She sat there with her mouth open,\'\' said fellow dispatcher Pam Shurtliff. ``I almost answered for her. I was going to say, `Yeah, she\'ll marry you.\'\'\' When Ms. Kochever recovered, she replied, ``140, Control 2, absolutely I\'ll marry you. ``And then another deputy said, `You can\'t back out now, because we\'re all witnesses,\'\'\' the bride-to-be recalled. Ms. Kochever said she and Chaney had been dating about 10 months, but she had no hint he would make his graveyard-shift proposal. No wedding date has been set, but stay tuned.\r\n'),(403,2,'Claude Monet\'s Impressionist painting of his wife in a meadow became the third highest priced work at auction Tuesday, going for $24.59 million to an anonymous telephone bidder, Sotheby\'s said. The price for ``Dans La Prairie\'\' (``In the Meadow\'\') broke the record for a Monet set 24 hours earlier at Christie\'s, which sold his painting of a blue house for $6.55 million, also to an anonymous telephone bidder. The two sales of Impressionist and modern paintings and sculpture by the rival firms totaled nearly $123.5 million. Sotheby\'s also sold a Monet landscape for $2 million and set a record price for Pierre Bonnard, whose painting of a woman in her bath fetched $3.78 million. A picture of two women musicians by Henri Matisse sold for $2.83 million. Only one buyer of works realizing more than 1 million pounds ($1.72 million) was identified: Japan\'s Fujii Gallery paid $2.17 million for Pierre-Auguste Renoir\'s portrait of a young woman in a yellow hat. ``The picture of his wife was Monet\'s most important work to appear on the market for 20 years,\'\' said Sotheby\'s expert, Michel Strauss. ``There was ferocious bidding which lasted for five minutes between two people on the telephone and no one in the saleroom appeared to be bidding while it was going on,\'\' said Fiona Ford, Sotheby\'s spokeswoman. Auctioneer Julian Barran opened the bidding at $6.8 million after Sotheby\'s had estimated the picture to be worth around $10.3 million. The highest auction prices have been paid for flower paintings by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. His ``Irises\'\' sold to an anonymous buyer at Sotheby\'s in New York last November for $53.9 million. Van Gogh\'s ``Sunflowers\'\' was bought by a Japanese insurance company at Christie\'s in London in March 1987 for $39.85 million. Monet, a Frenchman known as the father of Impressionism and the greatest master of that style, painted his wife in 1876 when they were living at Argenteuil near Paris. The summery picture depicts Camille in a white dress and hat, with a parasol behind her, reading a book as she lies among tall grass and wild flowers. The picture was sold by trustees of the estate of the late David David-Weill, an art collector who bought it about 1938 in Paris from the art dealers, Wildenstein.\r\n'),(404,2,'Here are excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad. --- Nov. 13 Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald on the Persian Gulf crisis: Whatever lies ahead in the Persian Gulf, the large new deployment of forces ordered by President Bush is justified. ... The magnitude of the force being built up in the gulf sends a necessary message, too, to all Americans: This commitment is irrevocable - and may be costly. War against Iraq would be no quick-fix intervention on the order of Grenada or Panama. It could be long and bloody. President Bush, who has handled many aspects of the gulf crisis with skill, has yet to level with the public about the possible sacrifice ahead. --- Nov. 11 Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald on the Persian Gulf: It would be reassuring if Bush toned down the rhetoric while he built up the armies, as well. There may yet be a diplomatic solution to this crisis. There have been suggestions that Iraq might be satisifed with better access to the sea, control of an uninhabited sandbar and an indemnity for Kuwait\'s well-documented theft of oil and its shenanigans in the oil cartels. With these conditions, Kuwait could be restore as an independent nation, perhaps with a U.N. peace-keeping force stationed there. If such a settlement is possible, it ought to be sought. It is far more attractive than the war. Saddam may yet reject it, of course. Then the consequences are on his shoulders. If it is not offered before thousands of lives are lost, the president will need to explain his failure as a diplomat to his people and to history. --- Nov. 13 The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette on the Persian Gulf: Is President Bush preparing to invade Iraq and Kuwait, without asking Congress for a declaration of war, just as he invaded Panama without Congress\' approval? Would he do it without a United Nations decision authorizing warfare? Questions like these hang in the air as Bush continues his bellicose tone and his military buildup in the Middle East. ... Bush contends that he is acting to deter aggression, to undo Iraq\'s seizure of tiny Kuwait. But that\'s window-dressing. ... No, America and other nations are acting strictly to protect the Mideast oil supply that sustains the industrialized world - an understandable goal. The nagging question is: does one man have the right, all by himself, to plunge America into a major war? ... We would feel less uneasy if he would promise not to send 400,000 young Americans into a blood bath without asking Congress first. --- Nov. 13 Delaware County Daily Times, Primos, Pa., on the death of Stormie Jones: Doctors are vigorously trying to find out what exactly killed Stormie Jones, the 13-year-old Texas girl who underwent a historic heart-liver transplant in 1984. ... But all forensic medical technology in the world is useless in telling us what kept Stormie going and her chin up the past 6{ years. Stormie battled her way through hell - a living hell. She survived a war in which many of us would have been mentally conquered. ... This courageous little girl captured the hearts of America - time and time again as she showed us all how to manhandle adversity and what it really means to live. ... --- Nov. 8 The Marietta (Ohio) Times on the U.S. elections: An expert, as most people know, is someone who offers an opinion from far away. ``Pork barrel\'\' is used to describe government money that funds a project in somebody else\'s neighborhood. Now, Tuesday\'s national election figures have given us a new definition: ``Bum\'\' is somebody else\'s congressman. ``Throw the bums out!\'\' supposedly was the cry of the land, at least according to media prophets before the election. Wednesday morning, however, America woke up to find Congress almost exactly as it was before the vote - before the budget-tax debacle, before the savings and loan bailout, before the pay raise issue, before ethics inquiries, before any of the other decisions that supposedly inflamed right-thinking patriots ... So, basically, on election day, we got what we asked for. We apparently are being duly represented. --- Nov. 12 The New Mexican, Santa Fe, N.M., on the elections: What the voters did on Nov. 6 should give neither the Republicans nor the Democrats much comfort. Neither major party really won or lost much. Although the returns gave a few members reason to worry because of the closeness of the tally, they set the U.S. on no new course. The state of the economy and events in the Persian Gulf will probably do more to shape politics in the next two years than did Election Day, 1990. . .. If messages were sent to Congress they were that taxes are unpopular, perhaps even more unpopular than the Democrats believed. Despite the difficulty of this year\'s tax fight, and the votes\' reaction to it, taxes will probably be an issue both in 1991 and 1992. The sour taste of the 1990 tax debate likely sets the stage for harder fights over budget cutting in 1991 and 1992. ... ---\r\n'),(405,2,'RJR Nabisco Inc. announced it has formed a new company, Del Monte Foods, to combine the operations of its worldwide Del Monte operations and other portions of Nabisco Brands Inc. The new company will be headquartered in Coral Gables, Fla., and will stand as a separate major operating unit of RJR Nabisco, the Atlanta-based consumer products giant said Wednesday.. RJR Nabisco Vice Chairman Robert J. Carbonell, who is also chairman of the American Trade Consortium, will serve as chairman and chief executive officer of Del Monte Foods. ``Through Del Monte Foods, RJR Nabisco will be positioned to fully leverage the value of the Del Monte name as a global brand, covering both fresh fruit and processed fruits and vegetables,\'\' Carbonell said. The consolidation also will allow the company to increase its presence in Latin American countries, he said.. Del Monte Foods will provide management for four operating divisions: Del Monte Tropical Fruit Company; Del Monte Foods USA; Del Monte Foods Latin America; and Del Monte Foods Europe. The operations of the combined division had 1987 sales of about $2.5 billion and net income of about $1.3 million. Del Monte Foods\' worldwide operations include food processing facilities in the United Sates, central and South America, the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa. Del Monte Tropical Fruit has production operations in Cameroon, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Hawaii, Kenya and the Philippines.\r\n'),(406,2,'AIDS victim Ryan White spent the New Year\'s holiday with pop singer Michael Jackson, resting and watching movies at Jackson\'s California ranch, White\'s mother said Tuesday. Jeanne White said her son had been at Jackson\'s ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., since Thursday and was expected to return to Cicero later Tuesday. ``They\'ve had a really good time,\'\' Mrs. White said in a telephone interview. She said the trip had taken her son\'s mind off of his most recent physical ailments. White, who turned 18 last month, has recently suffered staph infections, a low-platelet count, a hernia, a protein deficiency and fluid retention. A hemophiliac, White contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome from a blood transfusion. Four years ago, he was barred from attending Western Middle School near Kokomo by officials who feared the AIDS could be transmitted to other students. A judge ruled that Ryan should be allowed to attend school because the disease can not be transmitted through casual contact. Since then, the Whites have moved to Cicero, where Ryan attends Hamilton Heights High School. White was hospitalized before Christmas to alleviate swelling in his abdomen caused by fluid retention. During the two-day hospital stay he lost four pounds of fluid, his mother said. ``It made him more comfortable.\'\' Mrs. White said his treatments include drinking a protein supplement five times a day.\r\n'),(407,2,'About 800 Daily News editorial workers struck Friday rather than accept management\'s order to cross picket lines set up by eight other unions at the financially troubled tabloid. Management at the nation\'s second-largest city daily flew in the replacement workers to help circumvent a violent strike that began Thursday night when 1,800 employees walked out. Substitutes were imported from Tribune Co. newspapers in Orlando, Fla., and Chicago. Officials of the Daily News, which is owned by the company, said the paper would be on newsstands this weekend. Daily News director of labor relations Edward Gold said the paper would begin replacing workers if they failed to show up at work ``as soon as possible.\'\' The newspaper has 2,600 unionized employees. ``This is not a typical labor strike situation,\'\' said political reporter Frank Lombardi. ``They\'ve declared an all-out war on the unions. They don\'t want negotiation, they want total capitulation.\'\' Union contracts expired in March. The News, using management and replacement workers, claimed it printed and distributed 611,000 copies of Friday\'s newspaper. The normal daily circulation is 1.18 million, second only to the Los Angeles Times among metropolitan newspapers. But deliveries of the single edition were spotty at best after firebombs, rocks and other projectiles were hurled at delivery trucks leaving plants in New Jersey, Brooklyn and Long Island. The Daily News was unavailable at rush hour at many midtown Manhattan newsstands, suburban railroad stations and other spots in the metropolitan area. The content was limited as well. The paper had just 48 pages, with just 7{ pages of local, domestic and international news articles. In comparison, last Friday\'s paper contained 116 pages. Sporadic violence was reported again Friday night. Cars and buses carrying replacement workers again were pelted with rocks as they drove from the Brooklyn plant. Two strikers were arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, police spokesman Mark Warren said. The News has lost about $115 million and seen daily circulation slip by about 700,000 in the past 10 years. The strike was good news for the Daily News\' competitors in the battle for tabloid survival in the city. New York Newsday and the New York Post printed additional copies in an effort to pick up News readers. Outside the News\' highrise headquarters on 42nd Street, pickets marched and union leaders told workers to head home for the day. Editorial employees from The Newspaper Guild initially honored the picket lines, then joined the strike at what was billed as an informational meeting Friday afternoon. Barry Lipton, the local Guild president, said the decision to strike was made after the News told union officials that replacement workers had already filled some editorial jobs. The News has taken a hard line in its negotiations with the unions, saying it must eliminate labor abuse to save $50 million to $70 million a year. The unions say the paper is trying to break them. Michael Alvino, president of the 700-member drivers\' union, called the strike at about 10 p.m. after 60 drivers with the most seniority were fired and replaced with non-union workers. Union workers had walked out early Thursday after management ordered one worker to stand rather than sit on the job. The only one of 10 unions not involved in the strike is the New York Typographical Union, whose 200 members have lifetime guaranteed jobs. Late Thursday, replacement workers driving delivery trucks were attacked in New York and New Jersey. Eleven arrests and two minor injuries were reported. ``This vandalism and outright violence by the strikers is deplorable,\'\' said John Sloan, the News\' vice president for labor relations. ``These are orchestrated and purposeful criminal acts.\'\' A truck leaving a Kearny, N.J., plant was firebombed at 3:10 a.m. in neighboring Harrison, N.J., although no one was injured. Two men were arrested shortly after the incident for possession of three Molotov cocktails, Kearny Police Lt. Michael Davitt said. Two trucks in Brooklyn were attacked, including one that crashed into two parked cars after it was pelted with debris. Similar incidents in Garden City led to six arrests for disorderly conduct at the plant there. There were two arrests in Brooklyn and one more in New Jersey. Sloan, in a statement issued by the News, also said the families of News executives were threatened overnight by union members.\r\n'),(408,2,'A forest fire in the southern Black Hills moved into Custer State Park early today. More people fled their homes, and the U.S. Forest Service bolstered its firefighting efforts. Park Superintendent Rollie Noem said the fire jumped Highway 87, the park\'s main north-south road, at about 3 a.m. A lodge and some private homes in the area were evacuated. Forest Service spokeswoman Mary Sue Waxler said the size of the fire was about 3,000 acres. About 350 people were fighting the fire, Waxler said, with 100 more on the way. No injuries and no structural damage were reported. No buildings were threatened but fire trucks were standing by to protect property. On Wednesday, 14 homes were evacuated in the general path of the fire. The fire stopped advancing about 1{ miles from the homes. The number of people who live in the area was not known. But officials said 25 families went to a temporary shelter at the Custer Armory looking for places to stay. Shelter director Mary Hutt said all found rooms either with family or friends. The fire was reported about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday by a state fire lookout. Officials said it was caused by logging equipment in a timber sale area south of Cicero Peak. Cicero Peak is a 6,100-foot mountain about 10 miles south of Custer and 10 miles west of the western border of Custer State Park.\r\n'),(409,2,'A government advisory committee Friday unveiled a series of measures to bring down soaring land prices, including promoting the relocation of government offices outside of Tokyo and more underground and high-rise construction. A government report in April said land prices skyrocketed last year, with the most expensive real estate in central Tokyo valued at 34 million yen, or $272,000, per square meter, or more than $6.7 billion an acre. The medium- and long-term recommendations also include tax reform to encourage development of farmland within cities for housing and the use of taxes on idle land to promote construction of leisure facilities, said Tadashi Miyagawa of the Management and Coordination Agency. The panel is expected to present its plan to the new administrative reform committee on May 30 for further study. A final report will be presented to Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita in mid-June, Miyagawa said. The government is expected to decide soon after which measures it will take to bring down inflated land prices, he said. Politicians and consumer groups have called the land price problem the most urgent in Japanese society. Most young people have given up hopes of owning their own home.\r\n'),(410,2,'The Senate voted Monday to slash the proposed 1989 Internal Revenue Service budget by $241 million and use the money for the Customs Service\'s anti-drug program. The anti-drug measure was part of a larger bill that also calls for a 4 percent pay increase in 1989 for all federal civilian employees except members of Congress, and 4.1 percent for military personnel. The Senate approved an amendment requiring that no future pay increase for members of Congress take effect until voted on separately by the House and Senate. The White House had opposed reducing the IRS spending. It cautioned that the ``impact of this reduced level on returns processsing and taxpayer services would be devastating.\'\' IRS Commissioner Lawrence B. Gibbs had complained that the reduction could cut revenues by $1.4 billion next year. The cut in the IRS budget, to the 1988 level of just under $5.1 billion, was part of a bill that included $15.9 billion for the Treasury Department and its agencies, the Postal Service and several other federal agencies. The vote was 81-4. The spending bill is $246 million less than the administration asked and $196.3 million below what the House passed. The measure is about $801 million over what was appropriated for the same agencies for 1988. When he sent his budget to Congress in January, President Reagan asked for a $241 million increase for the IRS ``to improve the speed and accuracy of tax processing and expand information services provided to taxpayers\'\' in light of the 1986 tax overhaul. The House agreed. When the Senate panel was considering the appropriations bill last week, James C. Miller III, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said that holding the IRS budget to this year\'s level would ``jeopardize service to the public both in terms of taxpayer inquiries and timely returns processing.\'\' ``These areas are particularly high priorities of the administration, given the need to implement tax reform fully and the desire to avoid repeating the disruptions of the 1985 filing season,\'\' Miller wrote. However, the Senate committee concluded that ``the level of funding proposed by the committee will allow the IRS to meet its revenue-raising targets established in the\'\' deficit-reduction agreement reached by the White House and Congress last year. The bill includes $1.05 billion for the Customs Service, which is $79 million above what the administration requested and $41 million over what the House passed. ``I am proud to say that this bill goes the extra mile, beyond the president\'s budget to maintain our important anti-drug effort at some of the most important drug enforcement agencies,\'\' said Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the treasury, postal service and general government, which wrote the measure. As part of the Customs Service efforts against illegal drugs, the bill recommends the agency buy a surveillance airship capable of carrying a sensor that can detect ship movements in the Gulf of Mexico. The measure includes money for customs to develop four long-range P-3 Orion planes to use in drug surveillance missions. The Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., suggesting that the Postal Service not activate the second part of a contract with Perot Systems Corp. until the General Accounting Office studies the contract. The corporation, headed by billionaire H. Ross Perot, would get a share of the profits from cost-saving suggestions it made to the Postal Service. Simon contends such a lucrative contract should not have been awarded without bids.\r\n'),(411,2,'The Hubble Space Telescope orbited with its big eye open Friday after ground controllers overcame communications problems and lifted its lens cover, but its electronics were shut down due to a malfunction. Those problems, however, were not the immediate concern of shuttle Discovery\'s astronauts, who prepared for Sunday\'s return to Earth. ``You\'ve been released from Hubble support. It\'s on its own,\'\' Mission Control\'s Story Musgrave told the five crew members. ``That\'s great news,\'\' replied Discovery commander Loren J. Shriver. ``There are handshakes and smiles all around up here. I\'ll bet it\'s just that way back down there, too,\'\' added mission specialist Steven Hawley. ``Who\'s buying tonight?\'\' ``We\'ll buy when you all get back,\'\' Musgrave replied. Flight director William Reeves said it was too early to cheer. `We still have an important part of the mission to go,\'\' Reeves said. ``We reserve our celebration until the crew is safely on the ground.\'\' Discovery is to land at 9:48 a.m. EDT Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Landing would have been delayed a day if astronauts Bruce McCandless and Kathryn Sullivan had had to perform a space walk to crank open the telescope\'s lens cover, or aperture door. The shuttle trailed 50 miles behind Hubble when the aperture door opened 380 miles above Earth, but passed 3.7 miles beneath the telescope later in the day. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration had planned to release its first test image from the $1.5 billion telescope on Tuesday, showing an open star cluster in the constellation Carina. But Steve Terry, director of orbital verifications, said that would be delayed by problems with Hubble\'s high-speed antennas. Scientific data will follow in a month or two. Hubble\'s 10-foot aluminum aperture door was opened to the heavens at 10:30 a.m. EDT, nearly four hours later than planned, exposing its finely polished 94.5-inch mirror to starlight for the first time. Ground controllers sent a signal commanding the door to lift even though the telescope was in an automatic ``safe mode,\'\' with all motion stopped because of problems in linking its high-speed dish antennas with a relay satellite. One of the two antennas apparently had swung too far, and the telescope shut down, said Jean Oliver, a Hubble deputy project manager. If future movements of the antenna have to be limited to avoid the problem, it would have only slight impact on the telescope\'s observing time, Oliver said. Terry said the opening of the aperture door could not have been delayed much longer. ``There has to be a point where you say they have to go their way and we have to go ours,\'\' he said of the astronauts. When the door opened, two of Hubble\'s four position-stabilizing gyroscopes stopped working; later, engineers got them back on line. The motion of the lens cover knocked out the gyros, said Dave Drachlis of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. That, too, kept it in the safe mode. Oliver said it would be Saturday morning before the telescope is brought out of the safe mode. It will take another day to get the instrument operating normally again, putting controllers at Goddard several days behind. ``We\'re trying to be very deliberate and trying not to cut any corners and do anything fast because we feel there\'s a lot at risk here and we want to make sure we\'re doing it properly,\'\' Oliver said. ``We\'ve got a long future ahead of us, and we want to make sure it starts off on the right foot.\'\' NASA said the telescope was safe and in a stable position. Tolerances for the telescope systems were set particularly narrow for the first operations and that was the cause of many malfunctions, Terry said. In addition to that trouble, there were two communications outages totaling several hours. ``We\'re cautious, and that\'s natural,\'\' Terry said. ``We\'ve got a very expensive spacecraft here and we don\'t want to do anything to jeopardize the usefulness. ... We\'ll get to the point where we know exactly what the spacecraft will do and set the limits appropriately.\'\' Terry said Hubble is designed with safe modes so it can be ``the master of its own destiny\'\' in case contact with an orbiting communications system is lost for extended periods. The telescope will share the system, known as Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, with other space craft. Except for a tiny wedge opening, the lens cover had been closed and the telescope blind ever since Hubble was released by the astronauts Wednesday. From its orbit high above Earth\'s distorting atmosphere, the telescope will enable astronomers over its 15-year working lifetime to look back 14 billion years and possibly determine the age of the universe. The universe is believed to have been created about 15 billion years ago in a cosmic explosion. The late astronomer Edwin P. Hubble, for whom the telescope is named, provided the basis for the Big Bang theory of creation. He discovered during the 1920s that the universe is expanding and that the farther the galaxy is from Earth, the faster it is moving away. In honor of the astronomer, Sullivan carried with her into space an eyepiece from the 100-inch telescope at California\'s Mount Wilson Observatory that Hubble used to make his pioneering observations. ``It\'s a great pleasure to have something of such historical significance and something that so directly symbolizes Edwin Hubble\'s fundamental contributions to astronomy,\'\' she said Friday afternoon. Once back on Earth, the eyepiece will be displayed at the observatory.\r\n'),(412,2,'Retail prices in Britain were up 10.6 percent in August compared to levels a year earlier, the highest rate of inflation since 1982, the government reported Friday. Higher prices for gasoline, heating oil, food and beer pushed the index up 1.0 percent between July and August, the Central Statistical Office said. The last time inflation was in double figures was in March 1982 when the rate was 10.4 percent. Excluding mortgages and local taxes, the rate of increase was 7.9 percent in August, up from 7.0 percent in July, the government said.\r\n'),(413,2,'Following are state-by-state ozone pollution figures released by the Sierra Club. After each city or county\'s name are four numbers: 1-high reading for 1988; 2-high reading for 1987; 3-the number of times through Aug. 3 that reading exceeded federal standard; 4-the number of times the area is expected to have exceeded standard in 1987 when the Environmental Protection Agency completes its statistical review for the year.\r\n'),(414,2,'The United States has no plans to return a Mexican doctor brought across the border by bounty hunters to face charges of participating in a drug agent\'s murder, officials said Thursday. Mexico\'s request for the return of Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain was received by the State Department and the U.S. will ``respond in due course,\'\' Justice Department spokesman Doug Tillett said. However, officials who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that Mexico had not made a formal extradition request, calling merely for Alvarez\'s return. The officials also pointed to recent public statements by the Justice Department stressing that the U.S. had no plans to return Alvarez to his homeland. Justice Department spokesman David Runkel said several weeks ago that he couldn\'t ``foresee any circumstances\'\' under which Alvarez would be returned. Alvarez, accused of participating in the torture and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena, was abducted by bounty hunters and flown to El Paso, Texas, on April 3. His arrest by waiting DEA agents touched off a diplomatic flap between the two nations that included a charge by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari that it violated Mexico\'s sovereignty. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh said in a May 10 interview, however, that he was not concerned about the circumstances of Alvarez\'s delivery to the U.S. border. He invited bounty hunters to turn over more Mexicans wanted in the Camarena case. ``Whatever actions that are carried out by Mexican authorities are of no moment to us,\'\' Thornburgh said. The Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday in Mexico City that the government wanted Alvarez\'s return for questioning about possible crimes in Mexico. The statement did not mention specific cases. ``This request is based fundamentally on the fact that the procedure followed by his captors and those who transferred Dr. Alvarez Machain violated\'\' articles of the Mexican constitution, the statement said. Alvarez is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday for a hearing on defense motions to dismiss the charges because the circumstances of his arrest amounted to ``outrageous government conduct.\'\' Last week, the Justice Department filed papers claiming that a Mexican police official last year delivered an offer to swap a suspect in the Camarena case for a fugitive wanted by Mexican authorities. The papers quoted the Mexican official as saying he was speaking on behalf of Mexican Attorney General Enrique Alvarez del Castillo. The Mexican attorney general has since issued a statement denying the Justice Department claim. Antonio Garate Bustamante, a former Mexican police official residing in Los Angeles, has said he arranged Alvarez\'s abduction for DEA.\r\n'),(415,2,'The Arab League\'s U.N. envoy Friday said Israel\'s new hard-line government was a ``blessing in disguise\'\' and said the right-wing adiministration might force the United States to get tougher with its ally. Clovis Maksoud, permanent observer of the 22-nation Arab League, said the government, which will consist of acting Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir\'s right-wing Likud bloc and smaller ultranationalist and religious parties, could force Congress to reexamine its relationship with Israel. Shamir\'s government, which still needs parliamentary approval, has vowed to expand Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, and has indicated it is prepared to use harsher measures to quell the 30-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel\'s rule of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The United States has called Jewish settlements an obstacle to peace and has tried to encourage Israel to open peace talks with a Palestinian delegation. ``I hope formation of this new Cabinet will jolt the U.S. administration and the U.S. Congress to come back to their historical sense of fairness in the Middle East,\'\' Maksoud said after a strategy meeting with Arab representatives. ``This can be a blessing in disguise if it awakens the U.S. administration from permissiveness to allow Israel to proceed with the defiance of the international community,\'\' he added. Maksoud also criticized the United States saying it has shielded Israel from international censure by using its veto in the U.N. Security Council. On Thursday, the United States blocked an Arab-sponsored Security Council resolution calling for a U.N. team to visit the occupied territories and investigate allegations of Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights. Arab states plan to reintroduce the measure.\r\n'),(416,2,'Soviet emigre Sarah Rudman proudly speaks two words in English: ``America good.\'\' It\'s quite a statement for someone starting life over, both she and her husband unable to work because they are crippled, living in a barren apartment an ocean and a continent away from their homeland. The Rudmans, both 64, have a hand-me-down bed without sheets, a folding table, two chairs, two lamps, a 13-inch portable TV and one curtain for two windows. All the furnishings were either donated, left over or scrounged. ``I never had many things. Books and spiritual things are much more valuable than material things,\'\' Mrs. Rudman said through an interpreter. ``We didn\'t think everything will fall from the sky. I\'m happy with what I have.\'\' She gained something worth more than home furnishings, so she doesn\'t mind using a corner of her bed as a sofa. ``We wanted to be free and not be persecuted because we are Jewish,\'\' she said. ``We wanted our kids to be free, to get an education. People here are really free. They can express themselves. They can observe any religion they want to. Everybody does what he wants.\'\' Mrs. Rudman, who taught kindergarten in Odessa, hasn\'t left the apartment since her Dec. 20 arrival in Brighton Beach. She\'s laid up with a bad back, a condition stemming from typhoid fever contracted during World War II when she was evacuated to Siberia to escape invading Nazis. Her husband, Lazar, was a shoemaker until he suffered a disabling head injury in a 1983 streetcar accident. He also was mugged before leaving the Soviet Union and walks with a cane. The Rudmans came to America with a daughter and her three children. Another daughter stayed behind because her child had meningitis, and she hopes to emigrate later this year. Until then, they are reluctant to talk about Soviet life. As refugees, the Rudmans are entitled to food stamps, welfare and federal rent subsidies. They also get money for rent and food from the New York Association for New Americans, which gets the bulk of its support from United Jewish Appeal. Nevertheless, they had to borrow money from relatives and other immigrants to pay their $525 monthly rent. They were too proud at first to seek government help. ``We\'re a little embarrassed,\'\' Mrs. Rudman said. The Rudmans, who first applied to leave the Soviet Union in 1978, learn English through a paperback translation book or by watching cartoons and other TV shows. ``I am afraid of nothing. A person dies only once,\'\' Mrs. Rudman said defiantly. Then she clasped her hands in a gesture of prayer and said in broken English, ``America good. So very good.\'\'\r\n'),(417,2,'Central bankers from leading industrial countries agreed Monday on common standards for the minimum capital reserves that banks must hold. The accord ``will help to strengthen the soundness and stability of the international banking system and will remove an important source of competitive inequality for banks arising from differences in national supervisory requirements,\'\' said Karl Otto Poehl, president of West Germany\'s central bank. It represents ``a significant step forward in international supervisory cooperation,\'\' he said after the meeting at the headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements. The new standards detail a framework for measuring capital adequacy and set a minimum reserve standard for each country\'s authorities to put into force. A BIS committee chaired by Bank of England associate director Peter Cooke completed the draft proposals last December. Swiss and British banks, which already have high capital requirements, are expected to benefit particularly from the new rules. Banks in France and Japan generally will have to boost their reserves because their countries have relatively lenient requirements. Central bankers endorsed a target capital ratio of 8 percent of a bank\'s assets, to be achieved in each country by the end of 1992. At least half of a bank\'s capital base counted toward the standard must consist of equity capital and published reserves from after-tax retained earnings. Central bankers from the Group of 10 major industrial countries and Switzerland attended Monday\'s meeting. The Group of 10 includes Belgium, West Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States.\r\n'),(418,2,'American rice farmers may benefit in the early months of the 1988-89 season from a shortage of exportable crops in competing nations, an Agriculture Department report said Friday. World rice production from the 1987-88 harvests is forecast at 304 million metric tons, milled equivalent, down 4 percent from last year, the department\'s Economic Research Service said. Weak monsoons left Asian producers with limited supplies. Meanwhile, global rice consumption is expected to increase 3 percent, leaving world stockpiles at their lowest level relative to use since 1974. The U.S. rice supply also has tightened, reflecting a 6 percent reduction in last year\'s harvest. But the department\'s planting survey in early March indicated American producers intend to boost 1988 rice plantings by 19 percent to 2.8 million acres. That could boost this year\'s output sharply. ``U.S. farmers will harvest rice crops at least four months ahead of their Asian competitors,\'\' the report said. ``Since the United States will be the major source of supply during those months, some increased export opportunities may exist towards the end of 1988.\'\' However, analysts cautioned that some foreign importers, if possible, may ``choose to wait until the beginning of 1989, when prices are likely to decline during the Asian harvest.\'\'\r\n'),(419,2,'A current trade fair in Canton features bullet-proof vests, anti-riot helmets and shields, electric shock batons and other equipment for use by China\'s newly formed riot police force, an official daily said today. The China Daily said the China Jingan Equipment Import and Export Corporation is also displaying tear gas bombs, dye bombs, submachine guns and anti-riot guns. It quoted an official of the corporation, the only Chinese firm authorized to deal in police equipment in China, as saying more than 1,000 sets of anti-riot helmets and shields have already been supplied to police in Henan, Liaoning and Tibet provinces. Tibet is troubled by a small independence movement and tension between Chinese and the local Tibetans, while there have been reports of labor unrest in Liaoning, northeast China. The creation of the riot police force coincides with what Chinese security officials acknowledge is a rising problem with crime and social unrest resulting from the state\'s gradual loosening of political and economic controls. In the past few years there have been riots in Tibet, student demonstrations calling for greater democracy, labor strikes and protests by farmers about pollution. Jingan official Yin Guishan said the cost of providing a riot police officer with a full range of equipment would be about $1,350. He said the company is also designing China\'s first armored police personnel carrier, a $81,000 vehicle carrying 10 people and equipped with surveillance instruments and weapons.\r\n'),(420,2,'Police units Saturday prevented Contra rebel leaders from leaving two hotels where they came to negotiate their disarmament with the government. One Contra leader said they were being held ``hostage.\'\' Later in the day, members of a government investigative team announced they found no proof of Contra claims that the army massacred 14 rebels who had laid down their weapons. Contra leaders broke off the disarmament talks with the government on Friday demanding an investigation of the purported army massacre of the rebel fighters and 100 civilians May 18 near Waslala in Matagalpa province, 150 miles northeast of Managua. Contra commander Oscar Sovalbarro was named to the commission created Friday, but he remained in Managua on Saturday in a hotel where he said he and 18 other Contras were being held ``hostage\'\' by police. Sovalbarro said 10 other Contra leaders were prevented from leaving another Managua hotel. He said the rebels were considering a hunger strike in protest. The police who surrounded the Managua hotels did not appear to be threatening the rebels, but Contra leaders said they were told they could not leave the hotel grounds. Presidential spokesman Danilo Lacayo and Interior Minister Carlos Hurtado told The Associated Press that police had been placed at the hotel for the Contras\' own protection. The leftist Sandinistas, who turned over power to President Violeta Barrios de Chamorro last month after losing February elections, still control the military and police. Sovalbarro, also known as Commander Ruben, said Saturday\'s police action showed the Contras ``have a good reason not to trust the government.\'\' He spoke from the garden of the Hotel Mercedes, where about two dozen police from the elite black beret unit were seen patrolling. The investigative commission, named by Mrs. Chamorro, traveled Saturday by helicopter to the area of the purported massacre and interviewed army and rebel leaders, said Santiago Murray, representative of the U.N. International Support and Verification Commission, at a news conference later in the day. ``We haven\'t been able to confirm the existence of any dead alleged by the Nicaraguan Resistance,\'\' he said. He said the commission members found no information about ``any dead or other serious incident.\'\' People interviewed near Waslala in the community of Zinica, where rebels alleged the incident occurred, seemed surprised by news of a massacre and said they had heard about it from a Managua radio station. The investigating commission consisted of government delegates, U.N. officials, Roman Catholic Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo and a Contra representative. A May 4 agreement between the Contras and the Chamorro government set a June 10 deadline for more than 11,000 rebels to surrender their weapons. But on May 19, the Contra high command suspended the disarmament, claiming authorities were not providing enough food, housing, jobs and security measures for fighters who lay down their arms. Only 1,404 of the rebel fighters have been demobilized, the government said. The U.S.-backed Contras fought the Sandinista government in a 10-year war that left 30,000 dead. The rebel fighters said they would give up their arms after Mrs. Chamorro, also backed by the United States, took over the presidency from Sandinista President Daniel Ortega on April 25. The Contras say their chief concern is that the army is controlled mostly by Sandinistas.\r\n'),(421,2,'About 120 prospective jurors in the trial of three teen-agers accused of raping and nearly killing a Central Park jogger were given questionnaires Wednesday asking their attitudes on race and crime. All three defendants are black teen-agers who live in Harlem. The victim is a 29-year-old white investment banker. The 54-question, 17-page form was handed to those from a pool of 382 who told state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Galligan they would be able to stay for a six- to eight-week trial. The questionnaire asks if the prospective juror or his or her children attended an integrated school; whether the person has lived in a racially mixed community, and whether he or she has friends of a different race. It also asks whether the individual would prefer help from a police officer of his or her own racial or ethnic group if in need of assistance. The questions were agreed on by all parties in the case, said Michael Joseph, attorney for defendant Antron McCray, 15. Members of the Guardian Angels community patrol group marched in front of the Manhattan courthouse, passing out leaflets that said the case ``is not a question of black and white; it\'s about what\'s wrong and what\'s right.\'\' McCray and five other youths are charged with gang raping and beating the woman as she jogged through the Central Park the evening of April 19, 1989. The victim suffered brain damage in the assault and cannot remember the attack or identify her assailants. After emerging from a coma and being treated at a Connecticut rehabilitation hospital, she returned to work at Salomon Brothers and recently was named a vice president. McCray, along with Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana, both 16, are being tried as adults on charges of attempted murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse, assault, robbery and riot. The other three youths are to be tried later, also as adults. If any in the first group were to be convicted, they would be sentenced as juveniles and would face a maximum of 10 years in prison. The questionnaire also asks potential jurors if they have a particular bias against people accused of sex crimes, whether they or any of their relatives jog, and whether they use Central Park often. In addition, there are the usual questions about whether the prospective juror has relatives in law enforcement or has been a crime victim. Jury selection was to continue Thursday.\r\n'),(422,2,'An army newspaper marking the 30th anniversary of a rocket explosion says the mishap killed 165 people, including a leading general, making it the worst known space-related accident in the Soviet Union. The Red Star article on Wednesday said a prototype rocket\'s second stage was accidentally ignited on the launch pad, causing an explosion that burned many of the victims beyond recognition. Secrecy has shrouded the accident at the Baikonur Space Center ever since the explosion shot flames into the Central Asian sky on Oct. 24, 1960. No official death toll or technical details of the accident have ever been released, despite several articles describing the event. A monument to the victims lists only 54 names and published obituaries claimed that Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, commander in chief of the Strategic Rocket Forces, died in an unrelated plane crash. Red Star reported on the accident\'s 30th anniversary Wednesday, saying ``the tragedy at the cosmodrome caused the deaths of 165 people.\'\' James Oberg, an American expert on the Soviet space program, said Western observers estimated the death toll to be as high as 300. He said in an interview from his Houston home that many victims were immediately shipped back to Moscow for burial. The newspaper said the rocket was a new design, and Oberg said he believes it was a new type of missile. He said space officials told him the explosion came after the first stage failed to ignite, and technicians tried to replace one component. ``Somebody plugged an umbilical cord into the wrong connection,\'\' igniting the second stage, Oberg said. The flames caused fuel trucks to burst into fire, unleashing fireballs. People in the vicinity ``just burst into flames like candlewax,\'\' he said. The Red Star account said the explosion was caused by an ``unnecessary sequence of events in carrying out one of the operations while the valves of the second stage were opened, starting the engine.\'\' Oberg, hearing the Russian-language version, said it did not offer a clear technical explanation of the accident. The newspaper said the rocket\'s launch was repeatedly delayed ``for technical reasons,\'\' including leaking fuel. It quotes Stanislav Pavlov, then chief of the launching group, as saying a few drops of fuel burned holes in technicians\' rubber gloves when the rocket\'s joints and tubes were checked for leaks. ``We didn\'t pay attention to this, but later we learned it was dangerous,\'\' he was quoted as saying. Pavlov said he was standing 15 to 20 yards from the rocket when it exploded. ``The site was on fire and full of smoke,\'\' he told the newspaper. ``The first thought that came to my mind was `that\'s it. The end.\'\'\' Pavlov said he rushed to a nearby bunker housing the control center, but was still so badly burned he spent three days unconscious and one year in the hospital recovering. He said his injury was not entered on his official record until 1988. Pavlov said he was told Nedelin survived the explosion, bt died later in the hospital from his burns. He said many of the other victims were so badly burned they could not be identified visually.\r\n'),(423,2,'BUENOS AIRES, Argentintics\r\n'),(424,2,'A millionaire businessman who promised to bankroll a new life for a welfare mother of five faces criminal charges and a $1.4 million judgment in a bank fraud and is not free to spend his money, attorneys said today. James Gisclair had offered to buy a house for Anita Hunter and her family and provide her with a job, a college education, a car and a nurse to care for the children. But court records show that a subsidiary of Capital Bank won a civil judgment against him after alleging in state court that Gisclair defrauded the lender out of $1.3 million. The judgment includes interest on that amount. The criminal charges stem from the civil case, according to Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie, who filed charges against Gisclair two weeks ago in federal court accusing him of making a false statement to a bank. Capital\'s attorney, Hugh Culverhouse Jr., said today that he understands Gisclair must satisfy any outstanding judgments before he can freely spend his money. The attorney added that in a deposition filed after the judgment, Gisclair said his businesses were worthless. Gisclair did not immediately return calls to this Boca Raton office today. He said Wednesday that he made his promise to Hunter because he felt like ``nobody was doing more than lip service to make a difference\'\' about poverty. ``I kept driving by and seeing the homeless,\'\' he said. ``It started to really bother me. ... I honestly became consumed by the urge to do something about it.\'\' For 28-year-old Anita Hunter, struggling to raise her children, including a month-old son, in a drug-ridden inner-city Miami neighborhood dubbed ``The Hole,\'\' his offer is a ``fairy tale\'\' come true. ``I can\'t believe this is happening to me,\'\' she said. ``It\'s just a miracle from God. I\'ve struggled and hoped for so long to get my children out of this neighborhood and into a safe environment.\'\' Gisclair, a 43-year-old New Orleans native and principal owner of six Boca Raton enterprises, including a real estate management company and a restaurant, found the family through Livia Garcia of Miami\'s Community Development Department. He told her he wanted to help real people he could see and talk to. ``My idea is to see exactly where my money is going and be able to measure its success,\'\' said Gisclair, who has four children. ``The idea is to get Anita to become self-sufficient to the point where she can pay her own rent on the house, pay her own bills and do everything on her own someday. I plan to pay for everything until she reaches that point.\'\' He said he would find a home for the family in Boca Raton, Delray Beach or Deerfield Beach, about 100 miles north of Miami. Ms. Hunter would work during the day and attend Florida Atlantic University at night so she could pursue her goal of becoming an accountant. It\'s not the first time Gisclair has tried the idea. An earlier effort to help a welfare mother with four children failed because ``she was totally unwilling to participate,\'\' Gisclair said. ``And then one day she asked me to pay half of her rent because her ex-husband didn\'t come through with the money. I volunteered to pay it directly to her landlord, but she said, `No, send it to me.\' That was enough for me to realize I was being connned.\'\' That\'s why Gisclair\'s has attached some conditions. ``I just want Anita to be honest with me,\'\' he said. ``I want her to become self-sufficient, and she has promised to have no more children. I will see to it that she gets medical care as well to take care of that.\'\' Ms. Hunter said Gisclair\'s conditions are ``tiny\'\' compared to the chance he\'s giving her family. She said the neighborhood she lives now is so dangerous she doesn\'t let her children _ Kentrail, 10, Krystal, 4, Grady, 3, Alex, 1, and Antjon, 1 month _ play outside. ``It\'s like a fairy tale,\'\' she said. ``These things don\'t happen every day and they never happen to me.\'\' Gisclair said he was shocked by the family\'s poverty when he met Ms. Austin on a visit to her cramped, one-bedroom apartment Friday. ``There was one bed and a hot plate,\'\' he said. ``But the place is immaculate and so are the children. ``They\'re well disciplined; they\'re clean. If you took one look at their smiles you\'d want to do the same thing.\'\'\r\n'),(425,2,'East Germany will bid goodbye to an old currency by burying it in salt mines and feeding it to foundries, clearing the way for new cash and a radically different way of life. At the stroke of midnight Saturday, the 42-year-old East German mark of the ousted Communist regime will be replaced by one of the free market\'s most powerful forces, the West German mark. An East German who buys a beer with his old money in the minutes before midnight could have his change brought back in West German marks, so quick is this change to take place. That modest event would signal the economic unification of the two German states, the end of four decades of East German socialism and the de facto creation of a single Germany. The West German state bank, the Bundesbank, has trucked in 25 billion uncirculated West German marks, said spokesman Sigfried Guterman in Frankfurt. ``Transporting money is our business,\'\' he said Wednesday. ``This was a little more complicated.\'\' Guterman said heavily guarded trucks from Bundesbank offices throughout West Germany brought 600 tons of paper money _ 400 million individual bills _ and 500 tons of coins during the past two months. The money was distributed to 15 different cities. The East German State Bank has been taking that money to 10,000 different locations, where it will be available to East Germans beginning Sunday. Long lines at banks nationwide continued as East Germans filled out forms to convert their savings accounts to West German marks. Guterman said there have been no major problems replacing one currency with another virtually overnight. The 25 billion in West German marks is new, uncirculated cash that should be enough to accomodate the nation, Guterman said. East Germany now only has 12.3 billion East German marks in circulation, said Bernd Schroeter, spokesman for the East German State Bank. All citizens will be asked to deposit their remaining East German cash in banks by July 6. There, it is to be counted, sorted and wrapped. After final inventory, the bills will be stored in salt mines pending their later destruction, Schroeter said. East Germany is not equipped to burn large amounts of bills in environmentally safe ways, he said. Guterman said East Germany might have to use the Bundesbank facilities to burn the money. Most of the coins are pure aluminum _ which drew chuckles from Westerners _ and two denominations are in copper. Schroeter said these will be melted down and recycled. The East German currency is small and flimsy compared with the large West German bills. The 50-mark bill carries the picture of Friedrich Engels, who with Karl Marx drafted the blueprint for modern socialism. The back depicts a giant factory spewing smoke. The East German currency was non-convertible and virtually worthless outside the East bloc. After the East German revolt last autumn, it was traded on the black market at a 20-1 rate for West German money. Now, small savings accounts will be traded at a 1-1 rate, with larger amounts converted at a 2-1 rate. The Bundesbank has been planning a new West German currency for years, and will begin circulating some notes on Oct. 1. By the end of the next year, Guterman said, all the current money will be replaced. Concidentally, one of the first bills that goes into circulation on Oct. 1 _ the 100 mark note _ will depict the East German city of Leipzig. ``It is more or less by accident,\'\' Guterman said. ``Nobody knew there would be a currency union when these bills were designed.\'\' Leipzig is on the back of the bill because it is the birthplace of the person on the front, 19th century German pianist Clara Schumann. Leipzig is also the home of the an East German currency mint, and Guterman said it will be used to print part of the new 5 mark note.\r\n'),(426,2,'South Korean automobile production surpassed the 1 million mark for the first time Thursday. The nation\'s automakers said production since the start of the year totaled a record 1,000,660. The tally is expected to reach 1.09 million vehicles by year\'s end, compared with 979,739 vehicles in 1987, they said. Hyundai Motor Co. produced the most vehicles, 594,645, followed by Kia Motors Corp., with 225,267, and Daewoo Motor Co., 150,047.\r\n'),(427,2,'A set of valleys said to resemble the animated character Gumby and a meteorite impact crater unlike any other seen in the solar system are visible in the Magellan spacecraft\'s newest pictures of Venus. The computer-assembled pictures, released by NASA Monday, were made from data Magellan collected Saturday as it started its 243-day mission to peer through the planet\'s thick clouds and map its rugged landscape. ``It\'s just excitement time. The scientists are in there like bees to honey,\'\' said Ed Sherry, a Magellan technical assistant at NASA\'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. One picture shows a 40-mile-long set of valleys or troughs. ``It\'s a feature we nicknamed Gumby,\'\' said Steve Saunders, Magellan\'s chief scientist, referring to the animated clay figure from a children\'s TV show of the 1950s. Two valleys, each about three miles wide, look like Gumby\'s legs. The north end of the two valleys converge into a single trough, resembling Gumby\'s upper body. And the trough ends in a box canyon that looks a bit like Gumby\'s head. The Gumby-like feature probably formed when underground molten rock flowed out of the area, causing the ground above to collapse along fault lines and create the valleys, Saunders said. Similar features have been seen on Mars, he said. Another picture released Monday shows a meteorite impact crater about five miles wide and seven miles long. Large lobes of material ejected by the impact are visible north, south and east of the crater. That means the crater was formed when a meteorite slammed into Venus at a low angle, rather than from directly above, Saunders said. Shaped like a kidney, it is unlike any other impact crater seen in the solar system, NASA said. A possible explanation for the strange shape is that the meteorite broke into several large chunks just before it hit, Saunders said. Magellan, which was launched from the shuttle Atlantis in May 1989, was to have formally begun its $744 million mapping mission on Aug. 29, almost three weeks after it went into orbit around Venus. But engineers temporarily lost radio contact with the spacecraft on Aug. 16 and again Aug. 21.\r\n'),(428,2,'President Reagan and other U.S. officials marked the ninth anniversary of Soviet intervention in Afghanistan stressing that they expect Moscow to honor its commitment to complete military withdrawal by Feb. 15. Failure to meet the deadline would get Moscow ``off to a very bad start\'\' with President-elect Bush\'s incoming administration, warned Michael Armacost, the State Department\'s undersecretary for political affairs. The State Department also predicted Tuesday that the Afghan national army will collapse after the Soviet withdrawal is completed and that some top leaders of the Kabul government regarded by the populace as traitors might choose to flee the country. The Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan on Dec. 27, 1979. Western analysts say their were 110,000 to 115,000 Soviet troops in the country supporting the government against rebels armed by the United States. About half have been withdrawn. ``I fully expect them to honor their obligation to withdraw completely by Feb. 15,\'\' President Reagan said in a statement issued by the White House during his California vacation. But the president and other officials also voiced concern that the withdrawal has been halted and Soviet offensive military operations have resumed. ``Even today, as Feb. 15 approaches, the Soviets continue offensive military operations in Afghanistan,\'\' Reagan said. ``The introduction of new weapons, and the escalation in the use of Soviet warplanes in bombing raids against Afghanistan call into question the Soviet commitment to a peaceful solution.\'\' In a report released Tuesday on the military situation in Afghanistan, the State Department said the rebels made sizable gains this year despite the introduction of Backfire bombers and other new weapons by the Soviets. The report called the Afghan army ``demoralized force\'\' suffering shortages of qualified officers and manpower, despite forced conscriptions and bribes of tribal militia. ``Most experts agree that it probably can survive no more than a matter of months after a complete Soviet withdrawal,\'\' it said. The report also hailed talks earlier this year the Soviets had with resistance leaders without representatives of the Kabul government. ``Moscow now appears ready to explore all options that could lead to a political settlement,\'\' the report said.\r\n'),(429,2,'European Community leaders gathered today for a summit aimed at launching the trading bloc on the road to a federated Europe. Britain, the prime objector, is in a more conciliatory mood since the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. The 12 leaders beginning their two-day meeting today in the flag-bedecked Italian Parliament also will consider granting a $2.4 billion aid package to the Soviet Union and increased help to other East European countries. The Europeans received a new exhortation from President Bush to stand firm on the Persian Gulf crisis. In a letter Thursday to Italian Premier Giulio Andreotti, current holder of the rotating summit chairmanship, Bush said Iraq\'s blanket release of foreign hostages should not lessen pressure on Iraq to pull out of Kuwait. ``We must continue to maintain a very rigid attitude,\'\' Bush said, according to Italian officials. British Prime Minister John Major, who succeeded Mrs. Thatcher Nov. 28 and is virtually unknown to the other summiteers, joined them at the opera for a performance of ``Tosca\'\' on Thursday night. Major, 47, was holding separate prior talks with Andreotti, Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand are pressing for economic union and a single currency, perhaps by the year 2000, and for a form of political union that would strip member nations of many sovereign powers. Major, keen to avoid a repeat of the Britain-versus-the-rest showdown that helped topple Mrs. Thatcher after the summit in Rome in October, was optimistic despite Britain\'s continued opposition to key unity proposals, his aides said. ``We see ways in which significant progress can be made,\'\' a senior British source said Thursday night. ``But there are areas where we will reaffirm our positions quite clearly, including our opposition to having a single currency imposed upon us,\'\' he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday urged the 12 EC heads of state to work on restarting talks to liberalize world trade. The global trade negotiations broke down in Brussels last week, in part due to the EC\'s refusal to cut farm subsidies enough to satisfy the United States. The talks are to resume at a lower level next month in Geneva. Soviet aid, which topped the agenda of this summit, was given fresh impetus by the U.S. decision Wednesday to give the Soviet Union $1 billion in loan guarantees to buy American farm products and manufactured goods. Andreotti\'s spokesman, Pio Mastrobuoni, said he was confident of agreement, despite some arguments that the Soviet Union needs help in managing its huge resources, including distributing its harvest, rather than handouts and loans it will have trouble repaying. On financial union, Andreotti cornered Mrs. Thatcher at the October summit by getting the others to agree to establish a single central banking system - the prelude to one currency - by January 1994. Mrs. Thatcher objected loudly. In a change of tone, Major planned to argue the British alternative of a European currency that would circulate alongside the 12 existing currencies, without ruling out an eventual sole currency. On political union, Britain has shifted toward French and German proposals for giving the EC a formal role in security. And aides said Major was confident Britain will not be alone in opposing other proposals that would give the community far-reaching powers over issues ranging from health, social policy and education to taxation and transport. The EC nations are Italy, France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Greece, Denmark and Germany.\r\n'),(430,2,'The Red Cross acknowledged Saturday it erred in distributing 24 pints of blood that had failed AIDS procedures but said none of the blood was used and none carried the deadly virus. The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that the questionable one-pint units were shipped last month to hospitals and laboratories by Red Cross centers in Washington and Nashville, Tenn., but were never used on any patients. The FDA did not identify the facilities that received the blood. ``While it should not have been shipped, it actually proved to be HIV (AIDS virus) free, and a number of units underwent processing that would inactivate the virus,\'\' said Gene Jeffers, American Red Cross spokesman. He said there was ``no known health hazard associated with the 24 units of blood. We were very fortunate and lucked out in that there was no human risk at all involved here.\'\' Jeffers acknowledged, however, that five of the units tested positive for hepatitis B antigens and could have posed a health risk had they been used in transfusions. However, they were not used, he said. Initial tests showed 10 of the questionable units contained HIV antibodies, which signaled an AIDS danger, but those units underwent a process that breaks down the blood into components for specific uses and eliminates the virus, Jeffers said. The remaining nine units, he said, were from donors who were unacceptable because they previously tested ``false positive\'\' for AIDS, but all the actual units were tested as safe, he said. Federal officials estimate that the chances of getting AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, from a transfusion are one in 40,000. The chief victims have been homosexual men or intravenous drug users. No one is known to have recovered from the disease that attacks the body\'s immune system, rendering it incapable of resisting other diseases and infections. The Nashville Banner reported Saturday that two additional pints from disqualified donors were actually used in transfusions, but no patient was harmed. The newspaper gave no details of the transfusions but said follow-up tests of the blood donors showed they did not carry the AIDS virus. Jeffers said he knew of no actual transfusion of blood that should have been rejected. The FDA report said none of the questionable blood was used on patients. As a result of the errors, the FDA said it has increased its periodic audits of the blood supply and instituted new training procedures for blood bank employees. The mistake in Washington was discovered in a routine audit. The Tennessee errors came to light in an FDA investigation that followed a lawsuit against local blood bank officials by a woman who said she became infected with AIDS through a blood transfusion. Two senior officials of the Washington regional office of the American Red Cross _ John McGraw and Frederick Darr _ have been suspended with pay for 30 days pending an investigation of their actions, said Richard Schubert, president of the American Red Cross. Schubert said no officials in the Nashville center had been disciplined, but that the investigation there was continuing. Six of the questionable units of blood were from the Washington center and the other 18 were from Nashville, the FDA said.\r\n'),(431,2,'The Consumer Product Safety Commission has defended its record on ridding the market of dangerous toys but is urging parents to consider safety when shopping for their children this holiday season. The commission said Tuesday that its joint effort with the U.S. Customs Service has resulted in the seizure of 891,000 toys that failed to meet federal safety guidelines between Oct. 1, 1987 and Sept. 30, 1988, and 162,668 toys since Oct. 1 of this year. But commission officials urged parents to heed the age recommendations and warning labels on toys.\r\n'),(432,2,'A proposed bypass road in eastern England has caused a battle between conservationists who want to save the habitat of a rare moth and people who want heavy traffic diverted from their village. Six hundred residents from the village of Dersingham marched 1{ miles on Monday to Queen Elizabeth II\'s Sandringham estate in Norfolk to demand that work begin on the bypass, which they first called for 25 years ago. After pressure from conservationists, environment secretary Nicholas Ridley said he would consider revoking planning permission for the bypass, which would cut through a bog on the royal estate that is home to the moth. A group called the Nature Conservancy Council said the road could wipe out the moth, Choristoneura Lafauryana, by destroying the bog where it breeds. But the demonstrators doubt there are any moths left. ``A big survey by the Nature Conservancy Council led to nothing _ they couldn\'t even find the damn moth,\'\' said one marcher, James Crowe.\r\n'),(433,2,'A Roman Catholic bishop denounced the IRA as followers of Satan during a eulogy Saturday at the funeral of a man forced to drive a bomb into a military checkpoint. ``They may say they are followers of Christ, some of them may even still engage in the hypocrisy of coming to church, but their lives and their works proclaim clearly that they follow Satan,\'\' said Bishop Edward Daly. Daly spoke at the funeral of Patsy Gillespie, 42, who was forced to drive a van loaded with explosives into a military checkpoint outside Londonderry. The explosion Wednesday morning killed Gillespie and five British soldiers. Gillespie was a civilian kitchen assistant in the army\'s Fort George camp in Londonderry. In its claim of responsibility for the attack, the Irish Republican Army branded him a collaborator. The predominantly Roman Catholic IRA is seeking to drive the British out of northern Ireland and unite it with the mainly Catholic Republic of Ireland. Gillespie\'s wife, Kathleen, said the family\'s home had been taken over by armed men Tuesday night and her husband taken away while the rest of the family was held hostage. The IRA used similar tactics in setting off a bomb the same morning at a checkpoint in Newry. One soldier was killed. A third attack in Omagh failed and the driver escaped injury. At the funeral Saturday of the soldier killed in Newry, the Rev. Anthony Doran said 21-year-old Cyril Smith died because he had helped the driver and then ran back to warn his comrades. Smith ``gave his life by running back into danger for his friends,\'\' the Catholic priest said. Londonderry was a flash point of the ``troubles\'\' that erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s, leading to a revival of the IRA as the self-proclaimed defenders of the Catholic minority. The city remains one of the IRA\'s strongholds. Daly, for years a stern critic of the IRA, said the outlawed organization had ``descended a step lower to use people\'s lives to launch their vile attacks.\'\' ``Everyone is now at risk from these evil people with their foul and obscene actions. They corrupt everything and every person they touch,\'\' Daly said. ``We weep for the Gillespie family this morning. We weep for the families of the soldiers who died and we weep for our own city, a city we all love deeply. ``We weep because we have among our citizens men who are capable of planning and carrying out and even attempting to justify such evil.\'\' Gillespie died on his oldest son\'s birthay. His wife and three children -Patrick, 18, Kieran, 16, and Jennifer, 12 - wept at the graveside. Among the 60 wreaths was one from the Kings Regiment, which lost five soldiers in the attack. The death toll in Northern Ireland rose to 63 with the killing Friday night of Tommy Casey, a member of the IRA\'s legal political wing, Sinn Fein. Protestant guerrillas were suspected in the killing.\r\n'),(434,2,'The Soviet Union released the first photos of its secret space shuttle Thursday in a move that appeared timed to steal some of the thunder from the launch of Discovery. Photos of the Soviet craft, which looks just like the American shuttle, moved on the wires of the official Tass news agency at about the time the Discovery was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral. Along with the photos of the Soviet craft, the agency transmitted a brief dispatch on the American launch. The Soviet shuttle previously was not shown to the Soviet or foreign public, although some Western reconnaissance photographs of the craft or mockup versions have been taken. The Tass photos showed the Soviet spacecraft against a twilight sky, with its black-tipped white wings and fuselage. The letters ``CCCP\'\' _ Russian for U.S.S.R. _ were written in red on one wing. State-run Soviet television did not broadcast the Discovery launch live, but showed only a film clip of the American craft sitting on the launch pad in darkness. An announcer read a report on the blastoff during a regularly scheduled newscast a few minutes later. The evening television news program Vremya, which is watched by millions of Soviets, showed still pictures of the Soviet shuttle as its third item and said that ground tests of its equipment were continuing. It showed film of the Discovery launch about 20 minutes later. Radio Moscow\'s international newscast also juxtaposed reports about the U.S. takeoff with updates on the Soviet space station Mir _ meaning both Earth and Peace _ with three cosmonauts aboard. Despite repeated comments by Soviet officials that their shuttle has a distinct design and capabilities, the Tass photographs indicated it was quite similar to the American version. The Soviet shuttle, under development since at least 1982, has delta-shaped wings like its American counterpart, and is mated to its booster rocket, the Energia, in a similar way as the American craft. Mir was pictured in front of the huge Energia booster, which can carry payloads of up to 100 tons _ much more than the American shuttle. In the photos, the booster and shuttle stood upright on tarmac, apparently at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Soviet Central Asia, but it was not clear if it was stationed at a launchpad. Soviet officials have said their shuttle will be launched by the end of 1988, but have not given an exact date. They have acknowledged technical problems are causing delays. They also point to the Jan. 28, 1986, explosion of the U.S. shuttle Challenger, which caused a 2{-year suspension in the U.S. manned space program, as an example of the hazards they are trying to prevent. The Soviet shuttle\'s first flight is to be unmanned. The Energia booster has been tested once, on May 15, 1987, when it successfully carried aloft a dummy spacecraft. Soviet program also has had difficulties this month. Soviet officials said they have lost radio contact with one of two Mars probes launched in July. In addition, the re-entry to Earth of a Soviet and an Afghan cosmonaut aboard a space capsule that docked with Mir nearly failed because of equipment problems and human error. The Soviets\' main goal has been to maintain a continuous manned presence in space. Cosmonaut crews have been aboard the orbiting space station Mir without a break since February 1987. Yuri Romanenko set a space endurance record last year by staying in space 326 days, and officials have said they expect the two cosmonauts currently aboard the craft to break Romanenko\'s record.\r\n'),(435,2,'Solidarity leader Lech Walesa risked his reputation with supporters by halting a series of strikes in exchange for a vague government promise to discuss legalizing his banned union movement and allowing union pluralism. But the stakes in the upcoming talks also are high for the government. After strikes this spring and summer, Poland appears doomed to recurring episodes of costly labor unrest unless the government can find a way to build social confidence, or at least patience, for austerity measures to fix the ailing economy. Church mediator Jacek Ambroziak said Saturday the ``roundtable\'\' talks on broad social and political issues could begin very soon. After a preliminary meeting with authorities Wednesday, Walesa won a promise that Solidarity would be on the agenda. But many pro-Solidarity workers, distrustful of government promises, feared Walesa agreed too easily to end the strikes without a firm agreement from authorities to legalize Solidarity or at least some form of independent unions. Solidarity, the only independent union federation in the Soviet bloc, was crushed with martial law in 1981 and banned the following year. Walesa was unsmiling when asked about opposition among workers to ending the strikes. The question was put shortly after a tense late-night meeting Wednesday with strikers in Gdansk. ``I have always trusted my instincts,\'\' he said emphatically. ``And my instincts tell me I am right.\'\' Walesa spent the next two days going to shipyards and ports in Gdansk and to a coal mine in Silesia to persuade strikers to return to work, and he delivered the same message by phone to the Szczecin port and the Stalowa Wola steel mill. In the end, he bent all the strikers to his will, but workers who considered the strikes the best way to pressure the government appeared likely to hold Walesa responsible if the talks failed to produce concrete results. Although the government could easily undercut Walesa by torpedoing the talks, the Solidarity leader may be calculating that the government has just as much to lose as him if they fail. As a political scientist who advises Polish leader Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski suggested in a prominently published interview Friday, the meeting could be key for marshaling support for hard economic choices. It is easy to stir strikes, said Antoni Rajkiewicz, but ``very difficult to persuade people to do things ... demanding patience, endurance and thrift.\'\' He said the government needs through the talks not only to reach a working consensus with the Roman Catholic church and Solidarity activists, but also to stimulate the imagination and mobilize the mass of people now caught up in ``tides of hopelessness.\'\' The extent of the hopelessness was revealed in a poll of high school students. The poll, released Friday, said 64 percent believed they lacked chances to realize their life goals in Poland Meanwhile, there were growing signs in the press of a possible government shakeup to try to increase public support for the economic reform program, which so far has led to strikes and inflation expected to top 60 percent this year. ``The lack of confidence in the government is a political fact,\'\' the influential communist party weekly Polityka commented this week. Changes in the government ``will not deliver more money to our pockets or more goods to our shops,\'\' it said. ``However, they will give radical reform a boost.\'\'\r\n'),(436,2,'For a decade Henry Cisneros has been the pre-eminent Hispanic leader _ a successful mayor, an articulate speaker, a thoughtful politician, a powerful role model. At the height of his prestige, he is moving to the sidelines, maybe even getting out of politics. He\'s turned down an offer to speak at the Democratic National Convention, quashed any talk of the vice presidency and ruled out trying to spread his ``San Antonio Miracle\'\' with a statewide race in Texas in 1990. Even as national attention turns to the power of Hispanic political clout this year, Cisneros says he may not seek re-election as mayor. Cisneros said of his move out of the national arena, ``It\'s a decision that I\'ve made.\'\' ``For the moment my total and exclusive focus is on San Antonio issues,\'\' he said. ``We\'re in a period of tremendous resurgence in San Antonio after the Texas slump and we have many, many initiatives here that are setting this city in position for the long run.\'\' His attention is also focused on a year-old son with a congenital heart defect who will require extensive surgery at about the same time as the 1990 campaigning season. Cisneros also talks regularly with two businessmen about joining them in a corporate venture. To other Hispanics leaders across the country, not having Henry Cisneros out front carrying the torch will be a setback. ``He leaves a huge vacuum,\'\' said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina. ``His soft-spoken yet direct way is what we need and I don\'t know if anyone else can sit down with presidential candidates, labor leaders, or whoever and look them in the eye and not give in. ``As he steps to the sidelines, he\'ll be sorely missed,\'\' Molina said. ``Everyone thinks it\'s a shame but they respect his priorities,\'\' said Harry Pachon, director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Cisneros, interviewed four years ago by Walter Mondale as a possible running mate, says he\'ll campaign for Democrat Michael Dukakis this fall, and he\'ll announce Sept. 15 his decision on a possible fifth term as mayor. He often points out he\'s never put himself forward as any sort of official Hispanic spokesman or leader, and says he turned down a chance to address the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta because he just didn\'t have the time. ``To take weeks off to prepare a quality major speech and then deliver it just adds to the weight of what I need to do here on things I have promised to do,\'\' including projects on water, education, drugs and a domed stadium, he said. He says he doesn\'t see a gap in Hispanic political leadership. ``I can see from the Jesse Jackson experience that it might be useful to have someone who could bring people together and speak for people in a way that Jackson is doing,\'\' Cisneros said. ``But frankly, the Hispanic community doesn\'t lend itself to that. There are more differences in the Hispanic community than there are in the black community. ... My sense is what is happening is very productive and that is a lot of leadership is being developed across the country.\'\'\r\n'),(437,2,'As the final appeals echoed across the land from a long, bare-knuckle campaign, Americans headed for the polls to choose between presidential rivals George Bush and Michael Dukakis, and determine the makeup of the next Congress and the outcome of thousands of races for lesser offices. ``It\'s in the hands of the gods and the American people,\'\' said Bush as he completed his final campaign swing Monday. ``I know this race is within our grasp both here and across this country,\'\' Dukakis told more than 10,000 supporters in Los Angeles.\r\n'),(438,2,'The nation\'s murder toll is headed toward a record high this year, with an 8 percent expected increase in the number of slayings that is attributable mainly to drug-related crime, the Senate was told today. ``If this pace continues _ and there is every reason to believe it will _ 1990 will be the bloodiest year in American history,\'\' said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph R. Biden, D-Del. The committee issued a forecast of 23,220 murders in America this year at the present rate. That is 2,000 or 8 percent over the 1989 toll. The total would also top the previous record high of 23,040 murders in 1980. Scarce supplies of cocaine in the nation\'s major cities have contributed to the carnage, causing drug pushers to fight each other for turf, the committee said. It also blamed the proliferation of assault rifles. ``These firearms have become the weapons of choice for drug dealers and the weapons of doom for law enforcement personnel,\'\' said a report prepared by the panel. It said a third cause is a fresh wave of teen-agers, the offspring of the so-called baby boomers, entering the high-crime years. The projected toll would make 1990 the third straight year of increasing murders in the United States. The murder toll actually dropped 18 percent between 1980 and 1985 but has increased 22 percent since then, the committee said. ``The nation is faced with an immediate peril and the situation is doomed to get worse unless we take action today,\'\' Biden said. He urged swift House action on a Senate-passed omnibus crime bill with a ban on nine semiautomatic assault weapons and the death penalty for 34 federal offenses. A hush fell over the hearing room as Dr. Lynn Richardson, associate chief of emergency services at Harlem Hospital Center in New York, told of a young woman rushed in several weeks ago. The right side of her head had been blown away by a slug from a high-powered rifle in an apparent drug-corner shootout. Doctors managed to save a 6 1@2-month-old fetus, ``the ultimate innocent bystander,\'\' she said. The woman died but the child is still clinging to life, she said.\r\n'),(439,2,'The Supreme Court today refused to reinstate a $550,000 award won, and then lost, by a Texas couple whose daughter was born with deformities after her mother took the anti-nausea drug Bendectin. The justices, without comment, let stand a federal appeals court ruling that overturned a jury award against Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, the drug\'s manufacturer. Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Brock of Moscow, Texas, sued Merrell Dow after their daughter, Rachel, was born with deformed limbs in 1982. A three-member panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year threw out the $550,000 judgment a federal trial jury had awarded the Brocks. The appeals court said there is no definitive scientific proof that Bendectin causes birth defects, and said the jury award was based on speculation. ``Speculation unconfirmed by ... proof cannot form the basis for causation in a court of law,\'\' the appeals court said. The full 5th Circuit court, by a 8-6 vote, refused to review the three-member panel\'s ruling. The dissenters noted that six experts testified for the Brocks that Bendectin is capable of causing birth defects, and that three testified they believed the drug caused Rachel\'s deformities. The dissenting judges said appellate courts should not substitute their understanding of the facts for that of a jury merely because medical experts disagree. Bendectin was marketed by Richardson-Merrell Inc. between 1957 and 1983. More than 30 million women used the drug during pregnancy. Richardson-Merrell later became Merrell Dow, which last July merged with Marion Laboratories Inc. and became Marion Merrell Dow Inc., based in Kansas City. The company stopped selling Bendectin 1983, although the Federal Drug Administration never has rescinded approval of it. Merrell Dow in 1984 agreed to pay $120 million to more than 800 families to compensate children with birth defects allegedly caused by Bendectin. As part of the settlement, the corporation did not admit that the drug caused the defects. The settlement was rejected by a federal appeals court, and the lawsuits then went to a consolidated trial in Ohio, where Merrell Dow has its headquarters in Hamilton County. After a 22-day trial in 1985, an Ohio jury found that Bendectin did not cause birth defects when taken in prescribed doses. The case acted on today is Brock vs. Merrell Dow, 89-1189.\r\n'),(440,2,'Despite some misgivings, Wisconsin state senators have approved a measure allowing blind people to hunt deer and other game if accompanied by a sighted hunter. ``Do we really want people out there shooting guns when they don\'t know where they\'re shooting?\'\' Sen. Alan Lasee asked during debate Friday night. ``As much as I have empathy for the visually handicapped, I don\'t believe I can support this.\'\' Sen. Brian Rude supported the proposal and noted that the Department of Natural Resources can issue licenses to handicapped hunters. People confined to wheelchairs are allowed to shoot or hunt from an automobile parked off a highway and more than 50 feet from the center of a roadway, he said. The bill extends eligibility for a special permit to people who present medical evidence that they are unable to hunt alone because of a permanent physical disability or handicap, including blindness. Under the measure, a visually handicapped hunter would have to be accompanied by someone who could assist in sighting the firearm. A 27-6 vote sent the measure to Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.\r\n'),(441,2,'Ienner at 36 became the label\'s youngest president when he took over last April. He was at his new job for less than 48 hours when he heard the Poi Dog tape and decided to make the band his cause celebre. ``I must have had 40 tapes that weekend,\'\' Ienner said. ``All of the sudden this thing came on and I was astounded by it.\'\' He especially liked the song ``Living With the Dreaming Body,\'\' which begins with a lilting tin whistle, and listened to it about 100 times. He later mastered the tin whistle so he could play the intro himself. After checking around, he found Columbia was ``either the 11th or 12th company interested in the band. That really got my juices going. ``Basically we told them we wanted them, and they said they don\'t want to be with Columbia,\'\' Ienner said. ``(The band thought), `it\'s too corporate, it\'s too monolithic, it\'s too bureaucratic.\'\'\' But when Ienner met Poi Dog\'s manager, Mike Stewart, they n of America. In 1975, an infamously slow time for the recording industry, earnings totaled $2.37 billion, the RIAA said. In 1978, punk and new wave signaled a revival and the figure jumped to $4.13 billion. In 1988, $6.25 billion was earned. ``We needed to change direction,\'\' Ienner said. ``There was nothing, just retreading the superstars, just one after another after another.\'\' Poi Dog would be the Columbia\'s ``signature band,\'\' Ienner said, to show ``our musical sensitivity.\'\' It would also help establish a division within Columbia that would cater to a huge audience carved out in large part by college radio stations looking for an alternative to Top 40 music. Those involved refuse to discuss the deal\'s financial side. But many in the industry say the band was signed for more than $200,000 for the first album. A new pop band can fetch anywhere from $75,000 to $350,000 for its first record contract, industry officals say. The sum, however, doesn\'t just pile into the musician\'s pockets. Much of it is reinvested to pay for the recording costs for the first album. The ballpark figures for recording an album go from about $200,000 to $400,000, said Harold Vogel, an entertainment industry analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. Another hunk goes to practical expenses such as paying off band members\' debts. And still another chunk is invested in upgrading the band\'s equipment and buying new instruments. The rest goes to lifestyle expenses to maintain the band while they are recording and keep them going until they get to record number two, which brings another windfall. Although Orrall is tight-lipped about how much Poi Dog got, he does give a general breakdown for how it was used: ``What we essentially are doing with our advance is just putting it in an account and paying everyone in the band $1,000 a month so ... everyone can quit their jobs, pay their rent, get their guitar strings and buy their beer,\'\' he said. To celebrate the contract, Poi Dog Pondering played a surprise set at Columbia\'s offices. They set up in an elevator and when the doors opened, they began to play. People slowly drifted from their offices into the halls. ``The sound traveled down the elevator banks and people were coming up the stairwells from all the floors,\'\' said Mary Ellen Cataneo, a Columbia publicist. ``Literally, people had tears in their eyes,\'\' Ienner said. ``People were all standing there with tears in their eyes.\'\' It was the first time in 20 years a musician had played live at Columbia\'s offices. The guy who did it was also a new artist _ a young piano player by the name of Billy Joel.\r\n'),(442,2,'America\'s No. 1 video chain is swallowing No. 3 in a $40 million deal that gives Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. a total of more than 1,700 stores. Blockbuster agreed to acquire Erol\'s Inc. of Springfield, Va., a chain of 208 outlets that pioneered the video rental business in 1980 but has struggled amid management shuffles and stiff competition. The deal ``provides an outstanding opportunity for Blockbuster and its franchise owners to broaden the base of ourstores,\'\' Blockbuster chairman and chief executive officer H. Wayne Huizenga said Monday. Erol\'s, the nation\'s third-largest chain behind West Coast-National of Philadelphia, has stores in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland and Chicago as well as 112 stores in the Washington, D.C., area, where Blockbuster has only 48 outlets and was looking to expand. Blockbuster, based in Fort Lauderdale, opened its 1,500th store Monday, in Vancouver, British Columbia. In all, the chain has stores in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Canada and England. Erol\'s founder and principal stockholder, Erol Onaran, said the buyout was in the best interest of his 2,600 employees. ``It was going to be a fight,\'\' said analyst Drew Beja at Advest Securities. ``And Blockbuster had the resources to win the fight.\'\' Onaron founded Erol\'s as a stereo repair shop in Washington in 1963. It was an early pioneer in the video industry, opening stores exclusively devoted to rentals in 1980, and led all other video chains in revenue until Blockbuster surpassed it in 1988. But Erol\'s has been stagnating since then, and didn\'t begin to sell franchises until last August, said Frank Molstad, editor of Video Store magazine. In contrast, Blockbuster has been expanding by 400 to 500 stores a year since Huizenga bought the company in 1987 for $19 million, and Huizenga has said sales this year could top $1 billion. Erol\'s had revenue of $100 million last year, said Jerry Falkner, an analyst at Southwest Research Partners in Boca Raton. While more than 1,700 stores by the end of the year, Blockbuster will still have only about 10 percent of the home video market, said Fran Blechman Bernstein, an analyst with Merrill Lynch.\r\n'),(443,2,'Five OPEC oil ministers agreed Saturday to call two special meetings later this month to consider ways of halting the decline in oil prices, according to the cartel\'s Nigerian president. The ministers, at the end of a full day of closed-door meetings, made no recommendations for immediate OPEC action to combat the slipping prices, said Nigeria\'s Rilwanu Lukman, who was chairman of the session. He said he and the oil ministers of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Venezuela and Indonesia would invite at least seven non-OPEC oil producing nations to meet with them in Vienna on April 23 to discuss ways of cooperating to stabilize oil prices. Lukman declined to identify the non-OPEC countries, but industry sources said they would be Mexico, Egypt, Oman, Angola, Brunei, Malaysia and Colombia. When asked, Lukman said he would not rule out inviting representatives also from the Soviet Union and Norway. The Soviets are the world\'s largest oil producers. Oil ministers of all 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will then meet in Vienna on April 25, Lukman said. He suggested that the non-OPEC representatives might be asked to attend that session as official observers. OPEC had not previously planned to hold any meetings until its regularly scheduled summer conference June 8. Lukman said the five ministers had decided that special meetings were needed to ``look into the situation generally in the market\'\' and to consider ways of cooperating with non-OPEC countries. OPEC oil ministers held two meetings with representatives of Mexico, Angola, Egypt, Malaysia, Oman and Brunei in the spring of 1986, but the cartel was unsuccessful in persuading those countries to reduce their production. This time the situation is different, according to Lukman. ``Non-OPEC (countries) have, on their own, realized the need to cooperate\'\' among themselves and with OPEC, Lukman told reporters after the meeting. OPEC often has declared in recent years that it alone cannot be expected to bear the burden of cutting production in order to stablize oil prices. OPEC controls only about 35 percent of the total world oil supply, down from more than 60 percent in the late 1970s. Lukman said the separate April 25 meeting of all 13 OPEC members was called because of the severity of the recent price decline. ``The price is not what we expected it to be\'\' after having decided last December to maintain strict oil production limits, he said. Oil prices in the open market are at least $3 below OPEC\'s official target level of $18 a barrel. Lukman said Saturday\'s meeting had made no recommendation about whether OPEC should reduce its production, either unilaterally or jointly with non-OPEC producers, as a way of boosting prices. He said increased production by non-OPEC producers this year was partly responsible for the oil price slump. Although Iran was not invited to Saturday\'s meeting, its deputy oil minister, Kazempour Ardebili, flew to Vienna and met separately with members of the group. He said later in an interview in his hotel room that Iran had proposed that OPEC cut its production by at least 5 percent immediately. He said this should be done with or without parallel action by non-OPEC oil-producing countries. Ardebili accused some OPEC members, which he did not name, of sabotaging Iranian initiatives to boost prices by cutting output. His comments appeared to be directed at Saudi Arabia, an opponent of further cuts in OPEC\'s share of the world oil market. Persian Iran has been at war with Arab Iraq since September 1980, and Iran often accuses other Arab countries of supporting Iraq directly or indirectly in the conflict. Both Iran and Iraq count on revenues from oil exports to help finance their war efforts.\r\n'),(444,2,'President Bush has a 56 percent approval rating among blacks, a huge increase over the ratings given former President Reagan, according to a new CBS News-New York Times poll. Only 13 percent of blacks supported Reagan at about the same point in his presidency, CBS Evening News reported Thursday. In May 1982, Reagan had a 73 percent disapproval rating among blacks; in the current poll, 26 percent of blacks surveyed disapproved of Bush, said Kathleen A. Frankovic, of the CBS network\'s polling division. CBS-Times polls conducted during Reagan\'s entire time in office found he had an average 67 percent disapproval rating among blacks, Frankovic said. The new survey is the fourth consecutive Times-CBS News poll in the last six months in which a majority of blacks said they approved of Bush\'s handling of his job, the Times reported in today\'s editions. For the last 30 years, five out of six blacks have voted for the Democratic presidential candidate, no matter who the nominee was, CBS reported. In the new poll, one out of 10 blacks said they probably would vote for Bush against a Democratic candidate in 1992, while another 20 percent said their choice would depend on who was running, the Times said. One-third of the blacks surveyed, and 46 percent of the whites, said their opinion of Bush had improved since he became president, the Times said. Blacks were evenly divided on whether Bush is doing a good job handling the war on drugs, while whites approved 56 percent to 35 percent, the Times said. White respondents gave Bush an overall approval rating of 75 percent to 14 percent. The telephone poll of 1,515 adult Americans, including 403 blacks, was conducted March 30-April 2. The margin of error for the entire survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points; for blacks it is 5 percentage points.\r\n'),(445,2,'The curator of Ronnie DeSillers\' estate has sued a savings and loan to recover nearly $200,000 she claims the thrift allowed to be improperly withdrawn by the boy\'s mother. Court-appointed curator Karen Gievers on Tuesday filed suit in Dade Circuit Court against Coral Gables Federal Savings & Loan for allowing Maria DeSillers to withdraw and spend the money, which was donated to pay for Ronnie\'s medical bills and to help other young liver transplant patients. The withdrawal, she argued, was contrary to state law. The thrift knew the purpose of the money, Ms. Gievers alleged. Seven-year-old Ronnie died at Pittsburgh Children\'s Hospital in April 1987 while awaiting a fourth liver transplant, and his mother has been involved in legal disputes ever since for refusing to pay the balance of the boy\'s medical bills. She claims her son received improper care, which the hospital denies. DeSillers is accused of withdrawing about $260,000 from the Coral Gables Federal account, but less than $60,000 has been recovered. The money was allegedly spent on a used BMW car and jewelry, and some was given to her ex-husband and her boyfriend. Some $690,000 were donated to Ronnie from around the country, including $1,000 from President Reagan and $200,000 from Miami Beach industrialist Victor Posner, after a small fund collected by his school was repored stolen. Meanwhile, DeSillers\' boyfriend and former fiance, Jose Castillo, pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges that he pawned stolen computer equipment. Castillo, who is free on bond, is charged with third-degree grand theft for possession of the stolen computer and with unlawful consignment of property to a pawn shop. DeSillers accompanied Castillo to the Broward County pawn shop April 2. Circuit Judge Mel Grossman scheduled trial for Nov. 7.\r\n'),(446,2,'Light voter turnout was reported Sunday in municipal runoff elections, the sixth time Hungarians went to the polls in less than a year. In Budapest, the opposition Alliance of Free Democrats won a plurality of votes in the first round of municipal elections Sept. 30 and was leading in Sunday\'s second round. The liberal Free Democrats led with 36 percent of the vote in Budapest, with about 17 percent of the ballots counted, state-run television reported. The Hungarian Democratic Forum, the strongest force in Parliament, had about 25 percent. The results in Budapest and other urban centers are seen as a test for the center-right coalition government of Jozsef Antall, six months after national elections. Runoffs were held in communities with below 40 percent turnout in the first round of municipal elections. The first-round turnout was 34 percent in Budapest. In the runoffs, a simple majority will decide the vote. Complete results in Budapests and results elsewhere were not expected until Monday. According to state radio, turnout Sunday ranged from 20 percent in some rural areas to about 32 percent of Budapest\'s 1.5 million eligible voters.\r\n'),(447,2,'Hawaii remains the most popular choice of Americans for summer vacation travel, according to a survey released Thursday by American Express Co. The forecast, based on a mail survey of 350 American Express travel agencies nationwide, showed 27 percent of the agents polled named Hawaii as the top choice for vacation travel this summer. The other leading vacation destinations were Europe with 21 percent, and Florida and the Caribbean with 18 percent. Despite the fall of the dollar against major foreign currencies, the agents said most of their clients planning European vacations this summer are not changing their plans. Florida ranked as the leading family vacation spot, according to 72.5 percent of the agents surveyed, largely because of Walt Disney World in Orlando. Mexico is the summer destination growing fastest in popularity, according to the survey. It found some regional differences, however: Mexico is the fastest growing for travelers from the Northeast and the South, while the majority of agents in the Midwest named Europe as gaining quickest in popularity. For vacationers from the West Coast, the South Pacific _ including Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti _ is growing the fastest. Within the United States, the 10 most popular cities for vacations this summer, in order of preference, are: Honolulu, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Washington, Miami, Denver, Boston and Chicago. The survey also found that price and quality of service are the key factors determining the choice of a vacation. Cruises are the most popular type of vacation planned for this summer, followed by all-inclusive resort vacations, escorted tour packages and weekend fly-drive packages, the survey showed. Single men most often choose all-inclusive resort packages for summer vacations, while cruises are the top choice of single women, according to the survey.\r\n'),(448,2,'Feminist leaders said Friday the clock would be turned back 25 years on women\'s rights if David Souter is confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. ``If we lose this one, we\'ll never get it back,\'\' said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority, who is lobbying the Senate to reject the nominee. Smeal said she had read all 200 of Souter\'s legal opinions and believes he would work to cut off women\'s access to birth control and abortion. Molly Yard, president of the National Organization for Women, said Souter revealed his opposition to abortion by calling it the ``killing of unborn children.\'\' ``That\'s the language of the right wing,\'\' Yard said. Souter did not use the words during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this week, but while New Hampshire attorney general he signed a brief that contained the language. However, during the hearings Friday, Souter said he has not made up his mind on the abortion rights issue and would consider both sides if he is confirmed. ``I have not got any agenda on what should be done with Roe vs. Wade,\'\' Souter in reference to the case that legalized abortion. ``I would listen to both sides of that case. I have not made up my mind and I would not go on the court saying I must go one way or I must go the other way.\'\' But Yard said that Souter\'s repeated reference to the abortion rights position as ``the other side,\'\' was evidence of where he stood. Smeal and Yard, who have attended most of the hearings, said Souter\'s answers to questions on constitutionally protected privacy rights concerning birth control indicated he believed in the concept for married couples, but left open whether single people had the same right. Smeal said the addition of Souter to the court would create the majority needed to whittle away at a woman\'s right to abortion and birth control until access no longer existed. ``It would take about 10 years,\'\' she said. ``First would be a requirement that teen-agers get parental consent for an abortion, then spousal consent.\'\' She predicted the court then would restrict the time period in which an abortion could be performed and then limit the kind of facility that could do the operation. Those decisions would be followed by requirements that teen-agers get parental consent for birth control requiring a physician\'s prescription and later that women get their husbands\' consent, Smeal said. ``The last step would be outlawing the sale of birth control to single people,\'\' she said. ``That would take us back to 1965.\'\' That year, in Griswold vs. Connecticut, a case involving the sale of contraceptives, the court for the first time recognized a constitutional right of privacy. The decision led to widespread availability of birth control for married and unmarried people. Smeal said women\'s ability to get out from under the burden of unwanted pregnancies have been the key to the many advances they have been able to achieve outside the home. Smeal and Yard spoke to a rally organized by NOW across the street from the Capitol. About 150 people opposing the Souter nomination attended.\r\n'),(449,2,'As state senators quietly debated whether to override Gov. Buddy Roemer\'s veto of a strict anti-abortion bill Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators shouted their stands as they broiled in the sun outside. The Senate sustained Roemer\'s veto of what would have been the nation\'s toughest state abortion law. The vote was 23 in favor of the override _ three short of the two-thirds majority needed _ and 16 against. Before senators cast their ballots, the parking lot at the skyscraper Capitol was jammed with about 1,500 people as temperatures inched into the 90s. State troopers limited access to the building, allowing almost 200 spectators in the Senate chamber, with another 500 in the rotunda separating the House and Senate chambers. Several hundred more gathered on the Capitol steps or under shade trees on the grounds. Most of the crowd was in favor of the strict anti-abortion bill, which would send abortionists to jail for up to 10 years. Anti-abortionists\' cries of ``override, override\'\' pervaded the thick stone walls of the Senate chamber, in which every chair was filled and spectators lined up along the walls. Another anti-abortion rally was held on the Capitol lawn, while about 100 pro-choice demonstrators stood on the steps above them, shouting ``sustain that veto\'\' and ``church and state _ separate.\'\' After the Senate voted to sustain, one pro-choice supporter yelled ``all right\'\' and was told by security officers to be quiet. Then she ran from the chamber, screaming ``I\'m out of here.\'\' As other viewers quietly filed out of the gallery, abortion rights supporters waved purple flowers and ribbons in the rotunda, shouting: ``We won.\'\' Anti-abortionists countered with ``We will win. We will win.\'\' The Senate was to vote against Sunday on the override measure.\r\n'),(450,2,'President Bush showed up about a half-hour late at the Cheyenne Municipal Airport on Friday evening, sporting a big smile and a baseball cap and toting a 12-inch trout. The president showed off his catch to the press and spectators as he crossed the tarmac to Air Force One, which took off around 6:40 p.m. for Washington. When asked how his fishing went, the president gave the ``thumbs up\'\' sign and said, ``Good.\'\' He then reached into a plastic garbage sack and grabbed the trout to show to the press. Bush, who\'d been scheduled to arrive at the airport at 5:50 p.m. but didn\'t show up until around 6:20 p.m., spent about three hours fishing in the Middle Crow Creek west of Cheyenne with U.S. Sens. Al Simpson and Malcolm Wallop and Rep. Craig Thomas, all Wyoming Republicans. Simpson and Thomas said Bush\'s fish was the last, biggest catch of the day. They said the president appeared hesitant to leave for the airport until he caught a fish. The delegation accompanied the president to the airport, where Simpson opened a plastic garbage bag to show off the six other trout caught by the group. The president was in Cheyenne to help celebrate Wyoming\'s centennial, where he joined in a parade and gave a speech to thousands of spectators.\r\n'),(451,2,'Here is a complete list of nominees for the Academy Awards announced Wednesday. 1. PICTURE: ``Born on the Fourth of July,\'\' ``Dead Poets Society,\'\' ``Driving Miss Daisy,\'\' ``Field of Dreams,\'\' ``My Left Foot.\'\' 2. ACTOR: Kenneth Branagh, ``Henry V\'\'; Tom Cruise, ``Born on the Fourth of July\'\'; Daniel Day-Lewis, ``My Left Foot\'\'; Morgan Freeman, ``Driving Miss Daisy\'\'; Robin Williams, ``Dead Poets Society.\'\' 3. ACTRESS: Isabelle Adjani, ``Camille Claudel\'\'; Pauline Collins, ``Shirley Valentine\'\'; Jessica Lange, ``Music Box\'\'; Michelle Pfeiffer, ``The Fabulous Baker Boys\'\'; Jessica Tandy, ``Driving Miss Daisy.\'\' 4. SUPPORTING ACTOR: Danny Aiello, ``Do the Right Thing\'\'; Dan Aykroyd, ``Driving Miss Daisy\'\'; Marlon Brando, ``A Dry White Season\'\'; Martin Landau, ``Crimes and Misdemeanors\'\'; Denzel Washington, ``Glory.\'\' 5. SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Brenda Fricker, ``My Left Foot\'\'; Anjelica Huston, ``Enemies, A Love Story\'\'; Lena Olin, ``Enemies, A Love Story\'\'; Julia Roberts, ``Steel Magnolias\'\'; Dianne Wiest, ``Parenthood.\'\' 6. DIRECTOR: Oliver Stone, ``Born on the Fourth of July\'\'; Woody Allen, ``Crimes and Misdemeanors\'\'; Peter Weir, ``Dead Poets Society\'\'; Kenneth Branagh, ``Henry V\'\'; Jim Sheridan, ``My Left Foot.\'\' 7. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Woody Allen, ``Crimes and Misdemeanors\'\'; Tom Schulman, ``Dead Poets Society\'\'; Spike Lee, ``Do the Right Thing\'\'; Steven Soderbergh, ``sex, lies and videotape\'\'; Nora Ephron, ``When Harry Met Sally ...\'\' 8. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic, ``Born on the Fourth of July\'\'; Alfred Uhry, ``Driving Miss Daisy\'\'; Roger L. Simon and Paul Mazursky, ``Enemies, A Love Story\'\'; Phil Alden Robinson, ``Field of Dreams\'\'; Jim Sheridan and Shane Connaughton, ``My Left Foot.\'\' 9. BEST FOREIGN FILM: ``Camille Claudel,\'\' France; ``Cinema Paradiso,\'\' Italy; ``Jesus of Montreal,\'\' Canada; ``Santiago, The Story of His New Life,\'\' Puerto Rico; ``Waltzing Regitze,\'\' Denmark. 10. ART DIRECTION: ``The Abyss,\'\' ``The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,\'\' ``Batman,\'\' ``Driving Miss Daisy,\'\' ``Glory.\'\' 11. CINEMATOGRAPHY: ``The Abyss,\'\' ``Blaze,\'\' ``Born on the Fourth of July,\'\' ``The Fabulous Baker Boys,\'\' ``Glory.\'\' 12. COSTUME DESIGN: ``The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,\'\' ``Driving Miss Daisy,\'\' ``Harlem Nights,\'\' ``Henry V,\'\' ``Valmont.\'\' 13. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: ``Adam Clayton Powell,\'\' ``Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt,\'\' ``Crack USA: Country Under Siege,\'\' ``For All Mankind,\'\' ``Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren.\'\' 14. DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT: ``Fine Food, Fine Pastries, Open 6 to 9,\'\' ``The Johnstown Flood,\'\' ``Yad Vashem: Preserving the Past to Ensure the Future.\'\' 15. FILM EDITING: ``The Bear,\'\' ``Born on the Fourth of July,\'\' ``Driving Miss Daisy,\'\' ``The Fabulous Baker Boys,\'\' ``Glory.\'\' 16. MAKEUP: ``The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,\'\' ``Dad,\'\' ``Driving Miss Daisy.\'\' 17. MUSIC ORIGINAL SCORE: John Williams, ``Born on the Fourth of July\'\'; David Grusin, ``The Fabulous Baker Boys\'\'; James Horner, ``Field of Dreams\'\'; John Williams, ``Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade\'\'; Alan Menken, ``The Little Mermaid.\'\' 18. MUSIC ORIGINAL SONG: ``After All\'\' from ``Chances Are\'\'; ``The Girl Who Used to Be Me\'\' from ``Shirley Valentine\'\'; ``I Love to See You Smile\'\' from ``Parenthood\'\'; ``Kiss The Girl\'\' from ``The Little Mermaid\'\'; ``Under the Sea\'\' from ``The Little Mermaid.\'\' 19. ANIMATED SHORT FILM: ``Balance,\'\' ``Cow,\'\' ``The Hill Farm.\'\' 20. LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: ``Amazon Diary,\'\' ``The Child Eater,\'\' ``Work Experience.\'\' 21. SOUND: ``The Abyss,\'\' ``Black Rain,\'\' ``Born on the Fourth of July,\'\' ``Glory,\'\' ``Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.\'\' 22. SOUND EFFECTS EDITING: ``Black Rain,\'\' ``Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,\'\' ``Lethal Weapon 2.\'\' 23. VISUAL EFFECTS: ``The Abyss,\'\' ``The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,\'\' ``Back to the Future Part II.\'\'\r\n'),(452,2,'The office that appeared to be a fencing operation for buying stolen goods and drugs was really an 18-month-long police sting that drew 135 suspects, officials say. About $1.3 million in stolen goods was purchased for $70,000 during the undercover operation run by several law agencies, officials said. Goods netted included 130 vehicles; more than $20,000 worth of jewelry; power tools; a pickup truck full of sportswear; appliances; about 100 firearms _including sawed-off shotguns, assault rifles and a hand grenade _ and a human eye. In all, 135 suspects were sought on state and federal charges, Tommy Wittman, agent in charge of the Salt Lake office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said at a news conference where many of the confiscated items were displayed. West Valley City Police Department spokeswoman Marsha Campbell said today that at least 62 people had been served warrants since officers began issuing them early Wednesday. Half of the suspects were already in custody on other charges. The sting was run by the West Valley City and Salt Lake City police departments and the federal ATF bureau, with assistance from other agencies. It operated out of two phony businesses _ Industrial Motor Repair in South Salt Lake and Damaged Freight Haulers in West Valley. A stolen Christmas tree was fenced during the holiday season, and undercover officers buying morphine from a nursing student also bought a human eye that had been taken from the University of Utah Medical Center. The agents bought $16,445 in heroin, morphine, cocaine, methamphetamine, valium and marijuana and learned the locations of six methamphetamine laboratories in the area, Wittman said. Sgt. Charles Illsley of the Major Felony Unit said 95 percent of the suspects were trading in stolen goods to obtain money for drugs. ``Three had `priors\' for homicide. ... The worst one had 11 felony convictions,\'\' he said. U.S. Attorney Dee Benson said the probe\'s 26 federal indictments all involved narcotics and firearms charges. The sting was the third in the county since 1985. In August 1986, a similar operation resulted in the arrest of 24 people and the recovery of more than $500,000 in stolen goods. The second sting ended in January 1988 with the arrests of 50 people and the recovery of more than $400,000. West Valley Assistant Police Chief Terry Keefe said undercover officers became friendly with many suspects, sometimes were introduced to their families and in one case helped them move in the middle of the night. A female officer portraying a receptionist got a marriage proposal from one suspect. Wittman said the suspects were not entrapped. ``Enticement yes, probably. But not entrapment,\'\' Wittman said. ``These people had already stolen the property when they came to us. We did not provide shopping lists.\'\'\r\n');
