Copyright 1995 The Christian Science Publishing Society
The Christian Science Monitor
May 11, 1995, Thursday
SECTION: THE NEWS IN BRIEF; Pg. 2
LENGTH: 1499 words
HEADLINE: THE NEWS IN BRIEF
BYLINE: Compiled by Suzanne MacLachlan, David Mutch, and Peter E. Nordahl
BODY:
The US Federal authorities filed bombing charges against Terry Nichols, who is currently being held in Kansas as a material witness in the Oklahoma City case, the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times reported. Nichols was scheduled for an initial hearing yesterday in Wichita, Kan. The FBI, meanwhile, said it is investigating whether Nichols's 12-year-old son could be the person depicted in the ''John Doe 2'' sketches. Authorities said the son is not believed to be a suspect in the bombing but may have been with Timothy McVeigh when McVeigh rented a truck allegedly used to carry the bomb to Oklahoma City. (Story, Page 4.)
House Budget Committee chairman John Kasich released details of his proposed budget, saying he would lower the deficit to $ 152 billion in fiscal year 1996 and to zero by 2002. Kasich was to formally present his budget yesterday. He said his proposal would include $ 1.4 trillion in cuts over seven years, more than the Senate proposal released earlier, which would cut $ 961 billion over the same period. The Senate Budget Committee's budget also carves savings out of Medicare and Medicaid and eliminates the Department of Commerce and more than 100 other programs.
The administration criticized GOP legislation that would cut aid spending and dismantle the government's foreign-aid agency. The Republican proposal would cut $ 2.8 billion from the $ 18.4 billion President Clinton has requested for foreign operations.
The administration said its farm-bill proposals would protect family farmers against budget cutting by congressional Republicans. The proposals would keep core farm programs intact while denying payments to farm owners who make more than $ 100,000 a year off the farm. The plan also called for changes in the food-stamp program to give states more control, while cutting back on fraud and errors. (Iowa welfare reform, Page 1.)
The Senate adopted a proposal limiting punitive damages in product-liability cases, but only after scaling it back to allow judges to override the limits. (Story, Page 3.)
A bill to overhaul the nation's banking system by letting commercial banks combine with Wall Street firms won House Banking Committee approval. The committee did not address the toughest issue threatening the measure: whether banks should be allowed to expand into the insurance business. (Story, Page 9.)
Most top private economist think the US can avoid a damaging recession through 1996, according to a survey by Eggert's Blue Chip Economic Indicators. The economists also expect the dollar to regain some ground over the next few years, the survey showed. (Story, Page 1.)
Interior Secretary Babbitt joined environmentalists in denouncing proposed legislation that would weaken the Endangered Species Act. Under the proposal, once a species is identified as endangered, the secretaries of interior and commerce would decide whether to save it from extinction. Currently, the government must protect any species listed as endangered.
A federal commission expanded the list of US military bases that may be closed this year. Bases in Georgia, Utah, Oklahoma, Texas, and California were added to Pentagon's list.
The FBI confirmed that Richard J. Roberts, co-winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for medicine, received one of four letters sent by the ''Unabomber'' April 20, the same day he mailed a bomb that killed a Sacramento timber lobbyist.
The World
No major Russian concessions came out of the Moscow summit, but US President Clinton won partial deals from President Yeltsin, who said his country would join NATO's Partnership for Peace and would not sell gas centrifuge equipment to Iran. Four hours of talks left stark differences on Russia's repression in Chechnya, Moscow's sale of two nuclear reactors to Iran, and the ultimate scope of NATO, which wants to include Poland and other former Soviet-bloc nations in a reach eastward. Yeltsin also agreed to delay the sale of the reactors to Iran to allow a review by a commission led by US Vice President Gore. (Stories, Pages 1 and 6.)
Northern Ireland's peace talks were edged up a notch as Michael Ancram, Britain's second- ranking minister in the province, sat down in Belgrade with Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness to talk about disarming the IRA and cutting British forces there. Until now, Britain would allow only civil servants to take part in the talks. Sinn Fein is the political arm of the IRA.
Imelda Marcos was on her way to winning a House seat in Philippine elections, but her son, Ferdinand ''Bongbong,'' was trailing in his race for a Senate seat, ending for now hopes of a Marcos-family comeback. President Ramos's coalition was leading in 10 of 12 contested Senate seats and 183 of 204 house seats. Ramos said he will proceed with economic and social reforms. (Story, Page 6.)
Serbs closed their key corridor running across northern Bosnia after Croat forces from Bosnia and Croatia launched an offensive against the corridor yesterday. The supply corridor links Serb-held land in eastern Bosnia with western Bosnia, as well as Serb-controlled land in Croatia. Serbs also tightened their hold on Sarajevo. UN chief Akashi said prospects were ''dark'' in the besieged city, while the US renewed calls for NATO airstrikes on Serbs for shelling Sarajevo and other ''safe areas.'' (Editorial, Page 20.)
French President-elect Chirac will take quick action on unemployment, a spokesman for the conservative Paris mayor said. Chirac, whose victory Sunday caused a stock-market rally on Tuesday, has been meeting with key ministerial candidates. Outgoing Socialist President Mitterand is expected to hand over power around May 17.
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hong Koo met in Beijing with Chinese Premier Li Pen to discuss strengthening economic ties and keeping peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's visit is the first by a South Korean prime minister since the two nations established diplomatic relations in 1992. South Korea also wants support for its effort to steer North Korea away from any nuclear-weapons program.
The US's chief negotiator with North Korea, Robert Gallucci, met in Seoul with South Korean and Japanese allies to talk strategy on suspended nuclear negotiations with North Korea. The US has rejected a North Korean proposal to restart the talks in Pyongyang.
Three hundred Hutus finally left the Kibeho camp in southwest Rwanda, the last of the tens of thousands of Hutus who had been living in its squalor. Soldiers of the Tutsi-led government killed up to 2,000 of the refugees three weeks ago in an effort to shut the camp.
A trial began in Germany of three people accused of smuggling bomb-grade plutonium. The lawyer for the three men -- two from Spain and one from Columbia -- argued that they were set up by German intelligence agents. This claim echoes another one made by Chancellor Kohl's political opponents after the August 1994 bust at Munich airport, charging it was set up to help Kohl get reelected.
Etcetera
Parents should have access to a ''report card'' rating violence on TV, say two senators who are concerned about broadcasting's effect on children. Senators Dorgan and Hutchison introduced legislation that would provide TV-violence ratings on a quarterly basis. The ratings would be compiled by a nonprofit group, such as a university, with US grants.
Mike Shuter looks to the skies as he plants seeds in the ground. The Madison County, Ind., corn grower is among about 500 US farmers who use satellites to help with spring planting.
There's a new link between Russia and the US: golf. An American company is combining melted-down scrap from old US and Soviet missiles to make golf clubs. The California-based Peace Missile Corp. says part of the proceeds goes to charities in both countries.
A group of business and public officials is trying to reeducate New Yorkers, at least the ones tourists meet, to lure more visitors to the Big Apple. If New Yorkers were nicer, the group estimates, tourists would spend $ 50 million atop the $ 20 billion they already spend in the city each year.
Highest-Paid CEOs 1994
Rank/Firm/CEO/Compensation
1. Conseco, Stephen Hilbert, $ 39.6 million
2. Green Tree Financial, Lawrence Coss, $ 28.9 million
3. DSC Communications, James Donald, $ 25.2 million
4. Bear Stearns, James Cayne, $ 15.6 million
5. Compaq Computer, Eckhard Pfeiffer, $ 15.4 million
6. Cisco Systems, John Chambers, $ 15.0 million
7. Colgate-Palmolive, Reuben Mark, $ 13.5 million
8. RJR Nabisco, Charles Harper, $ 12.7 million
9. General Dynamics, James Mellor, $ 12.4 million
10. IBM, Louis Gerstner Jr., $ 12.3 million
-- Forbes 800
''This may be our last chance to balance the budget. Let's not let it slip away.''
P Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici
GRAPHIC: PHOTOS: 1)Senator Domenici holds a copy of his proposed budget in his right hand and President Clinton's budget in his left., WIN MCNAMEE/REUTERS; 2)John Deutch walks down a corridor of the Pentagon May 9 after the Senate confirmed him as director of the CIA. Deutch said he plans to make changes, but there won't be a ''bloodletting'' at the CIA., BRUCE YOUNG/REUTERS; 3)A Zambian peacekeeper gives water to Rwandan children who emerged from a compound at the Kibeho camp May 9., KENT PAGE/REUTERS. Map, China., DAVE HERRING - STAFF