Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Thu, Jul 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 04:33:09 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update July 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BUSH ELUSIVE ON BAKER `RUMOR': President Bush Wednesday sidestepped questions about whether Secretary of State James Baker was leaving the State Department to run Bush's campaign. "A lot of crazy rumors floating around, aren't there?" Bush said. He told senior staff members he's made no decision on the shift. Baker, on a Mideast peace mission, said: "I wouldn't make book on it" until it comes from the president. CALIF. RESEARCHER FINDS VIRUS: Immunologist Sudhir Gupta of the University of California, Irvine, said Wednesday he has found a virus that may explain AIDS-like illness in patients with no sign of HIV infection. Two dozen such cases were reported this week at the International Conference on AIDS in Amsterdam. Gupta found the human intracisternal retrovirus in nine patients who show symptoms of AIDS, but no HIV. INSPECTORS WITHDRAW IN IRAQ: U.N. weapons inspectors ended a 17-day standoff at Baghdad's Agricultural Ministry Wednesday, withdrawing amid prospects for allied air strikes against Iraq. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the administration was "not ruling out any option, including the use of military force." "Any act of aggression would backfire," said Iraqi U.N. ambassador Abdul Amir Al-Anbari. DRUG LORD FLEES IN JAIL BATTLE: Pablo Escobar, the world's most deadly cocaine lord, reportedly escaped from a Colombian jail Wednesday after a shootout with 400 soldiers. "Heartbreaking ... a sad day for law enforcement," says Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., House drug committee chairman. Escobar and 14 lieutenants overpowered troops seeking to transfer him from a posh ranch-house prison to a military jail. CALIF. BANKS SAY NO TO IOUS: California banks, which have cashed $1 billion worth of state IOUs since July 1, have begun closing the windows. By Thursday night California - facing an $11 billion deficit and still without a budget - will have issued 605,000 IOUs. Several small independent banks have stopped honoring the IOUs. And others are threatening to follow suit. That could mean 200,000 employees won't get paid. QUAYLE NOT LEAVING TICKET: Rumors that Vice President Dan Quayle will be dropped from the ticket have grown so loud that by Wednesday President Bush offered a denial. Bush said he's "very certain" Quayle will be on the ticket. Quayle - speaking on CNN's "Larry King Live" - said: "If I thought I was hurting the ticket, I'd be gone." Speculation is that Quayle pales in comparison to Democratic No. 2 Al Gore. HEROIN USE ON THE RISE: A new GAO study of heroin price, purity and seizures over the past decade suggests "an emerging national crisis," says Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. The report by the General Accounting Office, an arm of Congress, is to be released Thursday by Conyers. It found that between 1982 and 1991 heroin purity increased from 7.1% to 27.6% and the per-milligram price dropped to $2.12 from $2.72. STRAUSS LOBBYING FOR AID: Russian President Boris Yeltsin is beginning to experience "real political problems," underscoring the urgency of U.S. aid for the former Soviet republics, Ambassador to Russia Robert Strauss told the House Agriculture Committee Wednesday. A bill authorizing U.S. participation in a $24 billion international aid effort for the ex-republics is due for a House vote soon. SCHOOL BUS MAKER ISSUES RECALL: The nation's biggest school bus manufacturer Wednesday recalled at least 24,000 buses to fix a potential fire hazard, and said the recall could expand to half the USA's school bus fleet. Navistar International Corp. issued the recall after tests showed the buses, during a crash, could leak large amounts of fuel and cause a fire. The test: A stationary bus hit by a car at 30 mph. FIRST JURY AWARD IS $9.3M: The first jury award for relatives of a Pan Am Flight 103 bombing victim came in at $9.3 million Wednesday. The family of Pepsico executive Robert Pagnucco, 51, wanted $25.25 million. The New York jury award was the first of 213 lawsuits by relatives of people killed when a terrorist bomb blew apart the Boeing 747 jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988. JUDGES BLAST COURT SECURITY: Several Chicago federal judges Wednesday criticized security measures that allowed bank robbery suspect Jeffrey Erickson to kill two officers and himself in a failed escape bid. The jurists told the Chicago Sun-Times that courtroom security ranges from "casual" to "nonexistent." The U.S. Marshals Service says "policy was adhered to" before the incident Monday. N.Y. BANS PARENTING FOR PROFIT: New York, where an estimated 40% of the USA's surrogate parenting deals are arranged, has outlawed the practice if there's a profit involved. The ban, in a law signed Wednesday by Gov. Mario Cuomo, takes effect in one year. New Yorkers still will be allowed to act as surrogates for friends or relatives, but no contracts can be signed and a fee can't be paid. MIDWEST TO FACE ANOTHER WET DAY: Showers and thunderstorms will quickly move through the Great Lakes and Midwest Thursday. The mid-Atlantic region will brace for showers and thunderstorms accompanied by cooler conditions. Clouds will increase after a sunny, cool start in the Northeast. Clouds, showers and thunderstorms will envelop much of the Southeast. Partly sunny skies will sizzle the southern Plains. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3277.61 after closing down 30.80 points Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.13, down 1.34. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 383.17, down 1.65. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 563.88, down 4.75. News Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM