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 Tue, Aug 11 1992 Date: Tue, 11 Aug 92 04:32:26 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update Aug. 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network L.A. OFFICERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY: The four Los Angeles police officers accused in the Rodney King beating each stepped before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Stone Monday and pleaded "not guilty" to federal civil rights charges in the March 3, 1991 beating. The trial was set for Sept. 29. It may be delayed because U.S. District Judge John Davies, who'll try the case, is also assigned to King's civil suit. MIDEAST TALKS TO RESUME AUG. 24: President Bush said Monday Mideast peace talks will resume Aug. 24 in Washington. After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin Monday, Bush said he has received "positive responses from all the parties to the bilateral negotiations in the Arab-Israeli peace process." The State Department said negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians will be the focal point of the talks. U.S. GETS SUPPORT FOR RESOLUTION: The United States won approval from France and Britain Monday - and is courting China and Russian - on a U.N. resolution authorizing force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The resolution is expected to be debated by the U.N. Security Council Wednesday. It could usher in air strikes against Serb guerrillas who have been disrupting delivery of U.N. relief supplies to a starving Bosnia. ABA TO SUPPORT ABORTION RIGHTS: The year of the woman is taking hold with the American Bar Association. After struggling with the issue of abortion for more than two years, the group may be on the verge of supporting abortion rights. A vote is scheduled Tuesday by the policy-making House of Delegates. A preliminary ballot Monday resulted in a 659-340 vote favoring a woman's right to choose an abortion. WOES JUST BEGINNING FOR CALIF: The real hardships for most Californians won't come until the state budget is finally passed. There is no doubt the new budget will mean deep cuts in schools, welfare benefits, health care and other programs. The only question is just how deep the cuts will be. David Hensley of the UCLA Business Forecasting Project predicts a loss of 40,000 state and local government jobs within 12 months. BARR WON'T NAME PROSECUTOR: Attorney General William Barr said Monday he will not name a special prosecutor to probe the Bush administration's policies toward Iraq prior to the Persian Gulf War. He said there wasn't enough evidence of wrongdoing to warrant a probe into Democratic allegations that the administration illegally helped Iraqi President Saddam Hussein militarily before he invaded Kuwait. REPUBLICANS BEGIN TO FIGHT BACK: Republicans, preparing for their convention next week, launched an all-out assault Monday on Bill Clinton, who warned that President Bush would "raise that old flag of fear" against him. Bush stayed above the fray while his aides and congressional allies compared Clinton's economic plan to "a college term paper" and said it would cost 1.8 million jobs in its first year. GOP TO REMAIN AGAINST ABORTION: The Republican showdown over abortion rights opened Monday in Houston with the expected result - dissidents losing their first bid to soften the GOP platform's opposition to abortion. A platform subcommittee voted 17-3 to continue support of a constitutional ban on abortion. Tuesday, the full platform committee votes, but few believe abortion rights will win changes. FLA. LIFTS BUNGEE JUMPING BAN: Florida lifted its ban on bungee jumping Monday but imposed safety rules, including a requirement of an explicit warning with pictures of a rope breaking and a person sitting in a wheelchair. Others: Limit jumps to 100 feet, cover the landing area with an air bag and undergo inspection similar to amusement rides. JUST FOUR FIRES REMAIN: The number of major wildfires burning in the West was cut to four, down from 26 a week ago. A small fire 60 miles east of Los Angeles briefly threatened homes but was contained. Fires have burned about 400,000 acres in eight Western states this month. More may erupt: Blistering temperatures and lightning return this week. ASBESTOS RULING MADE: Four companies that made or distributed asbestos products must pay punitive damages up to 2 1:2 times their share of actual damages, Baltimore jurors ruled Monday in the nation's largest consolidation of asbestos personal-injury cases. The decision was the fourth and final stage of a closely watched five-month trial. SHARPTON GAINING SUPPORT: Al Sharpton, 38, is winning new respect as a long-shot candidate in a four-way New York Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate. He says his candidacy is fueled by concern for the future of the black agenda and a desire to "end apartheid in the Senate." Sharpton gained prominence in 1986, using a take-it-to-the-streets style to demand "justice" after a Howard Beach racial slaying. THE MOTHER OF ALL MALLS TO OPEN: With Tuesday's opening of the $625 million Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., the malling of the USA might have gotten out of hand. It has 4.2 million square feet, with 300 stores, an amusement park, a 30 mph roller coaster, 14 movie screens, five nightclubs and its own ZIP code. Recommended visiting time for tourists: 2 1:2 days. Officials hope to lure 40 million visitors a year by 1996. ESCOBAR HAD COOL PAD IN JAIL: Journalists allowed into the Medellin prison drug lord Pablo Escobar and nine of his henchmen escaped from on July 22 found rooms with huge double beds, elegant wood floors, enormous color TVs and the latest stereo equipment Monday. They also had motorcycles, remote controlled model cars, a floodlit soccer field, roulette table, pool, table tennis and a well-equipped gymnasium. WEST TO SWEAT IT OUT: The Western quarter of the nation will swelter Tuesday, as the mercury tops 100 throughout California, the Great Basin and Southwest. South central Washington and desert locations could hit 110. Pleasant conditions will move through northern Rockies and Plains, while partly cloudy, cooler conditions roll through the southern and central Rockies and Plains. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3337.58 after closing up 5.40 points Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 230.86, up 0.07. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 880.41, down 1.72. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 573.14, down 0.60. News Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution 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