Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.news From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: news Fri, Apr 17 1992 Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 05:42:11 EDT Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: News USA TODAY Update April 17-19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CITIBANK CUTS CARD RATES: The nation's biggest bank and top credit-card issuer, Citibank, said Thursday it's cutting the interest rates it charges its best credit-card customers. Starting June 1, rates on Citibank's "classic" Visa and MasterCards will fall from 19.8% to 15.9%. Rates on its "preferred" Visa and MasterCards will slide from 16.8% to 13.9%. Other banks are expected to follow suit. PUBLIC SOON CAN SEE SCROLLS: The last fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls will be moved from the hands of the scholars to the public soon. The scrolls, dating to 250 B.C., were found starting in 1947 in caves near the Dead Sea. But access to some fragments was limited by the small group of scholars holding them. The release of photos and compilation of computer texts last year finally prompted scholars to ease access. FDA GRANTS IMPLANTS LIMITED USE: Silicone gel breast implants will be reintroduced through limited studies, the Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday. The decision will make the implants available for all reconstruction patients and a few women wanting larger breasts, but it is not the same as approval, stressed FDA Commissioner David Kessler. The FDA placed a moratorium on the implants in January. HOMES TO BE QUIETED: Some 200 properties along I-696 north of Detroit are being installed with central air conditioning and attic insulation to drown out highway noise - courtesy of the federal government. Michigan is the first state to perform such a service in private homes. Ninety percent of the $500,000 tab is paid by the federal government. GUAM ABORTION BAN STRUCK DOWN: Guam's near-total ban on abortions was struck down Thursday by a federal appeals court that also said Roe vs. Wade is still valid. The 3-0 decision upholding the 1973 Roe ruling - which first declared women's right to abortion - came as the Supreme Court faces a Wednesday hearing on a Pennsylvania case that could reverse Roe. DOCTOR SAYS HE DUMPED FETUSES: An obstetrician who was reprimanded in 1990 for performing a botched abortion has admitted to dumping 60 fetuses in a field near Shawnee, Okla. The fetuses were found Wednesday near a trailer park by two passers-by. Nareshkumar Patel, 39, told officials the fetuses came from his Oklahoma City abortion clinic. Patel has not been charged. Oklahoma has no statutes governing fetus disposal. MURDERER DENIED CLEMENCY: California Gov. Pete Wilson denied clemency Thursday for double murderer Robert Alton Harris. Harris, 39, almost certainly will be executed next week, the state's first execution in 25 years, unless courts intervene. Relatives of the two teen-age boys Harris shot to death say he should die for his crime. Harris kidnapped them from a fast-food eatery and ate their burgers after killing them. CATERPILLAR SAYS YES TO WORKERS: Caterpillar Inc. Thursday said it is recalling nearly all striking employees represented by the United Auto Workers. The company was criticized Wednesday for turning away workers despite the union's unconditional offer to return to work. Many workers return Monday. Caterpillar said it is recalling more than it needs and will trim 1,350 jobs through attrition and early retirement. PEACE IN AFGHANISTAN URGED: The State Department Thursday issued a plea for peace after Afghanistan's President Najibullah was toppled from power. The fall of Najibullah, installed by the Soviet Union in 1987, came less than a week after the United Nations announced agreement on a peace plan. U.S. officials are concerned that confusion does "not spin into ... blood and violence," said spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler. BEMBENEK TO BE EXTRADITED: A judge in Toronto signed extradition papers Thursday to send Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek back to Wisconsin, where she was serving a life sentence in the 1981 murder of her then-husband's former wife. Bembenek, 33, a one-time Playboy Club waitress and Milwaukee police officer, escaped in July 1990 and sought refugee status in Canada. Supporters contend she was framed. THUNDER TO ROLL EASTWARD: Thunderstorms will rumble through the south-central USA this weekend. Unsettled weather will roar through the central Plains, Ohio Valley and into the mid-Atlantic. In the Northwest, chilly conditions and possible showers present Friday will yield to sunshine and a warming trend on Saturday and Sunday. A cold air mass will plunge into the northern Rockies. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Monday at 3366.50, after closing up 12.74 Friday. Markets are closed for Good Friday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.90, down 0.25. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 392.64, down 1.52. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 591.81, down 8.22. News Editor: Beth Mann. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal 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