New Mexico, Alabama, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota hold their primaries on 6 Jun. (the last states to do so) although the names of the two major parties’ presumptive nominees have been known for three months.

In an interview on ABC, Vice President Al Gore says that should Russian President Putin continue to refuse the national missile defense system proposed by the US, he would consider withdrawing the US from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (6 Jun.).

Ex-candidate Bill Bradley reiterates his support for Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic nominee (6 Jun.). Mr Bradley’s silence since he dropped out of the race after Super Tuesday (March) has triggered comments in the press and among Republicans.

Speaking in Tennessee — Vice President Gore’s home state —, Governor George W. Bush declares in favor of two-year federal budgets (following the Texas model) so as to avoid the bickering and gridlock between Congress and the White House which he says result from the current practice of one-year budgets (8 Jun.). According to the governor, "There’s too much needless division [in Washington] and not enough shared accomplishment."

However, the Gore campaign retorts that since Mr Bush took office in Texas, the state’s budget has risen by 36 percent, as against 21 percent for the federal budget over the same period.

The chairman of the Republican Party’s platform committee, Tommy Thompson, says the party’s strong anti-abortion stand should be reaffirmed in the 2000 platform. However, in private discussions with committee members, the Republican Prochoice Coalition has been promised opportunities to voice their opinion (early Jun.).

Vice President Al Gore promises that, if elected president, he will "ensure that there is a fully qualified, well-trained teacher in every single classroom, everywhere [in the US] by the end of the next four years." He proposes involving the federal government in education to a greater extent than has ever been done: federal spending on education would reach $16 billion over ten years. Some of the money would go toward raising teachers’ salaries (now strictly dependent on local school boards and some states). Teachers would earn an extra $5,000 a year to work in high-poverty areas [they currently earn from $29,000 in South Dakota to $52,000 in Connecticut on average.] (8 Jun.).

George W. Bush, who is opposed to more federal government intervention in education, retorts that his opponent’s plan is "budgetarily impossible."

Governor George W. Bush, speaking in Philadelphia, pledges that he will reduce the number of federal occupations by 40,000 (from the current 1.8 million) over 8 years, and cut federal spending by $88 billion over 5 years (9 Jun.).

Senator McCain makes it clear that he is not interested in running for vice president (12 Jun.).

During a "progress and prosperity" tour of states where the battle is likely to be tough on election day, Vice President Gore argues that he deserves some credit for the nation’s current prosperity. In Cincinnati, he unveils a plan aimed at helping middle-class Americans to pay college tuition, buy health insurance and save for retirement. The plan includes $500 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, twice the amount promised earlier in the campaign by the presumptive Democratic nominee (15 Jun.).

George W. Bush plans on cutting taxes by 1.3 trillion over 10 years; yet he derides the Gore plan as "aimed at political purposes" (16 Jun.).

Vice President Gore’s campaign manager, Tony Coelho, is forced to quit, allegedly for health reasons — Mr Coelho is also under investigation by the Department of State for some of his activities when he ran the US pavilion at the 1998 World Exposition in Lisbon. He is replaced as campaign chief by Commerce Secretary William Daley, 51, the son of Richard Daley, the late mayor of Chicago. William Daley was also involved in the 1992 Clinton campaign.

House and Senate Democratic leaders, including House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, warn President Clinton that soaring gasoline prices may prevent the Democrats from regaining a majority in the House of Representatives, and may also hamper Al Gore’s election to the presidency. They advocate an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. [Gas prices are especially high in the Midwest, the region where Democrats face the toughest challenges.] (20 Jun.).

The Gore campaign seeks to depict George W. Bush — who once was an oil company executive — as a tool of oil interests, and claims that Al Gore is on the side of working families hurt by the hike.

The Green Party presumptive nominee, Ralph Nader, files a suit in US District Court in Boston, in the hope that the court will strike down Federal Election Commission regulations that permit corporations to contribute millions of dollars to televised presidential debates. Mr Nader charges that the regulation "is turning our presidential debates into a beer commercial," an allusion to Anheuser-Bush (the maker of Budweiser beer), a major debate sponsor.

Vice President Al Gore proposes exempting more family farms and small businesses from estate taxes (21 Jun.).

George W. Bush has called for the elimination of the estate tax altogether.

James Hoffa, who heads the powerful Teamsters union, warmly praises Ralph Nader’s pro-labor program (22 Jun.). On the whole, organized labor is increasingly tempted to lend support to Mr Nader, who waged a tough campaign against the normalizing of trade relations with China, while Al Gore backed it.

Speaking on Fox News Sunday, General Colin Powell, a much-respected Republican, admits that the GOP "has not done well in the African-American community" and that its strong stand against affirmative action gives it the appearance of a party for whites (25 Jun.).

Vice President Al Gore proposes promoting clean energy, i.e. solar-powered homes, cars that do not burn gas, and a country independent of foreign oil. The Gore plan, which would cost $75 billion, would also encourage companies to develop nonpolluting technologies and would increase US energy production — especially through stepped-up exploration for natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico (27 Jun.).

Domestic policy

The National Commission on Terrorism, set up by Congress two years ago in the wake of the bombings of two US embassies in Africa, releases a 64-page report in which it recommends that the government look into suspicious fund-raising and take concrete steps to prevent terrorism in the US, including the monitoring of all foreign students, and apply more pressure on other countries for their cooperation (4 Jun.).

The Food and Drug Administration proposes approving RU-486 or mifepristone, the abortion drug or "morning-after" pill, for use in the US. The drug, used by women worldwide, was declared "approvable" four years ago but the FDA delayed the final decision because of staunch opposition from anti-abortion groups (early Jun.).

On 15 Jun., the Senate votes to repeal an excise tax on telephone calls that was instituted in 1898 to help fund the Spanish-American War. A roughly similar measure has already been passed by the House of Representatives. If signed into law, the measure will cost the federal Treasury some $5 billion a year.

The Clinton administration has mixed feelings concerning a bill (currently pending in the Senate) that would make the disclosing of classified information to news organizations a felony punishable by up to three years in prison: Attorney General Reno is against the measure but CIA director George Tenet supports it (15 Jun.).

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is pressured by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to explain how two computer disks containing sensitive data disappeared from the US nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos in early May, and were found behind a photocopier on 16 Jun.. Mr Richardson says that the FBI has found no evidence of espionage, but announces that a grand jury will investigate the incident (21 Jun.).

A Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) based in southern Nevada has been set up to react to any credible report that terrorists might have planted a nuclear device in the US. The team, which gathers volunteers from national nuclear laboratories, is overseen by the Department of Energy.

The Senate votes (57 to 42) to make hate attacks motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, or disability a federal crime. Last year, a similar measure passed the Senate but was voted down by the House of Representatives (20 Jun.).

According to a US General Accounting Office report, American nuclear scientists are increasingly being spied upon when they travel abroad. The report blames the Department of Energy for neglecting the risks of travel to "nonsensitive" countries such as France or the UK, where US scientists may be targeted by spies from "sensitive" countries.

President Clinton proposes using $58 billion of the projected budget surplus over the next decade to ensure that no senior citizen pays more than $4,000 a year for prescription drugs (24 Jun.).

By a vote of 385 to 39, the House of Representatives passes a bill aimed at reforming campaign financing by requiring 527 political groups with annual gross receipts of over $25,000 (groups ranging from old organizations like the Sierra Club to new ones like the Republican Majority Issues Committee) to disclose the names of their donors and the amounts of contributions. The bill was sponsored by Senator John McCain, the former Republican contender, Representative Russell Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, and Senator Joseph Liberman, Democrat of Connecticut (28 Jun.). The next day, the Senate passes the same measure (92 to 6). The vote, which sparks the first major change US campaign-finance legislation since 1979, is a setback for Republican leaders. The American Civil Liberties Union charges that the measure infringes on the targeted organizations’ free-speech rights and is therefore unconstitutional (29 Jun.).

To replace William Daley (leaving to run Al Gore’s campaign) as US secretary of commerce, President Clinton nominates Norman Mineta, a Japanese-American who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be the first Asian-American cabinet member (29 Jun.).

Defense and foreign affairs

The Middle East

President Clinton meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Lisbon, and urges the Israelis and Palestinians to resume the deadlocked peace process (1 Jun.). Secretary of State Madeleine Albright travels to the Middle East with a view to arranging a meeting between President Clinton, Prime Minister Barak and Palestinian leader Arafat: the objective is to reach an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, following Mr Barak’s pledge to dismantle West Bank settlements (5 Jun.). A timetable is agreed upon (6 Jun.).

In the wake of Syria’s President Hafez Assad’s death (10 Jun.), Secretary of State Albright briefly meets with his son and heir, Bashar Assad, 34, whom she describes as "somebody who is ready to assume his duties." The new leader expresses a keen interest in pursuing the peace talks that the Clinton administration has been seeking to work out between Syria and Israel (14 Jun.).

Russia

From 3 to 5 June, President Clinton is in Russia. He delivers the first-ever address to the Duma by an American president. While acknowledging that Americans "have to overcome the temptation to think that we have all the answers," Bill Clinton advises Russian lawmakers to bolster democracy in their country (5 Jun.). The same day, the president flies to Kiev, Ukraine, where he promises an aid package worth $78 million; in response to this, President Leonid Kuchma announces that the Chernobyl nuclear plant will be closed by 15 Dec. 2000.

China

After years of negotiations, the US and China sign their first agreement between law-enforcement agencies, which should lead to cooperation and the sharing of intelligence in the area of drug-related crime (19 Jun.).

Secretary of State Albright visits Beijing for the first time since NATO’s bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade last year. Her meetings with Chinese leaders focus on China’s future entry into the World Trade Organization, but Ms Albright also urges them to open talks with Taiwan (22 Jun.).

Southeast Asia

The US and North Korea resume talks in Kuala Lumpur with a view to locating the more than 8,000 American MIAs (soldiers missing in action) from the Korean War (early June).

The US reacts rather guardedly to the landmark 14-June summit meeting in Pyongyang between President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong II. A State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, remarks: "Certainly a reduction in tensions is important, but on the specific issue of possible missile threats [from North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile program, which has aroused misgivings in the US], I haven’t seen or heard anything in the summit that negates that." However, President Clinton says the summit "[is] clearly a move in the right direction" (15 Jun.).

As a result, the Clinton administration announces the lifting of some economic sanctions against North Korea; that country is now allowed to export goods and raw materials to the US; American companies are authorized to invest in North Korea; and air and shipping routes between North Korea and the US can be opened. However, prohibitions on the sale of high technology and "dual use goods" (which can be used for both civilian and military purposes) are not lifted. Nor is the US considering withdrawing its 37,000 troops stationed in South Korea to defend that country from a possible attack by its northern neighbor, as Secretary of State Albright makes it clear on 23 June in Seoul.

In the wake of negotiations with Hanoi, the Clinton administration announces that the US will participate in the de-mining of Vietnam (19 Jun.).

Latin America and the Caribbean

In late May, spokespeople for the Clinton administration said publicly that the recent presidential election in Peru should be declared invalid (see May chronology). On 1 Jun., the US backtracks somewhat: Luis Lauredo, US Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), urges the foreign ministers of the 34-member organization to review the Peruvian election. The change in Washington’s approach results from contradictory American interests: President Fujimori may be an autocrat, but he has also been a staunch ally of the US in its battle against drug producers.

At a conference about money laundering, Caribbean leaders accuse the US of seeking to destroy their offshore economy through efforts to fight money laundering (12 Jun.).

In April, the State Department asked the Chilean government to investigate the deaths of three US citizens (two journalists and a mathematics professor) during General Pinochet’s dictatorship. Now the Clinton administration releases classified documents about the Pinochet regime, and reopens a grand jury investigation into whether the former dictator ought to be indicted for the assassination of a Chilean dissident in Washington, DC, in 1976 (mid-June).

In a major policy shift, House Republican leaders announce they no longer object to the sale of food and medicine to Cuba. The decision is prompted by a desire to placate farm-state voters angry at the loss of billions of dollars in agricultural exports. Humanitarian groups have often contended that the 40-year-old embargo hurts the Cuban people but not their leader (20 Jun.).

"Rogue states" and the Clinton national missile defense plan

During his trip to Russia, President Clinton acknowledges that Russia and the US are not totally agreed as regards defense: Russian leader Vladimir Putin says the Clinton national missile defense scheme would violate the 1962 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Mr Putin acknowledges the risks posed by "rogue" states such as North Korea or Afghanistan, but he adds that the Russians "are against having a cure that is worse than the disease." On the other hand, Mr Putin would like the US and Russia to continue to reduce the number of their warheads even below the level specified for a possible START III agreement, an objective Mr Clinton does not share (3-5 Jun.).

Some 40 physicists from 16 states go to Capitol Hill to express criticism of the US antimissile defense plan on the ground that it could be undone easily despite its high cost — an expected $60 billion (12 Jun.).

Lawyers from the State and Defense Departments and the National Security Council, whom President Bill Clinton requested to study the controversial issue of the US missile defense shield, affirm that the plan can be carried out without the US violating the 1972 ABM Treaty (mid-June).

The Senate lifts legal obstacles for the Department of Energy’s nuclear weapons laboratories to aid Pentagon research into a low-yield nuclear weapon: the objective is to build a device capable of destroying hardened and buried targets by penetrating deep underground before exploding. Such a weapon is alleged to be aimed at "rogue states," especially Iraq (mid-June).

The US Department of State announces that countries which have been called "rogue nations" in the past few years (North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Cuba) will now be referred to as "states of concern" (19 Jun.).

The Clinton administration is delaying decision over whether or not to build a national missile defense system so as to avert a diplomatic crisis over the ABM Treaty of 1972 (late June).

The International Criminal Court

The US requests changes in the charter of the soon-to-be-established International Criminal Court, which is to try war criminals, perpetrators of genocide and of crimes against humanity. The Americans want to prevent US soldiers and officials from falling under the court’s jurisdiction. The US is one of only seven countries (Iraq and China are others) which have refused to sign the Rome Treaty that set the court up in July 1998. The tribunal, supported by the EU and by NATO members, would be considerably weakened if the US failed to participate. Experts are all the more puzzled by the American attitude as the Rome Treaty grants countries whose citizens are charged with international crimes the right to try them in their own courts — a procedure the US has often resorted to, court-martialing American soldiers involved in criminal activity (12 Jun.).

Congressional Republicans announce that they are going to introduce legislation to prevent US cooperation with an international war crimes tribunal as long as the US has not signed the 1998 treaty (14 Jun.).

A compromise is reached between the US and the other countries about the International Criminal Court: provisionally, American soldiers will be exempt until further talks settle the issue, which is immediately criticized by independent legal experts (27 Jun.).

Legal issues

Capital punishment

Texas Governor George W. Bush grants a temporary 30-day reprieve to Ricky Nolen McGinn, 43, who was convicted of raping and killing his stepdaughter in 1993, but has always protested his innocence. The governor’s decision was all the more unexpected as he is a staunch advocate of the death penalty and is convinced that none of the 130 people executed in Texas since he took office was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. The reprieve will make it possible for sophisticated DNA tests to be performed on the convict. Since he took office, Governor Bush has pardoned two people convicted of sex offenses after DNA tests had cleared them of all charges (1 Jun.).

James Liebman, a Columbia University law professor, releases one of the most comprehensive surveys of the death penalty in the US, covering 23 years (1973-1995). The study reveals that only 5 percent of the 5,760 convicts who were sentenced to death in the period covered were executed; when the convicts were retried, 7 percent were found not guilty, and fewer than two in ten of those convicted again were sentenced to death. When death sentences were overturned, in 37 percent of the cases appeals courts blamed the poor performance of defendants’ attorneys; in 16 percent, prosecutors were blamed (e.g. for suppressing exculpatory or mitigating evidence). Besides, the study evinces significant disparities between the states: thus none of Maryland’s 60 death sentences was upheld on appeal, while neighboring state Virginia did execute 28 percent of its 105 condemned inmates — the highest ratio in the nation. Texas has a reversal rate of 52 percent and Illinois 66 percent, and the national rate is 68 percent.

The study’s author concludes that the US death-penalty system is seriously flawed: "error was found at epidemic levels across the country," he contends. Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, calls for national standards; he has introduced a bill in Congress that would make post-conviction DNA testing available to all death-row inmates (mid-June). Speaking to editors and reporters of the New York Times, Vice President Gore, who has always supported the death penalty, says the new findings may prompt a review of capital punishment in the US.

Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, announces he is going to introduce a bill aimed at providing more safeguards against errors by allowing DNA testing for people convicted before it began to be used in crime cases, if identity was an issue at trial. Senator Hatch’s initiative is all the more significant as he too has been a vocal advocate of capital punishment (13 Jun.). Attorney General Janet Reno says that all defendants in capital cases should benefit not only from DNA testing but also from competent counsel (15 Jun.).

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refuses to delay the execution of Gary Graham, who was convicted of killing a man in 1981 — when he was 17 — on the testimony of a single witness. Graham has always protested his innocence. Without recommendation from the Board, Governor Bush cannot grant a reprieve, a commutation or a pardon, even if he wanted to. The US Supreme Court votes (5 to 4) not to stop the execution. Gary Graham is executed the same day (22 Jun.).

Elian’s Odyssey, continuation (see previous chronologies)

The US Court of Appeals for the 11th circuit rules that the Clinton administration acted properly in the Elian Gonzalez case (1 Jun.). However, Elian’s Miami relatives file an appeal (15 Jun.). The Court of Appeals rejects their request to grant the boy a political-asylum hearing (23 Jun.). They appeal to the US Supreme Court (26 Jun.). The US Supreme Court dismisses without comment both Elian’s relatives’ request for a hearing and an emergency request to block his departure. The boy and his father fly to Cuba the same evening, which should put an end to the story (28 Jun.).

The US Supreme Court

- strikes down a Washington-state statute that allows grandparents and non-relatives to petition for the right to visit children, on the ground that it violates a parent’s right to bring up his/her offspring without state interference (Troxel v. Grandville, 5 Jun.);

- orders a new sentencing hearing for a Texas convict whose sentence was based on his Hispanic origin (5 Jun.);

- rules unanimously that health maintenance organizations (HMOs) do not violate their obligations to patients under federal law when they offer their employee-physicians bonuses to hold down costs (12 Jun.);

- unanimously makes it easier for employees to file age-discrimination lawsuits against employers (12 Jun.);

- strikes down a Massachusetts statute aimed at spurring democratization in Burma by prohibiting state agencies from dealing with companies doing business with that country. The Court argues that foreign affairs are part of the federal government’s express powers;

- strikes down (6 to 3) a Texas school district’s policy that allows a public "invocation" before home high-school football games, on the grounds that it "establishes an improper majoritarian election on religion, and unquestionably has the purpose and creates the perception of encouraging the delivery of prayer at a series of important school events" [Justice John Paul Stevens]. The policy is found to violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment (19 Jun.);

- clearly reaffirms (7 to 2) the famed Miranda v. Arizona ruling which requires the police to advise any criminal suspect of his/her rights ["You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to the presence of an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed by the court."] The two dissenters are Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas (26 Jun.);

- upholds (5 to 4) the right of the Boy Scouts to prohibit gay men from becoming scout leaders — which implies that gay boys are effectively barred from joining the Scouts. According to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, denying the Boy Scouts the right to bar gays would interfere with the organization’s First Amendment right of association (18 Jun.);

- strikes down (5 to 4) a Nebraska law that bans what is commonly known as "partial-birth abortion" (a term the medical profession does not recognize) and does not contain an exception for protection of the woman’s health (28 Jun.);

- upholds a Colorado statute requiring antiabortion demonstrators to stay away from anyone entering or leaving abortion clinics. The US Department of Justice backs the statute on the ground that it protects women from harassment by right-to-life zealots. Justice Kennedy dissents, however, complaining that "For the first time, the Court approves a law which bars a private citizen from passing a message, in a peaceful manner and on a profound moral issue" (28 Jun.).

Miscellaneous

During his European tour, President Clinton is awarded the Charlemagne Prize by a German-based foundation, for his contribution to European unity and peace (Aachen, 2 Jun.).

The US and EU reach an agreement on Internet privacy standards. Companies will have to notify people when they collect information on them, and people will have the right to ask a company what data it has collected on them and what purpose they are being used for.

According to a Department of Justice report released in early June, 204,000 gun sales — i.e. 2.4 percent of the 8.6 million applications — were rejected in 1999 following background checks of would-be buyers.

Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the US District Court orders that Microsoft Corp. split into two companies, one making computer operating systems and the other producing software (7 Jun.). Microsoft announces that it is appealing the ruling. The company’s president, Steve Ballmer, calls the court decision "unreasonable and excessive" and "an unwarranted and unjustified intrusion into the marketplace" (8 Jun.).

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia agrees to hear Microsoft’s appeal but federal government lawyers request that the matter be sent directly to the US Supreme Court, which is done on 20 June under a special law which permits US District Judge Thomas Penfield to bypass the Court of Appeals for DC.

The US forcibly repatriates Andy Morales, a baseball player on Cuba’s national team who tried to enter the country illegally, was caught off the Florida Coast, and failed to convince the Immigration and Naturalization Service that he ought to be granted political asylum. It is the first time the US has repatriated a Cuban athlete, but the Clinton administration contends that Mr Morales is being treated just like any other illegal alien (7 Jun.).

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, 62.7 percent of drug offenders sent to prison in 1996 (the last year for which complete statistics are available) were African-Americans, while 36.7 percent were Whites [Blacks make up about 12.8 percent of the US population, Whites about 82.3 percent]. Ken Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, concludes: "Black and white drug offenders get radically different treatment in the American justice system. This is not only unfair to Blacks, it also corrodes the American ideal of equal justice for all." The US prison population has quadrupled since 1980, and much of the increase is related to drug offenses.

FBI officials announce a major crackdown on stock fraud: more than 100 arrests are made throughout the nation, the largest number of defendants arrested at one time on securities fraud charges in US history (14 Jun.).

The Office of the Independent Counsel, headed by Robert Ray, announces that it will not seek criminal charges against Hillary Rodham Clinton for her involvement in the firing of seven White House Travel Office employees shortly after President Clinton took office in 1992 [The Travel Office makes arrangements for journalists accredited with the White House to travel with the president]. However, Robert Ray suggests that the part the first lady played in the affair was more important than Mrs Clinton herself acknowledged in her sworn testimony on the case (22 Jun.).

A federal judge sentences former New York City police officer Charles Schwarz to over 15 years in prison for abusing a Haitian immigrant, Abner Louima, in August 1997. Two other officers are sentenced to five years in jail for covering up the assault (27 Jun.).

Economic issues

Figures

The US unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent in May from 3.9 percent in April, according to a Labor Department report (2 Jun.). Wall Street welcomes this as good news, because the tighter the labor market, the higher the risk of wage hikes and inflation. Besides, another report shows that factory orders decreased by 4.3 percent in April, the sharpest fall in ten years. Consequently, investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve Board will not raise interests rate this month (indeed it does not).

According to Commerce Department data, the US trade deficit declined slightly in April, to $30.4 billion (as against a record $30.6 billion in March). It is the first decline since December 1998. However, the US deficit with both Japan and China widened.

GDP (the gross domestic product) grew at a 5.5 percent annual rate in the first three months of 2000.

The Clinton administration projects a federal budget surplus of $1.87 trillion over the next ten years, more than double the figure forecast four months ago. President Clinton wants to use the surplus to pay the national debt by 2012. He also outlines a deal: if the Republicans permit him to spend more on Medicare (to pay for prescription drugs for the elderly), he will agree to diminish taxpayers’ "marriage penalty." [In the US 25 million married people currently pay more tax than they would if they were single.] (26 Jun.).

Other news

Consolidation is going on:

- in the global food industry, the British-Dutch company Unilever, after announcing in April that it would buy the famous ice-cream make Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. and SlimFast Foods Co., is now buying Bestfoods Inc., a New-Jersey-based firm that makes, among other products, Knorr’s soups (6 Jun.).

- Philip Morris Co., the world’s largest tobacco company, announces that it is purchasing Nabisco Holdings Corp., the top cracker and cookie maker in the US (25 Jun.).

On the other hand, the US Department of Justice files suit challenging the merger of WorldCom Inc. and Sprint Corp., the US companies that rank second and third as long-distance phone providers. Joel Klein, chief of the Department’s antitrust division, and Attorney General Janet Reno argue that the merger would prevent competition in the area of telecommunications. The companies withdraw their merger notification (27 Jun.).

Alan Greenspan is sworn in to his fourth four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (20 Jun.).

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the high prices of gasoline in the Midwest (28 Jun.).

Miscellaneous

For the first time in its history, NASA decides to destroy a satellite, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, fearing that it may lose control of it, which might bring about a repeat of a 1979 incident: that year, a Skylab space station plunged over Australia and the Indian Ocean (early June).

The decennial census is to be conducted shortly; yet Congress and the Clinton administration are still at odds over the use of traditional counting methods, which Democrats (and the Census Bureau) say should be supplemented by data deriving from a randomly selected national sample of 314,000 households. Now the (chiefly partisan) issue has reached the states: on 5 June, the Republican-controlled New Jersey legislature passes a bill requiring the state to use nothing but traditional methods (mailed-in census forms, forms handed out by door-to-door canvassers, etc.). Should the bill become law, New Jersey would be the sixth state to ban the use of sampling [The Census Bureau’s position is due to the federal agency’s desire to avoid a repeat of the 1990 Census, which missed an estimated 8 million people — mostly minorities — while another 4 million — mostly Whites — were counted twice].

A coalition of Massachusetts doctors, nurses, senior citizens, labor unions and others are currently collecting signatures with a view to organizing a referendum about health care in November. Should state voters approve it, the initiative would require the legislature to provide health-care coverage for all by mid-2002 [currently some 600,000 citizens are not covered]. It would also introduce a patient’s bill of rights that would guarantee them the freedom to choose their doctor, and doctors the freedom to choose the right treatment for their patients. The Massachusetts health-care initiative is the most sweeping, but Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Montana voters will also be able to express themselves on the issue in November.

A report by the US Global Change Research Program (incorporating projects in nine federal agencies and the Smithsonian Institution), ordered by Congress, is released. The study, entitled "Climate Change impacts on the United States" in the 21st century, warns (1) that average temperatures are likely to rise by 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 6 degrees C); that there will be more summer heat waves and milder winters; (2) that snowpack will decrease by 50 percent on average, and winter rain will increase, especially in the Southwest (by 100 percent); that total precipitation will rise by some 10 percent, largely in the form of severe storms; yet the risk of drought from western Kansas to Colorado will be higher; (3) that agricultural production will rise and forests flourish, but fragile ecosystems such as wetlands will suffer or disappear. However worrying these forecasts, the report is not overly pessimistic: it claims that "American society [will] likely be able to adapt to most of the impacts." (The study is to be available for the public at http://www.usgcrp.gov (12 Jun.).

According to a study ordered by Congress and released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, some 87,000 homes and other buildings are situated on land that is likely to wash away into the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific, and the Great Lakes in the next 60 years (27 Jun.).

Affirming that "Southern Baptists, by practice as well as conviction, believe leadership is male," the Southern Baptist Convention decides (15 June) to bar women from serving as pastors.

Although all the factors that are said to have contributed to a significant drop in the murder rate nationwide from 1991 through 1998, the number of homicides has been increasing since early 1999, most notably in New York City. However, experts say the evidence is still too fragmentary for reliable conclusions to be drawn.

According to a Los Angeles Times survey conducted in early June, support for abortion rights in the US is declining: today 43 percent of respondents say they support abortion rights, as against 56 percent in 1991. Two-thirds say abortion should be illegal after three months of pregnancy. While 85 percent back abortion when a woman’s physical health is in jeopardy, only 54 percent do when her emotional health is. Yet a rising number of respondents say they approve of RU 186, the "morning after" pill.

The Southeast from Florida to Texas, as well as the Great Plains, are hit by a very serious drought. It has already affected two crops, peanuts and cotton.

The World Health Organization releases a ranking of its 191 member-countries regarding health care: the United States comes in 37th, although it spends 13.7 percent of GDP on health, as against 9.8 percent for France (which ranks first) and 5.8 percent for the UK, which comes in 18th.

The top three finishers in the National Spelling Bee were educated at home, like 3 percent of American children (1.5 million). Overall, home-schooled children’s median test scores are significantly higher than those of children educated in public schools.

At a news conference in Washington, DC, two scientists of a San Diego company who are subcontractors on the NASA Mars Global Surveyor orbiter project, announce that a spacecraft orbiting Mars has spotted signs of recent water activity on the planet (22 Jun.).

by Magali Puyjarinet  Université de Metz