Space Shuttle Lands in Florida

The space shuttle Atlantis landed today at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, bringing home U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger from Russia's Mir space station. The shuttle made a picture-perfect landing on the three-mile-long runway at Cape Canaveral. The 42-year-old astronaut, the fourth NASA astronaut to live and work aboard Mir, walked off the shuttle after his four-month stay in space. "Feeling great and good to be home," Linenger told mission control soon after the landing. Linenger's 132-day mission aboard Mir was marred by a serious fire, numerous mechanical breakdowns and a near collision with an unmanned supply ship.

Moderate Wins Iran Election

Iran's presidential election has ended in a stunning upset. Iran's moderate former culture minister Mohammad Khatami defeated conservative parliamentary speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, who had the backing of the Islamic republic's conservative establishment. Khatami attracted a broad coalition of centrists, women, young people and intellectuals seeking a more relaxed application of Islamic values. The result was a blow to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who tacitly supported Nateq-Nouri. Final results released today show Khatami winning 69 percent of the 29.1 million votes cast in the election.

Clinton Rebukes Republicans

President Clinton used his weekly radio address today to criticize congressional Republicans for dragging their feet on emergency disaster aid for 33 states. The House and Senate have left for a 10-day holiday break without passing legislation to provide emergency relief to disaster victims, including those from the flood-ravaged Dakotas and Minnesota. Both parties support disaster aid, but Clinton has threatened to veto the $8.4 billion emergency measure because of unrelated spending and environmental amendments added by Republicans. Clinton says the Republicans have left disaster victims "in the lurch."

Youth Cigarette Sales May Drop

The Dallas Morning News reported today that tobacco companies have agreed to cut cigarette sales to minors by 60 percent in the next decade as part of talks aimed at settling smoking liability issues. While negotiations on a broader agreement were continuing, the Morning News says the industry has agreed with government and private lawyers on a timetable to reduce teen smoking. The newspaper quotes Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore as saying the goal is to cut smoking among teens by 30 percent in five years, 50 percent in seven years and 60 percent in 10 years.

Richardson Cautious on Iraq Deal

America's ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, says the Clinton administration is reserving judgment on whether Iraq's oil-for-food deal should be continued. Richardson said today the United States has not decided whether to continue the U.N.-brokered deal in which Iraq was allowed to sell $2 billion of oil over six months to buy food, medicine and other essentials for its people. The deal which went into effect in December is up for renewal next month. Richardson made his comments on CNN's "Evans and Novak" program.

Kabila: Elections After 2 Years

New Congo's self-proclaimed president Laurent Kabila says he expects to hold elections in his vast country after two years. He also told CNN television he believes his government, dominated by members of his Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, is broad-based, despite criticism of the exclusion of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. Meanwhile, troops in Kinshasa fired in the air today to break up a march by about 1,000 students protesting against Kabila's government.

Israel Won't Stop Building

Israel reaffirmed today it will keep building a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The comments from Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh came in response to reports Israel intends to offer at next week's Israeli-Egyptian summit to suspend work on the Har Homa settlement. The PLO has demanded Israel scrap the construction of 6,500 homes for Jews on the Jerusalem hilltop before peace talks, suspended when bulldozers broke ground in March, can resume.

Crews Work on Train Derailment

Emergency crews are working to stabilize freight cars that derailed and tumbled down a canyon slope near Martinez, Calif., forcing the evacuation of residents in the area. Authorities say once they've determined the cars aren't leaking they'll begin removing them. They say they hope to have residents back in their homes this evening. The accident occurred last night about 25 miles northeast of San Francisco. At least 19 cars of the train carrying gas residue and corrosive acid derailed in the accident, prompting the evacuation of homes within a half mile of the site as a precaution.

Somoza Mementos Sold

Some mementos of the late Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza were auctioned today in Miami. The auction's highlight was a gold-plated, engraved pistol owned by Somoza that went for $5,750. It was purchased by Claudio Linarte, a former Somoza associate who now lives in Miami. The auctioned goods had been in the possession of Somoza's longtime mistress, Dinorah Sampson. But she forfeited the objects after failing to pay a storage fee and will get none of the proceeds from the sale. The items included photographs and papers from the Somoza regime before its downfall by the Sandinistas in 1979.

Fire Kills 5 in Pennsylvania

Police in Reading, Pa., say a kitchen fire killed four children and the grandmother of three of them. Firefighters were called to a rowhouse about 5:30 a.m. and before they quelled the flames, three neighboring dwellings were damaged to lesser degrees. Inside was Karen Martin, 40, and four youngsters, Tyrell and Shakiyla Martin, aged 6 and 5, Jasmine Stevenson, 8, and Laquan Walker, 3. The 8-year-old was an overnight visitor, said a police spokesman. Three other people escaped unhurt.

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