Zaire Mission Approval Set

Canadian officials say the international humanitarian mission to central Africa will be approved today at a meeting in Ottawa. The agreement calls for the establishment of a multinational headquarters in Uganda that will coordinate airdrops of food into eastern Zaire if needed. The project is aimed at bringing food to hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutu refugees still in eastern Zaire. The international coalition appears determined to go ahead with its plans despite opposition from Zaire to food drops and skepticism from relief workers that this is the route to go.

Perry: US Must Intimidate Iran, Iraq

Defense Secretary William Perry today told U.S. sailors patrolling the Gulf their job is to "intimidate Iraq and Iran." During a visit to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, Perry said Iraq and Iran want to control "two-thirds of world oil supplies located in the Gulf." He told the ship's crew: "There is nothing more intimidating than a carrier battle group. That is your job -- to intimidate Iraq and Iran." The United States has 27 warships in and around the Gulf.

Perry Says Terrorists Foiled

Defense Secretary William Perry says U.S. and Saudi Arabian intelligence efforts averted possible new "terrorist" attacks on American military forces in the kingdom. A total of 24 U.S. soldiers were killed in two bomb attacks in Saudi Arabia in November, 1995, and in June of this year. Perry told reporters on a flight to Kuwait that there had been a number of arrests to prevent possible attacks in the kingdom. As a result, Perry says, U.S. troops "are still on high threat alert" in Saudi Arabia.

Jackson Hails Initiative Ruling

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson welcomed a court ruling that temporarily blocked enforcement of a controversial measure to roll back affirmative action programs in California. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco agreed to a request Wednesday by civil rights groups to issue a temporary restraining order barring California from implementing Proposition 209. His decision bars enforcement of the initiative which would prohibit racial or gender preferences in public employment, education or contracting in California.

Bosnia Mission Will be Difficult

U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry warned that the new international military force in Bosnia would face "a very difficult mission" next year and said civilian rebuilding of the country must advance quickly. Perry ate a traditional Thanksgiving holiday lunch with troops at a U.S. base near Tuzla yesterday. He also met Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Toporov and NATO officers to discuss the new 31,000-member force which will begin operating on Dec. 20 and remain until mid-1998. Perry said tensions would be kept high by refugee resettlement and municipal elections in Bosnia as well as war crimes trials in The Hague.

Admin. Considers Welfare Changes

The White House has confirmed it is studying ways to amend the landmark welfare overhaul that President Clinton signed into law earlier this year. But spokesman Mike McCurry described as premature a report that said the Clinton administration may seek to restore about one-quarter of the $55 billion in savings the overhaul created. Quoting U.S. officials, the New York Times said the White House is studying restoring food stamp eligibility for legal immigrants who are not yet citizens, increasing food stamp allotments to families with high housing costs and relaxing some of the strict work requirements for adults without children.

EPA Proposes New Air Regs

In a move expected to have far-reaching effects on health and industry, the Clinton administration is proposing stricter air quality standards for smog and tiny particles that lodge in the lungs. The Environmental Protection Agency wants smog-forming ozone pollution be limited to eight parts per billion measured over eight hours. The current standard allows 12 parts per billion. The EPA also proposed stricter standards for airborne particulates such as soot and sulfates. Industry groups say tighter rules will cost billions of dollars and inconvenience motorists and other consumers. But health and environmental advocates say existing standards are too lax. The EPA is scheduled to issue a final rule in June.

US Still Opposing UN Chief

The United States, sensing that the tide may be turning in its lone fight to oust U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, has ruled out reviving its compromise offer that he serve one more year. The State Department said it was encouraged by reports that Ethiopia had urged other African states to abandon their support for Boutros-Ghali and come up with alternative candidates from the continent. Spokesman Nicholas Burns, asked about reports that some European countries favored a limited extension for Boutros-Ghali after his five-year term expires Dec. 31, said: "The United States has taken that offer off the table."

US Diplomat to Visit Asia

Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord will leave for Tokyo and Hong Kong tomorrow for meetings about U.S. troops on Okinawa and Hong Kong's transfer from Britain to China. Lord, who accompanied President Clinton on a 12-day trip to Asia that ended Wednesday, will return to the region for a Dec. 1-3 meeting of the U.S.-Japanese security consultative committee, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said. He said the "very important meeting" would review the final report of the joint committee set up to review problems caused by the stationing of U.S. troops on Okinawa.

State Spokesman Dies

Robert J. McCloskey, the U.S. government's main spokesman during the Vietnam War, has died. Anne McCloskey says her husband died yesterday morning after a year-long battle with leukemia. Robert McCloskey was State Department spokesman during the Johnson and Nixon administrations and was the government's main spokesman during the Vietnam War. He also served as an assistant secretary of State under Henry Kissinger and as U.S. ambassador to Cyprus, the Netherlands and Greece and as an ambassador-at-large during the 1970's before retiring from the Foreign Service in 1981.

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