Around the Nation

Around the Nation

Aides oppose clemency for Pollard

Yesterday was the date the White House set for receiving recommendations and information from the departments of state, defense and justice as well as the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

A senior U.S. official said yesterday that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has told Clinton there are "no compelling foreign policy considerations" to justify releasing Pollard. Albright's views, combined with the known views of other senior Clinton aides, could seal Pollard's fate.

His imprisonment almost derailed the U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement reached in October during talks at Wye River Plantation in Maryland. Under last-minute pressure from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Clinton promised to take a fresh look at clemency for Pollard even though two previous reviews of the case, also requested by Israel, found no grounds to commute his sentence.

Court upholds NYC crackdown on porn

The justices left intact regulations that prohibit sex-oriented theaters, bookstores, massage parlors and dance clubs from operating within 500 feet of homes, houses of worship, schools or each other.

About 150 establishments previously deemed to be primarily adult-oriented now face one of three options: move to some outlying industrial area, close down or change the nature of their business.

"We're obviously disappointed," said Beth Haroules of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which represented customers of adult businesses in all five New York boroughs.

"The city might now get even more aggressive - sending what amounts to SWAT teams into establishments they believe are adult-oriented," she said. "It's unfortunate because what's under attack is protected expression. You may not like, I may not like it, but it's protected. The city should have used less intrusive regulation."

Report: Y2K to have minimal impact

But Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, accepting the latest report on how the power industry is tackling the "Y2K" problem, said he was still concerned that not all of the industry will meet a midyear target of having all its critical systems "Y2K" ready.

"That there are no show stoppers that would threaten the nation's electricity supplies is welcome news," Richardson said.

01-12-99