AP Top News at 3 a.m. EDT

AP Online
08-30-2000
AP Top News at 3 a.m. EDT

Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2000

Clinton Plans To Reopen Peace Quest

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With a deadline closing in, President Clinton will make a fresh attempt next week to reopen summit talks with Israel and the Palestinians and try to mediate a settlement on Jerusalem's future and the shape of a Palestinian state. The odds against him appear long. A senior U.S. official involved in the drive told The Associated Press on Tuesday that at this point the two sides were too far apart on the issues to call another summit. Clinton plans separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat against the backdrop of the United Nations' Millennium Summit, which will bring scores of government heads to New York.

Rebels Threaten To Kill American Hostage

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) -- Muslim rebels in the Philippines threatened Tuesday to kill an American man they have kidnapped unless the United States accepts their demands. Jeffrey Craig Edwards Schilling, of Oakland, Calif., was seized Monday by a faction of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, which this week released six other Western hostages in return for a reported $6 million ransom but was still holding 18 other captives. But the faction holding Schilling insisted the prospect of more ransom was not behind the latest kidnapping. In past abductions, the faction has demanded the release of Muslim militants jailed in the United States for the World Trade Center bombing and other planned attacks.

Bush, Gore Spending The Same

WASHINGTON (AP) -- George W. Bush spent more than $40 million trying to reach voters through advertising and by mail and telephone, nearly as much as Al Gore doled out for his campaign during the presidential primaries, an analysis of campaign spending records show. The study of campaign spending through July 31 shows that Bush, the Republican presidential nominee, spent $43 million -- nearly half of his record-shattering $100 million campaign treasury -- on efforts to reach voters, including $25 million on television and radio ads. Democrat Gore spent just $14 million on similar voter-targeted activity.

Mo. Executes Killer of Three

POTOSI, Mo. (AP) -- A man was executed by injection early Wednesday for killing a woman and her two sons during a 1992 robbery because he feared the family would identify him. Prosecutors said Roll and two accomplices went to the Scheper's Cape Girardeau home in southeast Missouri early Aug. 9, 1992, with the intent to commit robbery. Sherry Scheper, 47, was beaten to death with a gun; Randy, 17, was shot and killed; and Curtis, 22, was stabbed to death. The men then left with 12 plastic sandwich-sized bags full of marijuana and $214 in cash.

E. Timor Celebrates Independence

DILI, East Timor (AP) -- East Timor marked the first anniversary of its historic independence ballot Wednesday, with tearful prayers for those killed in the long fight for independence and calls for forgiveness for the Indonesian generals held responsible. Thousands of people walked or rode in U.N. trucks and motorbikes to a cathedral in Dili, East Timor's capital, to give thanks for their freedom. Indonesia's military invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975. About 200,000 lives were lost to disease, famine and military repression before the Aug. 30, 1999, ballot in which East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence.

Microsoft Plans New Office Software

SEATTLE (AP) -- After lower-than-expected sales of its Office 2000 software package, Microsoft Corp. went back to the drawing board and will come out with a new feature-crammed version next year. The first ``beta'' of the new Office, a prototype called Office 10, will include voice-recognition software, have a new look and feel and offer new ways to collaborate on documents via the Internet, the company said Tuesday. Voice recognition -- the ability to dictate into the computer and issue vocal commands such as ``save'' or ``delete'' -- promises to be the most prominent.

Tokyo Stocks Slip

TOKYO (AP) -- Tokyo stocks fell early Wednesday. The Nikkei shed 72.13 points to 17,069.62. In New York on Tuesday, the Dow closed down 37.74 at 11,215.10. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 11.58 at 4,082.17.

Angels Beat Blue Jays 9-4

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Darin Erstad went 3-for-5 to reach 200 hits faster than any player in 65 years as the Anaheim Angels rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4 Tuesday night. The Angels trailed 4-0 before Troy Glaus hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning and Mo Vaughn tied it with a solo shot in the fifth. Anaheim broke it open with four runs in the sixth, capped by Erstad's two-run single. Erstad reached 200 hits in Anaheim's 132nd game -- the fastest since the Cardinals' Ducky Medwick did it in 131 games in 1935.

AP NewsBrief by PAULINE M. MILLARD

The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved