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Show THEWORL.D DIGEST UTAH SYMPHONY PERFORMANCE MARKS TUACAHN OPENING: A two-hour performance by the Utah Symphony marked the opening of the Tuacahn Amphitheater and Center for the Arts Wednesday and gave the audience a preview of what is to come this summer. The symphony started with the "Tuacahn Overture," a medley from "UTAH!", a musical about the settlement of southern Utah that will be performed at the new center beginning June 23. ADMINISTRATION WILL APPEAL MILITARY-GAYS RULING: The Clinton administration has decided to appeal a federal judge's ruling that its "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military is unconstitutional. Solicitor General Drew S. D11ys decided to take the case to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, Justice Department spokesman Joe Krovisky announced yesterday. Pres. Bill Clinton Shimon Shamir. Israel's first ambassador to fordan, crosses the King Hussein-Allenby Bridge into fordan yesterday to assume duties in line with the peace treaty the kingdom and the Jewish state signed Oct.26, ending nearly five decades of hostility between them. Jordan, Israel exchange ambassadors AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan's first ambassador to Israel headed for Tel Aviv yesterday and his Israeli counterpart arrived in Amman, culminating a drive to normalize relations between their nations. Marwan Mouasher, 38, former spokesman for Jordan's peace negotiating team, and Shimon Shamir, 62, a former history professor at Tel Aviv University, assumed their posts amid growing opposition in Jordan to the normalization. More the half the people in Jordan are from Palestinian families who fled or were forced out in the 1948 and 1967 Middle East wars. They remain skeptical of the peace treaty Jordan and Israel signed Oct. 26, ending a 46year state of war. "If peace is to be permanent and comprehensive, the citizen of Jordan must feel that the Palestinian track is going in the right direction," Mouasher said yesterday as he was leaving. Israel and the Palestinians signed a self-rule accord in September 1993. It granted the Palestinians autonomy in the Gaza strip and the West Bank town of Jericho as a first step toward autonomy across territories occupied in 1967. The two sides are still negotiating the terms of Israel's withdrawal from the rest of the West Bank. Utah delegation splits along party lines deficit now totaling $5 trillion, he said during a floor speech. "So I would urge my colleagues, let's balance the budget first. Let's not dig deeper into the hole before we try to climb out." Waldholtz and Hansen said the bill was for the good of the country, though provisions raising the retirement contribution of federal employees would mean some sacrifice for civil-service workers in Utah - most of them in Hansen's district. Besides increasing the employee contribution by 2 1/2 percent, the bill also raises the number of highes t-paid year u d to calculate federal retirement benefits from three ear· to five. Hansen had truggled with o mcasme all along, at ne p int offering an amen<ln ent to 1 akc them apply only to federal l r r hire alt r Janu r 199 . Th· i I cnd11cnt failed, but H n en l h · d th · en t w ul balk nt the tedcral-cmplop.:e pr vision, and he d cided the 6 ml of the ta· bil1 m1twc1ghed th bad. SALT LAKE CITY /AP] - Utah's delegation split along party lines as the house passed a Republican tax-cut bill. The bill was approved 246-188 Wednesday night and sent to the Senate, where it is likely to undergo extensive revision by deficitconscious lawmakers from both parties. A cheer went up in the chamber as House Speaker Newt Gingrich rapped the gavel to signify passage. Voting in favor were 219 Republicans and 27 Demociats. Opposed were 176 Democrat , 11 Republicans and one independent. Republican Reps. Jim Hansen and Enid Waldholtz voted in favor of the bill and Democratic Rep. Bill Orton voted again t. "If this is the crown 1cwel f their ntract, they ou t lu et a J c:l r to look at it. Thi rh n tone It's crock " .at f h ur •arl1 r rt n s id he b1ll 10\'lt n ,m1 c t tr ph b be.: ore ongre m th w1ll to bal n e 700 billion o a national I CHRISTOPHER REVIVES CONCERNS OVER IRAQI WEAPONS INTENTIONS: A U.N. report due next week will support U.S. concerns that Iraq is bent on developing biological weapons for offensive purposes, Secretary of State Warren Christopher said yesterday. "The report will do nothing to reassure us about the concern and fears we have had," he said as he took up the issue with visiting U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali. NEGOTIATORS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON DEFENSE SPENDING BILL: Responding to Pentagon appeals for quick action, the House yesterday agreed to a $3.1 billion supplemental defense spending bill to help pay for such deployments as Haiti and Somalia. The 343-80 vote came on the House's last legislative day before it begins its spring recess, and within hours after a Wednesday night agreement with Senate negotiators on how to pay for the spending package. SPANISH FISHERMEN PELT CANADIAN EMBASSY WITH FISH, EGGS: Several thousand fishermen pelted the Canadian Embassy with mackerel and eggs yesterday to protest alleged Canadian harassment of Spanish trawlers in the North Atlantic. Reports that Canadian patrol boats had tried to cut the nets of two Spanish trawlers off Newfoundland late Wednesday raised the ire of the fishermen, who traveled in a bus convoy overnight from the northwestern port of Vigo. GADHAFI: LIBYA PLANNING TO DEFY AIR BAN, MAY PULL OUT OF U.N.: Moammar Gadhafi says Libyan planes will soon defy a United Nations embargo and fly over neighboring countries, The New York Times reported yesterday. The Libyan leader also tmeatened pull out of the international agency. In an interview in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Gadhafi also told the newspaper he would retaliate if Egypt, Sudan and Saudi Arabia don't allow the flights, which he said would be carrying Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. |