June 12, 1993

Averting a major confrontation with the West, North Korea said today that it would not withdraw for now from the international treaty banning the spread of nuclear weapons. The announcement came just hours before the North Korean pullout was to take effect on Saturday.

Economic Reports Ease Fear of Inflation Surge Producer price inflation was flat in May and retail sales posted a weaker-than-expected rise. The reports pointed to slow economic growth and allayed fears that the Federal Reserve would soon raise interest rates to curb inflation, which had surged earlier in the year. Page 35. Cable Price Cuts Delayed The Government-imposed reductions in cable television rates will be delayed because the F.C.C. needs more money to put them in place. Page 35. Doubt Over Ukraine Arms With Ukraine's leadership in disarray and its economy in a downturn, the ability to make the transition to a non-nuclear state is in doubt. Page 5. Bulls Beat Suns Again The Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the National Basketball Association championship series. Page 29.

The Supreme Court gave its approval today to a new approach to punishing hate crimes, ruling unanimously that states may impose harsher sentences on criminals who choose their victims on the basis of race, religion or other personal characteristics. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's opinion for the Court upheld a Wisconsin state law that is similar to sentence-enhancement laws now on the books in more than half the states. In an unusual show of state unanimity, the 49 other states filed a joint brief in support of the Wisconsin law. With a similar Federal measure now under consideration in Congress, the Clinton Administration also filed a brief in support of the Wisconsin law.

As Chen Fuxing tells it, the Golden Venture's odyssey to America was a trial of desperation and fear. The lack of food, water, light and space broke the 300 travelers down and a kind of Darwinian order took shape. The weaker ones, who typically got the last scraps of a daily meal of rice and water, would argue and beg for more, with disputes erupting into brawls among the passengers. People fell sick, but without any medicine others would feel helpless and leave them alone. Mr. Chen's voyage to America began nearly two years ago. He set out from a rural village in southeastern China, where busy meant a 10-hour day on the family's rice farm. He trekked through the mountains of Myanmar and Thailand, slept in an airless cabin the size of a small bathroom with three other people on one ship, and eventually became a virtual prisoner on the Golden Venture, which the authorities say was used to transport Chinese immigrants who paid as much as $35,000 each for the voyage to America. Unwelcome Darkness Mr. Chen, a 30-year-old farmer and sometime factory worker, saw a darkness on the freighter that he never connected with his quest for America. "A lot of fighting was going on," he said, and shook his head. "I think it changed many people, being on that ship."

The Supreme Court ruled today that a Florida city's ban on ritual animal sacrifice violated the religious freedom of the followers of an Afro-Cuban religion in which the sacrifice of animals plays a central role. All nine Justices agreed that the prohibition, enacted in 1987 by the City of Hialeah, violated the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion. "The principle that government may not enact laws that suppress religious belief or practice is so well understood that few violations are recorded in our opinions," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the Court. [ Excerpts, page 9. ]