March 11, 1995

New Trend in Thievery In what the police call a prevalent new scheme, shoplifters from Long Island to Delaware are using foil-lined shopping bags to circumvent store alarms. Page 25. A Home for Nuclear Waste A month after the Mescalero Apaches of New Mexico quashed a plan to allow utilities to store nuclear waste on their reservation, they abruptly reversed themselves. Page 6. Dinkins Attacks Giuliani David N. Dinkins demanded an apology from his successor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, for what he called a calculated attempt to slander the former Youth Commissioner. Page 27.

The violence that is tearing Pakistan's largest city apart claimed 11 more lives today when a bomb exploded outside a mosque after Friday Prayers and masked gunmen stormed into the smoke-filled courtyard, loosing volleys of automatic rifle fire at the panicked survivors. The attack, which wounded at least 22 people, came two days after the execution-style slaying of two Americans driving to work at the United States Consulate. The bombing intensified a feeling among Karachi's population of more than 10 million that the long history of ethnic, religious and criminal violence here, responsible for thousands of deaths in recent years, has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

The front-page headlines in the daily newspapers today portrayed the mood in this town, which was toddlin' more than ever: "Jordan Works Out and Whole City Sweats" (Tribune); "Say It's So, Mike" (Sun-Times); and the headline that topped The Tribune's column by Mike Royko, to many the voice of Chicago, said: "City Has Hope That 2nd Coming Is Near." All this for what had been unconfirmed reports that Michael Jordan was considering returning to the city and to the team where he perfected, if not invented, the extraordinary feat of flying to the hoop.

An unexpectedly large number of Americans found new jobs in February, and the unemployment rate matched a four-year low by dropping three-tenths of a point, to 5.4 percent, the Labor Department reported today. After a tumultuous week in the financial markets, as the dollar hit record lows against both the German mark and the Japanese yen before recovering somewhat, investors found something to cheer in the latest figures. Under the weight of a yearlong series of interest-rate increases engineered by the Federal Reserve, economic growth is finally showing signs of slowing to a pace that could help extend the expansion that began in 1991.

Michael P. C. Carns, the retired Air Force general whom President Clinton selected to be Director of Central Intelligence, said today that he was withdrawing from consideration after the Federal Bureau of the Investigation uncovered a tangled set of personal circumstances that appear to have included violations of labor and immigration law. Mr. Clinton, who has been without a chief intelligence officer for more than 10 weeks, immediately chose John M. Deutch, the Deputy Defense Secretary, to replace General Carns as his new nominee for the intelligence post, a senior White House official said.