December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 The owner of the Alpine Country Store received an appealing - if not illegal - offer in the mail this past weekend. A man, claiming to be a Nigerian government …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 Two southern white rhinos like these died of dehydration and heat stroke while being trucked along the 1,650-mile route from Shanghai to Chengdu in China. Photo by Associated Press

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 The owners and employees at Camp Automotive Inc. are exactly the kind of Santa helpers The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund needs. Santa helpers are in the same category as knights in …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 So much for the tree-lined byways of Coeur d’Alene. November’s ice storm downed or did terminal damage to more than 1,700 trees on public property alone, the city’s Urban Forestry …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 The Clinton administration’s controversial vision of an aerospace industry dominated by three or four titans is finally coming close to reality with Boeing Co.’s planned acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp. …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A2 Monday’s Washington Triple Choice: 661. Monday’s Washington Keno: 10-19-20-22-23-26- 27-30-38-44-52-58-62-67-68-69-70-74-78-80 Monday’s Idaho Hot Lotto: 6-14-17-22-23.

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A2 Researchers said Monday they have designed a supercomputer that can handle a staggering 1 trillion mathematical operations per second, a breakthrough computer experts likened to the running of the first …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Opening the courthouse door to a low-income woman who seeks the right to see her children again, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that states may not set high fees …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 A minister and his wife were found slain under the Christmas tree in their burning home, their bodies bound and bludgeoned and an ax embedded in the clergyman’s head. The …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 A free-lance photographer sat unmoved Monday as a judge sentenced him to life without parole in the sex slaying of a former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader. “How can you sit …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Mary Jean Connell, 74, reaches for the hand of a friend after Monday’s news conference. Photo by Associated Press

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 An avalanche swept down on a glacier where a group of Germans were heli-skiing Monday afternoon, killing three people. Five of the 11 Germans in the group were caught in …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 An 11-year veteran police officer was fired for cowardice for leaving a bank while it was being robbed. The detective said he was going for backup. Cornelius Dean Finley, who …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Gourmet juice makers urged the government Monday not to force them to pasteurize their products as a way to make fresh fruit juices safer. But federal doctors said outbreaks like …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Citing anxiety over the effect of federal welfare reform on conditions in urban centers, big-city mayors predict demand for emergency food and shelter services will rise next year. A survey …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 With blastoff just a week away, scientists were trying to answer a tricky question Monday - which two cosmonaut monkeys get to go? Seven macaques are now in training at …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Despite a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on Israeli troop withdrawal from the town of Hebron, President Clinton escalated White House rhetoric with Israel on Monday, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Israeli detectives discovered 22,000 ecstasy pills inside an electric organ carried by a passenger at Ben-Gurion International Airport. The passenger - Donashvili Rafael, an Israeli who lives in Belgium - …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 The periodic space storms that knock out satellites and power systems may not be entirely the sun’s fault after all. Scientists say they have discovered that Earth spews fountains of …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 A brother and sister whose mother died 10 days ago have gone to court for permission to keep her body at home in a freezer. If they can’t, they will …

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Romina Andrea Vilarte, 3, is recuperating in a hospital. Photo by Associated Press

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Needed: Quasimodo. Or anyone with stamina and a good sense of rhythm. Britain wants to ring in the millennium with a national peal of bells on Jan. 1, 2000.

December 17, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 A major study has provided more evidence that children of fathers who smoke are more likely to develop childhood cancers, British scientists said Monday. Researchers at Birmingham University compared the …