March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 After stunning the tobacco industry Wednesday by settling a class action suit by the nation’s smokers, the Liggett Group dropped the other shoe Friday. Liggett, the smallest of the nation’s …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 Federal agents are investigating a Spokane doctors’ clinic suspected of intentionally overbilling Medicare and Medicaid for years. The fraud probe at Northwest Nephrology Associates is extremely secretive, but has been …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 More than 200 apartments are under construction in Kootenai County at a time when market watchers say vacancy rates are the highest in years. What gives? The answer: Nearly half …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 1. Looking for dope. K-9 officer Glenn Johnson of Rathdrum searches a Jeep owned by Lake City High student Mike Stevens. Stevens’ rig came up clean. Photo by Jesse Tinsley/The …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A1 Mabel Grantham sits in her living room with a picture of her daughter, Kendra. Even though the girl was shot to death last year, Dexter Amend questioned the family about …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A2 Friday’s winning “Triple Choice” lottery numbers: 877. Friday’s winning Washington Keno numbers: 1-10-14-17-19- 23-26-33-39-43-46-48-51-52-53-57-61-63-71-75.

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Prosecutor Christopher Darden says justice suffered at the O.J. Simpson trial because of a judge who lost control of the courtroom and a defense that cynically played to the black …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Former Ohio Rep. Donald Lukens was convicted Friday of taking $15,000 in bribes from the operators of a trade school while he was a congressman. The U.S. District Court jury …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Averting a third government shutdown, President Clinton signed a stopgap spending bill Friday keeping federal employees on the job and programs working at least until March 22. Although the White …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Sen. Bob Dole speaks in Cleveland. Photo by Associated Press

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A3 Top military officers presented lawmakers with their view of future war Friday: laser-armed warplanes, soldiers with computer backpacks, and seagoing missile launch pads. Some of these weapons are already in …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 China on Friday announced an end to missile tests in the Taiwan Strait but added to tensions in the region by revealing that new ground, sea and air exercises near …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 All three members of President Ernesto Samper’s innermost circle of aides were formally advised Friday that they had fallen under criminal investigation in the ever-expanding probe of Cali cartel influence …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 The 23-year reign of Chicago’s Sears Tower as the world’s tallest building apparently is over now that steel spires are in place atop identical, side-by-side towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 The Russian government has sentenced an increasing number of convicts to death because it lacks the money to expand overcrowded prisons, a prominent human rights activist said Friday. “A bullet …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 The military’s highest court Friday upheld the sentence of life in prison without parole for an American woman convicted of aiding leftist guerrillas. Lori Berenson, 26, was convicted of treason …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Despite this winter’s record-breaking cold, global warming theorists insist that in the long run, the planet is still heating up. In fact, while the eastern two-thirds of the United States …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 In a display of unity on behalf of a country in mourning, Britain’s prime minister and his chief political opponent carried flowers, prayers and sympathy Friday to the stricken Scottish …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 Kashmiri separatists held talks with the government for the first time Friday after six years of fighting, and an official said the rebels were ready to abandon their “gun culture.” …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A4 President Boris Yeltsin reacts to Friday’s vote. Photo by Associated Press

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A6 Is being short a liability in matters of the heart? For men - but not women - the answer emerging from doctors seems to be yes. Two new studies from …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A6 The Comet Hyakutake is already visible to the naked eye, though this photo was made on Wednesday with a 5-minute exposure with a special high-speed astonomical camera. Photo by Associated …

March 16, 1996 in Nation/World on Page A6 Recordings from a bugged ashtray. Confessions of a casino-loving socialite. Italy’s latest scandal is steamrolling through some of its most privileged quarters, and nobody knows where it will lead. The …