AMERICA REMEMBERS ITS WAR DEAD ON MONDAY
     It's the unofficial beginning of summer and a three-day holiday,
 but Memorial Day offers a solemn occasion for the United States to
 honor its soldiers who have died in war. President Bill Clinton will
 lead the nation's Memorial Day celebration Monday by participating
 in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Clinton
 also will speak at a Memorial Day service at Arlington National
 Cemetery where more than 200,000 American soldiers from all the
 nation's wars are buried.
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         Pilot unions kindle strikes as World Cup approaches
     PARIS - May 24, 1998 5:38 p.m. EDT -- Air France was forced to
 cancel up to 30 percent of its flights on Sunday after pilots from
 three small unions started a two-day strike to protest management
 plans to slash salaries.
     The strike, the second to hit the French airline this month, is
 indicative of transport sector unions' growing wave of industrial
 action in anticipation of the World Cup.
     An Air France spokeswoman said the company could only guarantee
 70 percent of its flights at Paris's second airport, Orly, while 85
 percent of flights at the main airport, Roissy, were operating
 normally.
     The main SNPL union, which represents 60 percent of Air France
 pilots, did not take part in Sunday's strike but has said it will
 call out its members for at least the first two weeks of June unless
 the firm drops plans to cut salaries by 15 percent.
     The biggest-ever World Cup, involving teams from 32 countries
 playing in 10 French cities, starts on June 10.
     As the soccer tournament nears, so unions are upping the pressure
 on their bosses to settle pay and condition disputes.
     On Tuesday, the day pilots return to work, truckers belonging to
 the militant Force Ouvriere (FO) union are due to set up roadblocks
 and hold go-slows along the motorways around France to push their
 demand for a pay hike.
     The truckers have brought France to a standstill twice in recent
 years by parking their lorries across highways and have each time
 rung major concessions out of the bosses.
     However, FO has complained that a deal signed last year has not
 yet been honored by haulage firms and set Tuesday's strike to coin-
 cide with a fresh round of talks.
     FO Secretary General Marc Blondel said on Sunday that unless
 union demands were met, the truckers would protest during the World
 Cup and called on the public to back them.
     "If people are worried about the Cup, why don't they give us a
 hand and put pressure on the federation of transport managers," he
 said in an interview on Europe 1 radio station.
     French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin appealed this weekend for
 unions not to damage France's image during the forthcoming soccer
 extravaganza, but Blondel dismissed the idea of a month-long truce
 during the World Cup.
     "I want France to present a good image of itself, especially by
 having a small number of unemployed and good salaries," Blondel
 said.
     The pilots have also shown no intention of holding off from
 striking. They accuse management of deliberately timing their wage
 cut to coincide with the World Cup in hopes that a sense of duty
 will prevent staff from walking out.
     Air France says its pilots earn 40 percent more than their coun-
 terparts in Germany's Lufthansa and has offered shares in the company
 if they accept the slimmer wage packets.
     Despite Sunday's strike, Air France managed to avert serious
 delays at Nice airport in the south of the country, which enjoyed
 its busiest day of the year on Sunday following the end of the
 Cannes film festival and the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.
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          Seven injured in severe turbulence over Oklahoma
     OKLAHOMA CITY - May 25, 1998 01:20 a.m. EDT -- A US Airways
 flight from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles made a medical emergency
 landing Sunday night in Oklahoma City after hitting severe
 turbulence.
     Seven people suffered minor injuries when the Boeing 757 hit
 turbulence around 7:30 p.m. CDT, likely caused by severe weather
 in the area, said Jeff Bilyeu, operations officer at Will Rogers
 World Airport. Five people went to a hospital for treatment.
     The injured included passengers and crew members. They com-
 plained of abrasions, lacerations and neck and back pains, Bilyeu
 said.
     One passenger described the turbulence as "very violent," and
 several said they were shaken up after the ordeal.
     There appeared to be no damage to the airplane, Bilyeu said.
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