Around the world
RELATIONS: Israel and the Vatican will sign an agreement to establish diplomatic ties Dec. 30 in a historic change in the often uneasy relations between the Jewish state and the Holy See. Israeli officials said Wednesday that representatives from both sides would hold a ceremonial meeting in the Vatican at noon that day and then fly to Israel for the formal signing ceremony.SLAIN: Attackers killed 12 Christians from former Yugoslavia, security forces in Algiers, Algeria, said Wednesday, bringing to 23 the number of foreigners believed killed by a Muslim fundamentalist insurgency since September. The 12, technicians who worked for the Hydro-electra company, were slain Tuesday about 30 miles south of Algiers, security forces said in a communique.
Across the nation
EXECUTED: A former security guard at a Houston playhouse was executed by injection in Texas Wednesday for robbing and strangling the theater director. Clifford X. Phillips, 59, went to his death hours after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block the execution. His executioners struggled for a half-hour to find a suitable vein in his arm in which to insert the lethal drugs. In a rambling final statement that lasted nearly five minutes, he gave thanks to Allah and expressed love for his wife and remorse for the slaying.
LOOKING GOOD: NASA officials at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland said Wednesday that everything looks good with the Hubble space telescope. A Hubble project manager said the equipment is functioning exactly as anticipated before the repaired telescope was released from the shuttle Endeavour last week.
In Washington
IDENTIFIED: The remains of nine U.S. servicemen missing since the Vietnam War have been identified. The Pentagon says the nine were all crewmembers aboard the same reconnaissance plane when it was shot down over southern Laos in 1968.
ALL BETTER: President Clinton ran a 10-minute mile Wednesday after two weeks off due to back problems. "It's better, thank you. Taking it easy. It's my first day back," Clinton said as he resumed his morning jog. The president had last jogged on Dec. 1 but quit after suffering back pain.