Informed Sources

Peacekeeping Pays -- for Germans

BONN -- Soldiers from Germany and the U.S. face similar risks in SOMALIA -- but German troops posted there are earning almost four times as much. Under a bill passed by the Bundestag in June, a German soldier serving in Somalia receives a hazardous-duty bonus of 100 deutsche marks a day (about $60). U.S. privates earn only about $150 a month in hazardous-duty pay. The average German soldier on a standard six-month stay in Somalia earns about $35,000 in pay and bonuses, in contrast to only about $9,000 for a U.S. private.

The CIA's Satellite Eavesdropping

WASHINGTON -- CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR R. James Woolsey wants to save his budget -- and he's willing to do a little high-tech showing off to accomplish it. In a closed-door session with members of Congress, he divulged the breathtaking power of America's expensive spy satellites. He revealed, among other things, that U.S. satellites carry 20 sorts of sensors, including electronic eavesdropping equipment that can pick up virtually any individual on-the-ground conversation.

Jurassic Screw-Up

LOS ANGELES -- Not everyone loves JURASSIC PARK. Parts of California's Red Rock Canyon State Park were torn up during filming; a park ecologist estimates that the filmmakers were responsible for $12,000 worth of damage to the park, only $9,000 of which has been paid for. "The Red Rock Canyon Park," a spokesperson for director Steven Spielberg's production company says, "was paid whatever they were to be paid."